Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"So, Derek, Scott, Allison, Isaac," Stiles began by addressing everyone in the room. You know, the people who wouldn't even be friends if it weren't for Stiles' amazing mediation skills.

"If it isn't about Erica or Boyd then I don't want to hear it," Derek quickly interrupted, not turning from where he was hunched over a map with the others.

Stiles frowned, "It is about the Alpha Pack."

"Specifically where they are keeping Boyd and Erica?"

"Well, no, but it's-" Stiles cut himself off as Derek glared at him. He slowly turned to the other three in the room. "So, Scott, Allison, Isaac," he began again.

None of them responded, concentrating on places where the Alpha Pack could possibly be keeping their friends.

"Maybe here?" Scott asked, pointing to some place on the map.

Stiles let out a huff of air, trying to keep any overly negative emotions from seeping out into the open. He glanced around at the people who were supposed to be his pack, at his best friend, at the people who were completely ignoring him, one last time before leaving without another word.

It's not like they would listen to anything else he had to say anyway.

~

"Why is he here?"

"It's lovely to see you too, Lydia," Peter grinned with a bit too much tooth.

Currently Stiles, Peter and Lydia were all sitting together in the back corner of a small cafe, due to Stiles' very urgent sounding text messages.

"He's here because, despite what he'd like everyone to think, he would hate to see his nephew die. He also isn't ignoring me, unlike the other remaining members of the Hale pack."

The two looked up at him with concern and confusion.

"What happened?" came Lydia's reply.

Stiles shrugged, "I tried telling them what I know about the Alpha Pack but they ignored me because I didn't know the exact location of Erica and Boyd."

"See, that's why I left them! They're all idiots, even Allison and she's supposed to be the new 'leader' of the Argents." Lydia huffed out, taking a sip of her drink.

"Speaking of Argents, I've also invited Chris here. I don't know how helpful he's going to be but it's always good to keep him in the know."

As Stiles finished speaking, the bell over the cafe's door rang as Chris walked in, his eyes quickly landing on the trio.

"Speak of the devil," Peter muttered.

Chris glared but didn't speak out about it as he sat with them.

"Great, now that everyone's here I can finally tell you guys what I found out."

"Prepare for long ramblings and monologuing," Lydia muttered to the others. Stiles didn't react, he knew it was true.

"So, I contacted a ton of other packs around the US and asked everyone about their interactions with the Alpha Pack. Turns out they're pretty peaceful. Most of the time they just want to get a few peace treaties signed, get a few allies, all that jazz. However, sometimes they find some werewolves that are very interesting. They like to collect these wolves, such as the twins that can merge together, to get stronger... probably. This is when the whole kidnapping and murder stuff happens. I think they like to test the werewolves they're interested in."

The three had been quiet as they listened to Stiles' word vomit. Finally, Peter spoke up, "Then why do they want Derek? He's hardly interesting."

"I think it has to do with the Hale reputation. Several members of the Alpha Pack knew Talia Hale when she was still alive and I guess they're hoping that Derek is like her, which he obviously isn't. This brings me to my solution; organise a meeting with the Alpha Pack and explain that Derek isn't actually a good alpha."

Chris spoke up this time, "That seems kinda easy. How do we know they won't just kill Erica and Boyd, or kill us, and be done with it?"

He had a point.

Stiles quickly countered that point though, "Well, like I said, they're a pretty peaceful pack. Deucalion is also kinda traditional so he won't attack unless challenged. Which is also why I propose that it's us four that go to this meeting, rather than Derek and Scott."

"Yes, Derek and Scott would surely get everyone killed. They know less than you about werewolves." Stiles snorted at the insult/compliment combo that Peter somehow made work. "But how are we going to set up this meeting?"

Finally it was Lydia's turn to speak. "The twins go to our school. It shouldn't be too hard to talk to them about meeting, especially since they seem determined to flirt with Danny and me." She shuddered a little, now fully aware that the flirting was probably some ploy to test Derek.

Stiles nodded, "Cool. Once we get the time and place for the meeting I'll text you guys."

Chris was the first to leave, with a muttered comment about talking to his daughter about her taste in guys. Peter followed his lead a few minutes later, not without a creepy comment or two thrown in Stiles' direction.

Lydia stayed back a moment longer, a look of hesitation on her face. After a few long seconds she seemed to come to a conclusion and started to speak, "You know, if Scott's being an asshole then you're more than welcome to hang with me and Danny at school." She didn't give him any time to reply as she was already halfway out the door when he finishing processing what she had said.

~

The rest of the weekend Stiles spent his free time locked up in his room, researching everything he could find about werewolves and how they interact. What's respectful, what's disrespectful, how to challenge one and how to avoid accidentally challenging one, even courtship.

When Monday finally came, Stiles was more than ready to face the twins and hopefully face Deucalion as well.

He decided to take Lydia up on her offer and sat with her in all the classes they had together, and sat with Danny in any classes they didn't. It was a weird change to the norm, but not an unwelcome one. Scott hardly seemed to notice, which Stiles tried his best to pretend didn't hurt.

Aiden and Ethan were very civil and they quickly set up a meeting time. It seems Deucalion had been expecting them to make this offer. Stiles texted Peter and Chris the details and so everything was set. All they had to do was convince Deucalion that Derek was an idiot. Definitely the easiest part.

Chapter Text

Stiles, Peter and Lydia walked into the abandoned building, tension filling their bodies to the brim. They had decided to leave Chris behind. Bringing an Argent wasn't exactly a sign of good faith.

In the middle of the large room was a table, an empty chair on one side, Deucalion sitting down on the other side. Behind him was his pack, Kali right behind him, Ennis a little further back and the twins at the very end.

As Stiles approached the table he bowed, the two behind him following him with a bow as well. "Alpha Deucalion, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine, Beta Stiles Stilinski. However, I was under the impression that I would be meeting with your Alpha?" Deucalion posed the sentence as a question, his sightless eyes staring straight into Stiles'.

Stiles bowed his head again, "Unfortunately Alpha Hale was not able to come to this meeting. It is with our sincerest apologies that we ask to continue this meeting with me in his place."

Deucalion waved a hand towards the free chair and Stiles held in a sigh of relief, sitting down. Lydia and Peter took a few steps forward to stand right behind Stiles, so close that he could feel their body heat.

"What is it that you wish to discuss?" Deucalion asked.

Stiles hesitated for a moment before speaking, "You have taken an interest in Alpha Hale and would like him to join your pack. You have kidnapped Beta Erica Reyes and Beta Vernon Boyd to test him. You would like him to join your pack because he is the son of Talia Hale. Please, correct me if anything I have just stated is wrong."

Deucalion almost looked surprised for a moment, his alphas not hiding their reactions as well as he did. "Yes, that is all correct."

Stiles nodded and continued his speech, "I regret to inform you that Derek is not at all like Talia. Talia, before she died, had been training her daughter, Laura Hale, to be alpha. Unfortunately Laura is also now dead and Derek has had no training to be an alpha. He's really shit at it. Pardon my language."

"And so you believe that I have no reason to want Alpha Hale to join my pack, therefore I should give you back Beta Reyes and Beta Boyd? Well, I certainly like your reasoning and am willing to concede that my reasons for wanting Alpha Hale have been disproven." Deucalion confessed, laying his hands out flat on the table.

'Success!'

"However, Alpha Hale isn't the only one that interests me."

'What?'

Peter and Lydia seemed to tense even more behind him, concern for who it might be rolling off of them in waves.

Stiles stayed calm. "May I ask who else it is that interests you and why?"

"We have reason to believe that Beta Scott McCall will become a True Alpha," Deucalion explained.

"True Alphas are just a myth!"

Stiles quickly grabbed Peter's arms, without turning around, to try calm him down a bit. It seemed to work.

"My apologies for the outburst, Alpha Deucalion, Beta Hale meant no disrespect. Could you possibly explain to me what a True Alpha is?" Stiles hadn't come across such a thing in his research.

"A True Alpha is a werewolf who becomes an alpha, not by killing someone, but through strength of character and force of will," he explained, ignoring the outburst.

"Well, that doesn't sound right at all. Sure, Scott doesn't exactly act like a beta, and for awhile he was technically an omega since I'm human, but he'd be an even worse alpha than Derek is. The only alphas he has ever seen are Derek and Peter, and they aren't exactly the best examples of a good alpha. Scott is also completely against murder and would be more likely to let his own betas die rather than kill a threat to his pack." Stiles paused in his rant and glanced at everyone in the room. He let out a weak chuckle, "Sorry, I kinda started rambling, didn't I?"

"It is perfectly alright. Thank you for your input, I believe I have lots to think about. I will send Beta Erica Reyes and Beta Vernon Boyd to your house tomorrow afternoon and we will leave this town if I accept. If I don't accept then you'll all be sure to know. This meeting is over."

With that, Deucalion stood up, held out an arm to Kali, and the Alpha Pack left through a side door.

"I have no idea if that went well or not," Stiles muttered.

Chapter Text

Half an hour after Stiles arrived home from school the next day, a truck dropped off a surprisingly healthy Boyd and Erica. There were a lot of hugs and, once Stiles had made sure they really were alright and had texted Lydia, Peter and Chris about it, he drove them to Derek's place.

As expected, Scott and Allison were already there, if Scott's motorbike was anything to go by. The three didn't even make it inside the building before Scott, Derek, Isaac and Allison were rushing out, a rainbow of emotions flashing on their faces. Boyd and Erica were quickly swept up in a massive hug, the other four worrying over them and growling about the Alpha Pack.

"How'd you get away?" Scott asked, a firm grip on their arms and confusion on his face.

The two shared a confused look, glancing over to Stiles, who had been pushed to the side during the emotional meet up.

"Stiles, why didn't you tell them?" Erica asked, stepping away from Scott and towards him.

He shrugged, "I mean, I tried to, but they were really busy looking for you guys so I just did it by myself. Well, not completely by myself, I had Peter and Lydia there to back me up. Chris was sort of there, too."

"Tell us what? Stiles? What did you do?" Derek growled out, an almost angry look on his face.

Erica and Boyd looked at him with raised eyebrows and it was Boyd that spoke up, "Stiles talked to the Alpha Pack. He figured out that they were using us to test you and managed to reason that their interest in you was based on misinformation."

Shocked expressions twisted their way onto the four faces and Allison stumbled out a strained, "And they're leaving, right?"

Stiles shrugged again, "They said they would leave after letting Boyd and Erica go, and I don't really have any reason to doubt them."

"You trust them?" Scott asked, the shocked expression twisting into something else as his eyebrows drew together.

"Well, not with my life or anything like that, but they looked after Erica and Boyd more than expected and they kept their word about returning them to us, so." Stiles shrugged a third time, and the recently freed werewolves were suddenly acutely aware of how uncomfortable the human was in this situation.

"Anyway, you guys can catch up, I'm gonna leave now." Stiles jerked a hand towards his jeep.

"Are you sure?" Erica and Boyd asked, taking a step towards him in unison.

Stiles smiled a strange smile. "Yeah, I've got a ton of homework to do and dad's gonna be home soon."

No one mentioned the blip in his heartbeat as he got into his jeep. Boyd and Erica wondered if the other werewolves had even noticed the lie, or cared.

~

"I thought we were gonna be leaving after we gave the betas back," Ethan spoke from the doorway as Deucalion relaxed in his room.

He turned his sightless gaze towards the twins. "I've recently found someone else here who is rather intriguing."

"Who?" Aiden asked, far less patient than his brother.

"The beta we met the other day, Stiles Stilinski. I'd like you to watch him during school." He waved a hand, their que to leave. They had a lot more questions, but didn't dare continue bother their alpha, simply leaving with reassurance that they would do as asked.

They kept their word and watched Stiles from afar, during and after school. He spent his time with the two they had been tasked to get close two, Lydia and Danny, and simply smiled towards the rest of his pack rather than sit with them. The betas they had freed often met up with him in the halls, talking and touching, but the rest of the pack only waved, if even that.

The twins could smell the hurt that he hid so well, the way he almost crumbled in his jeep in the empty parking lot after being ignored during another lacrosse practice. They saw how he spent sleepless nights, researching for anything that Scott or Derek asked, only for it to be ignored in the next pack meeting.

They saw how loyal he was to the pack that didn't deserve it, and they saw how it was slowly killing him. And they had only been watching him for two weeks.

~

"Hey, Aiden, Ethan, can I talk to you guys for a sec?"

They knew someone would eventually ask, but they expected a violent encounter with Derek or even Scott, not a nervous greeting from Stiles.

"Sure, what's up?" Ethan asked once they were in an empty classroom.

"So, you guys said that you'd leave after you gave Erica and Boyd back, but that was two weeks ago and you guys are still here. Why haven't you guys left yet?"

The twins glanced at each other. They both let out a sigh and Aiden spoke up, "Deucalion doesn't seem to have any plans on leaving. Kali and Ennis even have jobs now, if you can believe it."

"I can't," Ethan muttered.

Stiles nodded, thoughts whizzing through his head. Hesitantly, he asked, "So, no plans to kidnap any more of my friends or kill anyone?"

"We promise not to do anything illegal." They crossed their hearts.

"Cool. I guess I'll see you guys in english, yeah?"

"Yeah," they muttered the reply in unison, grins on their faces as Stiles left.

Chapter Text

"Why are you so loyal to Scott?"

The twins had grabbed Stiles after he'd gotten his lunch, steering him towards the table they usually sat at by the arms. It had been two days since Stiles had asked them about their plans on leaving the town and he was definitely suspicious of them. He had started watching them, and so noticed that they were watching him. This lead to the decision that they should, instead of creepily watching him, try to befriend him. Or at least talk to him.

"What?" Stiles almost squeaked.

"Why are you so loyal to Scott?" they repeated.

Stiles looked from left to right, confusion clear on his face as he hesitantly replied, "Because he's my best friend?"

"Is that why you always sit with Lydia and Danny?" Ethan countered.

"Just because I don't sit with him all the time doesn't mean I'm not still his friend and I'm not still loyal to him." He grumpily chewed on his gross school cafeteria food.

Aiden looked at him with an indecipherable expression before sticking his nose into Stiles' neck. Stiles did squeak this time, dropping his food back onto his tray and shoving Aiden away. Aiden hardly noticed the shove as he spoke, "You hardly even smell like him right now. You smell more like us than him."

Stiles glared at him. "Not surprising considering in the past ten minutes you have manhandled me and shoved your face into my neck."

Aiden just shrugged.

The twins glanced at each other as Stiles continued to glare and they rose from their seats.

"Think about what we've said."

"And think about where your loyalty would be more appreciated."

The twins left to who knows where, but Stiles remained, half eaten lunch abandoned on his tray. He hardly had time to think about what they had said before he was swept up into a pair of arms. His heartbeat picked up and he struggled in the person's arms before he caught a glimpse of bright blonde hair and Boyd standing right behind it.

"Oh, hi, Erica," was all he could get out.

"Hey, sorry." She at least looked a little sheepish about scaring him. Suddenly, she let go. "It's just- we heard what the twins said and wanted to, ya know, scent you."

Stiles' eyes flickered up to Boyd with a raised eyebrow. The taller man shrugged and placed a hand on Stiles' neck, right over where Aiden had touched him. Stiles grinned.

"Thanks guys, I appreciate it, but they said I didn't smell like Scott, not that I didn't smell like pack. There's a difference."

'When had Scott stopped meaning pack?'

"Well now you don't smell like them," Erica said, bounced on the balls of her feet for a moment, kissed him on the cheek as a goodbye and left for her usual table. Boyd simply gave his neck a gentle squeeze before following after her.

~

The next day, Stiles was walking to his first class when the twins fell into step next to him.

"What are you guys doing?" Stiles asked, confusion evident in his voice.

"Walking you to class." Aiden shrugged and Stiles could feel the movement where their arms touched.

"Why?" he asked, eyes flickering between the two, searching for an answer.

"Careful!" Ethan wrapped an arm around Stiles and pulled him to the side, effectively saving him from stepping into something foul on the floor. Stiles had no idea what it was, but it looked horrible.

Neither answered Stiles' question as they arrived at chemistry.

When chemistry was over, Stiles found himself wrapped up in Erica and Boyd's arms to get rid of the smell of the twins.

~

At lunch, the twins grabbed Stiles' food for him, hands brushing and shoulders bumping. Then Erica and Boyd sat with him, Lydia and Danny rather than their usual spot with the rest of the pack, careful to touch anywhere the twins touched and then some.

~

At the end of the day, Erica and Boyd walked Stiles to his jeep. Arms wrapped his shoulders and waist, glares and snarls a common occurrence if and when the twins got too close.

Chapter Text

"We have reason to believe that the Alpha Pack are still here because they are now interested in Stiles."

They were having a pack meeting. Even Peter and Lydia (despite their unwillingness) had shown up for it. Everyone but Stiles, who would be late as he had to go grocery shopping first, and Danny, who now knew about werewolves but still had to deal with sisters and dance recitals.

"What're the reasons?" came Derek's almost uninterested response.

Erica sighed but dutifully explained, "The twins have been scent marking Stiles during school and, after asking Stiles about why he was so loyal to Scott, told him to think about where his loyalty would be more appreciated."

"Why are they so interested in him?" Derek grumbled.

Peter was quick to speak up, "The list is endless, my dear nephew. How couldn't they be interested in him?"

"So, what are we gonna do about it? How do we stop the Alpha Pack?" Scott asked, the concern surprising several members of the pack as he hadn't really seemed all that concerned for Stiles recently.

"I vote we just ignore it."

"He's objectively the best member of your pack and you want to ignore him?" This time it was Lydia, her cheeks attempting to match the colour of her hair.

Derek opened his mouth, prepared to defend himself, but Peter was already speaking, "No, he doesn't want to ignore Stiles, he wants to ignore the problem. I'm not sure which is worse though."

"It's not that I'm ignoring the problem," Derek got in before anyone else could interrupt, "It's just that I think if the Alpha Pack can realise that I'm not who they thought I was then they can probably realise that they don't want Stiles in their pack."

"They don't want you in their pack because you're a shit alpha. Stiles is actually really fucking brilliant. He's saved your life before, in case you forgot." Lydia's cheeks had surpassed her hair in the bright red factor, edging closer towards traffic light. She stood up abruptly, "I need to leave now, text me if Derek actually starts to think. I won't hold my breath." She stormed out of Derek's loft.

Scott, Allison and Isaac had been surprisingly silent the whole time, and this silence carried on as Derek had no one to argue with.

It only lasted a moment before Stiles wandered in, a bewildered look on his face. "Is Lydia alright? Her face is redder than her hair and she looks ready to kill a bitch."

"She's angry at Derek for being an idiot, it's fine," Peter waved off the problem.

"What's he done this time?"

"He thinks the best solution to the problem is to ignore it," Erica glared.

"What's the problem?" Stiles was still confused, he definitely must have missed a lot while shopping.

"The problem is that the Alpha Pack are interested in you," she explained, not beating around the bush.

"Oh, that." Stiles paused in thought for a moment before continuing casually, "Well, I was kind of just going to ignore it as well, to be honest. Is there anything we can actually do about it? Either they're interested in me or they aren't." He shrugged.

"We can't just sit here and wait for them to try to kidnap you," Erica said.

"Is there anything we can do to stop them though?"

"At least one of us could be with you at all times," Boyd offered.

"True," Stiles nodded. "I should probably start carrying mountain ash with me too, to be honest."

"We could make you look really dumb in front of the Alpha Pack," Isaac supplied.

"Not sure about that one," Erica spoke with a strained tone. "Alright, I guess if we can't think of anything then we should just move onto a different topic. Who wants meat lovers?"

~

Following Boyd's suggestion, Stiles was never left alone. As soon as he was out of his jeep, Boyd and Erica were there to walk him to his first class, where he spent the lesson with Danny and Scott on either side of him. The two then walked him to his next class with Erica, Boyd and Lydia. At recess, the three walked him to the cafeteria, where they sat together with Danny. Scott, Lydia and Allison went with him to the next class, which the four all had together with the twins. They made sure that there would be no empty seats around him.

You get the picture.

Stiles was literally never alone, including one sleepover when his dad had to work late. This lasted until the end of the week when, on Saturday, with his dad home so none of the others were with him, Stiles went to the grocery store.

It was going well, he had grabbed a bunch of vegetables and a few snacks that he'd have to hide from his father. He turned a corner and ran straight into someones back. He stumbled a moment, almost dropping his basket of food, and was sure to fall over when a large hand steadied him by the arm. His eyes shot to the hand, then trailed up the arm to a shoulder, a neck and finally a head. A head that belonged to Ennis.

Stiles' hand twitched towards the mountain ash in his pocket, but decided against causing a scene. Ennis was just shopping, like normal people do. He hadn't stalked him to the store then decided to give up stealth and have Stiles literally crash into him.

"Alpha Ennis," Stiles bowed his head, "Sorry about smashing into you, I wasn't really paying attention."

"It's fine," Ennis grumbled with a nod of his head.

The next time Stiles saw a werewolf member of his pack he got Ennis' scent aggressively cuddled out of him.

Chapter Text

It had been three weeks since the pack had started to keep Stiles company and they were not letting up. Boyd and Erica were currently sat on either side of Stiles on his couch, watching 'The Good Place' on Netflix.

They both tensed, frowns taking over their expressions. Stiles, confused, followed them to where they walked to his door. Erica swung the door open to reveal Ethan and Aiden waiting patiently. They could hear and smell each other, which was a strange but not unusual thing for Stiles to suddenly remember.

He zoned back in shortly after to hear Boyd and Erica growling and snarling at the twins. He quickly stepped in,

"Guys, it's fine, I'm sure they're here for a good reason." When the growling didn't let up he shouted, "Guys!"

They both whimpered and tilted their heads, baring their necks to Stiles. Confusion, followed by shock, followed by the determination to talk about this later all rolled over Stiles in quick succession.

"Deucalion wants to meet with you again," Aiden blurted out.

Everyone looked to him in shock.

"He says you can bring Beta Hale and Beta Martin with you. You can't bring anyone else, though. He's concerned that they won't be able to stay civil," Ethan continued to explain.

"Alright," he nodded, "what time does he want to meet?"

"Midday, tomorrow."

"Can do. Anything else?"

"If you could ditch the bodyguards then I'm sure we'd have plenty of things to do."

"They are disappointingly stuck to me like glue."

"A tragedy. I'm sure we'll see each other if and when that changes."

"Bye!" Erica slammed the door shut before either twin could respond. She turned to Stiles and glared, "Was that flirting?"

"Hey, they flirted with me, not the other way around."

Erica continued to glare. Stiles just sighed in response and wandered back to the couch. He sat down and the werewolves quickly followed, sandwiching him in.

"By the way," he started off innocently, "what was with the whole 'neck baring, submissive pose' thing? I've only seen you guys do that with Derek."

The two glanced at each other, a silent conversation playing out between them. After a few back and forths, Boyd looked to Stiles, "We kind of see you as an alpha."

Stiles blinked, silent, trying to process the words before he let out a squawked, "What?"

"It's just," Erica quickly jumped in but paused, collecting her thoughts, "Derek hasn't been acting like much of an alpha... but you have. You saved us from the Alpha Pack. You've been providing us with food when we stay here. You've been letting us stay here. You're the one who puts our wants and needs in front of your own. You're our alpha."

"I don't... I didn't even know humans could be alphas!" Stiles exclaimed, eyebrows drawn together.

"We didn't either, to be honest, but it just feels right."

"Alright, well, I'll have to ask Deaton about all of this but... I guess I'm your alpha now."

The two betas grinned widely and dived in for a hug, arms wrapped tightly around their new alpha.

"What do we do about Derek though? Like, how do we tell him?" Stiles interrupted the hug fest.

"He probably already knows something's up; our pack bonds are a lot weaker, same with Scott's and Isaac's," Erica explained once she had removed her face from his neck.

"I don't think we should tell him about it until after we've talked to Deaton and dealt with the Alpha Pack," Stiles said.

"When can we talk to Deaton?"

"I think it would be best to do it soon, maybe early tomorrow morning. Scott shouldn't be working and we'll have at least sorted some things out before I meet with Deucalion."

"Sounds good."

Chapter Text

"So, I talked to Deaton about something earlier today that I thought you guys might like to hear," Stiles spoke as he drove Peter, Lydia and himself to the meeting with the Alpha Pack.

Both Peter and Lydia turned to look at him. They had, of course, noticed how oddly quiet he had been up until this point and how his fidgeting had gotten worse and worse as the silence crept on. They gave him their undivided attention, as he deserved nothing less.

He paused for a moment, breathed in deeply and spilled out the words, "It turns out that humans can become alphas really fucking easily, and I'm kinda, sorta Boyd and Erica's alpha. We haven't talked to Derek about it but like he probably already knows, so..."

The jeep remained silent for just long enough that Stiles' hands gripped tight and white on the steering wheel.

Lydia huffed a breathy laugh, "Well, you're certainly a better alpha than Derek or Scott could ever hope to be. I know I said I wanted nothing to do with supernatural business, but with you as leader I think I'd be stupid to leave. I'd be happy to join your pack, if you'll have me."

Stiles glanced towards her with a smile before shifting his gaze back to the road. "Of course I'll have you, Lydia. You'll make an excellent right-hand."

Lydia let out a quiet exhale as she felt what she could only assume was a pack bond snap firmly into place. Stiles glanced at her, a contagious grin on his lips.

His eyes shot back to the road and nervousness rose up in him again as Peter was silent.

"There's no need to be nervous, darling," the werewolf chuckled and Stiles relaxed a little. "I certainly hadn't expected this, but it's a welcome surprise. I had originally planned to become alpha again and have you be my emissary, of course, but you as the alpha is definitely not a problem for me. I would love to be your beta."

Stiles grinned as he looked into the rearview mirror, the only safe way to look at Peter as the beta had been forced to sit in the backseat. "You'll be a wonderful left-hand." Stiles grinned and he relaxed completely into his seat, the pack bond snapping into place.

The jeep was silent again for all of three seconds before Lydia asked, "Did Deaton explain at all how a human could act as an alpha?"

Stiles spoke as he pulled over to the curb, "Lydia, if I'm gonna explain this stuff then I'm gonna need you to drive otherwise I might accidentally, like, let go of the wheel to gesture wildly."

Lydia nodded and they swapped seats.

As soon as he was buckled in, Stiles sighed, sucked in a deep breath, and vomited out the words to explain what he had found, "Deaton was really vague, as usual, but I managed to gather some information. From what I can tell, humans can become alphas because the spark we have doesn't translate into alpha/beta/omega as easily as a werewolf's spark does. A human's spark is very neutral but probably translates best into a beta type thing. In rare situations where a human joins a werewolf pack and there is no alpha, or the current alpha doesn't act like an alpha but the human does, then the spark translates to alpha. This, I guess, is what happened to me."

"So, why must a werewolf kill to become an alpha, when it's as simple as who you hang out with for humans?" Peter asked with a curious and confused frown on his face.

"There aren't really any solid facts as to why that is, but there are certainly a lot of myths out there that seem to follow the same story. The Gods created the first werewolves, created them all to be alphas, and so it is believed that the amount of alphas created was the perfect amount. A werewolf could become an alpha but that meant a different alpha would have to lose their spark, whether that be by dying or by exchanging it for a beta spark. Some believe that if an alpha that has no pack is killed, either by more natural causes or by a non-were, then their spark goes into the earth, where it waits for someone that can be turned into a True Alpha to come along. Because human sparks and werewolf sparks are different, it seems that humans can be alphas without it changing how many alpha werewolves there are."

"But there isn't a set amount of betas or omegas?"

"Again, there aren't any solid facts but many believe that it's easier to change between a beta and an omega because of how similar they are or, if you're religious, because they weren't created by gods. Some people have even theorised that there is no difference between a beta spark and an omega spark, but there is a difference between their sanity. Because werewolves need a pack, they turn aggressive and possibly even insane without one. That's why alphas can become more aggressive without a pack but their sparks don't change into an omega spark."

"You're amazing," Peter muttered, almost in awe at the information about werewolves that he had never heard of.

Stiles looked at him with surprise but grinned anyway, "Thanks, but I kinda just stole a couple of books from Deaton that looked helpful."

"Even better."

Stiles snorted.

"What's with the pack bond?" Lydia asked.

"Well, generally humans can't feel pack bonds even if they're in a pack with werewolves. Because I'm the alpha I can feel them, but they're certainly stronger with the werewolves. I'm not one hundred percent sure why you can feel the bond but I'm thinking you might not be entirely human. You're immune to werewolf bites, after all."

"We're getting closer. I suggest we don't mention anything important now, just in case they can hear us," Lydia spoke up after she soaked in everything Stiles had said.

"Good idea," Stiles nodded, and began rambling about something unimportant that he had come across in his research.

A few minutes later and Lydia was pulling up into the abandoned parking lot. Everyone hopped out and walked together, Lydia behind Stiles on his right and Peter behind him on his left. He walked into the building for the second time in his life, reassurance thrumming through the pack bonds. He smiled.

"Beta Stiles Stilinski, it's a pleasure to be meeting with you again," Deucalion greeted him from where he stood. Kali and the twins were behind him, but Ennis was nowhere to be seen. As Stiles approached, Deucalion held out a hand.

"The pleasure's all mine, Alpha Deucalion," Stiles spoke with a grin.

He placed his hand in Deucalion's grip, expecting a handshake but receiving a kiss to the back of his hand. Deucalion let go and sat down smoothly, Stiles following an awkward second later, movement stiff in his surprise.

He cleared his throat before speaking up, "Might I ask why you've asked for me specifically?"

"From our last encounter and what the twins tell me, you're a very clever boy, darling. I'm sure you've already figured it out."

Peter tensed minutely as Deucalion used the term of endearment, but no one mentioned it.

"You guys want me to join your pack, right?" Stiles asked.

"Quite right," Deucalion smiled and it was only then that Stiles realised he wasn't wearing his glasses, and saw the way the scarred tissue around his eyes crinkled with the smile.

"I'm sorry but I'm gonna have to decline any offer to join your pack," Stiles spoke as carefully as he could. An upset alpha pack would not be a good thing.

"May I make an offer for you to think about first, before you leave?"

The feeling that crept up the back of his neck told Stiles to get out of that building before Deucalion could do anything else, but he answered with an 'of course' instead.

Deucalion snapped his fingers and Ennis walked into the room from a side door, a struggling girl in his arms. She looked worse than Erica and Boyd had, but not by too much.

"If you accept to join my pack, we'll let Cora Hale go. I'll send the twins again to set a time in a few days. Goodbye, darling."

With that, the Alpha Pack and the still struggling girl left the room.

Chapter Text

Everyone was settled in the Stilinski living room, which meant Stiles, Peter, Lydia, Erica, Boyd and the newly-accepted-into-the-pack Danny were crammed into the couches and chairs. It had only been five hours since Deucalion had made the offer and everyone was very tense.

Stiles opened his mouth to speak but several people quickly interrupted, "You're not giving yourself up for Cora." It was surprisingly synchronised.

"She's your niece, Peter!" he argued, throwing a hand out into the air.

"And you're my alpha," he snarled back.

It would've been a lot more intense if Stiles didn't have his legs thrown over Peter's lap.

"So what do we do, fight them?" Stiles huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"If we have to," Peter shot back.

"We can't! They're a pack of alphas that all have a history of and experience with fighting and killing and not holding back! We're a newly formed pack of humans and betas and the only one with any real history of fighting is you, Peter, and that was when you were a crazed alpha that hadn't recently come back from the dead."

"Is there any way we could bargain with them? Anything they could possibly want that we could get our hands on?" Danny asked, sitting forward in the armchair.

"They've only ever been interested in getting stronger, from what I've read. We can't exactly give them anything that makes them stronger 'cause then it'd just be easier for them to get to me," Stiles shrugged, almost as if his mind wasn't racing through possibilities.

"Derek's coming," Boyd muttered.

"What?" Stiles squawked, head shooting up from where he had hunched over.

"He's walking down your street right now," Boyd explained.

"Oh, God," Stiles groaned and, with a huff, stood up and walked to his door. He swung the door open and smiled cheerily at Derek, who had just stepped onto his property, "Derek, what a pleasure seeing you here!"

"Are you having a pack meeting?" the alpha asked coldly.

"Yes, yes, come in, we'll try to explain everything." Stiles' smile didn't falter because it was entirely fake.

Derek glared at him, but walked into the house anyway, taking a seat on the only empty chair. Stiles sat back down on his couch, swinging his legs over Peter again, and finally lost his smile. He fidgeted with the pillow next to him, his eyes fixed on it.

"Boyd, Erica, what's going on?" Derek asked. His eyebrows were drawn together and his voice had a suspicious lilt to it.

The two betas looked at each other, the grip they had on each other's hands tightened slightly. Erica spoke up, "We're still technically part of your pack, it's just that you're not our alpha anymore."

"What? Who's your alpha then?" His mouth and nose were angry and wrinkled and ready to shout, but his eyes were worried and wide, swimming with colours of ocean, forest and fire. His shoulders were tense but loose, ready for both fight and flight.

"Stiles is," Boyd spoke carefully.

Derek's eyes snapped to Stiles, still wide but no longer worried, filled now only with fire. He snarled, lips pulled back to show pink gums and sharp teeth.

"Derek, I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"You took them away from me!"

"That's not- that wasn't what-"

"You stole them from me!"

Derek lunged from his chair, nails sharpening to claws as they tore through the air, but they never touched flesh as he was shoved back into his chair. Dazed, he looked up to see Peter towering over him, blue eyes glowing. Behind the beta was Erica and Boyd, golden eyes shining bright with shocking fury. The humans weren't calm either; both Lydia and Danny were standing, tense and red with anger.

"Derek, you have to understand that I couldn't ever possibly be their alpha if there was already a werewolf acting as alpha to them," Stiles spoke from behind the pack.

"What are you saying?" Derek snarled out, earning a bright blue glare.

"He's saying that you weren't acting like an alpha. You were broody and sulking and, yes, that's understandable but that doesn't mean we have to put up with it. We were gone for almost three months and you hardly scented us at all," Erica explained, a touch of hurt in her voice.

"I'm- shit, I'm sorry," Derek managed to force out after a few moments of shock.

Boyd's smile seemed to reflect Erica's tone of voice, "We know you are, Derek, and we're not abandoning you. Like we said, you're still pack. That is, you're still pack if you choose to be, and if you choose to be Stiles' beta."

"I can join?" the alpha asked and his voice was small and soft and tired, so tired that Stiles wondered if maybe Derek didn't actually want to be alpha.

"Yeah," Stiles smiled. "According to everything I've read you can join my pack and, as long as you never challenge me to become alpha, you'll act just like a beta."

Carefully, Derek stood up and Stiles' betas parted, allowing him to stand in front of Stiles. "Alpha Stilinski, may I join your pack?" He held out a hand to shake.

Stiles stood up as well and grinned, "Of course." He grabbed Derek's hand and pulled the now-beta in for a hug, spare hand coming up to squeeze his neck gently.

Eyes widened at the display but no one spoke. Slowly, they parted and Stiles sat back down. Everyone was quick to follow.

"To quickly catch you up: Deucalion has your sister, Cora, and he's using her as a bargaining chip to get me to join him," Stiles blurted out with a healthy amount of fear in his voice.

"She's alive?" Derek asked, a sea of emotions swimming through his eyes as he looked to Peter.

"Yeah, we didn't get to speak to her, but she looks okay," Peter explained with a surprisingly soft smile.

"What do we do about it?"

"Well, I've had some time to think," Stiles started and was immediately interrupted by Lydia.

"Five minutes ago you had no options, when have you had time to think?"

"My time to think started five minutes ago, it's technically still going. Anyway, I think we should talk to Ethan and Aiden."

"Why?"

"Honestly, I think we could probably convince them to join our pack," Stiles spoke nonchalantly.

"What?" several betas shouted.

"They both like me, right?" he asked everyone.

"Pretty sure at least one of them has a crush on you, and it might not be the gay one," Erica pointed out with a wink.

"Not what I meant but it doesn't disprove my point. Now, if I can convince them to join the pack then we have an actual chance at fighting the Alpha Pack. The twins are really strong and they know where the pack is hiding out and where they keep Cora."

"If we get the twins then it'll be three versus nine. I kinda like those odds," Lydia nodded.

"Nine? Are we not including Scott, Allison and Isaac?" Derek asked, confused.

Stiles sat a little straighter in his seat as he explained, "If I'm being honest here, I don't want Allison anywhere near any fighting because I don't want Chris to stress. Scott's not an option because, although he's my brother, he acts before he thinks at the worst moments possible. Isaac's following Scott around like a puppy, so he's out too."

Without warning, there was a knock at the door.

"Who is it? Do you guys know?" Stiles asked, a little shocked that he hadn't been warned about this by his guard dogs.

"It's the twins, they have Cora with them."

Stiles was out of his seat and in the hallway before anyone could stop him. Peter and Lydia quickly followed and stood tense behind him.

Stiles swung the door open and smiled, "Hi, guys, we were just talking about you!"

Chapter Text

"So, what brings you to my door, with Cora, no less?" Stiles asked once everyone was settled down.

Stiles was sat on the couch in between Peter and Lydia, who sat in their respective positions of left and right. Boyd and Erica still sat on the loveseat, but were no longer cuddling. Cora and Derek squeezed onto one arm chair, arms wrapped around each other and hands stroking to scent and comfort. Danny had swapped to Lydia's armchair in an act to move further away from the twins.

The twins sat on two chairs that had been dragged in from the kitchen. There was still an armchair open, but it would've been too much of a hassle to move that in front of the TV so that everyone could easily watch and glare.

"We came here to give Cora Hale back to you before we left the continent," Ethan explained.

Stiles raised a cool and calculated eyebrow, "You're leaving the Alpha Pack?"

"That's the plan. We don't want to fight you, and we certainly don't want to kill you." Aiden shrugged. The nonchalance that floated off of their posture and through their voices were entirely fake, Stiles was aware.

"And if there was another option? If you could stay here with a far lower risk of Deucalion killing you?" he asked, leaning a little further forward in his seat, a little straighter.

"I think we'd need a little more information before deciding on any other option." They both had suspicion woven into their features, in the creases by their eyes and the slant of their lips.

"Join our pack."

"And follow Derek?" Aiden snorted a laugh before adding, "No thanks."

Stiles let a grin slide onto his face, "Sorry, I should really clarify. You see, this is my pack. I'm the alpha, not Derek. In fact, he has recently become one of my betas."

The twins couldn't keep the shock off their faces. Stiles couldn't help but feel just a little bit of glee at watching their facades crack as their eyebrows rose, their eyes widened and their jaws fell open.

"So, what do you say? Wanna join us, be my betas?" he prompted them in a casual attempt to snap them out of their state. He wasn't quite willing to risk snapping a finger in front of their faces.

"But what about Deucalion? He'll come after us if we're not on a plane to Australia by tomorrow morning," Ethan's voice reflected how both twins looked, eyebrows drawn together, lips tugged downwards, worried.

"If you join our pack then there'll be ten of us versus three of them. We'll protect you, but only if you protect us in return."

They glanced at each other and a conversation that only they could hear was held. After a moment, they turned to Stiles and, together, they spoke, "We want to join your pack, Alpha Stiles Stilinski."

"I accept, Beta Ethan and Beta Aiden."

"Wait, ten? I thought Lydia said there was nine of us earlier," Erica spoke up after the moment had passed.

"We have Cora now, rather than getting her back after fighting the Alpha Pack," Stiles shrugged.

"We're letting Cora fight?" Derek asked, hand tightening around his sister.

Stiles blinked up at him for a second before rubbing a hand at the nape of his neck, "Sorry, I should've asked first. Cora, do you want to join our pack as my beta and fight with us again Deucalion, Kali and Ennis?"

Cora returned his gaze with a ferocity on her eyes. "Yes," she declared, leaving no room for objections from Derek or Peter.

Stiles grinned, "She's terrifying and I love her already." At the growl he received from Derek he laughed, "Not like that, Derek, calm down." The growl cut off immediately.

That was interesting.

"What's our plan of attack?" Lydia entered in, getting the pack back on track.

"We could try the Scott Approach first. We go to their place, I could at least try to surround them in mountain ash, then we could try talk it out now that they don't have Cora as leverage. If that doesn't work then attack," Stiles spoke, lips twisted in an odd way as he thought.

"Attack?" Peter raised an amused eyebrow.

"If I can manage to get them trapped in mountain ash then killing them should be easy. We just borrow a gun from Chris and shoot them all. If I can't get that to work then obviously it's gonna be a claw to claw situation."

"You'd really shoot them?" Danny asked.

Stiles shrugged, "I mean, yeah, I guess I would. I know how to shoot, I've been to the firing range loads of times, and I'm not against killing those who are threatening my pack."

Every beta's wolves preened at the words.

Although Talia was a good alpha she never said anything like that towards Derek, Cora or Peter, although she wasn't against killing. However, more often than not, Peter was the one killing as he was the left hand. Ethan and Aiden had never really had a pack who cared for them, so anything even remotely similar to this was new to them. Erica and Boyd simply loved that someone cared about them, especially their alpha.

Even the humans appreciated what he said. Lydia knew what Scott was like and how it would likely get him killed one day, she was glad Stiles wasn't that idiotic. Danny understood that the Alpha Pack was ruthless when need be, and so they would have to be ruthless as well.

"So, I was thinking," Stiles' voice snapped everyone back to reality, "Cora, Erica and Boyd take on Ennis. I think probably the best way to handle him is for two of you to hold him down and then someone else slashes his throat." He looked up and noticed the few wide eyes he got from his bluntness and coughed awkwardly, "Or whatever, you get the picture."

"Wouldn't it be best for the twins to take on Ennis?" Boyd asked.

"Yeah, doesn't our strongest versus their strongest make more sense?" Erica added in.

Stiles looked at them, the hint of a proud smile on his lips before he explained, "Well, I was thinking that, but honestly I think the twins should take on Kali. She uses her claws most, and cuts take the longest to heal from if they're from an alpha, so a couple of alphas versing her levels the playing field." He turned his attention then to the twins, "I want you guys to give her more than you get, slash her up as much as possible even if that's not what you're used to. Obviously try and kill her as fast as possible, aim for the throat as much as you can."

The twins nodded, a serious look in their eyes.

"That leaves Peter and Derek on Deucalion. Well..." Stiles did a strange shake of his head that seemed to mean 'sort of'.

The two in question raised an eyebrow at him.

"I want you two to distract him, rather than fight him. Just long enough for everyone else to kill Kali and Ennis. I don't trust that Deucalion isn't strong enough to kill both of you by himself," he explained.

"And where are the three humans during all of this?" Lydia butted in, before anyone else could interject with an opinion.

"We'll be safely surrounded by a line of mountain ash. Or, at least, at the beginning of the fight we will be. I don't doubt that eventually we'll end up leaving the circle to help save someone's ass, so do try and bring a few weapons."

Lydia and Danny nodded, hidden smiles on their faces.

"This plan sounds... not completely terrible," Derek said as what Stiles assumed was supposed to be a compliment.

"Well, I'm not Scott." Both alphas grinned.

"When do we do this?" Ethan asked.

"That'll take me several questions aimed at several different people and maybe a few snacks to answer."

Chapter Text

"Although I don't doubt your intelligence or your ability to remember and connect pieces of information," Peter started, sounding very much like he was doubting Stiles' intelligence and his ability to remember and connect pieces of information, "you are aware that if and when one of your betas kills an alpha they will themselves become an alpha, right?"

"I'm aware." Stiles nodded before raising an eyebrow when Peter didn't immediately explain himself.

"And you aren't concerned about potentially having three more alphas in your pack?" He raised an eyebrow right back, sitting down next to Stiles on his bed.

"Not really," Stiles shrugged, turning back to his phone. He was currently texting Chris to find out how quick he could get a gun from him, which lead to several lengthy explanations to catch the hunter up on what was happening in the sleepy town of Beacon Hills.

"So, even with several alphas currently in your pack and potentially three more soon, you aren't concerned about these alphas clashing or trying to become leader?"

"Yep." Still texting.

"Why?"

He held up a finger, a sliver of a smile slipping onto his lips as Peter huffed. He quickly texted Chris a few more times before turning his body towards Peter. He sighed, quickly arranging his thoughts in his mind before speaking,

"I'm not worried about the twins because they don't want to be alphas. From what I've gathered, they used to be in a really shit pack. They were mistreated and didn't get any of the attention that betas in healthy packs need, and I have no doubts that Deucalion would have manipulated them. They probably just want to be treated like they're pack, which is very unlikely to happen if they're alphas, considering their reputation. Of course these are assumptions, I haven't actually asked them, but I'm pretty sure I'm right."

Peter listened, silent, nodding as he processed the information, then asked, "And Derek?"

"We already know that Derek isn't an alpha as we probably wouldn't be talking about this if he was. I don't think he's in a healthy mental state at the moment and he probably needs an alpha to look after him right now. His sister died, his uncle was the one that killed her, then he killed his own uncle. That isn't a recipe for 'healthy alpha who can look after unstable betas who are also unstable teenagers'."

Stiles was really hoping that none of the werewolves were listening in on the conversation. He could vaguely hear the TV downstairs, but that didn't exactly tell him anything.

"Yes, biting those two teenagers probably wasn't the best idea," Peter nodded in agreement.

"Dude, you bit Scott," Stiles snorted, taking away from his accusatory tone.

"I was insane at the time," Peter frowned, an almost pouty look on his face.

"Maybe Derek was a little bit insane, too." His voice held a hint of sadness, eyes downcast. The smell drifting off of him made Peter want to hug him, scent him and assure him that everything would be okay.

The moment was broken when Stiles' phone pinged, a text message received from Chris. The boy leapt to his feet, a bright grin on his face and a spark of golden determination in his eyes.

"Right, let's go kill some alphas."

~

Of course 'Plan A' didn't work.

The mountain ash hung in the air like a black cloud, just out of reach of Stiles' hand and filled with potential danger. He wondered whether the ash ring didn't form because of a consent problem, or if they had their own magic user to protect them from such a thing, or something else entirely. This thought only lasted a moment before he was turning the ash around and circling himself, Danny and Lydia.

While Stiles held the attention of everyone in the room, he quickly began speaking,

"As you can see, Deucalion, you've lost your leverage and two of your betas to us. It's now your choice whether you want to lose your life as well."

As he spoke he walked, a leisurely pace carrying him towards the centre of the room. A ring of mountain ash crawled along, matching his pace and keeping him safe.

"You really think you can kill us?" Deucalion scoffed, following Stiles with his eyes.

"I'm pretty confident that we can. I mean, we don't have to. You three can always just pack up and leave, I'm sure there are plenty of other packs you can terrorize."

He could already tell by the fang of Deucalion's teeth that the man would never agree to simply leave.

"None as lovely as you, darling," the alpha of alphas purred out, fangs slurring his words almost unnoticeably. Of course Stiles noticed.

"So, you're choosing fight over flight?" he asked for clarity.

"So it would seem."

"Ennis," Stiles called, twirling in his circle of ash to face the brute, "are you sticking with your alpha or ditching?"

Burning red eyes, fluffy sideburns, a severe lack of eyebrows and a low growl responded.

"Sticking with the alpha, got it!"

Stiles pulled out his gun and shot the massive alpha between the eyes quicker than a werewolf could flinch. In contrast, Ennis' body seemed to collapse in slow motion. A human's eye could track the moment his knees stopped supporting his weight, how dust rose as he crashed to the floor, the way blood trickling out of his head at gravity's will.

Every 'wolf in the room listened as his heart stopped beating.

Stiles twisted on the spot. "Kali?" he asked, eyebrow raising in time with his gun.

She roared, the walls shaking minutely, and leapt towards the boy in the mountain ash circle. He shot twice, clipping her shoulder and puncturing her stomach. The ring of ash threw her to the floor and he swiftly shot her through the head.

"Peter, you're supposed to be watching Deucalion, not me. He's getting away," Peter jumped into action instantaneously, even as Stiles continued talking, "I only have two bullets left and both are going in his head. Just to be on the safe side."

Peter's clawed hand gripped Deucalion's arm, tossing him back to Stiles. The lone alpha landed at the boy's feet, kneeling.

The bullet pierced through Deucalion's skull before he had the chance to move, to attack or run or any other motion. Stiles let the man's body still before he shot him again.

"Well, that was... very dramatic but also slightly anticlimactic at the same time, which probably makes no sense," Stiles shrugged to himself and stepped out of the ring of ash. He stumbled a little but managed to keep his balance as he walked towards his pack. The gun dropped from his shakey grip. He collapsed as he reached the outermost of his pack, knees giving out but landing in someone's arms before he could hit the floor.

~

Blinking away sleep, Stiles slowly sat up and looked around, taking in where he was (his bedroom), who was with him (Lydia and Peter), and why he was there (he had passed out after killing three werewolves).

"Where is everyone?" he asked first, deciding it was the most important out of every other question racing through his head.

"They're all downstairs. We figured you wouldn't want to be buried underneath a puppy pile as soon as you woke up," Lydia explained, a soft smile on her face.

"And the bodies?" was the next question, his head turned to Peter.

"Dumped with bricks at the bottom of a lake, in the middle of the forest, that only the Hales and the dead know exists."

"Mind showing me where that is one day?"

"Sounds romantic." Peter grinned and, when Stiles let out a laugh, it twisted into a smile.

"How are you feeling?" Lydia asked, perfect eyebrows drawn together, perfect lips curled downwards, perfectly manicured hand placed atop his shoulder.

Stiles paused for a moment, answer flitting about in his mind until it formed into the truth, "I think I'm alright. I reckon I fainted because of the adrenaline crash, plus being tired after the whole mountain ash manipulation trick. I'm pretty fucking hungry, though."

As the last words left his mouth, the rest of the pack entered his room, food in the hands of Erica and Danny.

Despite the protests of the alpha and his right and left hands, a puppy pile formed on top of Stiles.