Mischief Mondays Chapter 15: Steter - The Disappearing V-Necks, a teen wolf fanfic

Teen Wolf || Steter || Teen Wolf || The Disappearing V-Necks || Teen Wolf || Steter || Teen Wolf

Title: The Disappearing V-Necks – Mischief Mondays Series

Tags: m/m, alpha/beta/omega dynamics, Pack Alpha Peter, Spark Stiles, fluff, heat cycle, nesting

Main Pairing: Peter/Stiles

Teen Wolf Characters: Mieczysław 'Stiles' Stilinski, Peter Hale

Summary: Peter's v-neck shirts have been disappearing. With his betas, he assumes it's either a prank or an attempt to punish him for something. Stiles is close to his heat and nesting and at this point, his nest is 75% obscenely cut v-neck shirts that he liberated from Peter's closet.

The Disappearing V-Necks

Mischief Mondays Series

Peter's shirts had been disappearing. It started about a week ago and at first, he didn't even question it. The Hale Pack had a very liberal understanding of personal space and that extended to closets. Though the most frequent people to share clothes were the mated pairs among them, the closest friends within the pack could also often be seen in each other's hoodies, shirts or jackets. Scent was important, even more important for werewolves. Beyond that, many of their pack had expensive and good tastes; Erica liked to borrow Lydia's dresses, Jackson was known to take Peter's button-down shirts for a date with Lydia or a v-neck for a night at the Jungle with Danny. So a shirt or two not being where he thought it should be wasn't a surprise.

It was when more and more shirts disappeared, without any reappearing, that Peter started to take notice. He had to go to the store to buy new shirts two days ago, because all of his were either in the wash or mysteriously gone. At that point, he started to consider other reasons.

Cora could be very vindictive if she didn't get her way, so one of his suspicions was that his dear niece was deliberately hiding his clothes to make some kind of point. Perhaps the terrible two (also known as Isaac and Erica) were playing some kind of prank on him. Maybe Jackson had tried to help in the household again, had attempted to use the washing machine and accidentally shrunk his clothes and was now hiding the evidence.

When Peter got home from work early that day, because his last client had been a pain in the ass and he'd decided that all paper work he usually did in the evening could as well wait for the next day, he finally found out who actually took his shirts. Walking into the Hale House's master bedroom, he found the culprit with both arms full of the new shirts Peter had bought two days ago. Both their eyes widened as they looked at each other.

"Stiles," Peter said, unable to add anything else.

Why would Stiles take his clothes? There were exactly three people whose clothes Stiles would on occasion be seen in and everyone in the pack knew the reason for each. Boyd's hoodies, which sat so large on Stiles but smelt like both Boyd and Erica were a comfort-scent the omega sought out whenever he remembered the Argent basement. Malia's flannel shirts were something he took because she had become a comfort person to him when they both had been locked away in Eichen House and had nobody else but each other. Malia's first pack-bond with a member of the Hale Pack and in the end the reason she had reluctantly joined her father's pack. Memories of Eichen were what made Stiles seek out her scent in particular. And lastly was Jackson, who had been the biggest surprise to everyone in the pack, including Stiles and Jackson. But Jackson's past experience as the kanima had given him a unique insight into how Stiles felt after the Nogitsune and there were things about the possession that Stiles had not shared with anyone else in the pack, but found himself able to open up to Jackson about, so when he needed to not feel alone about the possession, he tended to raid Jackson's closet and borrow the other jock's clothes.

He didn't even steal Scott's clothes, who was like a brother to him and his oldest and best friend, mostly because the boys were so physically affectionate with each other that they always smelt like each other to a certain degree anyway; all of Stiles' clothes carried a note of Scott on them.

He'd never taken Derek's clothes when Derek had still been Alpha of the Hale Pack, before he'd given up the power to save Cora's life from the Darach's poisoning, so Peter was reluctant to believe this to be about Stiles seeking the comfort of his Pack Alpha either.

Slowly, Peter stepped closer to the omega who was still staring at him like a deer in the headlights. Which was such an apt visual, considering those beautiful, big brown doe-eyes of his. Peter felt like he truly was trying to approach startled prey, Stiles hunching in on himself and clutching the shirts a little tighter to his chest. It wasn't even embarrassment or sheepishness at being caught, it was something else, something deeply instinctual. When Peter took another step, Stiles growled.

"You can't have them back," Stiles declared with a snarl.

If he were a wolf, Peter knew Stiles would have flashed his eyes and bared his fangs right about now. Peter froze surprised. Not a prank, not a punishment, not regular clothes-borrowing. Following the hunch this behavior gave him, Peter scented the air, breathing in deeply.

Stiles' scent was usually a moderately even mix between three different flavors. There was the tantalizing sweet honey note of his omega nature, the violent and wicked notes of an oncoming lightning storm that came from his magic, and his most basic scent that reminded of parchment and fresh ink. On a normal day, the ink would be the strongest note in his scent. When he actively used his magic, the oncoming storm became an active lightning strike to the point that Peter could nearly taste the electricity. Yet the aspect of his scent that stood out the most right now was the honey, even sweeter and more delicious than Peter had ever gotten to smell it. His mouth started watering, he could imagine the syrupy sweetness on his tongue, mind growing hazy as he imagined tasting his omega, licking him inside out and letting his flavor consume him, devouring Stiles whole, take him apart and put him together again, claim every part of the omega, his omega-

Peter jerked back quickly, eyes wide in surprise. Stiles was close to his heat.

But that didn't expect the clothes theft. Or Stiles' behavior right now. Stiles, Kira and Erica knew full well that the pack was ready to give the three omegas anything they'd ask for when their heats came up and during said heats. The betas and alphas of their pack would be tripping over themselves in an attempt to help and provide. Food, clothes, the omegas got to dictate what movies they'd watch. Anything to provide comfort for the omegas during their most vulnerable times of the year. Omegas went into heat two times a year and… wait, actually… it wasn't Stiles' heat? The pack had a calendar in the kitchen and beyond having all full moons and all birthdays marked, the omegas' heats were also marked in color-coded highlighters (courtesy of Malia). Stiles' heat wasn't due for another two months.

More and more questions started to pile up in Peter's head.

Usually, Stiles didn't ask for any of the pack's clothes for his nest. The need to surround themselves in pack was more animalistic; both Erica and Kira would gather clothes from everyone in the pack to make it smell safe and like pack. Stiles wasn't a shifter or kitsune though, he was more human-aligned as a Spark, so he was content having his nest smell like his family. He took the sheriff's clothes, Scott and Melissa too, and Peter knew that Stiles doused his nest in his mother's perfume, because Peter made sure to buy Stiles a bottle of it for every heat. If he couldn't provide the omega any comfort clothes from the pack, he at least wanted to contribute in that way.

But then perhaps Stiles' needs had changed in college? He'd been away from the pack for five years, visiting them every break he got and getting surprise weekend visits from various pack members spaced out in a way that Stiles went nearly no weekend alone, but it still wasn't the same as living in the same town. And more than that, when he had come back after graduation just a month ago, Stiles had moved into the Hale House. Partially to be with his pack, partially to give the sheriff and Melissa privacy because the two had finally figured out their relationship and moved in together while their sons had been at college.

Maybe the time away from the pack and the fact that he now lived with them all had changed Stiles' needs? It wouldn't even be unusual for Stiles to fail to voice said needs. As good as the boy was at taking care of others, he was horrible at taking care of himself and asking for things. So while Kira and Erica were comfortable in asking for clothes for nesting, this was something new to Stiles.

"Darling, I'm not taking them away from you," Peter spoke very gently. "You can have anything you like or need for your nest."

Now it was Stiles' turn to freeze. He stared at the Alpha warily for a long moment. Only when he deemed Peter's words genuine did he nod and finally relax a little, his shoulders uncurling. Slowly, Peter stepped aside to give way to the door, letting Stiles walk out of the bedroom.

Both Peter's inner Alpha and his inner alpha were rumbling and purring in delight. As the Pack Alpha, he was delighted to have another member of his pack live under his roof again. Especially the beginning of the teens' college years had been hard on him. Thankfully not all of the pack had gone away for college, some had either stayed for their local community college or foregone college entirely. But still too many of them had left town, some even the state.

But their pack was strong. After all the struggles they had gone through, with Derek giving up his Alpha spark and Peter regaining his own by killing one of the Alpha Pack, slowly gaining the trust of the fractured betas, just to then have the Nogitsune possess one of their own. In the end, they had saved Stiles and, in the process, had gained two new pack members in Malia and Kira. The return of Gerard as the Benefector of a deadpool on all supernaturals in Beacon Hills had truly forged them together as a pack, the first threat they had all faced together, as one united pack.

After all their hardships, they could stay a strong pack even with some of them gone. Still, Peter's inner Alpha rejoiced every time one of his Betas returned home and moved into the Hale House. None made him happier than the return of Stiles.

Because Stiles made Peter's inner alpha feel things he never had before. Always had, really. Standing in that parking garage, with Stiles' twist so close to his lips, every instinct in him telling him to turn the wonderfully smelling, clever and witty omega, perfect mate, good strong Beta, who would be such a valuable asset to his pack. Peter still thought Stiles would make a magnificent wolf, even if he knew Stiles physically couldn't turn into one; his Spark would prevent it. Peter also still thought Stiles would make a perfect mate for him.

At first, Peter had no leg to stand on. No trust, no reason for Stiles to even want to be in the same room as him, really. After how he had turned Scott, how he had attacked Lydia, how he had abducted Stiles. Not the best set-up for "Will you spend the rest of our lives together?".

He gained some trust while the pack had dealt with the Darach and the Alpha Pack. And after he became Alpha again and worked hard on bringing the pack together, fractured and traumatized after the dangerous double threat they had just faced, he would genuinely consider Stiles a friend and thought that Stiles had felt the same. He was patiently building something.

And then the Nogitsune had come and nearly taken his omega from him, from them all.

Stiles was left so traumatized, he barely let anyone even just close, much less touch, he was too afraid that he would hurt them. He'd nearly killed Scott, nearly killed Allison, had killed many innocent people. Blood on his hands that he hadn't put there. Romance was the farthest from Stiles' mind, even from Peter's. All he wanted was to help Stiles regain control of his own life and mind again. He knew what a fragile, broken mind could feel like and how hard it was to mend.

By the time the teens graduated high school, Stiles was in a much better place, thanks to the support and help from his pack and family. If Stiles had stayed in Beacon Hills after graduation, Peter would have started courting him. But Peter hadn't wanted to distract Stiles from college and he hadn't wanted to test his luck by having their relationship start out long distance. He'd been patient for two years, he wasn't going to rush things now. He wanted Stiles as his mate, he could wait.

Peter tilted his head curiously and turned around to leave his room and head over to Stiles'. He knocked gently and waited patiently for a reaction from the omega.

"…Come in," the reluctant answer came. "But not too far."

Heeding the warning, Peter slowly entered the bedroom, peeking around. Over the past nearly month since he'd moved in, Stiles had made the room fully his. Before college, it had been more like a guest room, the room Stiles would crash in after a pack meeting or when a fight had been particularly draining on them all. During college, it mostly collected dust because even when Stiles was home, he'd stay with his dad and Melissa. Now, this was a lived-in space, was Stiles' home.

Every day that his chosen mate lived in his den, Peter could feel the wolf scratch at the surface, urging him to claim Stiles. He had been patient so far and he intended to stay patient. The day Stiles had returned, Peter had started ever so subtly courting Stiles, small, barely noticeable gifts. Things that could be brushed off as an Alpha taking care of his pack. Gradually, the gifts and affection grew. Building the foundation for a strong mate-bond between them. Still, they were more casual things. Foods, small inexpensive trinkets, car repairs. In Peter's desk sat the first proper piece of traditional courting jewelry, the one he planned on giving his omega in about four weeks, together with an official declaration of intend. A bit old-fashioned, but tradition was more important to wolves than to humans, and Stiles also deserved to be properly courted.

"That's far enough," Stiles growled softly from within the closet.

Or, well, the nesting space. Walk-in closets were traditionally used as nesting space by omegas, bedrooms had them for this exact purpose, even if they got used as closets outside of heats. The door to it stood open and from his spot next to Stiles' bed, Peter could see the boy well enough. After a moment, Peter decided to take a seat on the edge of Stiles' bed.

"Tell me how I can help," Peter requested softly. "I can tell that you're far too tense and… more instinctual than I've ever seen you before, darling. And I've seen you in heat before. You were less growly and snarly back then than you are right now."

Stiles paused in his nesting, the shirt he was about to stuff into one corner of his nest clutched tightly between his fingers. He breathed deeply through his nose, frustration and tension evident in it all. While Stiles tried to calm himself, Peter took a moment to take in the omega's nest. He always did find those interesting, when he got the chance to see one. Both Kira and Erica had shyly asked him to look at their nests the very first time they'd nested in the Hale House, seeking their Alpha's approval. Which he had of course given them both, praising how pretty and perfect the nests were, before leaving them to their mates and to their heats.

The closer he looked, the deeper his frown got. Those were all of his mysteriously disappeared clothes. All of them. He could identify every visible article of clothing in the nest… and they were all Peter's. There was not a single piece of clothing from any other member of the pack in there. Not even Scott. Not even the sheriff's. Peter sucked in a sharp breath and stilled, as though he feared the nest might disappear if he did or said the wrong thing now.

The clarity that overcame him was overwhelming and left him breathless. Suddenly, Stiles' behavior made complete sense, every piece of it slotting perfectly into place and giving way to only one logical conclusion. Stiles was courting him.

With that realization, he revisited the past month of interactions he had with the omega. Stiles had been packing him lunch for work, which Peter had appreciated but not thought about too much because Stiles did that sometimes when the mood hit him to make food for the Betas too. There had been much more casual touches, lingering caresses, but Peter had thought that was Stiles being considerate of the wolf, scent-marking him because he knew how important that was to the wolves. And the wolves had needed more affection, after the time away for college.

Food and excessive physical affection were omegan courting signs too though, and the fact that Stiles was currently sitting in a nest exclusively made out of Peter's clothes – exclusively filled with Peter's scent, even foregoing familial scents – was a giant neon sign, really.

Which also explained the snarling and growling. Due to not noticing that he was being courted, Peter hadn't acted properly, hadn't accepted the courting, so Stiles didn't know if Peter wanted him. Stiles was so on edge because he was soon going into heat and he didn't know if his chosen mate wanted him or would reject him. Peter quickly got up, but paused as soon as he heard Stiles whine.

"I'll be right back, darling," Peter promised in a gentle voice. "I'm not leaving or rejecting you, I just have to quickly get something, okay?"

Stiles looked wary, but nodded and allowed it. Relieved, Peter headed to his office in quick, long strides. He unlocked the drawer of his desk that held the hand-carved wooden box and fetched it before quickly returning to his omega's room. Some tension seeped out of Stiles when Peter stepped back into his line of sight, as though he had still feared that Peter would simply leave.

"I hate this," Stiles said in frustration, briefly glaring at Peter before turning his attention back onto his nest. "I've been hating my heats since the Nogitsune."

Peter clutched the box tighter and stood rigid. "How so, sweetheart?"

"Loss of control," Stiles muttered, stuffing a shirt in with a little more force than necessary. "It's not the same. I know it's not the same. But it also is similar enough in certain ways. I'm doing things on instinct without even meaning to, without entirely wanting to. And it's never been this bad either. It was… It was fine, I guess, at college. I dealt with it, whatever. But now my instincts are in overdrive. And it's your fault, stupid alpha."

Ah. So Stiles had realized that Peter put the pieces together. And now he was being defensive. Understandably so, Peter supposed. Heats already left omegas on edge and more vulnerable, this not knowing wasn't helping him any. Daringly, Peter took one step closer to the nest.

"I apologize, sweetheart," Peter whispered gently, slowly getting down on his knees to be on eye-level with Stiles, who reluctantly turned to look at him. "I was so caught up in my own courting of you that… I didn't realize you were courting me."

Stiles abruptly sat up straighter. It was bemusing and charming, to see his own earlier thought process reflected on Stiles' face. All the pieces falling into place in Stiles' mind as he reevaluated all of their interactions in the past few weeks. Honey-whiskey eyes widened and snapped to stare at Peter, fixating him in place. And then Stiles started laughing, bright and near delirious, all the tension melting away from him as he allowed himself to collapse backward into his nest.

"We really are quite a pair, huh," Stiles asked, still chuckling.

"It appears that way, yes," Peter grinned amused. "I didn't account for you to go into heat. I thought I had two more months for you to go into heat, I had a timeline. My first big gesture courting gift was supposed to come in four weeks, to accommodate for the final stage of courting so we'd be able to seal our mate-bond during your heat. You're messing with my plans, sweet one."

One of his own shirts hit him square in the face at that and when he removed it, he saw Stiles giving him a pointed but also clearly amused glare. "Oh, I'm messing with your plans? I'm messing with your plans? Why do you think I'm going into an irregular heat, idiot alpha!"

Another shirt hit Peter in the face and the alpha paused. His mind hadn't gotten that far yet. He held his breath at the wondrous realization that he had triggered Stiles' heat.

"Living here, where you live and were everything smells like you, having you around all the fucking time now, after five years of only seeing you occasionally, it's completely messing me up," Stiles complained annoyed. "My instincts keep yelling at me and, apparently, I was not courting you fast enough or effectively enough for my body, so it decided to take matters into its own hand and speed things up with an unscheduled heat. Traitorous bastard."

Stiles looked up and then narrowed his eyes at Peter. "Stop looking so damn smug, Hale."

"I'm sorry, I'm unsure how you expect me to do that," Peter huffed, still preening. "My omega just told me that my scent and presence make him go into heat, I don't think any self-respecting alpha would be able not to be smug about that."

Stiles sucked in a sharp breath and stared at him wondrously at that. "You called me your omega."

Peter blinked and tilted his head, a wry smile on his lips. "Pardon me, that was my own instincts that keep yelling at me. But I would like for that to be true. I want you to be mine, darling. My mate, my omega. As I want to be yours, your alpha. If you'll have me."

He pushed the wooden box over, closer to the closet to let Stiles take it. The omega was reluctant, but it seemed more to be nervousness and anticipation than anything else. When he opened the box, he made a small, awed noise. With shaky fingers did he take the silver pendant out of the box.

"I want you to be my mate," Peter repeated in a gentle voice. "I want you to be the Alpha Mate of the Hale Pack and lead our pack at my side. Mieczysław Stilinski, will you accept my courting?"

The pendant had the triskele on it, the symbol of his family. The most obvious and clear claim any wolf would make, any Alpha could make, and Stiles knew that. He stared at Peter for another moment before launching himself forward out of his nest and wrapping his arms around Peter's neck to pull him into a deep kiss. Filled with years of longing, trust, love and desire. Peter's chest rumbled in a pleased purr as he found himself surrounded by his omega's heady, sweet scent.

"Yes. Yes, I accept your courting, alpha," Stiles nodded enthusiastically and buried himself in Peter's chest. "Peter Wermund Hale, do you accept my courting?"

Peter made a small, displeased noise at the use of his beloathed middle name, but then he chuckled. "Yes, sweetheart, I accept your courting. But how do you even know about that name, I had it stricken from all legal documents years ago."

"It's like you don't know me at all, Wermund," Stiles stated mockingly.

Peter growled and nipped at Stiles' jaw. "Two can play that game, Mieczysław."

"No, they can not," Stiles moved so he could look at Peter with dark eyes. "It's actually really fucking hot that you know how to pronounce that."

A disgruntled noise escaped Peter, but he was appeased when his omega's soft lips pressed against his in another kiss, and another kiss after. He smiled softly as he was pulled into Stiles' nest.

~*~ The End ~*~

Author's note: Realized I am nearly 80 fics into my Teen Wolf Renaissance and I haven't written my FAVORITE ABOverse trope for it yet! "The omega is nesting and realizes their nest doesn't smell right so they steal clothes from the alpha they're secetly in love with to nest with and that's how the alpha realizes". That shit fucks hard and I need all my top OTPs to have at least one of them, so here's a Steter version of it ;D