A/n: I'm back! Sorry for not posting for so long. I've had writers block forever but I finally managed to write something. Hope you like it!

Stiles had never told anyone about the wolf.

He had only been a few years old when he got lost in the woods during a walk with his mom. She had only looked away for a minute to pick some flowers but it had been enough time for him to follow a colorful butterfly away from the path. When he lost sight of the butterfly, he realized that he had also lost sight of his mom and couldn't find the way back. Everything looked the same and he was too short to see anything over the bushes. Tears streamed down Stiles' face as he sank down against a tree.

He had only been crying for a few minutes when he heard rustling among the leaves. The bushes in front of him shook before a small nose peaked out and sniffed at the air. The nose was soon followed by a small, black wolf pup with yellow eyes. It trotted forward until it was right in front of Stiles and put its paw on his knee. Stiles sniffed and curiously stretched his hand out. The wolf pup yipped and licked his palm, making Stiles giggle. The pup then closed his teeth around the hem of Stiles' red jacket and gave it a light tug. When the boy didn't move it did it again. Stiles stood up and tried to pet the pup but it moved away. He tried again with the same result and the pup yipped and lolled its tongue out. Still wanting to pet it, Stiles followed the wolf through the forest until he suddenly heard a woman call out.

"Stiles! Where have you been?!" Stiles' mom scooped him up and held him tightly to her chest. "God, I was so worried." she whispered, relief clear in her voice.

Stiles looked around for the wolf pup, but it was gone.

=•=

He's not sure why he didn't tell his mom about the wolf then. He usually told her everything but this felt like something he should keep to himself. Like a secret friend.

Stiles saw the wolf more after that. Sometimes he could see a pair of yellow eyes watching him from the trees, making sure he was okay. Other times it would meet him in the small glade behind their back yard. There Stiles talked about what he had done since they met last and then they would play together until Stiles' parents called for him.

Years passed but Stiles never told anyone. Not even Scott, who knew all of his other secrets. The wolf was his and he didn't want anyone else to know about it.

=•=

When Stiles was nine, his mom died and his world shattered. As soon as he and his dad got home from the hospital Stiles ran out into the glade, tears still rolling down his cheeks. The wolf was waiting for him under a tree with sad eyes. Stiles immediately fell to his knees and buried his face in the wolf's ink black fur.

After a while the wolf shifted so it could put its head on the crying boy's shoulder. Stiles sat with the wolf for nearly an hour, his hands carding through the thick fur at the wolf's neck.

When he finally went home his dad was mad at him for running away, but too sad to properly scold him.

For the next few weeks Stiles didn't go out to meet the wolf, choosing instead to stay with his dad and Scott, but he could still feel it watching over him.

Over the months that followed Stiles' mood slowly started going back to normal and the wolf was with him all the way, even through the bouts of sadness he still dealt with for years to come.

=•=

One day, the wolf disappeared. Stiles went out into the glade to wait for it every day but the wolf never showed and he never felt the telltale weight of its yellow gaze. He went out into the woods to look for it but couldn't even catch a glimpse of black fur.

Stiles kept at it for a month before accepting that he would never see the wolf again.

Both Scott and his dad tried to find out why he was upset but he still didn't tell them. They wouldn't understand. In fact, they would probably think he was crazy. By then he was old enough to understand that it wasn't normal to be friends with a wolf. They were wild animals, dangerous, but the wolf had never tried to hurt him. It had probably saved his life that first day in the forest and it had always been gentle with him when he was a kid.

Stiles had gone years without telling anyone about the wolf, he didn't have to tell them now.

=•=

A few years later, Stiles' life went crazy. Scott got turned into a werewolf and suddenly they were trying to save Beacon Hills from all sorts of monsters: alphas, kanima, the nogitsune. But it wasn't until Mexico, when Derek almost died, that Stiles realized it. His eyes may have been blue now instead of yellow but Stiles would recognize the wolf anywhere, even after all those years. It was him, it was Derek. Derek was the wolf.

He didn't say anything then, they didn't have the time, but when they got back to Beacon Hills he went straight to Derek's loft.

As he climbed the stairs he tried to come up with something to say but the only thing that came out of his mouth when he entered was a weak "It's you."

Derek looked up from where he was reading on the couch, his eyebrows drawn together in confusion. "It's me, what?"

Stiles took a few steps forward. "The wolf that saved me when I was little, who visited me in the glade behind our house, comforted me when my mom died. It was you." As he spoke the confusion cleared from Derek's face. "When you disappeared, it was right after the Hale fire wasn't it? You hadn't just left me, you left town entirely."

Derek looked away but gave a small nod.

"Did you know it was me?" Stiles asked, his voice quivering slightly.

Derek sighed. "Of course I knew it was you. I recognized you that first day I caught you and Scott in the preserve.

"Why did you never say anything?"

"I didn't think you'd like that the wolf was secretly a werewolf and that I turned out… like this."

Stiles took a seat next to him on the couch and nudged Derek's knee with his. "Derek, look at me." Derek reluctantly turned his head towards him. "You may be a Sourwolf but considering everything you've been through, that's completely understandable. You're a good person and you have saved my life more times than I can count. I'm glad you're the wolf. He was my friend, and I would like to have him back."

Derek stared at him for a few drawn out seconds before nodding with a small smile. "Okay"

Stiles grinned in return. "Please don't kill me for this." he said and wrapped his arms around Derek in a hug, his face tucked into his neck, just like he would do when they were little. Derek tensed for a moment before relaxing and wrapping his arms around Stiles in return.

Stiles had never told anyone about the wolf, but now he had him back, and he was never letting him go again.

Thanks for reading! Please tell me what you think.