I do not own the characters of Teen Wolf. I only own this idea and the characters I have created for the purpose of this story. Reviews are appreciated. I love to know what you think.
"I don't even know where to start or which book to use, it's been forever. You choose which book and then we'll pick something at random. I want to make sure that it's something that the Pack would enjoy." explained Derek as he stood back up from where he was bent down under a cupboard, pulling out many cook books with him, the chord from his IV swinging a bit from where the 'pocket pack' was tucked down into the pocket of his jeans. He really did want it to be something that the Pack would enjoy, while silently saying "I want to make sure that it's something that I would enjoy". He placed the cook books down onto the table and took a step back, watching with a small smile as the girls of the Pack crowded around them, choosing one at random to flip through.
"Are you sure you're going to trust them with those?" joked Scott with a whisper as he walked over to his Beta and brushed against his side in a friendly greeting. Derek let out a soft rumble at the contact, softly butting his forehead against the Alpha's temple.
"I'm hoping that the books will come out in one piece, they were a favorite of my Mother's to use. Especially on the holidays." explained the older wolf as he leaned back against the counter, feeling Erika come up on his other side. The she-wolf had been getting closer and closer to the older wolf since she witnessed the seizure that he had gone through, not only getting closer through friendship, but closer through their bond.
"How are you feeling? Do you need to sit down? Do you want something to drink?" asked the blonde wolf as she pressed into his other side, combining his scent with that of her own.
"I'm fine, Erika. I've been drinking at Gatorade all day, as well as having this thing in my hand still." explained Derek as he gestured towards the Gatorade bottle that he had sitting on the counter, at least half of the bottle gone now.
"I'm proud of you. So proud of you. Are you sure that you're feeling okay?" praised Erika as she pressed a gentle kiss to his temple, feeling his lips press against her forehead a second later.
"If you would like to keep an eye on me, you're more than welcome to stay in the kitchen and help. I'll even let you choose what we make for dessert." explained the older wolf as he watched the other girls move away from the cook books, some of them closed, and others flipped open to certain pages. It was evident that the decisions had been made. Erika planted another kiss on his cheek before moving to the table, where she carefully began to flip through the pages of the dessert book.
"Anybody who doesn't plan on staying in the kitchen to help, out you go. Scott, could you please send Stiles in here?" asked Derek as he watched the others leave the kitchen, both his Alpha and Allison stopping in place when he brought up the other teen.
"I want you to be completely sure about this decision before we let him talk to you." explained Allison with hints of protectiveness in her usually calm voice.
"We're going to have to talk to each other at some point, I'd rather do it now than later. I don't want to lose him or lose the bond that we have because of this damn disorder." explained Derek with firmness in his voice.
"I'll send him in. Scott will monitor the conversation from the living room and Erika will be in the kitchen with you, since she seems pretty engrossed in looking through that dessert book." explained the Hunter as she walked out of the kitchen with the Alpha in tow.
"Thank you." Derek said to her as he watched them leave, before he walked to the table and started to look from book to book at the recipes that had been chosen: Edamame with Chile Salt and Fried Herb Almonds as starters, Linguine with Spring Vegetables as the main course, with Grilled Chocolate Sandwiches for dessert. Erika's and Derek's heads snapped up when they heard the familiar fast beating heart of Stiles as the teen walked into the kitchen, his hands tapping restlessly against his jeans.
"Allison said you wanted to talk to me?" asked Stiles nervously, his eyes darting around from one wolf to the next, not sticking on one of the pair for too long.
"Relax, Stiles. You're not in trouble or anything. I just wanted to make sure that we were okay, that nothing had changed between us. I know things have been rocky lately, really rocky, and I wanted to say that I'm so –." started Derek, being quickly cut off when the teen all but launched himself at the wolf, wrapping his arms around whatever part of his body that he could reach.
"Don't you dare, Derek. Don't you dare apologize for what happened. I shouldn't have pushed you that far or that hard this early into your recovery. I didn't realize what could have happened until Allison came and talked to me while Lydia went out after you. I didn't realize that pushing too fast and too hard could actually set you back in recovery, that it could cause an even worse relapse, or cause you to not recover at all. Derek, I'm the one who should be apologizing." explained Stiles as he looked up into the wolf's eyes, full sincere honesty in his voice.
"You didn't know, Stiles. Nobody did. You have nothing to apologize for, I give you my word on that. There's going to be a lot of ups and downs with this process, and I'm going to be the first to say that it will not be easy. But I've got the entire Pack here to support it all, which makes it all worth it." explained the wolf, hearing Erika's soft "Awwwwwww" from the background.
"For the love of all that is holy, kiss already! I'm starving here!" called out Scott from the living room, earning him chuckles and giggles from the remaining members of the Pack. Derek let out a soft snarl at his Alpha, with no real heat behind it, before he cupped Stiles' jaw softly in his hand and brushed his thumb over his cheek bone, tilting his head up a bit before brushing his lips against the teen's.