Ugh. This chapter gave me some real block and took quite a while, I apologize. But it's out! And the next chapters should come out more quickly now that I have an ending I want in sight. :) (I also spent this month mapping out the next/last few chapters)


Stiles convinced John and Peter to come to a dinner at Derek's loft with the promise that the boys would be taking care of all the cooking. It felt a little like Stiles' subtle way of checking in on the two of them, but Peter didn't comment on it. Peter had no doubt that Stiles would be wondering about the progress in his and John's relationship, but it was well worth the risk. When they had received the invitation, John had absolutely litten up, smiling at Peter like his son had just offered him the world in the form of a sly little text message. It didn't initially make sense to Peter, until he remembered that John really didn't get out much. He'd probably only ever had dinners in with his son after his wife's death, and he imagined even those were scarce after Scott had been bitten and Stiles was whisked away into the world of the supernatural.

He didn't want to dwell on John's happily married life though, not tonight. While he wanted-with all of his being-to support John in every way he could, there were still little flickers of jealousy that poked at him when he thought about John and his late wife. Because John had been happily married before he'd entered a relationship with Peter.

Peter couldn't offer the same kind of white picket fence life that she had. Peter also couldn't promise children. Sure, it happened in some rare occasions; mates could certainly get pregnant under the right circumstances and with some effort... but for people getting up there in years like he and John were, it was pretty close to impossible. Not that Peter believed he was ready to handle pups anyway.

Especially not if they would come to be as erratic and energized as Stiles Stilinski.

He pushed all of these hesitant thoughts from his mind as they walked up to the sliding door of Derek's loft. John held a store bought loaf of garlic bread protectively against his chest while Peter knocked, one hand resting reassuringly on John's lower back.

The door was answered by a very grumpy looking Derek.

...In an apron.

Peter thought he was going to pop a blood vessel in his effort not to laugh. Whatever gift from the Gods this was, he was sure he could thank Stiles for it. The "Werewolf? There wolf" logo printed across the breast and the strikingly bright (near pink) purple gave him away.

John, however, did laugh, and greeted Derek with a pat on the back and a fond apology for his son's shenanigans.

Stiles poked his head out a moment later, a spaghetti server in one hand and a similarly bad apron with a "Kiss the cook but don't touch the buns" design. The two were, for lack of a word that wouldn't upset Derek enough to throttle him, completely adorable.

Peter is pretty certain that if nothing else, the night will definitely prove to at least be entertaining.


"And when they shift-" Stiles started, gesturing with his hands excitedly, "It's just amazing. I thought Scott looked cool the first time I saw him shift, but Derek is like... he's huge. Alphas are frikin' big." he nudged Derek's arm with a grin, "And they can argue all they want, but they basically all turn into giant puppies. They like ear scratches."

John's laugh was a pleasing rumble that came up from his belly and warmed every inch of Peter's skin. They were like the very embodiment of happiness, he decided. If one was to search for the definition of joy, an audio file of John's chortling would be the result, followed by a picture of his dazzling smile. Peter grinned around a forkful of spaghetti, deciding not to give Stiles too hard a time about mocking them if it meant he'd get to hear some more of John's belly laughs. They made him feel good, and placated every instinct between both Peter and his wolf. Peter decided then and there that his new mission was to make John laugh at least once a day. Simply to appease his wolf, of course, if nothing else.

"He knows our weakness Derek, you can't ever let him go now." He snorted, shooting Derek a teasing smirk that he'd been absolutely ecstatic to see his nephew return.

Derek's arm slipped casually over the back of Stiles' chair, not quite touching him, but very pointedly there. It was a small gesture of protection and possession that Peter could recognize; that any wolf would/should recognize, but could go conveniently undetected around humans. Made it easy to display ownership without offending any humans. Sometimes they just didn't quite get it.

Which was why Peter was completely surprised when John's eye caught the action and his lip twitched upwards, because he'd noticed it.

Peter wondered vaguely if John would let him get away with something similar, and curiously draped his arm behind John to mimic Derek.

When John paused, eyed Peter with a grin, then pointedly took a bite of his pasta, Peter felt like he'd won something.

"You should come next time!" Stiles said excitedly, knocking Peter out of his adoring stare.

"What?" Peter questioned, almost in sync with Derek's "Stiles."

"Oh come on! It'll be fun!"

Derek quickly retracted his arm from behind Stiles to reach for his water glass, taking a long, drawn out sip to avoid having to be the one to tell Stiles that it might not be such a good idea.

Softie.

"You don't think something like a full shift would be too soon for your father?" Peter chided kindly, careful of the wary glance from Derek, "He's only been aware of werewolves for a few months now..."

"Yeah, well, he's gonna see it eventually. If you don't do it now it might come out in the middle of one of the dangerous situations that always come up. This way he doesn't have to just be-" Stiles made some obscenely wide gesture with his hands, "thrust into it all of a sudden." Stiles huffed, and stuffed too big of a bite into his mouth before mumbling out, "So why not?"

"He has a point." John said, then leveled Stiles with a hard look, "Do I have to be worried about these frequent 'dangerous situations', Stiles?"

Stiles would have choked if Derek hadn't been there to tap him on the back a good few times.

He coughed, "First of all, Ow, that's definitely going to bruise. Second, dad, I've been doing this since early high school. If I was gonna die-"

"I won't let anything happen to him, sheriff." Derek interrupted, glaring at Stiles with a 'if you don't shut up, I'll kill you myself' type of expression.

Stiles ducked his head and smiled sheepishly, "I'm fine dad, really."

"Good."

"Maybe you should come." Peter said next, staring into his plate of spaghetti with decisiveness, "Stiles is right."

"You can't say that in front of him." John chuckled, and knocked Peter's knee with his knuckles.

"Gee, thanks dad. Good to know you've got so much faith in me."

John snorted, "I do, but I also know what you're like when you get a big head."

Derek let out a small huff of air that signified a laugh, and Stiles looked accusingly between him and the sheriff a few times before giving Derek a curt, "Traitor."

John grinned to Peter, "If you're alright with me being there... I am actually really curious."

"Just promise you won't run for the hills when you see us running on all fours."

"You'd probably chase me down if I tried to run, right?"

A low grumble fell out of Peter's lips before he could stop it. The idea of chasing John through the woods did things to him and his wolf-delighted him in such a way-that Peter wasn't sure if he could even blame the effects of Deaton's pollen-thing for it. Peter found himself shifting closer to John and reflexively dropping his nose between his jaw and shoulder to scent him. John didn't flinch away, but he did stiffen, and Peter couldn't quite understand why.

He'd slipped a hand over John's knee and lightly nipped at the skin beneath his jaw before he heard Stiles cough loudly, realizing that Stiles had been repeatedly coughing for a little while, trying to get his attention.

Peter eyed him, then cleared his throat awkwardly and pulled himself back and away, despite the pull of his wolf trying to tug him over and on top of John-who would look so delicious running through the woods, letting Peter chase him down and take him underneath the moonlight-

"Derek." Peter said pointedly, and his nephew was flashing red eyes at him in an instant.

"Calm down." he ordered politely, a little too placated for an Alpha command in Peter's mind.

And Peter found himself imagining what it would be like to be in Derek's pack, to actually be his beta and have to obey that command. Slowly, the small pinprick of threat that came from a challenging Alpha became the commanding call of a leader. Peter's head bowed and his shoulders slumped a little, the fight simply draining out of him. Derek seemed taken back, eyes wide in surprise, but Peter was too busy fighting off the intensity of the drug clearly still thrumming underneath his skin to care. He took a deep breath and tried his best to reel it all in again.

John touched his arm gently, almost cautiously, "Peter?"

"That pollen is still affecting me it seems."

"Do we need to go? I don't mind if we need to go and... umm..." John gave Stiles a wary look and cut himself off.

For his part, Stiles only huffed, "Dad, it's not like I don't know what you two get up to. For God's sake your neck's got more spots than a ladybug. It would be stupid not to see that you guys have been having sex."

"Stiles."

John looked dumbfounded when Derek beat him to the punch, glaring at his mate sternly.

"Oh come on Derek. I know it's even more obvious to you. He probably smells like-"

"Stop talking. Or you'll be in trouble."

"Oooh, like last time?"

"Okay!" John announced awkwardly, standing from his seat and dragging Peter up with him, "On that note, we're gonna get going. Thank you both for this lovely meal and I hope we can do this again sometime soon without any more awkward sexual confessions." he nodded towards Derek politely before giving his son a weary frown, "Be. Good."

"Mwah?" Stiles asked in mock offence, placing a hand over his chest, "I'm always good."

The sheriff snorted before pulling his boyfriend out of the loft by the arm, offering words of encouragement to Peter, who had taken to stopping them every few steps to paw at John's jacket and lick at his neck. "Peter, we can't have sex in the hallway." John let out in a hurried whisper.

Peter huffed, but let himself be led away when he heard Derek's warning growl from behind the loft's door.


On the night of the full moon, Peter was thrumming with nervous anticipation.

It was entirely unclear if it was simply the moon's energy calling out to his wolf and kickstarting his instincts, or if it was over John coming to see him in full shift for the first time. John had never even seen Peter in a half shift before, and Peter was apprehensive about the whole thing.

But Stiles was right. It was far better that John see him for the first time here, in a controlled environment surrounded by pack, than in the midst of something foul. It would be more traumatic if he simply held off until he absolutely had to shift in front of John. Not to mention the added bonus of having his mate near during the full moon.

Peter might (probably would) have sought him out anyway, but here, amidst the safety of pack and the love of his mate, Peter's wolf was practically jumping with excitement, and it promised to be a very good full moon.


"Dad, this is Erica and her mate, Boyd." Stiles introduced happily, gesturing to a drop dead blonde and a handsomely dark man standing quite close to her side.

John held a hand out and smiled, "John Stilinski."

"Another Stilinski. How perfect. Are you as fun as Stiles is?" Erica greeted cheerily, taking his hand in a surprisingly firm shake.

John laughed, "Probably not. Stiles is definitely one of a kind."

She grinned, then nudged Boyd with her arm, "I told you. I knew I would like you."

"Thank you?"

"It's probably a compliment." Stiles said, encouraging him to shake with Boyd, "Just roll with it."

They came across Scott and Isaac next, and Stiles very pointedly teased Isaac when he introduced him as Scott's new mate. Scott, for his part, rubbed his cheek encouragingly against Isaac's and smiled to the Sheriff before saying, "It's gonna be so much cooler to not keep secrets from you anymore."

John snorted, "Like this will change that. You'll always be the boy sneaking off to find dead bodies with Stiles."

"Yeah, but we have an excuse now!" Stiles cheered, clapping his hands together once before ushering his dad over to the porch of Derek's old family house.

"We'll be right here while they shift." Stiles instructed eagerly, "It's gonna be really cool not being the only human hanging off on the sidelines this time."

"They're all wolves?" John blinked, turning up his head to take in the startling sight of six people currently stripping down, "Stiles!"

"Relax." Stiles sighed, "Just look away like I do. Or just look at Peter. Sometimes I look at Derek."

"I didn't need to know that."

Stiles snorted, "I think seeing everybody so casually naked all the time is part of the reason I'm suddenly a lot cooler with talking to you about this stuff."

The Sheriff ran a hand over his face tiredly, "I'd really rather you weren't."

"Who else are you going to freak out with?"

"Freak out?"

Stiles grinned, "It's your first time seeing any of this right? I think you'll be glad I'm here."

John slapped a hand over his son's shoulder, "I'm very glad you're here Stiles, I just don't want to talk about yoursex life."

"You know, in that parenting book I gave you-"

"Never read it."

"Why do I even bother then!?"

John smirked, "I really don't know, you shouldn't."

"OH! They're starting." Stiles said excitedly, slapping his father's arm and looking on with eagerness.

John turned his head to where Stiles was pointing, and did his best to keep his breathing under control when the sounds of shifting bones became startlingly easy to hear. There are low growls coming from the group, most of the kids hunching over as their bodies began to change, the more experienced Peter and Derek merely throwing their heads back instead.

The way hair begins to sprout, their forms grow bigger and angrier, and the loud howl that suddenly rings out had John on edge. He gripped Stiles' hand before he could think about it, ignoring the look his son tosses his way and focusing on the gruesome looking shift.

When it's over and the pack are all fully wolfed out, it's a little easier to watch.

The blackest wolf howls proudly, and John remembers that it's Derek, their Alpha, when the others call back in response.

There's a minute moment of hesitation amongst the group, their heads turning towards a dirty brown wolf that looks a little uncomfortable, fidgeting where he stands. John leans over to Stiles' ear, "What's happening?"

Stiles frowns, "I'm not really sure..."

Another howl rings out, and this time all but the lone wolf respond.

John keeps his eyes mostly on that wolf, realizing with some hesitation that it's Peter, as the group starts to jump around and play with one another. There's some roughhousing, but it's mainly between the four younger wolves. Derek does, at one point, come up to nudge his head against Peter's shoulder and Peter happily jostles him back. He knows it's Peter, he really does, but months of chasing down 'mountain lions' suddenly comes back to him, and John finds himself wondering if he and Stiles are really safe for a brief moment. He actually has to kind of catch his breath when the wolf starts to make it's way over.

Stiles is standing already, walking out towards the couple of wolves rolling around each other in the dirt and leaving John alone with Peter.

John watches him hesitantly, looking for something to connect this wolfish version of Peter to the man that he knows. He finds it in the eyes, big and blown, staring up at him with such hope, and reaches a hand out before he can hesitate again. When his fingers finally touch down on the soft wolf fur, John feels a little easier. Any other wild animal would have probably bitten his arm off by this point, but this is Peter, and John is okay.

Peter droops forward to nuzzle his snout against John's thigh until he chuckles, "Sorry Peter, I'm just a little nervous."

The wolf cocks his head to the side, and John laughs.

"I know it's you, but it's still kinda freaky. I'll get used to this eventually though, right?"

Peter practically purrs underneath John's fingers before jumping up to put his forepaws on John's legs and lick his face excitedly.

John decides this may be his new favorite form of Peter.

Er... well, second favorite. The one that pins him down against the mattress will probably always be kind of hard to beat.

Derek is the first of the pack to wander over to John, sandwiching him between the two wolves as he sniffs and rubs his face along John's chest and arms. Peter looks absolutely ecstatic to see it, which only made it all the more confusing to John until another of the wolves starts to mozey over towards them and Stiles finally takes pity on him.

"They'll all probably be kinda.. you know," Stiles said, gesturing his hands around somewhat awkwardly as Derek comes to lean on him, "all up on you for a while. It's just to get their scent everywhere. They'll wanna get used to you and stuff like that... It's a wolf thing."

Stiles stopped, recovered, and said instead, "Well, it's a pack thing."

"I think I get it," John replied, "Sort of like letting a dog sniff your hand to get to know you?"

Stiles snorted, "Yeah, kinda like that."

Derek nudged him with his snout, apparently displeased with that comparison, but went back to cuddling him when Stiles chuckled at him and started to scratch behind his ears.

The wolves Stiles tells him are Scott and Isaac rub themselves all over Stiles while John deals with what must be Erica and Boyd, tentatively nudging John with their noses and pawing at his legs. It would almost be cute, if he didn't remember what a bilking man Boyd been and how fierce a woman Erica had looked like before they shifted.

Peter never leaves his side to scent Stiles or the other wolves, but he does gently bump noses with them as they come up to greet John. He almost feels a little bad for Peter, being left out, but he remembers that Peter isn't quite part of Derek's pack yet. It must be a slow process and he just doesn't understand yet.

John settled in beside Stiles to watch the other wolves play, looking away only when Stiles nudged him with his elbow fondly, "You know, this is kinda like the rest of my family, dad... and I'm really glad you're involved in it now, even if the circumstances were really freaking weird."

"Me too." John replied, and smiled as he wrapped an arm around Stiles.

When the night came to an end, Peter curled up around John's legs while the rest of the wolves pups slept in a curled pile on the floor (Stiles sprawled out ungracefully in the middle). John allowed himself to be lulled to sleep in the outdoors, under the stars with the chirping of bugs and the presence of a literal pack of wolves just a few feet from him. Peter's warmth and weight against him was pleasant, and kept him from lying wide awake, worrying about whatever other animals roamed the forest in the night. He felt undeniably safe there, pressed against him, and it was good.

He relaxed into Peter and slept soundly.


In the morning, John woke up to a big breakfast. The inside of the house wasn't great, charred and broken apart with splintering wood and shattered glass, but the kitchen had been cleaned up enough to cook in with two little gas powered stoves for heat. With Stiles' help, Erica and Isacc set to work cooking up a meal of scrambled eggs, pancakes, four packs of bacon and nearly a whole bread loaf worth of buttered toast.

Scott had been given the task of setting up the table, just a pair of two fold outs pushed together on the porch to form one giant surface, and Boyd assisted in that, running little errands for Erica or moving food from the kitchen to the table along with Derek.

Peter offered John a chance in the shower, but John politely declined after seeing its state. "How did Derek live here for so long? This place really needs a remodel."

Smiling sadly, Peter handed him a set of fresh clothes they'd packed away in an overnight bag, "He muddled through. He's had that loft for a while now, but he plans to come back and rebuild this place; make a new home for himself and the pack."

"Will everyone live together here?" John asked, curious.

"That's the idea."

"Will you live here?"

Peter grinned, "That's the hope."

Breakfast is a happy affair, chatty and excited about everything that had occurred during the full moon. They share little stories about previous experiences too, most of them forged out of weird happenstances or accidents. John listened excitedly, laughing at some of the funny stories and appropriately reacting to the more thrilling or sensitive ones. It feels almost like a family reunion, and John absolutely loves it. If this is what Stiles has been getting, this big family mentality, then he's extremely thankful to each and every one of them.

He's always enjoyed the times he's able to really sit down and have some family time with Stiles, but those moments were rare and a bit different in nature. It's nice to have a huge table, overflowing with friendly faces and good food. He can tell Stiles feels the same way, laughing at something Scott's said before smacking his shoulder fondly.

He's incredibly thankful that Stiles has something like this... and now he does too.

Isaac, Scott and Erica are the first to make a leave, Stiles and Derek announcing their disappearance next after Derek helped Boyd load the folding tables into the back of his vehicle. Peter and John wave to them as they climb into their own car, and John feels extremely content; stated in how the night and morning had gone.

When they're back at John's, curled up on the couch with Peter rubbing John's cheek with his nose, John tells him as much and Peter purrs with pride.

But then the nerves start creeping back in, and he really starts to wonder if he can say he belongs in that family just yet. "Peter..." he starts hesitantly, and the man lets up on his nuzzling to respond with a hum, "Did you... really want me?"

Peter stops to pull back, looking John in the eyes as he stares at him like he's being utterly ridiculous, "What are you talking about?"

"Did you want me, or is it your wolf making you like me?"

Peter is hesitant, but John's secretly grateful to see him take a real moment to think about it before he replies, because he knows the answer will be genuine, "Originally, it was the wolf."

And John feels his heart break before Peter quickly adds, "But I'm glad it happened that way."

John blinks up at him, "You are?"

"My wolf wanted you, John, but I chose you."

John had reached up to kiss him before he realized it, hands cupping Peter's cheeks as he lovingly replied, "I love you too."

Peter grinned widely, showing his pearly teeth to John in a giddy smile before tipping his head back to howl. The sound echoes, and John can't help the pleasant laugh that comes up from his belly.