Stiles slowly made his way down the creaky wood steps of the basement stairs, pausing once he reached the ground floor. He took the time to observe his surroundings, all was quiet and dark. Torches hanging a foot apart on the cement walls was the only source of light, and gave off an eerie glow. The teen shivered as a cool breeze swept over him. He glanced over and noticed a small window was open, letting in the fresh air from outside.
He wrapped his arms protectively around himself, rubbing his limbs for warmth, as he continued further down the dirt path, cautiously making his way into the dungeon. The place looked the same as it did the last time he had been there, and it carried the same foul odors as it did before.
There were four iron cages, two on each side. Two were empty, and the other two were occupied. One had some bones and dried blood inside, from the last victim, or rather criminal, according to Master's logic. And the other, with a prisoner still inside, curled up in a ball. The same prisoner Derek had banned his Pet from seeing.
The smell made Stiles feel sick to his stomach, now that the teen was pregnant, his sense of smell was heightened. He could make out the strong metallic smell of blood, and a thick musty aroma, containing a combination of bad body odor and mildew, it was almost too much to take as he walked closer. He found himself gagging a bit and taking deep breaths to keep himself from vomiting.
"Master?" He called out, not seeing the man anywhere in sight.
No response.
"Mas…" He struggled to repeat as he found himself clinging to the side of the cement wall, throwing up some of his breakfast in a corner.
"Over here!" A woman replied.
Stiles stood up and wiped his mouth with his hand before heading over to Kate's cage, stopping a few feet away.
"I know what you did Kate. You lied to me?" He snapped.
She gripped the bars of the cage and stepped closer, showing her face in the light.
"I never lied to you, Stiles. That is what Your Master wants you to think."
Curious, the boy took a step closer.
"What are you talking about? He told me you killed his people, that you are a hunter."
Kate cocked her head to the side and let out a small wicked chuckle, that sent chills down the teen's spine.
"Stiles, do you really think a fragile woman like myself could take down a pack of werewolves? Do you think your father could?" She asked sweetly.
The teen tensed up at the mention of his father.
"My father? what do you know about him?" He demanded.
A small smile spread to her face noticing the teen's curiosity.
"I was there that day, the day the Hale family died and so was your father. I bet you're precious Master didn't tell you everything that happened that day." She challenged with a determined look on her face.
"What are you saying, that, that…my dad is innocent?"
"I said too much…. I…I'm feeling a bit lightheaded." Kate voiced, touching her forehead and wincing.
"I need to lie down." She said, turning to head back further into her cage.
"No, wait! Please, if there is more to the story, I want to know. I need to know." Stiles begged.
"Very well, come closer. My mouth is parched and I don't have the energy to yell across the room anymore." Kate claimed, standing near the bars of her cage, gesturing with her hand for the boy to come near.
Stiles did as told, stepping closer to the cage, eager to know everything.
"Now, what is the whole truth, what happened that day?"
Kate leaned forward, "Closer."
Stiles let out an annoyed sigh.
"My throat is very sore." She stated, rubbing her neck.
Although reluctant, the teen obeyed and pressed his body against the iron cage so that Kate could whisper into his ear.
"Now, tell me, what happened?" He insisted.
"Long live the king." She whispered.
"What?" Stiles replied confused.
Suddenly, He let out a large gasp, as an intense, sharp pain hit his stomach. He looked down at his round belly to see Kate's hand around a knife that was impaled in his abdomen. He quickly backed away, placing his hands on his now bleeding stomach with a dagger sticking out of it.
"Help! Somebody, help me!" He yelled out before stumbling onto the dirt ground.
He looked down at his shaky blood-soaked hands and started to hyperventilate, panting harshly.
"Bye Stiles, it was nice knowing you." Kate voiced out from the darkness of her cage.
"Why?" He asked in a frail voice, as the room grew darker around him, before blacking out altogether.
Derek sat on the edge of his bed, thinking over his conversation with Stiles in the woods.
Perhaps, I had been too hard on the boy. He is carrying my future child after all. No, he is getting too close, too comfortable here, boundaries need to be set, and orders need to be obeyed. He argued quietly with himself.
However, Derek couldn't shake the familiar feeling Stiles gave him when he was around. He reminded Derek of Paige as much as he hated to admit it. He did. They were both young, full of curiosity, bold, playful, and kind. Having Stiles around was almost like having Paige alive again, and what's worse, the teen gave him hope. Hope for a better day, hope that maybe Derek would be able to right all his wrongs, and turn back into the lovable teen his family and mate had known and loved. But that was a silly pipe dream, the old Derek was dead and gone.
Suddenly, Derek's bedroom door was forced open and an eager Peter entered.
"Nephew…"
"How dare you enter my room without my permission. I told you Peter; you are banned from entering my chambers." Derek stated, getting off his bed and heading over.
"Excuse me, your majesty." Peter mocked, giving a half-ass bow.
"Is that better?"
Derek rolled his eyes and folded his arms to his chest.
"What do you want, Uncle?"
"I thought it might pique your interest to know your current Pet has been attacked by Kate."
"What?!, "Where is he?!" Derek exclaimed, heading for the door.
"The doctor is looking over him now," Peter answered, as his nephew took off leaving the room without a second thought.
The creature hurriedly made his way inside the exam room, where Stiles was passed out on the table with white gauze wrapped around the side of his stomach.
"Well?!" He asked panicked, as the doctor scanned over the teen's bump, searching for any sign of life.
Deaton once stressed form, relaxed as the sound of thumping started to go off under the medical device in his hand. A small smile spread to his lips and he set the controller down on the medical tray before responding.
"The puncture wound just missed the baby. He sounds healthy and strong."
"And the boy?" Derek asked, still a bit tensed up.
Deaton looked over at the teen, sleeping peacefully, and smiled warmly.
"He's going to be okay. Stiles just needs rest and time to heal."
Derek let out a breath he was holding and relaxed a bit at the news.
Just then, Peter walked inside, making his presence known, "What a relief. hate to see something happen to that baby." He claimed.
Derek quickly turned his attention to his uncle, pulling him out of the room to talk. "Where is Kate?" He demanded to know, tightening his jaw, and grinding down on his teeth, feeling the anger boiling up inside.
"Down in her cell, the guards are watching her."
"She never left her cell?" Derek asked suspiciously.
"She had a weapon, must have gotten it off one of the guards when they weren't looking," Peter claimed, giving a shrug.
Without saying a word, Derek stormed off down the hall.
"Where are you going, nephew?"
"To take care of something I should have done a long time ago." He all but growled.
Peter smirked, following behind.
Derek opened Kate's cell with a strong swing, causing the iron door to let out a loud bang as it hit the hard wall. It rattled for a moment, before returning back to its motionless state once more. Kate met his gaze, and a slow smirk spread to her face.
"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" She teased, eyeing him up as if she wanted to devour him whole.
"Well, you certainly are." Peter mocked, as he came over to stand by his fuming nephew.
Kate gave the man a glaring look before meeting Derek's angered gaze once more.
"You could have killed him." He snarled, extracting his claws.
"Stiles? What a pity. I'm sure you could find another Pet from whatever dumpster he crawled out of." She teased from her spot.
"No, my son." Derek corrected her, practically seething as his sharp k9's made themselves known, and his eyes started to glow red.
"It's a boy? My, my, you really are in trouble, aren't you?" She voiced, turning to face Peter.
Derek's eyes faded back to green, his teeth shrunk down to their normal smooth size, nails too.
He turned to face his uncle curious.
"What is she talking about?"
"Nothing, clearly she will say anything to avoid facing her fate," Peter answered, holding his ground with his arms folded into his chest, and a blank expression on his face, making it harder for Derek to read.
"Did you tell your nephew about Paige?" Kate quickly said.
Derek turned back to her, to see Kate was now fully smirking as if she had gained the upper hand. A hurt look crossed the creature's face, as thoughts of Paige entered his mind. After a moment, the hurt turned to anger again and he looked back to Peter wanting answers, curious about what truths Kate had known about Paige, and more importantly, his uncle's involvement in it.
"What about Paige?"
"She is a mad woman, are you really going to listen to a mad woman?" Peter argued as he gestured to Kate.
"What about Paige?" Derek insisted, taking a step closer to his uncle.
"She is a mad woman that must be stopped." His uncle continued to ramble on.
"What about Paige?!" Derek growled.
"Excuse me, nephew," Peter replied, extracting his claws and moving past Derek, heading over to Kate.
"No!" She protested, holding her hands out in the air to stop him, but it did little to protect her as Peter swung his hand quickly and slashed her throat.
"It's time to take the trash out." He voiced over her body, watching as Kate choked on her own blood and the red liquid spilled from her neck onto the dirt ground beside her.
Derek eyed his uncle angrily.
"Relax Derek, you'll blow a blood vessel. Kate was clearly messing with you. She fed on your weakness. She's a sick… excuse me, was, a sick woman. I took care of the problem, you're welcome. Now, why don't You spend some time with your mate and future son, and I'll dispose of her body."
Derek eyed Peter warily for a moment or two, but decided to drop the issue as he had more important things to worry about. He gave his uncle a slow nod in agreement and walked off.
"How is he doing?"
"Fine sir."
Stiles moved his head from one side of his pillow to the other as the sound of people talking filled his ears.
"Oh, looks like our patient is waking up."
The boy blinked his eyes a few times, noticing a pair of black figures standing by the entrance.
"Leave us."
Once the teen's eyes adjusted to the light, the image became clearer and the black form turn into a person, and not just any person… his person.
"Derek, I mean, Master." Stiles greeted from the bed.
"You're awake. How are you feeling?" Derek asked, coming further into the room.
The teen made a move to sit up, placing his hands on either side of his body, and pushing up off the bed. He struggled to move with shaky, weak arms and a sudden pain surged through the side of his stomach causing him to wince and stop all movement.
Derek came over quickly by his side.
"What is it? Should I call the doctor?" He asked concerned, placing a hand on the side of Stiles's stomach that wasn't hurt.
"No, I'm fine, just sore." The teen answered, trying to get comfortable against his pillows.
"Give me your hand," Derek ordered, extending his large one out to the boy.
Stiles did as told, blushing slightly as their hands touched and fingers entwined.
He watched intrigued as his Master closed his eyes with a strained look on his face and blue veins puffed up in his manly hand, slowly traveling up his arm before disappearing altogether. The pain in the teen's side lessened and before he knew it, he couldn't feel any pain at all, there was only a faint reminder of where there was once an ache.
He gasped in surprise, relieved that the throbbing pain was now gone.
"How, how did you do that?" Stiles asked amazed.
"It's a wolf thing," Derek said nonchalantly, removing his hold on the teen's hand, much to his pet's dismay.
"Why did you go down to the dungeon, Stiles? Especially, after I forbid you to?"
"Peter said you asked for me down there."
"Peter?" Derek repeated angrily.
"Peter!" Derek yelled, storming over to his uncle who was busy directing one of Derek's guards on what to do with Kate's lifeless body.
"What is it now nephew, can't you see I'm busy cleaning up your mess."
"My mess?!"
"Yes. If you had killed Kate years ago, like I had asked, we wouldn't be in this current situation. Now, would we?" Peter argued.
"Stiles told me that you were the one that instructed him to go down to the dungeon, is that true?!" Derek yelled, not in the mood for his uncle's shenanigans.
"I'm sorry nephew, I was told by your guard here… He said gesturing to the guard helping him with the body, "…that you were waiting in the dungeon,"
Derek eyed his guard across the room warily, "Is that what happened?"
The guard glanced back and forth between the two men glaring at him.
"Uhh, I'm sorry, lord. I can't remember exactly what I said. Your uncle asked for a request and offered to take mine instead. You said you would be waiting downstairs. I must have misinterpreted it and said dungeon by mistake. Sorry sir."
"There, see, no harm done. Well, a little, but the boy will live." Peter claimed, slapping Derek's shoulder playfully, before resting it on there.
Derek tensed up under the touch and flinched his shoulder, making his uncle's hand slide off before moving away.
"You, walk away now before I do something I'll regret," Derek said to the nervous guard.
"Yes, lord. Sorry lord." He replied before quickly walking away.
"You sure told him. I think he even might have wet himself." Peter chuckled by his side.
Derek turned roughly to face his uncle, "And you, go somewhere. Preferably far, far away." He warned, before walking off.
"Ouch. That was pretty harsh nephew, but I'll forgive you." Peter said with a smile, that slowly faded to a stern look once Derek was out of sight.