#melissa learning about scott being a werewolf and the world of supernatural creatures and finding out that alan has been doing more than she

[toastybugguy]

yeah yeah no it’s cool… I’ll just be over here. [hangs pictures of any scene w melissa and deaton in the same room together on my wall]. normaling.

[wheredidhiseyebrowsgo]

Could yall rec some platonic or poly pack cuddling fics? I need some fluff in my life rn

Here’s some puppy piles! - Anastasia

(Life Can Do) Terrible Things by junebug13669

(2/? I 3,291 I Teen I Sterek I MCD)

It's Junior Year for the wolf pack of Beacon Hills, CA! Unfortunately, in this universe, that means danger, destruction and bodily harm. Add new students Aiden and Ethan Whelan and CoraLee Smith into the mix and there's not enough Adderall in the world that can make this SNAFU okay again.

Cold-Blooded by RealityXIllusion

(1/2 I 5,142 I Teen I No Pairing)

It’s winter break of gang’s sophomore year, and while out on a large lake on the Hale’s property ice skating commences.ORThat was Stiles' plan at least.

5 times Stiles didn't like the idea of being a parent and one time he did by Mellow (SweetCandy)

(1/1 I 8,257 I General I Sterek)

Stiles Stilinski hates many things.Spiders, Crocs, simple gramma mistakes (“Scott, you’re stands for you are and not that something belongs to you, is that so hard to understand?!”), double dippers, deniers of science, overly religious people who discriminate others because of their religious beliefs, burnt popcorn, people that don’t eat silently, the kind of neighbors that decide 7am on a Saturday is the ideal time to mow their lawn with the obnoxiously loud lawnmower, people who abuse animals and don’t appreciate dogs, cat people, marriage, he also hates every kind of troublemaking supernatural creatures, and of course, Kate and Gerard Argent as well as any kind of Hunter.The only reason the Argents and other Hunters aren’t at the top of his lists of things he hates is because there’s one thing that he hates even more. It disgusts him really and he tries to avoid those who suffer from that kind of parasite, mostly so he can avoid the parasite itself.The number 1 thing he hates: Children and pregnancies.

Or:

During Allison's pregnancy, Stiles repeatedly realizes why he doesn't want to be a parent, of course, Derek has to prove him different!

The Beacon Hills Dead Mothers Society by narceus

(1.1 I 12,418 I Teen I No Pairing I MCD)

Deucalion really does kill Melissa. Everything changes. That's life, though, everything always changes, and there's no stopping that.

Other things stay the same. Like pancakes.

28 Days Later by Marcielles_Musings

(4/? I 13,049 I Mature I Sterek I MCD)

Before the stories of the virus spread, everyone had thought that zombies and a zombie apocalypse would be cool.

It would be a chance for the paranoid, video-gamers and those prepared for anything to shine and save the day. But once the closest thing to an actual zombie apocalypse happens... well, no one makes jokes about it anymore.

Aching for you by LittleRedEmissary

(22/22 I 45,416 I Teen I Sterek)

When Stiles tries to cast a protection spell on Derek and accidentally casts a spell much stronger than either of them expected, the duo has to relearn everything that they've learned about protecting the pack, because the old methods won't do anymore. With the infamous Winchesters coming to town Derek hopes that the hunters will just drive through town, but the pack has never been good that laying low.

One for All by orphan_account

(13/21 I 68,630 I Mature I Sterek)

"Peter Hale and Kate Argent laid dead in the earth. Derek became the Alpha, stripping Peter of his powers. Erica Reyes, Vernon Boyd, Jackson Whittemore, and Isaac Lahey were now werewolves. Derek seemed to be building a brand new Pack for Beacon Hills. Scott’s control was waning, with no Alpha or girlfriend to anchor him.Life couldn’t get worse for Stiles Stilinksi."

After taking the bite in order to help Scott find an anchor after Peter's death, Stiles finds himself as the newest member of Derek Hale's Pack.

While trying to bind together the group of misfits, each suffering from their own brand of despair, Stiles becomes more to the Pack than just another werewolf. He becomes the heart of the pack and the Right Hand of the Alpha himself, with all the power and responsibilities that come with it.

Yet, as Stiles navigates the complexities of living the everyday life of a werewolf, he finds himself as the target of a force greater than he could have ever imagined. A force, unknowingly to him, responsible for the atrocities not only to his own family but to the family of his newfound Mate.

Like hell would Stiles let that stand.

First You Have to Paddle Like a Pup by tryslora

(36/36 I 130,954 I Mature I Danny/Jackson)

Jackson doesn't feel right in his own skin anymore, and he's damn sure that moving to London isn't going to change that. While his parents leave Beacon Hills, Jackson stays and starts to build a new life as a wolf.

[triggeringthehealing]

alpha meet (ch1)

Teen Wolf || Stiles/Derek || E || ~2k || AO3

Summary:  Born a werefox with a magical spark that gives him the ability of a full fox transformation, Stiles’s life is decidedly not simple. Now that he’s in college though, it’s bound to be easier, right? There’s less prejudice, fewer reasons to feel like he’s so different from everyone else... and he gets to spend time figuring out all the aspects of people, supernatural or not.  Now if he only remembered that proper spelling, capitalization of words, and the right alphabet matter when he’s texting. 

Tags/warnings: ABO dynamics, pack dynamics, fraternities, college AU A/N (content): Alpha/Beta/Omega - pack status, alpha/omega - biological disposition.  A/N (personal): Look, once upon a time @bleep0bleep tweeted a thing and my brain latched on. Ever since then I’ve been in a muddy puddle of Alphas, alphas and then some Greek alphabet alphas. Since today is “Previously Unpublished WiP” day at @wipweek , I figured it was about time I set this one free. Or well, the first part of it, at least. *hides*

-=-=-

It's not until college and the courses on gender, sexuality, pack hierarchy, and disposition that Stiles learns more about who he is. The information that he had before, as he was growing up, never really sated his curiosity about it. Not that college gives him all the answers, but it's more than he found out before—from school, from his family and friends, from the research online that sometimes ended up more confusing than helpful.

The world has changed since shapeshifters became known. He can't imagine living in secrecy, hiding that he's different than the average human. Even though he's never been too open about his own ability to shift into a fox—even with shapeshifting being normal, full animal transformation is still rare enough to raise eyebrows—it's at least something he knows he can mention, something that isn't going to shun him from the rest of the world.

Being upfront about being a were is not the norm, not yet, and since the magic that's involved doesn't carry a scent, it's not something that can be discovered without either an accident or a deliberate reveal from the person.

In his hometown, it wasn't easy to keep his ability hidden. Beacon Hills is small, everyone knows everyone. Since his Mom was a werefox, people knew that Stiles was likely to be one too, even though his Dad doesn't have the genes. Stiles knows, he asked his Babcia when he was little, and that was how he found out that on top of his shifting ability, he also had a spark of a different kind of magic. The kind that, had he not been a were, would've probably led him down the path of Druids and spells. As it is, he has a few extra features, as he likes to say—like handling mountain ash that's normally something shifters can't touch.

But his best friend Scott is a werewolf—bitten by a rogue Alpha passing through the territory when they were sixteen—and his girlfriend Kira is a kitsune. Deaton, Scott's old boss from the vet clinic he used to work at is a Druid, the very one who helped Stiles reign in his spark when it messed with Stiles's shift for a while.

Even so, Stiles didn't shift fully until his Mom got sick just before he finished middle school. He later found out that it was the spark he inherited from his dad's side that allowed him to transform into an actual fox. At the time, Stiles did everything on instinct—when he was told about his mom's illness, he spent days in his fox form for the first time ever, refusing to change until she begged him to. Her own ability to change was impeded by her illness, a rare strain of a virus that attacked the were part of a brain, one that to Stiles's dad's relief was not contagious—Stiles couldn't even begin to think what would've happened had his dad lost both of them back then. As it was, after Claudia passed away, Stiles and John found it hard to cope—Stiles spent long periods of time as a fox and curled up on a pile of her old clothes, John became way too close to his bottle of whiskey.

They got through it eventually, with the help of Scott and his mom Melissa, who eventually grew closer to John and is now about to officially become Stiles's step-mom.

Scott and Stiles ended up in the same college, both of them wanting to stay close to home since their parents were the only family left nearby—Stiles's grandparents retired and moved back to Poland, Scott's father never bothered returning after Melissa kicked him out years ago and her own family was living in Florida.

It's during the first year of classes that Stiles dives deep into studying the various aspects of people, along with the history of them all. He learns about the bigotry that still exists but nowhere near as strong as it used to, all discrimination based on inherent traits of a person banned and punishable by law. With were packs being less secretive about their existence, there are a lot fewer hidden sides to dynamics between people, along with a lot fewer feral Omegas like the one who bit Scott roaming the world.

As much as pack status tends to be kept under wraps to outsiders, so does a person's disposition and sexuality. Stiles is of the opinion that unless it matters to his relationship with someone else, there's no need to wave whatever flag it is he should be carrying.

Scott's a were, but outside of their small social circle, he hasn't told anyone other than his first girlfriend, Allison. It was only by luck that the anti-discrimination laws were passed by then because Allison was an Argent, the future leader of a family of hunters who—before weres became a regular part of society—used to hunt magical creatures, good or bad. She ended up being the one to change the family's credo to we protect those who cannot protect themselves. Stiles approved, the new motto a lot less terrifying than their old one which was so easily twisted into unprovoked attacks against anyone who wasn't strictly human. As if humans were never dangerous to others—a few members of Allison's family were proof of the opposite—and having the ability to shift into a wolf, any other animal, or have abilities that were considered supernatural somehow made one inherently a threat.

Growing up, he watched as the world kept changing towards inclusion on several levels, not only when it came to shapeshifters and magic, but also when it came to sexualities, gender, wealth, skin color... anything that once upon a time used to be a reason to marginalize some people and elevate others. By the time Stiles left for college, there was still residual bigotry in the world, but at least in educational areas that sort of discrimination was rare.

It's something that Stiles takes comfort in because he knows how lucky he is to be able to be in college in the first place. Had he been born a few decades earlier, he would've likely been mated the moment he graduated high school, if he'd even be able to do that. He presented as an omega early, in freshman year. The first heat was the wake-up call that his dad needed to sober up and get back on the straight and narrow, back to being a father instead of a mourning husband. For a fleeting moment, Stiles worried that his dad's lack of experience with shifters would mean that he'd fall into old traditions, that he would get bad advice and Stiles would end up in the care of a pack and not allowed to work for the goals he'd had. But instead, John embraced Stiles's eagerness to go into law enforcement and supported him in any way he could.

Here, in college, no one besides Scott—who's on track to step into Deaton's shoes at the vet clinic when he graduates—knows that Stiles is a werefox. Since there's no scent to give it away, he hasn't felt the need to share that information. Unlike werewolves who are still guided by the pull of the moon and need to work on their control once a month, as a fox Stiles has the freedom to choose when he shifts. The same way that he doesn't have to share the fact that he's an omega unless it's relevant to the relationship he's in.

Which he didn’t need to so far, since he's never been in one. Sure, he kissed people, he lost his virginity—not that it was that big a deal to him—in his senior year and had sex a handful of times since. There was never a need to tell anyone about his disposition though because he hasn't thought about the future with anyone. The only exception was a long-standing crush on Lydia—a banshee whom he had an ongoing rivalry with academically and who was now a good friend from across the country, since she was working on conquering the world all the way from MIT. He's never had feelings for anyone that would make him want to try for a steady relationship for anyone else.

Well, maybe one person. Not that he thinks he stands a chance.

From the orientation week onwards, Stiles has been making friends outside of his usual small circle, which was now reduced to only Scott, what with his dad being back home and Lydia on the east coast. He didn't dive right into rush week when he came here, but he still managed to meet people in his classes and in the dorms. That's how he started looking more into fraternities on campus and why he's considering joining one now that spring rush is coming up.

"Come on, Stiles, at least come to the meet," Danny tells him as they walk from the class they have together.

"Look, I don't know," Stiles says, knowing that it's obvious that he's stalling. "I'm not sure if frats are my thing."

"Well, what better way to find out than to check one out?"

Danny's dimples tend to be disarming and Stiles is no exception to that effect. So he shrugs and nods.

"You can bring Scott or anyone else you can think of who isn't already in either Alpha Xi or any other frat," Danny tells him like he hasn't already won the argument. "The meet is on Friday, we'll be in the house over on Willow, you know the one, right?"

"You mean the biggest one on Greek Row?" Stiles asks, grinning. "No, I absolutely do not know the house, not like I've been dragged to it several times last semester for parties or anything."

Danny chuckles.

"Just making sure," he tells Stiles and nudges his side. "Can't ever be completely sure if people have the mental capacity to remember things."

"Oh I remember," Stiles replies, still grinning.

Not only has he never been one for drinking much, not after dealing with his dad's alcohol abuse in the past and also seeing what it did to Scott's family, but the Alpha Xi parties were memorable for several reasons. One of them is walking down the hallway right next to Stiles, dimples still in full force like he remembers exactly what Stiles does. The night they spent together at one of the parties was a good one, even if they never managed to repeat it, not once Danny met Ethan, his current and probably forever partner.

"Right, so, Friday. I'll see you then," Danny says as they come to the front door where they usually part ways. "And seriously, bring friends."

"Oh yeah, will do, the whole one of them," Stiles snorts.

He's not friendless, he's just not really sure who would be up for a pre-rush party like this. Most of the people he's become close to are not freshmen or they're already in frats or sororities after the initial autumn rush. Back then it almost felt like he and Scott were the only holdouts who didn't bother with that aspect of college life.

In the end, he only thinks of one person to ask to tag along and he sends the text message before he can overthink and talk himself out of it.

this weekend is an alpha meet up, do u wanna meet my friends?

[sunjaesol]

Thoughts on 6x15 Pressure Test

- More... hunters. Great.  - THEO - He wants nothing, Theo, just seeing you dead is enough. You know what? I like Theo! Not because he’s a ood characeters, but because he’s fucked up and that’s cool to see. It’s a nice perspective to follow. He’s also a leader, but in a different way.  - Theo is smart, damn - I wonder why Liam and Malia don’t have the two circles tattood somewhere. If Satomi’s pack does it, and the Hale pack, than why isn’t the McCall pack doing it?  - “You know Scott McCall?”, I suppose he’s very famous in the supernatural world? The one and only True Alpha from this century? - Well... he’s still a psychopath.  - ah, the sheriff - Okay, yes, Theo did murder the Hunter, but how do they know so fast? And the Hunter tried to kill them so... I don’t know.  - DEATON WHAT - Oh great, visitors commit suicide. Wonderful.  - First of all, where is Deaton going? We’ve never seen this kind fo energy happening to humans. Is it the flesh, body, thingy again? Secondly, what the fuck is he wearing?  - What the fuck is happening?  - I swear to God if Teen Wolf lets Deaton die... - So, Scott probably dialed Deaton for help and Deaton probably proposed he would go as he is more experienced and... yes. Okay. A face. It’s not faceless, but perhaps it was the face of the faceless creature. And why has there been many more before Deaton that killed themselves? - lol Theo is back in jail - not smart Jiang. I love the girl her boots though.  - “Would Stiles think that?” LYDIA MARTIN THINKING OF HER MAN - Nonono the flesh faceless thing is there right? Theo heard it.  - Poor girl.  - lol Malia I’d laugh too. I don’t think though I’ve ever heard Malia actually laugh uncontrolably. It’s nice. - No one asked you to be there, Tamara.  - What in the world. A sheriff raising his hands to vigilantes.  - It’s quite interesting, this season. The Hunters think they’re not doing anything wrong, and the supernatural don’t think they’re not doing anything wrong. But at the end of the day, they both made mistakes. Supernaturals killing people for the sake of their secret, and Hunters killing supernaturals even if they didn’t do anything to them. Really, they’re just humans with an extension, and Hunters don’t seem to grasp that. No one seems to, which is odd. But, peer pressure is a thing and can make people do weird things, so I understand why everyone is opposite of them.  - If you hurt. one. single. hair. on. the. sheriff’s. head. i. will. castrate. all. of. you. and. sterelise. you. Tamara. - “DeWitte” lol is he of Dutch descent? - Why is Malia the only one feeling it? Whatever “it” is. - The pack is not even surprised to see Theo? Oh, well. - I love Malia this season. She has a wider arrange of emotions, if that makes sense. It’s her most “human” season, regarding her feelings, actions and reactions. - The girl is very logical - “There’s only a dozen of them out there, we can take them” YES LYDIA - The last of Satomi... must feel awful. Losing your family members so quickly. So, Lori did die with Brett, she just dragged herself to his body so she could die alongside him. - “I need a thing too” Teen Wolf realising Corey has no value.  - huh, Corey realising he has no value. Great.  - oh okay this is cool. It’s the last season, so go back to basics, back to where it all started, before they were mutations. Wolves.  - Why are Nolan and that guy here? Don’t they have homework to do? Or a life to live? - So small quakes is the supernatural and one devestating quake is killing everyone that comes in your path? How is that... she’s crazy. Absolutely crazy. Kate would be proud of her.  - Theo’s like “ugh FINE” - wait this is like the fist battle. It’s been a while since they actually... you know, fought. Scott hardly ever uses force because he’s against it, so it’s been a while (I think 5B) where we saw some actual action. I’m excited. And nervous.  - COME ON PARRISH - scolia look™ - Please, if Stiles could contact you through dimensions by radio you can fix that radio as well - Don’t look so surprised, Nolan. You stabbed Corey with a pen.  - aww no I liked Liam x Theo friendship in 6A. Well, Stiles hurt Scott in 5B and they’re still besties so I suppose this is just a bump in the road. - “I’m still working on my anger.” But... shouldn’t that be solved by being a werewolf? Scott lost his astma because of it. - “I’m still human” what i’ve been screaming at my screen since this season came out. They’re STILL HUMAN. They have legs and arms and eyes and a face and a brain and a consious. They learn and mke mistakes and fall in love and get their hearts broken. They’re human, just... with an extra. - A pack is a family, Nolan. Before you start going on a killing spree, do your research. - The actor of Jiang is good. Like, they have Lori who was terrible and then him who’s pretty great. He’d be a great addition to the pack tbh, I like him already. The girl hasn’t said too much.  - What is that? And how did Nolan get loose? - Oh, wolfsbane. In liquid form. - fuck okay Scott. It’s been a while since he lashed out with his eyes.     - Okay so they’re blue. They’ve killed people.  - oh I missed Deaton, always with his “We’re closed” thing - other half? and I thought the drawing was a face? Guess not.  - Who is innocent and who is not? What is good and what is bad. Scott’s moral compass is shifting and shifting and shifting... - Wait.  - Nolan is the creature? - But if Scott kills people, will he lose his red eyes or not? and will he still be a True Alpha? - wHAT THE FICK THAT FACELESS THING MAKES PEOPLE KILL THEMSELVES WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE  - nONONONONONON WOMAN DONT KILL YOURSELF - PUTAIN. Merde. Le situation est très grave.  - ooooooh so the wolves and the rats - it’s all because of that thing. I get it now. (damn, it only took like five episodes for me to figure that out) - THATS IT! Throw the bodies outside and let them think it’s the two of Satomi’s pack. It’s one girl and one boy, it would work. - Scott and I think the same *feels the bromance* - oh, the other half of the drawing is in the Wild Hunt Universe. COREY IS USEFUL HALLELUJAH - Corey can draw.  - ancient shape shifter that feeds of fear so it gets more powerful. So, Nogitsune 2.0 but now without a host. They killed a Nogitsune, but that was a fox. This is just... nothing. It’s ancient, nothing they know.  - Oh, Anuk-ite. Great. My actual name resembles that quite a lot. (You heard it here first, folks, Ophelia is a pseudonym woop woop)  - “Two faces may mean two creatures” One beautiful, one ugly. I swear, if Lydia gets involved...  - But this is really interesting. It’s been a while (since 3B) since I was actually afraid and intrigued by the villain. - This is like Aiden and Ethan, morphing together. Only more violent I suppose. - OH SHIT PAPA MCCALL ENTERED THE BUILDING - Did Melissa call him?  - “We’ll go” ???? - NO SCOTT WHY DID YOU GAVE THEM AWAY FUCK FUCK FUCK - Oh... with McCall. Okay. That’s for the best I suppose - scolia and thiam are rising tonight - Wait but when did McCall find out Scott was a werewolf? Did I just forget about that or??? - cute scott smile ™ - oh my god they’re holding hands oh my god - SCOTT IS SO CUTE WHEN HE HAS A CRUSH OH MY GOD HE IS LIKE THE ADORABLE PUPPY IN THE RELATIONSHIP AND MALIA IS LIKE THE ONE WHO DOESNT LIKE PDA AND LIKE PRETENDS SHE DOESNT LIKE HIM AS MUCH AS HE DOES IM SO - - - (sorry anti’s I like them) - ah, all the supernatural are gonna leave town - oh, Mason... I’m sorry. (but tbh you’re better of without Corey but you’re in love so) - NO TIERNEY JIANG - poor Mason - ooh Corey is still here alright - Corey, realy? A smiley?  - cocky!Scott is my kink - I’m so glad Stiles isn’t here though. Mentally, it wouldn’t be good for him. 

[triggeringthehealing]

marked

Stiles/Derek | PG13 | ~3.3k | AO3 Content notes: future fic, establlished relationship, canon divergence, angst, hurt/comfort

Summary: They play with their prey. Not in a “let me have a little fun chasing you before I kill and devour you” kind of play either. No, it’s the kind where they capture a werewolf — or sometimes a whole pack — and then torture them in ways that put Kate and the Calaveras’s electrocution methods on the level of having to watch Barney the Purple Dinosaur on repeat.

A/N: Written for the fandomwritingchallenge, June prompt: brand A/N 2: Once again, sorry about the late posting :/ 

Stiles figures it out by accident.

He’s been researching the latest big bad that is threatening the fragile peace in the supernatural community of the Northern California area when he comes across a hunter pack that seems to be in the area.

“The McKennas? Oh hell,” Chris reacts when Stiles mentions them.

“Well that sounds awesome,” Stiles replies, gearing up for news of the Gerard variety.

“Think Gerard and Kate combined,” Chris says, and Stiles shivers at the thought. “I have some info about them, I’ll get it to you. But it’s not pretty.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve learned that a lot of the hunting side of all this tends to be ugly,” Stiles says with a sigh. “Not that I think we’ll ever reach the rock bottom of either side, to be honest.”

When Chris gives him the info and Stiles starts looking into the hunter family and what they do — besides the typical hunting — he gets really close to declaring it the absolute bottom of the pit. He has seen hunters who were bad. He has seen monsters — Jackson included, back in the kanima days — who were terrifying. But what he’s seeing on the pages makes him almost appreciate Chris’ comparison to Gerard and Kate. Almost, because there’s no way he can genuinely appreciate something that makes his stomach turn just at the thought of it.

They play with their prey. Not in a “let me have a little fun chasing you before I kill and devour you” kind of play either. No, it’s the kind where they capture a werewolf — or sometimes a whole pack — and then torture them in ways that put Kate and the Calaveras’s electrocution methods on the level of having to watch Barney the Purple Dinosaur on repeat. Which in itself is obviously not pleasant, as Stiles has learned now that some of the pack have procreated.

“They do what?”

Every person in the pack has that exact reaction when they find out. Well, almost everyone who’s present at the pack meeting when they discuss the threat. There’s one person who’s suspiciously quiet in the face of the information, but at first, Stiles is too busy too busy relaying what he found to notice.

He tries not to go into too much detail, but Lydia is looking over his shoulder and making gagging noises already, and he sees Isaac cringe away when he throws a glance at the pages Stiles printed out.

“Chris, why are they allowed to continue operating?”

It’s John who asks the question, and Melissa pulls him back from looking at the details. She is a fierce nurse, has seen things that would cause permanent trauma to some people, and Stiles knows it’s instinct in her to be protective. John returns the protectiveness the same way, but Stiles always rejoices a little when she reminds him that she’s in his corner when it comes to keeping John from too much stress.

“As you can guess, they’re not really controllable,” Chris says, sounding angry and defeated at the same time. “They think that they don’t need to follow a Code, or any rules. They see themselves as some sort of vigilantes, controlling the werewolf population by any means necessary, because none of the other hunter clans do enough in their opinion. And they are solely focused on werewolf packs, no other supernatural creatures are seen as a threat. They just… make sure that the werewolves are punished for existing.”

“That’s insane,” Danny pipes up from the laptop where he’s already sifting through the information that Stiles threw together.

“If there ever was anyone that Kate,” Chris spits out the name like it’s poison, “was looking up to, it was the McKennas.”

Stiles feels the moment that the name reaches Derek’s ears. He knows, because Derek’s grip on Stiles’s shoulder tightens to the point of bordering on painful.

“Not again,” Derek whispers, low enough that only Stiles seems to hear.

Everyone goes back to looking at the information, and they start talking about their possibilities, but Stiles can’t. He doesn’t move, not even when Derek’s grip eases as he moves to join the others.

Stiles can’t follow, because his brain is already connecting Derek’s quiet comment with everything else he knows. With information that he found, snippets he dismissed as impossible and didn’t include in the printouts or files that the pack is discussing. Because there were things that he thought were rumors, too outlandish even in light of everything else he saw.

Branding, he thinks, his mind conjuring the images that he spent half the night before trying to forget.

The McKenna clan doesn’t kill all of the werewolves they capture. Most of them don’t survive the torture — things like being locked in tight spaces, which was what made Isaac step back earlier — and some get killed as part of the process. But a few, usually only one out of a pack, get released after some time. Those who do ‘get away’ aren’t left unmarked though. Stiles clenches his teeth when the vivid images of a branding iron and a blowtorch cross his mind.

All of a sudden, he realises that Derek didn’t just know how to make a tattoo permanent because the Hale pack had been into tattoos, or because he’d encountered the method in New York’s tattoo parlors that specialized in non-human clients.

It’s the thought of the city that makes Stiles finally step forward, and he strides over to his laptop, then nudges Danny to make him move. His fingers are flying over the keyboard moments later, filtering through the information on the hunters’ known locations and movements. As he does so, he’s already remembering the date of that fateful night when he dragged Scott into the Preserve to search for what turned out to be Laura’s body. When he lands on a match, his sharp intake of breath makes the pack turn around in unison.

“What?” Jackson asks, the first one to speak into the brief silence.

“Nothing, nothing,” Stiles mutters, and he closes out of the file he was looking at before Danny — who’s already walking over — can see it. “Just… all of this,” he waves his hand at the screen and nods towards the table with the papers.

There’s no way he’s talking about it in front of the whole pack. Not when Derek clearly isn’t sharing it with anyone, not when Stiles is pretty sure that no one besides Derek knows, including Peter.

But he’s sure now, has zero doubt that at some point between the Hale house fire and Laura’s return to Beacon Hills, Derek had an encounter with the McKenna clan. He’s also sure that said encounter is the reason why the Hale triskelion is in such a prominent place on Derek’s back.

Like a target, he thinks and cringes, the implications more horrific than he wants to think about. His mind wanders though, like it always does, and he can’t stop it any more than he could stop the world from spinning. He manages to act like he’s scrolling through the files on screen, but he’s not seeing anything that’s on there. Instead, he keeps thinking back to the Derek he met years ago, alone and angry at the world, the one who all but growled at Stiles and Scott. The one who spit out “This is private property” like they were set on destroying the last thing he had left — the land that belonged to the family Derek no longer had.

He thinks about Derek before that, the one he remembers from the days when werewolves were just special effects in horror movies to him. The Derek whom Stiles knew as the high school’s basketball team star. The same one he recognized at the ruins in Mexico when no one else did. And he thinks about the Derek who gave in to Scott’s pleas, the one who picked up a blowtorch and made his own brand on Scott’s skin, ignoring how he was given the one on his back.

“Stiles?” It’s Derek’s voice that brings him back to reality. “Are you okay?”

“What? Yeah, I’m fine,” Stiles says a little too quickly.

“You’ve been trying to scroll down this page for over a minute after you got to the end,” Derek points out, and Stiles blinks. “What’s up?”

“It’s nothing,” Stiles says. “Well, no, it’s just all this,” he nods at the screen. “What can we do?”

He’s not just asking Derek but also the rest of the pack. And there’s no response at first, everyone equally shaken by what they’ve been looking at for… well, Stiles has no idea how long he was lost in his thoughts.

They don’t find a solution that night. Not that anyone expected it — the McKenna clan is a whole different ballpark of horror movie villains — since they only just figured out what they’re facing. Chris leaves first, with the promise of finding out more, putting out feelers to more friendly hunter clans. Isaac follows shortly after, joined by Scott and Allison who are already sticking close to him, no doubt preparing for the nightmares that they’ll need to soothe him through. Stiles winces in sympathy when he thinks about the images of the cellars and the lockable boxes covered in claw marks. It’s only a memory for Isaac now, but Stiles imagines it’s not one that’s easy to shrug off.

Erica and Boyd rush off when they get a call from Boyd’s Grandma — they leave Alicia, their three year old, with her during pack meetings, but she gets antsy when things are as tense as their current situation. Derek explained once that for children that young, the pack bond isn't completed, but they still feel everyone’s distress much like human children get upset when the adults around them do.

Stiles melts into a hug from his dad before he and Melissa head out for work, John’s arm around her shoulders as he mutters things to her that Stiles isn’t sure he wants to hear. It’s still pretty new, them dating, and they’re not too old to be giving the younger couples a run for their money in terms of PDA. Stiles deals though, because his dad is happy again. And Scott’s now his brother for real.

Peter lingers, along with Jackson and Lydia, until they gather up all the information. When Danny eventually tugs Jackson away for a project that they apparently have a deadline on, Lydia asks for a ride home.

“You staying?” Derek asks Stiles when the loft is almost empty.

“Dad’s on a double,” Stiles says. “I wouldn’t mind claiming the couch.”

Derek nods, and then he heads over to the corner where Peter’s sitting on the spiral staircase, glowering at the floor. They fall into conversation so quiet that Stiles has no way of hearing or understanding, so he finishes tidying up the table and puts the laptop away instead. His mind circles around the dates he saw earlier again, and he remembers snippets of what Derek disclosed over the years.

There are little things, like the way Derek said “I couldn’t” once when the discussion veered to his arrival in Beacon Hills after Laura was killed. The time when they talked about the Hale family history, and Jackson asked if everyone had a tattoo of the triskelion. Derek’s “no” was that little bit too harsh for Stiles to know there was a story behind it. Like then, he’s not planning on asking anything outright.

He also doesn’t want to act like he didn’t figure out the connection between Derek’s triskelion and the McKennas though. They promised each other a long time ago that they would try to be as honest and open with each other as possible, and Stiles isn’t planning on breaking that promise. It’s just that he doesn’t know how to broach the subject. Or rather, seeing as the whole situation is already out in the open, and it’s only a matter of time before someone else — Stiles wouldn’t put money on whether it will be Lydia, Danny or Peter — connects the dots, Stiles doesn’t want to pretend that he didn’t.

He wants Derek to know that he knows. That there’s no judgment, and no expectation of Derek talking about it if he doesn’t want to.

When Derek sits down on the couch, Stiles startles and glances around, then realises that they’re alone now.

“Peter?”

“Went to his apartment,” Derek says, leaning back in the cushions, looking a lot more relaxed than during the meeting.

Stiles can see right through that though, sees the way Derek’s fists are still clenched, the way his muscles are tense.

“He said there might be something more in the old notes in the vault,” Derek continues, seemingly oblivious to Stiles’ concerned look. “He’ll go check it out tomorrow. We’ll have another meeting in the afternoon.”

Stiles nods and hums in acknowledgment, watching as Derek closes his eyes and breathes deeply, in a way that reminds Stiles of his own methods to shake off panic attacks. Carefully, he moves his hand and lowers it on top of Derek’s, then twines their fingers when Derek turns his palm up.

“You sure you want me to stay?” Stiles asks a few moments later.

It’s not that he wants to leave, or thinks that Derek being alone is a good idea, but he’s not going to make decisions for anyone. If Derek needs time to process, Stiles will give it to him, no questions asked — at least not until later.

“Please,” Derek whispers.

“Okay.” Stiles nods, and sits up. “I’m gonna get my pillow and a blanket. Then I’m gonna need your furry butt off this couch, it’s mine.”

“This couch?” Derek asks, raising an eyebrow. “Because I do recall your protests about how it’s ugly and not comfortable enough,” he says with a more relaxed smile.

“It grew on me,” Stiles shrugs. “Well, not literally, but me and the couch are bros now. We have an understanding. I don’t diss it, it doesn’t make my back hurt.”

“I don’t really think it’s sentient enough for that, Stiles,” Derek says, this time with an actual chuckle. Then he pauses and Stiles looks at him, a little unsettled by the silence, and not at all comforted by the way Derek’s brows are furrowed.

“What?”

“What if you…” Derek starts, then he glances down on the coffee table. “Would you…?”

Stiles waits him out. He would anyway, but today he’s just that little bit extra determined to let things unravel at Derek’s pace.

“Want to come up?” Derek finally says, and it’s so quiet that Stiles only hears it because he’s right by Derek’s side.

It’s a big deal that Derek is asking. Not because they wouldn’t be in a “spending the night together” stage of their relationship yet. They have, in Stiles’ room, here in the loft on the bed that’s still in the corner — it somehow survived all refurbishment and is used a lot during pack movie nights — and in Stiles’ dorm and later his apartment when he was away in college. Back then, they even spent time together in Derek’s place in New York, the small house outside the city that Laura had bought years ago.

The thought, coupled with what Stiles has put together now, sends a shiver down his spine.

But here in Beacon Hills, in the loft that’s seen so much bad and has been rebuilt to mean so much good, barely anyone goes further than a few steps up the spiral staircase. Sure, Peter likes to sit there and watch, and occasionally Boyd or Erica use the small spare bedroom to let Alicia have her nap when the pack is all gathered downstairs. But other than that, the only person who goes up is Derek himself.

“Are you sure?” Stiles asks, fingers tightening around Derek’s. “I want to. I have wanted to. But since you never asked, I assumed it was a werewolf thing.”

“Like, my den of werewolfy solitude?” Derek asks, eyebrow lifted along with the corner of his lips.

“More like your own space not intruded on by my human stench,” Stiles shoots back, and he leans a little against Derek’s arm.

Instead of replying immediately, Derek turns his head and buries his face into the crook of Stiles’ neck, and he breathes in deeply. Then he pulls away just enough to speak while Stiles is trying to ignore the Pavlovian response his dick has to Derek’s stubble on his skin.

“I like how you smell,” Derek says, then takes another deep breath. “It’s… calming.”

Stiles takes a moment to reply, then he can’t help but chuckle.

“Wow, okay, that’s gotta be the only time anyone ever called me calming,” he says, and he gives Derek’s hand a squeeze.

“Well, most of the time you’re moving too much,” Derek says, a smile playing on his lips but not quite reaching his eyes.

Stiles doesn’t try to argue with that. He knows he’s a fidgeter, constantly in motion. It’s what unnerved him so much about the Nogitsune, what should’ve been a dead giveaway to everyone. Derek told him that it was, eventually, but he wasn't around enough to point it out to others.

He’s so lost in the memories of those times that he almost doesn’t notice when Derek gets up. Their hands are still linked though, and Stiles startles a little, then looks up and meets Derek’s eyes.

“Come on,” Derek says quietly, and Stiles nods.

They walk up the stairs in silence, holding hands all the way until they’re in Derek’s room, and Stiles can’t help but stare then. He’s not trying to memorize the bedroom, and it’s not like he’s seeing anything particularly shocking, but still, it’s Derek’s space and something about being there feels special. When Derek lets go of Stiles’ hand to change, Stiles follow suit, and moments later they’re lying down on the soft sheets, facing each other. Then — and it’s not the first time either — Derek turns around and Stiles slips closer, pressing his chest against Derek’s back, against the triskele that’s stark black on Derek’s body.

He can feel the trembles in Derek’s chest when he puts a palm against it, and he bends his head just enough that his lips land just above the outline of the ink. Derek reaches up, links his fingers with Stiles’ and takes a deep breath.

Stiles kisses along the curve of Derek’s shoulder, lips trailing from the side towards the back of Derek’s neck, and then down, until he reaches the tattoo. He drops a kiss there, gentle and as soothing as he can make it, then he moves up until his lips are right below Derek’s ear.

“I know,” he whispers, and he feels Derek tense. “I saw the dates.”

Derek’s breathing is shallow, shaky, and Stiles presses himself closer, holds Derek like he’s trying to stop him from falling apart. And maybe he is, maybe it’s helping. He hopes that it is.

“I’m here,” he says in between breaths. “I’m always here.”

He can feel the quiet sobs rocking Derek’s body, the trembling that reverberates through both of them, and he holds Derek closer, tighter, all while whispering “I love you” over and over against his skin.

It’s not until some time later, when Stiles is trying to fight off sleep, wanting to be there for Derek but too tired to be completely awake, that Derek settles down.

“I love you too,” Stiles hears, and when he feels Derek’s breathing even out, he closes his eyes and follows him into sleep.