Monster. (Sterek)

Part 17: Marred Skin.

~~~~~

"So, when are you doing the ritual?" Noah asked Stiles.

"Well, the new moon is in two days, so... then."

"And you're sure that it's going to work?"

"No," Stiles said, "But it's the only option we have. It should be safe though."

"I don't like the sound of 'should be', but you've done a lot of things with worse odds and I know there's no stopping you. So," Noah turned his attention to Derek and continued, "you'll make sure that he's okay, you'll stay by his side. I'll be at work but you will call me if anything goes wrong, the moment it goes wrong." It was very clearly not a question but Derek replied nevertheless.

"Yes, sir."

"Good." The room fell into a comfortable silence for a long moment, only broken by the murmuring from the T.V. "Alright, I'd better get going. No funny business while I'm gone." Noah pulled himself off the couch and began making his way upstairs, only laughing when Stiles groaned.

"We aren't together, Dad. We've been over this."

"Sure you're not," Noah called back.

Derek laughed loudly, Stiles grinned at him. They spent the day watching movies, curled up together. Things were looking up.

~~~~~

"Derek?"

"Yeah, Stiles?"

"Promise me that if anything were to go wrong, you won't blame yourself for it." Stiles grabbed Derek's hands in his own and squeezed them.

"Stiles, don't say--"

"Promise me, Derek."

"I... promise."

~~~~~

"Alright, is everyone clear on the plan?" Lydia looked around the room at all the nodding heads, "Good. We'd better get going."

Derek grabbed Stiles' wrist, pulling him back as the rest of The Pack made their way towards the door. "Are you sure that you're ready for this?" Stiles gave him a soft smile and wrapped his arms around Derek's waist. Derek hugged him back.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Just... Don't leave my side, okay?"

"I won't." Stiles pulled away, grabbing his hand. The two jogged to catch up with the others.

~~~~~

They had decided the best place to do the ritual would be in a clearing in the preserve, in the hopes of avoiding attracting any unwanted attention. Lydia wasn't sure if the ritual would cause any sort of bright or loud reaction so it was safest to be as far away from everyone as possible. But they still wanted to be able to get Stiles back home, if needs be.

"Okay, Stiles do you have that piece of paper that I gave you?"

"Yes, Lydia, I didn't lose it on the two-minute walk."

"I was just making sure." She smiled sweetly at him and he rolled his eyes, "Alright, you should start scratching those sigils onto the trees." Stiles nodded, pulling out a small knife and beginning step one of the ritual.

Derek wanted to help him but Lydia had told them that Stiles had to do most of this on his own as the sigils would draw magic from him. The magic she was referring to was the magic that made Stiles what he was. It was the same magic that flowed through every supernatural's veins. But, like each supernatural, the magic was unique to each and every one of them. It was impossible to harness it in any way other than the one it was intended for. That was the legend, anyway.

Each sigil that Stiles was carving into the trees was different and meant different things, Lydia had explained to them, and each one would need a different amount of power. After drawing each one Stiles would grow physically weaker as they were stripping him of his vampire abilities. And once that was gone, they would begin to draw on any energy source they could find.

"I'm done, what was the next step?" Stiles looked around at his work. It had taken him about an hour, and he'd slipped a few times, but he'd done it. He looked completely drained. Derek moved to pass into the ring of trees and help Stiles stand. "Don't, Derek, I'm fine."

"He's right. Like I said when we were going over the plan earlier: don't pass into the ring of sigils until I say, you could break the spell." Derek growled but Lydia ignored him, "Connect them all with the string then, to activate it, put a drop of your blood on the knot." Stiles looked down at the ball of yarn Lydia had given him, shrugged, and tied the end around the first tree.

"Honestly, Derek, I'm fine. Quit growling at Lydia." Derek hadn't even realised he was still growling, he stopped and looked away. Stiles continued to wrap the yarn around each of the trees until they were all connected. He pressed one of his needle-sharp teeth into his finger, wincing, and let a single drop fall onto the knot at the start of the circle. The light blue wool stained a dark red that spread quickly. Stiles jumped back when the colour spread further, chasing along the yarn until the whole piece was dyed red. "Woah." Stiles whistled lowly.

"Okay, I put the vial over there earlier, inside the cove in that tree." Lydia pointed to the tree furthest from her. "Since it was important that you didn't drop it." Stiles walked over to it, grumbling about Lydia and her lack of trust in him, and reached inside, pulling out the vial of blood. Lydia had already mixed everything together so all Stiles had to do was drink it. "We've probably got about forty seconds before the moon reaches its peak and you need to drink the blood. Then Derek will go in and bite you. Everyone else, be prepared for anything. The book doesn't state what happens afterwards." In reality, the rest of The Pack didn't have to be there but they had come just in case. Most of them had refused to not be there, anyway.

The seconds ticked by slowly, each one longer than the last. Derek shifted closer to the barrier, took a deep breath, and tried not to let anyone notice how worried he was. This could end horribly, it could ruin Stiles, it could hurt him, he could die or become a werewolf or... Any number of things could go wrong and that thought put Derek on edge in a way he hadn't been even before the fight earlier in the week. Stiles' eyes met his and that made everything worse. Those beautiful, singed honey eyes were the picture of calm. Faith, belief, that's what Stiles was running on.

"Twenty seconds," Lydia looked up at the sky.

Derek hated this feeling – useless. So utterly useless. What if he messed up? What if it wasn't the right time? What if they didn't have the right amount of blood? What if...

"Fifteen seconds."

What if Stiles stayed a vampire forever because of Derek?

Stiles smiled at him, that perfect, small smile. Calm conflicted with the tension in his back, his shoulders, every muscle and every thought. Trying to wash it out and not succeeding but not failing.

"Ten, nine, eight..." Lydia continued to count down until the moon hit its peak. "Now."

Stiles downed the blood and moved to lie down in the centre of the ring he'd created. Once there, Lydia nodded at Derek. Ducking under the dark yarn, he made his way over to Stiles, trying to portray an indifference he did not feel. He knelt down by Stiles' left hip and leaned forward, keeping himself up with a hand by Stiles' other shoulder. "Ready?" he asked, mouth full of sharp teeth.

"Ready."

Derek pushed Stiles' shirt sleeve off his shoulder and stretched his jaw. Fitting his teeth around the pristine skin, he bit down.

~''~''~''~''~

AN: Hello! I hope everyone is safe and doing well. I am incredibly proud of my friend, who has recently published her first book! Go check out The Ember by Phoebe M.J. Edwards on amazon!