Chapter Ten
"I am sorry what?" Deaton spluttered, for once losing the zen Yoda look on his face.
"I think you heard my Alpha quite clearly," Stiles crossed his arms.
"You can't do this, you don't have the right!" Deaton scowled standing and slamming his hands onto the table, magic flaring brightly around him in what was a clear threat. Stiles was the antithesis of him as he stood smoothly and leant calmly forward, his magic flickering over his skin almost lazily.
"Actually he can, he is the Alpha Hale, he holds the Hale Spark, he is the Alpha Hale of these lands," Stiles smirked as he threw the smackdown onto the table. "And he has the Nematon under his control,"
"What…" Deaton reared back stunned.
"He has the Nematon under his control, something I think that no Hale has managed to achieve for five generations,"
"No…"
"I find you failing in your position, you failed my Pack, you failed my Alpha, you failed my niece and nephew, you failed me. You have not completed any of the tasks that you were contracted to do when you agreed to be Emissary to my sister, you have not guarded this land the way that you should have done. You have two weeks to leave my territory, or I will kill you," Peter said calmly.
"Are you going to just allow this?!" Deaton turned to Chris furiously.
"I have heard nothing that is not true. With everything that Alpha Hale has listed, he is well within his rights to kill you here and now, and I would not be able to intervene. He is being quite gracious in allowing you to leave, and giving you a more than fair time to settle your affairs," Chris shrugged.
"I...I…"
"My decision is made, you now have a week and a half, remove yourself from my territory, or your body will never leave it!" Peter growled. The snarl he let out when Deaton's Magic snapped out at Stiles was furious and would have summoned everyone in the hotel had their room not been soundproofed.
Stiles grimaced a little at the crunching noise made by Deaton's head going into the table they were standing around, Peter slashing out with his claws and scraping four long, deep wounds right across Deaton's face, forehead to chin that would scar badly.
A sign to all other packs of an Emissary that had let their Pack down, that had allowed them to die and had been cast out by the next Alpha. A sign to all Alpha's and Packs, to all magic users in the supernatural world, that he was untrustworthy.
"You have two days now, and if you do not leave this room immediately or even look at my Emissary wrong, I will slit your throat in a second," Peter snarled.
"I suggest you leave now Deaton," The click filled the room, and they turned to see Chris also now standing with his gun aimed at Deaton steadily.
"You're really taking his side? After he killed your sister and had your wife arrested?" Deaton spat.
"They were within their rights to do that, the sister and wife I thought I had did not exist for the actions that they have taken are nowhere near within the code. I am grateful to Alpha Hale and Emissary Stilinski for taking them out of my daughter's life so that she did not go down the same path," Chris said blankly. "Now, will I be helping them smuggle a body out of here?"
"You're going to regret this!" Deaton snarled, spinning and storming out the room with as much dignity as he could with blood pouring down his face.
"Did you manage it?" Peter asked the minute the door was shut.
"Yup, he made it way easier than I thought it would be," Stiles nodded, stepping closer to Peter and wrapped his arms around his tense Alpha.
"May I ask what it is that you did?" Chris asked, stashing his gun away and sitting down again, his hands pointedly on the table.
"Scott decided to go behind my back and tell Deaton that Mother Magic had favoured me and sent me back here. That knowledge is not for anyone but those I trust the most, and it is something that Deaton could have used to send every witch, sorcerer, conjurer and magic sucker after me. I bound that knowledge to him, he can not in any way tell anyone about it," Stiles said absently as he rubbed Peter's arm.
"You trust me?" Chris asked a little incredulously.
"I told you, Chris, we're good friends in the future, you and Peter actually get on as well, before…" Stiles frowned a little, and Peter's arm wound around his waist this time.
"We died," Chris nodded.
"Pretty badly, all of you did. That was why I was sent back, Mother Magic granted me this chance to change things, everyone died, one by one. Allison, Allison was the first one," Stiles watched Chris' face blanch.
"You're not saying that to try and get me on side, she really…" Chris gulped.
"Yes, I am sorry, she was the first, she died protecting us all, protecting her friends, trying to rescue Lydia. She died bravely," Stiles closed his eyes before opening them again. "I watched every single one of my Pack die around me, one by one till it was me and Lydia left, until she was slaughtered in my arms as well. When I was kneeling in her blood Mother Magic appeared to me and said that she was giving me a second chance. I am not going to waste that," Stiles said firmly.
"And I have a part in that?" Chris asked, unsurely glancing at Peter.
"Yes, you and your daughter had no part to play in what happened to my family, even when I was mad I knew that, I could have killed her on several occasions, but I didn't," Peter took a deep breath, sliding his hand down to take Stiles' in his. "Stiles says that we got on, that working together went well for us, and that we were able to find a friendship together. And if you agree, going forward you have a big part to play in the plan that I have for the future,"
"What plan is that?" Chris asked in interest, leaning forward slightly, and Stiles squeezed his hand in support.
"I plan to create a connection between the supernatural world, forge bonds and create a way for us all to talk to each other, a way to govern each other and make sure that innocent people aren't hurt by the dangerous of us, making sure that information that is needed is passed on, that omegas are not left to fend for themselves to go mad, but packs are found for them,"
"And to make sure that hunters can't just move in and kill off innocent people?" Chris added softly.
"Yes," Peter nodded. "Hunters are a part of this though. We have been working against each other for too long when we should have been working together. True hunters want to protect, honest packs want to protect and ensure that others are not harmed, if we work together, if we have each other's backs, then what happened to my family shouldn't happen again. There is nothing in place to prevent wolves from going mad, as there is nothing to prevent hunters from going rogue. If we can share information, share knowledge, talk to each other, a lot less people will be hurt as collateral for straying into the path of our world,"
"I really like the sound of that," Chris said softly. "Understanding each other, talking to each other, forming relationships with each other, that is a much better way forward. I don't want what my father, sister and wife did to be the legacy of the Argents, I don't want that to be my daughter's legacy, this is the legacy I want to give her, creating something new, something better. I am in this 100%" Chris said passionately.
"You always were the smart one," Stiles grinned tapping his forehead. Chris frowned and went cross-eyed at the warmth that he felt there.
"What was that?" He asked curiously.
"My protection,"
"I have a feeling that that is worth a lot more than I can even guess at," Chris snorted.
"Not worried about it?" Peter asked curiously, no really accusation in his tone.
"He said that we're good friends in the future, aside from anything that he knows I keep my pizza preferences closely under wraps, I don't doubt him," Chris smirked.
"An Argent with a sense of humour will wonder never cease," Peter snarked.
"I like doing the impossible, one of the oldest hunter families working with one of the oldest werewolf families, wouldn't want to be predictable," Chris snarked back.
"Heaven forbid, what would people think?"
"Are you two done flirting?" Stiles smirked.
"I don't share," Peter growled nipping at his cheek making the time traveller laugh.
"I'm not sure that my heart would survive you two," Chris snorted.
"Oh it definitely wouldn't," Peter smirked flashing his red eyes at the hunter.
"Let me know if there is anything that you need me to do, or what you want me to start doing," Chris said standing up.
"The first thing I would suggest is talking to Allison properly about the supernatural world, and don't put her through the traditional Argent test, you need to undo the crap Kate put in her head and quickly. I like Allison, and I will always protect her, but the person that she became for a little while was someone who was...unstable," Stiles tried to say tactfully.
Chris stared at him intently for a few beats before he nodded. "I will,"
The two of them waited for a little while as Chris left, just soaking up what had happened before Peter turned to Stiles sensing the worry in him. "Ok?"
"Just not looking forward to the fall out from Scot of us kicking Deaton out of town. It isn't going to go down well, and to be honest, I am not sure if I have the energy or the will to deal with him," Stiles sighed.
"You're not alone in dealing with it," Peter kissed his temple.
"That is the only thing that really helps," Stiles turned to look at him and allowed himself to say what was on the tip of his tongue despite how soppy it sounded. "I never really feel alone when I am with you,"
"Good, you never will be alone again," Peter promised softly.
"Come on, let's go tell our pack how it went," Stiles grinned tugging Peter to his feet, feeling the warmth from his Alpha at the thought of their Pack.
Peter frowned when he reached out and felt the empty bed next to him, sitting up sharply when he realised that Stiles was missing. He stood and sniffed around, relaxing only a little when he did not smell anyone else in the room, or any magic. He was aware of the door opening and a sleep ruffled, worried Derek standing in the doorway clearly having heard him and probably smelt his panic as he focused on his bond with Stiles, relaxing even more when he felt only contentment from his bond.
"You have him?" Derek asked.
"Got him," Peter nodded yanking on his jeans and going to the window.
"Call if you need anything," Derek grunted just as he threw himself from the window and raced through the forest towards where he could feel his...Stiles, allowing the bond between them to tug him in the right direction until he realised where he was aiming towards. He picked up even more speed with a definitive direction to go to, not having to rely on the bond between them to direct him.
He paused on the edge of the clearing with the Nematon in the centre, and in the centre of the Nematon was Stiles, sitting in his Iron man pyjamas crosslegged, and looking like the most stunning being that Peter had ever seen in his life.
His pale skin was nearly glowing as the moon shone down on him, seeming to soak into his skin and reflect back out. He may be a spark, but he belonged to wolves and they belonged to him, and as a creature of the night and child of the moon seeing Stiles surrounded in her light, being embraced by her made Peter's heart beat faster. He had his head tilted back as though in deep meditation, the scent of his magic and just his natural scent filling Peter's senses despite them being outside.
His eyes opened and his full lips moved into an automatic smile when Peter stepped into the clearing, welcoming and warm, golden whisky eyes glowing with his magic as he looked at his Alpha whose eyes were glowing red into the night.
"I am sorry for just leaving," he said softly when Peter reached him, climbing onto the stump and sitting cross-legged in front of his spark.
"I was a little worried, but it is ok, everything alright?" Peter asked, reaching out to brush Stiles' pale cheek.
"Yes, she was just calling to me," Stiles tilted his head back and closed his eyes again as he rested his hands on the stump. Through his bond with the Nematon Peter could feel the hum of connection the power flowing through it, mixing with his own power that flowed through it with their connection. "What?" Stiles smiled lightly, opening his eyes when Peter hummed lowly in his chest.
"I can't wait to feel our magic mixing together when we bond," Peter smirked.
"So sure of yourself My Alpha," Stiles laughed breathlessly, moving forward he crawled into Peter's lap, wrapping his legs around his bare waist and wrapping his arms around his shoulders. His Alpha rumbled lowly, pressing their noses together.
"Very sure," Peter hummed running his hands up his back.
"It is all so different," Stiles tilted his head back, arching himself as he breathed in the magic in the air, trusting Peter to keep him steady, which of course the Alpha did, not taking his eyes off of the man in his arms.
"It is about to get even better. The house is nearly ours, the trial is due, we have our Pack forming around us, Deaton is gone, and I have you in my arms," Peter breathed out.
"I love you," Stiles said so quietly that a human would have struggled to hear it. But with the words spoken and his hearing he might as well have shouted it in Peter's ears. The Alpha unconsciously tightened his arms around Stiles' waist, his eyes scanning over the Spark's face desperately, his ears searching out the steady thrum of Stiles' heartbeat.
But he could find no sign of anything but the truth having been spoken.
"I love you too, so much," Peter closed his eyes, gently pressing their foreheads together.
"I love you, so so much, I love you," Stiles laughed happily pressing kisses to Peter's face.
"Getting you in my life, it feels like a dream, my life since you travelled back feels like a dream. I love you, Stiles," Peter cupped his precious face and kissed him, trying to show how much he loved him as well as the words that had been spoken between them.
"I love you," Stiles said, "I love you more than anything, since coming back has been a dream, my life now is a dream," he kissed him gently, the two of them holding each other close, exchanging gentle kisses seated on top of the Nematon as the magic of the stump and the Hale magic hummed and sparked around them happily.
Peter slowly came awake aware of the happiness humming through him that he had not felt in a long time, even before the fire he had not felt it, lost in the chains that Talia had pulled around him, frustration burning him up before the fire had.
But everything was different now, and what he had now was almost making it worth the pain that he had been through, the life that he was building, the future that was forming, for the first time in so long he had hope.
He shifted a little and tightened his arm around Stiles, pulling him a little closer as he opened his eyes and looked out to the forest around them, before looking down at the man that was laying against his chest, holding onto him just as tightly, his face pressed into his chest for warmth as the chill of the morning washed over them, Peter's body heat keeping the worst of it off of them.
Carefully picking up his mate he started walking through the forest back towards the house, thankful that Stiles seemed to be in a nice deep sleep considering he barely even moved in Peter's arm when he was picked up and settled with his face snuggled into Peter's bare chest to try and keep warm before falling fully back asleep.
He was a little bit up and down with his sleeping still, even though his nightmares was getting better, they were still occurring but not as much as they had been thankfully, but a good night of sleep was still a rare enough thing that it made Peter happy to know he was getting some proper rest.
Looking down at the precious burden in his arms Peter could not help but watch him, listening to the beat of Stiles' heart, allowing the sound of it, the scent of his mate to fill his senses. The words that they had been spoken the night before echoed in his mind and he could not believe that Stiles loved him. As cocky as he was, and as sure as he was that he would be able to convince Stiles to permanently mate with him, knowing that he truly had Stiles' love, that this amazing man who was blessed and favoured by Mother Magic, who had travelled back in time and ran with so much determination to change what had happened, and protect them, knowing that he had chosen him to love made him feel awed.
For a good long time, Peter had always been so sure that love would make him weak, vulnerable, soft. But Stiles, loving Stiles, it made him stronger, sharper, it made his Alpha more powerful because it had something to protect, something precious and important that he would allow no one to hurt or take from him, it sounded extreme but he knew he would honestly burn down the town of Beacon Hills and everyone who was not Pack in it if it meant protecting Stiles, and he would not feel guilty about it. This man was everything to him, and he made Peter a better version of himself, a better Alpha, a better man. He seemed to balance out the worse of Peter's personality, able to soothe the jagged edges, dull the need to manipulate which would threaten the trust and well being of his Pack without even knowing he was doing it.
The damage that Talia had done had slightly skewed how Peter viewed Pack, his wolf was suspicious and wary of Pack and had been for a long time, not fully trusting them and keeping them at arm's length, and watching them, waiting for the knife in the back at the extreme, the lashing out at the best.
But Stiles was repairing that, how could he wait for the knife in the back when Stiles looked at him with so much trust in his eyes, when he trusted him with his safety without a second thought, draping himself over a man who had been killing since he was 13 years old, even though he had been manoeuvred into it to 'protect the pack', and with Stiles' trust came the trust of the others, came a Pack that did not look at him out the corner of their eyes, moved away from his touch as though the blood that soaked his hands would stain them as well, instead, with Stiles' encouragement they reached out for him, reached out to touch him, trusted him, and he felt those old scars healing over, both from the fire and from his sister's jealous paranoia of him.
"Hey, everything ok?" Derek asked as Peter walked into the kitchen, the younger man was cooking breakfast, looking more than a little sleep ruffled.
"Perfect," Peter smiled contently.
"Ugh I don't want to know," Derek whined a little.
"Nothing like that, honestly, use your nose," Peter rolled his eyes.
"I don't want to, I am terrified of what I might smell whenever I am around you," Derek grumbled.
"Mainly lust I would think," Peter smirked making his way to the stairs.
"Just for that I am not making you coffee," Derek growled as Peter started up the stairs.
"To be honest I am probably going back to sleep," Peter admitted turning onto the hallway.
"Sure everything is ok?" Derek asked as Peter made his way into the bedroom.
"It honestly is, just a little tired from the magic and the forest walk," Peter said as he placed Stiles carefully onto their bed. Looking down at Stiles he went over his thoughts from the walk back and carried on. "I told Stiles that I love him last night, and he told me that he loves me,"
There was a brief pause from downstairs where he could practically hear and smell Derek's shock. "Congratulations, I mean it, Peter," Derek said softly.
"Thank you, Derek," Peter went to the bedroom door. "Have a good day, and be careful,"
"I will, have a good day being all loved up," Derek teased. Chuckling to himself Peter closed the door turning to head back to where Stiles was snoring away on the bed. Fondly he rearranged those long limbs so that he actually fit on the bed as well, running his fingers through the long dark hair of the younger man, it nearly grown now to a length that Stiles was happy with, Peter had to admit that it suited him a lot more, and he enjoyed running his fingers through it.
He settled down onto the bed, gathering Stiles against his chest and held him close as he settled back down to sleep, listening to his nephew rumbling around downstairs getting ready to go to classes to learn to be a deputy, his humming to himself showing how much he was healing as well. As he fell asleep Peter could not lose the smile from his face, the feeling of contentment running through him soothing even more old wounds.
Deep within the forest from where the two of them had slept the night before a small, green sprout grew from the centre of the Nematon, the fragile little life growing from the old, wounded, scarred stump forming from the bond between a certain Spark and Alpha as it grew in strength, the formation of its life coming from the words spoken between them the night before.
"This room is going to be mine," Lydia declared.
"Oh?"
"You owe me, you attacked me after all, I get the second claim on a room," Lydia shrugged, eying Peter with a smirk.
"How long are you going to hold that against me?" Peter grumbled.
"As long as you feel guilty and I can get something out of you," Lydia laughed.
"It is a wonder that I like you!" Peter growled.
"I know, with how alike you both are, it is a wonder," Stiles said as he walked past the open door.
"Hey!" Lydia and Peter both protested.
"I like this room," Derek shrugged stepping out of the room across from what now seemed to be Lydia's room, and by default Jackson's.
"This can be Cora's," Stiles nodded motioning to the room next to Lydia and Jackson's.
"And we have room for more pack members," Peter smiled.
"Of course you two will be taking the fancy room," Jackson huffed.
"Of course, that is the plus of being with the Alpha!" Stiles grinned.
"Oh, that is the only plus is it?" Peter raised his eyebrow, turning to narrow his eyes playfully at his mate.
"Well, definitely not the only plus," Stiles wiggled his eyebrows ridiculously making Peter snort.
"Definitely not from what he has told me," Lydia snickered.
"Wait, what has he told you? I will buy you a basket of shoes," Peter turned quickly to her.
"Not a chance, the information and Stiles' friendship is worth much more," Lydia snorted.
"You don't tell Stiles anything about me, right!" Jackson laughed before blanching at the look Stiles and Lydia gave him. "...right?"
"I told you their monthly spa days were going to be a bad idea for you," Derek smirked at Peter before retreating down the stairs to check out the living room again.
"Stiles, what do you say about me?"
"I'm going to check out the kitchen again," Stiles waved.
"Stiles!" Peter hurried after him, following him into the kitchen. He pouted when Stiles just laughed and caught him up in a kiss before turning back to the kitchen. He had to fight down his smile to keep his pout on his face when Stiles started humming happily to himself as he opened and closed cupboards and draws and chattered about where he wanted to put things and the meals that he could cook in here.
Their Pack House was forming, Peter thought with contentment as he stepped up behind Stiles and wrapped his arms around his waist, pressing kisses to the back of his neck and carried on listening to Stiles planning the first proper Pack meal he would cook in here, the basics that they would need.
When he started talking about what the Christmases and different holidays that they could celebrate here and what they could do with the house, Peter could do nothing but press his face into Stiles' neck and listen to him, he could even forgive him for the nameplate sitting proudly and magically glued next to the front door.
The Hale Den.