Little Red and the Black Fox Chapter 3: Tempting, a teen wolf fanfic

Teen Wolf || Stetopher || Little Red and the Black Fox || Stetopher || Teen Wolf

Title: Little Red and the Black Fox – Of Heroes, Villains and Vigilantes

Tags: m/m/m, polyamory, superheroes/supervillains, werewolves are known, Pack Alpha Peter, Spark Stiles, Nogitsune Stiles, post-Nogitsune, PTSD, Pack Feels, hurt/comfort, fluff, explicit intercourse, anal, oral, f/f, m/f, m/m

Main Pairing: Chris/Peter/Stiles

Side Pairings: Scott/Allison, Boyd/Erica, Jackson/Lydia, Malia/Kira, Ethan/Danny, Ennis/Kali, Braeden/Marin, Deuc/Stiles (past), Aiden/Lydia (past), Ethan/Jackson (past), Isaac/Allison (past)

Teen Wolf Characters:

Alpha Pack: Deucalion Blackwood | Visionary | Demon Wolf, Marin Morrell, Braeden, Ethan Steiner, Aiden Steiner, Kali, Ennis

Other Characters: Danny Mahealani, Bobby Finstock, Noah Stilinski, Gerard Argent | Benefactor

Summary: Chris and Peter are happily married. They also work as vigilantes, who finish the job when the big heroes are too lenient. Little Red is the man in the chair for their country's greatest hero, True Alpha, and thus one of the biggest thorns in their sides. The Black Fox is a vicious vigilante they'd love to court into their team. What they don't know is that both are not just the same person – both are really Stiles, the seemingly so normal best friend of their son-in-law.

Little Red and the Black Fox

Of Heroes, Villains and Vigilantes

Chapter 3: Tempting

"Christopher," Peter's voice sounded so distressed that Chris hurried to him as fast as he could. "Christopher, there is a shoot of him looking like a kitten, he is even wearing a collar."

Immediately, Chris' steps slowed down and a scowl formed on his face. That kind of distressed tone was reserved for emergencies, not for being horny over their boy. Yes, both of them had been tormented by the revelation that Stiles apparently used to model to get through college, but this level of distress was uncalled for. They had already bought the issue from Erica (for far, far more than it was worth. She had extorted them with a bright smile and they had allowed it) and since then, they had already tracked down two more issues featuring Stiles. The last one had arrived this morning, but both Peter and Chris had too much to do to look at it. Or so Chris had thought.

"I thought we were going to open that together, later, as a reward when we're done with work."

Peter turned to glare at him. "You left me unsupervised in a room with the magazine, this is really your fault, Christopher. You should have known that I wouldn't be able to resist."

Chris paused at that, because Peter was right. Rubbing his face, Chris stepped up to his husband to check what had put Peter into such distress. He swallowed hard when he saw. Stiles was on the ground on his knees in half-profile, wearing an oversized red dress-shirt that was completely unbuttoned and draped over his lap in a manner that covered him up and made it look like he might be completely naked beneath it (though Chris doubted it with the nature of the magazine), clearly not belonging to him, giving the illusion of wearing his partner's – the reader's – shirt.

His hands were in his lap, holding the ends of his shirt. His face was turned toward the camera, eyes hooded, mouth a little open, cheeks flushed. Around his neck was an Alpha-red leather collar with a mid-sized round golden bell attached to it. Between his messy hair were two triangular cat ears poking out, fluffy long fur at the tips, the fur's collar matching Stiles' hair. A fluffy cat tail was wrapped around his waist. The ears and tail looked real, either they were incredibly good prosthetics or they were magic illusions. He looked like the most tempting little kitten.

"Fuck," Chris whispered, voice hoarse as he stared at the beautiful picture.

"Exactly!" Peter exclaimed, pointing at the image. "How am I supposed to react to this? Look at him, he is a kitten. He wears a collar. Can you imagine him wearing our collar?"

Peter reached up to grab Chris by his shirt and pull him down into a deep, hungry kiss. Chris bit Peter's lips, hands wandering over the wolf's firm chest. Getting up, Peter pushed Chris toward their bed, until the hunter hit the mattress. The Alpha's shirt went off, flying onto the floor, before Peter straddled Chris' lap and pulled on his mate's shirt.

"Can you imagine," Peter's voice was breathless as he kissed down Chris' chest. "Stiles, only wearing one of my finest shirts and nothing else, mewling for us?"

"Wearing a pretty little collar," Chris hummed, his hands wandering down Peter's back to cup his ass. "Not with a bell, but with a golden tag, with our triskelion on it?"

The noise Peter made was wild and hungry, his eyes flashing red before he leaned down and kissed Chris again, greedily devouring Chris' mouth. Chris opened Peter's pants, pushing them down over Peter's ass and reaching around his husband again. Distracted by their kiss, Peter reached up for the lube in their nightstand, shoving it at Chris. Fangs dragged over Chris' neck, teasing, never hurting.

"Think we can make our kitten purr?" Chris asked lowly, teasing his husband with a lubed-up finger. "Make him paw at the blankets, ass up begging to be mounted?"

Peter growled and pushed back into Chris, until the hunter breached him, slowly opening him up. Chris closed his eyes, imagining doing the same to their little kitten. He knew many of the frustrated noises Stiles would make, related to his work usually, and he wondered if he'd make them in bed, or if they would be even sweeter. Peter licked a stripe along Chris' neck.

"We would wreck him," Peter whispered into Chris' ear, biting and tugging on his earlobe. "You could open him up nice and slow with those delightfully calloused fingers of yours, until he is a begging and moaning mess, and then we could take turns taking him."

"I like that," Chris murmured pleased, adding a second finger. "I'd fuck him until he comes apart and fill him up, make him smell like me, and then you'd take a turn."

Peter made a desperate, wild sound, bucking back against Chris. "He'd still be nice and loose from you fucking him, I'd be pushing your cum back into him with my cock, fucking him until he is a desperate, overstimulated mess, taking everything I give him."

Chris captured Peter's mouth in another passionate kiss when he finally deemed his mate prepped enough. Peter took the discarded bottle of lube to coat Chris' cock up and when their kiss broke, he adjusted himself to slide down onto his mate's dick. He took a moment to breath and sit on it, enjoying the stretch, his hands resting on Chris' stomach.

"I wanna fuck him while you fuck me," Peter gasped out as he started riding Chris, lifting himself up and bringing himself down hard again. "Feeling him tighten up around me while I thrust in, while I feel you thrusting into me, fuck."

"Yeah, baby," Chris groaned darkly, hands squeezing Peter's thighs. "I'd love that."

"Or we could share him?" Peter suggested, leaning down to bite Chris' neck. "Having him on all four, stuck between both our cocks? Stuffing him nice and full from both ends?"

"He'd look so good," Chris gasped, fingers digging into Peter's ass now, encouraging his husband to move faster. "And what if we both shared the same home, Peter? Stretching him so wide, he'd whine and whimper for us while we fuck into him."

"Fuck," Peter growled and rode Chris for all that he was worth, hard and fast.

It was quick and rough and dirty and it was exactly what they both needed, their minds distracted by the image of kitten Stiles in all kinds of positions for them, flushed and whining and begging for more, was enough to bring them close fast. Peter's movement stuttered with his orgasm, his cum spraying all over his husband's chest, marking Chris with his scent. He rolled his hips a few more times until Chris came deep inside him. Both were panting and satisfied when Peter climbed off.

"I want to cover him in my cum," Peter frowned, running his fingers through the cum on Chris' chest. "Mark him up, cover him in my scent so every wolf can smell he's mine."

"Ours, dear," Chris corrected with fond amusement. "Ours."

"Yes, you should also cover him in your cum," Peter agreed. "Make him smell like us both. Ours."

The wolf heaved a sigh and settled down against Chris, resting his head on his husband's chest. Chris reached up to run his fingers through Peter's hair, soothing his mate. They'd wanted Stiles before, wanted him intellectually, emotionally and yes also physically, but this felt like it had unlocked some next level longing on a physical level. All of these pictures of Stiles scarcely clad, baring his throat, love-bites painting pale skin, cheeks flushed, various degrees of want and desire on his face as he stared into the camera? They'd known their boy was beautiful, but they had no idea just how temptingly gorgeous Stiles could be. It tortured them both.

/break\

"Stiles," Ethan's voice was sharp and concerned as it cut through Stiles' sleep.

Yelping, Stiles jerked upright, pushing his chair away from his desk some and flailing. He turned to glare at the werewolf. Ethan was leaning against the doorway of Stiles' office, his arms crossed and a frown on his face as he regarded Stiles. Stiles straightened his shirt a little.

"Ethan! My man! What… are you doing here?" Stiles smiled. "Picking up Danny from work?"

"Yes. Picking Danny up from work because he'd been working the nightshift," Ethan paused and narrowed his eyes at Stiles. "Unlike you, I think. There is no light on the entire floor. I only came here because I saw light in your office. What are you still doing here, Stiles?"

Stiles made a dismissive hand-gesture at his former pack mate. "You know me, E. Just some extra hours, wrapping things up, the usual."

"Mhmh. Get up. I'm dropping you off at home on my way," Ethan ordered.

"Thanks man, but that's not necessary," Stiles offered a small smile. "I got a little more-"

Something in Ethan's eyes changed at that. "You're avoiding going home. Why?"

Urgh. Stupid wolves who could hear heartbeats and smell chemosignals and knew him too damn well from having been pack for years. Stiles hesitated some, face softening as he looked away.

"It's nothing. I just… Just let me finish up work. Go get your boo and go home."

"Is this another Michael situation?" Ethan asked in a low voice.

Stiles tensed at that and stared at the wolf in surprise. "What. No. I'm not… It's not… No."

"Well then, if you're not avoiding an abusive partner and refuse to tell me what's going on, I'm bringing you home so you can sleep in your bed," Ethan declared sternly. "Get up, willingly, and come with me, or I will have to kidnap you and tell Deuc that you're not sleeping."

Stiles glowered at Ethan. As much as he appreciated the concern, it wasn't necessary. He'd been young and stupid when he dated Michael and things got messy, but Stiles wouldn't call it abusive. Everyone was just being very overprotective and dramatic about it. Besides, he'd broken up with Michael six years ago now. It was really time people stopped worrying. His one grace was probably the fact that he'd dated Michael before he ever met the Hale Pack, he could just imagine the way Boyd, Erica and Derek would be hovering and growling at anyone looking at him…

"He—ey, put me down, you brute!" Stiles yelled when Ethan picked him up under the arms.

"Told ya. Come willingly or I'm just taking you," Ethan shrugged uncaring.

"Fine, fine," Stiles groaned. "You can drop me off at the Hales'."

"...It's two AM," Ethan pointed out softly.

"It's fine, I have a key," Stiles assured the wolf while crossing his arms with a pout.

"...Do they know that you have a key, Stiles?" Ethan wanted to know skeptically.

"They actually do!" Stiles looked near proud. "Found out the other week."

Ethan snorted at that and proceeded to carry Stiles down the hall and toward where Danny's office, Stiles pouting and glaring the entire time. Danny only gave them a mildly amused look when they entered, entirely not surprised. Well, he had been friends with them both since they were sixteen, so it figured. Stiles had the standing theory that anything more than two years of friendship with him made people resign to Stiles' bullshit. And they were at over a decade now, which was like full immunity levels, as had first been proven by Scott.

"You should be home in bed, Stiles," Danny sighed as he packed up. "Hey, babe."

He leaned past Stiles to kiss his boyfriend's cheek, not minding the Stiles dangling from Ethan's arms like a naughty child. Stiles heaved a frustrated sigh and kicked back against Ethan's shins.

"Put me down, E," Stiles requested. "I am coming willing. No need for a hostage situation."

Ethan smirked and put him down, patting his head. "There, was that so hard, Stiles?"

Stiles glared daggers at him but followed Ethan and Danny to the elevator. Inside, the couple leaned against the wall together, Danny leaning against Ethan's side, head tilted so it was resting on Ethan's shoulder, his eyes closed in exhaustion. Seeing that made Stiles yawn and reminded him that he had been asleep at his desk too when Ethan had bothered him. Stretching wide, Stiles leaned against the opposing wall, his eyes still on the couple. Ethan wrapped an arm around Danny's waist.

"You're really not gonna tell me why you're avoiding home?" Ethan asked softly.

Danny made a little noise and turned his head to regard Stiles too. Stiles stuffed his hands into his hoodie and turned to look away from the couple. He ground his teeth together for a few moments.

"It's too empty and too quiet," Stiles whispered softly into the silence of the elevator.

If anyone was going to understand, it was a born wolf, right? Especially one of the twins, who had been living in each other's pockets all their lives. Ethan would understand hating loneliness.

"After my mom died," Stiles' voice cracked a little at that. "My dad buried himself in his work, he'd pull double shifts and after those, he'd stay out late at bars, trying to drown his grief. And I was all alone in that… big, empty house and it was… lonely. And I hated it."

Stiles wrapped his arms around his torso, feeling frustratingly small as he admitted that. "Ever since dad sobered up and got his act together, things got back to… normal. And after graduation, for college, I moved in together with Scott. By the time he moved out to move in together with Allison, I was dating Deucalion so when we got rid of our apartment, I moved in with Deuc. And after we broke up last year, I crashed with Malia and Kira until I found my place."

Stiles bounced a little on the balls of his feet, watching the elevator tick down floors. "This is the first time I'm living alone, really. And the apartment is great, it's perfect. Two bedrooms mean I got to have the library I always wanted. Big windows, lot of sun and natural light. But… But it's so quiet, it's so big and empty and I hate… It reminds me of the empty house after my mom died."

"You've been living alone for months now," Danny pointed out, voice soft. "Why… didn't you say anything? To any of us, I mean. Or is this another Stiles and Scott thing?"

Shaking his head, Stiles stared down at the floor. "It's not. I can't tell Scott that. You know him, he's like a big puppy dog, he'd be so sad and guilty about it, like it's somehow his fault for moving in with his then fiance and now wife. And what am I supposed to tell you guys? You're all…"

"Happy couples?" Ethan supplied when the silence stretched on too long.

Shrugging, Stiles hugged himself tighter. "Yeah. Look at me, I can't keep a relationship going for two years or longer. Scott and Allison are married. Lydia and Jackson are engaged. Malia and Kira. Ennis and Kali. You two. Sure, Aiden's currently single, but he lives with you, so he's not lonely either, since you guys all live in your pack house together. But I… I don't want to third wheel any of you guys because I'm nobody's twin-brother."

"That's why you're spending so much time with the Hale Pack, isn't it?" Danny asked. "Sure, Boyd and Erica, and Allison's fathers, but Derek, Laura, Isaac and Cora are single."

"Kinda," Stiles shrugged and bit his lip. "It's not just about being single? It's just… They're living together, the whole pack, aside from Jacks. Chris, Peter, Laura, Derek, Cora, Boyd, Erica and Isaac. There is always someone home, someone laughing and talking and keeping the house bright."

Jackson had been the latest addition to the Hale Pack, having only met them back when Danny and Ethan had introduced Jackson to them all, what with Jackson being Ethan's ex and becoming Danny's best friend through that because he stayed friends with Ethan after their break-up. Stiles had the personal theory that at some point there was definitely an overlap between the Jackson-Ethan and the Danny-Ethan, but he had no confirmation from them yet so he kept it to himself.

Jackson had had his pick of pack, between Ethan's pack, the McCall Pack and the Hale Pack. Deucalion wasn't entirely Jackson's speed, he'd tried joining the McCall Pack mostly because he started dating Lydia pretty quickly after meeting them all, but him and Scott edged on. In the end, through Allison, he'd also met the Hale Pack and he fit right in with them. Still, he never ended up moving into the pack house, having been a lone wolf for too long at that point, but he did end up moving in with Lydia a couple months after they started dating.

But the Hale Pack that had existed like that when Allison entered Stiles' life? They were just… built differently. Probably because they were a pack built around born wolves and for born wolves, pack worked differently. Stiles had seen it in the Blackwood Pack too. But the McCall Pack? They were a bunch of misfits who had knit themselves together into a pack by sheer force of will. Scott was the only wolf in their pack and he was a bitten and turned wolf. Lydia was a banshee. Kira was a kitsune. Malia was a probably born were coyote but her life was so much more complicated than any of theirs so she had a different understanding of things too. She'd been adopted as a newborn and had spent years trapped in full-shift because nobody could teach her about her coyote, her adopted parents having been human. When her sister and mother died in a car crash, it had triggered her first full shift and it took years for her to be able to shift back. In that time, she had been all alone, so pack life was as new to her as it was to any of them. And Stiles? Stiles was a Spark and a kitsune and neither of those technically needed pack, or had pack instincts.

They'd winged it together, forming their pack and doing the best they could, but none of them had grown up in a pack, none of them had these inherent pack instincts that born wolves had. Pack was friendship, to the McCall Pack, thicker than blood, but still in a very human understanding. Pack was family, to born wolves, in a manner that went with blood and beyond blood and in a much deeper understanding than humans had of it. Stiles found himself envious of it, at times.

"You could crash at ours tonight," Ethan suggested when the elevator hit the ground floor.

Stiles did love the Blackwood pack house too, though it had more individual privacy than the Hale pack house. The ground floor was a shared space with an open floor plan, with a large living room section with a sunken couch space that was gladly used like a nest by the wolves. The house had two upper floors, each with two apartments. Deucalion lived on the first floor, Marin and her wife Braeden living in the other apartment on the floor. The second floor had the twins sharing one apartment and Ennis and Kali living in the other. That way, the whole pack was together, while the very much adult married couples still had their own spaces.

It was different with the Hale Pack, where they had their shared space downstairs too, but all bedrooms were on the second floor. The house was so damn big, it fit seven bedrooms and three bathrooms comfortably on the second floor. It felt much more like a family home that way.

"No," Stiles shook his head with the smallest smile. "Just… Just drop me off at the Hales'?"

He wasn't going to crash at his ex's place. Him and Deucalion had only broken up a bit over a year ago. Which felt like a long time, after all they had only been dating for about that long too. At the same time, it also felt embarrassingly fresh. Maybe dating his former Alpha hadn't been a good idea, which Lydia had told him from the get-go and he had dismissed it. Then again, all of Stiles' relationships could be summed up as Stiles making bad decisions. Hell, looking at his current sad pining for the happily married couple who were Allison's parents, all of his romantic choices were bad decisions, not just his relationships. Maybe he should join a monastery or something.

/break\

Peter should be asleep in bed with his husband. He should be peacefully asleep because there was a horrible day of court hearings and client meetings in his immediate future tomorrow. However, they had tracked an issue of Neckz 'n Throats down on eBay and the auction was ending in ten minutes. He was not to be outbid on it. Stiles was wearing a red v-neck shirt on the cover. Peter had to have it, even if that meant being awake at three AM on a week night.

Still, it was three AM on a week night, so when their front door unlocked, the Alpha was immediately on high alert. Chris was asleep in their bed upstairs, Boyd and Erica had returned from their date hours ago, the only pack members who'd been gone this evening. Cora and Isaac had stayed awake the longest, playing video games until midnight before they also turned in for the night. All betas were accounted for and they were all adults so they knew they didn't have to sneak out because they had no curfew to adhere to, so nobody should be sneaking in. If someone chose to leave late, they would at the very least send a text to the pack's group chat about it and possibly write a note on the fridge to let them know where they were headed.

While secrecy was important in their line of work, so was trust. In their team, they had to rely on each other, be fully transparent on where they went. In case they were attacked, in case they needed to reach out to each other about a mission.

Peter tilted his head, eyes flashing red as he got up to go and check the front door. He blinked surprised when the door opened and pretty doe-eyes stared at him. Stiles stood frozen with his key in hand, still in the lock. Behind him stood one of the Steiner twins, with Allison and Stiles' co-worker, Danny. Peter had met him a few times when the Hale Pack held their big barbecue and invited the McCall Pack and their friends over too.

"Alpha Hale," the twin nodded a little. "Perfect. So we're leaving him in good hands then. You, get some damn sleep, or I will tell Deuc. Good night."

"Good night, Stiles," Danny briefly hugged Stiles and then waved at Peter too.

The two left quickly, leaving Stiles behind, still staring at Peter like the deer caught by the big, bad wolf. And how much this wolf wanted to drag his little Bambi upstairs into his den and devour him. Peter tilted his head, waiting for Stiles to explain himself. The boy sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, slumping a little. Looking defeated and yet also defiant.

"I might have been working late. And Ethan might have made the executive decision that I should sleep 'in a bed' and not at my desk," Stiles shrugged. "I wanted to sneak in and crash in Ally's old room without waking any of you. Just… ya know."

The room mostly stood empty ever since Allison got married to Scott, but sometimes she would still crash in it, whenever she came over to attend a pack night with them. But Stiles was just as likely to crash in her room, the boy was a frequent guest with them. Though Peter would prefer if Stiles would be crashing in his and Chris' bed instead.

"And is there a reason why you're not going to your own bed, darling?" Peter asked gently.

He reached out to rest a hand on Stiles' lower back, urging the boy inside. He closed the door behind Stiles while the boy took off his jacket and shoes to put at the closet in the entrance way. Stiles stretched and yawned, his shirt riling up a little to reveal a pale hipbone. Too tempting for Peter's own good. The wolf cleared his throat and led the way toward the living room.

"Right, sorry," Stiles blinked a couple times. "Tired, I guess. Uhm. I don't know. I just…"

Stiles did that thing where he tilted his head and avoided his conversation partner's eyes. Stiles was a very confrontational person, always head up and defiance in his eyes. Avoidance was for when he felt emotionally vulnerable, which was what Stiles struggled with the most.

"You don't have to tell me, sweetheart," Peter assured him softly. "Let's get you upstairs. Do you have any clothes in Allison's room, or do you need to borrow something?"

"I'm not keeping clothes in her bedroom," Stiles shrugged. "So borrow, please?"

With a polite smile did Peter head for his own bedroom, quiet so he wouldn't wake Chris, and fetched the worn-out college shirt from Chris that Peter loved to borrow for comfort too. This way, it would smell like both Chris and Stiles the next time Peter borrowed it.

"Thanks," Stiles managed a small smile in return before heading into Allison's bedroom.

"No need for that," Peter's eyes softened. "Good night, sweetheart. I'll see you in the morning."

He resisted the urge to scent-mark and kiss Stiles and instead headed back into his bedroom, where Chris was slowly sitting up in bed, looking confused and exhausted. Sitting down, Peter kissed him.

"What is with all the in and out?" Chris complained. "Will you please just go to bed?"

"I'm sorry, love. I just had to fetch a night shirt for Stiles," Peter smirked at the look on Chris' face. "Yes, we are having a surprise night guest. I'm unsure why, but he's in Allison's room."

Chris made a soft grunting noise and wrapped his arms around Peter's waist to drag him down. Peter went willingly, snuggling up to his mate and burying his nose in Chris' neck, his laptop and the auction long forgotten in the living room. (But he won the auction anyway.)

/break\

Stiles sighed contently and stretched wide when he woke up in Allison's old bedroom, that felt far too familiar and like home lately with how often he'd been crashing at the Hales'. Getting up, he left his bedroom and paused when the door two over on his side of the hall opened and Laura stepped out, wearing nothing but a sports bra and Batwoman boxer shorts. Stiles blinked.

"Morning, Lau," Stiles greeted softly. "Nice boxers."

"Morning, Stiles," Laura yawned and stretched. "Same."

Stiles looked down at his own Batman boxer shorts and snorted softly. Laura paused when she was barely two steps past him, turning back to look Stiles up and down slowly. She frowned as she looked from Stiles back to Allison's bedroom door and then back to Stiles.

"...Do you actually live here now?" Laura asked. "When Allison got married to Scott, did we just trade her with you? Because I'm fairly sure I have seen you more than my own brother."

Stiles snorted a little and headed toward the bathrooms. The first floor housed the seven bedrooms, Chris and Peter's at the end of the hall, the master bedroom and thus the biggest with its private bathroom. On either side of the hall were three bedrooms and at the other end of the hall, were two bathrooms, one on neither side of the stairs. Allison's room was right next to one bathroom.

"That's unfair. Der is a fire fighter, when he's on shift, he's not home for 48 hours," Stiles argued. "But no, I do not live here, this wasn't a trade off between packs. Now, I'd like to get showered and ready before the other betas get up and the war for the bathrooms start."

"See, it's the fact that you know this, and know when you have to get up to avoid it, that makes me doubt your words," Laura quipped and ruffled his hair.

Stiles dodged her and slipped into the bathroom for a quick shower. The fact that he had a teal toothbrush resting in a matching cup and those were his… did make even him doubt his words. Once he was showered and changed back into his clothes from last night, he headed for the kitchen, where Boyd was already preparing breakfast. The big guy scent-marked Stiles' upper arm before he continued cooking, while Stiles started going through his mails and texts on his phone.

"Good morning, doll," Chris' pleasantly dark voice greeted him.

The Alpha pair entered the kitchen and sat down with him at the table, not without heavily scent-marking him too. Stiles offered them a thin smile before going back to his work. Suddenly, he yelped, then reread the message, before quickly dialing Allison's number.

"Love of my life! Abandon your husband and come pick me up," Stiles ordered.

"Stiles, it's six AM," Allison sounded tired. "What do you have?"

"A break-through in our case," Stiles' eyes sparkled in excitement. "Let's chase it."

"Okay. I'll be there in half an hour," Allison sighed, rustling sounding on her end.

"Uhm. I'm at your dads' place though," Stiles said softly, looking at Chris and Peter.

"Of course you are. I'll be there in twenty, then. See you then. Tell dads I love them."

"Your daughter loves you," Stiles dutifully reported back when the call disconnected.

"Love of your life, mh?" Peter asked amused. "You know, sometimes I doubt you're human."

"W… What?" Stiles' voice cracked in nervous dread.

"Most humans, not all, granted, but most, only have one best friend. But you? You have Scott, your brother by anything but blood. Allison, the love of your life. Lydia, the goddess of your life, was it, wasn't it? Kira, your best research buddy. Malia, your… I'm still unsure what a basement buddy is. You look at every single member of your pack as your best friend, in a different sense," Peter explained, looking far too fond. "It feels a lot like pack bonds to me, as a born wolf. Humans can't feel those though and even turned wolves often struggle with embracing and recognizing them."

Oh. Stiles relaxed a little and blinked doe-eyed at Peter. He absentmindedly tapped his chest. Well. He was the one who had forged Scott's Alpha spark. He was a Spark himself and he could see them. Because Sparks were magic and so were pack-bonds. He felt them, saw them in his mind. Maybe Peter was onto something. Maybe he shouldn't dismiss himself so much in terms of feeling pack. Maybe… that love for his pack and that need to be close to them explained the loneliness.

"Breakfast," Boyd declared, putting a plate of pancakes in front of Stiles.

"Thanks, big guy," Stiles offered a bright smile. "You are my favorite."

"Fairly sure we just established everyone is your favorite," Boyd countered amused.

Stiles flipped him off and devoured his pancakes, while more and more Hale Pack members poured into the kitchen. He loved the five different conversations going on, everyone talking over each other, laughing and joking. It was warm and loud and full and Stiles really craved that. He listened to everyone's plans for the day. Laura had rehearsals for her upcoming musical and was so excited for it, having landed the role of Isabelle Lightwood in the Broadway musical adaptation of The Mortal Instruments. Everyone was really happy for her, listening to her sing a couple lines.

Breakfast was interrupted by the doorbell ringing. Stiles jolted up to grab his jacket and shoes, most of the pack following him to the front door to say goodbye and to greet Allison.

"Thanks for having me, have a good day at work, dears, love you all, bye!"

"Be safe," Chris requested, always sounding a little concerned.

Stiles paused in the doorway and offered a mischievous grin. "Sounds boring. You know me, I gotta tempt fate, that's where all the fun lays. Otherwise I'd be reporting on celebrity gossip."

"I wish you were reporting on celebrity gossip," Chris muttered. "It'd be so much safer."

"And more boring," Allison chimed in. "If I had to take pictures of celebrities all day, I'd die."

Stiles grinned and waved at them all while heading for Allison's car. She kept side-eyeing him while they got in and buckled up. Even after being called out of bed early and on short notice, she still looked perfect. Meanwhile Stiles felt like leftovers warmed up in the microwave.

"Okay, what's the lead?" Allison asked after they drove in silence for a while.

"A source of mine said they might know where the Dread Doctors are hiding out," Stiles replied. "They are too elusive, but I think this could actually pan out, we just have to be on time, you know? She says that they're on the move, so if we don't hurry, we'll miss them again."

The Dread Doctors were a group of villains on the rise, becoming more and more of a threat. Neither the cops nor the heroes seem able to nail them down though and Stiles and Allison took it upon themselves to help out. Find them. Uncover them. Stiles startled when the car swerved.

"What is this guy's problem?" Allison cursed softly, glaring the rear-view mirror.

Stiles frowned and watched. The black van was driving aggressively, pushing. Until the inevitable happened and it drove them off the side of the road. Everything was spinning around him and Stiles got jostled as his head hit the side of the door. Dizziness made him feel like throwing up. His vision was blurry and when he turned to look at Allison, she was unconscious.

His door opened and for a moment, he was filled with relief. Someone was getting them out, they would be getting medical care. The person who opened the car door grasped his chin painfully tightly and forced him to look up. It took a moment for him to focus on the person in front of him. Dirty blonde hair and an evil smile, before her face took on blue marks and fangs.

"Hello, Stiles," she smiled wickedly. "I hear you have been looking for me. I thought I'd make it easier for you. You've been a thorn in my side, so let's talk somewhere private."

If his head didn't feel so messy – concussion, a voice that sounded faintly like Melissa McCall corrected him in the back of his mind – he would have screamed. Would have bitten her when she slapped duct-tape over his mouth and violently pulled him out of the car.

Stiles liked to tempt fate, it was part of his job. But sometimes, tempting fate bit him in the ass. He turned to look at Allison, who got dragged out of the car by one of Kate's minions. Stiles could take it, had taken it so often before, he just hated when it put the people he loved in danger.

Chris was going to be so disappointed in him for not only endangering himself but also endangering Chris' daughter like that. That was the last thought going through his mind before he passed out just as he was thrown into the back of the black van and knocked upside the head again.

Author's note: So I now have an estimate of how long this fic is going to be. I'm setting it at 25 chapters. Also, look at that. I decided to include Laura after all, up until this chapter I genuinely hadn't decided her fate in this universe yet, but I kinda grew fond of her when writing "Rest and Recovery", so she gets to live AND be in this fic!

And next chapter, we're ACTUALLY doing some superhero-ing! After all, two of the True Alpha Squad just got abducted. Scott and the team are gonna go looking for them. And so will Peter, Chris and their pack. And, of course, Commissioner Stilinski. Everyone gets to worry about Stiles and Allison ;)