It was the weirdest breakfast Derek ever had. Having it at half-past five in the morning was not the oddest thing about it. When he'd been a driver for that app he sometimes had dinner at this time. No, what made it really weird was that they were all pack but aside from Laura, they were not family.
Derek had grown up in a pack. He'd been used to chaotic meals so Boyd and Erica wolfing down their food and asking for seconds before they were even halfway through their plate was refreshing normal.
After the fire, meals had become a quiet thing. In the beginning, Laura had to drag him out of his room to get some food into him and they had eaten in silence. Things had gotten better since he'd met Stiles but that was still nothing compared to this.
For a few minutes, Derek let himself bathe in the feeling of pack. This pack was not as big as the Hale pack in Beacon Hills used to be, far from it, but it was stable. It filled a void in Derek's mind. This was not his family but it was his pack. Derek hadn't even known how much he needed this. He let out a shaky breath.
From across the table, Laura looked at him with the same mixed feelings in her eyes.
"Not forgotten," Laura said under her breath.
"Not forgotten," Derek answered the same way. Not that anybody was paying attention to them. Stiles was busy throwing food at the werewolves while Boyd and Erica demolished it the second it hit their plates.
They did slow down eventually.
"That was good." Erica patted her stomach and let out a soft burp. Boyd leaned back in his chair with a satisfied sigh as well and since he had manners he did not burp.
"Happy to provide." Stiles grinned at them. They were the only one who still had a full plate in front of them, feeding the wolves they didn't have time to eat until now. However, it looked as if the stress cooking had sucked all the energy out of Stiles, they poked more at their food than they were eating it. Maybe Derek could coax them to bed for a few hours of sleep.
Nobody had slept much last night and Boyd and Erica still needed time to heal but when Derek opened his mouth to suggest that they all went back to bed, Laura spoke before him.
"I'm sorry," Laura said. She rolled her cup of coffee between her palms, searching for the right words. "This is not how it was supposed to happen."
She paused and even from across the table Derek smelled how miserable she felt.
"Erica, I'm so sorry. I offered you a safe place in my pack and the first thing I do is to fail you as your alpha." The bad feelings radiating from her intensified, clogging Derek's nose. She tried to keep herself composed but her scent betrayed her. "And Boyd, you almost died because I was careless. It wasn't your choice to become a werewolf. I apologize for giving you the bite like this."
She took a shaky breath and Derek just knew what her next words would be.
"I'm not a good alpha. You will always have a place in my pack and I will take care of you as best as I can but if you want to leave and find another alpha, I understand."
She fell quiet and for another second she kept up the strong facade but then her face crumbled and she almost desperately clung to the mug in her hands.
Derek couldn't stand it. He was out of his chair and around the table before the others had even processed what she'd just offered.
"You're a good alpha." He slung his arms around Laura and hugged her close. She was rigid in his arms, not believing him. It felt like hugging a brick wall but Derek didn't let go of her.
"If anything it's my fault," Erica said with a glance at Boyd. "I almost …" Her voice broke and she covered her mouth with her hand. "But you saved him. Boyd is alive because of you."
"He wouldn't have been in danger if I hadn't been so careless in the first place," Laura said.
"Can we stop with the guilt trip?" Stiles cut in. They stood with their arms spread wide to get their attention. "Come on, no one died, alright? Look, there may have been some maiming, okay? A little mangling, but no death! That's what I call an important distinction."
"It is," Boyd agreed with a soft smile.
Stiles gave him a finger gun.
"Okay, it hasn't been part of the plan that Boyd became a werewolf tonight but all in all I call it a win," Stiles continued. "Erica is not going to die of cancer and the pack is stronger now, I can feel it which still is so cool. Later you're all going to run through the woods as wolves while I'm going to be stuck here in the cabin because let's face it, there's no way little human me can keep up with wolves. I was planning on having a deep philosophical conversation with Boyd while you'll be frolicking in the woods but don't worry, I can entertain myself."
"Suddenly I'm glad that I became a werewolf by accident," Boyd said dryly.
"And I thought you love me." Stiles clutched their chest dramatically and slumped back into their chair.
Derek watched them but his focus was on Laura. She did relax in his arms and after a moment she was leaning into him.
"See?" Derek whispered into her ear. "The kids are alright."
"I heard that," Erica protested but her eyes went wide when she realized that she shouldn't have been able to hear his words. She sat there for another second just listening before she bolted out of the door.
"What's with her?" Stiles wondered but before somebody could come up with an explanation, Erica yelled: "Boyd, come out here. You have to hear this!"
More to humor her than anything else, Boyd followed her outside. Derek strained his ears to catch his reaction.
There was a moment of silence followed by Erica whispering: "Can you hear that?"
That most likely was nature.
Laura had picked this remote cabin because it was surrounded by forest, there wasn't anybody around for miles. When they had left New York for the first time to spend the full moon here, Derek had needed a moment to take in the quiet filled with a million little noises. And the smell. Out here the air was fresh and clear. After living in the city for a while it had come as a shock. Partly because it reminded him of his home in Beacon Hills. Just thinking about it formed a lump in his throat.
"Do you smell that?" Boyd asked. Derek would have never guessed that the stoic man could sound so joyful. "Holy shit."
"Right?" The grin in Erica's voice was audible.
"I think they're taking it well." Derek cleared his throat and tried to not listen in on them. He was kind of invading a private moment here.
"What's going on?" Stiles asked. They were the only one who wasn't a werewolf so this was kind of lost to them.
"Sensory overload," Laura explained. "They're discovering the senses of a werewolf."
To give them some privacy they busied themselves with cleaning the kitchen and putting away the leftovers. Derek was not the only one who stifled a yawn and when he suggested to go back to bed, Stiles only put up a token protest.
"You think they're going to be alright?" Stiles asked when they slipped under the covers. Boyd and Erica were still outside, taking a walk in the woods. Mainly to get out of earshot from the other werewolves, Derek guessed. After last night they had some things to talk about. And to hug out.
It hadn't been Erica's fault, there was a reason why Laura had picked this cabin for this and why she'd wanted to keep an eye on her after the bite, but Derek understood way too well that she blamed herself for what had happened to Boyd.
"Give them some time." Derek slung his arm around Stiles' middle and drew them close enough to bury his nose in their neck.
"Is control going to be an issue?" Stiles asked, their voice low enough for only Derek to hear. Laura had stayed up in case Boyd or Erica needed her and if he wasn't mistaken, she was sitting at the fireplace right under their window.
"No." Derek didn't bother with lowering his voice. Maybe Laura needed to hear this. "They're already getting used to their new nature. Laura is going to teach them some basics later today and they have all day tomorrow to get the hang of it. That's why we're here. It might even be easier for them since they're both werewolves now, they can ground each other. If one of them slips, the other one will be right there to calm them down. But I doubt that's going to be an issue."
"If you say so." They didn't sound convinced. Only hours ago Boyd had been dying right under Stiles' hands, Derek couldn't blame them for being skeptical.
"I do." Derek kissed their neck. "A freshly bitten werewolf can get overwhelmed by their instincts and lash out, that's why Laura stayed with Erica. As the alpha, she can roar the betas into submission if she has to. Trust me, she won't let something like this happen ever again. She's a good alpha, she takes care of her pack." Derek hoped that Laura was listening in on them but he didn't know. So when Stiles just hummed to that and snuggled more firmly into him, Derek held them close while they drifted off to sleep.
Laura woke them up around noon.
She had a mountain of sandwiches waiting for them which they ate on the patio. The sun had come out and Derek let himself enjoy the warmth. Boyd and Erica were back from their walk as well and they seemed relaxed and content. They were holding hands so Derek figured that they were good.
"What's the plan for the rest of the day?" Boyd asked while Erica and Stiles were fighting over the last sandwich. She flashed her eyes at them and growled deep in her throat but Stiles only let go of the sandwich when she brought out the claws.
"Hey!" Stiles yelled at her. "That's not fair. Derek, tell her that she can't go all grrrr on me." They formed claws with their fingers and tried to imitate the impressive growl Erica had made. Coming from Stiles, it sounded rather pathetic. Erica just grinned at them with too many teeth and wolfed down the sandwich in three huge bites.
"We're going to work on your control," Laura answered Boyd's question to which Erica shrank into herself. "You have to be in control, always. Not just to prevent accidents like last night. If people find out about us …"
"We know," Boyd said quietly.
She hadn't gone into detail but Laura had made sure that they knew about hunters. That they would not hesitate to wipe out a whole pack, humans and children included. The fact that exactly that had happened to the Hale pack had helped to drive that point home.
"How are we going to do that?" Erica asked.
"How about a little game of tag?" Laura flashed her eyes at her.
They played the werewolf version of the game where whoever was it shifted to catch the others who stayed in their human form. They started slow but Boyd and Erica got the hang of it rather quickly.
Laura was the first to take the game off the ground by jumping on the roof of the cabin.
"Hey, that's not fair," Erica protested but Laura just grinned at her and taunted her to come and get her. Erica growled at her but after a moment of hesitation, she sprinted three steps, leaped off the ground, and a second later she was standing on the roof. For a second she just stood there in awe but then the game was on.
Cheered on by Stiles who was watching the spectacle from their chair on the patio, they chased each other over the roof and through the trees. Derek didn't know when he'd last been this carefree but Boyd and Erica's pure joy was catching.