Author's Note: I have fallen to the need for pack cuddles… I own nothing.
Found
Derek couldn't find his pack. He was starting to panic, not that he'd ever say it out loud but he was worried. Scott wasn't answering his phone, which was par for the course with the young wolf but Stiles wasn't answering her phone either. That was what was making his wolf howl in concern. He raced through the woods, following the trail Erica and Boyd probably didn't realize that they had left. He felt his heart give a particularly violent twist when he found himself in the trees behind Stiles' house. He thanked his lucky stars that it was already nighttime as he scaled the house easily and gently pried open her window. He landed softly on the floor and felt his mouth fall open at the sight before him.
Stiles was laying in the middle of her bed, but she wasn't the only one there. Erica was laying with her head on Stiles' stomach like the other girl was her personal pillow. Boyd was wrapped around Erica to the point where Derek could barely tell where one wolf began and the other ended. Scott was curled up on Stiles' left one hand wrapped in her t shirt near her shoulder like she was a blanket he was intent on never letting go of. Isaac was curled around Scott in a nearly identical fashion to Boyd and Erica. Jackson was spooning Lydia, both of them wrapped around Stiles' legs. There was a soft laugh from the doorway and Derek whirled to find the Sheriff standing there smiling at the scene before him. He put a finger up to his lips as Scott snuffled slightly in his sleep, shifting closer to Stiles. Derek nodded and followed the older man out of the room, his wolf howling for him to join the pile of sleeping wolves on the bed.
"I'm honestly surprised you didn't show up sooner." The sheriff said pouring him a mug of coffee. Derek accepted silently, the question on his face seemingly enough for the sheriff to read him like a book.
"It's been going on for a while now. It started with Erica and Boyd. They kept showing up in the middle of the night to check on her after Gerard." Derek's hands tightened on the mug in his hands but he made no comment. The sheriff didn't call him out on it either, simply sipped his own coffee and continued speaking.
"Isaac started showing up about a month ago." That made some sense to Derek. About a month and a half ago Peter had kidnapped Stiles and released her powers that her mother had locked away before her death. With their release came the revelation that Derek had known Stiles before the Hale fire, his wolf had always been attracted to her but without the memories Stiles' mother had locked away to keep her safe he'd never realized why. But now all the wolves looked to her as a senior pack member, mostly because that's what she was. Isaac was one of the more emotionally fragile of his wolves and he couldn't always offer the comfort the boy needed. Stiles was better with feelings.
"Scott has been coming over on and off since this whole thing started, he seemed a bit upset that the others were here but he got over it, after Stiles talked to him." Derek nodded. Stiles was good at getting the wolves to back down, Scott deferred to her like she was his second in command, he still claimed they were both separate from the pack but Derek's nose told him otherwise.
"Jackson and Lydia showed up about two weeks ago. Said something about training. They all flopped down and never really left." The sheriff set his mug into the sink with a slight smile.
"I'm just glad most of you know how to use a door." He looked at Derek pointedly and the wolfs ears went red at the tips as he stared down at the floor. The sheriff sighed and grabbed his keys off the counter.
"I need to get to work. Don't push them too hard Derek, they are just kids." Derek nodded his eyes flicking up the stairs towards Sties' room as the Sheriff left. Derek washed out his mug and dried his hands before slinking up the stairs back into the room where his pack was still sound asleep. They had shifted slightly, the pile of bodies moving closer together around Stiles. Derek's wolf grumbled at him, join them, it seemed to rumble as it caught the scent of pack. For once he let himself listen to his wolf and crept into the pile of bodies. Erica and Boyd shifted, still asleep, instinctually making room for him in the center of the Pack. Stiles whimpered slightly as the warmth of two wolves left her behind. She reached out and latched onto the closest thing her wandering hands could find which was Derek's arm. Before he knew what was happening he was being dragged into the center of the pile. Erica rolled over so she was halfway on top of him. Stiles had wound herself around him like an octopus, there was no way he was getting out of here any time soon.
But as the pack settled back down and the sounds of resting heartbeats and light snoring filled the room he found he didn't quite mind. Stiles' head had flopped off her pillow onto his chest, right above his heart, a small smile on her face. He felt himself relax against his own better judgment as the scent of pack calmed his wolf, making it practically purr. He felt himself drift off to sleep and let it happen, for the first time in a long time he didn't dream of flames.