Stiles was fuming, and panicking and angry, and hurt and...exhausted, he was frankly exhausted.
He was exhausted from running around at stupid o'clock after all the crap that went on in this town, and all the trouble that the others got into, he was the first one that they called when something weird and stupid happened, but then none of them listened to what he had to say about what was going on. He was fed up of speaking and no one listening.
He had done hours and hours and hours of research, using up the few hours where he should be sleeping but wasn't running around after the others to research what the hell was going on around town, which took right off from the research he had done on the Alpha Pack, which no one had bothered to look through.
And now he was trying to convince everyone that someone was going around killing people, sacrificing them, and no one was listening. His gut was telling him that this person was more dangerous than the Alpha Pack, that this person was going to get more people hurt, that they were the one that they needed to be looking out for.
And no one was listening to him. No one believed him. They scoffed and told him he was being ridiculous when he tried to tell them about this person.
The Darach.
He wanted to scream as he got told yet again that 'people don't sacrifice virgins Stiles, stop being ridiculous,' never mind the fact that he had proof that people were sacrificing virgins. He had tried to get everyone in the Pack to listen to him, Scott, Lydia, Derek, Erica, Boyd, Issac, even Jackson. The only one he had not gone to was Allison and that was...he couldn't be in the same room with her without feeling like he was going to have a heart attack, the memory of her brown eyes watching uncaringly as Gerard beat him bloody haunted his nightmares and was another huge reason he was exhausted. She had barely blinked when Gerard had threatened to take his innocence...when he had had Stiles' jeans around his ankles. No Chris had been the one to stop that when he had come into the room and caught his father.
So, no, he thought he would rather be a virgin sacrifice than to speak to Allison.
He was leaning against a tree just inside the preserve, exhausted and furious and just generally fed up after being told essentially that he was just in the way by Scott when he had tried to get who was supposed to be his best friend to listen to him again about the Darach.
He was out of options.
His eyes snapped open when a twig snapped and he met the blue eyes of the Alpha Twins as they sat down slowly and carefully, their hands held upward in a sign of peace as good five feet away from him.
"We don't want to hurt you, we just want to talk," One of them said, Aiden Stiles thought it was.
"About what?" Stiles said sharply sitting up and grabbing the vial of wolfsbane from his pocket that he had taken to carrying around with him.
"We really don't mean any harm," The other twin, Ethan, said seeing the vial. "We are going to stay right here,"
"As though I don't know you couldn't be across this space in the blink of an eye," Stiles snorted derisively. "I have been attacked by enough wolves to know that!"
"Wolves, plural?" Aiden frowned a little.
"Peter Hale when he was all mad and Alphaish, Scott when he was first turned, Derek's pack when they were first turned, Jackson last week. Honestly, I think at this point you lot are the only wolves in Beacon Hills right now that haven't tried to attack me!" Stiles snapped, the realisation making his heart clench slightly, he hadn't realised until this moment that little fact.
"Your own Pack attacked you?" Ethan frowned to match his twin, the two of them turning to look at each other.
"That is neither here nor there," Stiles said, and though he was aware that they would here the trip in his heart, they at least didn't know that he was only Pack adjacent and not Pack at all, he had no doubt that that information would get him shredded in seconds.
"We don't want to hurt you," Ethan said firmly. This was definitely Ethan, he was a little softer than Aident, a little more gentle.
"Then what do you want to talk about? The best restaurants in town? Best place to hide bodies? Sorry, both those bits of information are for my own knowledge only,"
"We don't want to know that right now," Aiden snorted actually amused by Stiles' sarcasm.
"We overheard you talking with McCall about the deaths that have been happening, it sounded like you know what it is and what is happening. Our Alpha has been looking into this, he has been trying to work out what it is, but we don't seem to have made the leaps that you sounded like you have," Ethan explained and Stiles frowned at him deeper.
"Innocent people have been dying, and something is going on, something dangerous, we can all smell and sense it," Aiden nodded.
Stiles stared at them, they had heard him talking and they...wanted to listen? They wanted to know what he had found. They believed him.
The feeling was...odd.
Before he could second guess himself he took his eyes off of the Alpha twins and dug into his backpack, pulling out the folder that he had put together with the information that he had managed to gather on the events that had been taking place in Beacon Hills this time.
The victims, the Darach, possible rituals that they were making with the sacrifices.
"Here," He threw the folder across the clearing towards to Twins, Aiden managing to catch it one-handed, stupid werewolf reflexes. "It is all my research on them, I am sure that they are a Darach, a dark druid. If they are killing people, they are doing it to build and gather power for something,"
"You're just giving this to us?" Ethan blinked.
"If you heard my conversation with Scott, then you heard that he doesn't believe me, and none of the others do. Something needs to be done about this before...before more people die. If you can do something about the Darach...someone needs the information," Stiles stammered.
"Thank you, we will take this right now to Deucalion and the others," Ethan nodded.
The two of them stood carefully, slowly so as not to startle him, inclining their heads before they took off, Stiles' research with them.
At least someone would use it.
"Your research was very impressive," The smooth cultured voice nearly gave Stiles a heart attack and he looked up to see who could only be Deucalion settling down into the seat opposite him, the huge werewolf Ennis settling at another table on the other side of the restaurant.
"Thank you?" Stiles cursed himself. He had just wanted to have some company while he ate, fed up of sitting in a silent house to eat his supper, and so he had come to his favourite restaurant for supper, enjoying the sound of people around him even though he was sitting by himself. Or had been.
"I mean it, it was very impressive, your mind is quite something, the leaps and bounds that it makes,"
"You don't believe it then?" Stiles scowled.
"Don't believe it? Why would you think that?" Deucalion asked calmly in a way that only riled Stiles more.
"Because everyone else has said that I have been seeing something that isn't there and leaping to conclusions!"
"I believe that we have a misunderstanding. I not only believe you, but I think that you are quite right in your belief that this is a Darach. I simply meant that your mind made jumps and leaps to reach conclusions that I believe it would have taken a much longer time for myself and others to come to the conclusion that you did, never mind that research that you have pulled together on Darach's and druid rituals,"
"Oh," Stiles blinked at him. "Right,"
"The twins tell me that your pack did not believe you, and dismissed you quite harshly," Deucalion nodded to the waitress when she dropped a plate down in front of Stiles and then himself. "Thank you kindly,"
"What are you doing?" Stiles asked, handily dodging the conversation.
"Eating," Deucalion said pleasantly.
"Why are you eating here, with me?" Stiles sighed, fed up of games and...just everything.
"I apologise, I did not mean to upset you," Deucalion's manner changed straight away, bloody werewolf noses. "I have a few questions about your research, and I have to admit I was quite interested in meeting the mind behind the research,"
"You are looking for the Darach?" Stiles asked.
"Yes," Deucalion nodded firmly. "This person is killing, sacrificing innocent people to gather power for who knows what,"
"What do you want to ask?" Stiles sighed.
"Please, eat," Deucalion motioned to the plate in front of Stiles, who against his better judgement started eating.
Over the next hour, they talked about various aspects of the research that Stiles had handed over to the Alpha Pack, new questions and theories from Deucalion had Stiles' head spinning and whirring with new ideas and theories, new angles that he could look at it from, new things to look up.
Sitting to the side of his empty plate was a notepad that Deucalion had managed to charm from a waitress, Stiles' notes and thoughts scribbled out in it.
The Alpha of Alphas was...interesting. His own mind was sharp and fast, also jumped through things with impressive speed and cunning, taking what Stiles would say and developing it, encouraging Stiles' own thoughts and ideas.
Stiles did not forget that this was the Demon Wolf, the Alpha of Alphas, here for reasons that they didn't know yet. But it was refreshing and pleasant to be able to talk to someone, someone especially who listened and could keep up with him, who was clearly appreciating his brain, was impressed by it, he even thought enjoyed it.
Deucalion waved over the waitress and ordered them both dessert, before turning back to Stiles and giving him his full attention, sharing information that he knew and had picked up in his time on Druids.
He was actually a little disappointed when their desserts were finished and he realised that it was time for him to leave, their conversation having clearly nearly finished without more research being done, research that Stiles was itching to dig into.
"I need to…" Stiles clutching the notepad close to his chest digging into his pocket for his wallet.
"Please, this is my treat. I have most enjoyed your company, Stiles, your research does not do your brain justice in person. Please, if you come across anything more, this is my number and email address," Deucalion slipped a piece of paper across to Stiles who hesitated for a few moments before he took the piece of paper and slipped it safely into his pocket.
"I will think about it," He said, but it only made Deucalion laugh.
"Of course," The Wolf stood smoothly along with Stiles.
Walking out the restaurant, getting into his jeep and driving away felt...odd. It felt as though it had all been some odd dream, as though he had not actually sat down to eat with the Alpha of the Alpha Pack, talked to him.
It was something so beyond odd that he could not even begin to work out what on the earth had happened, why Deucalion had sat and eaten with him, paid for his meal.
He also felt an ache in his chest when he realised that it was the longest conversation that he had had with someone in a long time with someone about something that was not about schoolwork, it was the most company he had had for longer than he could actually remember.
He could not remember the last time that one of the Pack had spoken to him outside of calling him to tell himself that there had been another attack and death, wanting him to check it over but not wanting to listen to his conclusions. He had given up trying to tell them about the Darach since he had handed the information to the Alpha Twins, and he had received smirks and digs from Jackson, mocking him for having been so wrong and dramatic, for wanting attention.
He wasn't stupid, he knew that the Pack met up, he knew that they all spent a lot of time together at Derek's loft talking about the Alpha Pack and what was happening in town, talking about what they could do.
It felt like a betrayal sitting and having a meal, talking to the man that they were all worried about, it felt like a betrayal having Deucalions number and email address burning a hole in his wallet.
But how many times had he been betrayed by them? How many times had they let him down? How many times had they left him to cope with everything himself, left him out of things, ignored him, not invited him to things? How many times had he risked his life for them and not even gotten a thank you in return, how many times had he needed their help and not received it?
None of them had noticed that he had been injured by Gerard, none of them had noticed that he had been taken by him, tortured by him, had nearly been… and they hadn't noticed, they hadn't realised. A pack of Werewolves and they had not smelt the blood, pain, panic and utter fear on him.
The Alpha Twins could have killed him that day and they wouldn't have realised until hours, maybe days later.
It was more than a little morbid to think about how long he would have laid in that forest, how long would his body have laid there until someone had finally realised that he was missing? How long would it take them to find him?
Between researching the Darach after his conversation with Deucalion and digging into things and school, and his...morbid thoughts, the days passed by quickly.
Until he found himself standing over another body, summoned by the Pack.
Another sacrifice, but this one he did not think was a virgin. He was aware of Jackson, Isaac and Erica mocking him, mocking his Darach theory considering to them it did not fit anymore. But it did, and it had just been narrowed down to what ritual it was, once they worked out why this person had been chosen.
Once he worked it out.
Or did it have to be just him?
He gave them some crap story to get them away from the area, and they were only too happy to go, leaving him alone, with a dead body in the middle of nowhere with no one else.
He dug out his wallet as soon as he knew they would be far enough away and before he could second guess himself was dialling the number on the slip of paper.
"Stiles? Is everything ok?" Deucalion's accented voice came down the phone as soon as he had said hello, concerned seemingly real in his tone.
"There is another body, one that doesn't match the virgin pattern, they have changed onto another group, three virgins, and now another group. Can...would you…" Now that he was speaking he felt foolish, his own Pack wouldn't indulge his theories and his…"
"We will be right with you, tell me where you are," Deucalion said firmly.