Derek makes plans on how to deal with Stiles' first full moon. Scott helps him. They know that Stiles doesn't think he needs to be tied up. Allison bumps into Melissa and is urged to get her suspicion confirmed. Alex, Isaac and Periwinkle spend their first night at the house. Lydia gets a surprise visit. Stiles and Derek struggle thought the night, it's painful and bloody, but not as bad as Derek feared.
With Dave and the others staying in the camper at the Hale-house, there was no way they could use the basement to tie up Stiles for the full moon. A suggestion from Chris about using his basement got turned down. In the middle of a crowded neighborhood, it could be a little too noisy.
The same was true about the Stilinski-house and the McCall-house. The fact that Scott and Stiles' parents didn't know about the bite in the first place made those locations unsuited regardless.
There were really no other option than to do it at the loft. It required a few additions to the inventory, but with Chris' help, Derek came up with something that hopefully would work.
Stiles was at work that evening and had no idea about what was going on. Alex and Isaac were at the Hale-house painting, and would possibly spend the night there. With the downstairs bathroom semi-operational, the two of them had asked if they could camp in their new room.
One of the wooden vertical beams was enhanced with steel plating and big sturdy eye bolts. Derek had planned to do this all by himself, but when Scott offered to help out he was happy about it. The dogs that were rescued had been treated and sent to a shelter, giving Scott a long awaited time off. He'd wanted to spend it with Allison, but she had turned him down for some reason.
Derek was pretty sure he knew why, but he couldn't tell Scott. He'd been sworn to secrecy, so the only thing he could come up with to comfort the guy, was to explain that she was still struggling with the pack-leading business, and didn't want anyone to try to sway her one way or the other. Scott had reluctantly accepted it, and decided to help Derek secure Stiles safely during the full moon.
When Stiles stepped inside as they fastened the last eye bolt, he stared at them dumbfounded. "What is going on?" It was pretty clear that he knew the answer, so neither Scott nor Derek bothered to say anything.
"I can handle myself! I don't need to be chained up!" It sounded like he was completely sure about it, but Derek knew that he was slightly delusional. "Stiles, sweetheart. It has to be done. You are gonna lose control."
Stiles rolled his eyes as he walked over to the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the fridge. "Are you fucking kidding me? Gather the troops and let everybody keep an eye on me. I promise I won't attack anybody."
Derek and Scott exchanged a look. "You think so, but that is not how this works. This has to be done, and it's nonnegotiable." Derek threw his hands out and shrugged. "Deal with it."
Stiles turned his gaze towards Scott. "Will you please stand up for me? Tell him I'll be fine." He was practically pleading. Scott shook his head. "No can do. Derek is right. We're gonna have to play this little game called bondage."
Derek was on his way towards the kitchen, but stopped short, and bowed his head when Scott mentioned that word. With a chuckle, he threw a quick peek at Stiles. "You know this game. You usually enjoy it." A heavy sigh from Scott told him that he'd probably revealed more than the guy wanted to hear.
"Your sex-life doesn't interest me one bit. I don't want to know." Scott sounded a little disturbed, but he continued. "You think you are in control, but you're not. We have to do this."
A few seconds of total silence followed before Stiles drew his breath heavily. "It's not until early in the morning. I know the exact time, so don't try to fool me like you did with Allison." He stared directly at Derek now. "I'll be a good boy and let you chain me up, but please let us be alone. I don't want to embarrass myself." He started walking over to the bathroom. "Let me take a leak and change into something more comfortable. We can plan this when I come back."
For Derek and Scott it wasn't even necessary to exchange a word. They both knew what to do. As soon as Stiles came back wearing pajama pants and a tank-top, they jumped him and forced him towards the enhanced beam. Stiles got so surprised by the ambush that he didn't even try to protest or fight back. Before he regained his ability to speak, he was already chained securely.
"NO! What are you doing?! I'm fine. I'm still in control of myself. I hate you, eh, no I really don't." He was pulling on the chains as he tried to meet Derek's eyes. "I can't... You can't chain me up now. There are several hours till the full moon."
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Allison was about to leave when Scott's mom came to the Hale-house. She didn't feel it was appropriate to ignore the woman, so she gave her a quick wave as she walked towards the car. She didn't manage to get inside before Melissa was at her side. "How are you doing?" She cocked her head and tried to meet Allison's eyes.
"Mrs McCall! Nice seeing you again." Allison dared to look at the woman for a split second before she turned to enter the car. She was pretty sure that Melissa wasn't going to accept the story that she and Derek had told the others, but it was still worth a try. She braced herself before she decided to try the lie. "I'm perfectly fine. I was never poisoned. It was just a stomach flu."
Scott's mom shook her head. "Mrs McCall? Are you serious? Why the formalities?" She grabbed Allison's arm and pulled on it gently until they faced each other again. I know you're lying. Common illnesses don't affect you guys. Don't try to fool me.".
Allison looked for an escape, but couldn't find one. She panicked a little when she saw her dad approach. "Uh, Mrs..., eh, Melissa please." Melissa had obviously noticed that Allison was staring at something behind her, and she turned briefly. "Oh, hi Chris. I just wanted to see how it was going. Is Scott here?"
Chris shook his head. "No, I think he's at the loft. Derek needed help with something." He handed Allison a set of keys. "You left them." Turning back to Melissa he continued. "Do you want a quick tour?" Melissa nodded and let go of Allison's arm. "Just give me a second, I wanted to talk to Allison about Scott's birthday."
As soon as Chris had left again, Melissa turned back to Allison. "Tell me the truth please." She sighed. "Will my son get a birthday surprise that he never counted on?" Allison closed her eyes, and took a deep breath before she decided to come clean. "I don't know. I think so, but I really don't know for sure."
It was hard to interpret the look on Melissa's face. She was obviously disturbed by the news, but she managed to keep calm. "Maybe you should get it confirmed. It'll be easier to make a decision if you know for sure."
Allison looked up abruptly. "Make a decision on what? There's nothing to do about it regardless." Suddenly she understood what Melissa was talking about and she heaved her breath a little. "No! I'm not gonna..." She looked up again, and could see her dad waiting patiently on the porch. "I should go."
Melissa followed her line of view and nodded. "Okay, but please..." She grabbed Allison's hand and squeezed it gently. "I can honestly say that I'm not thrilled, but part of me is surprisingly happy. I kind of hope it's just false alarm though, but please find out."
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Dave and his crew started working at sunrise everyday, so they turned in early. Shortly after Chris had given Melissa a tour through the house, the two of them left.
Alex and Isaac were sitting on one of the logs surrounding the fire-pit. Periwinkle was sleeping in the doghouse behind them; Alex had stuffed a pillow in there, and the dog seemed to like it. The night was warm, and even if the fire was slowly dying down, it was still comfortable outside.
They knew what was going on in the loft at the moment, and had begged Derek to let them stay at the house. Isaac had told Derek that if he needed help, they'd be there, but that they preferred to stay away.
The fact that Dave and Carl originally came from a hunter family was kind of scary. Especially since the full moon was right around the corner. Alex knew for sure that he could control himself, and Isaac had claimed that he could too.
Chris had told them that the two guys had never been on a hunt, and that they didn't have any knowledge about werewolves. Their grandfather had done his best to keep them away from it, and pushed them to get an education before he'd even consider letting them partake in the family business.
Not knowing what the family business really was, they'd both thought it had to do with firearms; they had followed granddad's advice. When their dad got mauled to death by a grizzly – it wasn't really a grizzly – their grandfather had ended the hunter-career and focused on the gun shop.
Alex could hear the snores from the RV and for a while, he and Isaac had fun trying to pinpoint exactly where the three guys were sleeping. "Dave is definitely in the back, no doubt about it." Isaac cocked his head. "I can't really hear Carl, he is a very quiet sleeper."
That game lost it's interest when they heard a rustle in the bushes. They grabbed each others hands and stared at the treeline. There could be rogue wolves out there, but they really didn't believe that. Sitting there completely still, they suddenly saw a head peeking out between the leaves. The cat stared at them for a split second before it vanished between the bushes again.
"It's a good thing we have a guard dog." Isaac chuckled a little as he pointed over to the doghouse. Peri was standing up; he's ears turned towards where the cat had disappeared, but he didn't emit a sound. Alex got up and walked over to him. Periwinkle started jumping up and down wagging his tail vigorously. A small yap was the only sound he made, as if he knew that he had to be quiet.
Alex detached the leash and lifted him up. "Good dog. We don't want you to chase cats or other animals. You're gonna be a nice and friendly fellow." He turned to Isaac. "Maybe we should try to get some sleep."
Isaac looked at his boyfriend and smiled. "Maybe we should." The fire was almost completely died down, so he didn't bother to do anything about it. He went over to Alex and patted Peri before he kissed his Alex on the cheek. "Our first night on our new home."
-o-o-o-o-o-o-
When Allison came to her house, Lydia didn't really know how to interpret it. It was late in the evening, and she hadn't heard from her in almost two weeks. She'd been utterly disappointed about that, although she knew she could have made contact herself. Pride had prevented her from doing so, but it had taken it's toll.
She'd tried to call Stiles on a couple of occasions, but all she got was his voice-mail. She'd sent a text message asking how he was doing, and got a short 'I'm fine, why?' as a reply. She felt a little left out in the cold. All her closest friends were werewolves now; maybe they didn't want to hang with her anymore.
Not really sure what to say to her former best friend, Lydia waited in the doorway for Allison to explain herself before she wanted to let her in.
"I need to talk with you. I promise you that Stiles is fine. If he hasn't told you already, you've got to trust me on that." Allison sounded distressed, but Lydia wasn't quite ready to patch up their friendship just like that. "No, I haven't talked with him. I haven't talked with anybody." She shook her head. "Maybe it's partially my own fault, but I'm still angry. I can't..."
Allison cut her off. "I need a friend. I need you." Her voice was trembling, and she hurried to wipe her eyes. "Please." She lifted her hand and presented a small box. It took a split second before Lydia realized what it contained, and it changed everything instantly.
"Are you serious? You think..." She grabbed Allison's hand and dragged her into the house. "Come on. Let's go to my room." She sent Allison up the stairs while she went to the living room and told her parents about her visitor. Except for being a little surprised by the fact that Allison showed up this late, they didn't question it any further.
Allison was sitting on her bed when she entered the room. She was playing with the little box as she stared out the window. Lydia rushed over and sat down next to her. "Are you going to check right now, or...?" She pointed to the box.
With a sigh, Allison opened it and pulled out the thing inside. "I guess it's just as well. I'm sorry about everything, but I knew that you were the only person I wanted to be with for this." She got up and moved towards the bathroom. "Scott doesn't know anything, and I didn't want to tell him until I'm sure."
For the almost five minutes Allison was in the bathroom, Lydia just sat there and stared at the door. She wondered if Allison would even come out before she had a confirmation, when the door opened slowly. "I left it in there on the sink. Can you check it?" Lydia nodded and was about to get up when Allison stopped her. "Wait! It said two minutes. Just wait."
-o-o-o-o-o-
'Seeing red' was just an expression. It was never really like that when you get angry or upset. Stiles had always thought so, but during that night he literally saw red. He didn't even know where the anger came from.
After Derek had provided him with pillows and a blanket and made sure he was able to rest comfortably against the beam, he'd calmed down and accepted his fate. Derek was sleeping – or pretended to sleep – on the couch, but Scott had according to Stiles' wish left them alone.
Without having the most comfortable sleeping-quarters of all times, he still managed to get a little bit of shuteye. He woke up from the pain around his wrist, and realized that he'd been pulling hard on the cuffs. Stiles looked at the blood running down his hands as he did his best to relax.
He didn't know what time it was, but he knew he hadn't slept long, and was surprised about how awake he felt. The urge to get up and out was almost overwhelming, but as long as he told himself to calm down, it kind of worked. That was until it didn't work anymore.
It was almost like the room was covered in a shade of red, as if a veil was pulled over his eyes. Stiles still managed to keep quiet, but he started to pull hard on the chains again. If he could unscrew the eye-bolts he could come loose, but they were cleverly attached so he couldn't reach them. An attempt to reach them anyway almost resulted in a fractured arm.
The anger that had started boiling inside him soon turned in to uncontrollable rage when he understood that he was stuck. The only thing he had to take it out on was the poor pillow. Stiles could see the claws come out and he ripped the thing to shreds, making feathers fly. So far, he hadn't made too much noise, but the frustration made him howl loudly.
In a fog he could see that Derek got up from the couch, but he didn't come to close. At that moment Stiles hated him, and he could possibly have said something to that regard. The thing was, that what happened the rest of the night – or morning – had left huge holes in his memory.
He vaguely remembered that Derek at one point was sitting in front of him – at a safe distance – begging him to try to stay in control. The word 'anchor' was mentioned, and Stiles managed to understand the meaning, before the uncontrollable anger took over again.
During the few glimpses of sanity he experienced, Stiles tried to find something in his brain to hold on to. It was like he was flipping through a bunch of index cards to grasp the meaning on them. Pictures of his friends and family flew by, but none of them prevented him from sinking into oblivion again.
Between the screams and howls he emitted, Stiles could hear Derek's voice proclaiming his love. That didn't help much; every time Derek's voice trickled into his ears, he got even more angry. It was almost like his unconsciousness didn't want him to find an anchor.
Just before dawn, as he was hanging by the cuffs unable to stand on his feet, a thought entered his mind. He knew that Scott had found his anchor through anger, and if that was possible, love could have the same effect and get him though this in one piece.
He tried to listen more carefully to Derek's words, and as long as he managed to keep quiet, they actually started to calm him down. He knew that the moon was at it's peek; he could feel it in his bones, but Derek's words were like a mantra.
"I love you." His own screeching voice scared him a little, but he continued. "I love Allison and Scott and everybody... and I love my mom." Tears started running down his cheeks, but then a burst of rage took over again, and with all the strength he could muster, he pulled on the chains until he heard a creak from the beam.
Derek jumped up from the floor and tried to grab his wrist, but he wasn't fast enough. Another tug on the chain made the eye-bolt come loose. It swung around and it hit Derek hard on the forehead. Blood was gushing out as he did his best to keep himself upright. Knowing that it was possible to get out of his restraints, Stiles grabbed the chain attached to his other hand and pulled as hard as he could.
The last thing he remembered from that night, was Derek's fist coming towards his jaw.
-o-o-o-o-o-
It had been a long night. Derek was exhausted from trying to keep his boyfriend restrained. He was pretty sure he'd fractured Stiles' jaw when he hit him, but it didn't really stop him for more than a few minutes; definitely not long enough to get the eye-bolt back in.
Instead, Derek had to use all his strength to hold the chain, and make sure that it would be impossible for Stiles to pull too hard on the rest of the bolts. He'd constantly whispered sweet little nothings into his ear, but it took almost two hours before he could sense a change.
As the sun started to rise, Stiles body got heavier and he stopped fighting. The skin around his ankles were practically gone, and the raw exposed flesh was bleeding. The jaw had probably healed already, and there was only a faint bluish tint on the skin. That would be gone soon also. Derek himself had multiple bite-marks all over his arm and shoulder, but he felt it was worth it.
It was completely quiet now. Stiles was practically unconscious, but Derek waited another hour before he dared to unchain him completely. He lifted him up and carried him to the couch before he went to the bathroom to find a towel. Then, he gently started to wipe the blood off his mate's body.
Stiles had been partially right; the transition had been quite easy. Derek wasn't sure if Stiles himself would look at it that way, but compared to other newly hatched werwolves, he'd been more alert than most.
As uncomfortable as it was, Derek managed to lie down next to Stiles on the couch. He'd probably sleep for a while. Even if he wouldn't remember much from this night, Stiles would be exhausted for a long time.