From Stiles' cabin, Peter had to walk a few miles to get back to his car but contrary to last night, he enjoyed the walk through the woods. The air was brisk and clear but he could already tell that it would warm up over the day. He was in no hurry to get back home so he walked slowly with his senses open. He caught the scent of a deer that had come across here a while ago. He didn't go after it, he wasn't here for that but for a minute or two, Peter followed it's scent just because.

He did make it to his car eventually and when he came home, all the frustration and anger were gone.

Everybody had already left for the day, the only one still in the house was Walter but since he was human, he didn't pick up on Peter's scent.

"Long night?" Walter asked when he came into the kitchen. Peter was wearing the same clothes as yesterday, he'd slept in his shirt and hiking through the woods hadn't helped either.

"Kind of." Peter made his way farther into the kitchen. "Is there coffee left?"

The one he'd had at Stiles' had been surprisingly good but now he needed the taste of the coffee he was used to.

"Do I want to know what you've been up to all night?" Walter was looking him up and down, the newspaper in front of him forgotten for the moment.

This wasn't the first time Peter had come home like this, sometimes in worse shape and covered in blood like the night he'd met Stiles. Peter got where Walter was coming from. Without the nose of a werewolf, he wasn't able to tell the difference between the morning after some good sex with a relaxed hike through the woods afterward and staying out all night in the woods to keep them safe from whatever was lurking out there this time. Peter wasn't going to tell him, though. That would only get Talia back to breathing down his neck with questions about his secret lover.

So Peter just fixed himself a coffee and sat down at the kitchen table with Walter. He stole the part of the newspaper Walter was done with and skipped over the headlines. He didn't read the newspaper often, he had news feeds keeping him updated with everything he needed to know but after having breakfast cooked on a stove with actual fire, it seemed to fit that he read the news the old fashioned way as well.

Nothing caught his eye. Peter liked to stay up to date with what was going on in the world but his main focus was on Beacon Hills. He read the local news but aside from a new book club that would have their weekly meetings at the library and might interfere with his times there, nothing interesting was happening in Beacon Hills.

"I need a shower." Peter finished his coffee, patted Walter on the shoulder and then he headed upstairs to take care of his scent before somebody with a wolf's nose came home. Besides, he still felt sticky between his legs. After his shower he put his clothes in the washing machine, that should take care of that.

After working all weekend even if it didn't gain him anything, he deserved a day off, Peter decided. Besides, he was just not in the mood to run around for information he wouldn't get. Things like this needed time. He'd informed certain people and they would report to him if they found out something, anything, and he still had his camera, watching the Argents' house so he wouldn't miss anything important there either. So Peter grabbed a book and got comfortable in the living room where he had the best light.

Walter left not long after, leaving Peter alone in the big house. Peter loved the noises of his pack, when the house was full and alive, but he enjoyed this as well. The hours in the morning or late at night, when everything was quiet. Peter settled in with his book.

Peter didn't hear from Stiles all day but Stiles had said that much so Peter didn't even try to contact him. When later that day Stiles told him that he was about to head out for dinner with John, Peter just happened to be the last to join his family at the dinner table. He'd stayed back to read Stiles' message and when he looked over to his pack gathered around the table, Peter took a picture and sent it to Stiles before he joined his family.

Only later, when they had moved over to the living room with TV, homework, and talk about baby stuff, it occurred to Peter that Stiles didn't have that. All Stiles had to come home to was an empty cabin and his wet grave at the bottom of the lake. Stiles had never phrased it that way, according to him it was quite nice down there but Peter couldn't see past the fact that Stiles had died there.

Anyway, Stiles didn't have a family or friends aside from John. He must be quite lonely.

Maybe he should introduce him to his family, Peter mused. If he explained who Stiles was, his pack would understand and welcome him with open arms, he had no doubt about that. He only had to look over to where Isaac, Boyd, and Erica were sitting in a corner over their homework. They were not born into their family but that didn't make them any less pack. Not that Peter thought that Stiles would ever agree to become pack but he could be a friend. Someone they liked having around.

The only reason Peter didn't want to tell them was the fact that he was sleeping with Stiles and had no intention to stop. Stiles looked too young and with his history with the pack … it was wrong.

Talia would be the worst, he knew that and without the approval of the alpha, it would be next to impossible to maintain a relationship with Stiles.

But Peter made a mental note to ask Stiles what he thought of the idea of introducing him to the pack. The idea would most likely be dead with that anyway.

Later that day, Talia had just said good night and had gone upstairs, Peter's phone buzzed with a new message.

Derek just got IDed, Stiles wrote with a laughing emoji at the end.

What?

He came to pick me up from John, Stiles explained. We drove back and got stopped by Parrish

I know how that feels. Peter had been in the same position just yesterday.

Parrish took him in

Peter stared at his phone. Then he hit the button to call Stiles, he needed to hear this in actual sentences and not just short messages.

Stiles was barely able to tell the story, he was laughing so hard, but in the end, Peter got it out of him.

Stiles and Derek had been on their way back to the lake when Deputy Parrish had stopped them. Basically, what had happened to Peter with that other deputy yesterday, they were not fooling around with that backroad. But then Parrish had recognized Stiles. And had noticed Derek. Since it was the middle of the night, Parrish didn't know Derek and Derek couldn't produce any kind of ID, Parrish had taken him in for identification.

"He can't just take somebody in," Peter said.

"I'm a minor, Derek's an adult," Stiles stated what they must have looked like to Parrish. "It's the middle of the night and we were parking on a remote back road. Derek was lucky that Parrish didn't just shoot him."

He had a point there. From that angle, it looked more than just wrong.

"Why didn't you call John to clear things up?" Peter wondered.

"So that everybody knows that my uncle is okay with me meeting older men in the woods? It's not that we can explain who Derek is." Stiles shot back, still chuckling under his breath. He was having fun with this.

"What's going to happen now?"

"Nothing. The second Derek is alone, he's going to vanish." His shrug was audible in his voice. "I would say that I feel sorry for Parrish for loosing a prisoner like that but after this he deserves it. He wanted to call John or my parents, I had to promise to drive straight home but it took some fast talking."

"John could let him off the hook," Peter offered.

"And admit that he knows the guy who escaped custody?" Stiles snorted. "I just hope that Parrish is not going to tell everybody about me and Derek, that would be awkward."

"Did you tell John?" Peter wondered. "Or are you going to let him go to work blindly?"

"Shot him a message but it looks like he's already sleeping. He should read it in the morning, if not it's his own fault." There was some rustling on the other side of the line, indicating that Stiles got more comfortable on his bed.

"Don't you have to go under?" Peter wondered. He still didn't like the phrase but it was the best way to describe it. Stiles had been on his way back to the lake with Derek after all.

"Derek isn't back yet," Stiles said but it didn't seem to be a problem. "So I decided to bother you instead."

"How nice of you." But Peter had to admit that he was glad that Stiles had decided to bother him. It was a fun story and it did something to Peter that Stiles' first thought had been to tell him. And when had he gotten this sentimental?

They talked for a few minutes longer but then Derek was back and Stiles had to go.

Peter sat there, his phone in hand, still smiling at the idea of Parrish taking in Derek. He would have paid money to see that.

"Who was that?" Suddenly Talia spoke up behind him, startling him.

Peter managed to not drop his phone but it was a close call, he had not noticed her approaching.

"Thought you went to bed." He tried to downplay how much she'd startled him. He should have noticed her but his mind had been elsewhere.

"Heard you talking on the phone." She came over and sat down. She hadn't even changed into something for the night. "Was that Stiles?"

He had told her about Stiles and Derek, she must have caught Derek's name.

"Yes."

"Something happened?"

"Looks like Deputy Parrish has just taken in our local lake monster." Peter couldn't help a smile, this was too funny.

"Is he going to be safe?" Talia was instantly on high alert and ready to rush out of the door.

"Relax, Derek just returned to the lake. Nobody got harmed," Peter assured her. "Except for Parrish's pride when he finds out that he's lost a prisoner."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely." He'd only met Derek a few times but he knew that Derek wouldn't just kill the deputy.

Talia studied him for a little while longer but in the end, she accepted his word on this. Estimating dangers to the pack was his job and she valued his opinion.

"Is it Stiles you're seeing?" She asked out of the blue.

Peter braced his elbows on his thighs.

"What gave it away?" He asked with his head low. He did not want to look his alpha in the eye for this.

"The way you were talking to him just now." She reached over and put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"I know that I should not be doing this, not with him." He had played all the arguments in his head over and over again.

"He could be a threat," Talia agreed. "He could be using you to get close to the pack to get revenge, have you thought about that?"

"I have."

"And Derek," she continued. "Have you thought about him? What if he doesn't want to share? Stiles is his."

"I know." Peter had thought about all this, how could he not? It was his job to think about things like this. "I've also thought about the possibility that if I disappoint Stiles or break up with him, he could sic Derek on me or the whole pack. I've thought about everything."

"And still." Talia shook her head. "Even if he's not out for revenge, don't you think he's suffered enough? Do you think it's fair to him to start an affair with him when you know that it won't last? When you know that it will end badly? You're my brother and I love you but you're not a good man."

"I'm a selfish bastard, I know."

She was right and he'd thought about the same thing over and over again. But he'd thought about other things as well, just a few hours ago he'd thought about introducing Stiles to his family so that he wouldn't be so lonely any longer.

"But what if it works out?" Peter asked. "I like him, he likes me. Why not see where this leads?"

Talia studied him for a long moment, a hint of red in her eyes.

"I want to meet him."