Chapter Text
“You should claim him.” Peter said, almost idly into the silence. Derek’s new living space is almost always silent so it feels a bit like speaking in a library.
Derek shot his uncle a glare. “What are you talking about?”
“Stiles, Derek. Do keep up, I know you aren’t this dense.” The beta was lounging, taking up the entire one couch that Derek had gotten for the loft. The rest of the betas plus Stiles had just left a few minutes before. Once Stiles had realized that Derek was going to be his usual surly and unhelpful self, the boy had dragged the puppies out to get food and find somewhere warm. Peter sighed, his nephew was truly an idiot when it comes to leading his pack.
Derek is still glaring at him. Finally the alpha spoke up. “Telling me to rape a minor isn’t funny, Peter.”
Peter rolls his eyes, the things he has to put up with now. “Good gods, nephew, when did I say anything about rape? Claim, you idiot, claim. Not rape. I feel like I truly should be concerned about your mental well being if instead of wooing to claim you jump first to force.”
Derek growled and stalked over to the couch to loom over his uncle. Peter resisted the urge to roll his eyes again. His nephew is as threatening as a squirrel most days and this is definitely one of those days. Instead, he raises an eyebrow and gives the boy his most charming smile. Derek growled again. “Then explain yourself better. What do you mean by claim?”
This makes Peter sit up. “Do you now truly know? Why, Derek, I’m appalled at the lack of training Laura gave you on pack dynamics.” This causes Derek to snarl and his claws to come out. “Calm yourself, nephew, I wouldn’t want any of your betas to see and copy your lack of control. A claim is usually only made by an alpha to his intended mate. It can technically be given to anyone and usually it is just an easy way for a pack to know the hierarchy. However, mating and claiming a spark, well…” Peter trailed off wistfully, thinking of a moment in a car garage when he had been so close to getting everything he had wanted.
“This doesn't explain anything. Why the fuck would I claim a spastic, obnoxious, underage boy?”
Peter gave Derek his very best disappointed face. “Please don’t tell me you are truly this clueless, Stiles is not only the only thing holding your pack together at the moment but he is also a spark. The mountain ash at the club should have shown you that much at least.”
Derek now rolled his eyes. “The ability to manipulate mountain ash doesn’t mean anything Peter. Even a half assed druid like Deaton can do that.”
“But could a half assed druid like Deaton make more mountain ash appear to close a circle?”
Derek huffed and began to walk away. “Regardless if he is or not, it’s ridiculous.”
Peter got up and prowled after his nephew. “I am not playing a game here. When Deucalion returned Erica and Boyd, he told you his intentions. He wants Beacon Hills for himself, the Hale lands for himself. He and his ‘pack’ of alphas have already settled in and are toying with you and you and this ragtag group of teenagers are not enough to stop him.”
Derek whirled back snarling and shoved Peter up against the wall. Flashing his red eyes, he growled deep. Peter deliberately kept his own eyes human and refused to submit. “You need power Derek, and Stiles is the way to get that power. It won’t even be hard, don’t you see the way he craves the attention and praise? He’s even attracted to you, and he would do anything to protect one of his people. You just need to become one of them. You are so close already, all it would take is you pulling your head out of your ass and allowing your emotions to show through.”
“You think it’s that easy, don’t you? Just snap my fingers and he’ll come running? I won’t play this game with you Peter. Bring it up again and I’ll make you omega. Stiles isn’t even pack and won’t ever be pack. I barely tolerate his presence as it is. He’s with Scott, remember? And Scott betrayed me and the pack.”
“But you’ll let him go off with your betas? You’ll let him feed them and help them with their homework? You know he’s even working with Jackson on control with the boy’s wolf?” Peter smirked as Derek’s eyes flashed again. It was just so easy that it almost wasn’t fun anymore to rile up his nephew.
Derek looked like he was about to say something more when they heard clattering feet on the stairs leading to the loft. Soon, the four teenagers came laughing back inside. They were carrying pizza boxes and bags of what looked like snacks.
“Hey sourwolf, we thought about it and decided that even grumpy alphas need to eat.” Stiles said, cheerfully, as he dropped the boxes he was carrying on what passed as a kitchen table. Taking in Derek and Peter’s positions he grinned and added, “Woah, dude, did we interrupt something here, I mean I’m not gonna lie, it’s a bit weird and kinky but I don’t judge. You do you and love who you need to love man.” Erica giggled and high fived the human while Boyd rolled his eyes at them.
Derek whirled around and stalked towards Stiles. Peter settled against the wall, well, he had tried to help but obviously his words were going to be completely dismissed. Derek reached the human, grabbed his arm roughly and started hauling him back towards the door. Stiles frowned and twisted, trying to get away.
“Woah, alpha man, I was just teasing, yeash, got it though. No teasing about the love time between uncle and nephew.”
Reaching the door, Derek pulled it open and pushed Stiles through, the boy looked actually nervous now. He shot the betas a confused look, even looked over at Peter. Peter winced and looked away. He could feel how that reaction affected the human.
“Derek, seriously, what is going on? Did you not like the kind of pizza we brought or something? Come on man, use your words.”
“You aren’t pack Stiles.” The effect of the words on the boy were drastic and immediate. His scent soured and he flinched back. “You aren’t pack and you shouldn’t be here. It’s too dangerous for you and us.”
“What…? Derek...but…”
“No. I’ve put up with you long enough. You are just a useless human who sticks his nose into far too much trouble. Go home, Stiles and stay away from my pack.” With that Derek slammed the door shut. The clang echoed loudly through the now silent loft. They could all feel Stiles shock as he shifted for a moment before turning, heart pounding, and raced down the stairs and out to his jeep. Erica whined and turned pleading eyes to Peter. Well, isn’t that interesting. He nodded to her and slowly advanced towards the alpha. This was possibly turning out better than he had hoped for.
“Derek…” He made his voice low and cautious, like Derek was unstable and needed to be approached with care.
Derek turned his hard gaze to Peter and dismissively walked over to the table with the food. Isaac was fidgeting by it, looking at the ground while Boyd was alternating between giving Isaac concerned looks and Derek disapproving ones. Before Derek could say anything more Erica spoke up.
“What the hell was that?”
Derek sighed. “That was protecting a vulnerable human. I would have thought you and Boyd would understand just how vulnerable having a human in the pack makes us.” Both of the betas flinched, no doubt remembering their time with Gerard and watching Stiles get tortured. Peter had overheard them describing it to Isaac not long after. His lips curled up slightly, remembering how satisfying it was to tear Gerard into little pieces and scatter them across the forest.
Derek was speaking again so he turned his focus back to the conversation. “I want you all to stay away from him. The alpha pack will get bored of us eventually and move on. But if they think Stiles is important to us they could go after him. Understand?”
They all murmured their agreement but Peter could smell their confusion and resentment. He stopped another smile from forming. Derek was really making all of this too easy on him. While he hadn’t really thought Derek would have moved forward with claiming Stiles, he had thought the alpha was at least smart enough to see how important the human was to the pack. Derek took one of the pizza boxes and went up the stairs and away from his betas. Peter took the opportunity to slide in, soothing their worries with reassurances about Stiles’ wellbeing and also how well they were all doing with the change. He would take any chance to establish himself as the more calm and reasonable werewolf. The one who saw value where it was and the one who built up their confidence in themselves.
The betas soaked up his words eagerly and after they had finished eating, he suggested they work on training with him. He spent the next several hours going through fighting stances and moves, taking every opportunity to both gently correct and praise when it had gone right. Feeling irritated at Derek, he wished the alpha would actually pay attention for once. These teenagers were just begging for validation, but the alpha remained oblivious to it.
Later that night as he made his way back to his apartment he contemplated his next move. He genuinely hadn’t been planning to become alpha again after he had managed to resurrect himself. He was still recovering strength in many ways from that ordeal and also he couldn’t bring himself to attack his last remaining family member. Derek might not believe him but he did actually care about his family. Laura’s death was a constant source of nightmares. If only he’d realized sooner who she was, if only she hadn’t rejected and cut off their bond when she had left him in a coma.
Shaking off these thoughts he let himself into his apartment. The problem was still out there. Deucalion was not going to get bored and leave. The blind alpha’s hate of Talia was too strong for him to not take the opportunity to take his revenge by claiming her old lands. Peter could not let that happen. These were Hale lands and they would stay Hale lands.
Sinking into his, much more comfortable couch, he considered Stiles. The untrained spark was everything one could want for a pack member. He was furiously loyal, cunning, smart and had a vicious streak against those who harmed his friends. The only downside was that yes, he was still a teenager and coming with that there were plenty of times when a lack of maturity caused him to make rash decisions or react simply on emotion. However, these flaws did not outweigh the positives that would come from claiming the boy as a mate. Peter also knew something that Derek didn’t. Stiles had turned 18 at the beginning of the month, two weeks ago. Peter had overheard Erica and Boyd discussing it and then Jackson had (surprisingly) chimed in that Stiles had been held back for a year after his mother had died. Derek, in his disdain of interacting with his betas, had missed this.
It was possible for a beta to bond with and then mate claim a spark. It was just more difficult to do as it took a lot of time and concentrated effort into establishing the bond and most of all, it had to be mutual. An alpha could force a claim upon a spark without consent, though the bond would never be as strong if it had come about naturally. But for it to work with a beta...he would have to plan this very carefully. He’d need a place to take the boy, what’s more is that he’d need a way to make Stiles compliant.
The chips were already in play now. Derek rejecting him and driving him away from his only friends would make it easier to get a hold on him. He knew the boy was attracted to him but that wouldn’t be enough. Stiles was smart and still wary of Peter. He was sure once he had Stiles alone it wouldn’t be hard to make Stiles fall for him but he had to gain enough trust to get started. He also wasn’t sure how quickly he’d need to act. Deucalion liked to play the long game but if the blind alpha found out that Stiles was a spark...Peter shuddered, no. He would never let that happen.
He pulled out his computer. He needed to find somewhere to go that would be hidden enough that they could stay there for as long as needed. He knew he had some time at least, he needed to wait until it was obvious to Stiles that Derek wasn’t going to relent and that everything the boy had sacrificed was for nothing. He also needed to track down the old journals and books written down by other spark emissaries to the Hale pack. He knew Deaton had refused to teach Stiles magic and Stiles was pissed off about it. Having something the boy wanted with Peter and then nothing for him left behind would keep Stiles there initially. Peter smiled to himself as he started searching for remote places for sale.
For the first time since his resurrection, Peter felt excited about the possibilities of the future. Bonded to Stiles would mean he would be strong enough to kill an alpha. When he was an alpha again it meant that he and Stiles could bind themselves to the Nemeton which would make Peter the rightful alpha of Beacon Hills. He could do this, he could make right his mistakes and truly call this land Hale pack land again.