Monday night Jackson's mom walked through the entrance of her house. She was glad to finally be able to rest in a place that was familiar and to have her comfortable bed back. But more than anything she wanted to talk to her son. She had been neglecting him these last few months and wanted to catch up. She sat alone in her house in the kitchen and wondered why everything was so dusty. She looked in the fridge but it was empty, literally, she sighed, leave it to her son to starve himself rather than go out and do some grocery shopping. She ordered some Chinese and started cleaning the house, but she was terrible at it, all she succeeded in doing was billowing the dust around, Jackson was always good at this…she often wondered were he got that from. She called Jackson but the phone just rang and rang and then went to voice mail. The Chinese arrived not much later and she sat down at her kitchen island and ate alone.
Sitting alone in her house made her realize something. The truth was she was a horrible mother, she didn't want to admit that but she knew it was true. After she found out her husband had been beating their son, she tried to stop him, but he scared her, he'd hurt her. But he swore he had stopped, yet ever since that day the love that had brought them together had basically disappeared, dried up like a lake bed, a place you still visited and remembered, how beautiful it once was. She was afraid to be alone with him and so she started staying away from the house, and the more she did it the longer she stayed away. It became easier to never be home rather than face her husband. She had basically sacrificed her son to her husband, his life for her own. It didn't matter how much Jackson tried to hide the bruises, the pain, she had known and she did absolutely nothing. She ate Chinese and cried alone in her empty house and wondered where she had gone wrong, when had she become such a horrible person. Why did her husband leave her a voice mail telling her that they were no longer married, that he wasn't coming back? When did her son start to avoid her calls, when had he stopped talking to her, a month ago, two, it must have been much longer.
Jackson was on his stomach, his hands were tied behind his back and his legs were tied tight together. The man was sitting across from him panting hard, sweat was rolling of his face and his leg muscles trembled. He had run all of last night and most of this day, this was the first time he had stopped to rest. The sun was setting and the man was panting and shaking and Jackson could hear his stomach growling from were he lay. The fear and hopelessness of the last couple days had faded away completely, Derek was going to save him. He had heard his roar all through last night and today. He was close, so close, and the closer he was the braver Jackson became. The man thought that pain was going to break him, but Jackson knew pain better than anyone else, a few days of torture did not compare to three months of pain. Alone in that tunnel he thought he was going to die, now he knew he wasn't, from the looks of the man, he knew too.
Jackson rolled over and stared up at the sky. He could see the moon hanging high among the stars. It was large and shone amazingly bright, Jackson felt the wolf inside him finally rise a little from where Jackson had hidden him away, kept him safe. The wolf felt the moonshine on Jackson's body and it was like coming alive. Jackson felt like he was being reborn, felt the moonlight do something to him, release some primal part that slept inside him, felt the wolf come to the surface without taking control, without raging, the wolf and him were one, one person, one being, one existence and it was glorious. Jackson closed his eyes and reveled in the feeling of finally coming alive. He had been through hell, but in the flames of perdition all his sins had burned away until all that was left was pure and entirely Jackson. He had no idea what it was or what it meant but he didn't care.
The man watched the boy lay there, naked, and saw his skin shine white with moonlight. He hated this boy, he hated him for his parents and everything they stood for. He almost felt bad for him, the boy had seen the beauty of their kind and had asked for their gift, but his parents had destroyed their own child's future by killing his family. He stood up and extended his claws, he would kill him now and cut his loses, it wasn't the revenge he wanted, but he would take it. He grabbed the boy and lifted him ready to slice his throat open when he smelled it. He had to let the boy drop as a strong pungent scent clouded over him, he coughed hard trying to dislodge the odor from his nostrils and regain his sense.
"Boy look at me…look at me! Tell me right now, when was your first full moon,"
"Last month…" answered Jackson shakily.
"When was your first heat?"
"First what?" Jackson had no clue what he was talking about.
"Jesus Christ didn't that Alpha of yours explain anything to you!" He threw the boy away from him. This had gone from bad to god awful fucking terrible. There was no way he was escaping now, this fucking little wolf had just gone into his first heat, had released a cloud of pheromones so strong he could barely stand it himself.
Every one of their kind went through a heat, it was the desire to mate that could often become unbearably painful for those going through it if they didn't find release every few hours. Everyone had one, Alpha's to Omega's and this little piece of shit had just slipped into his. It would make everyone around him look at him differently, longingly, it would make him more sexually appealing to those around him. That fucking Alpha was going to smell him immediately, it didn't matter how far he ran, first heats were always the strongest and most painful, there was no way he could escape now. Sure enough he heard a loud thunderous roar tear through the forest. He turned and the boy was gone.
Jackson had rolled the instant he hit the ground, now he was spinning fast down a hill. He hit a rock at the bottom and suppressed his painful moan. He inched forward like a fucking snake until he found a hollow log. He slowly squirmed forward until he was inside it and thanked god he wasn't afraid of bugs.
Derek was running through the woods with Scott by his side. The two humans were a few miles behind trying to keep pace, but Stiles was done and Chris was almost there himself. Scott smelled it first, stopped dead in his tracks and sniffed the air before covering his nose.
"What's that smell it's…ugh…I…I think…" Scotts looked completely conflicted and confused until he went into a stupor. Then it hit Derek like a brick to the back of his head. He didn't get a chance to even try to suppress his urges, the wolf was out, he hadn't smelled another wolf go into heat since forever, literally, he had never been around other wolfs heats, he had only ever had to deal with his own and he had done so with a bottle of lube, a dildo, and his own hand. He shifted, not half way, but full on shifted into his wolf form and ran at top speed to the source of the sent. He leaped out into a clearing and could see the man ahead of him, he was a few miles away and was trying to shift but it didn't matter. Derek's black wolf was out and it leaped through the forest and covered the space between them in a few paces, he ripped the man apart before he got a chance to finish shifting. He tore into him with all his might, his rage and fury, and soon he lifted the man high in his jaws and snapped them shut, tearing the man in two. This man had hurt his pup, had done so for days and Derek would make him pay and luck would have it that he wasn't dead, not yet. The man tried to pull his torso forward, could feel his organ dragging along behind him and stupidly thought that he could still escape. Derek placed a large paw on his back and all the man saw were Derek's red bottomless eyes.
Jackson had actually blacked out and had no idea where he was or what he was doing. His tight binding reminded him of where he was and what had happened to him in the last few days. He struggled slowly out of the log and after a lot of painful twisting and turning he was able to get his feet underneath him and push himself off of the floor. He stood on trembling legs and took one step forward, and then another, before he was brought down painfully to one knee. He pushed up again and struggled back up to his feet. He pulled on his bindings but was still too weak to break them apart. He tried turning, tried to extend his claws, instead a surge of electricity shot through his body and had him face down on the forest floor before he knew what had happened. He laid there trying to regain his senses when he heard something in the bushes. He stood still, held his breath, made himself nearly invisible to all senses.
The rustling continued and Jackson held still, kept his fear in check. What completely shocked him out of his false stoicism was the cold wet snout that pressed against the back of his neck. A tongue began to lick away at his head, the back of his neck, and his shoulders down his back to his ass. Jackson laughed as the tongue tickled him across his body, it wasn't until it neared his ass that Jackson began to get nervous. He twisted and turned and started to kick, his hands were still tied behind him and he tried to inch away. Cold sharp fangs pressed against his neck and Jackson's entire body shuttered before going completely limp, his mind went totally blank.
Jackson's mind came to with one amazing realization, Derek had saved him. He was safe, he was fucking safe, he was fucking safe and his Alpha had come for him. Derek felt the shocking incredible joy that coursed between their bond. It felt as if a dam had broken, like something inside Derek that had been missing had finally returned and the rush of Jackson's emotions was the thing he had been missing for so long, the presence of his pup that let him know that all was right with the world. Their bond went blank as Jackson passed out. Derek just continued licking his pup, tasting his sweat and flesh and loving every inch of it. The smell, that smell surrounded Derek, completely invaded his sense. He kept licking Jackson loving every god damn second.
He knew he shouldn't, he knew it was wrong and a huge abuse of power…but he kept licking Jackson and when he neared his ass again he dove in. He licked his pup's puckered hole and loved the way it tasted, it was like all his favorite things mixed into one, everything he loved, it completely overtook his sense, the smell, the taste. He enjoyed the way it squeezed tight as his tongue swiped past it. He licked at until it was nice and wet and then began to push the tip of his tongue past the tight ring of muscle. Jackson began to moan and that just made Derek even hornier, drove him further into a frenzy. He needed more. Derek used his teeth to tear away his pups bonds and then used his snout to flip Jackson over. He stared at his pups naked flesh before beginning to lick away, he couldn't get enough. He also needed to wipe away every trace from that mans scent. He licked a path down his pup's body, which quivered and shook, until he reached his pup's groin. He sniffed the thick curls there, the scent was like a drug Derek couldn't get enough, couldn't quit. He shoved his snout underneath his pup's balls, took a deep whiff and felt his own body quiver. He licked the loose flesh the surrounded Jackson's balls and savored the flavor. He swiped his tongue across Jackson's dick and then licked and licked until the flesh was rigid and pointing past Jackson's belly button. He licked and licked and Jackson moaned loud and unashamed. As he swiped his tongue on his pups pulsing cock, Derek enjoyed the way Jackson's mind opened up to him, felt what Jackson felt, his pleasure, his peace, his building lust. Derek didn't stop his work until Jackson began to writhe, he panted and clutched the forest floor in his fists and finally he came with a loud groaning sigh. His body tensed up and shook and Derek licked him through every pulse of his cock, licked it until it was soft. He licked his pups come off his body and the flavor was fucking incredible. Derek realized then that he had come, it covered Jackson thighs and legs. Jackson whined underneath him and that fucking noise, it made Derek want to do…something…anything that would make him stop, but Derek didn't know what his pup needed.
Derek shifted back, slowly and languidly and a little painfully. He then rubbed his come into his pups flesh, this way other wolfs would know that Jackson was his. He scooped up a small amount and slowly dabbed some on Jackson's lips and watched as he slowly licked it away, Derek did this until all his come was gone, it was a special ritual his dad had taught him before he passed away. It was the way a wolf marked its mate, the willing eating of another wolfs come linked the two wolves as mates. Derek lifted his pup into his arms, rubbed his face against Jackson neck and face and enjoyed the smell. It had lessoned, a lot, the strong pheromones were still there but not as powerful as before. He could deal with it, Scott could probably deal with it…maybe.
Derek walked back to were he thought the others were and wondered what had made Jackson's heat come so early and strongly. There was no way to tell when a wolf was going to go into their first heat, it could be when they hit puberty at thirteen or when they were thirty five, but one thing was for sure, it always happened on the full moon, of course Jackson's would come three days early. It was Monday night…maybe Tuesday morning, which meant he had two or three days until the full moon passed, two days where Jackson's going to need his attention, Derek couldn't help the large smile that split his face. He didn't want to think about that man, didn't want to know who he was, what he had done to his pup, or why he had taken his pup, so he didn't.
Stiles waited exhausted and starving, it had been almost three days since he had eaten and his stomach turned painfully, his legs quivered horribly, and his lungs burned with every breath. Scott stood next to him looking normal, if a little tired. Stiles really hated him right now. Chris handed him a canteen and a strange green pill.
"It'll give you energy," was all Chris said before swallowing one himself. Stiles did the same. Derek had disappeared over an hour ago and Scott had really scared Stiles and Chris when they came across him. He was just standing still as if he was in under a spell, Stiles shook him until he finally snapped out of it. He looked really embarrassed for some reason but Scott didn't elaborate. Finally Derek stepped out of the bushes naked, with an equally nude Jackson in his arms. He looked surprisingly fine, in fact he looked healthy.
"He's dead," was all Derek said.
"What!" yelled Stiles, they had come all this way and Jackson was dead, Stiles felt his chest constrict, he could feel himself building up into a horrible crying session.
"No," said Derek realizing his mistake, "not Jackson," Stiles released a loud groan, "the man…the one whose been killing people…I killed him."
The group slowly followed their old path home. Chris called one of his hunters to pick them up half way. Tuesday morning they reached a rode and waited for their ride, a large van arrived a bit later. The driver had had the presence of mind to buy large amounts of food from some drive thru window. Derek gingerly laid Jackson across the third row back seat while the rest of the group piled into the two front rows. The drive back into Beacon Hills was a long one. Stiles and Scott had instantly fallen asleep, Stiles had his head on Scott's shoulder and Scott placed his head on top of Stiles', Derek took a picture with his phone, for later, if he ever needed some leverage.
Two hours later they finally made it back to Beacon Hills. They headed back to Derek's where everyone was waiting for them. Stiles and Scott woke up not much later and realized that they had finally made it home. They were winding down roads that led to the Hale house but were still a few minutes away. In the back seat Jackson began to make some weird noises, like growls, but lower. He grunted and then he began to moan. Stiles looked at Derek but he didn't know what was wrong. Jackson groans turned into loud pants and then Jackson scared everyone in the car including the drive, who swerved and almost crashed into a tree, by waking up with a loud fearful yell. He pressed his face against the seat and brought his hands up to his face and tried to calm his frayed nerves. Derek touched his shoulder and Jackson flinched violently away from him. Derek thought back to the old Jackson, this was the same way he once reacted to Derek, and he fucking hated it. Derek slowly reached out and ran calm soothing emotions through his bond with Jackson. Jackson slowly opened his eyes and took in the interior of the van he was riding in. his eyes locked with Derek and he couldn't help it, he fucking broke down. Derek held him as he cried while the others in the van tried hard not to follow Jackson into a long weeping session. Derek held Jackson until he fell asleep and laid him back down on the seat before returning to his own.
They finally reached the Hale house and everyone piled out grateful to finally get some rest and food. Allison and Lydia were there along with some of Chris' hunters and his wife. The grouped walked in and straight into the kitchen where there was already food waiting for them. They stuffed their faces until their bellies were swollen and their hunger was sate. Finally Lydia couldn't take the suspense any more.
"Where the fuck is Jackson!" She yelled making everyone in the kitchen flinch and cower. Derek looked around and realized that Jackson was gone. He got up and went to look for him. He checked the different rooms of the house and then looked around the yard. But he couldn't find Jackson any where. Stiles found him, he was still in the car, he didn't want to get out. The larger the group that came to see him the more freaked out Jackson became. He didn't know why but he was fucking terrified of stepping out of the car. He thought that the instant he did he would wake up in that room again, hanging from his arms as that man did some god awful thing to him. Derek could sense his apprehension but didn't know what to do to make it better. He tried coaxing him out of the car using their bond but it didn't work this time. Jackson's fear out weighed the calm Derek was trying to project.
Stiles finally climbed into the van and shut the door behind him. Jackson looked at him and then back out the window.
"Hey Jackson…you okay…" Stiles was a fucking idiot, that was all he could think of saying.
Jackson laughed, scoffed really and said, "No…not really…I'm scared…I fucking hate feeling like this…I just want to be happy but there's always some bullshit…" Jackson closed his eyes and tried to control his fear. This wasn't the first time he'd dreamed of being saved, as he hung there on that rope he remembered Derek saving him dozens of times, he hoped he wouldn't wake up now.
Stiles got closer and wrapped an arm around Jackson's shoulder and tried comforting him, he didn't know what to say to reassure him. So he held him and outside he could see the group disperse except for Derek who watched them like a hawk.
"Come on, lets get you inside," Stiles pulled Jackson with him and opened the van door. He stepped out and held his hand out for Jackson who looked at him like he wasn't sure if it was a good idea. Stiles just smiled at him and Jackson reluctantly allowed himself to be pulled out of the van. Derek joined them and together they walked into the Hale house.
Jackson sat in the kitchen slowly eating the chicken soup that had been placed in front of him. He wasn't hungry, he hadn't been for a while, he knew that was bad, so he forced himself to eat slowly. Every time food landed in his stomach it would hurt badly, his stomach would cramp hard and Jackson had to stop eating for several minutes while it passed. It didn't help that everyone was staring at him, watching him eat.
"What did he do to you, I mean why did he take you?" asked Lydia and Jackson hated her a little for it. He just wanted to let the last few days go, it happened, but it didn't really matter, Jackson wasn't traumatized, not really. Sure, he was scared now but that was justified, it would pass. But now Lydia wanted to know about his family, what the man had said about his real parents and Jackson didn't want to think about them. Chris was still there and so was his wife, Jackson wondered…
"Mr. Argent…if Allison would to turn into a werewolf…would you kill her…"
Chris and his wife were completely and utterly shocked by the question, they had never thought about or considered that a possibility. The couple looked at each other and knew instantly, "Probably not," started Chris, "we love Allison too much…if she choose that as her future…we would accept it."
Jackson smiled, he wondered if his real parents would have felt the same, he hoped they did. Jackson took a deep breath before telling them what the man had said about his parents, how they were hunters and went around the country killing were's. He told them that the mans pack had a taste for human flesh and killed dozens of people trying to sate their hunger and his parents killed them for it. The man had taken Jackson to get revenge on his parents, to fulfill some sort of blood vendetta. Apparently, his parents had been killed by some other were's and Jackson had ended up at the orphanage before he was adopted to by the Whittemore's.
Everyone was pretty much stunned. Chris would need to make some phone calls but…he think he knows who Jackson's parents are…were. They let Jackson eat in peace and when he was done Derek helped him up to his bed and tucked him in.
Stiles waited until everyone left and knew he needed to talk to Derek, it was finally time he confronted him.
"Derek I think its time we finally talked,"
"about," Derek walked out of the backdoor and onto the deck.
"Jackson…who gets to be with Jackson…"
Derek laughed, "I'm with Jackson, end of story."
"Except its not," Stiles had thought about this for a long time, "tell me Derek does Jackson like you?"
"What kind of a stupid question is that, of course he does!" Derek didn't know what Stiles was getting at but he didn't like it.
"Really, I'm not so sure…See I know you like Jackson, at least you started liking him once he turned, before that all you liked doing was scaring him and making feel like shit, but people change…sometimes. But Derek, tell me, does Jackson like you back or does he only think he likes you back?"
"What!" Derek didn't know what Stiles was talking about but and it was pissing him off.
"Well does Jackson like you back or are you using the bond between you two to make him think he likes you back" Derek was stunned silent, how did Stiles even know about the bond...
"He likes me…" Derek was sure and nodded his head.
"Really how can you be so sure,"
"He shuts me out sometimes it-"
"Doesn't mean shit, your Alpha even if he kept you from feeling his emotions there is nothing stopping him from feeling yours. You don't even have to be aware that you're doing it, you could be subconsciously using your command and making him like you." Stiles had thought about this longer than Derek was even aware of and he knew more than even Derek did, because he had translated it when no one else could, it was easy, no one even noticed when he took the heirloom.
"I would never,"
"Did you do the mating ritual already, did you tell him what it meant, or did you make it seem like some sort of werewolf initiation?"
"Ritual…I, he…he wanted to…"
"No I don't even think he knows what it means. You made him eat your come and didn't tell him that it meant. Did you tell him that by doing it he would become inexplicably attracted to you until you consummated, until you fucked him. I bet you didn't. So know Derek tell me again how Jackson likes you back, tell me again how you're good for him, when all you have done is lied to him," Derek remained silent, "the worst part is you don't even really like him," Derek opened his mouth but Stiles cut him off, "lets be honest, you hated him when he was cocky and kind of an asshole, but we all knew he was compensating for something, we knew that that wasn't the real him, but you didn't, and you tortured and already fucked up boy because you thought he deserved it. And then he turned and suddenly you're in love. But that's bullshit, you just want him because he was the strongest wolf out of the three. I've been there for him in ways you can't even imagine. I always knew Jackson had a reason for being the way he was and I was the one who found out about it, the reason behind it, and I was the one who was jealous of him and thought I hated him but I didn't. I just wanted to save him…"
The two just stood there not knowing where to go from there. Stiles was right, he always had a way of making sure he was right. Derek couldn't deny any of what Stiles said, it was true, he had done those things to Jackson…maybe, he didn't really know.
"I like him…"was all Derek could think of saying.
"I know," said Stiles, "but I want what's best for Jackson and I don't think that's you."
"No of course not, you think it's you," Derek scoffed.
"No, I think it's whoever Jackson thinks it is, and if I'm lucky then yeah, I want it to be me."
They stood there and tried hard to keep both their emotions in check. Derek tried to deny what Stiles had said but…he remembers making Jackson eat his come that night, he hadn't told him what it meant…But they had grown close before then, the wolf helped. Was Jackson's affection for him just natural reaction to his Alpha…Derek didn't know…he didn't want to force Jackson to be with him, he wanted Jackson to want to be with him...he never thought that Jackson wouldn't want that and fucking Stiles of all people made him realize that.
Upstairs Jackson buried deeper into his covers and let the last few days fade from his memories, he was glad to see things finally go back to normal. But he still had one thing left to do…tomorrow. Right now he felt kind of hot, like he had a fever, his skin was a bit too tight and it kind of itched and ached. He ignored that and slept.