"Stiles!" Stiles groaned, rubbing his eyes.
"Allison?"
"Yeah, it's me, look, Gerard is sending one of his hunters to kill Isaac. He'll be dressed as a deputy. Scott told me Isaac was taken by your dad, so I figured he was...you know."
"A werewolf? You can say it, Allison, it isn't poison."
"Well, wolfsbane is. Get to the station, and I'll try my best to buy you time." Allison hung up after that, aiming her bow from atop the roof, waiting for her mark to come to place,
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"Oh, crap." Stiles cursed as he got to the holding cells, Derek right behind him. Empty cell, no Isaac in sight. "Where-" His question was cut off by a low growl in the corner. He turned, but squirming at the sight of the hunter on the ground, bloody as Isaac prowled over him like an animal. To be fair, he looked like one too with feral fangs and shining eyes.
"Stiles." He turned to Derek who made a motion to get behind him. He felt a little underestimated the way he did it, narrowing his eyes in a glare of defiance as he stayed where he was. "Stiles."
"My beta, my problem." Stiles was tempted to poke his tongue out at the werewolf, but he knew his brain would go south with what else his tongue could do. A small rumble from Isaac captured his attention as the beta turned to them, jumping at Stiles. "Woah!" Stiles felt winded as his back hit the floor, shoving the feral teen off him with a grunt. "Come on, man, I'm your bud, why're you attacking me?"
Isaac went to pounce once more before Derek gripped the back of his hoodie and flung him back into the cell bars. The younger beta yelped and whined in pain as Stiles' flared up.
"What the hell, Derek?!" Stiles pulled himself up off the ground, eyes flashing red at Derek's violence. Derek ignored him though, despite the sudden tenseness he got from an Alpha's influence. Derek growled at Isaac, commanding he back down as the brunette snarled right back.
"Stop acting like children! Derek, you should know better, and Isaac, you aren't better than that but try!" Stiles snapped, loud and strong as the brown contacts seemed to melt away for a moment to show the bleeding red glow.
Isaac whimpered softly, huddling against the cell door in shame as Derek simply looked to side, unable to look at Stiles. He scowled though, not liking that he had been scolded like a pup even through he was the right hand beta of Stiles pack - well, almost. Stiles had said he was pack, but he hadn't made the initiative to accept him as an Alpha would.
"Next time, just growl at him. He'll do as he's told if you do. It's apart of the alpha's power over a pack." Derek noted dully, arms crossed and jaw tense.
"I don't want to lead my pack with fear, Derek. But Isaac, or even you, act like a child, I will scold you like you are one." Stiles huffed, crouching by the whimpering beta. "Come on, buddy, I'm not mad at you. Let's get you out of here, okay?"
"...Okay."
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Stiles laid along the train seats of the loft, fingers running through Isaac's soft curls as he comforted the boy. Isaac laid between his legs, head on his chest as he tried to ground himself to Stiles' heartbeat. It was comfortable, Stiles noticed, just laying there despite the intimate position. Though, he'd much prefer doing this with Derek, it still felt nice to hold Isaac as he processed and grieved. To hold his pack member. He could feel the power whirling inside him as he bonded with the younger beta, and Stiles finally understood what Derek meant.
Despite everything Joseph Lahey had done, Isaac still mourned his father's death like he was a small child, isolating himself from the world yet clinging onto anything and anyone he could.
"Who would kill my dad...? I know - I know he was mean, but only ever to me. Who would kill him?" Isaac choked out after a while, Stiles' chest damp with his silent tears.
"I don't know, Isaac, but we'll find them. We'll find them, and we'll get my dad to lock them away for good." Stiles soothed, looking over at Derek through the murky train window, smiling lightly at the brooding body language the man oozed as he cleaned the hunter blood that Isaac had dripped on the floor when they arrived. Isaac was clean now though, Derek had made sure, scrubbing the blood off the boys hands until they were a dark pink.
Soon, Isaac's breathing evened out, dozing off into a deep sleep as Stiles watched the dark haired werewolf care over his loft, face weary and soft.
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Stiles shifted awkwardly on the spot, Derek standing still and looking almost amused. Stiles was about to leave, but he felt the need to say something.
"Keep him safe, will you?" Stiles finally blurted, knowing that wasn't what he wanted to truly say, but it was better than randomly confessing his love to the Sourwolf. Derek nodded, arms crossed and Stiles couldn't help but stare at his muscular frame. It was like Derek was trying to show himself off, and it was not good for Stiles' heart or libido.
"I'll come back later tomorrow. Y'know, to check on the pack and stuff."
"You know, you can just say Isaac instead of the pack." Stiles laughed at Derek's correction, running a hand on his neck sheepishly.
"Derek, you're pack as much as Isaac is. I might not have bitten you, but I consider you pack too. It's...different than Isaac, but you're still pack. Still...family." Stiles felt like he was being x-rayed under Derek's stare, and made a quick waving motion. "Well, anyway, I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Sourwolf."
Stiles ran off quickly, like his heels were being licked by fire, but it only Derek's persistent gaze as he tried to figure out if he should be in awe, heart warm with fondness, or listen to the small ounce of bitterness that kept reminding him what 'family' meant.
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Stiles felt an uneasy press in his chest and throat as he rested in the middle of his queen bed, midnight ticking by slowly for him.
Something didn't feel right. Something felt like a cold, scaly lizard or snake was wrapping around his heart and squeezing. Cold and scaly was probably the most accurate way to describe it, something cold and scaly running amuck in the night without Stiles' knowledge.
He could just feel it though - the paranoia that something bad was coming by the tightly pulling tether in his chest.
22 BITES