With Boyd and Erica sitting at Stiles' small table, wet and freezing and still glancing out to the lake where Derek had disappeared just a minute ago, and Stiles hadn't even surfaced, Peter realized that he had to come clean. Boyd and Erica would insist on some answers and with them, four people of his pack would be in the know. There was no way to keep Stiles a secret any longer. And if Peter was honest, he wanted to openly be with Stiles without worrying what others might think. He couldn't change what a random stranger on the street might think but he wanted the acceptance of his pack.
"That was Derek, the local lake creature." Peter closed the door, cutting off the line of sight to the lake.
"Derek the what?" Erica asked. She was shaking but more because she was still dripping wet and that it was not summer any longer. Peter went over to the stove to get a fire going. It would heat up the cabin and a hot tea might be a good idea as well. He hoped that Stiles didn't mind.
"There are towels over there." Peter pointed over his shoulder while he piled wood in the stove. "And blankets. You should get out of your wet clothes."
While they did that, Peter called John. He figured that John did not want to take Boyd and Erica's statement at the station. There was no way they could talk freely about how they escaped if the recording went into the official file. Like expected, John was on his way a second later.
"The sheriff's coming here?" Boyd asked. He and Erica were down to their underwear and wrapped in some of Stiles' blankets.
"And what was that with the lake monster?" Erica came back to her earlier question.
"I'm going to explain this to the whole pack later so I'll just give you the cliff-notes for now." Peter set a pot on the stove to get some water boiling for the tea. He felt like the occasion called for something stronger but surprisingly Stiles didn't have any alcohol in his cabin.
While they waited for the water to boil, Peter gave them the short version of how the Hale pack had come to an arrangement with the local lake creature. How the alpha of that time not only fucked over Derek but Stiles as well. That it was the reason the Hales didn't go to the lake.
"Stiles is the guy you're seeing," Erica realized.
"Yes." Peter set the steaming mugs of tea in front of them. Both immediately closed their hands around their mug to let the warmth seep into their palms. "I didn't want to make it public right away because of how young Stiles looks and because of his complicated relationship with the Hales. When we first met, he was way too happy when he thought that I killed one of the Hale pack." Peter couldn't help a fond smile at that memory.
"Do I want to know why he thought that you killed somebody?" Boyd muttered.
"Oh, I did kill somebody that night," Peter said, the fond smile turning into something more predatory. "Stiles just misunderstood who the Hale was."
"Of course." Boyd looked as if he regretted his question.
"So, Stiles is at the bottom of the lake right now?" Erica glanced out of the window.
"He has to go under as he calls it from time to time." Peter nodded. "He heals while he's down there."
"I believe that when I see it." Erica glared at him, not convinced.
"Fair enough."
"And the sheriff knows about him?" Boyd asked.
"I don't know how they met or when Stiles told him but he's known about Stiles for years." Peter perked up when he caught the noises of a person coming down the path. "And with that, he's known about us as well."
Right on cue, the door opened and John entered the cabin. He had a look around, to assess the potential threat, no doubt, he was an officer of the law, but mainly he was looking for Stiles, Peter guessed.
"He's still under?" John asked and closed the door to keep the heat in.
"He didn't come up at all," Peter confirmed to which John nodded. John knew Stiles longer than Peter, he was more familiar with how Stiles' world worked.
"I'd be surprised if he comes up at all today. Maybe not for a few days." He clearly didn't like it but since he couldn't change it, John shook it off and turned to Boyd and Erica.
"You two alright?" He asked, his voice gentle and caring. Boyd and Erica both answered with a nod. "Can you tell me what happened?"
Peter stepped back and let him do his job, he only interfered to ask a question here and there to clarify things.
When Boyd came to the point of when they had woken up in a basement, his eyes did flicker over to Peter to confirm that it was okay to talk freely but John was quicker.
"Peter said that the hunters bought electrical equipment," John filled the moment of hesitation. "That's how they kept you from shifting?"
It still surprised Peter how casual John handled the whole werewolf thing.
"I tried but it hurt so bad." Erica's voice broke. "I couldn't."
"Did they do the same to Stiles?" John asked.
"No." Boyd shook his head. "They knew that he isn't a werewolf."
"What happened then?"
"One of the hunters came downstairs." Erica tried to keep her voice calm but she was shaking with anger. "He beat up Stiles. Badly." Her eyes flashed gold and a growl escaped her throat.
"Hospital bad," Boyd added. "He completely lost it. If that other guy didn't show up ..." He shook his head. "Still don't know where he came from or how he found us."
"Stiles can't stay away from the lake for long," John explained. "When his time is up, Derek comes to bring him back."
"Yeah, he said that he has a curfew," Erica said.
"That Derek guy, he killed the hunter, like he drowned him with his hand or something. And then he got Stiles down," Boyd continued with the story.
"As if we weren't even there," Erica cut in. "If Stiles hadn't told him to get us free as well, I think he would have left us there."
Now John made a face. "Derek doesn't care about anything aside from his lake and Stiles."
"Anyway." Boyd took over again. "Don't know what he did but next thing I know is that we're in the lake, Stiles isn't there, and Peter is yelling at us to get out of the water."
"Derek almost drowned them before they listened," Peter muttered.
"He just saved us, why would he drown us right after?"
"It's his nature," John said. "If you go into the lake, he can and will kill you. He doesn't want to but he can't help it. Stay away from the lake."
Boyd and Erica nodded meekly and crawled deeper into the blankets.
John had more questions, he wanted to know every little detail, but in the end, Boyd and Erica couldn't tell him anything new. They hadn't seen the men who had taken them, except for the one who had tortured Stiles. They couldn't tell them anything about the van or where they had taken them. The basement could have been anywhere.
So, in the end, John thanked them, promised to keep Peter updated, Peter did the same, and then John left.
"This is the weirdest day of my life," Erica said and put her head on Boyd's shoulder.
"Let's go home," Peter decided.
While Boyd and Erica peeled themselves out of the blankets and back into their still damp clothes, Peter brought the cabin back in order. Stiles would kill him if he left it in a mess.
On their way back to his car, Peter called Talia to let her know that the missing pack members were back and to tell her to get the pack together. The teenagers' story needed some explanation from him and he wanted to get it over with.
At least the background story about Stiles and Derek got somewhat lost in what Boyd and Erica had to tell for which Peter was grateful. There were questions, of course there were, and Pamela told Peter in blunt terms to not take advantage of the poor boy but all in all, they were just grateful that Derek had saved their pack members.
"You do know that we want to meet him, right?" Walter spoke for all of them. "Stiles I mean. But Derek as well."
"I need to know that he's alright," Erica said. She was sitting with Boyd on the couch, both huddled together and still with a spooked look on their face. Being surrounded by pack helped but Peter had no doubt that they would need time to process what had happened today.
"He's not a big fan of us," Peter admitted with a glance at Talia. Stiles had freaked out at the mere thought of meeting her.
On the other hand, Stiles had acknowledged that being with Peter would mean being with his pack as well. Stiles had not liked the idea and he would never be best friends with Talia but Peter had hope that he would warm up to the pack eventually.
So far Stiles had only met Cora and they had gotten along. And he'd been the one who'd saved Boyd and Erica by telling Derek to take them with them. Derek on his own would have left them there. Peter wanted to be mad at him for that but he found that he couldn't.
Derek was not human but he wasn't a werewolf either. He might look human but he was not and it wasn't fair to expect him to act like a human. Same way Peter would never be able to act like a human. He was good at pretending but his senses, his needs, and emotions were too different, it was impossible. So no, he couldn't blame Derek. But he would make sure to properly thank Stiles.
While Peter had been lost in thoughts, the conversation had circled back to the hunters. Why had they taken Boyd and Erica in the first place? What were they planning?
Peter didn't participate in the speculations, which grew wilder by the minute, he was just grateful that his relationship with Stiles was not the center of attention.
He still breathed easier when he got a call from one of his contacts that he'd found the van. Peter excused himself and hurried to drive over to the address. He even beat John to it who had the advantage of the flashing lights.
John had brought Parrish who was looking at Peter with a wary eye, still not sure what to think about Peter tagging along. But the deputy didn't protest too loudly and as long as Peter didn't get in the way, he seemed fine with the civilian hanging around.
The hunting cabin was more a remote house with a basement and a second floor. John and Parrish went through the house but when they didn't find anybody, alive that was because there was a body in the basement, they came back to the entrance where Peter was waiting for them. He didn't want to contaminate the crime scene, and he didn't want to give Parrish a reason to kick him out, so Peter had stayed at the door as instructed but he could still use his nose. He caught the scent of the two hunters he'd been looking for. Judging by the heavy imprint they had left in the house, this was the place they had stayed at most of the time, but he also caught the scent of a few others. The two hunters weren't in this alone. And there was a familiar female scent. Kate Argent.
He told John that much while Parrish was busy calling in the coroner and the forensics.
"I think they ran when they found their buddy dead and the hostages gone," John summed up what Peter was thinking. "They knew the van is hot so they left it."
Peter left before the place was crawling with people. There was no hint of what the hunters were planning beyond kidnapping some teenagers and John would keep him updated in case they did find anything.
In hope that Stiles would be there, Peter drove out to the cabin but there was still no sign of him so he went home.
That night everybody stayed up late so when Stiles finally contacted him, most of his pack was still up but they didn't give him a hard time.
"Take care of him." Talia came up behind him when he was raiding their pantry for anything sweet. He came up with two kinds of ice cream and a selection of chocolate.
"I will," Peter promised but he couldn't help the uneasy feeling when he drove out to the lake. Boyd and Erica were still shaken, Peter kind of feared what he would find at the cabin.
