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Stiles would never be able to say just when it happened. But if he had to guess, it was just after the start of the second semester of his junior year. Knowledge of the supernatural had changed his world and he stilled adamantly believed it had been for the better, regardless of all the bad he and his friends had experienced. His former best friend, Scott, could barely spend time looking at him. The one time he confronted the other boy on his actions, Scott had spent the entire time looking over his shoulder, rubbing the back of his neck with Allison glaring back at him, obviously, she was still angry about the Nogitsune attempting to kill her. Scott had babbled about inner darkness and trust for several minutes before it finally clicked.
Nogitsune. A part of Stiles didn’t know if he wanted to laugh or to cry at the thought. He rubbed his arms, trying to rid himself of the chill that ran through him whenever he thought of the fox demon. It had taken time, more time than he had wanted to admit before he felt comfortable with his own skin after the possession. He still wasn’t there. Still found himself counting his fingers, tapping them softly on his leg, letting him know that yes, there were still 10 digits. Not to mention the other side effects. Shaking his head, he had wanted to defend himself against Scott and Allison but found that he couldn’t bring it up. He had a thousand arguments to use. “It wasn’t him.” “It could have happened to any of them.” “They managed to defeat him just as well as any of the others.” He had looked down as Scott and Allison had left and he felt something start to break inside of him. It was all he could do to keep the darkness inside him and have it overwhelmed him.
Sitting in class, watching Scott and Allison befriend the new girl, Kira, was the final realization that it was over. He was no longer friends with the Pack. The thought was devastating, especially as he had walked into the cafeteria and saw Scott and Allison sitting with Lydia, Jackson, Kira, and the rest of the Lacrosse team. There was no space for him. They would never be able to trust him. To them, he was the stupid human who got possessed.
He was just about to turn around when he was shoulder bumped by Erika.
Her short blond hair had grown out in the last two weeks. Claw marks, just visible under her turtleneck as she looked at him. Boyd, her ever protector, standing just behind her with Isaac looking like a kicked puppy next to him. Stiles could still see her, barely alive as he and Derek had managed to save them, and Cora from the Alpha pack. Had Stiles not believed he could save her and had not been packing a few herbs and a first aid kit, and had Derek not used his magic-pain withdrawing werewolf skill. She would not have made it out. Sometimes, Stiles truly thanked all the reading he had done just for simply allowing him to save her life. He didn’t know what he’d do without her snark.
“Sorry,” Stiles muttered curling in on himself as he continued to move out of the cafeteria. He could see the confusion in their eyes as he just shakes his head off the hidden question. He knew what they were going to ask, but before he could make it three steps, Isaac grabbed his arm.
“Stiles,” Isaac started “I need help.” Stiles blinked at the question.
“With what?” A million thoughts ran through his head as he tried to figure out what exactly Isaac needed help with. ?
“Uh…Math?” Isaac said. “The numbers don’t make sense and Derek’s been trying to help, but he’s not that much better than me and it might be you know what thing since Cora’s the same way and…” Isaac rambled as he fidgeted with the end of his scarf.
“Tutoring?” Stiles asked in confusion. The simple favor was so shocking. He was expecting Witches, Demons, other Supernatural creatures. He suddenly wondered when the last time was someone had asked him for help, and it wasn’t a life or death situation. He couldn’t remember. For some reason, that made him sad. “Are you sure?” Isaac nodded vigorously. Stiles cast a glance back over to Scott and the others before shaking his head, he saw Isaac visibly deflate before forcing a smile onto his lips. It was harder than he would admit. “Sure thing. We can start now if you like.” Isaac perked up and Stiles led him to the library. He shuddered for a moment thinking of the Kamina and how it had attacked them, before sitting at one of the tables. Stiles noticed that both Boyd and Erika followed him. “Are all of you struggling?” Stiles asked in confusion. He would have thought he would have noticed if that was the case. A stray thought passed through his mind. Just how much had he been missing.
“No.” Erika denied. “I just want to spend time with my Batman.” Stiles gave a genuine laugh at the comment and for the first time since the Nogitsune, he felt a peace he hadn’t known he was missing. He spent his lunch having more fun then he had in ages.
Cora appeared at his door, not two days later. He only knew when his father had called over to him in a confused tone saying that “Cora Hale is here.” It was only due to their close bond that Stiles understood the unanswered question. ‘Why was she here?’ Followed closely by the ‘Oh my God, please don’t tell me you have a dead body that she’s helping you get rid of.’ Stiles gave half a shrug and a shake of his head before looking over at the girl. As far as he knew, there weren’t any dead bodies that needed to get discretely disposed of recently, but he had been out of the loop for a while, and you never knew. They weren’t close. Stiles knew of her before the fire, there weren’t that many schools in Beacon Hills, but they weren’t friends. Since they had rescued her, Boyd, and Erika from the Alpha Pack, he could count the number of conversations they had shared on one hand.
“Cora?” Stiles greeted.
“Stiles.” Cora nodded towards him and then looked at his father. “Sheriff.”
“How can we help you, Cora?” Noah asked. Stiles knew that his father was just as confused as he was. This was the first dinner the two of them would be sharing in over a week. Stiles would be lying if he said he wasn’t just a little bit annoyed at the interruption. Cora shook her head and sat down at the kitchen table.
“I’m hungry,” Cora said simply, and Stiles was vaguely reminded of the other Hales that he knew and wondered in limited conversation skills were a family trait.
“I’ll fix you up a plate,” Stiles sighed and pulled out a third plate. He was glad he had made extra, but that would mean he’d have to think of something else for lunch tomorrow. That would be annoying. He felt a small itch at the back of his skull as he scratched it, he noticed sharp claws poking out. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to relax and saw the claws retract. Huh. That was new. He looked to see if anyone noticed and was happy to see that no one had. His father grabbed two of the plates and sat them down in front of Cora and himself. Stiles moved back over to them with his own plate. As soon as he sat down, Cora started to eat. Having nothing else to say, Stiles looked over at his father.
“So, how’s work? Any new cases?” Stiles asked trying to break up the silence and the awkwardness that grew from having a third person at their table.
“It’s been quiet,” Noah replied casting a glance between the two teenagers. Stiles knew there was more, but the damage the Nogitsune had done was still weighing heavily on both of them and neither could get the courage to talk about it in any more detail.
“I missed fresh vegetables,” Cora said suddenly. Both Stilinskis looked over at her as she took a second helping of salad. “Derek and Peter can’t cook,” Cora said. “Erika mentioned that you did.”
“So that’s why you came over?” Stiles asked wondering if that solved the epic question of why she was here.
“I can only take so much take-out,” Cora said as she took another bite of the salad and mixed of an annoyed, and please look appeared on her face. She stopped talking and Stiles could barely hold back a grin. He’d be the first to admit that Cora could be scary, but to see the annoyance towards her remaining family was enough to help him relax. She looked just as grumpy as Derek did whenever he’s grumpy. He tried to picture Cora with red eyes and he almost shudders. He suddenly pitied Derek and Peter.
“Should I be expecting you more often?” Stiles asked in a joking manner.
“Yes,” Cora replied, and Stiles blinked at the serious reply. He had been joking. His father just sighed and shook his head. Stiles wondered why he looked so resigned. “You will cook for us at the loft.” Stiles was about to laugh at the order when there was another knock on the door and he heard Cora give a soft growl. He glanced over at her. “Derek.” She muttered with a pout.
“Door’s unlocked,” Stiles called out knowing Derek could hear him. Derek walked in and glanced around. Stiles then added. “Food on the stove.” Derek moved to make himself a plate as Stiles’ raised eyebrow, he muttered.
“Peter tried to cook. He broke the stove.” Derek explained. Cora frowned at him.
“I was here first,” Cora said. “Find your own place.” Stiles looked between the two werewolves.
“Stiles made enough food for all of us,” Noah explained in the tone used to stop misbehaving children from fighting, and both siblings stopped their argument, sat down, and ate. “So, Derek.” Noah started as he glanced between Stiles and Derek asking a silent question that Stiles wasn’t sure he was translating correctly since it made no sense. “Do you stop by here often for food?”
“Stiles is the only one in the group who can cook,” Derek said.
“And if I hadn’t?” Stiles asked with a raised eyebrow. Derek suddenly looked straight at Stiles and even Cora looked over at him. Cora then looked between Derek and him. Some questions in her eyes mixed with a bit of fear. Stiles felt a pang and wondered if it was because of him.
“It…It never occurred to me.” Derek stuttered. That sealed it. He was nervous about being around him. “Why did it not occur to me?” Derek muttered as he looked down at his plate before taking another bite.
“Should we be expecting Peter?” Noah asked in a joking manner. “We’ve got two of the three Hales’ already.”
“Peter went to a friend’s,” Derek said. Sometimes, Stiles hated his mouth and the lack of filter that occurs.
“Peter has friends?”
Stiles couldn’t explain how he knew, but he knew that he was being watched. He was sitting on the bench going over one of the books he had smuggled out of Deaton’s clinic and took in the smells of the outsides. Claws were not the only new thing about him. His senses had improved greatly. He especially liked the night vision he developed. Smelling was not the greatest during lacrosse practice, but he was already tempted to drop the sport since he hadn’t even been attending practice. He glanced up and saw Scott watching him. He gave a sigh and closed the book.
“Yes?” Stiles asked. He had been positive that Scott had already told him his opinion over him. It still stung but Stiles figured that it would have been the end of the discussion. The two of them had managed to steer clear of the other for the past three weeks.
“You shouldn’t be doing that,” Scott said. Stiles blinked back at the comment.
“What?” Stiles asked. “What shouldn’t I be doing?”
“You shouldn’t be reading.”
“What books? This? This is all about healing Supernatural creatures. Something that a lot of my friends happen to be.” Stiles said, muttering the term “Supernatural” even though there was no one else around. A small voice whispered in the back of his head "friends". Stiles immediately started a silent count. Since the possession, he had gotten good at being able to sense other living beings.
“Yes. It’s dangerous.” Scott said. “What would happen if you got. You know. Again.” Stiles jerked back at the comment, his silent count stopping at Ten.
“Did you seriously just ask me that?” Stiles asked appalled. “Scott McCall, I don’t care if you are an Alpha. But you can take your advice and stick it up your ass.”
“Stiles,” Scott said in the way that Stiles knew, he just knew meant he was humoring him. “You never know. You are my best friend. Basically, my brother. I just want you to be safe. Maybe it’ll be best if you, you know. Took a break from all of this?”
“Scott. You’d be dead five times over if it wasn’t for me. So, shut the fuck up and leave me alone.”
“Stiles.” Stiles stood, and he felt a wave of rage fill him and he had to take a deep breath to push the feeling back down. He then turned and headed back to his jeep ignoring Scott’s attempts to get his attention. It was only once he got to his jeep that he felt something snap and it was only by looking at his rearview mirror that he saw tears run down his face as solid black eyes stared back at him. He immediately started his count his fingers again to verify that this was real. When he finished, be knew this was true.
“What’s happening to me?” Stiles muttered to himself. He really couldn’t handle this right now. Resting his head against his seat, he took a deep breath to try to calm himself down. He tried to figure out the tears and noticed a bond had just snapped inside of him. It had been something that he hadn’t even known was there until it was gone. It didn’t take him much longer to figure out the tears. After Peter had died, he had investigated what had made him go crazy in the first place. Broken bonds, especially from a stable pack could drive even the sanest Were-creature insane. That must have been what had happened. He was no longer apart of the McCall Pack. He didn’t know when he had become a part of the pack, or if he had always been apart of it, but he knew that these emotions were from the broken pack. He then started his car. He could feel Scott still nearby and he did not want to think about the next part of his realization so close to Scott. He backed up and started to head back home. His thoughts started to drift.
He knew those eyes. Those were the eyes of the Nogitsune. How could he still have it? He knew he wasn’t possessed any longer, but then how? He stopped at a red light and felt a ball of energy fill him. He didn’t know why but he lifted a hand and a ball of dark energy formed. His eyes widened as he took a sniff at it. Ash. It was ash. He clenched his hand as the ball disappeared and flew to his radio. It sparked for a second before the music started to play. Hesitantly, he looked at the radio as he tried to figure out if there was some hidden meaning to his once broken radio suddenly belting out “Call me, Maybe.” Moving to lower the volume, he jumped when a honk sounded and saw the light had shifted to green.
“Well shit,” Stiles said as it all suddenly fell into place. He had powers. He turned this jeep and headed towards the Yukimura’s home. He hoped Kira wasn’t home. He needed to speak to a Kitsune and he prayed that it wouldn’t get back to Scott and the others.
“A Kinko Kitsune,” Noshiko said. “They are rare, rare than some of the other types, mine included.”
“How? I wasn’t a supernatural creature.”
“No, but the Nogitsune could have left something behind. Not what you are thinking.” Noshiko explained quickly. “More likely an ability. It would also explain how you survive. You would most likely have been a good candidate to survive the Were-bite had you ever taken it.”
“Oh,” Stiles said as he held his cup of tea. Noshiko took a sip of hers and Stile couldn’t help but be envious of how calm she is. “What type of abilities.”
“Kinko Kitsunes are all about balance.” Stile blinked at the term. “They fix what is broken, they break what is fixed. They are the void in full space, they are the filling in a void.” Stiles nodded. It made sense in a weird way. He looked down at his hand.
“Could you not...”
“My lips are sealed. I’ll admit. I’m not a big fan of your Alpha. He leaves a lot to be desired.”
“What?” Stiles asked confused. “My Alpha?”
“Scott. He’s a nice young man, but…”
“Not my Alpha. The pack bond broke earlier today.” Stiles admitted. “I don’t have a pack.” The words caused a deep ache to fill him and it was all he could do to stop the tears from falling. He hated how emotional he had suddenly become.
“I see,” Noshiko said. “Wait here.” She got up and went to a shelf. She then pulled out several books and pulled out a piece of metal from behind them. It was a knife. “Kira is a very smart girl, but being close to Scott, has made her stupid. I have no desire to teach the unteachable nor one who refuses to learn. I have collected these books over the years. Kira has no use for them. Perhaps you might find it better.” Stiles grabbed the books and held them to his chest. “This knife was given to me when I first discovered what I was. I think it’s best that I now pass it on to someone else.” Stiles looked at the knife and realized that it fit in his hand perfectly. “Stiles. You are a good man, and it was my foolishness that brought you so much despair. If you need any help, I am in your debt.” Noshiko proceeded to bow lowly, and Stiles stood up to get her to stop.
“Thank you,” Stiles said. “Please, uh, stand. It’s fine. This helps me more than you could know.”
“It’s the least I can do,” Noshiko said.
Sitting in his room, Stiles looked down at the first of the book. It only took him one minute to realize that he would have to wait. “It’s all in Japanese.” Stiles rested his head on his knees before taking a deep breath. “Why can’t they ever write one of these things in modern English?” First thing first. Learn Japanese. With a new goal in mind, he went to his computer and started to look for language programs. He taught himself ancient Latin within a week. He could learn Japanese in the same amount of time. Hopefully.
Noah walked into his son’s room to see him lying upside down on his head reciting Japanese words. “Stiles?”
Stiles jerked up from his mantra and tilted his head right side up and looked at his dad. “Yeah, dad?”
“Why are you speaking Japanese? And do I want to know?”
“Um, Long story?” Noah raised an eyebrow. “I need to read a book.”
“That’s why you need to learn Japanese?”
“Once I get the modern stuff down, the ancient part comes easier,” Stiles replied as Noah took a deep breath.
“Anything I need to worry about?”
“I’ll let you know if you will,” Stiles said as he paused and looked at his father. “I think you probably will.”
“Do you want to tell me now?”
“I’m apparently a Kinko Kitsune,” Stiles admitted and felt a wave of relief fill him at saying the words. “It’s leftover from the…you know. I spoke with Mrs. Yukimura. She explained the difference between the two. I do the balance.”
“Balance?”
“Yeah, I can use magic to fix what’s broke and break what’s fixed, that sort of thing.”
“Alright.” Noah took a deep breath before he replied as he looked at his son in what looked to be pure exasperation. “Any howling at the moon sort of thing?” Stiles shook his head.
“I don’t think so, but I’ve got to read up on it some more first.”
“I leave you to it. I’m heading in for the night shift.”
“Be safe.” Stiles waved, and Noah turned to leave. He was uncomfortable about the reason why Stiles was learning Japanese, after the Nogitsune it made him worry. However, it was also the first time since the incident that Stiles was doing something Stiles-like and he couldn’t even bring himself to stop it. For the first time in weeks, he felt as if they were finally starting to heal. Besides this Kinko Kitsune fitted Stiles to a key. If there was one person who never listened to what they were told and did something completely different, it would be Stiles.
Stiles knew he should have been suspicious of the peace that had filled Beacon Hill. He had barely managed to read the various books over Kitsune and Kitsune culture when the latest attack had hit. He would be the first to admit that learning Japanese had been more beneficial in the long run than he had originally realized. He should have been more surprised than he was, but with the limited experience he had had with hunters, he was pretty sure they could not be trusted. In fact, the only hunter he trusted, and that was a generous use of the term, was Chris Argent.
A group of hunters had attacked Derek in his loft, searching for Peter. They had wanted revenge over Kate and Gerard Argent; arguing that Peter broke the treaty between the Hunters and Werewolves first. When Derek refused to give them Peter, they had attacked him and shot him in the shoulder with a wolfbane infused bullet.
Their argument had been that the attack on Kate and later Gerard had been unprovoked. Rolling his eyes, he watched as an injured Derek, with Cora at his side, patched his bullet wound, in Deaton’s clinic. Even with Alpha healing, it was both slow and painful. Scott, Alison, Lydia, Jackson, and Kira were on one side of the room arguing that these hunters, after Alison had spoken with them had been provoked by Derek at the loft, leading to the fight. The Hale pack, on the other side, were growling back that the Hunters were lying when Stiles walked in and looked between the two groups. He noticed that Erika, Isaac, and Boyd were not there. He figured they would be at the Pack’s secondary location, it fit considering Erika mentioned when she had called him that Isaac had been at the Loft, he must have gotten hurt. That thought made him angry.
“Stiles,” Scott stated as he shifted his gaze over to him. Stiles could smell the annoyance in the Alpha. Stiles rolled his eyes. “You should leave.”
“So, a new set of hunters are in town,” Stiles said ignoring Scott. “What are we doing about it?” Stiles looked between them. This had a bigger implication. There were too many Supernatural creatures in Beacon Hill to allow a group of renegade Hunters to run around. Stiles very much believed the story Erika had told him over the phone. He had come prepared for multiple battles.
“Kill them,” Peter suggested as he looked Stiles up and down before giving a creepy smile. It clicked to Stiles that Peter figured it out. He wasn’t going to oust him, that was one plus to this situation. However, Peter was moving back into the creeper wolf zone. He’d have to have a conversation with the man later about his kill first, ask question later mentality.
“Obviously not,” Stiles said as Alison and Lydia had started to object and he ignored them. He knew that Peter had said it primarily because he knew it would aggravate the McCall pack. He glanced over at Derek and wondered if he should use his new abilities. It should heal, but at the same time he didn’t want out himself just yet, especially not in front of Scott. He shook his head and decided to wait until the McCall Pack left.
“What are you even doing here, Stilinski?” Jackson asked. “Don’t you think you should leave?”
“Erika called me,” Stiles said simply. “Although, considering its hunters I think I should have been called by a number of you all.” He looked pointedly at Lydia who had enough sense to look sheepish. “So, we’ve got a group of hunters who were friendly with Psycho-Bitch and her father, and you trust that what they were saying is true?” Stiles raised an eyebrow as he looked over at Allison. She was the matriarch of the local Hunter family. They should never have moved without her consent. So that meant she either knew about the attack and did nothing to stop them or they did this without her knowledge which spoke about her leadership capabilities. Neither would endear her to the local were-creatures. “Yeah, sorry if I don’t believe them.” Stiles then looked over at Alison. “Head back to your Hunters and tell them this,” Stiles said as he glared at them. “Leave this town or die. They attacked one of the Alpha’s of the town unprovoked. They forfeited their right to live. If they don’t, they will be declaring war. They will not survive the war.” Stiles paused, and he could see the rage in Allison’s face at being called out. “Before you all get high and mighty, that is the law.” Stiles pulled out a book from his backpack. He saw Peter jerk in shock at seeing it. “The treaty between the Hunters and Supernatural of Beacon Hill. Signed in 1843. Hunters have violated it multiple times. They keep doing it, it’s the equivalent of declaring war across the country. Ask them if they are willing to leave because otherwise there will be countless bloodshed.”
“It’s not a valid treaty,” Alison argued. “It was signed between the Reigning Pack of Beacon Hill and the Argent Family. That pack is no longer the Hales.” At her words, Cora, Peter, and Derek tensed at the words. Stiles felt personally affronted by the remark and he really did have to suppress the growl coming up in his throat.
“As far as I know, the Hales still have an Alpha and he was attacked. That’s a direct violation.” Stiles raised an eyebrow and knew he caught them. It seemed as if parts of Gerard’s teaching were still apart of Allison’s mentality towards the supernatural. “I should thank you, Scott. When you said I should stop reading about the supernatural, so I switched to law. Had to contact a neighboring pack to get some books. But they were very nice. By the way, Derek. Satomi said hi.” Stiles smirked. “Interesting what you can pick up with a bit of research. But then again, that was more my area than yours.” Scott growled back at him for the dig, but frankly, Stiles didn’t care. He could still smell Derek’s blood and he was done playing nice, plus the thought of an injured Isaac and possible Boyd made his skin crawl. “As long as a Hale is alive, the Hale Pack remains, and despite your family’s various attempts to kill them, it means this treaty to be valid. Or,” Stiles smirked at them. “Or are you an oath-breaker, Allison?” The room fell silent as Stiles glared the group down, he knew he struck a nerve. Allison was given two options and she disliked both. Alison was forced to relent.
“I’ll pass on the message,” Alison said with gritted teeth. Stiles could see that the rest of the McCall pack were shifting uncomfortably with the knowledge that there were laws to protect them and Hunters were the ones to violate them.
“Good,” Stiles said as he turned to the others. “Lydia, I would recommend getting up to date up the laws concerning the supernatural. You wouldn’t want to break them, especially with trigger happy Hunters out and about.” With that, he headed out of the clinic. He did not want to spend any more time with Scott and his pack than he had to.
“We'll take our leave,” Peter smirked as he pushed the rest of the Hale Pack out the door following him. He gave a flash of his eyes towards the McCall Pack. Once they were outside, he looked over at the Hale Pack, he liked his new night vision. He could see the pain still etched on Derek’s face and the worry in Cora’s eyes. He moved closer to Derek and rested his hand on his shoulder.
“They used the Wolfsbane bullets, didn’t they? Isaac pulled it out. Is that why he, Erika, and Boyd aren’t here.” Stiles asked as he tried to put all the pieces together as to pull at the poison. Removing it. It was easier than he thought it would be. “Don’t take what they said to heart. You are the Alpha of the Hale Pack. With you, the Hale Pack still exists.”
“Yeah.” Cora agreed. “We stand behind you, Derek.”
“Thank you,” Derek said, and Stiles looked over at him and could see the pain and an unknown emotion in Derek’s eyes.
“It was nothing. Just the truth.” Stiles grinned. “Plus, I’m just trying to keep the bloodshed to the minimum. Dad has enough work to do without the addition of missing bodies.”
“No,” Peter said seriously, ignoring Stiles's attempt at humor. “For defending this family. It’s been a while.” Peter tilted his head to the side. Stiles blushed, he knew what it meant. He did not mean to overstep, but Scott and Allison had pissed him off.
“It was nothing.” Stiles looked to the side and removed his hand, he thought he got most of the poison, Derek’s Alpha healing should be able to take over the rest and he managed to keep his powers mostly hidden. A double win for him. “Besides. Scott’s pissed me off. I’m not a useless human. I might not be as strong as you all, but I can still help. I’m not damaged.” Stiles muttered the last part more to himself than to the others.
“We know that,” Cora said as her eyes shifted between Derek and Stiles. Stiles rolled his eyes at the movement and the night suddenly took an awkward turn.
“I should get going,” Stiles said awkwardly at the door of his car. Cora grabbed his shoulder and he shook his head.
“Why?” Cora asked removing her hand, a hurt look on her face.
“I just figured that you all your want some Pack time together. The most recent issue fixed. For now, at least,” Stiles shrugged. “One of the books Satomi gave was over Pack relations and I know after an attack, especially one at the Loft, you all would need to regroup. ‘Reformulate the bonds’”
“Yeah,” Cora agreed. “So why are you leaving?”
“Cora,” Stiles said slowly wondering if she was having trouble understanding his meaning. He thought it was obvious by now. “I’m not Pack.” The silence that followed made Stiles shift uncomfortable on his feet. He took a step towards his jeep when Cora turned onto Derek and screeched.
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE’S NOT PACK!” Stiles jumped and stumbled into his jeep as Cora whirled around towards Derek who looked hurt, now not just the physical pain he had been in. Stiles wondered why that was so surprising.
“I got to go,” Stiles said as he opened his jeep and jumped in. He was down the road before any of the werewolves could stop him. If he tossed a small ball of energy to damage the Camaro into not working for a few minutes, he’d deny it. Once he got home, he curled up under his blanket and tried not to think of the hurt look and the lack of denial from Derek. It made the deep feeling of darkness overwhelm him for a moment and resigned himself to trying to push those emotions down.
Honestly, Stiles should have known that the Hunters would ignore the warning. He had hoped they wouldn’t. Call it the optimistic side of him. The realistic, more practical, side of him knew they would ignore it. He just didn’t think that they would go after him. Plus, they made him crash Roscoe. He was not happy about that. Nobody messed with Roscoe. He awoke to his arms above his head and an electric shock coursing throughout his system. It was all he could do not to hiss at them. He did still snap at them with his teeth. Taking a deep breath, he hissed.
“Violating the treaties, why am I not surprised.”
“You are an abomination to humankind. Siding with those monsters.” One of the hunters snarled at him telling Stiles that they did think he was human.
“You are the monster,” Stiles replied evenly. He just needed them to get closer. If he could touch one, he could use his abilities. He was not looking forward to another torturing. This would make it twice, three times if you count the psychological torturing from the Nogitsune, in one year. That was a bit much if you asked him. Not that they ever did.
He should have known they’d move to a crowbar. It was a typical cliché villain move, not that he could blame him. He focused his energy on the bar and groaned, half in pain and half in annoyance when it didn’t work. There was no opposite and it was too far out of reach. All he could do was focus on healing the damage already placed on him and hope that this time someone would save him. He shook his head and gave a chuckle. Who would come to save a Packless creature, an Omega, like him? No one ever had before and that was when he had a pack. Derek's face flashed across his mind as he shook his head. That was a bit too much of wishful thinking.
“Let’s try something with a little more ump,” The crowbar Hunter smirked as he raised the crowbar again. Yes, Stiles would agree as he felt his ribs break, or at the very least bruise, it certainly had more ump than the electricity. He needed to focus, and a third hit came. Stiles knew he would have to find a way out. If he didn’t, he wasn’t sure if he would survive.
When he spat out blood, the Hunter stopped his attack. Stiles glared up at him and gave a bloody smile. “That’s it? I’ve been hit by toddlers stronger than you. But you know what they say, performance issues and all that. One in three men and all that…” Stiles was cut off as he was hit again. Yep. Those ribs were broken. It was suddenly very hard to breathe. “That…That’s it?” Stiles laughed. “I’ll be out of here in seconds at this rate.” Stiles internally cheered as he felt a heavy hand grab at his neck, choking him. His grin grew. He had been waiting for this. These idiots were so predictable. He flashed his eyes and started to heal himself and inflict the damage onto the hunter.
“Monster,” The Hunter gasped as he let go of Stiles. Shit. Too soon. Stiles had been trying to save time and energy by transferring the injuries. The whole two birds with one stone, he barely got the internal bleeding passed over when electricity started to jolt through him. He let out a yell as he threw his powers over to the electrical device. Shutting it down. He must have used more energy than he expected as the entire building lost power. He blinked at the sudden darkness. The Hunter shouted at him and was making his way out of the basement. Stiles focused his attention on the chains. He wouldn’t be able to break them, but maybe the wooden beam?
“This will be either very dumb or very brilliant,” Stiles muttered to himself as he started to twist himself. His legs flew in all directions as he tried to gain more and more momentum. Finally, just as he was about to throw up, he heard the crack and dropped to the ground. He laid there for a moment letting it all sink in as the pain started to recede. Taking a deep breath, he lowered his arms. He was still tied, but he could run. If he made it to the forest, he’d be fine. He just needed out of this basement. He was really starting to hate basements.
Moving to the stairs, he took a running tackle for the door. With enough speed, he should be able to break the door down or knock himself out. At this moment, he wasn’t quite sure which he’d prefer more. Running, the door opened just as he was about to hit. He flashed his eyes and let his powers go wild. Crowbar Hunter didn’t know what hit him as he was suddenly gasping for breath as Stiles continued to transfer. He let the guy fall unconscious as he passed the worse of the concussion of broken ribs, before heading towards the exit. He barreled into two other Hunters who he broke ribs and in one case, a leg before they could get to close. Opening one of his tied hands he tossed a ball of ash into their faces and then ignored their screams of pain as he grabbed what could only be the front door. He jerked it open, another ball of ash to stop whatever was on the other side of the door when he ran straight a chest. Instinct took over as arms grabbed him and he snarled and threw the ball. He heard the person get thrown several feet and land on a car. It could have been several boxes, filled with glass. He hoped it was the glass. That would hurt more.
“STILES!” Stiles paused as he summoned another ball. His vision swimming. He needed to stop using his magic. But there just wasn’t any time. He could see red eyes staring back at him and felt himself relax.
“De…Derek?” Stiles asked hesitantly. “You…You came…for me?”
“Yes,” Derek said, and Stiles smiled.
“Good.” Stiles walked over towards Derek and saw that the other members of the Hale Pack, minus Peter, were standing there looking at him in shock. He wondered what had happened to Peter. “I’m tired,” Stiles said, and he let himself fall against Derek. This was too good to be true. His unconscious mind was messing with him. He was probably still being tortured. “One. Two. Three.” Stiles started to count his fingers. Better to be safe than sorry. If this was real, and that was a big IF, then that meant that not only had someone come for him but then it was over. He felt his vision blacken and he knew he was about to pass out. “Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Ten. Good.” Stiles then let himself fall unconscious. He was tired. Let someone else deal with the cleanup. He believed that he earned himself a nap.
Waking up, Stiles rubbed his face into his pillow. It was both fluffier and smelled better than it normally did. He tried to think if he had done laundry the night before. That would explain it, but wait, he couldn’t remember the last time he had done laundry. He should really do laundry. How dirty were his clothes?
“Good to see you’re awake.” Stiles raised his head from where he was gripping the pillow into his face. He saw Derek sitting at the edge of his bed staring at him.
“Since when were you a vampire?” Stiles asked. “Why are you in my room, Edward Cullen?”
“You’re at the Loft,” Derek said simply. “Why have you read the Twilight books?”
“Scott made a deal. We read them, he’d watch Star Wars.” Stiles said. “We were hoping to impress girls with it.” Stiles could see Derek blink and could read the emotions from his face as he tried to figure out how much he really wanted to ask follow-up questions. He decided against it as he finally asked.
“So, what happened?”
“Happened?”
“With the Hunters. The building was all but destroyed and there was electricity sparking all over the place. Several of the Hunters were dead before we even got there. Electrocuted by a live wire.” Stiles blinked, he wondered if he should feel guilty.
“Why were you there?” Stiles asked instead as the memories started to roll back. He was tortured. He collapsed into Derek’s arms. He blushed thinking how he must have been a damsel in distress moment, swooning as he had.
“We knew the Hunter’s were on the move. Erika and Isaac found your jeep. There was blood. We knew that you were taken. It’s one thing to attack an Alpha, it’s a complete other to attack you.” Derek said. “It took me too long to realize it.”
“Why was I so special?” Stiles asked.
“Why did you say you weren’t Pack?” Derek asked instead. “I mean, I understand that you’re first apart of Scott’s pack, but you’ve always been at least Pack-adjacent to us.”
“I’m not apart of Scott’s Pack,” Stiles said. “I haven’t been for a while.”
“hum,” Derek nodded. “Makes sense.” Stiles wondered what it was that caused him to shake his head. He then lifted his head and gave a growl towards the door. Closing his eyes, Stiles extended his senses and he could feel several supernatural creatures right outside the door of the room. He counted at least 4 people. The door then slammed open and Cora, Erika, Boyd, and Isaac rushed into the room. They all looked between Derek, who was still growling, and Stiles who was still opening his eyes. He knew they were still pitch black and was in the process of withdrawing the power when he was tackled? Dogpiled? Puppypiled? He wasn’t sure how to describe it when Erika and Isaac jumped on top of him. Stiles gave a soft groan as he tried to figure if any of his ribs had been rebroken.
“Careful,” Cora said as she moved to sit by his head. He glanced up and looked at her as she started to pet his head.
“I’m fine. You don’t have to take any pain.” Stiles said without even looking at her. “I’m not hurting.” It was the opposite, he was kind of shocked to feel that it wasn’t a lie. He felt more comfortable with two werewolves on his chest than he had in a long time. He then shifted his gaze over at Derek to see a happy look on his face. “You never answered my question.”
“How did you throw Peter?” Boyd asked. Stiles glanced over at him.
“What do you mean?” Stiles asked. “I don’t even remember seeing Peter last night.”
“That’s because I was laying on the car.” Stiles turned to see Peter standing by the door and suddenly blushed.
“So, it wasn’t boxes filled with glass,” Stiles muttered. “It was an Ash ball. I can summon ash and then use it to opposite something. You were standing still, so when you got hit, you went flying. I didn’t know it was you. I thought you were a hunter.”
“That has to be the most offensive thing you’ve ever said to me.” Peter snarled.
“Get over it,” Stiles retorted. “So why did you come to my rescue?”
“Because,” Isaac said, “Your Pack.”
“I’m not.”
“You are,” Cora replied. “You always have been.”
“I was apart of Scott’s pack, not Derek’s.”
“Maybe originally. But not now. Don’t you feel the bonds?” Erika asked. Stiles stayed silent. He could feel them, now that he was looking for it, it was easy to find. He was able to associate which strand belonged to which person. It felt more real than the bonds he had with Scott. He wasn’t sure if it was because of his new status or if it was something else.
“Yeah,” Stiles relented.
“You’re the Pack mom,” Cora said.
“Pack Mom?” Stiles asked.
“Its Werewolf Slang. It means the person who cares for the Pack.”
“The Alpha?” Stiles asked.
“The Alpha protects the pack. Pack Mothers take care of the packs.” Cora explained.
“How is that me?” Stiles asked and at the groups raised eyebrows he knew the answer. “How is this the first I’m hearing about it? Who was it before?”
“My father.” Derek said. “Mom was the Alpha. Peter was the enforcer, and Dad was the Pack Dad. He hated the term mom.”
“Oh,” Stiles said. “What about when you first became an Alpha. Was there not someone then?”
“No.” Derek replied. “That’s why this pack struggled so much at the beginning.”
“It was pretty bad,” Stiles admitted. “So, I’m Pack Mom or Dad. I like that more. What do I do?”
“Nothing different from what you already do,” Peter said. “Fix the stove,”
“Its already been thrown out. There was no salvaging that.” Derek said as the others laughed. Stiles felt a wave of happiness fill him.
“Pack Moms are sacred in Packs. They are the most important members. To attack one, even unintentionally, is ten times worse than attacking the Alpha.” Peter said. “That’s why we went after you.” Stiles nodded.
“So, what’s with the new features?” Erika asked as she sat up. “and the magic?” She paused. “and the smell?”
“I’m a Kinko Kitsune,” Stiles answered. “It was leftover from…” He trailed off knowing that the group would understand. “Best I can figure, when Scott bit me to expel the Nogitsune, it caused me to shift. I don’t go full form, like you all, I know my eyes shift when I use my abilities and I get claws, but that about it.”
“Your abilities?” Boyd asked.
“I opposite things,” Stiles said.
“Opposite things?” Isaac asked. “What the hell does that mean?”
“I fix broken things, break fixed things, etc,” Stiles said. “Mrs. Yukimura explained it better. The books have helped, but I doubt any of you are fluent in reading ancient Japanese.”
“A Kinko Kitsune. I’ve never heard of it, but I’ll look in the Hale Bestiary.” Peter said. “I’ll give you a copy.”
“All this time, you’ve had your own Bestiary?” Stiles asked. Peter smirked at him.
“Yes, and it’s in English.” Stiles let out a whimper. All those hours, wasted. Sometimes Stiles wondered if Peter truly was a sadist at heart.
“Stop tormenting him,” Derek ordered. “Stiles. How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine. I was healing myself since I first got caught. Part of the whole opposite thing, you know.” Stiles shrugged. His stomach growled. “I am hungry.”
“I’ll order some take out,” Derek said as he stood.
“We got it,” Cora announced as she pulled on Isaac and Erika’s arms and led their protesting forms out of the room. Boyd walking closely behind them.
“Those pups are as subtle as a car accident,” Peter said as he also left, leaving Stiles and Derek in the room alone.
“So…”
“Stiles…” Both men stopped. Derek paused, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. “I honestly thought that you were a part of Scott’s pack. That’s why I never forced the pack bond on you. Even after I found out your role.”
“Really?” Stiles asked. “You know I’m a complete mess, right? I’m good at researching, but with everything that happened, I’m not the sanest person around. And with this group, that’s saying something.”
“Stiles, we’d be dead ten times over if it weren’t for you. You protect this pack and you defended us. That means something.” Derek said.
“When did you figure it out?” Stiles asked. “The whole Pack Mom, Dad, thing.”
“When I came over for dinner and I realized that I never considered that you wouldn’t have food for me. It made no sense to be so sure you’d take care of me or Cora. Cora figured it out earlier, she was very annoyed when I told her not to tell you or anyone else. She told me how you have been helping others with school and such.” Derek explained.
“Oh,” Stiles said. “What does that mean for us?” Stiles watched as Derek blinked.
“Nothing, if that’s what you want. I know my parents were married, but we don’t have to be. It’s not a requirement. I honestly thought that my cousin Sarah was going to be the Pack Mom for Laura. They got along amazingly, and she just had a way with the others. She was really nice, I wish you could have met her.” Stiles nodded, he knew that Sarah must have died in the fire. He shuddered thinking that it could have happened to one of his packmates, yet he still smiled at the words, he liked thinking of them as packmates.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Stiles smirked. “So, what happened after I got out?”
“We were about to storm the building when Chris Argent showed up with some hunters. He went on to arrest those who hadn’t killed themselves by stepping on live wires. You somehow manage to disrupt the entire electrical grid of that building. Knowing what you can do, it makes sense.”
“I see,” Stiles said. “So, does that mean you’ll be explaining all of this to my father?” Stiles didn’t even have to look at Derek to know he was glaring at him and for the first time in a long time he didn’t feel the urge to count his fingers. He didn’t feel uncomfortable in his own skin, he finally felt at peace knowing he had found a place to belong.