sexpollensterek Chapter 59: a3The thing with feathers, a 07-ghost fanfic

Preface

The thing with feathersPosted originally on the Archive of Our Own at /works/28499664.

Rating:

Mature

Archive Warning:

Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Category:

F/M, M/M

Fandom:

Teen Wolf (TV)

Relationship:

Deucalion/Stiles Stilinski, Ennis/Kali (Teen Wolf), Vernon Boyd/Erica Reyes, Vernon Boyd/Erica Reyes/Ethan (Teen Wolf)

Character:

Deucalion (Teen Wolf), Stiles Stilinski, Ennis (Teen Wolf), Kali (Teen Wolf), Ethan (Teen Wolf), Aiden (Teen Wolf), Derek Hale, Sheriff Stilinski, Vernon Boyd, Erica Reyes, Gerard Argent, Peter Hale

Additional Tags:

Good Alpha Pack, Hurt Stiles Stilinski, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Spark Stiles Stilinski, Good Deucalion (Teen Wolf), BAMF Stiles, Stiles Stilinski Needs a Hug, Hurt/Comfort, Recovery, Warning: Gerard Argent, Aftermath of Torture, Mates, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Alpha Pack, BAMF Erica Reyes, BAMF Vernon Boyd, Derek Hale is a Failwolf, Slow Build

Series:

Part 1 of

Hope for Beacon Hills

Collections:

My Favourite Fanfics,

Treasured Stories,

Teen wolf,

E is for Epic

Stats:

Published: 2021-01-02 Completed: 2021-01-24 Chapters: 20/20 Words: 30617

The thing with feathers

by Planthoughts

Summary

Every Spark has an Alpha, but every Alpha does not have a Spark.

Deucalion & Co. come back to Beacon Hills to take down Gerard Argent. They find three people in his basement. Two are wolves, one is something else entirely.

In the process of being updated - done through chapter 9*

Notes

"Hope" is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -

I've heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.

Emily Dickinson

Inspired by With You, I Belong by lavenderlotion

Inspired by Spark Bonds by Carerra_os

Hope is a knife.

Drip.

Blink.

He didn't like the cold. It has long since seeped into his bones. The table digs into his hip, arms tied. He used to fight, trade taunts, and fuck yous. Now he just wants it to be quiet. The knife is quiet. The whip isn't. It's loud. Loud like Boyd and Erica's grunts and growls when the drips get too loud, but he doesn't really feel it anymore. He's thankful for it.

It's cold. Goose pimples a permanent artifact down his bare arms. The table digs into his hips, and his body glued to the metal surface like an old stain. It's been dark for a long time. Scratchy fabric welds to his face from tears and snot. His legs are wet. Felt like his skin was too tight. Jeans are stiff and scratchy. They're not new, been washed a bunch with holes in the knees and everything. Shouldn't feel like that. Shifting to get rid of the scratchy feeling doesn't feel worth it.

Stiles stays still.

Erica cries.

Drip.

Ennis maintains contacts throughout most of California and Nevada. It makes sense considering his old pack's stomping grounds. Their pack were usually dispatched around the northeast - none of them had prior allegiances around those parts - but hearing about Argent's return to Beacon Hills was an opportunity that Deucalion couldn't pass up. It felt bittersweet to end things where they began.

Where he went, so did his pack.

They may not have traditional pack bonds, but Deuc likes to believe that bonds of loss and shared experience were enough. They may not be a traditional pack, but they are a family. That has to be enough.

The neighborhood the supposed Argent Patriarch lived in is lined with big cookie cutter houses. They loudly proclaim wealth and lack of creativity in ways only Americans could. Deuc can't see the paint each house sports, but sharp lines and lack of artistic detail speak loudly enough. If he could see color through the wolf shift, the neighborhood would appear a lively beige.

Argent's house is just as inspiring in its lack of inspiration as his neighbors. Something tickles up his spine as he looks at the house. His wolf rages as he's never felt before, driving through his chest to try to lay claim to his vocal cords. He grit his teeth, and pulls in a deep breath. He is not some new bit pup, uncontrolled on his first moon. He is the Demon Wolf. Deuc tightens his grip on his can and takes another breath. Lightning is in the air. It will storm soon.

With Kali on his left and Ennis on his right, Deucalion rings the doorbell.

Three loud buzzes brakes him out of a pained daze. Argent mutters to himself as he drops the dripping red knife on the table, and aggressively washes his hands in the utility sink, grumbling about packages needing signatures. Footsteps tell the story of the monster leaving.

The pommel lays chilled against Stiles' arm, colder than the room. Maybe he could end it now. For the first time in a long time, he tries to move.

It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.

He manages to shift his elbow, and it hurts.

The clang of the knife hitting the floor hurts more.

Drip.

The door creaks as it opens. Ennis helps by flinging it back hard as he grabs Argent by the neck. The old man goes for the knife at his side, but the sheath is empty. Kali grabs his arms. Kali marchs the old into the house while Ennis closely follows. Slaying one's enemies is a team sport after all.

Deucalion trails behind. He gently shuts the door behind him, locked of course. You can never be too safe no matter the neighborhood you live in.

Argent yells, screams profanity really. That's what Deuc notices first as he follows into the kitchen. The second is the smell. Lightning. Cotton. It tickles his spine. Blood too. Not Argent's, not yet.

There is plenty of blood, not in this room, but somewhere close. Definitely in the house. Something to investigate definitely, but not before taking care of what they came to do. His wolf tries to rebuke the thought, trying to unsuccessfully claw into his thoughts.

He knows it reflects in his voice if not his eyes, "I will keep this brief. For crimes against the supernatural and human communities, your life is forfeit by order of the North American Council. I do hope you enjoy the next phase of your existence though it won't be on Earth." Deuc smiles. Kali gets blood under her fingernails.

He hears a loud clang suddenly, not in the room but not far. His ears track the sound to a corner of the room.

"You will take care of the body?" Deuc asks Ennis, already drifting towards the sound. Ennis responds by finding a cleaver in the kitchen drawer before returning to the corpse of the man who blinded Deucalion so many years ago.

He feels a doorknob under his hand. "Kali, would you follow?" he asks, already going through the threshold. The wolf jumps into his eyes as the sensation up his spine becomes even stronger. It feels like the crackle of static electricity, raising the small hairs on his arms. His wolf urges him down, almost startlingly loud in his mind.

The stairs creak as he steps down. Three heart beats echo in the room below.

Ten steps down, and they can see two wolves hung from the ceiling with their toes brushing the floor. Sparks bind them in place. They were young, and their wolves younger. Bitten and not born – recently too. Sweat runs from their bodies. The scent of faded bruises linger in the air. They had been here awhile.

One slow, slow, slow, heart beat also sounds in the room. The scent of lightning, cotton, and blood pervades the space. In an instant, Deucalion stands beside the third.

Later, Kali would say that he moved so fast that no one could have even seen him, but right now, all Deuc can do is look through the wolf's eyes at the boy with his arms strapped over a metal table, his hips digging into the edge.

He roars.

Hope is a roar.

Kali's ears pop as she follows Deuc across the threshold.

Wards.

God, the smell makes her pause for a moment. Blood, old sweat, urine, and the cloying sweet rot of terror chase her down the stairs. In a blink, Deucalion stands beside the boy strapped to a metal table on one side of the room. The kid looks bad. A sports jersey lays in tatters, the dark red brown of dried blood where the fabric remains. His back seems to have taken the worst damage. It's a mass of ground meat with bone peaking through at the shoulders. Deuc would take care of him. He has only two options.

She starts walking towards the young wolves, and turns off the electricity on the way. They groan and rouse slightly as the sparks running up the cords disappear.

As Kali moves to release them from the ceiling, Deucalion lets out a roar that she has only heard once before.

It was the usual roar of Finding. No joy.

Less than a minute later, Aiden and Ethan join them in the room, assisting in the removal of the other wolves' bindings. The two cling to each other like they never thought they would again, propping each other to prevent collapse. Each look at their third like removing their eyes would kill him.

Kali can't stop looking at Deuc since the roar, "Deuc, you need to make a decision. We need to get Ennis and go." The two teenagers they set loose rusty growls at her words The twins keep them well in hand.

It isn't worth her taking her eyes from the boy and Deucalion to put the teens in their place. No, this feels like the start of change for their pack, and she will not blink. It feels like a new beginning for their pack of misfits.

Deucalion strokes the boy's cheek, cutting away the disgusting blindfold as he goes. The boy's eyes stay closed, but she can hear his heart, still beating too slow. Deuc turns the boy's neck, and bites down in the space of a breath, cuts the ropes tying him to the table, and picks him up like a bag of rice, laying him gently over a shoulder.

That last part finally brings the boy to this world. He screams a quiet, dry exhale. In a second he is gone again.

"Stiles," the girl gasps behind her. "Please don't hurt him. Please, he's human."

"Not anymore. We won't hurt him or you. Ethan, let's get them to the car. Ennis," Kali called a little louder, "Can you bring the car to the garage. We'll meet you there."

"On it," echoes from the open door. The voice causes the bitten wolves to startle badly in the twins' grip. Interesting how the sound travels now. Maybe the door triggers the wards?

Deucalion heads up the stairs leaving a trail of blood behind him. Ethan and Aiden follow behind, each with a wolf held at the neck.

Kali looks around the torture room one more time, and leaves a blue envelope sitting in the boy's blood on the table. The message probably wouldn't be ruined. She turns, following her pack out to better air.

The scent of the basement stays in her nose for hours after.

Ethan walks through most of the house before Deuc, Kali, and Ennis enter. He can hear the moment the old man leaves the basement, can hear him mumble about distractions as he makes his way to the door – can hear the rest of it.

No one knew about the basement, but the upstairs had been clear. No sign of the son or granddaughter. It's not surprising for the middle of a Thursday afternoon. Missing the basement, even with the wards, it feels like a rookie mistake. Holy hell.

Talk about awkward. The blond wolf and the big guy won't let go of each other even when getting into the SUV. They also do their best to keep their eyes on "Stiles," which, with him being laid face down in the backseat with Deuc is a bit difficult. Both of Deuc's hands are black where they stroke through boy's hair, and rest against the side of his ribs. The kid doesn't make a sound or even move in response to the pain drain.

Ethan grimaces – that much effort would hurt most wolves. Deuc is strong, but is he strong enough? He just doesn't get it. How did they go from a smidgeon of sanctioned killing to a rescue mission? Trust the council to not have all of the information. On the bright side, the two new wolves would be hot once they get cleaned up. Aiden wouldn't be into it, but that's his loss.

"Is he- is he going to be okay?" The blonde asks beside him. Blondie looks at Deuc, but Ethan doubts the alpha would answer right now, not with Deuc's whatever looking like that.

Ethan stares at both the new wolves, and says quietly, "Maybe? It's hard to say. The bite is hard with the sick. It'll help that Deuc is with him, and attached in some way. Right now it's a waiting game."

He runs a hand through his hair. The morning afternoon, whatever feels like it's more than caught up with him. It's hard to imagine how the two bitten feel. He could try to be polite? None of the others seem inclined to engage at the moment. He keeps his voice steady, but low. He doesn't want to disturb the others, "I'm Ethan by the way. Aiden's on the bike behind us. Kali and Ennis are up front. Deucalion is the one with your friend."

"His name is Stiles." The other wolf speaks for the first time. He sounds as beat up as he looks, definitely the strong silent type. Ethan could get behind that...or in front. He's not picky.

Blondie pulls away from looking at Stiles briefly to glance at him."I'm Erica, and this is Boyd. Thanks for getting us out of there, but how did you know? How did you even find us?" Erica asks brokenly. Boyd gently holds her close as they both look to Stiles again.

"Let's hold off on this conversation until we can get somewhere a little more secure. Aiden deserves answers too," Ennis speaks from the front. Ethan can hear the crush of the stealing wheel under his hands. No one likes what any of this means then.

The car stays silent for the rest of the drive.

Hope is water.

Ennis pulls into the driveway. The house and lands are of the nicer sort.The temporary pack land sits in Beacon Valley, not in the Ito or former Hale territory. High walls hem in fifty acres of old growth trees. Pulling through the entry makes the stress in his shoulders relax as the gates close behind Aiden. It's only temporary territory, but it is theirs.

The house is one of his favorites. The all glass monstrosity brings the surrounding trees directly into his rooms. Even better, he can see everything coming his way. After Nevada, sight lines became even more important. He has that here.

He pulls the SUV into the garage. Killing the engine makes the situation feel more real – he can hear the small noises of the new people that much more clearly.

"A recommendation," he speaks into the quiet cab, "Shower, change, and meet back in the den. Ethan, can you show Erica and Boyd the guest rooms?" Kali squeezes his hand before leaving the car. Mother moon, he loves that woman.

The teens follow her inside.

"Do you need a hand?" Ennis glances into the rear view mirror. Deuc sits still with charcoal arms still wrapped around a silent Stiles. Light reflects off of the wolf's ever present glasses. The kid hasn't moved or woken up during the drive. His heart still beats too slow. Deucalion knows it too.

"I would be obliged if you could open the door. I do not want to jostle him more than required." The constant fatigue of taking the kid's pain shows up around the fine lines of his mouth. Even the Demon Wolf has limits.

Ennis does as requested.

Deucalion carries his boy through the house. It was not his intention to find Stiles when he volunteered the pack for this assignment. Killing Argent again was just too good to pass up. The wolf doesn't know exactly what is happening, but he does know that he belongs to the boy's and the boy is his.

The blood does not pour from his back like before, but it has not stopped either. The bite doesn't seep the black icor of sepsis yet nor has it healed. Deuc remains stuck in the half state of not-Alpha & not-murder. Patience isn't his forte, not on this. The wait will kill him.

Once in his suite, he places Stiles on his bed, and quickly goes to start a bath. The minute he stops touching him, his wolf gnashes his teeth like a caged thing even as the migraine of too much pain drain leaves him. The effects combined are almost dizzying. Deuc settles for leaving the door open while starting the bath. While he can't see him without pushing the wolf into his eyes, he would at least have no barriers to his injured Stiles.

Satisfied with the state of the water, he fetches the teen. A few claws make easy work of his clothes while he pulls his wolf into his eyes to make sure of no new damage. It isn't just his back.

His pants hide thick, dark welts that crisscross from tops of his thighs down to the meat of his calves. They look black against what appears to be pale skin. The whip wandered to his ass while the knife wounds remain relegated to his back. His boy looks a mess of hurt. Deuc regrets making Argent's kill a quick one. If he had only known, they could have brought about in-kind justice for his boy.

He slips the teen into the bath and begins washing. The rags would need to be burned.

Boyd exhales. You know that feeling when you get back from camping, and the first thing you do is jump in a hot, hot shower? It feels like you lose about 5 pounds of nasty by the time you step out, and your muscles feel like warm goo. This was about 1,000 times better than that. Boyd gave himself a moment to bask in the feeling before he allowed the weight of the last few hours, days, weeks to hit him. He doesn't even know what day it was. Thankful for the extra clothes left on the bed, he quickly changes.

He needs Stiles and Erica – Now.

A deep breath in, and Boyd leaves the room. It feels strange to be in their house, like he's an interloper in their territory. It makes him feel wrong footed and off kilter though his wolf remains quiet in a way it typically doesn't. They both don't know if this is better or worse than the basement. Not yet.

He knows that their rescuers are powerful. When Ennis or Kali look at him, it feels like they can see his insides, what makes him who he is. He has a feeling that if Deucalion weren't distracted by Stiles, Boyd would get the feeling in a worse way.

Their "den" as Ennis calls it, has a massive u-shaped linen couch sunken into the floor with an ottoman that turns the entire area into a massive bed. Pillows and soft blankets litter the couch in an array of deep greens that further accentuate the forests on display through the walls of glass. He can see the kitchen off to the right. The whole thing is sleek marble countertops and glass. This level of modernity doesn't fit in with the sleepy town of Beacon Hills.

One of the twins leans against the counter sipping an espresso. "Want one?" maybe-Ethan asks, "I ordered a bunch of food. It should be here any minute. Aiden went to meet the delivery driver at the gate."

"Water?" Boyd asks quietly. Sure, he stuck his head under the faucet in the bathroom – they weren't given anything in the basement okay? - but ice feels like a treat. If that doesn't describe his current state, he doesn't know what does.

Boyd is well on his way through his third glass when Ennis & Kali lead Erica into the room. She also wears spare pajamas; he's never seen her look more beautiful than right here in borrowed clothes, and her hair in a mess of a bun. All of nature could not stop him from hugging the woman in this moment. They are alive.

With Erica tucked into his neck, he feels braver, "where's Stiles?"

Kali pauses, head cocked, "he's with Deuc, still unconscious. You can't hear him?"

Aiden spares him the confusing question by coming through the door with bags and bags of takeout. Ennis moves to help.

"We need to see him, be with him-" Boyd gets gently cutoff.

"That's not possible," Ennis responds.

With much less tact, Aiden carries on, "Deuc is not in any state to allow unknown wolves into his den with his beta in the state he's in. The best you can do right now is tell us what the fuck happened. And eat something. I can hear your stomachs. It's annoying," With that, Aiden dumps a bunch of Chinese food containers on the island.

Ethan rolls his eyes "Be easy brother. They're new."

"He's right. You can't see Stiles right now. You'll have to keep to your ears." Kali says, grabbing plates and utensils. She seems to ignore the confused looks that the two omegas throw at her.

Boyd can tell Erica's frustration when she says, "But Derek didn't care about waiting with us during the bite, and Stiles is safe with us! What the hell does 'keep to your ears' even mean?"

Kali and Ennis share a look. Boyd can tell someone is in trouble, hopefully not them. That expression was what his grandma wore when he or his sister got into something. Direct translation - are you kidding me? He keeps Erica close, and holds her tight. If the older wolves react, they'd need to be united.

"Who has the fastest heartbeat in the room?" Kali asks, ignoring the intent of Erica's words.

Boyd takes a second, and squeezes Erica's hip to keep her quiet a moment. He wants to scoff at the woman. It seems weird, but it's been a study of weird days. He closes his eyes instead, and tries to focus on the sounds of the surrounding bodies around him.

He can hear Erica lick her lip beside him, her skin move against his hand as her chest expands and contracts. A whooshing thud sound that is her own heart. Boyd can hear it. He didn't even know that he could nevermind actually tried to use his hearing like this. With the sound of her heart echoing in his ears, he tries to find the like sounds from the others in the room.

Soon all six beat a melody in his head. One is a little faster than the others, but each sound unique. Boyd knows that he would be able to pick them out of a crowd now. It feels like instinct. He opens his eyes, and looks at the person, "Ennis, Ennis has the fastest heart beat."

"Good," Kali sounds a little louder, "now close your eyes. Expand what you can hear, push out further. Concentrate, hear more. Can you hear Deuc and Stiles now?"

Boyd's eyebrows draw together. Deucalion sounds fine. He can hear him turn the pages of a book, finger tips a dry rasp across paper. The other sounds like it's in Stiles' hair. Stiles though - "Why is his heart so slow? Derek always complained that he sounded like a bird. We all thought he was joking."

"That's what we need to figure out." Ennis states calmly, staring the pair down with arms crossed over his wide chest.

Boyd shifts, and holds onto Erica as he thinks. He scrubs a hand through his clean hair as he thinks. Where do you even start? School didn't prepare him for this. "What day is it?" Boyd asks.

"Thursday the 9th." Aiden replies. His tone goes soft while his mouth hardens into a line.

Boyd inhales sharply, and Erica makes a wounded sigh. It kills him. He knows that his eyes blaze. "We tried to leave town Friday night, use the lacrosse game as a distraction. Thought we heard an alpha in the Preserve that might take us in. It turned out to be hunters. Allison, Allison, she shot us a lot. She kept shooting–" he tightens his hold on Erica, "I thought we were going to die, but then Chris showed up and stopped her. I thought it would be over –we didn't hurt anyone! We would never, they shouldn't have even come after us! We just wanted to get away from the kanima and the death and the hunters. Derek said he understood!"

"We woke up in the basement. God it hurt. Allison and Gerard, they took turns hitting us. Eventually Allison left." Boyd takes a deep, wet breath, "A few hours later, Gerard brought in Stiles. I'm not sure if Allison knew or if she helped. At first, he just punched Stiles a few times. We tried to stop him, but they had this electricity going." Boyd wipes the tears from his face, "We were just fun for them, but Gerard wanted Stiles to be a message for Scott, but he– Gerard kept saying the bruises wouldn't take. Kept hitting him harder. Stiles stopped getting up after a while." Erica buries her face in Boyd's chest and he holds her tighter if that's even possible.

"Gerard got these two guys to bring in this big table, and put Stiles on it. He kept muttering about beating the magic out of him. Stiles, he kept looking at us. Gerard didn't like that. He put a blindfold on him and got out this big metal pipe and started hitting him. He wouldn't stop! He just wouldn't stop. Erica and I- we'd scream and yell at him. Get his attention for a little while, but he'd always go back to Stiles eventually and do worse. He should have died-"

"Deuc!" Kali yells suddenly, "Deuc! He's a Spark!"

Hope is sage.

"Fuck!" Deuc shouts. Of course he's a Spark; it makes so much sense now. His unresponsiveness to the bite, why they found him on an iron table. His legs! They beat him with an iron pipe to keep him from running.

He shouts to those in the den, "Someone bring candela, lemon grass, and sage from the garden." He doesn't hear anyone move, "Now!" He roars.

Deucalion brings Stiles back to the bath. Luckily, he kept the teen out of clothes; he did not want them rubbing into his open wounds. Deuc doesn't wait for the water to finish filling. He searches through his medicine cabinet. Deuc knows he stored lemon verbana and sage oil somewhere. The wolf finds them by smell and upends both bottles into the water. The scent overpowers everything else, but his boy needs strong right now. He can manage.

Ennis brings in the herbs, nose scrunched in distaste.

"Give me the lemongrass," Deuc says without preamble, shredding it with his claws, "I need you to press as many of those herbs together as you can, and rub him down with them."

Ennis starts, "Deuc, are you sure you want m-"

Deucalion loses whatever patiences he has left. "Ennis I cannot fucking SEE! I can't," he shudders in a breath and palms his useless eyes, "I cannot tell if I press too hard, or if I scrub through bruises. Even with the wolf, I only get contrast. Either work, or send one of the cubs in. Just make a decision." Deuc throws the lemongrass into the bath and turns off the water.

He settles at the boy's head, trickling the heavily scented water over his face and rubbing it into his cropped hair. Ennis silently moves to Stiles' feet and works his way up.

Kali scrubs her hands over her face. A short afternoon's worth of work turned into one massive headache. "Might as well eat," she sighs after a long pause, "they're going to be awhile. Go ahead and crash on the couch when you're ready. You all look like you're going to drop at any moment."

Kali mentally reviews what little they know so far. How did the council miss a kanima? It's hard to keep things like that so close to the vest, communications being what they are.

"How does Alpha Hale play into all this?" she asks the group finally. The last Kali heard was that girl finished school in New York, and was checking out the old territory to rebuild. The council should have been informed of the goings-on in Beacon Hills already.

"Derek turned me a little over a month ago. Boyd got the bite a few days later," Erica finishes, gets up, and takes everyone's plates to the kitchen.

"It makes her uncomfortable. Erica had bad epilepsy before the bite. She just wanted to be normal. Derek told her it would cure her, but he didn't tell us about the hunters or anything else we'd have to deal with. I think sometimes she regrets it. Her family doesn't know. Mine doesn't either for that matter," Boyd says quietly. He isn't sure if the bite was the right decision for himself anymore either. The only good to come of it is his relationship with Erica – everything else falls on the sliding scale of bad to worse.

"Who's Derek? Where is Laura Hale?" Kali asks impatiently. None of this makes sense. It's like reading the book while someone reshuffles the chapters.

"Laura...she died. Derek's her younger brother. He said that his uncle went crazy, and when Laura came back to check over the territory, the uncle attacked and killed her. Derek said that he and Stiles put him down. They had to because he wasn't going to stop. That's how Derek became Alpha," Erica quietly states on returning. The girl makes herself comfortable against Boyd's side.

Laura's dead. This isn't a bad day. This is a bad month in the making. Kali doubts that Deuc would be prepared to update the council with this given the state of Stiles. She's glad that she's the Left Hand of their little pack. Poor Ennis. Sucker.

The rest of Boyd's words hit her then. She can't help the heat that comes to her eyes. "Wait, you said Derek's Uncle? There was another survivor to the Hale fire? Her Uncle Peter? Peter Hale? We were told he was dead."

Kali can't handle this anymore. Peter was a great Left Hand. She worked with him years ago to help mediate territory claims, and they remained in contact up until the fire. She knew she could count on him to help her understand different problems. His thought patterns were a beautiful thing.

Before everything, she dreamed about what it would be like to have him as a part of her pack. She never got the chance. Laura never even told her he passed. She had to find out from the council.

She can't imagine what leaving him alone did to his mind. Broken bonds and abandonment? Laura left a member of their pack, and went to the other side of the country. Of course he went Omega. Who knows how long he was alone?

Erica, bless her heart, just keeps going, "All of that happened about two months ago. Then Jackson was turned, but it went wrong. Derek doesn't know why he became a kanima, but-"

Aiden cuts Erica off with a growl. "The alpha turned someone into a kanima?" The teen turns to her in frustration. He can likely see her own, "Kali, we can't let this go. Slavery has been outlawed since the 1800s!" Aiden says sharply.

Erica tries to cover, but just makes the situation worse, "Derek didn't mean to! Jackson was a bully, and kept nagging Derek. I think he became frustrated with Jackson. Scott suddenly became amazing at everything and Jackson didn't handle it well."

Ethan snorts, "So the Alpha was annoyed into turning someone who just wanted to be better at sports, but abandoned them during the transition process because, what? The guy he turned into a werewolf was irritating? That's not how you build Pack. Turning someone you do not want to be Pack is the easiest way to create a slave there is. Only a fool would try it."

Kali rubs her temples. Erica and Boyd did not know the lore. They did not seem to know much of anything about the new world they lived in. Aiden and Ethan had the right to be upset, but the new wolves didn't know the minefields they blundered through.

Kali sits up, "Before 1814, Kanima were often bitten and turned by enemy packs. A pack that wanted another's territory, or had an issue with the pack in question, looked for human children in enemy packs who were left unattended. It wasn't uncommon for children, even human children, to be sent on hunting parties, making them easy to miss. If the rival pack could kidnap the child, and sneak them back in without notice, the rival pack were almost guaranteed victory."

"Kanima scent doesn't articulate like a wolf does in human form. The child would still smell of their pack. They wouldn't behave any differently once returned either. The child wasn't allowed to. The kanima's master would have it paralyze, then kill the child's whole pack - parents, grandparents, siblings, friends. Everyone. The alpha was always paralyzed for the rival pack Alpha to finish, consuming the pack's power along with it."

"Even then, the practice was taboo. When the council was first formed, it passed a decree quickly with full support from all parties. Any child, wolf or human, is thought of as a gift to the pack. That's why the twins are upset. It's taking advantage of someone." She finishes gently, "Even if this Jackson person wanted to be turned, no one deserves to lose their self-control to someone else. No one."

"What happened to the children after," Erica asks in a small voice. Boyd puts his arm around her shoulder to bring her closer.

Kali stares at the two of them, "Even as a kanima, a child has bonds to their pack. They'd feel the loss of each pack member as it happened, but would not be able to stop their master's will. If Peter, as an adult, went 'crazy' feeling 12 bonds break in a night, imagine what that does to a child's mind. Imagine the child knowing they were the weapon."

Kali leaves the quiet room. She can't handle their presence anymore.

Hope is a choice.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Ennis scrubs and scrubs. Iron powder seeps from the boy's pores, turning to dirty gray water, and trickling down his body. The bath slowly gets darker until it becomes an opaque black.

He listens with half an ear to the den conversation. The Council debrief is not a call he looks forward to. Kanima, untrained Alphas, and Hunters, oh my.

The herb press picks up so much iron dust over the kid's chest that he has to swap it out for a fresh one. Deuc continued rinsing the boy as Ennis sits back down. "His heart's starting to pick up," Ennis says as he continues scrubbing. He isn't surprised. Not many sparks could survive being strapped to iron for 3 or 4 days. Mother Moon, this place is a curse. To torture a spark! He hopes the Argent madness died with the patriarch. By the sounds of it, the granddaughter needed looking into as well.

Deucalion sighs, "If we can finish the scrub down and soap him up after, he should be okay for the night. If we do much more than that, I worry that his body could go into shock."

They finish their work in contemplative silence. The smell of the strong cleansing concoction fades a bit. There's so much iron in the water that they were probably cancelling each other out. His nose might recover one day. Maybe.

Done with his part, Ennis pauses to watch Deucalion for a second as he sits on the side of the tub. The Alpha's fingers never stop petting the boy's hair. The man removes his glasses and rubs scarred eyes. He sits quietly for a moment with his hands covering his face.

Deuc sighs and replaces his glasses, "I apologize for yelling earlier. It was uncalled for. I am not...I do not have to worry about you all often. It is not something I am used to, and I did not expect to be in this situation."

Ennis starts draining the tub, and gets up to grab Deuc a few towels. As he passes, he pauses to squeeze his friend's shoulder, "You don't need to apologize for your worry. Finding a mate is such a rare gift. I'm sorry it was under these circumstances."

Kali runs the perimeter like a wild thing.

Trees blur as her body eats up space. At lap six, she pauses at the farthest distance from the house. Kali climbs to the top of an old oak and sits on a branch, overlooking the forest beyond the walls of their piece of borrowed territory. The sun just barely touches the trees as it begins to set, painting the sky red. Good things are coming. She has to believe it.

The heart beat that followed her for the last lap sits beside her now. She leans into his shoulder, and takes a minute to breath. He smells a bit like sage and verbana, but under that, his natural signals of wood smoke and amber come through.

"A kanima, hmm," he asks, putting an arm around her.

She grumbles – thoughts in a completely different direction, "I'm not sure how the Hales went this wrong. They left Peter like he was nothing! Nothing! He used to joke about being kept on the outskirts as his pack 'evolved with the times,' but I didn't know it was real. Ennis, I should have checked to make sure! I shouldn't have trusted her – six years! He could have been with us the whole time, and I didn't even know." Her voice softens to nothing. Ennis pretends not to smell the salt.

He sits with her quietly, watching the sun sink lower. "Today brought out a lot of guilt, but it seems to me like all of it sits misplaced with the wrong people. You can't take credit for Talia's bad judgement or her daughter's lies. Deuc can't shoulder the blame for Argent's actions. We can't function by paying penance for others' crimes." He rubs her shoulder, and she leans into his scenting.

The sun dies for the day.

"How is he," she asks, already knowing the answer. He wouldn't leave his best friend if things were going so poorly.

"I think it's going to be okay. Stiles' heart picked up a bit," Ennis pauses. His mind moves back to the scene in the bathroom, the other's shoulders dropped so low, "I've never seen Deuc worried like this before. It's unnerving."

She bumped his shoulder and tries to bring a bit of humor into the sober feeling in the air, "that's because he only worries like that when you're unconscious."

"Hey, that was only one…three times! And it's been awhile!" He rebukes gently. Kali cackles.

"Race you back?" She asks teasingly. Kali takes off before he can even respond.

"Cheater! See if I wash your back now!" He chases her laughter. She knows he's lying, doesn't need to hear his heartbeat to guess that.

The house is quiet by the time Deuc gets the boy settled in bed again. Stiles seems to breath deeper, and Ennis was right, his heart is beating a little faster.

Thank Mother Moon.

He cannot imagine the consequences if they had waited another day. Deucalion can hear the four teens breathing deeply in the den, asleep then. It makes sense. Today was a disaster, nevermind what the teens had gone through prior to their rescue.

It feels like years have passed since they initially scoped Argent's house. Time's stretches and contractions always confound. He breathes out a sigh, and gently pulls the covers over the boy. Despite the bath, his skin still feels cool to the touch.

Deuc smells the food in the kitchen, but he cannot leave his Spark alone, unaware and injured. He can wait. The near-constant pain drain exhausts him, but feeling the softness of his boy's hair makes it worth it. Ennis or Kali would be back soon. In the meantime, maybe a lay down would be okay, just to rest his eyes…

A hard thump, gasp, and rapid breathing wakes him suddenly.

Deucalion knows, even before the wolf touched his eyes, that Stiles does not lay beside him. He slides across the mattress quickly. A dark lump kneels between the nightstand and the wall. Air whistles from the Spark's lungs in fast gasps, and his heart beats quick in Deuc's ears.

"Stiles?" Deuc crouches a few feet away, red-eyed, "it's okay. You're okay. We got you out. Just relax. Come to bed."

"No-No-No-Not Derek, you're not...Where-where...I need...where...B-Boyd...Erica, I need them!...I need...I need..." Deuc lunges forward as his Spark faints for seeming lack of air and exhaustion. He doesn't need to crack his head on the nightstand on top of everything else.

In the space of a second, Deucalion reevaluates his plan to whisk Stiles and his pack away from the mess of Beacon Hills. His perspective on the two wolves in the living room begin to shift away from assumed optional extras as well.

Once he situates the boy under the covers again he called out "Kali? Can you come here?" The door opens quietly a moment later.

"What do you need," Kali queries.

"Aiden, Ethan, Kali, Ennis, do you agree to new Pack?" Deucalion asks the house. Everyone responds in turn.

"Kali, please watch him. I need to have a chat with a few teenagers," the door clicked behind him.

"Wake up," a crisp English voice speaks into the dark room. Erica just about jumps out of her skin. Boyd is in the same state beside her. The twins barely stir. They were already awake.

Alpha-red eyes peer at her from a reclined body on the opposite side of the couch. The man's lays against a pile of pillows with his legs stretched towards them, crossed at the ankle. Given the size of the couch, he doesn't even come close to touching them.

Erica blushes; she didn't hear him come in, let alone get comfortable. This was the man that grabbed Stiles! There is something wrong with his face, but the dark hides the details. He doesn't wear glasses like before, but is in the same slacks and white button down, sleeves rolled up now. She feels underdressed in her borrowed pajamas.

Erica sits up quickly, "Is he okay? Can we see him?" She finds Boyd's hand among the blankets. Stiles was there for them. He was always there for them. She felt like she was failing him by not helping. They were having what was tantamount to a sleepover while her friend was hurt. She needs to do more, especially after everything.

"He is getting better. His heart beats faster," Deucalion states without inflection. "I have a different problem to address with you however. He woke for a moment, and called for you both. That puts me in a quandary. I cannot allow you to see him-"

Erica cuts him off "But!" One of the twins snorts in amusement. She doesn't know which one.

"No." He forces her to pause with that one word, and shifts briefly to focus on Aiden, "I cannot allow you to see him because you are not pack. He is mine, and I cannot allow non-Pack in while he cannot defend himself," he raises a hand to stop comments before they form, "I know that you would not hurt him, but my wolf does not care. To be frank, I do not care either."

"My quandary is this: my Stiles called out for you, but you are not pack. You are untrained, uncontrolled, Omega. Your bonds with your old Alpha were so brittle that he allowed you to go." He pauses, and Erica squirms in discomfort, "If we were to take you in, that would not happen. Strong bonds of Alpha to Beta only die with the wolf," he stares at them both, "if you agree, you will be trained. Right now, whether you believe so or not, you represent a danger to those around you. Until you learn total control, you will not leave the property without escort. That will be the case until we have full confidence in your ability. You will not bring shame to this Pack."

"But if you do agree, you would have Pack. You would be part of something more than yourselves. You would have people you could trust with your lives, and they would entrust theirs to you. You would be a part of one of the most powerful packs in North America with bonds stronger than family. You would be safe. You would have Stiles, and he would have you."

She holds Boyd's hand tight. He does not flinch.

"What if we say no?" Boyd asks quietly.

"You leave now." Boyd's shoulders relax. Deucalion smirks, "What did you think? We would kill you? We are not heathens. Stiles will know that you chose each other over him. It would be unkind, but we would help him manage. That is what Pack does."

Chapter End Notes

If a werewolf listened to a podcast, which one would he choose?

Thanks for voting everyone! You'll find out the Sheriff situation soon.

Also, Peter. I love Peter. He'll make an appearance at some point.

Please let know what you think! Comments feed the machine : )

Hope is belonging.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

"How do we do this?" Boyd asks while Erica practically shouts, "Yes!" The offer is everything they hoped for in leaving Derek. Questions would just delay the inevitable. Why bother?

Deucalion grimaces at the loud tone.

"Don't look at Deuc," a voice says over Boyd's shoulder, startling him again, "he doesn't have the patience for teenagers. Besides," Ennis smiles and claps large hands on their shoulders, "I'm the nice one." Erica almost falls over. It's the first time any of the Alphas touch them kindly since walking out of the basement. He didn't know they were capable of smiling.

Ennis grabs Erica, and pulls her up to be on his level, "come here. I need to hug the shit out of you!" He swings Erica in a circle as she laughs; it's such a good sound! Ennis places her back on the ground where Boyd quietly joins them, hugging his shoulders and rubbing his chin against Boyd's temple. Ennis seemed so quiet before. It sinks in just how big the Alpha is in that moment.

"As moving as all of this undoubtedly is, why don't you all go for a walk? We can properly get acquainted when you return," Deucalion throws over his shoulder, already leaving the room.

Ennis hums and whispers, "that's Deuc's way of saying, you're being loud, I know you'll get louder, and don't wake Stiles." He smiles, "Come on, I'm sure you have questions. Let's stretch our legs."

It's close to midnight as they make their way outside, with the waxing moon almost full and a sky full of stars. It doesn't seem like a bad night to start a new life. Ennis throws his arms over both of their shoulders and holds them close for a moment, breathing in the night and the scent of the kids deep.

"Why do this?" Boyd asks quietly. He doesn't want to hear the answer, but he needs to know all the same. He wants to know where they stand with this new person.

Ennis takes a deep breath at the question, and starts walking them around the wall of the property. "Deuc is my best friend. I've known him for over a decade. We've been pack for 7 years. There is not much we wouldn't do for each other." The answer is exactly what Boyd is afraid of. He and Erica were never good enough, important enough, just enough to the reason why something should or shouldn't happen. Always last.

Derek needed the numbers for a full pack, and either threw them around or ignored them in turn. It was selfish, but Boyd wants to belong because he's wanted, not because of what happened to Stiles or to get stable numbers for a pack. It doesn't feel much to ask for –to fit in a group of people based on his own merits.

Ennis squeezes his shoulder. "But there's more to it than that. I heard you ask after Stiles in the basement. You were both hurt badly, and instead of trying to escape immediately, you supported one another and looked after your Pack. You were hurt and still growled at four Alphas because one suggested ending one of your Pack. Those are wolves I would be proud to have as my own."

Ennis palms the back of Boyd's head, and drags him closer to kiss his temple. In that moment, he remembers walks he used to go on with his dad. Someone hadn't sounded proud of him in a long time.

"And you, my dear," he drags Erica's shoulders even closer so she practically hugs him, "I have a feeling that you will be an absolute menace in helping Ethan annoy Deuc. I can't wait!" Erica giggles in response.

They walk together quietly for awhile. For Boyd, he thinks about the last month of terror that brought them here. Fear he didn't even know existed in the world. He shivers, broken from that track by Erica.

"You really want us?" she asks. Erica sounds so young. Sometimes Boyd forget that they're only seventeen.

"I really want you," Ennis returns instantly and with conviction. "We have been a pack of Alphas for a long time. We work across North America, and uphold order by maintaining the Council's laws, observe other packs and supernatural folk - a bit like police. We've wanted to take on betas for awhile now, but didn't feel comfortable bringing wolves in with the travel and other demands of the work. What we do is not simple or safe. No one has updated the Council on what we've found here yet, but I have a feeling that we'll be here for at least three years, if not longer. It's a great time for us to become real pack!"

"Is Derek going to get in trouble?" Boyd asks quietly. He still felt something for the Alpha. He may have hurt them and derided them, but he did bring them together.

"To be transparent with you, I'm not sure. We do not know enough about the situation for me to say anything with confidence. I do know that it doesn't sound good. He could very well lose his Alpha Spark." Ennis says, holding them closer. "I'm sorry."

Erica huffs out a breath, "He may actually like that. He always seems overwhelmed, kind of like he's playing a part."

"That's good to know," Ennis cards his fingers through her hair, "what else can I tell you?"

"Are you normally so touchy? You didn't before, but I really like it," Erica smiles softly.

Ennis responds by holding them even harder against him. Boyd can feel his voice through his chest when he says, "It's part of being a wolf. Touch. It reaffirms our closeness. Did Derek not touch you? When you were given the Bite, part of your change was developing scent glands over your lymph nodes. We spread our scent over one another to claim each other as Pack. That's why you like it. Touch is belonging."

"Is that how you become our Alpha? You hug us a lot?" Erica asked.

Ennis laughs long and loud.

Deucalion walks quickly back to his room. He rubs Kali's shoulder in thanks as he makes his way past her to Stiles, still asleep under the covers. Deuc presses his hand over the short hair near his neck. It makes his wolf joyful to be close again.

"You're going to scare them if you keep going on like you have," Kali says, leaning against the wall. "They all seem very close. Alienating them could alienate him. Be careful," she whispers.

Deuc feels her walk away, door closing with a click. With only her and the twins in the house, he feels okay to take a quick shower. Tossing his clothes in the hamper, he rushes through washing to get the absurd day off his skin, Kali's words dancing in his mind.

As he makes his way through the bathroom toweling his hair, he hears a deep howl break the night. Deuc smiles, happy for his friend and his growing Pack. As much as he is reticent to trust others, Ennis deserves happiness. Maybe the teens would find it too. He smooths his hand down his Spark's cheek before walking into his closet. He grabs two pairs of pajama bottoms.

He will show Kali and Ennis that he could do this.

Deucalion finishes settling himself and Stiles into a corner of the couch just as the door to the yard opens. Stiles's head rests against his thigh; Deuc's fingers naturally drifted back to his hair, massaging his scalp. Stiles' back lays exposed to the room. The bleeding stopped, but the rawness would not quickly heal.

Ennis comes in first. He ruffles Deuc's hair, his hand drifting down his neck to squeeze his shoulder. "Looks better," Ennis says with a final squeeze. More feet shuffle to the end of the couch. Ennis must have warned them not to panic at the sight of their friend. Deucalion tenses as they come closer, ready to defend. He has to force himself to relax. He can do this.

They are Pack. They are Pack. They are Pack.

The twins coming in break some of the tension. Aiden takes Deuc's other side. He raises his arm to allow Aiden to tuck closer in thanks. Ethan props his feet in his twin's lap.

"You can come closer," he speaks softly, "I don't bite." He smirks. Ennis snorts. He hears a cackle down the hall. He can feel Ethan roll his eyes.

"Do you have a first aid kit? I...I can stitch his back? I mean, l've given him stitches before? And those look deep?" Erica's question gets cut off with a rumbling growl.

"Why" Deuc glares in her direction, "pray tell, did he need stitches before?"

"Umm, he's a massive klutz that runs around in the woods with a bunch of wolves and a baseball bat?" She peters out with a mutter as everyone stares at her.

Aiden practically vibrates against Deuc's side. "Shut it," he growls. Ennis giggles.

"You are so fucked," Aiden laughes out. Deuc sighs. At least he laughs quietly.

Kali finds the kit in their bath. The massive red box wouldn't be comfortable to carry if she were human. Luckily that is a nonissue. Walking into the den, she plops the kit into Erica's lap, and flops into the corner. Ennis doesn't waste any time, and puts his head in her lap.

"Can I help you?" She asks, looking down unamused. It's a game they play often.

"Yes," he rubs the back of his head into her lap, "pet me." He fluttered his eyes at her as if that helps his cause.

Erica gets up from the couch, "can I turn on the light?"

"It's by the back door," Ennis calls, not moving. He does let Boyd use his abs as a pillow. He's nice like that.

"Huh, do you always wear sunglasses in dark rooms? Some kind of fashion statement?" Erica asks.

Ennis sighs before sitting up. They were doing so well…

Chapter End Notes

Guess who wakes up next chapter!!!

Any bets on Stiles' reaction to the situation?

Hope is bacon.

Chapter Summary

Stiles wakes up; fluff happens.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Deucalion is doing okay. Stiles' pain is slowly, but surely sinking. It seems like the iron cleanse is starting to allow his body to heal again, even if it is at a human pace. Things are okay. He has both twins on one side, and Stiles on the other. There's jokes. Maybe this would be okay.

"Huh, do you always wear sunglasses in dark rooms? Some kind of fashion statement?" Erica asks suddenly with the sound of the lights coming on.

Or not. He tenses, but can't actually move anywhere without jostling Stiles. That would not do.

"Huh, do you always criticize blind people? Some kind of ableist statement?" Aiden responds to the girl, rubbing his chin against Deuc's shoulder in apology.

He squeezes Aiden's hand, and takes a breath. He can do this."I find that light is as meaningful to me as time is to dirt. That is to say, not at all."

There's a soft sigh, a beautiful sound. "S' not x'ctly true. Most good dirrss y'ng."

Erica shrieks "STILES!" in response to her friend waking.

Stiles moans, "t'loud 'n yer me'n." Erica looks devastated at his grumbled chastisement.

"I'm sorry Stiles," she whispers, "I didn't mean to, I was just surprised. That's all." She looks between Stiles and Deucalion.

"B' nis," he mumbles. The boy still hasn't opened his eyes, and goes even further to tuck his head into Deuc's thigh. "Thirssy," he says, smacking his lips together. Ethan gets up and heads for the kitchen. Deuc continues pulling Stiles' pain, carding his fingers through his Spark's hair.

"S' nis," Stiles humms.

"It is fine, Erica. Stiles is just a little bit high right now," Deuc responds to the new wolf; he gestures with a roll of his head for her to come over. He feels the boy scrunch his nose against his thigh.

"Sund nis. Whoerr you?" Stiles slurs. Ethan comes back with a bottle of water. Deuc smiles, and grabs it with a thank you as the other alpha holds it against his shoulder.

Deucalion gently responds, "Call me a concerned party. Can you sit up for some water?" He moves the boy's body like it's dead weight. To be fair, it is. The spark doesn't help much at all.

"Stoo bri'," Stiles grunts, still with eyes clenched tightly shut.

"Just for a moment," he says as he holds the open bottle to his Spark's lips, "and then you can go back to sleep." Deuc lets Stiles drink, but slowly. When the bottle is half empty and Stiles loses interest, he pulls it away and resettles his boy back down on the couch against him.

Deucalion waits until his heart slows into sleep before asking Erica to get started. She spends a long time stitching his shoulders back together. Deuc maintains a low, rage filled growl the entire time.

Erica learns not to flinch.

Ethan makes sure everyone has blankets and pillows. If he has his way, no one will move until morning.

Erica finishes up Stiles' back, disinfects it one last time, and settles against Boyd and Ennis. Good, Ethan thinks, they need to bond.

He walks over, makes sure all the lights are off, and the security is up before settling back with Aiden, sticking his feet in his twin's lap again just to annoy him.

Conversation quiets, breathing slows, and the room stills in sleep.

Bright, bright, bright, bright. Holy hell it's too bright!

He tries to fling an arm over his face, but his body doesn't really cooperate. Stiles groans in failure, and then groans again when his body starts catching up to his brain. He hurts – not in a 'coach ran us ragged during practice' kind of hurt, but a 'did I die' kind of way. The hurt takes his breath away.

His pillow shifts under him suddenly. The clawing pain starts slipping away like a bad dream. Stiles' brain begins to feel fuzzy, body going pliant at the absence of agony, "s the good drugssss."

There's a chuckle, and something plops onto his face. The brightness doesn't feel like an eye explosion anymore. Nice.

He hears a gasp that sounds a lot like Erica somewhere close by. "'Rica? Boyd?," Stiles asks, "Ger'd leave us 'lone? You 'k?" He tries to move his head around, but it takes too much effort to get lax muscles to respond.

"Yeah Stiles, we got out. You got out too," Boyd responds, quietly assuring his packmate.

"Oh," Stiles takes a second to consider it, "thas good." His pillow shifts again, and the glasses dig into the side of his face.

"M' pillow keeps movin," Stiles whines. "It should stay! Pillows dun move," he grumbles to himself, and tries to grab it to keep the pillow still. Someone laughs right over him.

His hands wrap around a thigh, "s'not a pillow."

"No," someone smiles above him. He'd make bets it is the laughy guy, "that is a leg. My leg actually. How are you doing?"

Stiles can feel laughy guy's hand on his head now, slowly stroking his hair. "I got the good drugs laughy guy," he responds, not bothering to move from the soft strokes to his hair. It feels nice. Soft. Someone positively howls with humor at his response to the man though. It seems like too much effort to figure out where the sound is coming from.

"Maybe that guy's the laughy guy," Stiles mumbles thoughtfully. "Who'r you then?" he asks not even bothering to open his eyes, snuffling into his thigh pillow.

The hand pauses for a moment. Stiles shifts his head against it. Sometimes you need to keep things on track. The hand starts petting him again.

"My name is Deucalion," laughy guy whispers, "but my friends call me Deuc."

"Oh," Stiles thinks about that and grumbles, "I like laughy guy better."

Multiple rounds of laughter start up at that.

Ennis could see himself falling in love with this town. Not only did he find two fantastic betas, but the little Spark we going to give Deuc a run for his money. Ennis hasn't laughed like that in awhile. Just thinking about "laughy guy" has him off on another round of giggles. He hopes that humor continues when the kid isn't high.

"Come on," he says looking at Boyd and Erica, "I'm in the mood for bacon."

Erica's ears perks up, "I like bacon!"

"Kid," Ennis throws his arm around their shoulders to steer them towards the kitchen, "who doesn't?"

"I like bacon too," his boy mumbles, already half asleep. Deuc jostles him a bit to keep him awake.

"Do not fall asleep yet," he chides gently. Stiles grumbles a response.

"Do you need the WC? We should get some soup into you," Deuc looks down at Stiles, the side of his head anyway.

"Yeah, but bacon!" The Spark whines tiredly, "I neeeeeed it. I'll die!"

"Hm," Deuc fake-ponders, "if you can do well with soup, maybe there will be bacon in your future. In the meantime, to the bath." He lifts Stiles, and leaps from the couch up to the floor in one big motion.

Stiles shrieks at the move, and then giggles, "I've got your number. You act all British and stiff, but you're secretly a goo ball."

Ennis shouts, "Not a secret!"

"To the bath my noble steed...but don't watch me pee!" Stiles slurs in an exhausted voice. With Deuc's sunglasses on his face, and high as a kite, he makes a ridiculous image as the rest of the pack watches on. The boy doesn't notice their looks, head tucked tiredly into Deucalion's neck.

The alpha could get used to this; he just has to take it slow.

Chapter End Notes

I worry that this is getting too boring.

Hope is a bond.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Kali heads into the hall after a shower. It feels good to get the filth of the day off of her. While it brought her mate two betas, the stench of the old man crept under her fingernails.

"I cn wal'," greets her in the hallway, before she turns the corner, and sees the spark vertical for the first time. It doesn't look like he'll remain that way. She watches him slowly list into Deuc's palm. "No, you cannot," argues the alpha who supports the kid. It sounds like this has been going on for a while.

She's surprised the kid still had Deuc's glasses on. The other wolf saw it as his only weakness, and didn't like broadcasting, even to pack.

"Do you really want to walk?" Kali asks, butting into the conversation, "or do you really want to fall over?"

Stiles ponders the question seriously, "who'r you?"

"Kali," she responds with a smirk, "it's nice to meet you Stiles, but again, would you really like to fall over?"

Deuc blinks, hands steadying Stiles at the elbows. His knees wobble.

"F'ne. BUT under dur'es," Stiles relents. Kali thinks he's trying for regal, but it falls into the realm of a pout, maybe petulant.

Deuc grunts, "finally" grabbing the squawking Spark, and starts walking towards the smell of bacon. Kali knows who is cooking by that smell too. Deuc settles a grumbling Stiles under a pile of blankets on the den couch, and moves into the kitchen to heat up leftover egg drop soup.

Ennis stands in front of the stove, right where Kali expects him to be. "Happy morning my dear," Ennis smiles, grabbing a piece of bacon from the mound beside the oven and offering it to her. She tucks her cheek against his shoulder and indulges.

"Hey, you said we had to wait for everyone," Erica gripes.

Ethan chuckles, "Everyone equals Kali to Ennis." Ennis responds by cuffing him upside the head when he gets close enough.

"Kali puts up with me. That deserves bacon," he says as if it were obvious. It is.

Aiden disagrees, clearly, "We put up with you both AND we put up with your grossness of bothness," but Ennis is already distracted by morning kisses. The twins team up to steal the bacon platter, but Kali has better things to pay attention to like the way Ennis bends down to meet her halfway, and the friction of stubble rubbing against her palm. More delicious than any breakfast food in her opinion.

A piece of bacon hits her in the cheek.

"Booooo! Boooo! Bad form! You're corrupting the children!" Aiden cries in mock outrage. Erica chuckles next to Ethan. They're on the other side of the counter where the twins have absconded with their ammo. Kali sees Stiles peak his head over the edge of the couch at the commotion, but he quickly flops back down again with a grunt. Boyd sees the movement too. The young beta excuses himself to join the spark on the couch. Good, he doesn't like leaving Stiles alone, even when in the same room.

"Why don't we have a lazy day," Kali asks, hearing Boyd gently tease Stiles for his beauty sleep, "we can get the projector going and relax a little bit, make it a pack day."

"I would like that," responds Deuc, already heading back to Stiles with a warm mug in his hand. He runs his hand over Boyd's scalp and neck in thanks, and settles on the opposite side of his spark. Deuc helps him drink as the rest argue.

"No boring documentaries," Ethan demands from the kitchen, "Deuc doesn't get to choose this time!"

"Let Stiles choose. He's the most banged up, so he gets the prize," Aiden says.

"He's still high," Ethan mutters so the human won't hear; Deuc growls a bit at the slight.

Erica rolls her eyes, "He only ever chooses-"

"A new hope!" A warbly voice says from the couch, "but we dun' h've to watch it. I get h'rt a LOT." Deuc growls louder at the admission, and pushes him to drink more.

Kali can already hear future Deucalion's grumbling. Oh, things to look forward to.

Deuc strokes Stiles' hair. He can already tell that the gesture will become a thing for him. The end credits roll, not that his boy notices. He fell asleep 30 minutes into the movie with a full belly and a narcotizing touch. He slept deep. Deuc does not mind. His Spark needs to catch up on his rest.

Kali turns off the movie.

"We need a plan," Deuc whispers in the leftover silence. That has the four remaining teenagers stir.

Ennis hums, "I think before we get into the Beacon Hills situation, we should figure out how to talk to the parents. If you all were really gone for a week, I can't imagine what they're feeling right now."

"You are right of course, but I cannot put off the Council debrief for much longer, maybe a day. Two at most," Deuc responds. If he could get headaches, he would have one. The 20 person congress would have questions – they'd likely be at it for hours. This whole mess was more entangled than anyone had ever imagined.

"You'll let us tell our parents?" Erica asks with clear surprise in her voice. The new wolves lay on either side of Ennis, but Erica props herself up to look at Deucalion.

"Of course," Ennis exclaims, appalled by the thought of even thinking about hiding it. "Do you care about your families?" Both of his betas nod emphatically. "Than we care about your families. It's that simple."

"And you'll tell Stiles' dad too?" Boyd asks quietly. He knows the wedge that has slowly driven into their relationship. You'd be a fool not to. Derek hadn't cared.

"Well yes." Kali says like it's obvious, "He's Pack too."

"M Pack?" It seems his boy had a knack for waking up at just the right moment, "I wan' be your Pack. We c'n be Pack."

Like sparking a match, Deucalion feels a flood. He has not felt a bond in seven years, but the feeling was not one he could soon forget. Four deep red strings of lightning sizzle to life in his mind's eye with two gold twined closely with the thickest of his red bonds. The strongest bond of them all shines silver-white. It leads straight to Stiles, who miraculously enough, has already fallen to sleep as if nothing happened.

Deuc hears gasps across the room. Family is one thing, true bonds of Pack are wholly different. He feels the shock from the twins, Kali, and Ennis like he never could before. The new wolves are twin bolts of confusion.

"Well fuck," Aiden says.

Yes, Deuc could not agree more. Pack indeed.

Stiles agrees with naps. He giggles, and rubs his cheek against the couch. He feels really happy, surprised, confused. Clear headed, well clear headed-ish. Feelings bubble across his tongue, popping like soda on his tongue.

"What's that?" He hears Boyd ask.

A woman, Kali maybe, laughs. She didn't seem like the laughy tap in the hall before. Too serious. "Those are Pack bonds. I'm not sure what will happen with you being connected to five Alphas. I'm certain no one has experienced this before. It does feel like your bonds with Ennis are what I would expect from an Alpha to his Betas." Her voice pauses for half a minute, "what did your bonds feel like with Derek?"

That has Stiles perk up, "where's Derek?" The hand in his hair pauses. Deucalion, he thinks? Deuc, a whisper floated through his mind. He growls. Stiles can feel the vibration travel down his leg into Stiles' cheek pressed to his thigh – can feel the disgust bursting sourly in his chest.

"We haven't heard from him or anyone. We only got out yesterday." Still on his stomach, Stiles turns on his side to look in the direction that Boyd's voice came from.

Oh. That's not fun. His back feels scratchy-stiff, like his skin lost all flexibility. He can't feel the pain though. Blessing in disguise? Definitely.

The feeling triggers the memory of darkness and Gerard leaning over him muttering and carving...

"Come back little Spark," Deuc whispers above him, massaging his temple and rubbing his cheek. Stiles takes a breath, and blinks his eyes open. He doesn't have to be in the dark anymore. He has choices.

The room is bright, but he can deal with it. Stiles squints into the light. It takes his eyes a minute to catch up with his brain. Erica and Boyd bookend a mountain of a man in the opposite corner of a massive couch. Kali rests close to Boyd. He feels the connection between Kali and the big man. Stiles doesn't know how, but he can tell they are more than friends.

A pair of twins sit on Erica's other side. They look like the youngest of the new faces. The two look about his age while the others look closer to their mid twenties.

The twins stare back at him. It feels unnerving, and then like a bubble bursting, one of the twins smiles. The other smirkes.

"Sleeping Beauty awakens," smirky twin says snarkily. Erica leans over Smiley and punches him in the shoulder.

"Shut up Aiden," Erica hisses, "Don't be a jerk!"

"S'okay Erica," Stiles murmurs through a yawn, "there's not enough sleep in the world to make Smirky look better. He's jealous. I get it."

Mountain man roars with laughter.

Deuc chuckles above him. Stiles squints as he looks up at the man, "You're Deuc. I remember you. Thanks for the good drugs." Deucalion looks down. Stiles' breath catches in his throat. Dirty blonde stubble dusts cheekbones that could cut glass with a sharp smile to match. The rest of his face hides behind dark glasses. Stiles remembers wearing them briefly yesterday? Today? Someday?

Deuc relaxes shirtless like the rest of the men on the couch. It creates a nice picture.

"I am happy to assist in any way that I can," Deucalion smiles. It makes Stiles' cheeks go warm.

Chapter End Notes

I'm not afraid to admit that I stole the bonds idea from Spark Bonds by Carerra_os: /works/19801720. If you haven't read it yet, I definitely recommend!

Thank you for all the reviews, feedback and ideas!!! Your comments are giving me so many plans for the future!!!!!! They really keep my brain full.

We hear about the sheriff next chapter!

Hope is a hand.

Stiles smiles back at the man who always seems to hover.

"Stiles focus," Boyd cuts in. He blinks, and turns to the group on the other side of the couch. Deuc huffs at losing the spark's attention.

"Right," Stiles mumbles. He tries to sit up, but doesn't get very far. Dots dance in his vision, and his muscles lock up as he tries to face the rest of the group.

Deuc grimaces, "Be still. Just because you cannot feel pain does not mean your body has recovered. There is no reason to worry. No reason to move."

Stiles releases a fast exhale. Moving sucks, got it. He makes himself comfortable - well, as comfortable as he can - and settles in for the long haul.

When he doesn't feel the pressure of his back stretching any longer, he looks back at Boyd. There's no one he'd trust more to read the situation, "what happened?"

Deuc starts running hands through his hair again. Oh, that's nice.

"We learned that Argent was resurrected by his merry band of seditionists six months back," Kali responds for Boyd. Stiles didn't actually expect the new wolves to be so forthcoming. It's a strange surprise. "Our Pack initially put him in the ground, almost two years ago now. We had an execution order for gross crimes against human and supernatural beings. Ennis," she gestures to Mountain Man, "learned that he came to Beacon Hills. We're still unclear as to why he chose this place over others."

Deucalion sighs and Stiles refocuses on the wolf he lays against, "it was easier than expected to end him. We will have to take special care to burn the body. The bright side of this endeavor is that we found you." Ennis coughs and Deuc sighs, "and Erica and Boyd as well." Erica grins at Ennis in response.

Stiles can feel his confusion bubbling over though. They've never mattered in the grand scheme of things. Why now? And to resurrect someone? Stiles clenches his hands into the wolf's sleep pants, how is that even possible?

"Deuc," Kali continues, completely the tumultuousness of Stiles' brain, "how did you know? I've been thinking about those wards since we left. Even if he is your Spark, that shouldn't be enough. No one could sense anything. We couldn't even see the door until you put your hand on it."

Stiles scrunches his eyebrows together, questions bursting from his tongue like a dam breaking, "what's a Spark? And wards? Like magic wards? And-and people can come back from the dead? Ger-he can come back again?" Stiles needs to move, needs to pace. Do something. He doesn't want to get trapped by him again. God, just. He thought he was going to die.

Ennis and Kali trade looks.

Kali turned to him, "you're a Spark. You've already proven it to us at least twice-"

Stiles shakes his against the alpha's thigh at her assertion. "No – how could I prove it to you? I didn't – don't even know what it is!" Stiles covers his face with his hands. At least he can do that, "And I've been fucked up since I've been with you!" Stiles can feel himself getting more and more worked up, but he can't stop it. Everything is too much between the cutting, and the dark, hearing him hurt Erica and Boyd. God, the whip. He can still feel the knife digging, in, in, in as the old man tries to pull out his insides. Gerard breathes hard in his ear, and laughs when Stiles starts screaming as the knife digs in again. And he can't, can't-

Calm leaks into his chest like water into draught-cracked earth. A fist rubs his chest hard. It gives him something to focus on. He's not there. He's not there. Stiles twists silk between his hands as he tries to gasp in enough air to make the feel solid.

"Breath deep. You are okay. Boyd is here. Erica is here too. You all are safe. You all are Pack, and we keep each other safe," Deucalion murmurs. A bottle materializes at his lips. The coldness trickling into his mouth shocks him from the last of it. He didn't get water there.

With borrowed calm, a wave of embarrassment sweeps through him, coloring his cheeks and neck. "M sorry," he says. Oh god, tears clog his eyes, and he tries to burrow deeper into the blankets.

"Kid, you've got nothing to be sorry about," Ennis says above his head; it makes Stiles clench his locked muscles together in surprise. The big wolf must have grabbed the water, "sometimes shitty things happen. It's better to need a moment now, surrounded by Pack, than squirreling away alone." With that, he flops down next to Kali, half in her lap. She just rolls her eyes at the big man. It makes wavery smile appear on Stiles' face, probably the point.

He takes time to collect himself, and peer around the room. He's here. He's not back there. Windows let in light from all directions. He can escape. A hand trails back through his hair, caressing his scalp. Gerard was dead. He was gone. He was not coming back. Right?

"Gerard," Stiles' throat clicks, trying to swallow around the word. "He came back. He will –will he, he can–"

"Darling no," Deucalion sighs heartbreakingly. "He's gone for good this time. I promise, anything that comes after you will need to get through me first. He won't touch you, nothing else will either." There's a fierceness to the man when he says the last piece, eyes glowing being his glasses.

It makes Stiles blush as much as it makes him breathe easier. He rubs a hand across his cheek. The action makes Deuc smile.

"So Sparks," Stiles says after a moment, "tell me everything."

"You know how in Harry Potter they make this big deal out of annunciation and wand movements?" Smirky asks from the other side of the couch. Stiles can't look at him without moving; it feels weird. Smirky keeps going, unperturbed, "yeah, that's all bullshit. If you believe that you can do something, it happens. That's what it means to be a Spark. Congrats, you're at the top of the magic food chain."

His explanation makes absolutely no sense. Stiles isn't anything special. "Sorry, but need ot call bullshit. How do you know I'm one? I don't make things float around. Weird crap doesn't happen to me. Oh God, you think I'm some fancy magic man and you added me to your pack because you thought I would be useful, but what if I'm not useful? I flail! I trip over air! But I make good bait! I can do research! I promise I can help-"

Deuc puts his hand over Stiles mouth before he goes feral, "As Kali stated, you have already proven your ability. Furthermore, Pack is made of people who bring more than skills of violence or magic. I will not lie to you. To have a Spark as a part of our Pack is a rare honor, but if magic left you tomorrow, it would not matter an ounce. Once you are Pack, you will always be Pack –and you, little Spark, are our Pack."

Warmth pushes into Stiles' chest. A joyful laugh escapes from his mouth behind Deuc's hand at the feeling. His large palm migrates back to his boy's hair as a consequence, no need to block such lovely sounds. "Do you feel that?," the alpha asks gently, "That press of warmth tucked behind your heart? That is what you gave us, and that is what we want to give you."

"It happened this morning," Ennis adds, "when you were high on pain drain. Stiles, we've been Pack for the last seven years, but we're also Alphas. We can't keep bonds with each other like a traditional Pack. Well, until you were so excited to be with us that you just decided that's what would happen. There is no spell on Earth to do something like this. You're stuck with us kid."

"You're sure?" his boy asks with nothing but surprised wonder in his voice.

"More than." Kali responds. Stiles' eyes droop even as his smile lights brighter than the surface of the sun. The heat from his chest suffuses the rest of his body. Stiles snuggles into the warmth of the blankets, and let his Pack's voices murmur around him.

Deucalion never stops stroking his hair.

Boyd looks over at Stiles while he putters off into dreamland again. He is sleeping a lot. Not surprising given the shape of him. Stiles deserves good things. While Deucalion makes him nervous, Boyd can't doubt the devotion he feels from the newly forged bond.

Erica and he managed to do a complete 180 in less than a day. His senses feel electric with the feeling of Erica, Ennis and the others tucked in his chest.. The strings go well beyond the "Derek, Isaac, Erica's alive" bond that he shared before. It's a vibrant, living thing.

Boyd can feel, and believe, Ennis's care and soft contentment as he lays with Kali. Every so often, there's a light pull, like Ennis checking in to say, "are you doing okay?"

He knew Derek wasn't perfect, but Boyd had no idea something like this could be his. He has everything he ever wanted in the space of a good night's sleep. This place, this Pack feels like convalescence after a month long nightmare.

Ennis breaks him away from his thoughts, "about your parents. I'd like to meet them. You said they don't know about wolves. We can talk through that." He pauses. Boyd can feel Ennis's nervousness in what he's about to say. "I also need them to understand that you'll be staying with us for the foreseeable future. Deuc wasn't lying when he said you needed to learn control. More than that, I want you close because you're pack. The closer we are together, the stronger our bonds, the stronger we are."

Boyd looks away, embarrassed. He should have thought of her. He scrubs a hand over his eyes, but Erica jumps in before Ennis can question him.

"My parents are going to be worried and surprised for sure," Erica answers, "but I haven't done a great job of being a good daughter since the Bite. Not really. I guess I was so worried about catching up on all the things I missed from being sick that they sort of got left behind at first." Erica puts a hand over her eyes.

Her mouth screws up in some kind of grim expression. It doesn't look right on her face, but continues on anyway. "After the first week, things started going to shit with the kanima and then the hunters. I just wanted to protect them. I pushed them away more." She sniffs and forces a laugh, "they probably think I'm doing drugs or something." She laughs again. It isn't happy, "I made a mess of it. I really, really want them to know about what happened. It won't fix everything, but I want to be honest with them. It's a start."

Boyd reaches for her hand and holds tight. Deep breath, "My grandma isn't doing well. At least she's on generics. Medicare takes care of that mostly, but I started working after school to make sure we could keep her care nurse. We– I still had to cut back her hours, but it's something you know?" Erica leans deeper into him, settling in the crook of his arm. "I'm not sure how she's doing now if I've been gone for a week. She's," Boyd coughs and mumbled, "she's all I have left. I don't know if she even realizes I've been gone."

"Oh kid," Ennis sighs. He pulls both of his Betas into a crushing hug. "You're not in this alone anymore. We'll figure it out together."

A hand sneaks into Boyd's own. He glances over; Ethan tightens his grip.

Hope is family.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Ennis didn't want to let his Betas go. It was a bonafide shitshow. Just when he thought he had a handle on it, the rug was yanked out from under him. He rubbed his chin against the crowns of their heads and collected his thoughts.

"Okay," he finally said, "first thing's first. Boyd do you know the nursing agency?" Boyd nodded against his chest. Ennis glanced at Kali, "why don't you go with Kali? She's going to help you get home care squared away. When we're all a little more settled, we'll take a visit," he looked down at his Beta, and waited until Boyd could look back at him, "okay?" Boyd immediately looked down, embarrassment coloring the bond, but he did nod. He followed Kali down the hall. Ennis took it as a win. They could work on trust later.

One thing at a time.

"My dear," he gave Erica an extra squeeze, "we're going to call your parents." He could tell she was going to say something, "just to tell them that you're safe. Talking about wolves is better done in person I think." She gave a watery chuckle into his shoulder.

"But what do I tell them? They're going to ask where I am." Her voice shook, "I really don't want to lie to them anymore."

"I know," he whispered. He collected his thoughts, "I think you should tell them that you're at a friends, and you've been trying to get your head on straight. We can invite them for dinner in a few days. Do you think that would help?"

"Yeah," she whispered, "let's do this before I lose my nerve."

Ethan was an Alpha, but he was also a seventeen year old, but he also never had connections beyond his twin and the Alphas that practically adopted them two years ago.

Thinking beyond the wolf didn't happen until he could join this group of people. His life was messed up before, but it was messed up because he and his twin were only the wolf, subsisting on what they could catch in woods. They only had each other for three years. He didn't remember his family; Ethan didn't even remember his pack from before. He just knew it was bad until they stopped it from being that way.

Nothing prepared him for this situation. How could you support someone with something you've never dealt with before?

As the other four paired off and left, he looked at Aiden, and then Deuc.

"Come here cubs," Deuc put his free arm along the back of the couch, "I would like a bit of closeness after this morning."

Ethan didn't call him out on the lie.

Stiles woke in a dim room. That hand was still in his hair though it paused as he turned his head. Something smelled good. His stomach grumbled as if to say 'egg drop's not going to put a dent in days of nothing.' Stiles agreed with his stomach.

"Chili's almost ready," yelled Ennis from what Stiles assumed was the kitchen. Stiles huffed, werewolf mind readers.

"How do you feel?" asked Deuc. Stiles could feel his worry in that place behind his heart.

"I'm okay. Well I've been better, but I'm alive! So I've got that going for me." Stiles made to get up. It was hard, but he managed it this time with minimal flailing.

Deuc supported a shoulder, and clearly frustrated asked, "what are you doing?"

"Gotta pee," Stiles said as if it was obvious, "can't get carried around all the time like some damsel in distress." He heard Ennis snicker.

"At least allow me to help you," Deucalion argued. "Twenty four hours ago you could not string words together. Give yourself a bit of grace."

"Hmm," Stiles looked at where the top of the couch met the floor. Only werewolves would have some kind of sunken fancy den couch thingy. The blankets were good though, and the pillows...the whole couch was like a giant pillow. Actually, Derek should take notes. This place had furniture, four walls, AND an intact roof. Crazy.

"You drive a hard bargain. Okay. You can help me get up there, but you have to promise to let me walk around on my own once we're up." Stiles wheedled.

Deuc could feel Kali and Ennis' humor at the scene. "How about this. We get up onto the floor, and you hold onto me, so that I know you are not going to fall over."

"I'm amenable to your accord," Stiles responded in a terrible impersonation of an English accent. The kitchen exploded in laughter.

One minute Stiles has his butt on the couch, the next he can actually see the kitchen where Ennis Is stirring a massive pot and laughing hard with Kali. His toes touched the ground. It took an embarrassing amount of time to straighten out his legs, then his back. Deuc positively smirked when Stiles finally looked at him, clutching the Alpha's arm like an old man with a walker.

"Not a word," Stiles grumbled. Together they slowly shuffled to the bathroom. He could hear Deucalion laugh as soon as the door shut behind him. It didn't stop him from doing his business, albeit slowly. He went to town once he found a fresh tooth brush & toothpaste under the sink. Trust rich folks to keep a powder room well stocked.

He opened the door to an arm waiting for him. They made their slow, shuffling way over to the smell of food.

"Where are Erica and Boyd?" Stiles asked once they got close to the island.

"They were feeling antsy, so went with the twins to take care of Argent. You won't have to worry about him again," Kali said as she finished grating some cheddar. She smacked Ennis' hand as he tried to steal a pinch of shredded cheese.

Stiles felt his throat click as he swallowed. That's not what he expected.

Before he could go down that path, Ennis shoved a large biscuit in his face. Well, that smelled good. It had speckles of cheddar melted on top. He could smell the butter.

"Eat that while the chili finishes up. You could use the calories," Kali said.

Stiles stood at the counter. The stool looked hard. He didn't want to think about that against the deep bruises on the backs of his legs. He stood and ate his biscuit. It was the best thing he'd eaten in years. Kali put another on his plate as soon as he finished the first.

"We made plans with Erica and Boyd this morning to talk with their families," Deuc said as he sat on an open stool next to him.

Stiles leaned more heavily on the counter, "I get to tell my dad too?"

"Yes, though from what Erica has told us, your father is the Sheriff, yes?" Deucalion asked. Stiles nodded.

Deuc nodded, "we are concerned that if you call him to say you are okay, he may think we are the ones who kidnapped you."

Stiles grimaced. "Yeah, I could see him bringing the entire BHPD with him if he believed that." Stiles thought about what a disaster that would be. "Would you be okay if he came here? I mean, I don't want him to be able to show up whenever he wants, but if one of you could, um like, grab him when he's alone? That way he doesn't hear about anything until he's on the way in the car or something. I'm pretty sure that the werewolf thing will shock him enough into hearing about Ger- um, hearing about the other stuff."

He started crumbling up the last bits of his biscuit in nervousness, "I just- I've got this feeling that he's freaking out right now. There's probably some crazy plan we could come up with that could get him here alone, but that would likely just freak him out more, or take longer."

"Stiles," Deuc grasped his shoulder, "that is fine. We can do that. One of us can go into town tomorrow. Okay?"

"Okay. Just, just be really careful okay?" Stiles felt his shoulders relax, coming down from around his ears. He wiped his hands on a napkin, suddenly worn out again.

"I think I want to lay down for a bit," he said. Deuc helped him shuffle back onto the couch. Stiles didn't even feel the blankets tuck around him.

Peter watched Chris leave the house from a few blocks away. The Argent Patriarch turned high school principal hadn't been seen in days. Stiles and Derek's betas were reported missing for over a week now as well.

As a Left Hand, he did not believe in coincidence.

Interesting. There was a blue envelope tucked into Chris's back pocket. The plot thickens. Peter had some calls to make.

Chapter End Notes

So I lied about the Sheriff bit this chapter, but he'll definitely be in the next!

Deucalion still has to deal with the council, and they haven't had a conversation about the StilesDeuc situation!

Pete has finally cropped up!

What else are you all looking forward to?

Hope is coffee.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Stiles wrinkled his nose. The whole bathroom smelled like the incense cart at the mall. "You sure I have to bathe in that?"

"Yes," Deucalion said, finished filling the tub. "If you would like to keep healing, then you need to cleanse the iron from your system. Do you like that it no longer takes you five minutes to straighten up?"

"Yes" he grumbled reluctantly. It had only been a day, but he was healing. It even felt like he was healing a little faster than usual. Stiles wouldn't complain about that.

"Then get in the bath. Do you need help?" Stiles shook his head. Deuc practically bolted from the room. Lucky bastard.

Stiles groaned as he got in the hot water. His back was starting to scab and the stitches would be able to come out in a week or so. It still wasn't comfortable. His legs were still a mess of black bruising. Deuc believed it was because the weapon was made of iron. Stiles started scrubbing the gray dust off his body.

Deuc laid in bed. A book rested in his lap, but he ignored it for now as he waited for Stiles to finish up. They had yet to discuss what the Spark meant to him. It had only been a day since they found him, but with his boy's father coming tonight, he was running out of time.

The door creaked open, and he watched Stiles make his way into the closet for some more borrowed clothes. He certainly moved slowly, but at this point Deuc could trust him not to collapse, mostly.

Stiles performed the most ginger flop he had ever seen. Getting settled next to the wolf, Stiles joked, "it must be serious if you're actually looking at me." The Spark smiled at his own humor.

Stiles was not wrong. It was a delicate situation, and certainly not territory he had ever ventured into before.

Deuc sighed and grabbed Stiles' hand, "you know, Kali's birth pack lived somewhere inside Columbia; they were well known storytellers and mythologists. She told us about a legend of a lonely Spark a year after she came to us." Stiles hummed, tracing the lines of Deuc's fingers. It made the wolf give a small smile. He could do this.

"Sparks acted as the voice of reason. They moved across the land to settle disputes, and used their gifts to heal problems." Stiles laced their hands together as he spoke. Deuc felt his curiosity grow. "Hundreds of years ago, there was a Spark that traveled the world, helping humans and Supernaturals live peacefully, but it eventually took a toll on her. She wanted someone meant for her just as she would be for them - two parts forming a perfect whole. She wanted a companion to share her burden. She would be theirs, and they would be hers."

"No one knows what triggered her to finally do it, but the Spark willed her magic to find her match. Nothing happened for months. The Spark continued to travel, heart hurt and forlorn."

"One day, an angry village did not like her judgement. The men of the village found her along the trail leaving the town. An Alpha heard her cries, and came to her rescue. The wolf could feel she was his, and let out a great roar. He defended the Spark, and both managed to get away safely." Deuc paused, and looked at Stiles. "Her Other found her when she needed him most. The Spark stayed with the Pact, and her Mate for the rest of their lives. The wish didn't end with her though. From that point forward, a Spark's Other would find their Spark at the greatest hour of their need."

Deucalion finished the story, never taking his Alpha red eyes from his Spark. The room was quiet.

"I remember a really loud roar," Stiles paused and swallowed, "from- from before. It was you, wasn't it?"

Deuc tightened his grip on his Spark's hand, "Yes. Kali said that you have proven twice now that you are a Spark. The first led me to you. You smell of lightning and cotton. When we went to find Argent, I could smell you from the sidewalk. It should have been impossible, especially with the wards in that room. Even beyond that, my wolf had a rage all of its own. I thought it was due to Argent, but it did not start settling when the task was complete."

He rubbed his thumb along his Spark's knuckles, "Before yesterday, I had no idea that you existed. If I did, nothing would have stopped me from getting to you. I know that you have gone through a great and terrible trauma, but I want you to know that no matter what you decide, I am here for you. The Pack is here for you. Nothing must change if you do not wish it to."

Stiles went quiet, thinking. Deuc could feel his confusion in the bond. Very slowly, resolve replaced the confusion.

Stiles smiled. It was a soft, little thing, "I can feel it, you know? It feels like trust. It doesn't come naturally to me. I was confused by it." Stiles took a deep breath. "I want to try, but I want to go slow." Deuc grinned. Stiles smiled a bit more, "I want to know you. Just- just slowly."

"Darling," Deuc gripped his Spark's hand in both of his, "nothing would make me happier."

John unlocked the house. The TV wasn't on. It was dark out, but all of the lights were off. The house was hot - no point in paying for AC with an empty house. Stiles had been missing for almost 9 days now.

John went from sitting in the stands, watching his boy play the first and best game of his life to the horror of missing him completely. The Whittemore kid was dead, but then the hospital lost the body. The Reyes family reported their daughter missing. No one had seen hide nor hair of the principal either.

The entire thing stank too much to be a coincidence, and his kid was somehow right in the middle of it. John didn't care if Stiles was a criminal mastermind, he just needed to know if his kid was okay. Anything else they could deal with together. That's what he promised Claudia, and it wasn't a promise he'd quit on now.

John trudged upstairs to grab a quick shower and change uniforms. If he worked hard enough, he could drum up a few more leads. Coming down the stairs, John smelt coffee. He hadn't started the pot.

"Stiles!" He yelled almost falling down the stairs in a rush, "Stiles! You're home!"

"No, I'm sorry Sheriff," a pretty young woman said sitting in his kitchen. She pushed a paper cup at him. "I'm not Stiles, but I'm here to bring you to him."

He swallowed his disappointment one more time.

One part of him knew this was a bad idea. The other, larger part, didn't care anymore. Maybe it was the lack of sleep. Maybe it was the hopeless feeling that burrowed into his chest, but any lead, dangerous or otherwise, was better than sitting in the station looking at the same pictures and reading the same statements, hoping something new would connect.

"Yes," John said, already headed for the door. He didn't even remember his gun.

Peter died apparently. No, not a few months ago when he actually died, and had to go through the ordeal of haunting a teenaged Banshee, but before that. The Ito Left Hand confirmed that Laura said she was taking her nephew, the last of her Pack, and moving to New York.

In accordance with his Will, his accounts were in trust, waiting for Laura's, now Derek's 25th birthday. It didn't escape his notice that Laura was in town the week before her own 25th.

The Sheriff's Office needed to approve a 'Death Retraction in Accordance with a Crime.' Utter nonsense, but if there was only one more form required for him to get his life back, then he would jump through that hoop. Peter had no idea how Laura managed it. He was admitted to the Beacon Hills Long Term Care Ward for pity's sake.

Peter drove to the Sheriff's house. Annoyingly, only one signature would do. That signator, for once, was not at the station.

As he turned the corner, he saw the Sheriff get into the passenger seat of a black car.

Was that Kali?

Chapter End Notes

Things are going to start picking up! Stiles sees his father next chapter, and we FINALLY hear from Derek!

Thank you for the reviews and kudos! They are much appreciated - especially ideas and questions. They really help me plan.

Three fic recommendations that just updated:

1. LavenderLotion just released the sequel in the belonging series. It kicks gluteus maximus: /works/28649511/chapters/70227549

2. Ruthless is a BA Chris/Peter/Stiles werewolf mob fic. Basil is killing it: /works/28103589/chapters/68857545

3. Tarvera's Meant to Be series makes me so happy inside, even if Stiles is going through some ish right now: /series/1918180

Hope is Dad.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

It was a quiet ride. The woman hadn't even introduced herself, just told him to get in the passenger seat. She got in the driver's and off they went. John knew about 20 minutes in that this was about the point he should regret his decision, but couldn't muster up the energy to do anything about it.

Far outside of town the woman spoke.

"You must be very proud to have raised such a strong person," she said, never taking her eyes off the road. "Most wouldn't have lasted as long as he did."

That was the straw.

He couldn't form words to conquer his irate fear, so instead went for his gun. The situation crashed into him. John wasn't even wearing his holster.

"Please- please just tell me it didn't hurt too bad. You can do whatever you want to me, just please don't, don't tell me he suffered," water dripped on his hands as he clutched the seat belt. He made a wounded sound. John wouldn't survive this one—not after Claudia.

The woman pulled up to a sleek gate connecting high walls, and killed the engine. She looked at him, "You misconstrue. You're going to see him. He's alive. We found him a little less than two days ago. He's still healing. John, I need you to collect yourself. You'll kill him if he sees you like this."

It took a moment for him to truly understand what she said. His emotions gave him whiplash. "He's alive." John wiped his face; Stiles would have complained that it was such a dad move to always have a napkin in his pocket. He was still a dad. His boy was alive.

"I'm ready. I need to see my son," he said. The gate opened and the car pulled forward.

Aiden didn't have many habits, but the one thing he did do often was compete with his brother. Every day, he and his brother raced the perimeter of whatever territory they found themselves in. He felt secure knowing that he was looking after what was his.

More importantly, it gave him the chance to utterly trounce Ethan. Let's face it, there are few more important things than that. They may have been the same, but he was better.

Aiden saw Kali's car moving up the drive and hustled a little bit faster to get back in time. Ethan was nowhere in sight. Not surprising. He was the faster twin after all.

Stiles stood at the kitchen island playing with the condensation on his glass of water. Fingers slide along the drops of water. Any moment now, Kali was going to walk through the door. Dad was going to be right behind her.

Scared would be an understatement. He had Deuc, the conversation this morning never made him feel more secure in having a partner in crime. The wolf hadn't left him since they met. It felt like he was first for once.

But his dad was Dad. He did not want to gain a pack just to lose his Dad.

Deucalion gripped his hand before he could knock the glass over in his jitteriness. Stiles took a breath—he seemed to be doing that a lot lately—and let it out slowly. He could do this. Dad loved him. They were a team. The team was just going to get a little bigger, it would be fine, it would be-

The door opened. His Dad walked through first, and there was a dad hug and it felt so good, but he moaned at how much it hurt, but it was his dad and it didn't matter anymore, and he was crying everywhere, but it didn't matter because Dad! His Dad! He was here!

Dad held his shoulders, but Stiles had no issues throwing his arms around his neck to hold him tight. Suddenly, Stiles went from tears to ugly sobs into his Dad's neck, and he couldn't stop. He hurt, and things happened and he just wanted his Dad, and now he had him.

"Hey kiddo, you're okay. I got you now, you're safe. I have you," those muttering kept repeating over and over until Stiles' legs shook and his face felt hot-sticky.

Stiles pulled away, just far enough to see his face. There were tear tracks down his dad's cheeks too. Stiles didn't know what to say. He looked at his dad—his Dad!—and didn't think he would see him again, not before in the basement.

"Why don't we take a seat?" Deucalion asked, gesturing to the seldom used dining room table. "There are some things you need to be aware of." Stiles looked at Deuc with gratitude. He felt like he was on autopilot as he shuffled over to the table.

Stiles couldn't let go of his dad's hand.

Deuc watched the father and son fall apart together in his kitchen. The rest of the Pack politely dispersed at the scene. The Sheriff did not even notice Erica or Boyd as he reunited with his son.

They sat at the table, father and son so close together that they almost looked like they were sharing a chair.

"Kid, what happened," John asked.

Deuc could feel his boy's panic at the question.

"Sheriff, my name is Deucalion. Stiles has anxiously awaited your visit, but the situation itself is a bit overwhelming," Deuc spoke. The Sheriff looked over at him, but still kept his arm around his son's shoulders.

"A few days ago," Deuc began, "My colleagues and I were assigned to a case involving Gerard Argent."

"The principal?" The Sheriff interrupted.

"Yes," Deuc responded, "He was last seen in Vermont where he left a string of murders behind him. He used a rapier to bisect the bodies of his victims as his calling card."

"Jesus," the Sheriff shuffled even closer to his son. "Why haven't I heard about this case? Something like that, it would be national news. Are you with the Bureau?"

"Well, that would be the trick," Deuc allowed his wolf to come to his eyes, "We are not exactly human."

"Don't worry" Stiles mumbled as his dad seized up in his chair, looking down at their still clasped hands, "Deuc is good. He- the Pack saved me! And Erica and Boyd!"

"I don't think," Stiles inhaled, "I wouldn't have made it if he hadn't found me."

"What the fuck are you?" The Sheriff whispered in shock while still holding his son tight. He glared at Deuc.

"He's a werewolf," Stiles whispered. "Scott's one too...since that night when you had to find the body in the woods." Deuc listened as Stiles' voice became more wet, "I wanted to tell you! I wanted to! But it was too dangerous...I didn't want you to get hurt. Or, or lose, or lose you. But Deuc said you needed to know. And I wanted to tell you, but Derek and Scott said you couldn't know, and it wasn't my secret. It wasn't mine! Not mine to tell! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Stiles began sobbing again. The Sheriff pulled him into his shoulder.

"Ah kid, you're okay son. I know you did the best you could," the Sheriff said in his son's ear. He turned to Deuc, "You're a werewolf." Deucalion went into full beta shift.

"Jesus Christ," the man said. Deuc thought that about covered it.

He gave the Sheriff a moment to look before pulling back the shift and starting in again, "We are unclear as to how Stiles, Boyd and Erica became of interest-"

"Erica Reyes is here? She's been missing for the last week! And Boyd - as in Vernon Boyd? We didn't even get reports that he was gone..." the Sheriff murmured.

"Yes," Deuc cut in as the Sheriff petered out, "We know that Boyd and Erica were captured by the granddaughter, and Stiles was taken a few hours later. Argent wanted Stiles to be a message, but he was not satisfied when your son did not bruise up the way he wanted. His warning to this Scott fellow became secondary when he discovered that your son is not quite human."

"Stiles," the Sheriff continued looking down at his son, "are you a were-, Jesus Christ, are you a werewolf too?"

Stiles remained silent, shoulders drooping further down, hunched. Deuc did not like it. "He is not. Your son is far more special than that. He is what is known as a Spark or strong magic user." Deuc fervently believed in ripping band aides. Granted, wolves did not need them.

"Do what now? You're all mad. Let me take the kids, and you'll never hear from us again. We'll pretend this never happened-"

"I can't let you do that Sheriff," said Ennis coming down the hallway. He wouldn't remain silent while someone threatened to take his betas.

"Boyd and Eric are my pack." He held up a hand to cut off questions, "I did not turn them into wolves, and I will not keep them from their families, but the fact of the matter is that it took this town two days to realize that Erica was missing. By your own admission, it never even realized that Boyd was gone."

"Sheriff, it's been nine days. My Betas are good kids. Too good to only be remembered when it's convenient." Ennis sat next to Deuc at the table, arms crossed over a broad chest. He'd fight tooth and nail to win this argument.

The front door banged open. Deuc heard Ethan's heart beat, but he had someone else with him.

"I found him as he was climbing the east wall," Ethan said.

The Sheriff looked up, "Peter Hale?"

"Ah yes, Sheriff, I need you to sign some documents. Is this a bad time?" A smooth voice said even as Ethan tossed him into the room.

Chapter End Notes

Lesson learned: the werewolf reveal thing is really hard to write in an even semi-believable way. Pretty sure that wasn't pulled off

Once again, I lied about Derek, but he will show up in the next chapter or two.

Hope is herbaceous.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Ethan shoved Peter through the door. The wolf would never flail, but did have to get his legs under him. He dusted himself off, looking remarkably calm for a beta who snuck into the territory of five Alphas.

Stiles sucked in a sharp breath, "You're dead."

"Thank you for that. Immolation is such a comforting warmth, don't you agree?" Peter smirked as he settled the cuffs of his shirt.

"You were hurting people," Stiles whispered, "you hurt everyone. There wasn't a choice."

Peter's tone sharpened, "There's always a choice. You chose not to take it." He sighed, put upon. "No matter. I admit to being slightly erratic on coming out of the coma, but being dead acted as a lovely little reboot," the wolf smiled as if he were meeting an old friend. "There's this British comedy, Deucalion maybe you've seen it. They say 'have you tried turning it off and on again?'"

Ethan watched the Sheriff stare at Hale like he'd seen a ghost.

"You died. I dragged you out of that oven myself. They put you in a bag!" The Sheriff stated. For the first time, he let go of his son's hand, putting his elbows on the table to rest his head. Ethan didn't smell tears, but the man wreaked of exhaustion.

Peter's look softened, "I'm sorry, John. I don't have all of the pieces to what happened yet, but I do know it's not a pretty picture. I didn't intend to leave you so soon."

Deucalion sat quietly, listening to the turn of events. It was time to pause things. It seemed like both Stilinski men hit their threshold.

"Sheriff, stay the night. You are exhausted, and we have extra rooms. You can breakfast with us in the morning," Deucalion said.

"Peter," Ennis said looking at the beta, "You're staying as well. Kali will want to see you when she gets back."

Stiles showed his dad to a guest room. "You're safe here?" John asked.

"I feel safer here than I've felt in a long time," Stiles watched his Dad's shoulders droop more. He hugged his dad again. "I'm sorry," the spark whispered, "I swear I didn't mean for anything like this to happen. I just wanted to help Scott, and then things got more and more impossible. I didn't realize I was in over my head until Deuc pulled me out."

"Kid" John kept the hug. After nine days, he needed it, "You've never done things by halves. I'm still shocked as hell right now, but I'm not surprised that you managed to get involved in all this. If there's something to be in the middle of, you'll find it. That does not mean we're skipping a conversation about it, but right now, I need about 10 hours of sleep before anything else can get in my brain."

Stiles shivered. Talks weren't fun, but "that's fine. We can chat about how you know Peter too."

Stiles closed the door to his dad's room and made his way to Deuc's. He leaned heavily on the wall. It had been a long day, and he still hurt, ached, and everything between.

It sounded like Kali yelling down the hall, but he was too tired to deal with it. Stiles stayed on course to bed.

The room was dark when he entered. Not surprising, Deuc didn't need much. Stiles flipped on the light. Just in case. His entrance caused Deuc to turn over under the covers, "Alright?" The wolf said.

"Yeah, just tired," Stiles sighed. He grabbed some extra pajamas from the closet. Settling into bed, Deuc reached out a hand to pull his pain. Stiles muttered a thanks, already feeling the strong ache leave.

The light stayed on.

John woke up to the smell of bacon. For once, exhaustion worked in his favor as he slept like the dead.

"Werewolves. Jesus Christ," he muttered. He took a quick shower in the connected bath. This place was nicer than most hotels he'd stayed at, even before coming to Beacon Hills.

Of course Stiles found the mess to get involved in. As much as John tried, he was never as successful as he would have liked in developing a sense of self-preservation in his kid.

That only got worse when his son met the new asthmatic child after Claudia passed. If Stiles wasn't trying to save squirrels and rabbits from rock throwers, then he was throwing himself into fist fights against the Whittemore boy to defend Scott. It never turned out well.

When John felt like he had his head screwed on as much as he could, he left the room. If Stiles thought his usual threats would stop him from that bacon, he had another thing coming.

He saw a set of twins as he walked into the main room, the large man from last night, Erica, Vernon, and Deucalion. It seemed like a motley crew, but "where's Stiles?"

"Ah good morning Sheriff. Stiles is finishing up a bath, and should be here shortly. Would you care for some breakfast?" Deucalion said.

"Nice to see you again Sheriff!" Called a deep voice. The big man from yesterday was at the oven stirring scrambled eggs, "I'm Ennis by the way. I didn't introduce myself last night, and hope you don't hold my defense of the kids against me. I believe you met my partner Kali already." His welcome today was a hell of a contrast to his resolve in keeping Erica and Vernon last night.

Chagrined, John was not proud of missing the kids for so long. Missing Vernon Boyd for over a week was not something he would soon forget. He had to figure out ways to make sure something like it never happened again.

"Here Sheriff," Ennis slid a plate across the island, "have some breakfast."

"Coffee?" Ennis asked.

"Black, and please call me John. I have a feeling we're going to see a lot of each other." John grabbed the plate & offered mug with a thanks, and took it over to the table where Erica, Vernon, and Deucalion already sat.

"I smell bacon," Stiles yelled from the hall, "You better not give any to my dad!"

The scent of Stiles hit John in the face. "Kiddio, I can smell you, and it's definitely not bacon I'm getting. What have you been doing? Rolling around in an herb garden? You smell like the trimmings for a Thanksgiving turkey," John said. Erica and Vernon outright laughed at Stiles' awkward and flailing response.

"Yeah…" Stiles scratched the back of his head, "I'm kind of magic? And magic and iron don't mix? So I gotta do an herb cleanse bath thing or else I won't heal or whatever, but good news! I'm healing faster! So it's really good, okay? You don't need to worry!" He finished the statement with an almost, not quite jazz hands maneuver that had John shaking his head.

"Son, I don't understand half of what you just said, but one thing I do know is that I need to worry. And eat this bacon." He stared Stiles down, "Werewolves, Stiles, werewolves."

"Ugh" Stiles rolled his eyes, "Fine."

Werewolves. He could use that for awhile.

Peter drove back into town, Kali in the passenger seat. The yelling "discussion" was warranted, he had to admit. Peter at least felt he had someone in his corner again. There weren't many times where he could count on someone to have his back, especially the year leading up to the disaster.

Talia behaved more like a politician than their parents. Even before their mother and father's passing, he felt the distance as he depended more and more on his training as Left Hand to get him through the day. That training ended up being several nails in his coffin. Pack that can't trust is no Pack at all. His dad used to say that all the time. Maybe it was a prophecy.

Peter remembered his aunt telling him a Left Hand could end up lonely if he did his job well. As a ten year old surrounded by so much family, it didn't sound so bad. He felt differently as a 32 year old with blood on his hands and ash in his mouth. At least his aunt had the respect of the Pack. He got their barely-made tolerance when they were alive. He failed at keeping them that way too.

And now he would watch the new, maybe even last, Hale Alpha be told that he was being put under Observation by Council Representative. He hoped his nephew knew what that meant.

Derek was never supposed to be Alpha.

Derek heard the light feet of his uncle come up the steps. Good. He hadn't seen Peter in a few days, and it made him antsy. Even without the Alpha Spark, the man could still do a hell of a lot of damage.

Another set of footsteps followed him, ones he didn't recognize. That got him off of the couch and frowning in front of the door.

What did Peter do now?

Chapter End Notes

IT Crowd is hilarious and streaming on Netflix.

Things to look forward to:
- Deuc has to call the council
- Stiles makes friends with a tree
- Ennis starts training his betas, hilarity ensues
- Scott's a douche canoe
- Peter finds the best course of defense is a good offense
- Oh yeah, and something happens with Derek
- At some point, Stiles gets to stop smelling like a candle store
- Ethan makes a move, and he's suave as fuuuuuck (if you ask him)

What else are you looking forward to?

Hope is vomit on the sidewalk.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Kali left, and Peter meant to follow.

"Peter," Derek said, "A word." Peter looked at Kali, and shrugged.

"Of course nephew," he said, looking again at his nephew and mostly Alpha.

"Is this real?" the alpha asked. He looked wrecked with dark circles under his eyes. Between allowing his betas to leave and managing the kanima situation, he had not had an easy time of it. The problem, Peter thought, was that most of those issues fell directly at Derek's feet.

"It's as real as anything could ever be," Peter chose to respond. Derek sat back on his couch, and put his head in his hands. Peter placed a hand on his shoulder. It was casual, much too casual for the meeting they just had.

"Peter," Derek looked up and then moved away, standing to face him, "I can't have you be a part of this pack. You brought her here. I can't trust you. Not before, and definitely not now. I want you out of my territory in 24 hours."

Peter closed his eyes, and breathed out as his last remaining bond to a Hale, really anyone, broke.

Kali sat in the car, waiting. She told herself it was just in case, but trusted her gut. She knew this would not turn out well.

She watched as Peter stumbled out the door, and vomited on the sidewalk. Kali expected it to be bad, but she never predicted that. Peter spit, tried to collect himself, and opened the passenger side door.

"Can't drive," he whispered. Peter's over-the-top persona shattered, leaving a man who seemed to keep losing. She nodded, took his keys, and got him settled as best she could.

She drove them back to her pack. Kali had a question to ask.

Peter felt himself being moved. It didn't matter anymore. His family was dead. His pack was gone. Peter got his wish; he was alone. Maybe John shouldn't have pulled him from the house. It would have been easier to just let go, run with Mother Moon before he could truly upset anyone else. So much hurt drifted through the air.

When you only had one bond, and you couldn't even keep that, what did that make you?

Omega.

He was an Omega to be hunted, to go mad on society.

He heard yelling. It didn't matter anymore. Conversations weren't for him anymore. He deserved his loneliness.

"What the hell did you do to him!" The Sheriff yelled, rushing to his feet as Kali hauled Peter into the house. Stiles sat frozen beside him. Deucalion could feel his terror at their entrance.

John had never seen Peter look so pale, eyes closed and mumbling nonsense to himself. John just found him. He couldn't lose him again.

Kali laid Peter out on the couch, and tucked blankets around him. When she had him as comfortable as she could, she looked up, "I didn't do this to him John. I swear. I needed to have a chat with the territory Alpha, and Peter was nice enough to show me the way."

Kali looked over at Deucalion, "Alpha Hale did not take the Observation notice well. Derek broke the bond when I left." She scrubbed a hand over her eyes, "I knew he was going to do something stupid, but I didn't expect it to be this."

John watched Ennis throw an arm over her shoulders. Ennis, Deucalion and the twins all looked at the woman, waiting for something. Peter finally laid quiet on the couch. Sweat collected at his temples, and he frowned deeply even as he appeared to sleep.

"I ask that we expand the pack," Kali said. Her perfect posture got even straighter. "Peter Hale has been a friend and was renowned Left Hand to the Hale pack. I would like to take him as my Beta, our pack Left Hand."

"Yes," Ethan said without hesitation. Aidan responded in kind.

Ennis kissed her temple, and said his affirmation. Kali turned and looked to Deucalion, Stiles and the newest Betas.

John could see Stiles' eyes widen.

"Are you okay Stiles?" Deucalion said, "You're just as much a part of this pack as the rest of us." Stiles hugged the man, even as his dad looked on. Fear still clawed into his chest at the thought of Peter so close.

He turned to Kali while sticking close to Deuc, "I'm scared of Peter. He, I've seen him kill. He's gone after people I've loved. Vicious. He almost killed Derek, Lydia, Scott. If he had more of a chance he would have taken it. I've seen him lose control. He terrorized me, and he gave Scott the Bite. I can't imagine a world where we'd be safe if he was in it. I don't want to worry about him losing control. I want to feel safe."

"We, Derek and I, we had to come up with a plan to stop him. Derek lied. He told Scott that if he killed the one who bit him that it would cure him. Scott believed him. I just wanted him to stop hurting my friends. I was afraid all the time. I couldn't sleep. I'm not, I'm not proud of what I did, but I also didn't expect it to really happen, like any moment I'd wake up. It was a nightmare."

"If I agree, what if he hurts me again? Or Erica or Boyd?" Stiles took a deep breath. John saw him lean more heavily into Deucalion. He noticed how the wolf allowed his son into his space without thought.

"What Peter said last night was true." John murmured, shocked. "You really set him on fire. Even though you knew what happened to his family? How could you hide something like this from me? I'm your father. Christ kid, I love you, but I can't help you if you don't trust me." John scrubbed his hands through his hair. "This is where all of your secrets came from, isn't it?" Stiles wouldn't meet his eyes anymore.

John didn't know how to react. Werewolves, magic. His son helped kill someone, someone who was as close a friend as John ever had after Claudia died. Could have been more. A friend who terrorized his son, and the town. It explained all of the animal attacks a few months ago. But Peter was alive now. Nothing made sense anymore. He needed to start with what he could do.

"I need to call out to the Station. Figure out a story about the kids. My guys don't need to search anymore. Son, I love you, and I will be here for you – I'll always be here for you, but I need to think." He left.

John didn't want to see the crushed look on his kid's face. He didn't want Stiles to see his own.

Kali kept an eye on Peter. His rapid deterioration required action. His skin went gray.

"I can imagine how scary it was to see an Omega bent on revenge." Kali whispered, looking down at Peter,"But the man I knew wasn't like that. He used to play with the pups in my pack all time, teach them how to sneak around, made the best birthday cakes. He taught me how to be a Left Hand. The real Peter that I knew is not like the Omega you encountered before. He was a good man. If he remains as you knew him, then I will take responsibility, but one way or the other we do need to make a decision," Kali said, not only looking at Stiles, but Erica and Boyd as well.

Deucalion looked at Kali, even as he felt the fear from his Spark's heart. "If Peter says even one wrong word to anyone in our pack, I will kill him Kali. I do hope you understand that. I won't sit by and allow anything else to happen to him," Deuc said to female alpha, even as Stiles hunched further into his arms.

Kali looked uncomfortable by the admission, but nodded. "I would expect no less from you Deuc. Is that agreement to allow him into the pack?" she asks anxiously.

"No," Deuc responded. Kali's shoulder drooped at the response. "My vote is in favor of whatever Stiles, Boyd, and Erica decide. I would support them in this."

Stiles watched them silently, but something he heard allows the fear to settle into more of a dulled anxiety. Deucalion pulled him into a deeper hug in response. "Okay," Stiles decides, looking at Kali. "If you are absolutely certain that you can take him on. I just, I don't want to be afraid of him anymore. You have to promise." he finishes in a whisper. Erica and Boyd both nodded.

"I understand," Kali said quietly, "If Peter presents any kind of danger, I will take care of it myself." She draws in a shakey breath, "No matter our history."

Peter felt a hand on his face. His body ached deeply, heart shredded. He was nothing, belonged nowhere.

His pack was gone, gone, gone. They didn't want him anymore. He got justice for them, but they didn't want him anymore! He had nothing to give. No focus.

"Peter."

His stomach cramped, muscles locked.

"Peter!" Kali slapped his face again. He focused on her voice. "Peter, do you agree to become pack? To be my pack?"

Did he deserve to be pack? He tried and tried, but he wasn't good enough for Talia, her daughter, or son.

"Peter, you know me." She said, "I wouldn't ask if I did not see value in you. Say yes"

"Yes, Alpha." He would be selfish one more time.

Chapter End Notes

Holy Guacamole over 6k hits! Ya'll are bonkers!

Hope is trust.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Deucalion kept Stiles in a hug. Erica and Boyd still sat at the table.

Good. They deserved an apology.

He knew the decision was rushed at best. "I'm sorry we couldn't give you all more time to think this through," he finally settled on. "Bringing on new pack is not a decision made lightly."

"Then why did you?" Stiles asked. "You said I was pack, but I felt like a check box. Peter does scare me. He's the reason all of this started," Stiles finished on a whisper.

"You are right. We did rush you. I'm sorry darling. I do want you to set that aside for just a moment. I know it is a lot to ask of you." Deuc squeezed Stiles' shoulders in comfort, "When Kali brought Peter in, how did he look?"

Stiles paused for a minute, but Deuc was pleased that he never tried to move out of the hug.

"He didn't look good. Kali practically carried him in here," Erica said.

"Yes. When a wolf gets cut from a pack, it is different than the choice of leaving or surviving a battle. The wolf's Alpha wills them gone." Deuc paused to clear his throat. It was an uncomfortable thought. "Sometimes an Omega results from the cutting, but often it causes the wolf to give up. They become untethered. The body reacts in the ways you saw. He might have had an hour left – maybe less when considering that his wolf had to submit to Kali."

Kali finally spoke up from the couch. It made Stiles tense - he forgot she was there. "I'm sorry Stiles. Erica. Boyd. I couldn't let Peter slip away from me again. We worked together; we were friends. He was a good man. I didn't know he was still alive. Everyone was told he died. I couldn't let this happen again. I am sorry I pushed you. One thing that I can promise you absolutely is that if he acts out at all, I will handle it. I have a feeling that he will seem like a new person to you. I can tell that he wasn't in a good place."

"You promise," Stiles asked, turning to her. Deucalion leaned his forehead against his Spark's shoulder. Moments like this drove in how difficult his introduction into the supernatural had been. The pack would make it better. They lived in a beautiful world.

"If Kali does not, I will." Deuc said at the same time Kali said "Yes." The room went silent.

Deucalion rubbed Stiles' back, pulling pain as he could.

He knew his boy needed some cheering up. Between Peter and his father, it wasn't hard to understand the tumultuous feelings coming from his spark. Deucalion planned to sneak away to speak with the Sheriff, but a little distraction needed to be carried out first.

"A little birdie, possibly named Erica," he could feel the amusement from the beta, "said that you liked to learn things. If I remember correctly, the first thing you said to me was that young dirt was better than old dirt." He got a little amusement from the maelstrom of Stiles' emotion. "I would be remiss as your alpha then, not to inform you of our library."

That had his spark sitting up a little, "this place has a library?" Stiles turned to Erica and Boyd, "How is that not the first thing you told me?"

"Maybe they can show you the way and keep you company," Deuc said. He could feel Stiles claw back some of his anxiety over the morning. It was a start.

"Yeah," Stiles said, shuffling to stand, "They can show me." He heard the two betas huff, but they followed the excited, if slow moving, footsteps of Stiles.

"Holy Shit!" Echoed down the hall before the door closed. Deuc grinned.

"That's a good look on you," Kali said from the den. He had a feeling she would not leave her new beta any time soon. The man was in rough shape. What he told the teens was not a lie. Based on what he could feel so far, Peter had not been doing well for a long time – far before the fire.

It made sense. Omegas would take far less than 6 years to heal from burns, even with wolfsbane. If you were to throw in Pack abuse beforehand though, things turn out much like what he felt from Peter now.

"I would like to think so," Deuc responded finally, sitting on top of the couch near Kali. "Happiness has a way of sneaking up on us, yes?"

She grabbed his hand, "It does. You deserve it."

He pondered that a moment, "Our Pack has always been the island of misfit toys, but I realize now how much stronger we can be when we recognize just what it is like to lose something."

"Unfortunately, it seems like your new beta knows that lesson well." He sighed, "You are sure this Derek is the last of the Hales? I think that I would very much like to meet him."

"That's a good idea," Ennis came from the kitchen. Deuc could smell the coffee. "I don't like the idea of this wolf running around. It's clear he has no concept of responsibility." Ennis dropped next to Kali after handing over her drink.

"I think we need to allow room for Peter to help in what happens next with his kin." Kali said, never taking her eyes off of her beta, "I have a feeling that he will have thoughts. This is our opportunity to show him that we want to hear them. That we want him."

Deucalion made his way outside. He loved the sounds the trees made in the morning; leaves rustled, song birds called to one another. It was his world at peace.

Usually.

This morning was different than most, not in a good way. He tracked a slightly too fast heartbeat a little ways away from the house. He found John sitting on a large fallen tree.

"Would you mind if I sat with you?" Deuc said.

"Sure, it's your woods." The man responded.

"Actually, this area belongs to more than just me. Ennis, the twins, Kali, now even Erica and Boyd have a say. Peter and your son do as well." Deuc said. He pushed his glasses on top of his head and turned his head to let the sun meet his face. He needed warmth today.

The Sheriff breathed in a little sharper.

"You know," Deuc began, not moving, "The first time I saw your son, his back had been flayed open, and he was strapped down to an iron table. Erica and Boyd would not take their eyes off of me. They thought I would finish the job. All of them had been beaten and starved for a week, but they would have attacked me regardless knowing they would have lost. Do you know why?"

Deucalion's eyes glowed as he looked at the father of his Spark. John shook his head, looking at the ground.

"Wolves take care of pack. They saw your son as theirs. Whenever Argent went too far with one of them, another would start screaming to get his attention, so that the one he was victimizing could recover. That is what your son did for wolves that heal, even when he does not –because pack does not want to see each other get hurt."

"When Kali took Peter as her Beta, I could feel him. He has been hurt a long time, well before the fire. A wolf never does well alone. We require connection, and one another in order to function. It is tantamount to food or water for us. We need pack. Belonging. The basis of pack is trust and care. It is a lesson that every alpha learns. Peter has not been cared for by his alpha in a very long time. This pack abuse takes the wolf to dark places. When gone too far, the wolf pushes the mind to insanity."

"Stiles had to do a a terrible thing yes, but if your son had not stopped Peter that night, I am certain that you would not have a town left. The instigator of the situation has been in the ground for 6 years. Peter is not to blame. Stiles is not either."

"If you go out of your way to look for monsters, you will find them - even where they do not exist. Rather than deriding him, I would look at your son as a hero who has carried a heavy weight by himself for too long. He saw what he did as protecting Pack. Now he has to live with it."

Deucalion stood, "Your choice is whether you want to help him carry the burden with us, or leave him when he needs his father the most."

"I will leave you to it, Sheriff." Deuc made his way back to the house.

Peter woke up with his head on Kali's stomach. Her fingers carded through his hair, down his neck, and across his shoulder to make their way all the way back up to his hair again. Peter blinked, feeling clear headed for the first time in he didn't know how long. The electric tension that always sat between his temples was gone, replaced by nothing but soft exhaustion.

How did it get so bad that he didn't even notice?

"Peter," Kali, his Alpha, said, "I can feel you thinking. Give yourself a break."

Ennis chuckled on the other side of her. "She's so bossy, isn't she?" He kissed her temple to soften his words.

"I feel good," Peter finally said. It was perplexing. He did feel good. Even before the fire he never felt settled. There had always been errant aches, and stray negative thoughts. His body felt relaxed as if waking from a long sleep. His head felt more even than it ever had before. It's like he lost a huge weight he never knew he was carrying. Kali hummed.

"I don't feel like this ever. How did you do this?" He asked, turning his head to look up at her. She never paused in scenting him.

"I trust you," she said as simply as breathing, as if it explained everything. Maybe it did. Maybe his dad was right. Pack that can't trust is no Pack at all.

"Kali," tears slipped from his eyes, "thank you."

Chapter End Notes

Shoutout to RoyalKitsuneQueen for making me rethink this entire chapter!

I really do appreciate all of the questions, comments and feedback!

Derek is an ignorant dillweed of the worst sort.

Hope is warm.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Ethan followed the other teens to the library, Aiden close behind. The "holy shit" made him chuckle as he walked through the door. Aiden closed it gently behind him.

The room was one of his favorites. Mahogany bookshelves lined the walls all the way to twelve foot ceilings, with ladders on each wall for easy access to books old and new. A giant table sat in the middle to spread research materials on.

He watched Stiles walk the room, fingers trailing along the wood of the shelves. His eyes widened like he was trying to take everything in.

"Where do you want to start?" Asked Aiden.

"I have to choose?" Stiles responded, eyebrows drawn together.

"Well, yeah. You have to start somewhere. Doesn't mean you have to end there," his brother retorted.

"Okay" Stiles said, thinking, "What about sparks?"

Aiden and Stiles put their heads together to formulate a plan.

It gave Ethan the opportunity to approach Ennis' betas. "What are you all into?" He asked as he sidled over.

"Staying alive?" Boyd cracked a small smile. Erica leaned against him, "What's a bit of violence between friends?" She asked laughing. "I mean Derek threw us through walls more times than I can count, can't say I'm a fan of that, but I loved goofing off with Boyd and Isaac before he showed up."

Boyd smirked, "I am the KING of capture the flag." He turned to Erica, and then flashed a massive shit-eating grin. "King."

Erica slapped him on the shoulder, "You're king alright…because you hid the flag in your underwear! You're a damn cheater is what you are!"

Ethan couldn't contain his laughter, "So...sounds like strategy and tactics would be helpful? Oh! Maybe werewolf battle strategy! I know a fun one!"

Ennis found them at the large library table a few hours later. Stiles looked like he was struggling against falling asleep over a book that looked older than everyone in the room put together. His betas and the twins had paired off. Ethan and Erica whispered to each other in their corner of the table. He had a feeling pranks were coming.

Ennis clapped his hands loudly, and Stiles bolted up giving a small moan. Ennis looked at the kid guiltily,"sorry about that Stiles. Didn't mean to make you jump." The spark nodded.

Aiden already leaned over to take what pain he could. His arms weren't even close to the charcoal that Deuc's were a few days ago. That was something at least.

"So first," Ennis got back on track, "lunch is ready. After that I figured I could see what you learned." He glanced at Boyd, "this time, no hiding the flag in your underwear."

Erica crowed, "See! Dirty rotten cheater!"

Peter dozed with his alpha throughout the morning. The unconditional acceptance was such a shock to his system, Peter didn't know it was possible. The bond with her felt like a strong bridge. Something so solid, it felt like a physical connection point he could lean on. He didn't know it could be like that. Peter would do anything for his Pack if he could just keep this sense of belonging.

Peter heard the laughter as the teens followed Ennis down the hall.

Deucalion sat on his other side, legs thrown over Peter's like he'd always been there. The alpha's fingers drifted across the pages of the book in his lap. Deuc set the braille aside as Stiles shuffled into the room.

"Stiles?" Deucalion asked, "do you feel okay? You smell tired." Stiles started to come over, but paused as he saw Peter.

Peter couldn't blame him. Shame colored his face. He sat up, elbows getting him somewhat vertical.

Peter couldn't understand the mental leaps he'd taken to involve a bunch of teenagers in his need to get justice for his former pack. He believed in ruthlessness when required, but kids had always been outside of his bounds.

"I'm sorry," Peter said simply.

Stiles cocked his head and shuffled closer, "why now?"

Deucalion spoke, "We are learning things about what happened that I do not particularly like, much of which were outside of Peter's control. But darling, one thing I can guarantee is that you are safe in this house." Stiles remained still.

"Stiles," Peter said softly, "I don't want you to be scared of me. I hope I can prove one day that you don't have to be. You did the right thing."

Stiles had a deep frown on his face. Salt tickled his nose, but tears stayed off his cheeks for now. The teenager wouldn't look at Peter, keeping his eyes on Deuc, "Can we lay in bed? Just for today? I get why things happened this morning, I just need time."

Stiles woke to the smell of old spice and cotton canvas under his cheek. He groaned as a sore back and aching legs reminded him that it hadn't been that long since he met his Pack, not to mention the other place. Stiles shivered and a blanket was immediately tucked tighter around him.

Wait.

Old spice.

Canvas.

"Dad?" He asked, squinting up.

"Yeah kid, I'm here." John said. He pulled Stile closer.

"A big bad wolf said you skipped lunch, sent me your way packed to the gills when I came in looking for you," his dad said. "You've amassed a motley crew when I wasn't looking kid."

"Didn't mean to, sort of just happened," Stiles paused, squirming closer. If this was the last time with his dad, he wanted to be close. "Can't regret it though. I can't lose them Dad. I can't."

"Ah hell kid," his dad put a hand over his eyes, "I love you. I need you to know that. I just…"

The man huffed.

"You know," he started after a bit, placing a hand on Stiles' neck, "I was a cop in San Francisco before I met your mom. We walked the beat, met the folks in the community. Dealt with a bunch of petty crap."

"I must of been on the job a year when we got a call to this tiny house in Portola that we probably visited once a month for noise complaints. The husband used to give me weird vibes, but my TO said we couldn't do anything if we didn't see anything."

"The night we got the call, the wife poisoned his dinner, and when he passed out on the couch, she stabbed him a bunch of times and then called 911 to report it. I don't know why, but that case has been flashing through my mind since I heard what happened. I'm having a hard time reconciling my awesome kid and who I know Peter to be with what I'm being told."

"Stiles, I just need to understand."

Stiles started at the beginning.

The Sheriff got his son to eat a sandwich. Stiles could barely keep his eyes open. John reminded himself that he's still healing. It's okay.

As soon as Stiles slipped off, John grabbed the tray and headed for the kitchen.

John started scrubbing plates with more force than necessary. The main room was empty of the kids and Ennis. He pretended not to notice Deucalion slip down the hall. His brain was at capacity.

He heard movement on the couch. "No." He said and kept scrubbing.

"I need a car. Check in at the station, get some clothes." John said, still not turning around.

"Of course Sheriff," Kali responded, "I'll show you the garage."

Deucalion heard the story. He felt Peter's guilt, embarrassment, sadness, exhaustion, pain in a loop as Stiles' story continued. Eventually his spark's voice went rough as he talked through the basement.

Deucalion closed his eyes behind his glasses, and tried to reinforce his bond with Peter while at the same instant focusing all of his calm, happy feeling on Stiles and their shared bond.

It was bad.

He hoped Peter was worth it.

The last Hale alpha was not.

Stiles loved waking up warm. Soft pillows and sheets were a sharp contrast to before. Deuc wrapped around him like a pretzel. It was quiet. A new moment to be better than his last. His problems hadn't invaded yet.

"Hmm, I like you like this little spark," Deuc exaggeratedly sniffed up his neck. Stiles giggled; the alpha's scruff tickled his skin.

"You smell content," he whispered with a small smile on his face. "I like it."

Stiles hummed and wiggled closer, pushing his head into Deuc's chest, "You're warm."

Deucalion pushed his hands through Stiles hair, massaging his neck and shoulders while dragging out pain as he went. Stiles hid it well, but the amount he still went through made the wolf uncomfortable.

"It is around three in the afternoon," Deuc said as his impromptu massage ended, "What would you like to do for the rest of today?"

Stiles didn't move for awhile, just basking in the soft moment.

"I want to do this," he finally said, "I want to lay away in bed, read books, and be warm. I know it's dumb, but can we do that?"

"That is not dumb at all. I have spent many days doing just that," Deucalion continued petting his hair, "and I would love to do that with you."

"How about this - go find something from the library. I will grab my book from the den; maybe something to snack on?" the wolf asked.

"Yeah, something light though?" Stiles asked. He started moving to get out of bed.

There was a book in the library he wanted to finish.

"What if the whole world was made out of chocolate?' Stiles asked. He had taken to breaking the silence occasionally with the most ridiculous questions. Deucalion loved the joy and giggles that resulted.

He thought about it for a second, "I would say that dentists would be in higher demand." Deucalion flipped the page of his book. Stiles cackled.

"What's the weirdest smell you ever smelt?" was one of Stiles' more fun questions.

"That is hard. Everything categorizes itself in my head, so nothing ever feels out of place. I can tell you what my favorite smell is," Deuc smiled.

"What?"

"You." the wolf responded completely depanned.

"What? You sauve mothertrucker!" Stiles laughed, falling into Deuc's chest. He caught his spark of course. Yes, Stiles was perfect.

"What's your favorite memory?" Deucalion finally asked. He could be brave.

Stiles was quiet. He rubbed his finger along the blanket. Back and forth.

"My mom and dad used to take me to this field in the preserve in the spring. There were all these wild flowers that bloomed. I still remember the smell of them. We'd get a picnic together, and spend all afternoon there."

"My dad used to pick a bunch of flowers for her, only the perfect ones he'd tell her. He would get down on one knee, and ask her to deal with him for just one more week. She'd always laugh and say yes."

"My dad was really happy then. I didn't meet Scott until after my mom died, but I used to have this dream where he would come on a picnic with us, and my mom would hug us both, and call us her boys."

Stiles kept moving his fingers across the blanket, "Sometimes I miss feeling like a part of a whole family. I think that's why I tried so hard with Derek. If I kept trying, I'd eventually belong, right?"

"Oh darling," Deuc said, pulling his boy closer, "you are part of a whole now just by accepting us as we accept you."

"Have you ever meditated?" Stiles asked.

"Of course. I do it all the time. When you created bonds between us all, you gave me even more reason. When I focus on them, I can see them." Deuc said.

"If I did that, do you think I could feel them more?" Stiles asked. Deuc nodded.

"Could you teach me?"

Chapter End Notes

Ugh - so glad to be done with the last two chapters. The absolute WORST.

Hope is a tree.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Ennis led the teens through a very competitive game of capture the flag. He split them into teams with Ethan and Boyd paired against Aiden and Erica. Ennis still won by himself. Skills.

It proved a good distraction for Erica. Her parents were coming tonight for dinner. The other Alphas agreed to keep to the bedrooms. The talk was going to be difficult enough as it was. The more distractions he could put together in the meantime, the better.

They made their way back to the house, Ennis holding all of the shirt "flags" high above his head.

"Weeeeeeeeee are the champions, my frie-ends" he sang loudly. Kali would say badly, but even she isn't perfect.

He heard Peter chuckle from the couch as he saw Ennis come through the door. The new beta had showered, and changed into sweats with the day's paper in his hands. Kali was probably still showering.

"A good game then?" Peter asked. His betas & twins still razzed each other, but they did so more quietly when they realized they had company. Ennis frowned internally. They needed a pack night. Awkwardness couldn't stand.

"Of course!" Ennis responded in less than a blink, "any game I dominate can't be bad." He laughed. Ethan tried to jump on his back in retaliation. The kid stumbled as Ennis ducked out of the way. Erica and Boyd tried once Ethan broke the seal as it were. Instead of ducking, Ennis plucked them both out of the air, walked over to the couch, and tossed them on.

"As the winner, I pick the movie!" Ennis would make this work. They just needed time. He happily saw Peter put away the paper.

Meditation's hard. They'd been at it for hours. Stiles may or may not have fallen asleep a few times. Maybe.

He imagined meditation meant sitting criss cross and doing OMs. That wasn't exactly what Deuc asked of him. According to the wolf, meditation required him to look inside through controlling breathing more than contorting his body in any kind of flexible way. Controlling his breathing controlled his mind, and controlling his mind accessed his spirit. In theory anyway.

Stiles laid in bed with his eyes closed listening to Deuc count, and following his breathing directions. He relaxed one group of muscles at a time as the wolf talked him through. It felt like that moment between asleep and awake.

And then there's a massive tap.

Not up, but in.

That place behind his heart tugs, tugs, tugs like pulling hair in kindergarten. He follows it like floating in a river current. It's red and silver, twined together and brightest where connected. He wants to feel it, touch it.

He does.

The red felt like devotion and joy with an undercurrent of worry. It was like he could feel Deuc's smile. Stiles was immediately swept into a wave of positive warmth. He tried to push as many good feelings back at the wolf as he could. Stiles got the feeling of a warm hug in return. He played with it, sending feelings and getting them back from Deuc, but then he wanted to try more.

There were four other red strands. They didn't have silver intertwined with them though. Deuc was special. One had threads of gold interwoven, and another had bits of blue peak through. The red and gold one shivered with laughter. He knew it was Ennis, and sent the same "hug" to him as he had to Deuc. Stiles felt the bubbly joy and feeling of pack in return.

Kali felt different. He knew she had threads of blue. Peter.

Worry. Joy. Worry. Guilt. Worry. Joy. Guilt-

He didn't know how she could function through all of the conflict. Stiles gave her a big, long hug, and felt her return a sorry, sorry, sorry, guilt, belonging hug in return. Could Stiles still smile if he weren't using his face? Something to think about later for sure.

Stiles felt a light tap, tap, tap, not as strong as Deuc's though. It was hesitant.

He fell into a world of blue and guilt and sorry and protect, and sorry, sorrysorrysorry. Sick, but better. Tired. Most of all though, it was protect pack and never again. The sensations were dizzying. What Peter felt and the strength of it made him ill. The beta needed a hug. If that's how he felt now, Stiles could believe Deuc and Kali.

Before he could parse through more, there was a sharp yank.

This place he's in, it's much different - a smudged watercolor of a forest clearing at night. Fireflies flicker in the shadowed treeline. He shouldn't, but it feels safe here. He can breathe deep and smell the soil and fallen leaves. It's real and unreal all at the same time.

A massive live oak sits in the center of the clearing with low, thick twisting branches. He wouldn't come close to wrapping his arms around it. Maybe the whole pack could do it. The giant tree is the only thing sharply clear that he can see in this place.

It's all so still. Not like a forest with wind, birds, and everything else that usually creeps through the preserve on his unlucky nights. No, the tree is here, and it feels like that's why he's here too. Warmth wraps around him. It's like a hug everywhere.

Stiles smiles, and then feels the warm, warm, hug, here, love. Stay. Friend. Help.

The tree is his.

Stiles gasped awake. Deucalion leaned over him in beta form with the fear of god on his face, shaking his shoulders like he'd been doing it for awhile. The rest of the pack wasn't doing much better with Erica and Boyd on the opposite side of the bed, Kali pacing the length of the room. Ennis had his hand on Deuc's shoulder, and Peter, Peter stood in front of the door like if anything even dreams of coming in he'd destroy it.

The whole tableau unfroze as he finally started breathing normally again.

"What the fuck just happened," Deucalion said. He still gripped Stiles, but did manage to shift back to his human face. That may have been the first time Stiles heard him cuss.

"I" his voice came out on a rasp. Stiles cleared his throat. It's really dry. "I meditated!" Peter stalked out of the room. His leaving hurt for some reason.

"And I felt you, and Ennis, and even Peter!" At that, the wolf came back holding a glass of water. He handed it to Stiles. Stiles took it with a smile, feeling warm again.

He drank half of it straight away. Everyone continued to look at him in shock.

Stiles turned to Erica, "Aren't you supposed to be at dinner?"

"Stiles," she said with a pinched look, "We got back 4 hours ago."

Oh.

"Well, I may have made friends with this tree too?" Stiles looked at Deucalion. "It was massive. I think it's mine? It made me really happy."

Deuc leaned his head in the middle of Stiles' chest. He didn't say anything for a bit, but Stiles knew that he's breathing in his scent.

"It seems like there is a Nemeton in the area." Deuc finally said, straightening up. "An untethered Nemeton."

"Not quite untethered I think," Peter said into the silence.

Chapter End Notes

Sorry for the lateness of the chapter. I'm in interview prep mode and won't likely update tomorrow either, but hey! Stiles made a new friend!

The Council is def getting the riot act next chapter. Expect much snark from the gang.

Some real real good reads in the meantime:

Balancing on Breaking Branches: Stiles is a single dad. Derek may be an alpha that can help: /works/28744974/chapters/70483854

Three's a crowd (so follow the sound): If you need more whump in your life, Peter, Chris, and Stiles are soulmates in a situation that's al sorts of fucked up /works/8502913/chapters/19825981

Hope is guardianship

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

After Stiles "woke up," the Alphas gathered everyone in the den. It couldn't wait until morning.

The betas tucked close to their Alphas. Stiles almost took up residence in Deuc's lap, he had Stiles pressed so close. The spark apparently lost personal space privileges when Deuc worried. Poor guy. The Spark needed to be surrounded by orange cones. He's a walking disaster.

Deuc's behavior made sense given the only time he's alone now is during the smelly baths, mainly because it makes Deuc's eyes water like crazy. At least those were almost over.

"We are going to have a Pack and Council session tomorrow morning." Ennis said once everyone's settled. "Normally, we'd try to avoid these kinds of conversations with so many people - they're boring - but there is still so much we do not know, and with the rapid changes of our pack, they're going to want introductions anyway."

"So, dumb question." Stiles interrupted, "What's the Council?"

Kali looked like she wanted to face palm. Ethan answered "They're the governing body of Supernatural folk in North America. It's a bit like the Senate, but much smaller. Twenty representatives cover the major super populations. Our pack investigates reports of misconduct."

"We ask that you keep quiet, unless one of us asks you a direct question," Deuc said. The sound vibrated through Stiles' shoulder laying in the middle of Deuc's chest. "It is much too late to teach you the protocols. Be polite, be direct and everything will be fine." The wolf finished.

"Why the rush?" Stiles asked.

Ethan harrumphed, and Stiles could feel the amusement bloom in his chest. It's new, and he loved the connection of it. "Deuc found his spark, his spark found his Nemeton - a Nemeton the Council may or may not be aware of. And where Deuc stays, we stay. You've bound us all together in a way that has never been done before, and an at best irresponsible Alpha breaks foundational accords left and right in the same territory of the Nemeton you've claimed."

Kali rubbed her shoulder against Peter's at the last bit. He looked uncomfortable. Stiles never thought he'd see that kind of emotion from the wolf.

"Oh," Stiles had a way with words. It made Erica laugh at least. Ennis and Boyd cracked smiles. Even Peter rolled his eyes.

The entire Pack slept in the den together. Ennis called it bonding, but Stiles called it all the Alphas being freaked the fuck out by the last few days of nonsense. In the morning everyone scattered to shower, start breakfast, and mentally prepare for the call at 9:00am.

Ten minutes before, everyone piled back onto the couch that easily fit the pack with room for more. Ennis had a beta under each arm. Aiden and Kali bracketed Peter. The blue eyed wolf tried to look cool and collected with his feet propped on a pillow, but now Stiles could feel the lie. Peter's nervous. Really nervous.

Deuc felt like a band of steel next to him. Stiles knew that no matter what, he would be okay if Deucalion was okay. That gave him comfort. Stiles' wolf pulled him closer as if he can hear his thoughts.

"We may have over indexed you all on fear last night. The Council will froth at the mouth, but not at you all. Take a breath. Things will be fine." Stiles doesn't think Deuc's usually the pep talk guy, but it was pretty good. He needed to watch Independence Day.

A video alert came through the massive TV. Stiles understood why they all sat on one side of the couch now. He tried to squirm to straighten, but Deuc didn't change his grip to allow it.

Deuc whispered in his ear, "Stop worrying. We will be here for hours. They expect you to be comfortable and recovering. Do that." Stiles gave up, and a moment later things got weird.

Twenty faces appeared on the television. A lot of the Council's eyes got wider when the Pack came into view. Most looked human, some clearly weren't. It took Stiles some time to realize, he wasn't exactly human anymore. He took Deucalion's advice and enjoyed the show.

Deucalion did straighten a little bit despite his advice.

"Council, I recognize that this meeting was called in a rush, and do apologize for the last minute nature of this debrief. As you have noticed, our Pack has added new faces. I do want to close out the Argent issues before moving onto new business."

"We effectively dispatched Argent three days ago, and ran into unforeseen circumstances in the form of a heavily warded basement where Argent kept and tortured two beta teenagers as well as a spark." There were gasped murmurs. Deucalion allowed them to die out before continuing. A new spark had not been seen in almost 50 years. Deuc maintained patience.

"I sensed this Spark before entering the house without being aware of the cause. The Betas have recovered, and we welcomed them to the Pack with Ennis as their Alpha." Deucalion waved to Ennis.

"Friends," Ennis said to the Council, "I'm proud to introduce you to my betas Erica and Vernon." Both of teens smiled nervously. This announcement got murmurs as well. "This was not an opportunity to be passed up." Ennis smiled and squeezed the two teens. He looked incredibly pleased with himself. Stiles thought Erica and Boyd oozed happiness as well.

"Yes, congratulations to you Alpha Wade, but what of the betas' original Alpha?" One of the more human councilors asked. Ennis looked towards Deucalion.

"Before we get into that set of issues Marin, there are a few more matters pertaining to Argent. The spark, some of you may have guessed, well I am his." Stiles without werewolf hearing could have heard a pin drop. He started fidgeting with the wrinkles of the blanket in his lap. The quiet made him uncomfortable. Deuc rubbed the back of his neck, and Stiles leaned against his shoulder, closing his eyes.

"My Spark is still recovering from iron poisoning, but is well on his way at this time. There was an incident last night that does require immediate attention. There was an untethered Nemeton discovered within the Hale territory…"

Stiles stopped listening. He fell asleep. He dreamt of green leaves, wide branches, and fireflies.

"I can't believe you slept through the whole thing!" Aiden laughed. The full Pack sat at the dining room table. Strange to think that breakfast yesterday consisted of sitting in the same spot with his dad, talking about werewolves. The thought made him nauseous. Stiles pushed his plate away and tried to smile. Deuc's displeasure came through, but he couldn't stomach anymore. The Alpha wrapped an arm around his shoulders, and squeezed in comfort.

"I mean, I know the story," he responded to Aiden, "I don't need to hear it when I remembered the whole thing in technicolor." Stiles leaned hard against his wolf. Maybe last night's foray made him more tired than he thought.

"But you missed all of the explosions! I thought Marin would combust when she heard about the Hale thing. And Peter! They were appalled, man! Like completely blindsided! No one had a clue what Laura was up to. Kali got them to give Peter a full pardon, and made it look easy because they were so embarrassed! It was epic!" Aiden exclaimed. Trust him to be excited about others' screw ups. It fit his profile. Aiden felt practically gleeful. Most of them did actually. At least Peter seemed able to move forward. He gave a small smile to the beta.

"You missed the best part darling," Deuc slid the plate back towards him. "We are now guardians of this territory, and we can decide on how to handle the current Hale Alpha. The Council was quite surprised by the Nemeton and bent over backwards in assuring assistance. We all thought North America to be the only continent without. The remaining Argents will also be called under thorough evaluation. Furious does not begin to describe the Hunter representative. Her grand maman was a spark."

Stiles sighed. He'd just be glad when the Argent hump was over. The rest felt like good news at least.

The Pack, sans Stiles and Deucalion, drove to the old train depot. No one was willing to put their recovering spark in danger for a show, and where the spark went or rather stayed, so did the Demon Wolf.

Peter strolled into the depot like he owned the place. In a way, he did. The pack's territory was his territory to protect now. His pack stood by him. Peter's alpha smiled at him. Their shared mischievousness made him excited for the future.

"Oh nephew," he called, knowing that Derek already heard them come in, "We're ho-ome!"

"I told you to get lost Peter. You're not my problem anymore." Derek said from one of the train cars. How dramatic.

Kali smiled at Peter. "Thank you for that," she called. "I love that Peter Hale, the best Left Hand California has ever seen is, as you say, my problem." Peter smirked. It was definitely a new feeling to have a pack at his back. He wouldn't trade it for the world.

"Right. Whatever you say Alpha Bitch," Derek finally showed his face. He walked out towards the center of the room, "and you adopted some puppies too? Get them from the pound?" Even Boyd and Erica, still learning, could smell just how terrified he was; that helped mitigate some of the words. It didn't stop Ennis from growling. He kept his betas behind him.

"Derek, where's Isaac?" Erica asked. She couldn't hear or smell him. The beta always kept close to Derek. His not being here made her hair stand on end.

Something wasn't right.

Chapter End Notes

I think this is getting close to the end. A few chapters to go?

Hope is a stump.

Chapter Notes

Today deserves all the fluff so that's what you're getting.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Ennis scowled. He forgot about the third beta in the Hale Alpha's pack.

Derek scoffed, "Ito picked him up. He wanted more stability." The 'like you' was left unsaid. At least that one got out too then. Ennis could tell Erica was confused, she probably lacked familiarity with Alpha Ito, but Ennis always held Satomi in high regard. If that beta was in the same mental place as his new betas, then he could trust her to nurture the kid.

"Alpha Hale," Ennis began, "Yesterday, we informed you of an investigation into your control of these lands. After that discussion, you banished one of your pack members. Do you agree with the synopsis of the events yesterday."

Derek nodded, "Peter's not welcome. Neither are you. Leave my territory."

Ennis looked at the Alpha. The kid wore old clothes that smelled like they could use a wash. He had bags under his eyes. Even wolves had their limits. Fear and exhaustion perfumed the air. "Are you happy here?" Ennis asked, "Really happy?"

The Alpha didn't respond, just crossed his arms over his chest, but Ennis noticed his heart rate increase.

Ennis kept staring at the Alpha, but turned to his pack after a moment. "Why don't you all go grab lunch. Alpha Hale and I need to have a conversation." Ennis said. Peter was the first to nod and head for the door. Kali smiled at her partner, and followed her beta as well. Erica and Boyd were last to leave. It took an extra "Go on and grab me an extra burger while you're at it," for them to start following behind the twins.

"Now," Ennis said once they were alone, turning back towards Alpha Hale, "let's have a real conversation."

Deucalion took his Spark to visit a tree. He sat next to the giant stump as Stiles seemed to have the time of his life.

His Spark laid belly down on the stump of the Nemeton, whispering and giggling with it. If someone had described this scene to him a week ago, told him that he would maintain permanent territory even, he would have called them mad.

And the territory was his.

He felt that awareness bloom in his chest as Stiles drove towards that tingling perception of his newest attachment. Either things went very well or very poorly with the Hale Alpha. Deuc assumed it went well based on the calm he sensed from his pack. Even more interesting, Stiles' silvery bond with him shot through with threads of evergreen. As the Spark bonded with the Nemeton, more thin threads appeared.

The Nemeton was not whole and thriving as expected. It clarified how the Council missed it in the first place, but who knew how long the magical fulcrum had been in such a state. Left untethered, Deuc worried about what could have happened.

Stiles rolled onto his side on the stump, "Deuc, do you think we could find a deer or something big? Nem's hungry."

"Of course Darling. If you do not mind the company, I am sure that the pack would love to meet the Nemeton. We could go on a pack hunt. Biggest kill gets the win?" He responded with a smile. He did not think he would ever thank Argent for something, but it did bring him Stiles.

"Awesome," his Spark responded, "Could you contact them?" They should probably get their spark a phone now that he was somewhat mobile again. Deucalion had a feeling Stiles would make daily visits to Nem, as he now called the great tree.

"Done" the wolf said. The Spark went back to where he was. Deuc smiled as the giggling picked up again.

The pack laughed around the giant stump, feeling triumphant as they presented their catches to each other. Erica and Boyd didn't bag a deer, but did clean out a bunch of coypu from the preserve. Nem felt positively gleeful about clearing out the giant invasive rodents. The twins took down a doe together, Peter came back with large wild pig thrown over a shoulder, and Ennis bagged another deer.

Kali kept Stiles company. The Spark could tell that Deuc wanted to stretch his legs, but did not want to leave Stiles alone, even if he had a new magic tree stump friend thing. Stiles eventually had to push him away laughing at the older Alpha.

The group waited for Deucalion now though. Stiles could feel his joy through the bond, so didn't worry. Soon enough, everyone could hear something being dragged through the undergrowth. Deuc emerged hauling a massive elk bull behind him. Deucalion's smile took up his whole face. His glasses must have gotten lost in the scuffle, and he'd lost his shirt at some point too.

Stiles gulped. He couldn't take his eyes from the Alpha. Deuc usually appeared so soft around the Spark. This Deucalion was something else. The Demon Wolf's smile soon became a smirk as he turned towards his Spark with glowing eyes.

"I think we know who won," Stiles stuttered out. The ground shook and the entire Pack crouched to stabilize themselves. Thick roots tore from the ground, wrapping around the carcasses, and dragging them under the dirt.

Stiles moved off the stump for the first time since coming to the clearing, and walked over to his wolf who immediately dragged him into a hug, blood and sweat included.

"Nem has a prize for you," Stiles whispered to the wolf with his nose scrunched up. He still accepted the hug though. "Well actually, I have the prize, but Nem told me how to do it."

Stiles put both of his hands over Deuc's eyes and called the mountain ash to him. The wolf let out a pained groan as the dust escaped his skin, coating Stiles hands. It was over in the space of a minute.

"Nem said your eyes hurt all the time, but I could stop it. You idiot. You gotta tell me if you're hurt." Stiles said with an annoyed look on his face. He took his hands away from the wolf, and turned back to the stump, wiping his hands against the bark of the Nemeton. Stiles watched the tree absorb the dust, sweat and blood.

The clearing quieted completely.

"Stiles," Deucalion called. His voice sounded wet. The Spark turned sharply, worried at the sound. The Demon Wolf cried from clear, slate blue eyes.

Chapter End Notes

Need to figure out Dad. Only a few left now.

Maybe a sequel or outtakes of them running Beacon Hills?

Hope is the thing with feathers.

Chapter Notes

"Hope" is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -
- Emily Dickinson

I've heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

"Stiles," Deucalion called. His voice sounded wet. The Spark turned sharply, worried at the sound. The Demon Wolf cried from clear, slate blue eyes.

"I may have this need to kiss you. You have a second to say no." Deuc said as he strode over to his Spark. The sun caressed Stiles' skin, highlighting his paleness against the deep evergreen trees. He had bright amber eye, and Deuc watched as a wide grin swept over his features.

Stiles didn't wait for Deuc to get to him. He threw himself into the Demon Wolf's arms. Deuc caught him and spun him around gently, both laughing as their Pack watched speechless.

Stiles held onto his wolf tight, even as the spinning stopped. The two looked at one another for the first time. Deuc thought his mate tasted of perfection.

"Well," Aiden said, "I think we'll all have to try a bit harder next time. Nem don't play."

Deuc and Stiles stayed with one another as the Pack left back through the woods. It would be awhile.

The Sheriff sat alone in his house for the second day in a row. The ball game was on, but he couldn't even tell who was playing. His son helped murder someone. The same kid who helped neighbors find lost pets, who defended his friends fiercely, the kid who had a 10 year plan to woo a girl he didn't have the guts to talk to – he helped carry out a murder.

But-

John couldn't get Deucalion's words out of his head. Peter killed at least 10 people if the "animal attacks" were actually the work of a mad wolf. That wasn't the Peter he knew.

His Peter wielded words like a weapon or an invitation. The sharp witted man helped him get through the aftershocks of Claudia's death. He had no idea that while Peter helped in processing his pain, the man was going through so much of his own.

They met by quite literally running into one another, both on the way to lunch at the old diner on 5th. Instead of sitting alone and taking up two tables during the rush, both smiled and said "why not?" It became a bit of a ritual after that. Their time together just felt so easy whether it was diner food for lunch or meeting for a beer and a game of pool.

For a long time, his interactions with Peter were the only time he had with another adult that didn't revolve around work. Then he got a call one night about a fire in the Preserve, and he had a second person to mourn. John knew he wouldn't feel the warm hand on his back or the white smile again. Devastation couldn't begin to cover it.

The worst part was that he didn't feel right about telling Stiles why he suddenly needed to work overtime or get lost in a bottle of whiskey. It didn't feel right to tell his son that mourning a friend could have so completely derailed him, like Claudia's death would have without Peter.

Would things have been different if Stiles and Peter met each other before?

His thoughts always spiraled back to that one question. Would it have been enough for Stiles to tell him what was going on? Could he have pulled Peter back from his revenge?

John turned off the ball game. His friend was stuck alone for 6 years in a hospital bed. His son was still recovering from torture.

This wasn't the right house for him to be in.

Stiles and Deuc took the long way home. Deucalion drove for the first time in 7 years, and his smile was infectious as he flew around curves in the Preserve backroads and then out of town. By the time they pulled up to the house, Stiles could see his Dad's cruiser parked near the garage. He didn't wait for the car to stop, and ignored Deuc's worry for his general safety. Life was about calculated risk.

Instead, Stiles booked it through the front door, and paused at the scene. Peter and his Dad played some card game at the counter while Ennis prepped dinner, and everyone else piled into the den to watch a movie.

"Dad?" Stiles asked. John turned at the sound, and a small smile took over John's face.

"Hey Kid," he said. He got up and pulled his son into his arms without hesitation. "I'm sorry it took me so long."

Stiles knew they'd need to talk about everything, but right now he felt content to get a Dad hug. He savored it as he wasn't sure he'd ever feel it again.

Deucalion walked through the door. "Stiles if you ever jump out of a moving car again…" the wolf trailed off.

"What, what would you do?" Stiles asked innocently, turning away from his dad.

At the same time, his dad yelled, "You did what!"

"I was excited?" Stiles said with a cringing smile.

Derek wasn't a huge fan of flying. Most wolves weren't. They belonged on the ground where they could defend themselves and their spatial perception didn't get all screwy from the stale air and enclosed space a few miles above dirt.

Tacoma wasn't actually a quick drive though.

As the second in a well connected Pack, Ennis knew a lot of people. The large wolf offered to bring Derek in as one of his betas, but while Derek was happy to give up his alpha spark, he couldn't stomach the thought of living in Beacon Hills any longer. The place held too many memories with his family, Paige, Kate, God the Kanima. Laura.

He needed to escape.

When Laura left, Derek had just begun getting over the nightmares of Kate and that night. He'd never forget having to find and bury his own sister in the woods, and then being chased by the same hunters that burned his family alive.

Derek pressed his head into his hands. No. He looked out the window as they passed over Puget Sound. This would be his fresh start.

When the plane touched down, Derek smiled.

It was time to meet his new pack.

Ethan walked out of the nursing facility with Boyd and Erica. It had been a long day, but he felt proud. Boyd's grandma was the newest resident in the assisted living center. Her physician believed that the exposure to new faces with more structured routine would help the dementia patient stay calm while still enabling her to exercise her mind.

That was great, yes, but it also made Boyd feel less guilty about using Pack resources to move her into a facility. The wolf wasn't used to help, so never considered something like this within his reach. That's exactly what pack's for though. Their new Beta was slowly learning that pack meant give and take. They worked through problems together and came out stronger for it.

Ethan launched himself at Erica and Boyd, wedging himself in the middle and throwing arms around their shoulders to keep the three of them together. "You know, I'm crazy about you two right? So wanna grab milkshakes at that place that has all the crazy toppings?" He paused awkwardly, "Like a date?"

Erica let out a loud, happy laugh, and kissed Ethan on the cheek in response.

Boyd turned to look at him, and in a completely deadpan voice said, "But isn't it traditionally a dinner and a movie? I want to be wooed."

Ethan cackled, "Challenge accepted."

Chapter End Notes

I've created a series for this work. Expect a sequel on the Pack's adventures in BH, but this felt like a good stopping point. I hope you enjoyed it!

I will likely go through over the next week to clean up the work. Please let me know if you see any weirdness, plot holes, etc.

Afterword

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