Chapter 14

:What!?: he exclaimed, flailing around a little. The tiredness was waning as the pressure to remember from the back of his mind burst through to the surface and the reality of the situation hit him all at once.

The blurred figures in the clearing sharpened focus and Stiles could see now that his Dad was cradling his body while a man in a trenchcoat frowned over him. Sam was tending to Dean by a tree, and across the clearing Stiles could make out Derek, Scott and another man fighting with Kate Argent. He watched as Scott tackled the gun out of her hands, and then Derek lifting Kate up by her throat. The sounds throughout the clearing were loud and confusing before they suddenly stopped. It was as if someone had stuffed his ears full of cotton.

His mother grabbed his hand.

He watched as his dad screamed, tears pouring down his face as he clutched Stiles' body closer to his chest. Scott and Derek stuttered in their movements, turning towards the center of the clearing where the man in the trenchcoat let his hands fall helplessly to his side, and Sam and Dean ran over to where the Sheriff was.

:I'm dead?: he asked, turning to his mother. Curiously, the man in the trenchcoat turned away from his father to stare directly at where Stiles and his mother were standing. Something told him the man shouldn't be able to see them. Stiles filed this piece of information away to process later. There were more pressing matters at hand.

:Yes Stiles, you died: his mother said. Stiles keeled over, head between his knees breathing deeply, trying to force the panic attack back. No, no this can't be happening, I can't be dead, I'm only sixteen and Dad-

:No!: he shouted. :What about Dad? He can't lose both of us, it was so hard for him after you died. I did the best I could and we barely made it through. If he doesn't have either of us, how is he going to make it? Who will be there for Scott? He's my brother and he needs someone to teach him how to be a werewolf now, and God knows Derek is terrible at it:

His stomach dropped at the thought of Derek. He had been confused by the demon's taunting of Derek but the demon had supplied just enough information back to Stiles to ensure that both of them felt the pain of his torture. Mates. He didn't know much about werewolves – shockingly Google was pretty void of accurate, helpful information – but he knew that mates weren't like the ~soulmates featured YA novels. It was more than the perfect compliment of personality or the belief that someone's soul was only one half of a whole. He could feel it in his gut, this invisible link between him and Derek.

He also knew that actual wolves mated for life. Derek will be alone for the rest of his life, Stiles thought. Not just alone but without the hope of finding his mate. He doesn't deserve that, after everything he's been through. After what Kate did to him. He doesn't deserve to be miserable for the rest of his life.

:It's not fair: he said, turning to his mother again. :I have to go back, I can't die. They need me. Dad needs me. Derek-: he choked off a sob. :Derek needs me:

:Life isn't fair, Stiles: his mother said, smiling sadly. :But you are to be given a choice, I made sure of that:

:A choice?: he said, wiping his eyes.

:Yes Stiles, a choice. You can stay with me, forever. There will be no more running away from monsters, no more pain, no more suffering. Your father will join us eventually, it will hardly seem like any time at all. We can spend the rest of eternity together, as a family:

Stiles' heart clenched in his chest. He had spent the last six years wanting so badly to have his mom back, to be a family again. He looked at his dad still clutching his body, saw the heartbreak on his dad's face and knew that sadly his mother was right. It would be hardly any time at all before he saw his dad again. The thought made him sick to his stomach.

:Or?:

His mother sighed. :Or, you can go back. But remember Stiles, everything has a price. You have no way of knowing what this choice will cost you. Is it worth it?:

Stiles thought of his dad, laughing at the table with the Winchesters over burgers and beers. He thought of Scott, and the dopey look he got on his face whenever he talked about Allison. He thought of Derek, silent brooding grumpy Derek who somehow was always there, ready to catch him when he fell, neither of them understanding why. He looked at his mom and thought about how much he missed her.

He took a deep breath.

/

Derek heard the moment that Stiles' heart stopped beating.

His hand was around Kate's throat as he debated tearing it out. He thought of what she had done; to him, to his family. He could feel Peter, his Alpha, at the corner of his mind urging him to kill her, the pack bonds conveying so much more than just words. He remembered his mother, after his eyes had turned blue. You're not a killer, Derek.

He hesitated.

And then the sound that he didn't even know he'd been hearing just... stopped.

His head whipped around to where the Sheriff was cradling his son, heard the gut-wrenching sobs and felt the bond inside him shatter. Scott cried out wordlessly as he dropped to his knees. Pain and anguish welled up inside him, the wolf howling out in misery at the loss of its mate.

The agony was so overwhelming he almost didn't notice when Kate Argent drove the dagger deep into his stomach.