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 23

Stiles

I was walking through the trees, my Jeep having broken down the day before. I would have gotten a ride home, with someone from the Pack, but – strangely – they weren't at the university and neither Derek nor Peter showed up.

So I walked.

It wasn't the end of the world; I enjoyed walking through the trees, feeling the wind.

Except, there was no wind...

Though I found it weird, I just shrugged it off, just wanting to be back home with my friends.

But then everything grew dark. The sun left the sky, no moon or stars out, and I could barely see. I couldn't see where I was going, even with sight like mine, what with being half fox and half wolf. But it was as if someone had put a bag over my head, blocking everything out.

This wasn't right.

I kept walking, even though I couldn't see where I was going. I mean, surely I would find my way back. I had walked around these woods so many times that I should be able to get back to the house.

So I kept walking.

And walking.

And walking.

But it was as if I was going nowhere. Like a dream where you try to reach the end of a hallway or something, but the distance only seems to become longer. Or, it was like I was walking around in a circle, even though I was going in a straight line, at the moment.

Where even was I now?

And then I heard a twig snap from behind me. I froze, instantly, the sound echoing around me. Because of that, I couldn't identify where the sound came from... So I took a guess. I turned to the right and ran.

Ran as fast as I could.

But, like I said, it was as if I wasn't moving, the distance only got longer.

Even so, I thought for sure that I must have gotten some distance between me and who/whatever had snapped that twig. Right?

Wrong!

Next thing I knew, I had been grabbed from behind, one arm wrapped around my waist and arms, while the other cut across my chest so the hand could cover my mouth. I was dragged backwards, kicking and screaming the whole way...

But they didn't let go until they wanted to.

At the point where they let go of me, I was catapulted down to the sharp ground, the momentum from my struggling not keeping my balance. I flipped over, so I was facing the direction in which I had been let go, assuming the person who dragged me here was still there.

I could only just make out the dark outline of a person kneeling over my outstretched legs.

"Why do you keep fighting me, babe?" Zane and Gabriel's voices layered over each other to form one. "Hm? I know you want it. You can't hide it."

It was as if I was pinned to the ground and gagged. I couldn't move, I couldn't talk. I was screwed.

The Zane/Gabriel hybrid put his weight onto my legs, shoving my shoulders back hard enough that I slammed into the ground. Slowly, they leaned over me, hands coming to rest either side of my head, just above my shoulders, face hovering just above mine.

And, of course, I could feel their obvious enjoyment digging into my stomach.

As one of their hands slipped under my shirt, starting to drag down my side and leg, their other hand got a tight grip in my hair, roughly tilting my head to the side and keeping it there. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw their lean forward slowly, bit by bit dropping his head into the area between my neck and shoulder. He ran the tip of his nose up my skin, his tongue dragging along my flesh at times.

He kept my head tilted backwards as his hand slowly started making its way back up my leg, curling inwards slightly. But then they just stopped. I thought that, maybe, this was all going to end.

But I was wrong.

Instead, letting go of my hair, they flipped me until I was on my hands and knees.

I seized up in panic.

With one hand on my hip and the other on my chest, keeping me in place and dragging me back further. I still couldn't move, I still couldn't make a sound... All I could do was just...be there. And I knew exactly what was going to happen.

I felt them roll their hips into my ass, the moan he let out making me feel sick.

I felt like crying and screaming and vomiting and just running away.

I just wanted to be a kid again, with my mom and dad on the couch with me, watching a stupid cheesy movie.

I just wanted to be away from this place, right here.

He continued to move his hips, starting to pick up speed as his hand got steadily closer to my crotch.

"Feels so good, Angel." he whispered in my ear, licking the shell of it. "Gunna get so much better real soon."

His hand moved towards the zipper on my jeans, thumb and forefinger gripping the metal, getting ready to pull it down. At the same time, I could feel warm puffs of air on my neck, feeling his head move even closer again.

As I heard the metal teeth peel away from each other, they dark shadow behind me split in two. In that moment, Gabriel had appeared in front of me, grinning like a three year old going to Disney World. His blonde hair sticking up crazily. Gabriel grabbed both of my wrists, lifting my hands off of the floor, until I was sitting there on my knees. Shifting slightly so his left hand held both of my wrists, Gabriel shuffled forward until he was almost pressed right against me, and dragged his right hand from the base of my neck slowly moving down, down to where the hand belonging to the person behind me was. As his hand got closer, Gabriel tilted his head forward, his breath hitting the side of my neck that wasn't occupied by the guy behind me.

I caught a glimpse of dark red hair from behind, which only meant that Zane was behind me. I could feel the crazed grin being pressed into one side of my neck as the metal teeth of my zipped was still being pulled away...until it was stopped by the denim.

"Finally got you where I want you, baby." Zane muttered in my ear, his hand slowly...

I woke up screaming.

Well, wouldn't you? If your mind was messed up enough to be able to make up that kind of shit? Because, let me tell you, it's so not pleasant!

Shaking and sweating, I stepped out of my bed, pulling on my sneakers and grabbing my red hoodie, heading down stairs. Running was the only way I could clear my head.

So, carefully and quietly, I slipped out of the door to my room and made my way down the hallway to the stairs.

Everything was going fine; no one had walked out of their rooms yet...

And there was a reason for that.

That reason?

None of them were in their rooms.

All of them were gathered in the living room, which, evidentially, was the room I had to pass to get to the front door. So, I just kind of ducked down, trying to sneak out... It was going really well, until...

"Stiles?" Peter's confused voice called out. "Why is your heart thrumming like a humming bird?"

And I just froze.

Sure, I trusted them all – not that I had openly admitted that, but I did – but did I really want them to know what happened? What my dysfunctional brain decided to come up with while I had been enjoying a peaceful sleep after a great Christmas?

No, I really didn't want to be that guy.

"Nightmare." I ended up saying, slowly. "Extremely bad nightmare. Just need to run it off."

And, with that, I launched myself towards the door, flying out of it as fast as I could.

How could I not notice that it was half eight in the morning?

How could I not realise that a small bit of light was shining through the gap at the bottom of my blind?

For the love of God, these nightmares were making me go crazy!

I had only been running for a few minutes at a slight jog, the cold December wind slicing across my face. Feeling the freeing breeze was the only thing that let me know that this was real, that I wasn't dreaming anymore. That everything was alright.

That Zane wasn't here. That Gabriel wasn't here.

But there was still that fear.

So, yeah, I had only been running from a few minutes, and I wasn't even that far away from the house. That was probably why the whole Pack managed to catch up with me as quickly as they did.

I sighed, not bothering to ask them to leave me alone. It wouldn't work. Never did.

So we ran together.

Even Allison, somehow, managed to keep up for a while... But Scott ended up getting her on his back. What was funny was I wasn't even running at full speed. And being half fox and half wolf, I could run faster than any of them.

Speed. Agility. I had more than they had. But that was one of the perks that came with being a hybrid like me.

After a while, I could feel the Pack getting weaker.

It wasn't a scent they were giving off. I could physically feel them all getting weaker – tiered – from running so much. That and, also, Jackson wasn't so quiet when he complained. Seriously, if there was an Olympic event based around complaining, Jackson could possibly win it for America, if not then he would be in the top ten.

"Take a break." I sighed, stopping ahead of all of them. "You obviously need it."

Shaking my head – dare I say it – fondly, I turned around to face them all, just as they were collapsing onto the ground.

If you saw the nine mighty werewolves – and one hard-ass human – in this state...you wouldn't be able to help but laugh at them.

And I really did try. I did!

Ok, yeah, no. I really didn't try. But it was funny watching all of them lying on the floor, practically on top of one another, panting for breath, looking more like dogs than they ever had in my time knowing them.

"You guys seriously need to do more cardio!" I laughed – not giggled; you have no proof that I giggled.

Oh, if only more people could see Peter's bitch face! It rivalled that of Sam Winchester – if you don't know who that is then I am very ashamed of you! Thinking that only made me laugh harder, which, in the end, meant I had to use the tree closest to me to keep me standing.

But, come on, it was funny! Or was it a 'you-had-to-be-there-moment'?

"Oh, stop with the face, Petra." I grinned, using a female variation of the older wolf's name. "If the wind changes, it'll stick like that... Actually, forget what I said. It could be a massive improvement."

While keeping his glare on me, Peter turned slightly towards Derek.

"Can we get the boy a muzzle?" Peter asked, breathing heavily.

"Sorry, Creepy Peaty, I'm not into the kinky stuff." I smirked. "Besides, you're way too old for me, and so not my type."

"Just wait until I can move again."

"Dude, I was running at half speed. Good luck trying to catch me, old man."

Yeah, I liked these guys. I liked these guys a lot.

After twenty minutes, I got them all back on their feet, deciding they had enough of a break. Allison was on Scott's back again – which, fair enough – since she was only human.

Again, I was far ahead of them all, trying to get the dream out of my head as I ran. I mean, that was the whole point of this.

But the more I thought about it, the more frustrated I got.

The more frustrated I got, the faster I ran.

The faster I ran, the more I thought about it.

It was a vicious cycle that I couldn't get out of. But the dream got me thinking.

Was it my subconscious telling me that, what I dreamt, I actually wanted to happen? Or was it my subconscious telling me that I was trying to put off the inevitable, that sooner or later Zane and/or Gabriel were going to do something like that and actually go through with it? Did it mean that I should just give up know, let it happen, and then just rid the world of me straight after?

Was that what the dream was trying to get at here?

Was I the reason they were both like that?

No, I couldn't be! I didn't even know Gabriel!

Or was that the point?

I could turn people I don't even know into a monster.

Was that what I did with Zane?

Or was the monster already there, chained up and hidden away, and I just brought it out of them.

Was this all my fault?

I didn't even realise that I had screamed and punched a nearby tree. Not until Derek's hand was gently placed onto my shoulder, hand on my wrist as I drew my arm back to hit the bark again.

Derek was breathing harder than before, meaning he had pushed himself past his limit to try and catch up with me.

And didn't that just make me feel like shit!

Sighing, I dropped my arm, slumping forward until my head was resting on the tree.

I stayed like that, with one of Derek's hands still on my shoulder and the other on my wrist, waiting for the rest of the Pack to catch up. Which only took five minutes.

But five minutes could do wonders when you were trying to calm yourself down.

It was only once they had sat down that I finally told them about my nightmare, only giving them a brief overview. I didn't exactly want to give the names of the people that stared in it, or what they had done exactly. So, I just gave a brief, yet informative, response.

But that didn't fool them.

"It was Zane, wasn't it?" Isaac whispered.

I couldn't help but flinch slightly at his name, looking around just to see if he was lurking around somewhere.

"And...Gabriel." I muttered, nodding.

I guess it wouldn't be much of a surprise if I told you that Erica and Lydia looked shocked and tried to defend him, saying 'Gabe isn't like that, Stiles, don't worry. He hasn't hurt a fly, and we've known him since high school.'

I didn't respond to that, knowing in my heart of hearts that Gabriel was bad news.

I'm pretty sure the Pack was thanking every God and Angel they could think of that we were now back at the house. Seriously, some of them didn't make it upstairs; they just collapsed into their usual places in the living room. I was one of the few that had enough energy to go upstairs and shower. But, then again, I would do. I mean, I wasn't even all that tired from the run. But I had been doing it a lot longer that eight of them, and I had a bit more speed than all of them.

Even after I showered I didn't leave my room. Instead I grabbed my new laptop. It was actually better that the one I had left behind in Dallas.

Newer software, better security/protection, faster connection...

It was just better.

Hell! Even my new cell phone was better!

It was great.

But the ring – which I still had on my right ring finger – and the guitar were, hands down, the greatest gifts I got the day before.

As soon as my laptop had loaded up, I just stared at the screen. I didn't know what to do first.

And then the one thing I had missed about having my old laptop came back to me, giving me the idea that I was now dead set on working on. And, you know, hacking was very useful...

I hadn't realised that I had been shut away in my room until a knock came to my door, the wooden thing opening before I could stand up to open it myself.

The whole Pack were standing there, looking a little bemused and, maybe, a little irritated. Some had their arms crossed, others with their hands on their hips and the rest just standing normally.

Derek seemed to be the only one standing fully inside my room though – it was still a tiny bit awkward with him ever since the kiss...

"I thought we were over this." Scott whined.

I tilted my head to the right, trying to see where his mind was at.

When I realised it.

They thought I was shutting myself away again. Like all the other times.

Yeah, I really should have noticed that...

"No! No, no, no!" I chuckled. "I was just downloading everything from my old laptop onto this one. Like, my music and documents and stuff. Well, the music that I have left on there anyway, the rest I'm downloading off of any site I can find."

"That you have left?" Allison questioned.

"Yeah... I lost a ton of stuff that I'm trying to get back. Luckily for me, my old laptop is still plugged into its charger and on, hidden somewhere no one can find it, so I can get everything from on there." I grinned, feeling a little proud of myself. "It's going to take days to get every single song back though."

"How much music do you have?" Danny asked.

I could feel the blush rising, no doubt about it. And by the smirks on Peter and Erica's faces, it was definitely there.

"Ok... So I'm a music junkie, so sue me." I muttered. "Say, want to hear some of the music I like?"

They were all genuinely surprised, noticing that I was willing to share something that was obviously very dear to me. So, they all walked in, taking a seat where they could find it, be it on the floor, at my desk or on my bed.

Derek and Isaac were the first two to actually sit down – both on my bed. And luckily Isaac sat next to me...but that meant that Derek was still quite close to me and I looked at him any time I looked up and straight ahead.

I played – Fall Out Boy: I Don't Care, Sugar We're Going Down, Alpha Dog, Miss Missing You, Just One More Yesterday; Halestorm: Mz Hyde, I Miss the Misery, Don't Know How To Stop, American Boy, Tell Me Where It Hurts, Freak Like Me; Kansas: Carry On My Wayward Son; AC/DC: Highway to Hell, Hells Bells, You Shook Me All Night Long, Back in Black, Thunderstruck; Warrant: Cherry Pie; Queen: Bohemian Rhapsody, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Fat Bottomed Girls, Another One Bites the Dust.

And that was only to name a few.

I liked that I could share this with my new friends.

It was the next night – December 27th – that we were all sitting around having dinner – some left over Christmas food that we hadn't finished the day before either. I liked the routine we had gotten into, I must admit... It made me feel a part of something. Made me feel important...wanted, needed.

It was nice to feel like that for a change.

We were all just eating, having a good time; laughing and talking. And then Peter just came out with a random question.

"So, any plans for the future?" the older Hale asked, looking over at me from where he sat.

I think it was kind of a reflex to just go completely stiff, but it was new for me to actually put my fork down and not drop it.

"Well," I started, after clearing my throat, almost missing the glare Derek shot his uncle. "My plans went to shit."

Everyone turned to me then. Some looking hurt – Isaac – while others just looked confused – Scott.

"Why?" Derek asked, frowning, a faint glimmer of sadness swimming in his eyes.

It was a kind of glimmer that you could only see if you were close enough and knew what to look for... It was something I had seen far too many times.

"Well, I was going to keep low, make no friends, and get done with school so I could get a job and an affordable apartment, so I wasn't living out of my car. You know, be alone." I told them, looking around the table at them all. "Then, one day, I just happened to stop to help this tall blonde kid, which completely fucked up my whole plan. Because, now, I'm noticed even more that before. I have friends. I have a place to live for as long as said friends want me around... I'm no longer alone."

I smiled, an actual genuine smile. A smile that was last seen when my mom was still around. All of them seemed to be at a lost as to what to say. But that was fine.

I wasn't done yet.

"You see, because of nine werewolves and one bad-ass human hunter, my plans have been torn to shreds and chucked into the wind." I continued, shrugging slightly. "I have the chance to, maybe, change everything. I mean, you've already helped change me for the better. Some people are changing their opinions on me, well, slightly and only a few. You all saw what happened at the store the other day... You guys have all changed my plans... Changed my mind..."

And, really, where did I come up with all this mushy stuff?! I mean, geez!

But it was worth it, seeing their reactions and feeling their happiness.

From December 27th onwards, I had been adding to the picture I had made for Derek – the one of the whole Pack.

I had done as asked and added myself into the exact place he wanted me to be – I had asked – which was the space on his right hand side.

At first I had been a little reluctant, but soon conceded. It was his gift after all.

So, today, on December 30th, the picture was finally finished.

As soon as it was dry and I had made sure it was all perfect, I propped the canvas up against my wardrobe, before sitting on the edge of my bed and just looking at it. I looked at the picture, looking at how the colours blended together, the vibrant colours of the clothes worn by the people in the picture contrasting perfectly with dark and light colours used for the background.

I had even added a little hand written plaque type thing now, saying who was who, going from left to right, putting down the date it had been completely finished. To be honest, I thought it would be a nice little touch.

And so did Derek, considering he said as much when he walked in and saw that it was done.

"It's brilliant." Derek said, a small smile gracing his face.

"No, it's not." I replied, blushing and fidgeting slightly. "It's just a bunch of lines and colours."

"And it's perfect. Thank you."

I looked up just in time to see Derek taking a seat next to me on the side of my bed.

"No one had ever given me something like this before, and already it's my favourite gift." Derek continued. "And I know exactly where to put it. So, thank you."

Before I knew it, Derek had dragged me into a one armed hug... It felt nice. More than nice. It felt...

It felt right!

Only then did I think back to the Mates thing. Was there a chance that maybe...maybe we could be?

But Derek was gone before I could think about it anymore, the canvas being taken with him.

I guess it's obvious to say that I was extremely surprised to find said canvas hanging, in the living room, above the fire place. The first thing you would see if you looked straight ahead as you walked into the room.

It was nice to have a place to finally call home.

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Thank you everyone, so much XD