Chapter Twelve
February 27th, 2011

They spent most of Sunday searching around where Peter and Ralph lost the scent, and apart from slight traces of wolfsbane, there was no sign of Derek. Stiles was tempted to ask Scott if he had seen Derek, but he wasn't interested in the rant that would follow. The rest of the day was spent training Danny in control so he would have no issues when they returned to school the next day. The new beta had fun testing his new agility out on the training golems and he was looking forward to meeting Stiles' trainer to learn how to use his new wolfy strength in his fighting.

Stiles again found Jackson wrapped around him on Sunday morning and he murmured, "You should just sleep up here instead of sneaking through the house in the middle of the night."

Jackson shrugged, he liked the idea but he was worried about what the sheriff would think.

That night when they were done searching Stiles handed over amulets to each of the pack members including his dad. He had made amulets for each of them that would keep the scent of their wolf hidden, the one for his father would keep the scent of the pack hidden except to those in the pack. Once he had handed them all out he commented, "Peter I have that book you brought and I will experiment with the rune clusters once we have found Derek. There are some clusters in there I want to experiment with."

They spent a few hours brainstorming further search areas, but also who Peter and Ralph could reach out to in the morning while the teens were at school. They didn't think Derek had left the territory but they didn't want to rule it out.

As they were heading to bed Noah commented, "Jackson, just head up with Stiles."

Stiles turned and he asked, "Are you sure?"

Noah nodded, "I don't sleep deep enough to miss someone creeping through the house. We all know that he will end up in your bed or you in his. Just… activate the silencing rune on your room if you get up to any shenanigans. I don't want to hear it."

Once the boys were out of hearing range Peter asked, "Aren't you worried? They're both underage."

Noah shook his head, "Not really. Look, they're bonded, we both know that bonding is for life even if the timing was accidental. I know you heard what I said to Jackson about Claudia's warning, accepting the bond is part of that. I would put money on the fact they will take things slow though, almost glacial knowing Stiles. He'll want to be sure about Jackson before they take things further. If things start looking serious we can look into getting them legally married."

Peter nodded, "It would give them a measure of protection. I know it's been done in a few packs where wolves have found their mates early."

Noah smirked, "If anyone was going to bond to their mate early, it would be my son. King of the curveballs."

Peter laughed as he headed to bed. Danny had opted to stay at home again, just in case Derek showed up, and Ralph had left earlier for his apartment as he had a few early meetings in the morning.

When they were settled Jackson, mindful of the fact that Stiles hadn't set the silencing rune, asked silently, 'Shenanigans?'

Stiles chuckled quietly and he replied, 'He thinks we are going to be bonking like bunnies because we are bonded.'

Jackson grinned, 'Well that's definitely on the table but I would rather take it slow even if the bond makes it a done deal. Hell, a week ago we were rivals.'

Stiles nodded, 'Slow is good. I don't want to cause any trouble with Dad since we are both underage.'

Jackson agreed, 'Oh yeah, I forgot about that.'

Stiles asked hesitantly, 'What about school? Did you want to keep our relationship a secret?'

Jackson shook his head, 'No.' He grinned, 'Think about it, can you imagine how much it'll upset McCall and Lydia when they see us together.'

Stiles suggested, 'They are always together between classes, we could listen out for them and make out in front of your locker when we hear them coming.'

Jackson nodded, 'Or we could just make out and blow the entire school's minds.'

Stiles raised his eyebrows, 'The entire school? Like they'll care. Honestly, I kind of like the idea of Lydia and Scott seeing us before the school gossip mill tells them. I mean it'll be explosive.'

Jackson nodded, 'Ok, we can wait at my locker with Danny, why not your locker?'

Stiles gave him a blank look and he said, 'Yours is closer to Lydia and Allison's lockers.'

They snuggled in with a few quiet kisses and Stiles started to rumble in contentment.

Jackson asked, 'Are you… purring?'

Stiles blushed as he shook his head, 'It's a dragon thing, it's not a purr, but, yeah, they sound similar.'

Jackson tried to stifle his laughing as Stiles tickled him in revenge before they settled in for sleep. Both of them were worried about Derek as he hadn't been in the best mindset when he disappeared.

-x-

They met up with Danny by the Porsche when they arrived at school and they both silently asked with a raised eyebrow if he had seen Derek and they were both gutted at the shake of the head from the teen. They quietly let Danny know of their plan to rile Lydia and Scott so he could be ready to watch their backs.

Danny was quietly planning to record their reactions for the boys to watch later. It wouldn't be hard to fake being on his phone when the group entered the hallway.

They stopped by Stiles' locker to pick up his books for first period before they walked to Danny and Jackson's lockers which were side by side.

Danny looked Stiles up and down and he waved at Stiles' outfit and he asked, "A product of your shopping trip last week?"

"Shopping torture," Stiles grumbled from where he was standing, he was wearing dark blue skinny jeans, one of his typical graphic tee's but 3 sizes smaller than usual so it was only slightly baggy on him, and a red hoodie to top it off. "Jackson has another one planned so we can figure out what I feel comfortable wearing."

Danny grinned as he heard Lydia talking from the main doors and he whispered, "Showtime." He lifted his phone and pretended to be playing on it as he started recording as Jackson made his move.

The corridors were teeming with students trying to get to their lockers before the bell which was slowing Lydia and Scott's progress, they could hear Allison with them but due to Lydia not letting her get a word in edgewise she was harder to hear.

Jackson closed his locker with a snap and he crowded into Stiles' space and with a grin, he kissed Stiles hard against the locker caging him in. They both were lost in each other fairly quickly so didn't notice the silence descend on the hallway as people watched gobsmacked as straight-as-a-board Jackson Whittemore was making out with the guy who'd had had a crush on his ex-girlfriend since forever.

"JACKSON!" Lydia shrieked as she saw Jackson making out with someone by his locker. "What the hell are you doing?"

Jackson broke the kiss but rested his forehead on Stiles' as they caught their breath before they turned to face the oncoming storm that was one pissed off Lydia Martin.

Jackson drawled, "I was enjoying making out with my boyfriend until you started shrieking like a demented harpy."

"Stiles?" Scott asked incredulously, "My Stiles… is your boyfriend?"

Stiles snarled, "I'm not yours. I stopped being yours in any way when you decided that lying to get what you wanted was more important than our friendship."

Jackson hadn't stepped back so Stiles hid his face in Jackson's shoulder as Jackson snarled, "What is your damage, McCall?"

Lydia snapped, "He's not your boyfriend, you're mine!"

Danny snarked, "He kicked your cheating ass to the curb last week. Remember?"

Stiles chuckled from where he was still plastered to Jackson and he very deliberately looked at Lydia in the eyes as he licked Jackson up the side of his face before he said, "I licked him, that means he's mine."

Jackson silently demanded, 'What the fuck?' As he looked at Stiles.

Stiles grabbed his chin and directed him to look at Lydia who was shaking in rage. Jackson looked at her with a raised eyebrow and he drawled, "You were saying, Lydia?"

Lydia stomped her foot and she demanded, "You're mine, your parents agreed we make the perfect couple. How do you think they'll react to the news you're fucking the school spaz."

Jackson shrugged, "They'll probably finally disown me."

Stiles murmured loud enough for those close to them to hear, "I'll be your sugar daddy, Babe."

Jackson leaned in to give him a searing kiss as Lydia raged beside them. He pulled back and he snarked, "Feel free to tell my parents, we both know they think you're the kid they should've adopted."

Jackson interlaced his fingers with Stiles and they walked away from the raging redhead and the silent couple beside her as they headed to first period.

Scott tried to bail Stiles up outside the classroom after second period, but Danny dragged him away before Scott could start in on the rant he obviously had prepared.

"Thanks," Stiles murmured as they walked to the cafeteria, "He's acting as if I jilted him."

Danny agreed, "It's a bit weird. But then I always thought your friendship was a bit weird."

Stiles smiled sadly, "Jackson called it lopsided. Dad agreed."

Danny nodded his agreement, "That's a good description for it. Why are you so angry with him anyway? I asked Jackson but he refused to say."

Stiles sighed, "What's the biggest rule of the bro code?"

Danny said, "Don't hit on your bro's girlfriend, boyfriend, or crush."

"Exactly!" Stiles exclaimed, "Yet he made out with Lydia in Coach's office after telling me he was going to talk to her to find out if she liked me."

Danny raised his eyebrows and he exclaimed, "That's a total dick move. Especially since he knew Lydia was with Jackson at the time."

Stiles huffed as they sat at their table, "They both came to the field for practice wearing the same shade of lipstick, and didn't even try to hide it."

Jackson sat down beside Stiles and he snarled, "She never did. I guess she thought the threat of disownment would keep me under her control."

Stiles moved to sit in Jackson's lap and he said silently, 'I meant it, if they disown you we can get Peter to take over your guardianship and you can move in with us, officially I mean. I have enough money to support you, trust me.'

Jackson snuggled into Stiles and he said, 'I want to talk to Peter after school, get the ball rolling before any disownment happens.'

They looked up when they heard Mr. Harris drawl, "Mr. Stilinski, would you please stop molesting Mr. Whittemore."

Lydia was standing behind Mr. Harris looking smug and determined, they looked around and saw a few other couples sitting the same way but they were the only gay couple.

Danny asked, "I just want to be clear, is it because they are two guys that you are demanding Stiles get off Jackson's lap, or is it because it's Stiles. I mean you've always held a grudge against him. To the rest of us, it's like you're trying to take your grudge against the Sheriff of Beacon County out on his son."

Mr. Harris went red and ignoring Danny he snapped, "It's disgusting behavior and you both need to stop."

Stiles raised an eyebrow in challenge and he asked, "Am I not allowed to support my boyfriend? Am I not allowed to give him comfort while his ex is going out of her way to be a raging harpy about our relationship. She is sitting at the other end of the table making constant threats about speaking to his adoptive parents so they can force us to break up or else they'll disown him."

Mike, one of the other players on the lacrosse team asked, "Will you be asking the other couples who are sitting the same way to stop?"

The couple looked around and they noticed that several other couples had moved to mimic them in support.

When Mr Harris was still glaring at Stiles without saying anything Mike prompted, "Well? Will you be making this a rule for everyone or just the gay couple?"

Jackson said privately, 'Remind me to thank Mike later, he's a badass.'

They heard gasps from around the cafeteria as the students realized that he was picking on the only gay couple in the room. Danny looked around and saw a few of the students had their phones out and he called out, "If someone has footage of this conversation can I get a copy, please." He knew Peter and Noah would both want a copy so they could discuss the discrimination with the principal.

Stiles slid off Jackson's lap in the hope that Mr. Harris would go away and they watched as those recording on their phones filmed him leaving the room without saying a word to any of the other couples. Danny's phone started to beep like crazy as those who knew him emailed him the footage they had from their phones of the incident.

Scott said snidely, "He's not wrong. You shouldn't be flaunting your cheating like that. It's disrespectful to Lydia, you know, his actual girlfriend."

Jackson stood and he snarled, "Look you insignificant peasant, Lydia is not, and will never again be my girlfriend. I can name at least five other guys in this cafeteria that she's fucked while dating me. I deserve better, and you know what, I have better." He held his hand out to Stiles who picked up his backpack and laced their fingers together as they left the cafeteria.

Danny waited until they were out of earshot before he stood and got in Lydia's face, "Back off, he is past caring about you or those waste of adults that call themselves his parents. Don't you think you've hurt him enough?"

As he was walking away he heard Lydia hiss, "He's mine."

-x-

On the drive home after school, the boys had been discussing the texts Jackson had started to receive from his parents. They were ordering him to come home rather than stay with friends for the night as they needed to have a family discussion. Jackson chose to ignore the texts and the order to go home muttering, "Fuck that for a joke," as he put the phone on silent mode and shoved it back into his pocket.

When they arrived at the Stilinski house they found an unfamiliar car in the driveway with the cruiser. Stiles hissed, "Stay behind me," as they walked into the house.

He froze as they entered the living room before he yelled, "Uncle Booth!" He turned to his friends, "Guys, this is Special Agent Seeley Booth, for the love of kittens call him Agent Booth or just Booth." He stage whispered, "He shot the last guy who called him Seeley."

Booth blushed bright red, as he knew it was true as Noah barked, "Stiles!"

Danny murmured, "That was quick."

Stiles looked around the room and saw that both Peter and Ralph were present which had him on edge, so he demanded, "What's going on?"

Booth smirked at the look on Stiles' face and he said, "Well I got your report on Sunday morning and took it straight to the deputy director. He's assigned me as a liaison to one of the specialist teams who'll be working the case. They'll be arriving tomorrow, once they have all the files from the various police departments."

"Specialist team," Stiles commented, "Because that doesn't sound deliberately vague."

Peter rolled his eyes and he said, "It's a supernatural task force. They deal with feral creatures attacking humans, and hunters going rogue. They have been trying to nail Kate for years but have been held back by a lack of evidence."

Stiles glared at his dad as Danny and Jackson slunk around him to settle on the sofa, "Does he know?" Stiles demanded angrily.

Noah shook his head, "No, Stiles. He's not pack."

Peter cleared his throat and he corrected, "Actually if he's Stiles' godfather then technically he kind of is. Pack I mean. He's part of your family, which makes him pack by default. He just has to consent to the pack bond to make it official."

Booth asked, "Just like that?"

Peter nodded, "Noah trusts you enough to make you Stiles' godfather, so we would trust you to be pack. So yes, just like that."

Booth asked, "Is that something you want Stiles?"

Stiles nodded, "As long as it includes Parker."

Booth saw the confused expression on Peter's face, and he explained, "Parker is my 10-year-old son, he lives with his mother most of the time, but I see him during the holidays. Ok, so what do I need to do to join the pack?"

Peter and Ralph took him through the vow that a human could use to join the pack without the bite while the boys went downstairs to do their homework in the library. They figured the sooner they got it done, the sooner they could go out searching for Derek.

Booth was pissed when he found out Derek had been taken, he agreed with Noah and Peter that one of the bordering packs would have found him by now if he had run. He also agreed that a wolf wouldn't run away from their last remaining family member.

The adults spent the evening taking Booth through what they had found on the fires, via both legal and not so legal means. He was impressed with their thoroughness, and he would be using some of the information on the wall to steer the investigation.

He noticed the yarn connecting parts on the board were different colors so he asked, "What's with the colors?"

Stiles smirked, "They're just different stages of the investigation. So green is confirmed, yellow is to be determined, red is rumors and conjecture," He glanced at Jackson, "And blue's just pretty."

When they were done exploring, Booth asked quietly, "What was the big secret, the one that's locked down to pack?"

Noah asked Stiles, "Kiddo, do you want to do your big reveal?" He saw the evil grin on Stiles' face and he held up his hands when he realized his mistake, and he hurriedly said, "Ok, ok, not that big."

Stiles shifted into his beta form. and he let his godfather have a close look at the horns, spikes, and scales that were part of his beta shift.

Booth was amazed and he asked, "I haven't seen this shift before, what are you?"

Noah shrugged, "You won't have. He's a dragon shifter. Dragon shifters were hunted into extinction slowly over the last 100 years. Claudia was the last of her family and she was born a human."

Booth frowned as he said, "But the legends say dragons were one of the hardest to kill."

Stiles said darkly, "They blew up the house while everyone was asleep. It's why I have every fireproof ward possible on the house. Mom was away on a field trip when they did it. She came home and when she found the ruins she went to her dad's best friend, he formally adopted her to help her hide then he sent her to the USA."

Noah asked, "Are you going to do an aerial search tonight? It's cloudy enough."

Stiles nodded, "Jackson's keen. You could bring Uncle Booth so he can see my full shift."

Booth grinned, "Yes! This I have to see! Is your full shift form bigger?"

Noah laughed and refused to answer as he led his friend to the vacant house and through the backyard into the preserve. Stiles placed his clothing and amulet under the handy bush, it was warded to keep everything dry and hidden from prying eyes and thieving rodents.

Stiles shifted and let loose his form as Jackson stood behind him and shifted into his beta shift complete with his tail. He'd worked out he could use his tail to hold on to the spines on Stiles' back to stay balanced while they were searching.

Booth staggered back a bit when he saw the huge dragon in front of him and he exclaimed, "Holy fuck!"

When Stiles took off he delayed wrapping himself in the shadows for a few seconds so his godfather could see him airborne before he left the clearing shrouded in darkness to search the preserve once more.

Booth grinned at his friend and he said, "He's awesome! I can see why you need clouds for him to fly. Let's go inside and you can catch me up on everything I've missed."