Peter's guess that Kate's place was pretty isolated had been right, it took almost a week until somebody found her body. Peter used that time to get used to his new nature and to find a balance between his pack, Derek, and his life with Stiles. The latter fell short to the other two but Stiles assured him that they had all the time in the world.
There was just so much to do for the pack and Peter couldn't just leave Talia alone with everything. The others were helping wherever they could but there were things Peter wanted to take the lead on. Security measures for the new house for example.
Then there was Derek, who had to come after him more often than Peter liked to admit. He was trying to keep track of time but as Stiles had said, it was not an exact science.
"It will settle down to a natural cycle," Derek assured him. "Give it some time."
"I'm not a teenage girl on her first period," Peter muttered but he got it. It was the same with bitten werewolves. They also needed time to adjust to their new nature and to sync with the cycle of the moon. It still sucked when Derek came to get him sooner than expected. Twice it had happened when he'd been with Talia. Derek had startled her but she was getting used to him popping up in Nancy's kitchen. One time it had happened when Peter had been with one of his contacts. Poor guy almost got a heart-attack when Derek suddenly stood behind him.
Peter wondered if he could convince Derek to come with him at least from time to time so that people would get used to seeing the Nöck around. They could say that he was Peter's bodyguard or something like that but so far Derek hadn't shown any interest in such earthly matters. Quite the opposite, Peter got the impression that Derek had fun, sneaking up on people like that.
Peter was also working closely with John now even after the FBI had taken over the case. They were closing in on the last hunter still on the run, Peter was fine with the police taking care of him, when the news came in that Kate Argent was dead.
"You are a suspect," John told him when they had dinner together on Thursday. If possible Stiles had dinner with the sheriff at least twice a week but now Peter was invited as well. Today without a movie date later, John had a dayshift and the man needed his sleep.
"Am I now?" Peter calmly cut a piece off his steak. This was his first family dinner with the Stilinskis after the fire, something Stiles wanted to celebrate. So he had allowed steak as long as there was salad to go with it. Stiles made sure that John actually ate his share of the salad.
"You have a reputation and a reason to go after her." John shrugged. He was enjoying his steak too much to be concerned about Kate's murder. "The FBI wants to talk to you."
"I'm pretty sure I have an alibi." Peter was not in the slightest concerned. "If I recall correctly, I was at the station that day. I have you and a few of your deputies as witnesses."
"She was killed on the other side of the country." John used his napkin. "There's no possible way that you got there in a few hours."
"Physically impossible," Peter agreed to which Stiles snorted.
"If not in person, you could have arranged something." John reached for his glass. "As I said, the FBI wants to talk to you."
"Looking forward to it." Peter gave him a toothy smile.
"I bet."
On Friday Stiles kept Peter company while he waited for Emily to finish her guitar lesson and after that, they stopped by the library.
"You need to come over and read to me, you promised," Emily reminded Stiles. "And we need to play Uno with Derek."
"He interacts more with the pack than you," Peter teased but he got that Stiles was not ready to interact more with the pack than strictly necessary. He may never be. Peter didn't like it, the wolf part of his nature wanted his partner to be pack, but he got it.
Stiles on the other hand understood that Peter needed his pack and didn't object to him spending so much time with them. Things would calm down once they were done with the aftermath of the fire. Whenever that would be. The bureaucracy alone seemed endless.
"Just because you can't keep track of time," Stiles muttered to his comment but then he smiled at Emily. "But yes, I promised and I keep my promises. Maybe sometime next week?"
Peter smelled the anxiety on him but it melted away when Emily started to plan out their play-date.
"You might be able to dodge the pack," Peter whispered to him when they were on their way to the checkout. "But you can't escape her."
"I noticed." Stiles accepted his defeat with a sigh.
They dropped off Emily and then they headed back to the lake.
Aside from his work for the pack, Peter had been busy with something else. Just like Stiles, Peter had promised something.
"I have something for you," Peter said once they had settled in. Stiles was on his bed, sorting through his book haul but at his tone, he perked up.
"What is it?" Stiles asked but Peter took his sweet time, sauntering over and sitting down next to him. Only when they were sitting shoulder to shoulder with their backs against the wall, he handed him an envelope.
"The ID I promised you," Peter said while Stiles rifled through the contains of the envelope. Peter knew what Stiles was looking at, a driver's license, a birth certificate, and more official-looking papers, so he kept his eyes on Stiles to catch his reaction. He did not get disappointed.
Stiles sniffed and had to blink against the tears while for once he was at a loss for words.
"You can take the classes you mentioned and get a bank account." Peter had to clear his throat, Stiles' emotions were clogging his nose and now he had to blink against misty eyes as well.
"Not that I have much money to put into that account." Stiles' voice cracked over the words.
But this was about more than just a bank account, they both knew it. Stiles existed again, he was officially a person again. Stiles couldn't stop looking at his own picture on the license.
However, Stiles' comment was the opening for the other topic Peter wanted to talk about but he still needed a moment before he trusted his voice again.
"Speaking of money," Peter said. "I was thinking about the future, what I want for myself, for us."
"What did you come up with?" Stiles asked and now the anxiety crept back into his scent. He tensed up ever so slightly as if he was waiting for Peter to tell him something bad.
"First, I want a place for myself," Peter said. "This is your cabin and it should stay yours. I want to build a cabin here as well."
"You mentioned the mansion you want to build on the other side of the lake," Stiles said and dared to breathe easier.
Stiles' cabin was too small for two people and it was lacking some of the luxuries Peter craved, they had been over that.
"Should we ever break up, we can glare at each other from across the lake for all eternity," Peter teased.
"We would have to schedule our time with Derek." Stiles nodded, playing along easily now. "What else do you want?"
"I want to rent the Beacon Hills Lake Company." Peter didn't miss a beat, he came prepared for this conversation. Back in the day, Johnathan Hale had set up that company to ensure that the property would stay Derek's but it had been just a name ever since. Nobody had ever done something with it. Which was a shame.
"I'm offering one thousand dollars per month," Peter continued. "If that's not enough, just name your price."
"What are you up to?" Stiles narrowed his eyes on him. "I'm not a charity case, you're not going to give me a grand to rent a company that only exists on paper."
"Oh, I intend to do something with it," Peter assured him. "I have some money of my own but most is tied in with the pack, I want financial independence. Not just now but in a hundred years as well."
"You want it as a front for some shady business."
"Partly." Peter didn't deny it, there was no point. "But I have some more legal ideas as well."
"To launder the money you make illegally." Stiles nodded in understanding. It was exciting how easily Stiles followed his lines of thought.
"I could use a partner in crime," Peter intended to make it sound like a joke but it didn't come out that way. It wasn't meant as a joke. He trusted Stiles. There was no other person he trusted like this. He wanted Stiles to be a part of this.
"I love you too," Stiles said. The way he was reading between the lines ... Peter didn't know how to deal with that.
"Under the umbrella of the company we can buy property," he hurried to continue before this became too emotional. "You have no idea how much my pack makes with rent alone. And low-risk stock market. It doesn't pay off quickly but give it fifty years and you can live from interest alone."
"Are you suggesting that I should invest the grand you intend to pay me in the stock market?" Stiles let him get away with the change of topic.
"Why not?" Peter shrugged. "If you have a certain amount of money, it starts to generate itself. I can give you a loan." Peter gave him a toothy smile to which Stiles slapped his shoulder.
But it got him thinking, Peter could almost hear the wheels turning in his head.
"With this." Peter tapped the envelope still in Stiles' hand. "And some money to your name you can do whatever you want. Take the classes you mentioned, start a career. With the internet, location doesn't. You have options now."
If Stiles wanted to keep living day to day it would be fine with him but Peter wanted him to know that he didn't have to any longer.
"I'll think about it." Stiles leaned over for a kiss.
"Take your time." Peter kissed him back. "If anything we have time."
Somehow they ended up in a more horizontal position with Stiles under him. Without breaking the kiss Peter slipped a hand under Stiles' shirt, fingertips ghosting over his flank.
"Do we have time for this?" Stiles asked with hunger in his eyes.
"We have all the time in the world," Peter reminded him. "Tonight it's just us."
They didn't have time for themselves in quite a while, which was mostly Peter's fault he had to admit, but he'd made sure that they would not be disturbed today.
"You have planned this." Stiles gave him a look but the arousal now clearly in his scent betrayed him. That and his erection pressed into the crease of Peter's hip.
"Maybe?" Peter pinned him down with his body and when Stiles just melted under him, he brought Stiles' arms over his head and pinned down his wrists as well.
"What else have you planned?" Stiles asked and bit his lip in anticipation.
That was invitation enough to kiss him again but this time Peter added a little bite to it. Stiles inhaled sharply but released the air with a moan.
"You're my partner but you're not pack." Peter knew that there was a hint of electric blue in his eyes when he looked down at Stiles. "I want to scent you, to mark you as mine in every way possible so that everybody will know that you belong to me."
"You better be thorough," Stiles agreed and ground his erection more firmly into Peter's hip.
"I intend to." Peter used his body weight to keep him still. Under him, Stiles bared his throat for him and Peter sucked the first hickey into his skin.
"Might take hours." Stiles breathed out.
"I'm planning on all night." Peter scraped his teeth over the sore spot he'd just created, making Stiles hiss.
They didn't last all night but when Peter was done with him, Stiles was barely conscious, littered head to toe with bruises and bite marks, and covered with their combined come.
Peter took a moment to take in his work but when he noticed that Stiles started to shiver, he drew a blanket over them and hugged him close.
"Am I marked enough?" Stiles mumbled and drew him even closer.
"For now." Peter buried his nose in his neck. "Might have to do it again soon."
Everything would be gone once Stiles was back with Derek which was a shame.
"Freakish werewolves," Stiles muttered but it did sound fond. "You would love to show me off to your pack like this."
"You could come over for dinner." Peter was only half-joking, he would love to have Stiles at the dinner table with him once in a while. Not necessarily marked like this, though.
"Can you imagine Talia's face?"
Peter felt Stiles grin into his arm he was using as a pillow.
"If I had known that it only takes a good fucking to get you to come over for dinner …" Peter kissed the nape of his neck.
"What can I say, I'm a simple guy."
"You're absolutely not."
A/N I think this is a good place to leave them, they'll figure out the rest on their own.
NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow. I'm going to finish "Let it Flow" first and then, because I can't just let go of this, I'm going to start working on this story:
Working Title: Hitting Rock Bottom (or Lake Bottom)
Summary: One dead wife, four drowned teenagers, and another write-up because he let that teenage delinquent escape again. Deputy Stilinski has hit rock bottom. He might hit the bottom of the lake as well tonight. Prequel to Bodies of Water
