Erica took it better than expected. Laura had shown her her eyes and then she'd dropped the fangs but after the initial shock, Erica was willing to listen.
Boyd had a harder time, wrapping his head around the fact that werewolves existed and that he was having dinner with them. Derek guessed that the last bit was what threw him off. In most stories about werewolves, they didn't invite you to have dinner with them, you were dinner.
"You're not telling us this just because you feel like it." Erica narrowed her eyes on Laura who had melted back into her human form. "I'm going to take your secret with me to my grave soon but Boyd will still be a risk for you."
Derek had to give her kudos for that, Laura hadn't even mentioned hunters yet.
"I'm offering you the bite," Laura said. "You can become a werewolf."
"That would cure me?" Erica asked, clearly not buying it. However, there was hope in her scent now along with fear. Fear that Laura was giving her false hope, Derek got that.
"Yes," Laura said firmly. "We heal and we regenerate. Werewolves don't fall ill or get cancer. If you become a werewolf, your body will get rid of the tumor in your brain."
Suddenly Erica had tears in her eyes and she was clinging to Boyd's hand.
"What's the catch?" Boyd ask. He was still skeptical even if Laura's performance had been pretty convincing.
"As a werewolf, you need an alpha," Laura explained. "Without an alpha, a freshly bitten werewolf becomes feral and poses a threat to everybody around them. You don't have to stay in my pack after you've gotten used to your new nature but you will need an alpha to not become an omega."
"Is alpha just a fancy word for owner?" Boyd asked.
"No." Now it was Stiles' time to speak up. "I'm not a werewolf but I became pack just a few days ago. Laura is the leader, I can't deny that, but she can't force me to do anything. She's like the mom of the pack. Pack is like a family just more. Tighter, more intense but you're still you and you can leave whenever you want."
Derek slung an arm around them to show how proud he was of them for getting it.
"You don't have to decide now." Laura took over again. "The offer stands. If we do this, I would like to do that somewhere remote and not in the middle of New York so I'll need a day or two to prepare everything anyway."
"That does not sound ominous at all," Boyd muttered but Erica was clearly thinking about it.
"You might be a handful at first," Laura admitted.
"And you'll appreciate it if you have the forest to roam once you got the hang of your wolf form," Derek added.
"Wolf form?" Erica perked up at that.
"Right?" Stiles lit up as well. "He likes to drop that information just casually but it's the important bit." The last part was directed at him. "It's your selling pitch. Full-on wolf is so cool."
"I thought the selling pitch was that she won't die." Derek raised an eyebrow at them.
"That too," Stiles agreed. "But wolves …"
"Can I see?" Erica asked almost shy but her scent betrayed her. She wanted this. Derek was pretty sure that Erica would say yes to the bite right now if Laura asked her.
Who was more skeptical, was Boyd. He was willing to listen but he needed time to process this. Derek had noticed how relieved he'd been when Laura had said that they didn't have to decide now.
Derek exchanged a look with Laura. When Stiles had asked, he'd been reluctant to show them because he was not a freak to gawk at, still wasn't, but after a silent exchange with Laura, he nodded.
"Okay, I'll show you."
He drew the line at stripping in front of them, though. He undressed in his room and returned to the others as a wolf.
"Oh my God." Erica's eyes went wide when she noticed him.
Derek rolled his shoulders, he did not like being the center of attention, but he walked over to Erica and sniffed her hand.
However, when she reluctantly reached out to scratch him behind the ear, he let out a warning growl. She snatched her hand back with a "sorry".
Derek butted his head against her hand to show her that they were good before he trotted over to Stiles. He put his head in Stiles' lap and without even thinking Stiles put their arm around his neck and started to absently scratch him.
"This is the coolest thing I've ever seen." Erica watched them with big eyes.
"Derek is still in there, he's in control, right?" Boyd had a wary eye on him.
"Derek is not in there," Laura corrected. "This is Derek. And yes, he's in full control."
It was tempting to stay a wolf but after a few minutes, Derek went back to his room to change.
"Does it hurt?" Erica asked when he joined them again at the table.
"No." Derek shook his head.
Boyd and Erica left not much later, both deep in thoughts. But they hadn't been disgusted or afraid, they hadn't called them monsters and Erica had asked Laura if they were still good on their gaming session tomorrow with Kira so all in all Derek called it a win.
"That went better than expected." After seeing them out, Laura slumped back into her seat.
"I think she's going to say yes." Stiles leaned back in their chair as well.
"Boyd is the skeptical one," Derek pointed out. He eyed the dishes still on the table, they had been too busy with other stuff to clear the table after dessert. At least somebody had the mind to put the melting ice cream back into the freezer even if Derek had no idea who had done that. A lot of the last hour was just a blur.
"Can you blame him?" Stiles asked. "You've seen how much he loves Erica. He had to come to terms with the fact that she's going to die and now you come around and offer a miracle healing. Of course, he's skeptical."
They cleared the table eventually and moved over to the couch. Derek slipped back into his fur, he didn't want to think any longer, and then he was lying on the couch with his head in Stiles' lap and only half-listened to Stiles and Laura talking. They had gone over the evening several times by now, analyzing every moment and speculating about how Erica would decide. It was getting them nowhere, only time would show, but Stiles was an overthinker by nature and Laura as the alpha was wondering if she should have said this better or what Erica might think of that. If it had been enough to get Boyd on their side because they all knew that Erica would not make this decision without him by her side.
Laura did have that gaming session with Erica and Kira the next day. Derek fled the apartment with Stiles before they could become too jealous that they were not invited. Again.
"It's not even a LAN party," Derek told them but didn't bother with hiding his amusement about Stiles' frustration. He was just happy that Laura had found some friends of her own and by now they were a pretty solid party. He did not doubt that they wouldn't mind playing with Stiles some time, and with Boyd and Isaac too, there was still talk about them all playing together, but this was a thing between the three women.
Stiles got it, Derek knew that, but that didn't mean that they weren't complaining about it.
To pacify them Derek agreed to play with them and that's how he ended up on Stiles' couch with a controller in his hand. They were playing a co-op puzzle-solving game where they had to work together to get through the level. It was not how Derek had pictured his Sunday but he had to admit that he had fun. It kept his mind off Erica.
Boyd did not come to work on Monday.
"He called in earlier," Isaac told them. "Said that Erica needs him today."
After this weekend it was quite possible that Erica had a bad day and needed Body around but Derek couldn't shake off the feeling that the other man was avoiding him.
"You saw her Saturday, right?" Isaac pulled him out of his thoughts. "How was she?"
Out of their little group of friends Isaac was the only one still in the dark. He was the only one who still thought that Erica would die rather sooner than later. She hadn't decided yet but her death was not as unavoidable today as it had been last week.
While Stiles launched into a detailed report of their dinner on Saturday, minus the werewolf part, Derek looked at Isaac with new eyes. It didn't seem fair to keep him in the dark.
If Erica accepted the bite she most likely would return to work. They might be able to bullshit Finstock with a new treatment or whatever but not Isaac.
Derek made a mental note to talk to Laura about him. The more people knew about them the more dangerous it became for them but leaving Issac out but still surrounding him with pack was just asking for disaster.
Isaac wanted to visit Erica after work and he asked if they wanted to join him but Derek declined. If Boyd was avoiding him, he didn't want to impose. Besides, Erica might see him visiting her as an attempt to pressure her into a decision.
However, Stiles wanted to go.
"Maybe I can talk to her in private," Stiles explained once Isaac was out of earshot. "I bet she has questions and I might be able to give her some insight you can't. She might be more open without you looming in the back." They nudged him in the side to make it clear that they were joking but they had a point there.
So after work, they split up. Stiles went with Isaac to visit Erica and Derek went home to Laura. He hadn't seen her since Saturday and he wanted to spend some time with his alpha.
"Are we doing the right thing here?" Laura asked. She was lying on the couch with her head on his thigh, looking up at him. "I kind of feel that we should pack a bag, get in the car, and just drive. Just leave and never look back."
"Stiles is pack," Derek reminded her. "We would have to stuff them in the trunk to make them leave New York."
Laura hummed to that but fell quiet for a while. Content with that, Derek lazily ran his fingers through her hair.
"I'm scared." She finally broke the silence. "I was never meant to be an alpha."
"You're a good alpha," Derek assured her.
"I barely managed when it was just the two of us."
"I was … am not exactly a good beta," Derek said. He was still not sure why she'd put up with his shit for so long. A part of him was still convinced that it hadn't been because they were family and pack, not because she loved him, but because she feared to be alone. She needed a pack and he was all that was there. When the ugly truth about Kate had come out, he'd been sure that even that fear was not enough for her to keep him in her pack.
"I'm going to tell you every day for the rest of your life if I have to …" She reached up to cup his face. On instinct, Derek rubbed his cheek into her palm. "… you are a good person. She used you in the worst possible way. But that's not your fault. Nothing of what has happened is your fault."
"Should I in return tell you every day that you're a good alpha?" Derek asked around the lump in his throat.
"I might need it," she grumbled. "Taking in Stiles was good, I can feel it. I needed that."
Derek felt it too. Before, they had been the smallest pack possible. Just enough to keep it together for both of them. Stiles had brought in more stability. With Stiles in the pack, it felt a little more like living and not just like surviving.
"Erica is different. I've never turned somebody before," Laura admitted. "What if I'm not strong enough to ground her?"
"You're the strongest person I know." Derek kissed her palm. "And you have your pack to support you. It's going to be fine."