All I wanted to say was thank you so much for all of your reviews. I didn't know if I could write anything other than Shameless, so you're all helping me come out of my comfort zone loads. Thank you (: hope you enjoy. . .
Derek's head hurt. It was as simple as that.
He'd been forcing himself not to listen to Stiles' conversation that was going on with Isaac upstairs, even though he did catch Erica's name in there somewhere and that just added to the confusion. But everything just seemed to go downhill when the Alpha for the other Pack, the Pack that had been trying to take over his territory had arrived. He hadn't spoken to Derek, had just waited and Derek had been able to smell the sudden arousal and pain in the air when Stiles had walked out of the house.
In nothing but a pair of jeans of all things!
He'd been pissed for all of five seconds that Stiles was moving to stand in front of him. His wolf had freaked out, wanting to protect Stiles, wanting to get him away from this other Alpha. But they'd both been stunned to silence when Stiles had started speaking. He hadn't wanted to think of how the two knew each other and he'd been distracted from having to at the mention of a Rory.
The only Rory he knew was an Alpha a few territories over. He'd apparently stepped up to the mark since Derek had last seen him, which was well over a decade ago and back when his family had still been alive. Rory was renowned for taking in strays, but he'd always been someone who could be relatively easily overthrown. He'd never been a fighter. Until recently if the rumours that Derek had heard were correct. But then, if those rumours were right, his head Beta did a lot of the fighting for him.
What made Derek's wolf start pacing and snarling inside of his chest though was that as he actually focussed on the conversation that Stiles was having with the other Alpha, he started to realise one thing. Something that was made more obvious by the kiss. The kiss that had Derek's blood boiling and had him shifting to his Beta-form right there where he stood. He didn't even care that his Pack were looking at him weirdly, all he could focus on was the steady thrum of Stiles' heart and the knowledge that he had once been in a relationship with the other Alpha.
Another person had been touching his Stiles. His mate. His wolf didn't like that and to be completely honest neither did Derek. The only saving grace is that the only arousal that Derek can smell is the other Alpha's. Stiles looks smug as he backs away with a phone pressed to his ear, but he doesn't look particularly turned on. It's more like he did that because he could, rather than out of any overwhelming desire to.
And the thing was, he hadn't even realised until then that Stiles was even gay. He wondered if knowing Stiles was gay would have changed anything in the past.
It didn't really register what Stiles was talking about on the phone, or even who he was talking to. He kept trying to focus on the words, but other things kept distracting him, other sounds. Like the sound of Stiles' heartbeat, the sound of Stiles' breathing, the sound of Stiles kicking at the dirt. He kept focusing on the fact that his voice seemed to be lower than it was before, that it carried a confidence rather than what he was actually saying. And he also couldn't help but focus on that mouth, more red than usual and slightly swollen, he couldn't tear his eyes away from it, but he didn't think to notice the words that Stiles' mouth was forming.
"So who the hell is that again?" Cooper one of his new wolves asked; and by new he meant had been turned since Stiles had left. He'd forgotten that not everybody there would know who Stiles was.
"That's Stiles," Lydia was the one to explain, "He used to be Pack when he was human, he's like Derek's kryptonite."
Which was an understatement. Stiles was the one that could get away with anything. Stiles kept pushing Derek's buttons, trying to force a reaction out of him, but not seeming to understand that every single one of his threats as empty. He'd never hurt Stiles, he'd never rip his throat out with his teeth or mar that perfect skin. He just didn't know how to tell Stiles that. He'd never particularly wanted to tell Stiles that, because to be completely honest he was scared.
He was scared of the fact Stiles stood up to him, but also of the way that he cared. When Derek had been shot by hunters – not the first time, but a second – Stiles had stayed with him, brushing gentle touches across his face to soothe him, even when he thought Derek was asleep. Especially when he thought Derek was asleep. He was scared of the fact that Stiles made him feel anything, because that had been out of the question when Stiles was human. He could have hurt Stiles, could have ruined and broken him.
He didn't know what to think now that Stiles was a werewolf.
Only a few steps away, Stiles huffed out a breath and hung up the phone, snapping it shut and tucking it into his pocket. He turned back to Derek and gave him a nervous smile that had Derek's heart stuttering a tiny bit in his chest. He didn't miss the way that Stiles frowned ever so slightly at that.
"We were in luck because they were already on their way trying to surprise me or something so they should be here in about an hour," Stiles explained, talking to all of them even though he was looking directly at Derek, "We would like to ask for rights to set up camp on your territory and of course will lend all aid possible to eliminating the threat you have, however we would ask to reserve rights for the kill of Mason's brother due to a longstanding right and we also have a cub in our ranks and therefore would require for at least one of our number to be present with him at all times."
Stiles sounded so formal, like a true Alpha or a head Beta at a Pack negotiation. It was strange and alien to hear those words coming from Stiles' mouth. But that surprise was mingled with the shock as what Stiles was saying clicked into place. What the implications of what Stiles was saying were. He had a Pack, Stiles had a Pack. He was negotiating rights for passage and for a killing, for a cub, Stiles had a Pack.
Stiles wasn't in his Pack.
Derek felt stupid for not realising that, for not recognising why so many scents clung to Stiles' skin. Thankfully, he wasn't the one who blurted out the question. He wasn't the one who sounded like an idiot and honestly, Scott was so frequently sounding like one anyway that Stiles didn't even bat an eyelid at it. "Wait, what, you have a Pack?"
Casting a sideways glance at the person who had used to be his best friend, Stiles rolled his eyes. "Yes, I have a Pack, I have had a Pack for eight years, it's kind of old news to me right now," Stiles said, rubbing the back of his neck, "I told them to come straight here, is that alright?"
He was looking at Derek when he said that, but he got the impression that Stiles was trying not to look at him at all.
He nodded numbly, not trusting his voice, because Derek wasn't very often out of control, but he was right then. There was just something about seeing Stiles so serious and so. . . confident that it was ridiculously sexy. And he knew that people could smell his arousal on the air, but right then he didn't care. He didn't care about anything other than the blush that spread across Stiles' cheekbones when he spelt it. Or the fact that that red spread down his neck, highlighting the pale skin of his collarbones.
It was beautiful.
"There are fourteen of us," Stiles said, answering the question that nobody had asked yet, "Four females and one cub."
Derek decided he didn't like the way that Stiles said us and didn't mean them. He was so engrossed in hating that fact that he almost missed Lydia's nosy question of, "So how did you know that Alpha."
Stiles shrugged, settling down with his back against the porch and Isaac instantly moved in and sat next to him, pressing close to Stiles like he had everything that Isaac could ever want. Derek suspected there was some sort of history there, there had to be, but he didn't think it was sexual. The scents that Isaac was giving off were of trust and comfort, nothing connected to lust. Derek didn't miss the way that Stiles' fingers curled around Isaac's forearm without him even having to have to think about it apparently.
"We used to date," Stiles explained, "And then his brother killed my Pack mate Sam and the shit hit the fan, it's really as simple as that."
"How long did you date for?" Allison asked, sitting down next to Stiles cross-legged on the floor. Derek could smell her interest, could smell Lydia's. This was fresh gossip for them and this was Stiles. The Stiles who had been a virgin when he'd left and had now returned a confident, apparently experienced, werewolf with a Pack in tow. Derek couldn't quite wrap his head around it, just like he couldn't quite stop himself from thinking about the things that Stiles could do with his mouth that the other Alpha had insinuated.
That thought made Derek jealous and curious all at the same time.
"About a year I think," Stiles said, shrugging like it didn't really matter, "His Pack's what you'd call a roaming one, but they stuck around for that year while we were dating."
"So it was love then," Lydia said and it was a statement not a question.
Derek flinched and thought he was about to puke.
Stiles just snorted. "For him," he replied, "Did you not miss the part where he agreed that he'd called me emotionally stunted?" Derek wondered why Stiles didn't see surprised that someone had called him that.
Something inside of Derek relaxed, but he couldn't bring himself to relax on the ground with Stiles like the rest of the Pack was doing. Even the members who didn't know him.
And then they started asking questions about Stiles' Pack and even Derek was so wrapped up in what Stiles was saying, watching him with such interest that he didn't even hear the roar of a motorbike or smell another wolf until Stiles was on his feet and moving. He literally launched himself at the leather clad figure who stepped away from the bike. The werewolf tipped his head back and laughed as he caught Stiles, both of them going crashing to the ground and not seeming to care in the slightest.
It wasn't until then that the implications of Stiles actually having a Pack clicked in Derek's brain. Inside of his chest, his wolf whined.