Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Mom!" Derek ran into his mom's office, not bothering to knock like he normally would. "Something's wrong with the pack!"

"I know," his mom said gravely. Derek noticed that his dad and Aunt Sora were there, but Uncle Peter wasn't. "What did you feel?"

"First Isaac about an hour ago, and just now both Erica and Boyd. Their packbond went sharp with shock, and then dulled into unconsciousness. I thought I was misinterpreting things with Isaac, but it hit Boyd and Erica simultaneously."

"Which implies a magical attack," Aunt Sora said sourly.

"I'd already sent Peter to check on Isaac, and I've directed him towards Boyd and Erica's houses," his mom said. "He'll report back what he's found, and we'll get this all straightened out. Meanwhile, I'll be telling the rest of the pack to keep their eye out for anything suspicious or out of the ordinary. You can go, Derek."

Derek started to leave, then hesitated, which his dad immediately noticed. "Something wrong, Der?"

"I— I have something out of the ordinary, but I don't know if it's related," he said hesitantly.

"What is it?"

"Just, a lot of my stuff has gone missing over the last few days. When I asked Laura and Cora, they just teased me about misplacing my stuff, but I know that isn't what happened. And it isn't all stuff I've moved recently. Some of my winter sweaters from the back of my closet, stuff like that. I know it isn't as important as pack members going unconscious, but it is strange…" he trailed off, not liking how all three adults were now looking at him.

"Exactly what has gone missing?" Aunt Sora asked.

"Uh, the blanket from my bed, but no one put it in the laundry. A couple of sweaters, like I said. The book I'm reading, the keys to my camaro — I'm using the spares — some pictures and stuff from my room, my signed senior basketball, some of the tools from my drafting table… I dunno. At first it was things I could have easily misplaced, so I'm not sure if there's more. I found the sweaters by accident, since I was looking for another blanket, so it isn't like I've done an exhaustive search. Like I said, I thought someone was just screwing with me. But you said anything out of the ordinary, so…"

"I'm afraid this qualifies, and also implies that you might be a magical target," Aunt Sora said. "Do you know if anyone else is missing anything?"

Derek shrugged. "I haven't asked."

"Let's split up and do that then," his dad suggested. "While Talia and Sora wait to hear back from Peter."

"Okay," Derek agreed, letting his dad herd him out of his mom's office. Aunt Sora was her right hand, so it made sense that she'd stay — especially when her left hand, Uncle Peter, was out investigating.

Once they were in the hall, his dad clapped him on the shoulder reassuringly. "You were right to bring it up," he said, "because that is exactly the kind of unusual occurrence that might be nothing, but might be something. I remember hearing about a pack that had a run in with cursed brownies, and instead of being helpful, they stole things and messed things up around the house. I'm not saying that's what we're dealing with, but it definitely could be something similar. Now, you go find your siblings, and I'll ask everyone else who's home, alright?"

"Alright," Derek agreed, feeling a little better. His dad didn't believe he was just losing his own stuff, like Laura had suggested, and he was confident that between them his mom, Aunt Sora, and Uncle Peter could solve whatever was going on.

That was until he walked into his bedroom and found his entire drafting table had gone missing. A second later, Peter's bond went sharp, then faded away.

Noah was currently on days, but he'd been forced to work a double yesterday, so he'd pretty much crashed out as soon as he'd gotten home — close to midnight. Now, showered and alert, he was looking forward to a hearty breakfast before he had to report back to the station.

That good mood lasted until he reached the kitchen, and heard a cacophony of thumps from the basement. Noah quickly went to his office and got his gun belt and radio, just in case, then eased open the door. Claudia's workshop — now Stiles's — was in the basement, as well as a small den that used to be Stiles's playroom and now held his gaming system so that Noah didn't have to listen to him playing. Because of the nature of the space, Claudia had long since spelled the door to block loud noises, keeping both the magical explosions and video game ones from reaching upstairs. The fact that he'd heard anything at all was suspicious.

Noah reached the foot of the stairs and simply stared for a moment before he pulled himself together. Snapping the holster closed on his gun, Noah took a step closer to the obvious line of Stiles's green magic that was separating the stairs and workshop door from the rest of the half finished basement.

"Morning," he drawled, taking in the sight of four furious wolves and a bunch of junk that definitely hadn't been here the last time he'd checked. The couch and coffee table had been shoved against the wall to make room for two blow up mattresses; the minifridge for Stiles and Scott's drinks now had a microwave balanced on top of it; a pile of empty pizza boxes and 2 liter sodas were stacked on the table; and various bits of clothing and sundries were jammed in the corners, including what appeared to be an architect's drafting table. The door to the half bath was contained within the warded space, so at least they'd had access to it, but it was still a cramped situation. "Anyone mind telling me what's going on here?" Noah asked neutrally.

"Actually sheriff, we were hoping you could tell us the same thing," Peter Hale snarked, his voice cutting over the angry murmurs of the three teens.

Well, shit. If they didn't come here of their own volition, then… a long buried memory rose to mind, and Noah thought he had a good idea of what had happened. "Crap," he murmured, in deference to the young ears present.

"I take it you've figured something out," Peter said wryly.

Noah sighed. He really should have expected this, after Stiles came home last week from his first date with Derek Hale practically walking on air. "I do know what this is. At least, I'm pretty sure I do. If I'm right, I will fix this, but you can't actually leave until I do."

All three teens burst out with angry growls, but Peter looked calculating. "This is part of a spell, isn't it? It must be seen through to completion, not broken up in the middle."

"Yeah, something like that." Noah agreed. "It should only be a few more hours, I promise. I just have to track down Stiles and the others."

Peter nodded. "Then we shall wait." The growling from the other three increased, but Peter simply sat down on the clearest section of the couch, looking serene.

Noah went back upstairs and tucked his gun and radio away, then got his phone off the charger and called Stiles.

"Hey Dadio," Stiles answered, sounding a bit distant, like he did when he was in the middle of studying and was in the zone.

"What'cha doing?" Noah asked.

"Oh, you know, stuff," Stiles said evasively.

"Uh huh. Where are you doing this stuff?"

"Around."

Noah rolled his eyes, even though his son couldn't see him. Apparently he lost all subtlety while deep in the thrall of his magic. "Any chance of you coming home any time soon?" he asked.

There was a pause, like Stiles had to calculate how long it would take him to complete his current objective, then he replied, "sure thing."

"Thank you," Noah replied, barely faster than the dial tone. He'd reprimand his kid for hanging up on him, but Stiles clearly wasn't all there at the moment, so he'd let it slide for now.

Noah quickly dialed Talia Hale. "Sheriff?" She sounded tired.

"I suspect you're missing four betas right about now," he cut right to the chase.

"We've been running patrols all night," she admitted. "Someone knocked them out, and they woke up around dawn, but we can't catch a scent."

"They're safe," Noah said quickly, and Talia let out a sigh of relief. "I'll explain everything, but I'll need you and Derek to come over to my house first. You can bring your husband too, if you want. No one else should be going missing in the meantime." He probably shouldn't make that promise, but if Stiles was in the process of abducting someone else, he'd just be bringing them to the basement, where Talia was about to be, so they'd only be missing for a few minutes. And it was far more likely that his son was stalking Derek right now, so by bringing him along, they'd be dragging Stiles home too.

"We'll be right there," Talia promised tightly.

"Oh, and if you see or smell Stiles skulking around, bring him along," Noah suggested. It was a slim chance, because he was likely using his magic to hide himself, but just in case…

"Of course, Noah. We'll be there shortly," she promised, then hung up. Noah wasn't going to reprimand her for her terrible phone manners either, since she'd clearly been up all night looking for her missing pack members. He was honestly lucky she hadn't threatened him for their safe return.

Noah set about making his breakfast — simple buttered toast and bacon, instead of the full eggs and sausage spread he'd been intending. It was turkey bacon, because Stiles controlled the shopping, but Noah wasn't going to complain today, not when his instincts were running so high. As the bacon was cooking, Noah called into the station to let them know he was probably going to be running late. He wasn't scheduled to leave for another hour, but he had no idea how long it would take to fully explain everything and get Stiles back to normal, so it was better to be safe than sorry.

Just as he was finishing up his bacon sandwich and pouring himself a new cup of coffee, a knock came at the door. Noah quickly let in Talia, with Derek and his father Darren trailing behind her.

"What are they doing here?" Talia asked as soon as the greetings were done.

"Better to explain just the once," Noah said, beckoning them towards the basement stairs. Once everyone was in the same room, though still split by the magical containment line Stiles had laid down, Noah got down to it.

"What do you know about Sparks?"

Chapter Text

Talia Hale was not having a good morning. First four of her betas had gone missing, and none of the pack could find a trace of their smell or heartbeat. Then there was the fact that Derek — and only Derek — had reported his missing things, which implied that he was a target as well. Then the four had woken up shortly before dawn, and their packbonds had welled with rage as they clearly couldn't escape whoever had captured them.

Now she had felt a spike of confusion from all four, followed by more rage from the pups and acceptance from Peter, leaving her even more confused. At least Derek hadn't been taken yet, though he was under constant surveillance to see if they could identify the attacker. Then, of all things, Talia got a phone call from the sheriff, who seemed to know what was happening.

Arriving at his house, Talia could clearly hear and scent her betas down in the basement, and she barely held onto her civility long enough to follow Noah down there instead of ripping ahead of him.

"What do you know about Sparks?" Noah asked, and Talia drew a deep breath.

"Is that really more important than freeing my pack members?" she asked sharply.

Noah looked regretful, but smelled confident. "I'm afraid it is. I can't actually free them myself — no one can until Stiles gets back — but I'm more than happy to explain what I can."

"Sparks are the highest order of magic users," Peter interjected smoothly, smelling as calm as he had felt since just before the sheriff called. "They have a theoretically neverending core of magic, and aren't bound by the rules that many other magic users are. Some postulate that they're also closer to their base instincts, like shifters are, allowing them to feel things like packbonds, despite being human."

"All true," Noah confirmed. "Did you know that Claudia was a Spark?"

Talia kept her surprise off of her face, but she knew Darren and Peter had smelled it. "I knew she was a magic user, but she was tight-lipped about her exact status. I assumed she was a low level witch and was embarrassed about it," Talia admitted. It seemed now that that was a terrible oversight on her part. She'd had a Spark in her territory and not even known it!

"Young Stiles is a Spark as well," Peter said, no question in his words.

"Really?" Derek blurted out, and everyone turned to look at him. He quailed a little under their gaze, but managed to say, "I knew he was magic, but not a Spark."

Noah chuckled. "He is, and that's what led to last night's… incident."

"This is because of me?" Derek asked, getting upset.

"Yes and no," Noah held up a hand to prevent Derek from speaking. "This is indeed because of your date last week, and indirectly because of you, but more because of Stiles and what he is. More specifically, this is because the two of you are mates."

Talia's head whipped back to look at Derek, who shrunk in on himself under her gaze. "Derek?"

"It was the first date!" he protested. "How was I supposed to say, 'oh, by the way, we're mates and destined to be together forever' on the first date!?"

One of the trio of teens snickered, and Talia shot them a red eyed glare.

Noah sighed. "Well, you don't have to tell him, because he already knows, at an instinctual level."

"Because he's a Spark," Peter said evenly. "I knew that Claudia was a Spark, but I was unsure about Stiles. Magic can fluctuate in families, and strength varies from person to person."

Noah shook his head. "Not in Claudia's family. She was a Gajos."

Shock shot through Talia, and she knew that Darren would fare no better. Even Peter seemed surprised.

"What's that?" Erica asked.

"The Gajos family is famous for their Sparks." Peter said. "To put it in a way you children would understand, most of the time, magic or shifting runs in a family to various degrees. There is always the chance of a child coming out a 'squib', that is, a normal human instead of a shifter or magic user. For magic users, the strength of the gift also varies. When you have others marry in, you can add different genetics to the mix, such as Malia's coyote influence from her mother. Some magic lines have become magic-and-shifter lines because of close intermarrying with a pack, where any children born are as likely to be a human, a magic user, or a shifter. Born shifters almost never emerge outside of an established family or pack line, and on the few occasions that they have, it is speculated that some shifter or human with shifter genes had an affair and refused to confess. While so-called 'muggle born' magic users are more common, since the genes for magic can lie dormant for longer than shifter genes tend to, some people have postulated that they are all from 'squib' lines, and that neither magic, nor born shifters, can come from pure humans."

"Okay, but what does that have to do with Stiles?" Isaac asked sharply.

"And what does that have to do with him kidnapping us?" Erica added.

Peter rolled his eyes, but explained. "A typical magical lineage will contain people of all magical levels. Some with barely a knack, some witches, some mages, and maybe a spark or two. The Gajos family? Are always Sparks. There are rumors that their line is directly descended from one of the old gods, and that that kind of bloodline does not dilute. There are also rumors that they've sold themselves to the devil, in exchange for permanent power, but obviously only idiots believe that."

"Obviously," Derek muttered.

"There are also rumors that their Spark is different from other Sparks, and that they have some traits that are usually only seen in shifters," Peter said meaningfully, looking at Noah.

"True," he admitted.

"What?" Talia's voice wasn't the only one to cry out, but she was certainly the loudest.

"I don't know everything," Noah said tiredly, scrubbing one hand down his face. "When Claudia knew she was dying, she tried to teach me what she could, to pass down to Stiles, but it wasn't enough," he admitted. "I've reached out to her family for help, but they refuse to tell me any family secrets. They've offered to train Stiles, but he refuses to leave me and Beacon Hills, and they refuse to come to him, so… Anyway, this current situation is one thing I vaguely knew was coming eventually, but I didn't see the signs the way Claudia would have. I'm sorry for that."

"But what is this situation?" Boyd asked.

"He's nesting," Peter said softly, and Talia nodded along. It made perfect sense now, and if Stiles had been a shifter, she would have thought of it sooner. It appeared to be an extreme example, but the signs were there.

Noah sighed. "Yes."

The basement exploded with noise as all four youngsters tried to ask different questions at once, and Noah held up his hands for silence.

"Let me tell you what I know. After my first date with Claudia, some of my things started going missing. I didn't think much of it until two of my fellow deputies appeared at my door, saying Claudia had sent them. I called her, confused, and that's when Claudia's parents sat down with me to explain and give me a crash course in magic. Her dad was the Gajos, but he was born human, so he left the clan. Her mom hadn't known anything about magic until Claudia's Spark manifested. But because he had been raised in the family, Genim knew what was happening. One of the shifter traits that their family manifested was an extreme form of nesting as soon as they met and acknowledged their mate. As an adult, with a firm grasp on her magic, and full knowledge of her family's lore, Claudia had more restraint, and simply directed my friends to my side. Stiles…"

"Is young, and only partially trained, so his instincts are controlling him, instead of the other way around," Talia said gently.

"I didn't know Derek was his mate, and I barely remembered what Claudia had done until I found the others this morning," Noah said. "She had set up a corner of her living room for my stuff, all settled around a comfy chair to be my 'nest'. To prove that I could feel comfortable in her space. Once I knew what was happening, I worked with her to swap out the things that I could live without, but would find comfort from. Then I helped her make a nest of her own in my place. We only dated for about four months before we started looking for a home of our own, together, and got married. I was repeatedly reassured that shifters and magical folk who find their mates tend to move quickly, despite the side-eyes I got from my own family and friends. At least Tara and Clint were good sports about it."

"So we're what, part of an advanced prom-posal?" Erica asked.

"Sort of," Peter explained. "Nesting indeed is more common in shifters than magic users, but it seems like their magic can make it a stronger urge. Shifters in modern times tend to offer a drawer or closet space, provide food, and purchase presents like useful tools or cuddly blankets. It's about showing that you're committed to your partner's survival and comfort, and about making a space for them in your home. Of course, usually we're courting other shifters, who understand, and are doing the same in return."

He pointed at Boyd and Erica. "You two were dating before you were turned, so the courting was mostly done, and anything else was just swept up in the heightened experience of turning. Issac hasn't met his mate yet, so you've not seen it happen first hand. And Derek?"

He squirmed as all eyes focused on him again. "I had thought about it. I was trying to figure out how to get Roscoe away from him to fix it. But then my stuff started disappearing and I got distracted."

"So what happens now?" Boyd asked Noah. "You said that we needed to stay here to complete the spell, but this doesn't sound like a spell at all."

"It is in his mind," Noah explained. "He's setting it up with the same precision he uses on his spellwork."

"The fact that he's crafting a nest instead of crafting an amulet is immaterial to his instincts," Peter agreed. "In fact, they might even be stronger, since this is specifically for his mate."

"So how do we get out of here?" Boyd asked.

"When I called Stiles earlier, he was evasive about where he was and what he was doing. He was either in the middle of taking something else of Derek's, or stalking him."

"So either he would soon return here with something else for the nest, or he would follow us when we came here," Talia said, easily following Noah's logic.

"And then what?" Erica asked.

"Well, then Derek either accepts or rejects this nest, and Stiles's suit. If he accepts, he should be able to make tweaks and suggestions, like I did with Claudia, including the suggestion that his friends and family be allowed to visit, rather than being kept prisoner."

"And if he rejects it?" Issac asked sourly.

Talia and the other adults recoiled. It was practically unheard of for a shifter to reject their true mate. Talia clearly needed to add a more thorough education of their traditions and instincts for her young bitten pack members.

"I don't know," Noah said stiffly. "I was already head over heels for Claudia, so it didn't come up."

"I hear his jeep," Talia said, straightening up. Peter, Darren, and Derek caught it a few seconds later, being born wolves. The trio of pups were next, as he pulled into the driveway.

"I still don't get why he took us," Isaac grumbled.

"Because you're his pack," Stiles said, appearing in the midst of the group, his eyes glowing green. Talia didn't know him that well, but even she could tell that his expression was off, like he wasn't all there, and he was unnaturally still.

"Yeah, we're all part of the Hale pack." Isaac replied slowly, rolling his eyes.

"No, you're his Pack." Stiles said firmly.

"Explain." Talia did her best to keep the growl out of her voice.

"When Derek becomes an alpha—"

"Laura's next in line," Derek protested.

"She's in line for the Hale spark, but she will not be the next to become an alpha." Stiles said without affect, and his words felt prophetic, as much as Talia didn't want to believe in such things.

"Okay, so Derek becomes an alpha, somehow…" Erica prompted.

"And you are his pack." Stiles replied, looking through them with unseeing green eyes. "I thought that Peter was the left hand, and Boyd the right, but once you were all together, it didn't look correct. Something was missing. Erica will be the left hand, and Peter and his mate the elders who train them both."

"Peter's mate?" several voices chorused.

Stiles snapped, and a bound and gagged Chris Argent popped into the magically sealed half of the room on one of the air mattresses.

"Now your nest and pack are complete," Stiles said.

Every eye turned to Derek, and he took a cautious step closer to Stiles. Talia held her breath; she hadn't taught Derek how to formally deal with this, as so few packs used the formal traditions anymore. She could only hope that Peter — who liked knowing about such obscurities — would have done it.

"I accept the nest and your courtship, my mate," Derek said formally. "I hope that you will accept my own courtship once it is complete."

"I accept," Stiles agreed. A second later, the green left his eyes and he stumbled as the magic released him. Derek caught him, and Stiles burrowed into his chest with a groan. "Okay, can we please forget that any of that happened?

"Why, when it was such a delightful experience?" Peter said cheerfully.

Stiles twisted in Derek's arms enough to give Peter the finger. "Screw you, Uncle Creeperwolf."

Noah sighed. "Son, I'm going to give you a little bit of leeway since you've been caught in your magic's thrall for…"

"Five days," Stiles mumbled into Derek's chest.

"Five days, but please watch your language."

Talia cleared her throat. She wouldn't press too hard, given that Stiles was young and his magic had clearly been controlling him strongly, but she had some questions. "Can you tell us more about what you said?" she asked. "About Derek becoming an alpha?"

The three pups made themselves comfortable on the free air mattress, clearly recognizing that they were going to be here talking for a little while.

Stiles turned around so that his back was against Derek's chest, and relaxed slightly when Derek wrapped his arms around his waist and tucked his head onto Stiles's shoulder. "Um, not a lot?" he offered. "I didn't really have control over my magic, for long periods of time — especially the last day or so, when it was pretty much in charge the whole time. The things I knew, like Peter's mate and who would be in his pack… I just knew them. It was like I could see the bonds between them, but it wasn't just their current bonds, but their future ones too."

He squirmed a little, and Derek nuzzled into his neck. "Like, um, I saw that Cora would remain part of your pack, Alpha Hale, but once Laura becomes the Alpha, Cora will switch to Derek. That's such a long way in the future that my magic didn't think she belonged in the nest, like the others, but I could still see it. It was like, like seeing a string between them and you that was solid, and then seeing a ghost of another string leading to Derek. Everyone else in your pack had ghost strings that led to Laura as your heir, except for these four. The alpha thing was like a haze of red over Derek's heart, where the strings attached. I couldn't see the aura for the right and left hands until I had them together with Peter, because it all became stronger with proximity."

"Can you estimate how soon the rest of us will be switching?" Peter asked quickly.

Stiles thought about it for a moment. "Definitely less than six months; maybe less than three. More than one, because I didn't have the sense of urgency that I did about making the nest. It—" he chewed on his lip for a moment before deciding how to word it. "I know that if we had all been in immediate danger, it wouldn't have gone ahead with the nesting. Like, it understood that it wouldn't be the right time for it. That's also why you were taken in the order you were; least to most dangerous to procure and contain. Because it understands danger."

Chris Argent grumbled something under his magical gag, and Stiles startled, clearly not remembering he was there. "Oh crap. Um, please don't kill me if I let you go, Mister Argent?" he asked, before snapping his fingers. The green bindings around Argent's mouth, wrists, and ankles vanished, though Talia noted that they were all still trapped in the far half of the basement.

Argent slowly got to his feet, rubbing his wrists as he did so. "I'm not going to kill you, Stiles. I don't kill children."

"I'm 18," Stiles pointed out, then slapped his hand over his mouth.

Argent let out a wry chuckle. "I don't kill children who have only technically been legal adults for two whole weeks, either."

Stiles visibly relaxed back into Derek's hold.

Argent crossed to the couch, shoved a pile of Derek's sweaters out of the way, and sat down beside Peter. "I'd like to know anything more you can tell me about this coming danger, though. Clearly there's some kind of rogue alpha involved."

Stiles considered the request, frowning lightly. "It was important that I get you," he said slowly. "More important than the baby betas," he waved a hand at the trio. "Which I think means something. I don't know if it's hunter related in general, or Argent related in particular, but it was important that I get you even though you're not technically Peter's bonded mate, like, officially."

Talia was tempted to ask how close to official they were, since the last she had heard Peter and Argent — Chris — had broken up in high school, and now they were sitting awfully cozily together on the couch, but Chris just nodded. "I'll keep my eye out, then."

"Perhaps you should let them all out of the basement so that we can discuss this further," Talia suggested pointedly.

Stiles looked at her in confusion, then followed her gaze down to the line of green fire that was separating the two halves of the basement. Flushing with embarrassment again, he snapped his fingers and it vanished.

The three pups immediately bounced up, ready to make for the door, but Noah shifted to block their path. "Kids, I don't think I need to spell out for you that it would be dangerous if anyone knew what had happened here this morning, the details of Stiles's Spark, or the threat to come," he said firmly.

"I'm making it an Alpha Order," Talia said just as firmly. "Until the threat has passed, you're not to speak of this unless I give you permission. If anyone asks, you were here playing video games when Stiles's magic went a little haywire and knocked you out, but no harm was done. The same thing happened to Peter when he came looking for you. Chris Argent was never here."

"Yes Alpha," they chorused seriously as she pressed her command through their pack bonds.

"Good, you're free to leave, then."

"Sorry, though, about the whole magical kidnapping thing!" Stiles called after them before they could go anywhere.

Boyd opened his mouth, froze, and glanced at Talia, who nodded her permission. "It's okay, Stiles," he said with a little smile. "Apparently you're going to be our Alpha's mate, so I think we can forgive you."

Erica nodded her agreement and bounded back across the room to hug Stiles — and Derek, since he'd yet to let go of the younger man. Isaac looked torn, but finally nodded his agreement as well. Then the trio raced up the stairs as though they were afraid if they didn't leave they'd be trapped again.

"Sorry to you two as well," Stiles said, shuffling to look at Peter and Chris, "for both the kidnapping and the outing you as mates."

"No harm done," Peter said cheerfully. Of course, he was probably weighing the minor inconvenience against all he'd learned this morning, and Peter had always coveted knowledge. She was going to need to give him a more detailed Alpha order that allowed him to speak to Chris and Darren — and probably Sora as well, since she was going to have to be told the truth.

"At least we know about the coming threat now," Chris agreed.

"Hey, yeah, forewarned is forearmed and all that," Stiles agreed, giving half hearted jazz hands.

Noah snorted. "And on that note, I have to get to work, and you probably haven't slept in five days," he pointed out.

Stiles shrugged. "It wasn't too bad the first day or so, but yeah, something like that," he agreed.

Talia knew better than to split up mates an hour after they'd declared their formal intentions towards each other, and it looked like Noah did too, as he allowed Derek to herd Stiles upstairs towards his bedroom.

"Chris, can I give you a ride back to wherever you were?" Noah offered.

"Home, and sure," Chris agreed. "I'll get started looking out for that coming threat. Peter, Alpha Hale, Mr. Hale," he nodded goodbye at each of them, then headed upstairs himself.

"Well, I daresay we'll be seeing a lot more of you from now on, Sheriff," Daren said, offering Noah his hand as Peter followed Chris upstairs.

Noah grinned. "I daresay we will," he agreed, then gestured for them to precede him up the stairs. "Mr. Hale, Alpha Hale."

Talia accepted the gesture for what it was and followed her husband and brother out to her car, letting out a sigh when she was out of Noah's sight. It had been a long morning, and a long night before it, and it sounded like the real trouble was just beginning.

Chapter Text

Stiles and Noah were having dinner at the Hale house when suddenly Stiles's eyes glazed over with green and his face went slack. "Danger comes," he said softly.

Talia glanced around the table and saw the adults instantly recognized what was happening. Forewarned had indeed been forearmed, and she had made the most of the tentative warning that Stiles had provided before.

"Laura, get the children to the basement. You know the drill," she commanded.

All of the younger wolves except Derek and Stiles knew what to do when told to go to the basement, and they allowed Laura to herd them in that direction.

"Stiles, can you tell us anything more?" Derek asked his mate.

"The poisoner and the fire bringer are together again," he said with the same flat affect.

"The poisoner?" Noah asked.

Stiles turned his blank green eyes on his father. "He poisoned me so he could cut me down. He poisoned the mind of my previous guardian so that she would leave us. He gave poisons to the fire bringer when she came before."

"Argent," Peter growled.

"And who are you?" Noah asked gently.

"We are one, the new guardian and myself. I am— the new guardian calls me Stumpy. The old guardian and the left hand call me Nemeton. The Alpha calls me the territory. I am me and we are one."

"Stiles said before that an alpha would be coming as well," Darren pointed out. "Is that the poisoner or the fire bringer?"

Stiles — or the nemeton — shook his head. "She brings two, two her father tortured into a feral state. They are not like our Alpha. They will bite without remorse. They are in my forest now, they have crossed the boundary the poisoner claimed was secure. Danger comes."

Abruptly the magic left Stiles and he collapsed, Derek catching him just in time.

"What's this nemeton?" Noah asked before anyone else could speak.

"A big honking stump that used to be a big honking magical tree out in the preserve," Stiles said tiredly. "It latched onto me when mom died, though I didn't realize it at the time. That's how it talks; it doesn't grasp a lot of concepts the same way we do, but it maintains the territory just as much as Alpha Hale does."

"It's why you couldn't leave," Peter surmised. "Why you would not go train with your relatives, nor follow your friends to college; because you're tied to the territory as well."

Stiles gave him weak finger guns.

"We're talking about this later," Noah said sternly. "But for now, I think we've got more important things to worry about."

"Were you able to see what was coming?" Sora asked.

Stiles nodded. "They crossed into the preserve on the south end of town. One van with the two alphas in the back and then two SUVs. There really is no saving the alphas; they've been tortured into insanity and all their packbonds are gone. The Hunters have to know that the pack could put either one of them down, so either they intend to get you alone somehow, or…"

"Or they'll be aimed at a softer target," Darren said softly.

"Who else did you see?" Peter asked, and Talia realized he had his phone out and on speaker. She could just barely hear Chris's breathing and heartbeat through it.

"Blonde chick that looks like an aged up version of Allison Argent," Stiles counted off on his fingers, "the creepy vet Scott used to work for before he moved, and about a dozen hunter goons."

"Kate," Chris sighed.

"Deaton," Talia growled.

"The poisoner?" Sora asked. "Stiles— I mean the nemeton said that he had poisoned it and provided poison to the fire bringer. If he helped Kate Argent the first time around…"

"She had jars with enough mountain ash to surround the entire house when she was caught the first time," Peter pointed out, "and enough wolfsbane bullets to kill all of us twenty times over. She had to have gotten the ash and wolfsbane from someone, and our not so friendly neighborhood druid is as good a suspect as anyone."

"I thought he was away on business right now," Darren pointed out.

Stiles snorted. "What kind of out of town business does a local vet get up to? Are there vet conventions where they trade kittens?"

"He's a Druid," Talia explained. "I always assumed he had Druid business when he went on his trips."

"Darach," Stiles said flatly, a tinge of green in his eyes. Then he blinked. "Woah."

"If he's a Darach then he's forsworn as our emissary," Talia announced. "Everyone knows that that kind of darkness poi— poisons the connection to the pack."

"I caught up to them," Chris suddenly announced. "Looks like they're heading into the middle of town."

Noah had his own phone out. "Tara, I need an emergency message broadcast; feral rabid wolves sighted on the edge of town. Everyone is to get inside and barricade the doors. If they see anything out their windows they're to call it in immediately."

"You got it boss."

"Peter, stay here with Laura and guard the pack," Talia decided. "The rest of us will go into town and see if we can head them off. Stiles and Derek, get down with the other youngsters."

Stiles raised his chin stubbornly. "If you're going up against a Darach, then you're going to need a magic user on your side. Derek can protect me, but you're going to need me out there." A hint of green swirled in his eyes, and Talia knew that the nemeton was supporting him.

She glanced at Noah, who sighed helplessly.

"Alright, I can't argue with that," she admitted. "Let's get out there."

"They're splitting up," Chris announced suddenly. "The hunters are on a beeline for the Preserve."

"Coming to attack the packhouse," Talia growled.

"And the van?" Stiles asked.

"It's heading… Christ, it's heading for the schools." Chris sounded wrecked.

"Tara, they're heading toward the schools," Noah immediately reported to his deputy, and Talia could hear her swearing over the line.

"They intend to maul and turn children?" Darren asked softly.

"Something that will no doubt then be blamed on Talia," Peter said knowingly. "Causing open season on all Hales. The hunters in the SUVs might not even know about the feral alphas, if they're heading here. They might think Talia already is feral."

"We have to get out ahead of them," Noah said grimly.

"I have to get to the school," Stiles said bluntly. "If I'm fast enough, I can circle the alphas with mountain ash."

"Derek, take him and go," Talia agreed. She didn't want any of her pack exposed to a feral alpha, but Stiles was right that he was one of the best ones to handle them. "Peter, protect them."

"I'll lead you out, see if I can't set up a blockade for those hunters," Noah decided.

Stiles quickly touched his father's badge and a wash of magic spilled over him. "Be careful, Dadio," he murmured as his father pulled him in for a hug.

Then the four of them raced out of the house.

Talia turned to Darren and Sora. "We're the last line of defense for the pups." They knew it, but she felt the need to state it anyway. The pups were the future of any pack, and as long as some of them survived, the Hale spark, their legacy, would carry on.

The fight passed in a blur for Stiles. He managed to get the first alpha trapped outside the middle school, while Chris, Derek, and Peter chased the other towards the high school.

Thankfully, deputies had been dispatched, and Sean Miller actually stepped in front of a bullet Kate meant for Stiles, taking it in the vest and saving both of them.

It devolved into a shootout, with the Argents and the deputies taking potshots at each other. Neither side could get to the trapped alpha — Kate and Gerard to free it, or Stiles to put it down.

He heard the howl and knew it was Derek, but he couldn't break his concentration on the mountain ash circle to run and check on his mate.

Chris returned just in time to take out Gerard, a moment after one of the deputies got a lucky hit on Kate.

Stiles's relief was short lived, as Deaton chose that moment to make his presence known, vanishing Stiles's mountain ash line like it was nothing.

The alpha took off toward the school again, and with a roar, Peter barreled into it. Stiles couldn't risk helping, or wondering about Derek, or trying to make sure that the deputies didn't see anything hinky, because it was in a magical battle for his own life.

Thankfully, he had Stumpy on his side, and the tree was pissed off at the poisoner who had led to it being cut down. After what had been revealed about the Darach poisoning his mom, Stiles was pretty pissed off himself, and they both threw everything they had at the vet.

Anger and raw power were barely enough to stand up to his decades of knowledge, and neither side was giving way until suddenly another shot rang out, and Deaton dropped like a stone. Stiles looked around, startled and still amped, and found Chris with a sniper rifle laid out over the hood of his SUV.

"Iron filled?" Stiles had to ask, and Chris nodded. The Darach wouldn't be rising up from an iron filled, anti-magic round to the forehead, even if he did have some kind of advanced, wolf-like healing. His physical shielding had been focused on Stiles, and he'd probably never seen the Hunter coming.

Stiles collapsed against Parrish's cruiser in relief.

Then he remembered the alphas and surged to his feet again.

They're taken care of, Stumpy whispered in his mind.

My mate? Peter?

Alive. Healing, it replied and Stiles relaxed again. Stumpy might struggle with some human concepts, but that was a straightforward answer.

Now that all their opponents were taken out, the deputies slowly rose out of their cover and began taking control of the crime scene. Chris easily stepped away from his rifle, hands up in surrender, and accepted it when Haigh cuffed him. Stiles knew — thanks to Stumpy — that Haigh was from a hunter family, but Chris had assured the Stilinskis that he was under his command, not Kate or Gerard's. Haigh would make sure that Chris got a smooth ride to the station, and once Dad explained everything to the deputies who had seen too much, Stiles was sure he'd be let go.

Stiles wanted to go too, wanted to track down Derek and Peter and make sure they were actually okay, but Sean, like Tara, had helped raise him, and there was no way he was getting out of the deputy's clutches until he was being handed over to his dad, safe and sound.

Which, honestly, the way the magical exhaustion was hitting him now, didn't sound like all that bad a plan. "I'm just gonna… pass out a little," he warned Sean, and then everything faded away.

Chapter Text

Stiles woke up warm, incredibly warm. It took him a moment to realize there was a cuddly werewolf wrapped around him, and even without a super sniffer he could smell that it was Derek. Stiles slowly opened his eyes and saw that he was in a hospital room. He had a pulse ox monitor on one finger, and an IV in the arm that wasn't beneath Derek's head, but other than that he seemed fine.

"Hey big guy," Stiles murmured. "You okay?"

Derek grumbled, but opened his red eyes.

"Oh shit," Stiles's magic and/or Stumpy might have predicted that Derek would become an alpha, but it was something else to actually see his crimson eyes. "What happened? I mean, obviously the feral alpha happened, but what happened?"

"I stopped it in time," Derek said, his voice gravely with sleep. "But I was hurt pretty badly, and I wasn't healing as fast as I should. The alpha spark was damaged from what was done to them…" he shuddered and Stiles tugged him closer. "It wasn't healing me well. Then Peter showed up. He'd killed the other one, but wasn't hurt as badly. There's a ritual… I didn't know about it, but he and mom did. It lets an alpha transfer their spark to another alpha and become their beta. It doesn't work beta to beta, but the existing alpha spark sort of pulls the new one in."

"So Peter gave you the second feral spark, and became your beta," Stiles surmised, "and you were able to kickstart your healing."

"Yeah."

"Is there any— I mean, if the sparks are damaged, and one was bad, is two twice as bad?"

Derek shook his head slightly. "They actually soothed each other. Kind of like two halves coming together to make a new whole."

"Good," Stiles breathed out a sigh of relief. He really didn't want his mate to go feral now that he was finally old enough to date him. "So, congratulations, it's an alpha?" he made jazzy fingers with his free hand, and Derek snorted into his neck.

"Just like you predicted," he murmured. "Mom's already agreed to give me Boyd, Erica, and Isaac, so I'll have enough betas. Between them and my two elders it should be enough of a pack to get by. Peter's assistant is going to take over as mom's Left Hand, and Peter will continue mentoring him and Erica while mom helps me train Boyd as my Right. She's going to give me a small piece of the territory to manage… It's a thing that's done often with offspring alphas. She'll still be in charge of the area at large, and I'll defer to her…"

"But you'll be making your own little pack, in your own little packhouse," Stiles surmised.

"Yeah. You gonna be my emissary?"

Stiles grinned. "I'm gonna be the best emissary to ever sary. To ever emi? Emiss?"

Derek groaned and buried his face in Stiles' neck. "I take it back," he grumbled, his words ghosting over Stiles's neck and making heat shoot through him. Too bad he felt too much like a limp noodle to take advantage of this nice private hospital room.

"Nuh uh, no takesies backsies," Stiles declared with a wide grin. "You're mine, even if you are being a sourwolf right now."

Derek just nipped his neck in reply, careful not to break the skin.

They cuddled together like that for a while, before Derek stirred. "Can you really not leave the territory?" he asked quietly.

Stiles hummed. "I couldn't before, ever since my mom died. The way— the way guardianship works, it isn't supposed to happen until the guardian is an adult, and has fully trained their magic. If there had been any other adult magic user with enough power — other than the poisoner — it would have latched onto them instead of me, because I was too young. But he'd already taken out or driven away anyone who would be an option. I think he assumed that, with my mom out of the picture, the tree would have no choice but to latch onto him."

"So it decided an untrained child was the better option," Derek surmised.

"Yeah," Stiles agreed. "Now that the poisoner — sorry, Deaton. It's hard to get out of the mindset when we've — I've — been doing a lot of magic. Now that Deaton's dead and not constantly trying to siphon its essence, it should give me a little more wiggle room. Without that stranglehold, I can leave for short periods, but I'll never be truly free of the territory. Unless I willingly pass on my guardianship to another, but Stumpy has to approve my choice, and there's a whole ritual in three parts on three different moon phases and—"

"So you can now potentially leave for training and college, meet and greets with other packs, vacations, things like that. But you'll need to reside in Beacon Hills basically for the rest of your life."

"Basically." Stiles sighed. "I know that's not necessarily what you wanted."

Derek shrugged, jostling them both. "I've never really thought about leaving my pack long term. I always assumed that I'd be one of Laura's betas when the time came… settle down here, have a family. I did the college thing, but I had no intention of staying away any longer."

In fact he'd just come back from college, leading to him and Stiles finally having their first date at the beginning of the summer. Which of course had led to Stiles's disastrous nesting incident — the less said about that the better. But they'd been going strong for three months now, and part of Stiles — the human part — said that three months was a little soon to be talking about settling down forever and buying a packhouse with a white picket fence. The spark part of him, however, was insisting that they were already mates, and nothing was too soon to be mated and bound forever. It was a bit of a headtrip, but Stiles was used to those. He had a thousand year old tree talking in his mind sometimes; wanting to magically marry Derek, who he'd had a crush on for years, barely even rated on his weird meter.

"I know that once they finished their gap year to get used to their wolves, the three betas were looking at colleges; you could go with them. The whole pack could go together, actually." Derek offered.

"Maybe," Stiles considered it. "I'd never really thought about it before; never really knew when I'd be free of Stumpy enough to really leave the county, let alone look at colleges. But yeah, as long as we came back for the winter and summer holidays, that should be doable. It would be nice, actually, to see a little bit of the world."

Stiles had tried not to let his connection with Stumpy hold him back, and truly he'd not been the kind to dream of traveling the world for years on end. He'd once thought he might join the FBI, but there wasn't enough work for them in Beacon Hills, and no guarantee of where he'd be assigned to work, and he couldn't see himself even getting away for four years to go through college and the training program, even if he could guarantee his return. So Stiles had given up on that dream years ago. Now though, the idea of going somewhere — especially with his pack — didn't send shivers of dread down his spine. Even the thought of spending a few months in Poland training with his relatives didn't give him a tree-induced panic attack, like it used to.

"Maybe," Stiles repeated. He'd have to think about it some more. So, he expertly changed the subject. "Will you be able to do the offspring alpha, own pack thing with Laura, even though you're siblings?" Stiles asked, keeping the rest of his internal babble firmly behind his teeth.

"I don't know; I'll have to ask my mom."

"It's too bad you couldn't get the Hale pack and spark, and Laura get the two feral ones," Stiles mused. "If nothing else, we know there's two territories out there that are now packless, and she could go take one of them over."

Derek hummed contemplatively. "You know, Laura's always wanted to travel. She kept telling mom that she had to wait to pass down the Hale spark until Laura had gotten all of her wanderlust out."

"So maybe she'd enjoy exploring those other territories," Stiles perked up. "She might find her mate and want to settle down out there somewhere."

"Maybe," Derek agreed. "Whatever ends up happening, we'll make it work out. You, me, the pack, and the nemeton."

Stiles snuggled in closer to his mate. "I like the sound of that."