Trust Chapter 4

*Greetings—I'm sorry for the wait. I hope you like the next installment. Please review or pm me with your thoughts. Pretty please? ;-)

The three wolves were woken up by the sounds of feet moving rapidly through a mass of dry leaves. Their visitor was still nearly a third of a mile away, but their keen noses told them that it was Stiles. Miki's tail pounded on the ground in excitement. He was the first to rise and prepare for his new friends' visit.

The little wolf whined and excitedly scrambled over to Stiles as the young man made his way into their camp. Sura shook herself off and stretched while Derek rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Stiles greeted Miki with equal enthusiasm, offering the pup a kiss on his snout. He looked over at Derek and raised an eyebrow. "Enjoy a little werewolf three-way action last night?" he asked, mischievously. "I miss all the fun."

Derek offered a rare lopsided grin. "Can you believe they let me sleep with them? Good thing, too. Couple more hours and you would have had to defrost me."

Stiles zipped up his hunter green sweatshirt and shuddered, nodding. "It is freaking freezing out here." He suddenly considered the thought of Derek thawing out on one of Deaton's exam tables like some science fiction superhero.

"Forget it, Stiles," said Derek, reading the young man's mind. "Hey, I thought you weren't supposed to be here until after school," he said, noting the large duffel bag near Stiles' feet.

"I'm going," said Stiles, rather unconvincingly. "I just thought I'd drop off supplies and, you know…visit."

"Uh huh," said Derek, yawning. He slowly, and with some mostly unnecessary grumblings, stood up. "Please tell me these supplies you speak of include caffeine in some form."

Stiles grinned broadly and produced a thermos. "Why, yes, as a matter of fact it DOES!" He handed Derek the thermos and offered a small Styrofoam cup.

Derek eagerly took the bottle and poured himself some of the hot, soothing liquid. He raised the cup appreciatively. "Better than the diner even."

Stiles smiled. "Thanks." He saw Miki and Sura looking at him expectantly. "Oh, I see now why you two are so jazzed to see me," he said, smirking. He knelt down and reached into the large bag and extracted two containers covered in tinfoil. "Lucky I'm such a sucker for you cute, fuzzy types." He removed the foil and placed two sizable portions of cooked ground beef on the forest floor.

The two wolves wasted no time digging into their meals, their fear of the human a faint memory. "It should still be nice and hot," said Stiles, gently touching Miki's head. "I just fried it all up this morning." The young man offered his hand to Sura, who licked her chops and offered a benevolent expression. Stiles took this as an open invitation and lightly patted her head. Sura licked his hand in response before quickly turning her attentions back to the delicious sautéed meat in front of her.

Stiles stood up. He walked to Derek and offered another tinfoil-wrapped treat. "Still no chance of them making the Change?"

"No," said Derek, opening up the package and gratefully biting into the bagel with cream cheese, still warm from the toaster. "But considering how they were with us just forty-eight hours ago I'd say we've made a lot of progress," he said with his mouth full.

"True," said Stiles, settling on the side of a tree. The boy looked at the two wolves dreamily for a few moments.

"Thought you were just dropping off supplies," said Derek. He sat on a rock to enjoy his meal.

"And visiting," Stiles corrected.

"Stiles," said Derek, trying to sound authoritative. "You can't miss school. It's only October and you're probably already on the truant officer's most wanted list."

"Oh you mean Gary Barnes?" asked Stiles. "That truant officer? Yeah, see he happens to be my dad's best friend. Not only that but I also caught him alone in his house singing Celine Dion and re-enacting scenes from Titanic in his underwear once, so he's not gonna make a stink about me being out of school."

"What about Scott?" Derek asked. "Won't he be wondering where you are? I mean anytime you've ever been out it's because of werewolf stuff so what if he assumes that?"

Stiles folded his arms indignantly. "Are you trying to get rid of me?"

Derek opened his mouth but nothing came out. He huffed. "W-What? No, of course not," he mumbled. He hastily stuffed another bite of bagel in his mouth and looked away. It's not that he wanted Stiles to leave. Not really. He just knew that the more time the pair spent alone meant more opportunities for Stiles to engage Derek in a personal and private discussion, which he did not relish in the least.

Derek wasn't always so emotionally stunted. Before his family's death, Derek moved through life with a hefty dose of positivity and bravado. Being born a werewolf, he felt nothing could hurt him. Even as a young beta, he never feared humans. Why should he? At six, he could have easily taken down the entire Beacon Hills High School lacrosse team if he so chose. His family was massive and loving and generous. Derek never imagined that one day he'd run out of that love to the point where his soul felt like a dead, brittle flower.

He looked over at the two wolves and saw bits and pieces of himself in both of them. The little male was his former self. He was trusting and enthusiastic. The female, however, knew pain and loss all too well as it was evident in her eyes. However, Derek noticed, even the female was not immune to Stiles' ways. She was warming up to the young man…and fast.

This made Derek apprehensive around Stiles. It wasn't that Derek was heartless. After all, he cared for Scott McCall, despite their rocky relationship. But Derek's concern for Scott was more because he was a young werewolf who needed guidance. He didn't exactly want to share his deepest darkest secrets with the boy. In the hierarchy of Scott and Derek's relationship, Derek was the one who was to be counselor.

Stiles, however, was different. He was straightforward, loyal and smart. He wore his heart on his sleeve and encouraged others to do so through his unselfish acts on their behalf. Even despite their current predicament, Stiles kept his promise to guard their secret, and hadn't once pressed for Scott's or anyone else's involvement. Not only that, he'd doted on not only the wolves, but also on Derek, making sure all three were safe, comfortable and fed. Derek looked back to find Stiles watching him. He shrugged. "Well if you're gonna hang around here all day you may as well make yourself useful." He nodded to the duffel bag. "Bring your laptop, Poindexter?"

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Your allusion to my nerd factor aside, yes I did bring the laptop…but in hopes of plugging it into an outlet at a place with electricity and indoor plumbing. And, if all goes as planned, our two new friends will accompany us."

"Stiles, we can't move the two wolves so I don't know what you're expecting," stated Derek.

Stiles pushed off the side of the tree. "Don't think we can move them do you?" he asked. "Care to make a wager?"

Derek stuffed the last bite of bagel into his mouth and stood. He sighed loudly. "Okay Stiles. What's it gonna be?"

Stiles got giddy at the prospect of a bet. He rubbed his hands together devilishly. "Hmmm…I've got it. If I win, you have to practice making the Change into a full wolf…WITH me present. Got it?"

Derek set his jaw. He should have known the young man would pick the most arduous, next-to-impossible task. "Fine," said the wolf man through gritted teeth. "And if I win?"

Stiles shrugged. "You name it."

"That's really asking for it Stiles, I mean I could pick from a long list of terrible things that I…"

"I trust you," said Stiles, perfectly serious.

The statement felt like a hard fist to Derek's chest. He fumbled slightly. "Well-fine, I…well, if you trust me as you say then you don't need to know what happens if I win." He shrugged for effect. "Right?"

"Sure," said Stiles, stepping forward, the cold causing his eyes to water, making them appear even more clear and mischievous than normal. "Sound reasoning."

Derek scoffed. The kid could certainly bluff. "Okay Stiles. If you're so confident that you'll win, then…" he threw his hands in the air. "Do your best."

"Gladly," said Stiles, placing the empty plates and thermos in his duffel bag. The two wolves watched Stiles with great interest, and, in Miki's case, some anxiety. Why was he packing up so soon? The little wolf looked to Sura, noting that she was certainly alert, but not anxious. She was simply…waiting.

Derek and Stiles cleared the camp of any and all remnants of their stay. Stiles, without a word, began to walk towards the clearing. Derek hesitated. "Stiles," he said quietly, looking back at the two wolves. Miki whined loudly and pawed at the ground. Derek was apprehensive. "I can't."

Stiles walked back to him. "There's where you're wrong. You can."

"How?" Derek asked.

Stiles put the duffel down. "Are you an alpha or aren't you?"

"Wha-yeah. Yes," said Derek. "I am."

"Okay, good, glad we've established that," said Stiles, walking to Derek until he was a mere foot away. "You know I do a lot more at night then just Google pictures of Mila Kunis. I mean, granted, a LOT of my time is spent doing that." He giggled and blushed suddenly. "I have this fantasy where I'm like this big sports agent for the Mets and Mila shows up at a game one night and asks for a…"

"Stiles, get on with it," said Derek. "For. The. Love. Of. God."

"Oh yeah sorry, well anyway, like I said I do a lot more than just look at chicks online. Last night I went into full-on research mode on wolves. Behavior, hunting style, the pack hierarchy, yada yada yada…well, I don't have to tell you what you already know."

"Stiles these are werewolves trapped in shift! They're not REAL WOLVES," argued Derek.

"Are we really so certain that's the case?" asked Stiles. "They could very well be real wolves. Last night, I read about packs that can migrate from…"

"Are you actually trying to convince me that these two aren't werewolves?" asked Derek, incredulous.

"You and I both know that stranger things have happened," said Stiles.

Derek bit the inside of his mouth as he studied Stiles. The young man's heartbeat held no level of betrayal. He wasn't trying to mislead Derek, as crazy as his ideas sounded. The alpha relented. "Fine. Assuming that they could either be werewolves or real wolves, what makes you so certain that they'll follow us out of camp if we leave?"

"Derek, there's a reason why they didn't follow me out of the woods last night, even though the little guy over there was concerned at my departure," said Stiles.

"Oh yeah? Why not?" Derek asked.

"Because their alpha was here…with them…in all his pouty, muscular glory," said Stiles. "Come on, Derek. Scott's the dense one, not you."

"What?" Derek asked. He peered back at Sura and Miki. Both stood, waiting for Derek and Stiles' next move. "You're telling me that they think I'm their alpha? Stiles, that's nuts, even for you."

"Oh is it?" asked Stiles. "Well if I'm so nuts then why is Little Miss Aggressive suddenly allowing you to sleep with her and letting me pet her head…hmmm?" he asked, nodding to Sura.

Derek bit his lower lip and looked at Sura. The female watched him intently, seemingly waiting for the alpha's cue. "Probably because you fed her and I only served to keep her from freezing," said Derek, brushing off Stiles' assertions.

"Uh huh," said Stiles. "Let me ask you something. Have you taken a piss while you've been here?"

Derek looked at the young man as if he'd lost his mind. "Have I what?"

"Simple question," said Stiles. "Have you pissed? Yes or no?"

"Ugh, fine, yes, I've gone to the bathroom out here. Last night. What of it, perv?" Derek inquired.

"And when you did this, did the two wolves piss too?" asked Stiles.

Derek thought back. "Yeah."

"Before you, after you, or whenever the mood struck them?" Stiles asked.

"Actually, they did it right after me."

"In the same spot?" Stiles asked.

"Yeah," said Derek. His eyes began to glint in recognition.

"You're starting to get it," said Stiles. "Wolves mark their territory with urine. The alpha always marks first, then the betas right after. They thought you were marking territory last night and they were just following their alpha."

Derek thought for a long moment. "I don't understand how they…"

"Like I said, I think when they are in full shift they think like real wolves. Or they could be real wolves! In either case, they were without pack before and now they've found you. I think the fact that you look human threw them off at first but there's no denying you're wolf. They know that now."

"But what about you?" Derek asked. "They seem to really prefer you."

"I don't know," said Stiles. "I really have no idea. Are you at least willing to entertain this idea, please?"

Derek sighed. "Okay." He zipped up his coat. "So we just walk and they follow?"

"That's the plan. Lead the way," said Stiles, sweeping his arm in a gesture to allow Derek to the forefront.

Derek took a deep breath and began walking towards the clearing. "Don't turn around," Stiles whispered. "Be confident."

"I don't even know where we're going," said Derek.

Stiles snuck a quick peek over his shoulder. He smiled when he saw the two wolves following just a few paces behind. "I wouldn't necessarily say that."