Daybreak

Chapter Seven

Things changed after the fight. Things changed drastically. Of course the biggest and most immediate change came from Mark. The very next day following the fight, Stiles—still a bit black and blue but otherwise unbothered—had run into Mark on his way to breakfast.

Derek was beside him since the worry-wart-wolf had decided he need to play nurse and stayed with Stiles the whole night in his human form to make sure he was okay and he didn't feel a lick of pain. So, the younger boy inevitably became tense and growly when he caught sight of Mark, but Stiles ignored him.

Mark had healed over the course of the night, so Stiles was the only one left with bruises, but the older man had also never looked so calm around Stiles. Mark didn't approach him and apologize for attacking him—something Derek was decidedly sour about—but Stiles hadn't expected him to. All Mark did when he saw him was dip his head in an acknowledging nod that was more amiable than any of their previous interactions over the last month and a half. Mark didn't suddenly turn into a ray of chatty sunshine, but for people like him and Stiles, silently cohabitating was certainly an olive branch for them.

Needless to say, Stiles would no longer have a warden.

The other change came from the rest of the pack. Before, Stiles had felt himself be slowly integrated into the pack. They had accepted him, but accepting him was a very different thing from respecting him. He had been right to believe that Mark held significant rank in the pack, but even beyond that, the fact the Stiles was human and had fought and won against a wolf did a lot in garnering the others' admiration.

It also helped his character that the way he fought confirmed he wasn't a hunter trying to sneak into the pack. He didn't fight like a human trained by humans to take down wolves. He had known quite well the way Allison fought—the way Chris had fought. They used martial arts, fighting techniques that had been learned over the course of years. Stiles didn't have formal training except for a few self-defense classes his dad had allowed him to take back when the worlds monsters for him were all human. He learned to fight by fighting hands on with wolves. It was clear in how he had handled Mark.

So, not only did the pack trust him more, but he had undoubtedly proved himself.

He was included in conversations more; even if they didn't expect him to input anything, they knew he was listening. The older wolves also seemed to finally be comfortable enough with Stiles to treat him as they would any other pack member and strengthen pack bonds with small, casual touches in passing. It wasn't nearly as much as they did with the other wolves, Stiles felt that it was more out of consideration for him and what he was comfortable with than them not wanting to. Stiles was grateful, physical contact sometimes made him uneasy and tense, so he was glad it wouldn't be a constant onslaught.

The pups weren't immediately ushered out of the room when he walked by and a few of them even sought him out, tugging on his shirt and hanging off of his limbs like he was a tree—a grumpy but ultimately harmless tree they wanted to play with. Cora hadn't been happy to see the other kids vying for his attention and had resorted to petty pranks, little scuffles that the girl always won, and growls any time another wolf came near when she was with Stiles. It was endearing in a way, to see how protective she was of him and how little she tolerated 'sharing Stiles' with anyone.

Anyone except Derek, that is. Oddly enough, the only person she didn't get territorial around was her older brother. She'd even tried to bite Laura when the girl had apparently taken an interest in Stiles after seeing him fight Mark and had placed a hand on his arm and gave him a look that was neither casual nor platonic. Cora had nearly taken said hand off when she saw what was happening and how uncomfortable Stiles was. Stiles may or may not have seen Derek slipping the girl a few brownies later that day for it.