Stiles foxy slitted eyes meet the glittering golden white mass that makes up the fairies den with a great deal of hesitation and an overwhelming feeling of dread.
"No longer the boy we knew, no longer the man we expected, our mischief has lost his spirit."
The glittery mass of fairies cover their den along the top of the pine trees, their movements rippling in unison along the trees like the northern lights in the Antarctic sky.
Appearing as a massive wave the only hint of their individuality was from the occasional sparkle of light from their wings, constantly twinkling in his eyes as if to draw him in.
Having only come into contact with fairies a handful of times throughout the centuries Stiles knew to watch out for their glittery allure, having heard of the deadly ramifications that came from falling for it.
He'd luckily avoided being caught under their spells but at the moment he wasn't so sure. Having found their den, there's no telling what they would do with him now.
He'd only ever seen them in small numbers, their telepathic powers strong enough to have the deadliest of beings at their mercy while stripped of their freedom of thought. Made to do their dirty work, their enemies' brains were shut down after they were no longer of use, or in the worst of cases, trapped in endless cycles of allusions of horror and death.
Although he's gotten lucky he assumes, if they wanted him dead, he'd be dead the second he had entered.
Being here now, face to face with them he felt settled with his decision, all the feelings of dread no longer as apparent as when he first walked in.
"Oh, but the spark has remained. We and the forest spirits welcome you back."
The mention of his spark has him automatically hunching in on himself, head low and tail tucked as if he could avoid being seen behind his orange fur. As if realizing for the first time his new form Stiles notices how his body is automatically reacting to his emotions.
He stills, quickly straightening up and trying to look himself over as best he could, feeling his tail wagging nervously but slowing down after the self-conscious thought crosses his mind.
"This is so weird…" he thinks.
"We understand you're surprised to wake up back here. But oh how we've missed you Mieczyslaw. "
His head snaps up at his birth name. How did they know him? And what did they mean? How has he been here before?
"You've been magically teleported back here because you now have a special connection with this forest. After you helped with the black wolf last time."
Oh god. He thinks. The chills rack throughout his body, the timeline of that night starting to rearrange itself in order.
They are referring to the night of the Hale fire. Somehow someway Stiles used his magic that night to save Derek. His mother confirmed that when she found him, crying in relief and telling him not to worry because the Hales were safe.
He has no memory of saving Derek but using the evidence he's gathered so far about that night and the bad history between werewolves and the hunters of Beacon Hills it's obvious.
Stiles knows it in his bones. The fairies have officially confirmed it.
He had used his magic to time travel to the night of the Hale fire all those years ago.
The decades between each event leading to no other explanation.
Could it have been fate?
Or could everything he knew about his prior life as a human been falsely implanted into his mind?
All those years lost just to lead him to saving Derek again of all people!
Stiles swallowed hard. No.
There has to be a reason. Fate is too convenient to conclude the events that have led him here. Too merciful for the existence of a creature like him.
" You didn't know this was a magical forest did you?"
Stiles head tilts in question and is shaking no before he knows it in response.
"Listen…those sounds your hearing are signifying the arrival of the forest spirits who will bless and purify you before you leave here. They will protect and guide you as you return with the wolf to the human realm."
Stiles's pointed fox ears perk up listening in on the chimes that are growing louder over the sound of what sounds like a crackling fire.
The sudden feeling of being watched makes his fur stand on end. When he spots the glowing orbs of light filtering through the trees, they arrive quietly to surround him. Their appearance grows in length to reveal the cloaked masked figures he saw following his mother. Their steel metal faces containing the golden glow from within.
They remain very still.
"Now that they're here we can begin the purification"
Looking up and around him Stiles can't help the instinctual growl that comes out low from his throat.
"Although we know your spark remains there is still the need to specially prepare you for access to the power of this sacred forest. Your spark is dark so we need to ensure that when you leave you are perfectly in harmony with nature. Only then will the healing process begin. We will now cast our healing light onto you."
Stiles startles back when the masked figures finally move, lifting their hands in unison to cover him in white light.
"Do not be afraid. You've come back here because you needed healing and you may or may not have realized this but you can relax here. This forest is a special place that will help you. We always take wonderful care of our own. Just sit back and relax. Good…"
Stiles finds his eyes blinking slowly, the chimes and the soothing sounds of his head being scratched from ear to ear making him sit, tail tucked close to his body. This incredible feeling of being covered in a heavy blanket while being scratched in his mind overtakes him, muscles relaxed and pliant under their doting.
He doesn't realize how much time goes by but when the chimes start again, it's just him and the fairies, the masked figures having disappeared without a sound.
Shaking his head, Stiles stands on all fours, looking around and feeling light on his paws as if a weight has been lifted off his shoulders.
"Now that we've completed the necessary ritual we wish to relay the message of the forest spirits to you. They remember you and ask that when the questions have overcome you, to return here to the forest. Since the rescue, your fate has been interrupted but it begins again once you are back. This is a warning as much as it is something to look forward to. Do you understand?"
"Yes, I understand." He says telepathically
"Good. Oh, this is great. Your friend the black wolf wants to see you. He can communicate with us, you know. He didn't say anything last time because he was scared but he knows you're a friend now. Here he is."
Stiles looks around excitedly for Derek when he notices the fairies parting a path which he follows, running to the end.
He stops short when he notices the roots of the tree from above him are thrumming, their thumps radiating the moss covered roots at his feet and leading up through the branches. He noses around, sniffing the base of the tree as if he could find any clues hidden beneath the ground…
Wait.
Stiles stills, his fur standing on end as he realizes his heartbeats matching the thrumming he feels from under his paws.
Ba Bump ba Bump ba Bump
Stiles feels his tail go down as the sudden realization where the fairies have led him comes crashing down on him.
Lifting his head he releases a deep mournful cry, a howl that comes deep within his chest and leaves him trembling with grief.
Stiles falls onto his side, finding his body unable to catch his breath as he lays amongst the ground where Derek's soul was laid to rest. Derek's heart beating through the ground his only focus as he lays there stunned in place.
"Shhh. There, there fox. He is still with you. He's always been with you, although his physical body is no longer here the wolf's spirit remains. The forest will always be his home as it is yours."
"Not this way…Not when I can't touch him. Can't breathe him in. Why? Why Derek? Take me instead…" He thought.
"He'd fought hard against the darkness but his physical body was too weak. Those demons broke him with hellfire. His wolf spirit was forced to remove itself from his body before he'd circum to the darkness as well. His wolf spirit remains here, lost but not tainted."
Laying there Derek's heartbeats overcome him swallowing him up in the sound.
His will to live shuts down and replaced with darkness so cold and empty it makes him gasp, eyes shooting open to watch the golden hue of the fairies fade into black.
The cracking of his bones turns to background noise as his new form takes over. He's screaming; he realizes the deep sorrow unrelenting and fueling the deep hatred he feels for everything around him in that moment. He's growing longer, his limbs finally settling and stretching to reveal his new humanoid features, the fox equally still prevalent.
He stands on two legs, his pointy ears and tail remaining. The sky turns dark with thunderous lightning that lights up the forest with strobe lights from the force of his spark, the rain seeping into his clothes disintegrating as they make contact. His dark spark that once felt like an invasion to his body now feels like a second skin, selfishly basking in his new powers he laughs, looking at his outstretched hand, blackened veins, and claws trembling with the adrenaline to kill.
A loud snarl from in front of him wakes him out of his mad thoughts sobering him enough to acknowledge the massive black wolf-stalking forward towards him. Its white dead eyes' watching him closely as it continues to move, stopping just an arm's length away.
"Wolf spirit, to what do I owe this honor?"
"Don't flatter yourself. That weak human might've spared your life but I will not."
"Is that so? Tell me then how you plan to escape from me?"
A loud snarl comes out of the wolf in response.
"You dare threaten me Fox? Don't you know your place? Your kind is nothing more than pests we wolves keep around to keep us entertained. Your kind is only good for eating and fucking. Just because that dumb weak human hadn't had the balls to lay claim onto you doesn't mean I can't. Don't forget whose territory you're in."
"Sounds like you're tempting me to stay. But we can't have that now can we?"
"Stiles the forest spirits are back. You don't have much time. Raise his roots from the ground and draw his spirit back into his body."
Stiles crooks his eyebrow up but he doesn't have time to question the fairies telepathic message before the wolf spirit is charging at him and slamming him into the ground.
Its jaws caught within seconds of tearing into his face. Stiles watches with horror as the wolf snaps its teeth at him, making a note in his mind to never upset Derek again, he uses the hold he has on the wolf's canines to throw him off.
The thought of Derek alive and in control of his wolf spurs him on, running to the tree where Derek was laid to rest, he rips the tree's roots out of the ground.
To his surprise, the roots he pulled out weren't what he expected them to be. What he pulled out was a deliberate network of root-like veins that were tightly interwoven to make the structure of the human body, its shape held together even once out of the ground.
Stiles was so shocked by the fairy's abilities that he only had time to register the wolf spirit growl low and threading in his ear before the searing pain of its fangs are digging into his neck.
Instantly his body became lax, letting go of the structure and feeling the wolf's teeth grinding down on the meat of his neck and sucking the blood out as a predator would.
"Your mine now. All mine."
Stiles could hear the wolf say in his mind. He shivers, the floor giving out from under him.
"You did it Mieczyslaw. Focus on nature's beauty and healing properties such as crystals, herbs, and natural scents. That's it. We will take things from here. Now listen closely."
I give you this one thought to keep
I am with you still - I do not sleep
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints on snow
I am the sunlight on ripened grain
I am the gentle autumn rain
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift, uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight
I am the soft stars that shine at night
Do not think of me as gone -
I am with you still - with each new dawn.
Stiles could feel himself fighting to stay awake, but he was soon overtaken by the dark, his consciousness going in and out of his body as he heard their fading words.
"We are taking you back to the healing circle. You may feel a little strange afterward but then you should feel very light, happier, and more carefree. Allow the energy to flow through your body and energy field. That's it. Good Job. Now open your eyes.``
Stiles wakes opening his eyes and standing in what looked like an abandoned ancient ruin where the only things left standing were a few stone made pillars and a platform under his feet. Looking down he gasps, standing in the casting circle where the realistic profile of the Fox has been carved in.
When looking around him, the sun setting casts everything around him in light pink and purples blending the camouflage body across from him at first glance. Obliviously, Stiles doesn't notice he's there until he starts walking around the casting circle, naming each forest spirit he sees.
Crow, Ram, Snake, Owl, Bear, Wolf….
Looking up it's only then that he spots Derek.
Held against the pillar by vines and roots that have woven themselves around him and the pillar in a perfect camouflage Stiles gasps.
"Derek? Derek!"
Stiles runs over, quickly looking him over before grabbing at his face turning him from side to side to make sure he was real and not a figment of his imagination!
"Derek! Derek! Open your eyes." The first signs of life from Derek were the twitch of his brows that Stiles practically yells from excitement over.
"Derek Please oh my god! I'm going to kill you if you don't open your eyes right now! You hear me!"
Stiles light slaps on the wolf's cheeks earn him a glare from those amazing crimson eyes who meet his own in annoyance.
"Oh, how I've missed that beautiful stupid face. Muah!" Stiles kisses the werewolf on the lips. "Now quit being a sourwolf and help me get you down from here!"
Stiles starts ripping the vines off with some effort, their hold on the alpha stronger than he had expected. But he figures it would take quite a bit of them to hold a 200 pound alpha.
Taking quick glances at the wolf Stiles also assumes from how quiet Derek's been that he must be exhausted, the only sounds coming from him grunts and huffs of breaths as Stiles released the bindings some more.
"No."
Stiles is ripping away a particularly stubborn set of vines from around Derek's stomach when the sound of Derek's voice reaches his ears but honestly, he was too distracted to have heard him.
"Stop. No. Don't."
Glancing up Stiles realizes the murmuring is coming from the alpha his eyes appear desperate and wild.
"What do you mean no?" Stiles examines his face, beads of sweat covered his forehead, eyes still red and gleaming.
"I said no!" Stiles jumps back in surprise at Derek's angry snarl, the alpha having managed to free his clawed hands. Then Stiles realizes he's shifting his features, turning to his half shifted form, fangs bared and drooling.
Stiles takes several steps back, not wanting to provoke the alpha further. He watches Derek strip himself of his bindings, his muscles gleaming with sweat in the sunsets remaining light.
"Derek…." Forcing the last vines off with an annoyed grunt, Stiles notices how much muscle the werewolf has managed to build since he last saw him. He's huge; the bulk he's gained can be seen in every part of his body, thighs and arms doubled in size.
Stiles swallows hard, feeling suddenly really thirsty.
"You shouldn't be here." The Alpha says in a gruff voice deep and growly from being in his half shifted form. "I don't know if I can control myself. I.."
"No. I'm not leaving you alone. Not again." Stiles says defiantly.
"Stiles…something's wrong with me. My wolf feels feral and your scent's stronger. I don't want to hurt you."
"Well I need you to control it, we've both had one hell of a day. I just want to take us home."
"Did they hurt you? Something's different about you too." Derek says threateningly.
Stiles gulps. Knowing better than to say anything that will trigger Derek in this unstable state so he shakes his head no.
"Don't lie to me," Derek says angrily, grabbing at his waist and stepping into the casting circle.
Stiles gasps, steadying himself against Derek's chest at the same time the casting circle lights up with the animal spirits golden magic.
Derek ignores it, burrowing his head into the crook of Stiles neck and breathing him in deeply. Stiles hugs him back, feeling so relieved to have the alpha back in his arms. The world once again back on its axis.
Stiles doesn't feel the fangs until they're already sinking into his neck, gasping at the surprising ease in which they hold him. Painless and warm, Stiles knees buckle from Derek's mouth and the sensation of need that overcomes him.
He can feel the blood dripping down from his shoulder but is distracted by the instant telepathic connection with Derek forming into his mind, his worldview shifting right before his eyes.
All the while the platform they were standing on quite literally shifting to reveal huge crystallized amethyst, rose quartz, and turquoise in proper placement around the casting circle.
The smell of Derek's scent, amber and rich now mixing with his own almond scent catches him by surprise. Never thinking of how his scent could come off to others, he's shocked by how prominent it is. It's as if Derek's senses are being transferred to his own by the telepathic connection they have now allowing Stiles to see from Derek's perspective how deliciously addictive and wonderfully sensual it is to smell their scents mixing. Stiles' breaths start to pick up, dick swelling but before he can become intoxicated by it Derek's pulling back.
"Do you understand now why it's dangerous for you to be around me? I can't control myself. I don't think I have any control anymore."
Stiles nods, soothing Derek by rubbing his hands up and down the alpha's arms. His eyes catch how the touch makes the alpha shiver.
"Yeah I do but I'm sure we'll figure out what's wrong later. We should head back now."
Derek sighs deeply,
"Your right. Can't wait to shower."
"Really? I thought dogs hated baths."
Derek smirks, "Shut up. Now get on my back."
Stiles grins wide before hopping on.
Derek getting them back in record timing was truly remarkable, his speed causing Stiles to hold on as if his life depended on it while piggybacked.
Choosing to return to Stiles estate where everyone was waiting was a bit nerve racking Stiles admits. Unsure if anyone would notice the changes in them both. Though once there, the need to see everyone alive overruled the nerves he felt.
Walking them to the back of the house Erica's voice yelling,
"They're back!" was the first sign of the storm of commotion that would soon follow as the wolves and his clan members gathered around the yard to greet them.
"Omg, you guys made it back! Yay! We've missed you two idiots terribly." Erica doesn't wait for Stiles to climb off Derek's back before she's hugging them both.
Derek taking a moment to hug her before everyone else is doing the same.
The alpha's complaining starts soon after, claiming he couldn't breathe and needed air making Stiles laugh the whole way through. Gasping for air as his vampire clan makes sure to rub Derek's head awkwardly for a job well done.
Oh how he's taught them well.
It isn't until Talia comes out with Derek's father that the group quiets down. Derek's father's green eyes and salt and pepper hair are breathtaking glimpses into what he'd suspect Derek to look like had he had the ability to age.
The group parts, allowing Derek's mother to walk over and caress his face. When Talia leans in to hug Derek it's only then that Stiles feels something start to slice into his skin.
"Ow! Oh, fuck!" Stiles says, before unwinding his legs and hopping off from Derek's back.
Derek and his mother separate to look at him.
"Ow ow ow what the fuck!" Stiles lifts his black hunter's gear to look at the skin on his back but still unable to see what was going on.
"Come here. Let me look." Derek says pulling his jumpsuit up to reveal more of his back.
"It's the triskele. Mom look."
"Omg your right! What could this mean?" Talia says in shock.
"Derek. Take your mate back to his room. He'll need to rest. Once you've freshened up your mom and I will need to talk to you. Alone."
Derek's father's voice comes out stern but it isn't like Stiles can think twice about it with the triskele burning into his back.
Derek nods, putting Stiles arm around his shoulder.
"Ok."
"Ow Derek fuck."
"Shhh it's ok I've got you." The pain is making him profusely sweat, the pain worse than any bone he's ever broken, spots cover his vision.
Scot's concerned face grabs his other arm as they walk him back into the house.
As they enter a long howl rings throughout the house although Stiles finds it strange noticing how it's coming from down in the basement where they keep the A.I. chamber and crematory cellar.
"Was that Peter? What's wrong with him?" Derek asks, voice concerned.
"His memories of the fire have come back and he's lost it. Keeps calling out for a guy named Chris? No idea who that is. Don't worry though, we've been able to tie him down with magic but yeah a lot has happened since you guys left."
Stiles can feel Derek nod silently because of his head having fallen on Derek's shoulder from exhaustion.
"Shit," Derek says.
Uh oh. Stiles thinks. This can not be good.