Authors Note: HEYO! XD Please tell me what you think; I would love to know XD I own nothing and no one, apart from the following: Zane,Gabriel (Gabe).

JUST SO YOU KNOW: like everyone else, I have no idea what Stiles' real name is, so I'm going along with what everyone else puts :) and I've made his middle name up XD

You guys are all so amazing and I love you all! In a non-creepy non-psycho kind of way XD

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Chapter 20

Stiles

Sunday morning, I woke up with a little thought.

While I knew a few things about the people I had been living with for this short amount of time, they knew way more about me that I did of them. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but that didn't sound fair, at all.

Well, that's going to change.

I tried to come up with a way to get them all to open up and spill the beans about themselves, trying to see if there was a way I could do it without them knowing, while making pancakes – it was a favourite on a morning...though I always made sure to have the bacon and sausages and eggs. I couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic every time I made pancakes though... They always reminded me of a simpler life, a happier life... A life I used to know and have.

But it was fine.

For the Pack... Yeah, for the Pack I could look past it. Even if they weren't my Pack. They were as good as; taking me in as if I was an orphaned wolf cub, wandering the forest alone, with no one left it the world. That was pretty much what happened.

My throat tightened slightly, the telltale signs of tears approaching making themselves known. Especially when my eyes started to sting. These people, who barely knew me but knew me better than anyone alive today, took me in. They took me in, fed me, clothed me... They didn't kick me out when they found out what I was, or some of the things I had done, or had discovered some of my baggage – Zane, Spring Heeled Jack. They didn't try to force me to open up, letting me decide whether I wanted to or not. They included me, fought for me.

They were like the family I had ripped away from me.

Huh, never thought I'd ever think that... Wow, Stilinski, you're going soft...

No, not soft...

Yeah, soft. And crazy, I mean, you're talking with yourself.

That's normal. Besides, the Pack is made up of good people. The even accept me. No one's done that before... Not since mom.

Yeah... These guys aren't so bad. And, hey, Scott hasn't ditched Isaac since that time you punched him, so at least you know they listen.

Huh... Maybe I was going crazy. I was talking to myself.

As always, once I got the last of the food cooked, everyone appeared. Seriously, it was a little freaky how that happened every morning.

I smiled a little as they all walked in, mumbling a 'good morning' when they saw me. I know it sounded cliché but it gave me a warm feeling inside... Wow, I was sounding like a girl! I just shook my head a little, to clear it, before finishing plating the last batch of pancakes and putting them on the table, taking my usual seat to the right of Derek.

It was still a little weird, sitting next to him after what had happened with the sit ups... But everything was still relatively normal between us. Besides, the Pack didn't know, though I suspected Peter did – you know, weird-creeper-Uncle-werewolf-senses telling him.

I would be surprised if that was the case.

Ok, so a little surprised.

A lot surprised, shut up!

I looked around the table as everyone started eating and drinking and talking. I had this whole plan in my head as to how I was going to bring it up, introduce it in slowly. You know, be casual about this.

"So, I thought we could play a 'game'." I said.

Or, I could be a loser and say it like that...

"A...game?" Boyd repeated, scrunching his nose up.

"Yeah! I haven't got a name yet, though." I told them. "But, at the moment I'm calling it: Nine Wolves and One Human Tell Stiles All About Them, Because They Know A Lot About Stiles."

There were many amused raised eyebrows. But they all gave in.

First they all told me how they joined the Pack – apart from Derek and Peter, of course.

Allison: At first was just there for Scott, but then found that werewolves were nothing like her family had said, and she genuinely cared about everyone there. But she didn't want the bite – I didn't know if she was waiting for the right time or what.

Boyd: Derek offered him friendship and a sense of belonging.

Danny: At first was just there for Jackson, but then came to the realisation that this was where he belonged. I'm sure Isaac was in between those two things... He took the bite for no reason other than he wanted to.

Erica: To get rid of her epilepsy and all the nasty things she got with it.

Isaac: To get away from his dad.

Jackson: Just because... I think it was because he wanted to fit in somewhere.

Lydia: She had this weird, creepy thing that happened to her when Peter was psycho, and kind of got caught up in all the wolfy business. After sorting it out, she wanted to know what went on, help out and be there for Jackson. Later on she was turned so she could stay with them all.

Scott: He was turned by Peter – during his psycho days – but loved being in the Pack.

Then we moved on to the other stuff.

Allison was an accomplished archer and gymnast. She never liked the idea of being a hunter, if it meant hurting innocent people like her Pack. So he met her parents half way. She loved to learn new things, willing to give anything a go, at least once. She loved the Mediator series by Meg Cabot...I loved her for that... Allison also liked Thor and Disney films – who didn't – saying how her mom helped her collect all things Disney.

Boyd worked at the ice-skating rink. He loved to cook, though he didn't know how to do much, only a few things – like cakes and stuff. He didn't have the best life at home, which was why he agreed to becoming a werewolf in the first place, and he decided it was the best decision he had ever made. Boyd said how he liked to write. Just little things, like short stories, and it was only a hobby, but it was something he liked to do.

Danny took break dance lessons when he was three up until the age of nine. He liked Harry Potter – not as much as I did though, but still – and Shakespeare. He had a small fear of the water, because he almost drowned over in Hawaii. Oh, not to forget that he played trumpet. Danny smiled sheepishly about getting his hacking put on his file, but that didn't stop him from continuing.

Erica loved to dance. Like me, she would put a song on and just move to the beat. Even when she wasn't a werewolf she would put some music on and jump around her room, bobbing her head along and singing 'badly'. While she put up this hard ass bitch exterior, she really was a sweetie... Some of the others jumped in, saying how she basically adopted Isaac as a little brother, taking him under her wing, before the Pack properly got together. While Erica blushed, Isaac just grinned and nodded, telling me everything she had done for him – there was a lot!

Isaac didn't have to tell me anything about his past – I already knew. But he told me more about being with the Pack. Because we had gotten so close, I already knew quite a bit about Isaac, but I still learnt a little more. Like, Isaac had never mentioned that he loved Doctor Who – I seriously loved this kid!

Jackson's parents both died in a car crash, the doctors keeping his mom on life support long enough to do a c-section. Behind that bad-boy attitude, he really was a nice guy – he was the same as Erica. He put up walls to protect himself, so the thing with his adoptive parents never happened again. Even so, he started to open up. He said how he loved lacrosse, wanting to take it further, become a professional – though he was going to get another job, just in case. I also found out that, surprisingly, the blonde and I had the same taste in music, giving us a lot to talk about at some point.

With Lydia I already knew about the genius IQ and the Archaic Latin. But she already knew that I knew that. So, she told me about how she would play dumb in high school, just so people wouldn't pick on her for it – it was a cruel world after all – deciding to keep her grades and smarts between her and her teachers. But now, at university, she prefers showing it a bit more. She loved to swim and ice-skate. No real reason as to why, only that she loved it. She even let slip how Jackson always went with her whenever she wanted to go do one or the other.

Peter completely dropped the sass and the sarcasm when it came to him. He looked serious and genuine, a look I had only seen a few times so far. He said how, before the fire, he used to be just like everyone else. He went to work, he earned money, he loved his family. He said how living with his Pack/family made him feel more human. Which was why he switched so badly when he came back around and turned psycho for a while. He said how he regretted what he had done, but was grateful for where he was now. It was after that that he went back to the Peter I knew. He said how he always loved to annoy the 'pups', especially Derek – I guess Derek was a 'pup' to Peter, even if it was his nephew –, watch them squirm while making them slightly uncomfortable. By the slightly green look on Scott's face, I could only guess that the boy knew only too well.

Scott's parents were divorced, mom worked as a nurse and he worked with Deaton at the vets office. I already knew he liked Batman, but life was made better when I found out he liked pretty much everything from the Marvel and DC worlds – just like Isaac. I loved the fact that I had found two awesome people I could geek out with, without feeling self-conscious. Scott, also, used to be asthmatic before being turned, which was an up point to receiving the bite – not that he said that last part. He also said how he liked to just chill out and play video games all the time, and I swore I could have died! It was needless to say that Scott now had a new games buddy!

Now I know what you're wondering. What about Derek?

Well, Derek was being a Sourwolf and wouldn't say anything. He just stayed quiet and refused to talk, the others telling me that nothing would work.

I silently vowed that I would get him to open up.

"I do have one question for you." Allison said. "The rumour about you doing porn for money... Can you set that one straight for us, because none of us can tell?"

Looking around at all of them, it was hard to miss the poorly disguised curiosity. So I had to laugh a little.

"I'll say it simply, I'm a virgin." I grinned. "I've done some fucked up things for money before, but never sex."

I couldn't help the grin that was basically plastered to my face, though it dropped ever so slightly after I saw a bright flash.

Blinking to get my eyes back to normally, I saw Peter setting down a camera.

Raising an eyebrow, I waited for his explanation.

"I want evidence that you do actually smile sometimes." he sighed, as if it was obvious.

I guess it kind of was obvious though...

Later on, we were in the living room, watching a movie. To this day, I cannot remember what we were watching; only that it was boring as hell! But I was being forced to watch it.

I ended up lying on the floor, next to Isaac who was sitting in between Danny's legs and leaning back against the couch. It was weird thinking that everyone had a place in the living room – me especially – but it worked... At least no one fought over where they had to sit.

Everything was going fine, until I heard the whip crack.

Now, I thought I was getting better with seeing something's on TV. I didn't freak out if someone got too close to the fire, or punched... But I hadn't gotten used to the whips, especially since this was the first time hearing one since I ran away.

I don't remember diving away from everyone, but the next thing I knew I was on the other side of the room, getting as close to the door as possible.

And then something new happened.

FLASHBACK – Saturday, December 25th 2010 – 16 year old Stiles

Christmas Day.

I know what you're thinking: 'it's Christmas, surely Stiles' dad would give him a break.'

Well, you're wrong. If anything, it could even worse around holidays.

I was dragged down into the basement at five in the morning and I was never let out until eleven in the evening, the next day. I was always chained to the wall by my wrists, on this day though I usually had a chain around my neck.

John - there were days where I refused to call him dad – would always have been drinking since late in the evening on Christmas Eve, so he was happily plastered by the time he dragged me down to the basement and chained me.

I just wanted to end it all. Put an end to me. But everything he did always go so much worse when he found out that I did that...

But yeah, Christmas and I was in the basement, cowering in the corner that I was chained to, as John stalked closer with a mini-blow torch in hand. I already knew what was coming, but it never stopped me from trying to get away at first, trying to get him to stop.

But it never worked.

"Who needs a turkey, when you got a chicken?" John laughed, voice slurring as he threw his empty beer bottle at me, the bottle smashing just over my head, making the shattered glass rain down on my head.

"Please don't." I whimpered, staring wide eyed at the blue flame from the mini-blow torch. "Please... Dad..."

END FLASHBACK – Back to: Sunday, December 8th 2013

But then something different happened.

The scene of my dad and I faded, coming to light on a younger version of Isaac and his dad.

FLAHBACK – Friday, August 19th 2011 – 16 year old Isaac

"Please, dad, no!" I begged. "Please, not the freezer again!"

I was already black and blue from him hitting me, the last thing I wanted was to go into that...thing again!

I couldn't say how many times he had stuffed me into that freezer over the years. I couldn't say how many times I had begged for him to no to do, to stop. I couldn't say how many times he had beaten me black and blue. I couldn't say why he did this to me, pretty much every day.

Because I didn't know any of the answers to them.

"I promise I won't do it again!" I tried.

I didn't even know what I had supposedly done. I hadn't talked to anyone, I was doing my work, and I think I was keeping my grades at a C or above. I hadn't done anything – that I knew of – to make him do any of this!

Apart from, maybe, that he wanted to.

That he enjoyed seeing me suffer.

That he enjoyed hearing me scream and cry and yell, when he knew no one would come and help me.

He enjoyed seeing me in pain.

He lifted me easily, even as I tried to get out of his hold, slamming me down into the freezer with perfect ease.

"Please don't do this again!" I screamed, shaking all over as panic settled in a warms tears ran down my face to mix with the blood. "What did I do?!"

But he never answered.

END FLASHBACK – Back to: Sunday, December 8th 2013

I only came out of the memories of mine and Isaac's when I found I couldn't breathe. The panic attack Isaac had started to have in that memory had made it so I was having a panic attack.

That had never happened to me before.

What surprised me, though, was that, after a few seconds, I started to be able to breathe again, the only thing I noticed being a warm had on the back of my neck.

I didn't look up at any of them, just dropped my head into my knees, groaning quietly.

"Sorry..." I whispered, shaking a little. "Haven't had a proper panic attack in years."

That was when it started. I kept shaking.

I was always flinching.

I was jumpy and avoiding everyone. I even made it a habit to wake up before everyone as early as I could so I could leave the house before all of them, leave the school as quickly as I could so I could climb through the window of my room, and just generally staying locked inside my room.

The thing is, it did give me more time to continue working on the picture I had been drawing on one of my large canvases.

Giving my mind something else to think about, just doing something else, helped me to forget for a little while, just so I could get that sense of just being alright again. But sooner or later I would remember or someone would remind me of it – accidentally, if it was the Pack.

I think they realised that this was going to take some time though, so no one pushed it.

They all just left me to it.

Even Derek didn't do or say anything. He just let me be by myself.

For some unknown reason, I was a little disappointed with that...

Wednesday, December 18th. Only two more days and we were off for winter break.

I had only just escaped art, with Gabriel right behind me, using those stupid names and trying – yet again – to get me to say yes to going out with him.

As if! I would never date him!

I had decided to try and ignore him, only acknowledge him if he tried to touch me again, or something. And then, and only then, would I speak to him, telling him to fuck off before I report him for harassment. Peter would back me up, so would Derek and most likely Isaac. Surely I would win that case...

Getting to my Jeep without tearing Gabriel apart was a miracle in itself. There was nothing I wanted more at that moment than to just rip the guy's throat out. Or, you know, go all wolfy/foxy on him. At least, that way, I could attack with people thinking it was an animal.

When I had gotten back to the house, I was out my Jeep – locking it as I ran – in a flash, hopping up into the trees, before jumping into the open window of my room. I knew it was stupid to be hiding from them all, but...staying around them all would just make me worse at this moment in time.

It didn't even register that I was so tired I was about to pass out. Not even when I lay down and fell asleep.

Derek

I didn't like it.

I really didn't like it.

Stiles hadn't spoken to any of us or talked to any of us for eleven days, and no one was in the best state of mind. Everyone was worrying – even Jackson and Peter were, a little.

So, it was on the Wednesday – December 18th – that I had decided enough was enough.

It had just gone seven that evening when I stood up from my chair, heading towards the stairs without a moment's hesitation. It was ridiculous for him to hide out... He should know by now that he shouldn't have to do that.

Not with us.

So, once I had sprinted up the last set of stairs and was facing Stiles' bedroom door, I took out the key – as Alpha, I had a key to every lock in this house – opening the door wide enough for me to slip in, before closing it again.

I didn't expect Stiles to be, nor did I expect to see what was in the bed with him.

Getting a little closer, I confirmed that what I was seeing was a black wolf cub stuffed animal, with red eyes. I stopped in my tracks as soon as I saw it, all frustration leaving when I laid eyes on such a familiar toy.

I walked a little closer, staying as silent as I could. The memory was just there, but all I could remember was that black wolf being held...but I couldn't see by whom...

"OH MY GOD!" the yell brought me back to where I was.

Stiles' heartbeat increased slightly from the initial panic, only calming down once he turned the lamp by his bed on and saw – fully saw – that it was only me.

"What the hell dude?!" Stiles shrieked, eyes wide.

"Who gave you that?" I asked, nodding towards wolf cub.

He tilted his head to the side, like a confused puppy... It was rather endearing when Stiles did it. But then he looked down to where I was looking, hiding the toy behind his back as fast as he could.

"Nothing." he muttered, quickly, a faded red colouring his face and stretching down under his t-shirt.

I just watched him, standing there with my arms folded across my chest.

Stiles cracked faster than I thought he would.

"My mom gave it to me, when I was...for my third birthday, I think it was." Stiles sighed, his tone soft. "She said her friend's son, the middle child, found it and wanted me to have it for my birthday... I only met him a couple of times and he was, about, seven years older than me...but he was the closest thing I had to a friend."

I nodded. Huh...

"Yeah, he was cool. So was his two sisters." he continued. "And his uncle was alright too, though they were more like brothers, since the uncle was only, like, ten years older than him. I loved their family. They were all so nice..."

I nodded again, sitting at the edge of Stiles' bed. Stiles moved until he sat next to me, legs crossed with the wolf toy in his lap, one hand holding it as the other stroked the fake fur.

"There are some nights when I can't sleep without Wolfy – that's what I named it." Stiles added, quieter now.

Slowly, I reached over and placed a hand on Stiles' knee. He didn't flinch away like I was expecting...he just looked up. During these moments, or moments when he remembered something from his past, he always looked so much younger than he was. Like a frightened child...

It just made me even more adamant to protect him.

To hold him and never let him go.

And that had never happened before.

"Come down stairs." I said. "You don't have to be like this with us... We can help."

Stiles' shoulders sagged forward, as he leant to the side until he was leaning into me with his head on my shoulder.

"I don't know if you can." he whispered. "There are things you don't know and I can't tell any of you yet... I have all of Isaac's memories of his dad in my head, mixing with my own... I don't think you'll be able to help."

I couldn't help it. I moved my hand from his knee until my arm was around him, hand on the arm not resting on me.

I thought for sure he would move away...and I couldn't help but smile a little when he didn't.

"Well, we're going to try anyway." I told him. "I'm going to try."

And if I heard a small sniff and felt a drop of water on my shoulder, I didn't say a thing. Nothing at all.

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