Chapter 28: One Bite Too Many

Stiles was in the wolf's body again. He held his nose close to the ground, only a few centimeters from the underbrush. He could smell prey, hot and fresh. Not prey of the human kind, no, they were less prey and more of potential pack. No, this was the scent of food, of the hunt. Lifting his muzzle until it was level with the ground, he stepped lightly, following the scent.

He stilled as the scent of pack filtered across his senses, breaking his concentration. Why was his human pack mate wandering the woods in the middle of the night? Turning, leaving his prey to dart into its hiding place, he started towards the scent, following the thread that connected them together.

A low snarl filtered passed his teeth as a hulking figure stepped out in front of him, scarlet eyes and white teeth glowing in the moonlight.

"What an unpleasant surprise finding you here, Hale brat," the creature said, "You should really teach your pack mates not to go wandering around alone. Something might... steal them." His smile widened. "Do you imagine that if I killed this human of yours that your mate would leave you, then I could steal him for my own?"

Stiles snapped his teeth. "I know who you are," he snarled in response.

The smile dropped away. "Oh, do you now? Pray tell, who am I?"

"Deucalion," he hissed, "You're not the only one who can do their research. I know what happened to your pack. I know who happened to your pack. I also know why you've come to Hogwarts. I don't care that you are here, but I'm going to be the one to rip her throat out."

The creature sneered. "Oh, you are, are you? I thought it was going to be your mate. He seems to have the sharpest teeth out of any of you, and he's not even a were."

"He'll never have to if-"

"Derek? I know you're out here! We need to have a talk," Danny called, close, closer than either had noticed him.

Deucalion was already melting into the shadows, his crimson eyes the only visible piece of him. "Word of advice, young alpha, keep your pack close, especially that mate of yours. I feel something is afoot, and he is in the center of it, whether he knows it or not, and that woman is holding a knife to his throat."

They were still staring each other down when Danny pushed passed a low hanging branch, his eyes falling on them and narrowing with suspicion. "We need to talk, Der-" A scream replaced the remainder of his sentence as jaws clamped around the back of his thigh. He crashed to the ground, the air rushing from his lung in a burst, silencing his scream as he was dragged into the darkness.

"I'm telling you!" Deucalion hissed, grabbing Stiles' scruff to hold him at bay, "Something is starting! This is just the beginning."

Releasing Stiles, he didn't stay long enough to see where Deucalion disappeared to. He bolted towards the scent of Danny's magic mingling with his blood. Danny was cursing loudly, throwing spells and hexes every which way as he leaned heavily against a tree, clutching the back of his leg. Blood soaked not only his hand, but the ground beneath him and his jeans. "This is what I get for being friends and boyfriends and everything under the sun with non-humans!" he snarled, slashing at a pair of tumbling bodies with his wand.

They broke apart, skidding through the underbrush. On one side, Malia squared off, her teeth splattered with crimson, white clouds swirling up from her parted muzzle. Her eyes flashed steel blue. The wolf's eyes across from her mirrored hers, even his stance the same.

"Peter?" Stiles snarled, "How? Why?"

Blood dripped from his maw. "Oh, dear nephew, glad you could join us," Peter said jovially, grinning as his panted. "Did you happen to know that there are a few spells created by a family of gypsies that you can use to fully turn, as I have demonstrate? I was pleasantly surprised. I was also surprised that you hadn't turned that one," he jerked his head towards Danny, "since you've already turned so many others. So, I thought I would give you a little bit of assistance. You can't be too careful these days. You need all the turned wolves you can get, right now."

"That was not for you to decide," Stiles snarled, his jaws aching, his alpha roaring at him to rip Peter's throat out. He had no right to turn one of his pack mates. He had no right to harm a single hair on any of their heads. His alpha screamed for retribution, for him to pay in blood.

Beside him, Danny collapsed, his hands shaking. "D-D-Derek, Malia, w-w-what's hap-ppening to me?"

Stiles' eyes darted to him, and his blood ran cold. Danny's hands were coated in onyx. Even in the dark, he cold see how the two colors had begun to mix, crimson swirling into black.

"Derek, get him out of here! I'll deal with my father," Malia barked, eyes focused on Peter.

Stiles stalked forward, rage pouring off of him. "No. I'll deal with him. You get Danny out of here."

"But-"

"I am the alpha! Get him out of here!" Stiles shouted, and without preamble, launched himself at Peter.

…..

Lydia's high, piercing scream dragged Stiles' from Derek's mind. "Danny!" he shouted over her, throwing himself over the others, and sprinting from the Hospital Wing. He tore from the castle, sprinting as fast as he could across the grounds towards the edge of the forest near Laura's cabin. Distress and alarm flooded his bonds, clouding his mind, giving him only a single action. Get to Danny.

His eyes snagged on Malia and Derek dragging Danny from the forest by the shoulders of his shirt. "Danny!" he shouted, stumbling and skidding down the path. He dropped to his knees at Danny's side, cupping his cheek without thinking, pushing his magic into his system. Though he could not remove Danny's agony like most of the rest of his pack could, his magic seemed to contain it enough for his breath to ease, his eyes to slip open.

"H-hey, Stiles," he said, his breath barely a whisper, "It looks like this is it for me, and frankly, I'm s-surprise I lasted t-this long. H-humans don't w-withhold with supernaturals very w-well." He coughed harshly, choking black liquid from his throat and down his chin to pool in the hollow of his throat. His throat ticked as he swallowed thickly. "Sorry I w-won't be t-there to help you p-plan your wedding." He laughed wetly. He slid his hand into Stiles', clutching his fingers with the weak amount of strength he had left.

Tears spilled down Stiles' cheeks, splattering against Danny's cheeks. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you." A hiccup cut off the sob that was building in his throat.

"Hey, none of that," Danny chided, wiping the tears from Stiles' face, "I'm the one dying. I should be the one crying. Anyway, no one could have protected me against Peter." The others were landing around them. Ethan was on his other side in an instant, taking every ounce of pain he could from him. Danny's eyes slid over to him, smiling. "Hey, nice to see you."

"Danny, come on, you're strong," Ethan whispered, his fingers tightening little by little around Danny's hand, "You can force the turn, I know you can. Please, you can't leave me." His face crumpled as he shook his head.

Danny replied with a sad shake of his own head. "No, no, I can't." He coughed again. Onyx slipped as his eyelashes, spilling down his face. He blinked rapidly, turning his eyes to Allison and Kira where they crouched behind Stiles, reaching for him across the ground, but unsure if they were invited or not for virtue of being the newest human members. "You two, you have to protect them. They may not be your family yet, but they're your friends, and you have to protect them because I know they'll protect you as best they can. Do you understand? You have to protect them, or I will return to be your worst poltergeist."

The pair laughed weakly, nodding as they sniffed and wiped at their eyes.

"F-for a guys w-who is d-d-dying, you're t-talking an awful l-lot," Stiles stammered meekly, trying his best to smile even as he felt his magic fading from Danny's body as gradually as his life force.

Danny forced a smile onto his trembling his lips. "Well, I can't let you have the last word." He looked to Ethan, and his smile became genuine even as his eyes dulled. "I never told you, but I love you."

"Oh god," Ethan whispered, his sobs spilling over his bottom lip, muddling his words, "God, I love you too. Danny, please, please don't leave me. Please, oh god, please." He pressed his lips to Danny's, and when he pulled back, Danny was gone. "Danny!" he sobbed, clutching at his clothing.

Aiden pulled his head into his chest, pulling Ethan against him, holding still as he buried himself in his twin's clothes. Lydia turned her face into the crook between Jackson's shoulder and neck as he drew her in, burying his nose in her hair.

Stiles sat there silently, his chin trembling as tears slipped down his face and he held back the painful noises that clawed at his throat. A wet nose pressed into Stiles' neck, a quiet whine sounding close to his ear. Wrapping his arms around Derek's neck, he opened his mouth, and allowed all of those noises to spill free.

…..

"I'm sorry," Derek whispered, stroking his fingers through Stiles' hair. The sun was just peaking over the horizon, spraying the wall of the Room of Requirements with colored lights. The fire that Deaton had set and that had roared in the giant hearth had died down to cinders just before sunrise. Deaton and Melissa had arrived not long after Danny had gone. Melissa had taken his body while Deaton had led them to the Room of Requirements as too many questions would have been asked in a common room, and being in the same room as Danny's body had been deemed unhealthy for them. The others were scattered around them, pressed as close to each other and their alphas as they could manage.

"For what? It wasn't your fault," Stiles told him, pressing his mouth into Derek's shoulder, closing his eyes tightly against the outside world. He could still see Danny so clearly, smiling and rolling his eyes, choking on black blood and the light dying from his eyes. How could those two Danny's be the same Danny? How could someone be there one minute and gone the next? It was just like Laura, but worse, and he couldn't understand why. He could feel a scream building, balled up just under his chin. Was this how Derek and Cora had felt when Laura had died? "It was Peter's, and death will seem merciful compared to what I'm going to do to him."

Derek was quiet for a moment. "How do you know that Peter bit him? What if it was me? What if I bit Danny? What if I was the one who killed him?"

"You weren't."

"How do you know? The last thing I remember is falling asleep in the Hopsital Wing, and the first thing I remember is waking up trying to tear Peter's hide from his body. What if this blackout has happened before?"

Sighing and opening his eyes, Stiles stared at him sadly. "The blackouts have happened before. I wasn't sure at first, but I'm positive now. All those times you've disappeared without warning, everyone who has been turned recently, those were you, or I should say, your alpha. What I think is happening is that your territory is being threatened, and your pack is small, so to combat that, your alpha has been taking hold of your body and finding strong bodies to turn. So far, everyone you've bitten has turned." Derek looked stricken, his face bleeding white, but Stiles continued without pause. "But you weren't the one who bit Danny. I know because I've been having vision or dreams or whatever you want to call them from your alpha's viewpoint. Malia can back up my stories, but if you trust me in anything, trust me in this; you were not the one who caused Danny's death."

"I believe you," Derek replied immediately, his arms tightening around Stiles. "How am I going to stop it though? I can't let my alpha keep turning kids all over the place. I may not have bitten Danny, but eventually, it will happen. I'll bite someone and it won't take. I can't let that happen, Stiles, not matter how much danger my territory is in."

"I don't know," Stiles told him truthfully, "but we'll figure something out. We always do."