It's been two weeks since Derek, Erica, and Boyd returned from parts unknown and things have been going pretty well. Erica and Boyd's families are glad that they are back home; although Erica's parents are a little baffled that the symptoms of her epilepsy have gone away, but apparently, it is somewhat common for people to grow out of having seizures as they age. It's not something that they expected, considering how serious her illness was, but they're happy nonetheless.

Derek and Peter haven't wasted anytime on rebuilding the Hale house. Come to find out, Derek went to NYU, where he studied architecture, when he and Laura lived in New York; and while he never had the opportunity to finish his degree he's very talented in his designs. It took him around three days to completely draw out what he wanted the house to look like, and from his drawings, it's going to be beautiful.

It's a three story house complete with a huge fully stocked kitchen, per my request of course, a family/media room for pack meetings, and maybe if we can talk Derek into it the occasional movie night, and a dining room. The house includes a bedroom on the second floor for each of the betas, and Derek and I both have full suites on the third floor. Derek even made sure that there was an extra bedroom for my dad for when he comes over for pack meetings and decides not to go home. Peter and my dad have both been busy with pack business as well.

Peter has been contacting various companies for the demolishing and the reconstruction of the house. My dad, however, has been dealing with the legal matter of things. First with making sure that Erica and Boyd went home to their families and were settled in ok. Then there was the issue with Isaac's legal guardianship. Initially, Isaac was to be placed under Melissa's care, but then after the whole issue between him and Scott, it was decided that that wasn't the best place for him. My dad thought about possibly taking custody of him, but since Derek has returned he has since agreed to take custody of Isaac, much to Isaac's delight.

That's one thing about Derek that hasn't changed; the way he cares for Isaac. I don't know if it has anything to do with the fact that Isaac was Derek's first-bitten wolf or the fact of how his father treated him when he was human. Derek in no way shape or form treats his betas badly, but he has always seemed to have more patience with Isaac than anyone else. Of course the courts and Isaac's social worker were hesitant to place Isaac with Derek considering the fact that he had been arrested for murder twice, but with the blessing and insistence of the local sheriff, how could they not see that it was a perfect fit.

With everything going on with the pack, I hadn't been in to see Deaton in a while so, I decided to drop in and see him about continuing my training. After the recent developments with the alpha pack I made the decision to start working with Deaton to try and develop my abilities as a spark and to see how strong I could potentially be. Deaton has had me reading ancient books regarding sparks and their dealings with other supernatural beings. Apparently, an alpha having a spark in their pack increases their alpha power substantially. After reading about this I began to have doubts about Deaton's intentions for me, but I kept them to myself. I don't have to trust him to learn from him.

I knew that Deaton would have issues with me leaving Scott's pack for Derek's, but I wasn't expecting the full blow out I got when I went there. Apparently, he could sense the change in my alliance in packs by my aura or something, as always he was vague in his explanations.

"You're different. What's changed?" Deaton asked me as soon as we were in his office.

Not wanting to discuss this with him, I tried to feign innocent. "I don't know what you're talking about, Deaton. I thought we were going to train today?" I asked hoping that he'd drop it and move on, but alas, no such luck.

"No, there's something different about you, Stiles. Scott isn't your alpha anymore. I can tell, but I don't understand is how a Hale is your alpha."

"Because Derek is back and he's an alpha again. He's better than he was before and I feel like that I belong with his pack."

"How could you do this Stiles? What about Scott?" Deaton practically yells at me.

At this point I'm pissed at the tone of voice he was using. He was talking to me like I was a child that needed to be chastised for doing something wrong.

"So, what? Scott's not my alpha anymore, big deal! You're talking like I've done something wrong. How is it wrong for me to side with the one person who has always been there to save me when I'd been abandoned by my so called best friend? And now, just because he's a "true alpha", I'm supposed to just put all the pain I've endured and the lies I've told for him?"

I stop and take a few deep breaths before I completely lose it at Deaton. He takes this chance to continue his tirade.

"How can you turn your back on Scott now? I know that he hasn't been there in the past, but he's trying now and he's going to need you Stiles."

I laugh a bitter and cold laugh.

"Oh yeah, what about what I need? Huh, Deaton? Everyone is always worried about Scott and what he needs, what about me? Derek may not be perfect, but at least he cares enough to make sure that I have what I need. He makes sure that I'm taken care of just like he does with the rest of his pack. He doesn't wait for you to help him make decisions in some misconstrued attempt to prove he knows what he's doing instead of just admitting that he's just as lost as Derek was in the beginning."

I could almost physically feel my blood boiling I was so angry.

"You dare sit there and accuse me of abandoning Scott, but isn't that what you did to the Hales? You let Laura and Derek leave after the fire with absolutely no support system. Not only that, but you let Peter sit in a rehabilitation center for six years reliving the fire and stewing in anger and loss for his family. Not to mention the fact that you didn't bother to try and help Derek when he came back to Beacon Hills after Laura died. You only help us when it's beneficial to what you want or need. So, you know what? I'm done."

And with that I left Deaton's place. I knew that Jackson, Erica, Boyd, and Isaac would be at my house since the demolition on the house started today. I really didn't want to see them like this plus I needed to let Derek know about Deaton so, I headed to the Hale house.

When I got there Derek and Peter were talking to some construction workers about the demolition process. When they saw me and noticed how angry I was they cut the conversation short and headed over to me while the construction workers began the tedious task of tearing down the house. Peter came over first and was making sure I wasn't physically injured before nuzzling me and stating that he was going to check on the betas. Somehow, he knew that I needed to speak to Derek alone.

After Peter left, Derek and I walked deeper into the woods so that we could talk without being disturbed by the sounds of the demolition. Plus I don't think Derek wanted to be near to see his childhood home torn down no matter the reasoning behind it. When we reached a safe distance that we could hear each other without screaming he turned towards me.

"What happened?" he asked. I sighed and gave him the run down on my argument with Deaton about what pack I belonged to. He seemed proud that I defended my position in his pack and surprised at what I said about Deaton abandoning him, Laura, and Peter.

"Is that really how you feel about him?" He asked me.

I nodded before speaking. "Well, yeah. I mean if Deaton would've helped you and Laura instead letting you guys just leave who knows what could've happened. Maybe Peter wouldn't have did what he did, I don't know. All I know is that I don't trust Deaton. I haven't ever really trusted him, but today was the icing on the cake."

I sighed before rubbing my hands over my face. I was exhausted. Derek realized how stressed and tired I was and pulled me into a hug and just held me. He'd been doing this more and more since he got back. At first I thought it was just a pack thing, because he does it to the betas as well, but I noticed that he holds me and scents me longer than he does anyone else. I don't really know the reason why, but I know that it helps calm me down. I don't think it's a secret to anyone that I've had a crush on Derek for a while now, but I've been too scared to act on it; especially now that we're in a good place with the pack, the last thing I want to do is something to jeopardize that; considering how close of a family we've become over the past few months.

But here lately with the way and how often Derek holds me or scents me, I'm starting to wonder if maybe he has feelings for me like I do for him. I want so badly for that to be true; for Derek to want to be with me, but at the same time I don't know if he can. I don't know if Derek can allow himself to be placed in a vulnerable again because of his past relationships. I got my answer about how Derek felt about me when he pulled away from the hug. He looked down at me and stared at me for a few minutes before he bent down towards me and kissed me softly.

He pulled back slowly to gauge my reaction to his kiss. For a moment I was in a state of shock. I mean this is Derek Hale that just kissed me! As much as I wanted this I never expected this to happen. Given my track record, people that I have crushes on tend to not like me back. Well, the only person I've had a crush has been Lydia and she could care less about me. But I never expected Derek to actually care about me the way that I do about him.

Before he could pull away and say that he didn't mean to kiss me or say that regret it, I kissed him back. It started out innocent enough but it soon turned into a passionate battle of dominance that Derek easily won. When we finally pulled apart he rested his forehead on mine, staring back at me with blazing red alpha eyes; and wow I never noticed how attractive they were on him. He gave me a small innocent smile and uttered a word that completely threw me through a loop.

"Mate."