Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

It wasn’t like Peter had never thought about claiming an omega.

He had fantasized how he would court an omega, how to impress them, provide for them, satisfy them.

He had thought about it every night before he fell asleep, laying in his twin-sized bed, staring at the superhero posters above his bed and on his walls, and imagined how wonderful it would be to find an omega that he would want to provide for, and how great it would be to finally claim his future mate.

Peter had known back then, that he would be the best alpha in the world and that his omega would never, ever have a reason to complain.

His father, an alpha, had always taught his children how important respect was, how alphas were forbidden to use the alpha tone on their omegas because it should only ever be used to command packs in case of an emergency.

And never under any other circumstances.

Lucien worked from home, being the CEO of Alpha Industries, so he could take care of the kids and raise them, only going to the office once a week, when someone else could watch the kids.

Peter’s mother had been an omega.

She worked in the hospital as the leading neurologist, performing surgeries that could only be performed by a handful of surgeons in the US.

Ophelia had barely taken off any time during or after her pregnancies. Only two weeks before the due date, had she stopped working and three weeks after giving birth, she was already working again, performing surgeries and saving lives.

Lucien and Ophelia had been perfect parents.

They had both spent an equal amount of time caring and providing for their children, always being there for comfort if needed and never impatient.

Peter had wanted to be exactly like them.

He had wanted to marry an omega, start a family if his mate wanted to and raise the kids together.

But that had been when he was still a child, not above the age of 7.

Now he wasn’t that naïve anymore.

He was 39, one of the only unmated alphas his age left, a highly successful businessman who couldn’t possibly spend all his money in one lifetime no matter what he would buy, had turned Alpha Industries into one of the most successful companies in the world and wasn’t looking for an omega.

Peter had never courted an omega.

He had never even picked an interest in one.

He had never been in a serious relationship, only fucking around with omegas, betas and other alphas.

But it had been ages since he had last bedded an omega, mostly fucking betas who didn’t tend to get clingy or upset when he made it clear that there would never be more than sex between them. No intimacy, no staying afterwards, no cuddling during the afterglow. Barely any foreplay, sex, orgasming at least once and then immediately leaving.

And he was happy, no matter what his goddamn sister tried to tell him.

She was permanently insisting that he needed a mate, needed to court an omega, start a family. She felt guilty, guilty because she had the feeling she caused his repulsiveness towards finding a mate.

Maybe it was her fault.

Talia was also an alpha but not the way Peter was.

She was too stubborn to ever change her opinion, she wanted to do things her way or not at all, she had used the alpha tone on their younger beta siblings repeatedly and more than once told Peter how he would be a bad mate and shouldn’t even think about courting an omega.

When he was five and a half, he had told his parents excitedly about how he got an A on a paper that they had to do in kindergarten, about how to treat their future mate.

Talia had snorted and listed a number of reasons why he was unfit to be a mate.

Nobody wanted a broken alpha after all, and Peter was broken.

Had been broken, ever since a fire at his grandparents’ house had burned half of his body, back when he had just turned five. Half his body had been burned, half his skin turned black, half his flesh melted off and if it hadn’t been for the fact that he was a werewolf with advanced healing abilities, he would’ve died from the burns and the smoke.

Peter had witnessed his grandmother, a human, die due to the heat or the smoke, he couldn’t remember, and had seen his grandfather, a wolf, turnaround from where he had already reached the door, walk back into the flames to burn with his mate.

He couldn’t remember how he had escaped, maybe it had been his instincts, but he was the only survivor of the fire.

The burns healed, but the nightmares were so terrible, that he wet the bed for a whole year afterwards and had to see a psychiatrist two, sometimes three days a week.

Talia had called him broken afterwards, broken and burned out, unfit to ever take care of an omega properly. She had blamed him for the fire, blamed him for the deaths of their grandparents and told him again and again that he was an useless alpha.

He had been 5 and a half, not yet knowing that nothing she said was true and that she was just grieving and looking for an outlet, but it had stuck. Slowly his scared mind started believing her, stopped fantasizing about his future mate, stopped musing about how he would court the omega he chose to marry. Or that chose to marry him.

With 7 he had erased all plans of ever claiming an omega.

He concentrated on other things, gathering knowledge, learning languages, expressing interests in both his parent’s jobs and when he reached high school, and his classmates began relationships or to court each other, he ignored the attention omegas gave him.

He didn’t try to court anyone, not even thinking about it.

It hadn’t been much differed during his university time and while he had figured out that Talia hadn’t meant anything she said, something inside him still believed that he wasn’t cut out to be a good alpha and mate. He was too cunning, too cocky, hurting people with his comments, only helping if it resulted in some kind of advantage for him. He was broken.

So Peter stayed alone.

But he didn’t mind.

He didn’t miss the feeling of a warm body in his bed, he didn’t wish for someone who would greet him at the doorstep when he came home after a long day of work, or who would bid him goodbye with a soft kiss.

Peter didn’t want his home smelling like a mixture of his musky, dark alpha scent and a sweet, playful omega scent. He didn’t long to hear the sound of small feet running around the house, calling him Daddy or Papa and demanding to get ice cream for dinner or not having to go to kindergarten because it was stupid.

No, he didn’t want kids, he didn’t want a relationship and most importantly: he didn’t want a fucking omega.

-

“No, Talia, I won’t come to the Alpha&Omega set up you just happen to know about.” Peter repeated himself for the probably fifth time, while typing away on his computer to get at least a little work done while talking to his beloved sister.

“Peter, this isn’t normal anymore, you’re almost forty and unclaimed. Don’t you want to have a cute omega waiting for you at home who cooked you a good meal and took good care of your children?” She cooed in the phone and Peter growled in annoyance at his sister’s world view.

“Talia, I don’t want to find an omega. I’m happy the way everything is.” The door to his office opened and a secretary popped his head in, mouthing to him that his three o’clock meeting was ready.

He nodded dismissively and the young man quickly closed the door behind him, leaving Peter be.

“But Peter. You don’t have to worry about not finding an omega. You can offer more than most alphas. Omegas like financial stability.” Talia tried again, trying to sound soothing.

“Oh, really? I can remember you listing over a hundred reasons why I should never attempt claiming a mate. And that was only when I was five, I’m sure you’ve found many more reasons in the past 34 years.” He snorted, closing the document on his computer, before he got up and checked his suit for wrinkles.

It was spotless as always and even though it wasn’t necessary, he still straightened his tie and checked his perfect laying her for unruly curls.

“Peter-“ Talia began, sounding guilty again and he really didn’t have time for the long trip down memory lane, so he cut her off.

“I wish I had more time to speak with you, dear sister, but I fear I have a meeting in two minutes and I would hate to let the CEO of SilverCo. wait. They’re our key to the European market.” He smiled to himself. “But don’t worry about that, I’m the one who got the company from dad after all. You wouldn’t understand half of what was going on anyways.”

Before she had a chance to answer, he spoke again.

“Goodbye Talia, don’t annoy your husband and the brats too much.” Peter said and hung up, sighing in relief at not having to endure another minute of his sister’s worrying.

He quickly stepped out of his office, strode down the hallway to the office and greeted the CEO of SilverCo.

“Chris, it’s so good to see you again. How are Victoria and Allison? Is Gerard feeling better?”

-

It had to be Peter’s luck that Derek’s birthday was only one month later and him being the perfect uncle he was, would obviously go. He wouldn’t have gone if it had been Laura, maybe if it had been Cora, but it was Derek.  

He couldn’t stand most of the other brats, but Derek was an exception. The boy was a sweet, soft and caring alpha, who reminded Peter often of his young, five years old self.

Peter would have to make sure to get every bit of information out of Derek, whether or not the boy had already found an omega to court.

But when Peter pulled up the long driveway of the house he had grown up in, he played with the thought of turning the car around and driving back to the airport, to catch the next plane back to NYC.

He really didn’t want to meet his entire family again and listen to every elderly relative telling him, how it wasn’t healthy what he did and that he needed to settle down already.

His phone chirped in that moment, a text from Laura telling him that they had all heard his car pulling up and that there was no use in turning around now. They already knew he was there.

Peter cursed his family for mostly being not human, before he continued to drive up the secluded driveway, to the three story house that held all of his childhood memories. The good and the bad ones.

When he pulled up at the house, he noticed the generous amount of cars and was a little surprised at the few ones he hadn’t seen before.

It seemed like his nephew had finally made a few friends.

What a surprise.

He parked next to a beat up old jeep that looked like it was held together by rust, fading baby blue paint and sentimental value. He half expected the next gust of wind to be the end for the pile of junk.

Peter climbed out of his car, noticing with a smug grin that it was obviously the most expensive one, and grabbed Derek’s present, before he closed the car door.

He had left the car in a storage unit in Beacon Hills, simply buying himself a new one in NYC, and only drove it when he was back in California, which was maybe once or twice a year, when his relatives threatened him to come to NYC if he wouldn’t get his ass back to Beacon Hills soon again.

He gave the jeep a once over, sure that the pile of rusty crap wouldn’t make it till next year, before he shrugged and walked up to the front door.

Nobody cared to welcome him, but the door was unlocked so Peter simply let himself in.

The house was filled with relatives he hadn’t met in half a decade and the backyard was occupied by even more family that not even Talia knew, and she was the one who was in contact with literally everyone they were related to.

Before Peter could take a step further inside the house, three children rushed by, one running into his legs, before taking off again. He sighed in annoyance and regretted his decision to attend Derek’s birthday for the fifth or so time in the past ten minutes.

But no turning back now, Peter had to endure at least 8 agonizing hours with his family, before he could go back to his hotel and catch a few hours of sleep. His flight back to New York took off tomorrow at 8 am sharp on the dot and under no circumstances would he miss it.

He couldn’t wait to get out of the hellhole that was Beacon Hills.

“Peter!” Someone exclaimed excitedly and next thing he knew, he was wrapped in a bone crushing hug by his oldest niece. Laura beamed at him after she was done trying to break his ribcage, and appeared to be ecstatic to see him again. God only knew why.

“I’m so glad that you came, mom also is. She invited some very delightful omegas, who are your age and not mated. She wants to introduce you to them, hoping that you might finally get laid.” Laura grinned, looking like a cat who caught the canary.

Why did his family hate him so much? Something Peter wondered every day.

“Tell your mother that I will not speak to any of these omegas. I’m quite satisfied with my life.” Peter growled, while smiling at Aunt Jocelyn across the room.

“You can tell that mom yourself, but I will accompany you. This is so much better than all these family drama shows on TV.” She cackled, snorting unattractively while laughing.

“Let me just give this to Derek, I’m only here to spoil my favorite relative, after all.” Peter exclaimed, ignoring Laura’s protesting ‘Hey!’, and made his way through the house, to get to Derek. He could hear the boy’s heartbeat in the backyard and was just about to step outside, when a body crashed into his own, losing balance and toppling on the ground.

Peter’s first reaction was to check, if Derek’s neatly wrapped present was still intact, because he had spent quite some time finding a perfect gift for his nephew and wouldn’t let some idiot ruin it. The present was luckily still looking flawless, Peter would’ve killed whoever had run into him, should there have been a wrinkle in the expensive wrapping paper.

Only then did he look down to see who had been said idiot, and stared into what had to be the most beautiful pair of eyes. Whiskey colored orbs with a few darker speckles and wide pupils, which seemed to grow even more, the longer Peter stared into them. He couldn’t tear his gaze away, they seemed to pull him in.

Then they blinked and the trance Peter had been in vanished.

He came back to himself and realized, that he was staring at a young man, maybe a few years younger than Derek, with pale, mole dotted skin and the cutest upturned nose he had ever seen.

The boy quickly got back on his feet, flailing so much that Peter was worried he would fall right back on his- admittedly very perfect- ass.

But the stranger defeated the laws of gravity and looked at Peter again.

“So sorry dude, I totally didn’t see you there, you werewolves are simply too quiet. You should wear a bell or something so people, meaning me, notice you and don’t fall on their asses.” The teenager said and patted Peter on the shoulder, before slipping past him into the house, hollering something about how ‘Scott’ shouldn’t eat all the pastries because the poor humans needed sustenance as well.

Bewildered, Peter stared after the boy, not entirely sure what to make out of the surprising encounter, still clutching the present for Derek.

Something tingled his nose, a sweet scent on his clothes that belonged to the boy.

It took him a few minutes until he realized, that his wolf was purring in his head at the delightful scent of omega on his shirt.

-

“Stiles.” Cora said and dropped on the bench next to Peter.

He had found himself a place a little away from the celebrations after giving Derek his present. From here he was able to see the entire backyard and observe what was going on without the danger of someone actually talking to him.

God knows why the omegas his sister had invited hadn’t come after him already, but he was grateful.

“What is a Stiles?” Peter asked slightly irritated by his niece and almost rolled his eyes as well, when she did so.

“That’s the name of the omega you’ve tried to undress with your eyes for the past twenty minutes. I’m not stupid Uncle Peter, so don’t pretend you haven’t stared at Scott’s barnacle ever since he ran into you.” Cora snorted.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Peter immediately answered, feeling the sudden urge to defend himself, even if he wasn’t entirely sure what his niece tried to imply. “And if your mother set you up to this, then you can tell her to…”

“God no, mom didn’t set me up. Don’t be so dramatic.” The girl made a dismissive wave with her hand. "She might try every trick to get you to actually talk to one of the desperate single omegas your age, but I wouldn’t get involved. I would sit at the sidelines and watch the disaster happen.”

“Then what are you trying to do?” Peter was a patient man, but when it came to his family he could lose his temper quickly. He glared down at the unopened can of soda in his hand, regretting his choice of not bringing a strand of wolfsbane and some liquor with him. It was so hard to stand his family when he was sober.

“I’m just providing information.” She shrugged, inspecting her short clipped finger nails for dirt from the last shift.

“And pray tell, where did you get it?”

“Stiles and I are…friends. We have some classes together and he’s a friend of Derek’s mate Isaac. Besides, everybody knows Stiles Stilinski, he is the town’s mascot.”

Peter’s eyes drifted to the boy, who talked to Scott loudly, flailing with his arms and smiling so broad, that his cheeks must be hurting. It didn’t look creepy though, just charming, not like he just escaped a locked up mental facility.

“Stilinski? The sheriff’s son?” Peter asked, still staring at the omega.

There was no denying the fact that the boy was appealing, with his plush, pink lips and the upturned nose, not to mention the beautiful whiskey color of his eyes. The dark hair was just long enough so someone could tangle their fingers in it and softly tug, and the pale skin was a perfect contrast to the smattering of moles. Beauty marks, really.

They reminded Peter of star constellations and he wanted to play connect the dots with them, preferably with his lips caressing each part of the boy’s skin, a trail of hickeys and bite marks leading from one mole to another.

Peter didn’t even care that the omega dressed like a teenage lumberjack. Even Derek, who wore two different colors max- black and grey-, dressed better and his nephew really only ever wore short sleeved shirts, tight jeans and the same leather jacket. His wardrobe barely contained more than two outfit combinations.

The alpha even liked seeing the teen in multiple layers of plaid, comic t-shirts and those terrible, terrible khakis. It would only give him reason to buy him an entirely new wardrobe and enjoy a soft blush coloring the soft cheekbones, when other people noticed just how good the omega looked in a pair of tight jeans and a simple, tight fitting black shirt and tried to undress him with their greedy eyes.

No, Peter then decided that he wouldn’t want to buy the boy a new wardrobe. He wanted to destroy each shirt, so Stiles would’ve to wear one of the alpha’s shirts and be drowned in Peter’s smell.

The sudden rush of possessiveness and ‘mine’ startled Peter.

He had always been egoistical and possessive of things that belonged to him. He had never shared his toys, his blankets, his stuffies or his food. It was all his, he had gotten it, he would keep it.

But never had he felt possessive towards another person, not to mention an omega!

‘Mate’ his wolf supplied unhelpfully, purring the word softly and with delight, but Peter quickly shut him down. No, they didn’t need a mate, they didn’t want a mate. They were fine just the way they were.

“Ugh, I swear to god, if mom finds out you’re interested in the Stilinski boy…” Cora cackled with delight and Peter flashed his eyes at her.

“You will under no circumstances tell your mother about this. Should you do so, I won’t hesitate and inform Talia who is responsible for the hair dye disaster of ’14, when my dear sister had to walk around with neon green hair for three weeks because someone put magic, permanent hair dye in her shampoo.” Peter growled quietly, making sure that only Cora heard his words.

His niece’s eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open.

“You know that it was an accident! I didn’t know mom would use Laura’s shampoo! And it was you who told me about the prank! You even got me the magical hair dye!” Cora spluttered, but Peter simply shrugged.

“Doesn’t matter, it was you who did it.” The alpha glanced at the young beta. “And don’t even try to blame me, you’re already the black sheep next to Laura and Derek, accusing me wouldn’t make it any better.”

“Next to Derek everyone would be a black sheep. He’s as dangerous as a toothless kitten.” Cora snorted, before she sighed. “Alright, I won’t tell mom, but I’m going to have my own fun in another way.”

Peter arched one eyebrow, but before he had a chance to ask how exactly his niece planned on having her own fun humiliating Peter, she had already gotten up and turned towards Stiles.

“Hey Stilinski!” She yelled across the backyard, gathering the attention of every single guest, including the omega. “Get your ass over here.”

Stiles gave her the middle finger, before he patted his beta friend on the shoulders and made his way across the backyard, towards Peter and Cora.

“Cora!” Peter warned, but the boy was already standing in front of them, looking at Cora expectantly.

“I don’t think you’ve met my Uncle Peter yet. He lives is NYC and knows all about that big city life.” Cora introduced, smiling like a shark.

The omega’s eyes widened and stared at Peter in awe, while a soft, almost unnoticeable blush began to color his pale cheeks.

“Really? I always wanted to go to New York City! Experience the city life and all that.” Stiles seemed to be absolutely amazed by the fact that Peter lived in New York.

“Well, I’m gonna let you guys talk, I think Laura’s looking for me. Tell Stiles about all the excitement of living in a huge city. And don’t forget to mention your kitty.” Cora smiled and patted Peter’s shoulder, before she left him alone with Stiles.

He wouldn’t give that brat a present for Christmas or her birthday until she was out of college.

Apparently, his face gave away his anger towards Cora’s actions of trying to get him to talk to Stiles, because the omega began to fiddle with the sleeves of his plaid, worrying his plush bottom lip between pearly white teeth.

“I can go if you want me to. You look like you kinda wanna be left alone and I get it cus I can get really annoying really fast and I wouldn’t want to disturb your alone time. And you’re probably still pissed because I’m 90% sure it was you who I ran into earlier. Sorry again, I was just really hungry.” Stiles rambled, obviously nervous.

This was his chance. This was Peter’s chance of escaping the conversation, leaving the stupid party, returning to his hotel, maybe find some beta that he could fuck into the mattress and then he would leave first thing in the morning, back to his life in New York.

“Water under the bridge, dear boy. I’m merely annoyed at my family, not at you. I love them, but don’t like spending time in their presence. Why don’t you sit down, I believe you have some questions about the big city life?” Peter’s mouth said, before the alpha could think about it. Dammit.

“Uh, if you’re sure.” Stiles mumbled, gingerly sitting down next to Peter, leaving a small space between them.

Still, the smell of ripe, young, unclaimed omega almost knocked the breath out of Peter and he had to swallow hard, to prevent himself from wolfing out. The sudden urge to claim, bite, mark was almost overwhelming him.

“Absolutely. Would you like something to drink? It’s awfully hot today and we wouldn’t want you to dehydrate.” Peter held up the still cold can of soda, noticing with panic that he had the strong urge to provide for the omega.

Stiles blinked at him with surprise, eyeing the can of soda, before gingerly taking it and smiling at Peter.

“Thank you, Peter.” He said sweetly, blinking at the alpha with those huge doe eyes. “I was very thirsty.”

Peter was fucked. He was so, so fucked.

There was a reason why omegas were ruling the world, and not alphas.

Alphas were strong in a physical way. They were naturally more bulky, taller and stronger. Dominance was a trait that every alpha carried and only few had the urge to submit to another alpha or god forbid a beta.

But omegas, omegas were the ones controlling the alphas. They didn’t even speak a command or needed the alpha tone, a simple request in the presence of an alpha, and only seconds later their every wish would be fulfilled.

And while omegas tended to be submissive, there was an equal way of dominance and submissiveness in the relationship between alpha and omega mates.

Omegas, rare treasures amongst a sea of betas and a handful of alphas, were always highly desired and tended to have found a mate before the age of 23. The unmated omegas in Peter’s age, had either lost their mate or had a divorce, which erased the claiming marks.

“You’re welcome.” Peter answered after swallowing the knot that had formed in his throat and smiled at the young boy. “I fear that I can’t offer you anything to eat though.” He shrugged, while his wolf growled unhappily for his stupidity of not thinking ahead. He should’ve had something to offer the omega. Now he was appearing as an alpha who couldn’t provide for a possible mate!

“That’s okay. It’s ways too hot to eat anyways.” Stiles said easily, while opening the can of soda and taking a sip, liking away the stickiness it left on his lips. “This is my favorite soda, by the way. I’m addicted to Dr. Pepper!” The boy’s eyes were wide and shiny and Peter had a hard time controlling his alpha side.

He wanted to fucking preen at the omega’s words. Dammit.

But his wolf was so proud of them for giving Stiles his favorite brand of soda, even if it had been a lucky coincidence, that Peter couldn’t help himself but smile.

“I’m glad that you like it. Now, I heard from my darling niece that you have a few questions. Don’t be shy, ask me anything you want.” He couldn’t control the silky tone in his voice, his alpha instincts had taken over.

Stiles beamed at him.

“Alright, awesome. So, the most important question first; is Spiderman real? And have you ever seen him swinging around the streets?” The omega asked with such a serious voice, that Peter thought he was serious for a second.

He blinked at Stiles in confusion and when the boy’s lips twitched he snorted.

“Sure I have. He has actually saved me from being hit by a car once, you know? Done this whole ‘saving the girl’ stuff on me. Carrying me in bridal style and all that. I even got an upside down kiss at the end, you should’ve seen it, very romantic.” Peter told Stiles in an equally serious voice and the omega was able to hold his serious expression for another second, then he cracked up.

“Man, I wish I had seen that. I bet you were blushing so hard. What else did you witness?”

“Well, there was the Battle of New York and sadly I live in Manhattan so you can imagine what happened to my car. The most annoying thing was, that it was my day off and I had planned to just hang out with Persephone, but then these damn Chitauri with their Chitauri Invasion showed up and they’re so much more annoying than construction workers. What a waste of a day, I couldn’t even watch TV peacefully with this whole battle noise happening right outside my window.” Peter sighed, playing along Stiles’ game.

The omega laughed delightfully, obviously a comic fan.

“Let me tell you a secret though.” The alpha said secretive, with a smile on his face and Stiles immediately nodded, inching a little bit closer.

“As much as I love New York City and all the trouble of marvel superheroes that comes along with it, I’d much rather move to Gotham City. I haven’t found the location of it yet…it’s such a shame because I’d really like to meet Batman.” He sighed and Stiles’ eyes lit up.

“Are you telling me, that not only are you a comic nerd, but you also think DC and Batman are better than Marvel?” Stiles asked breathless as if this question determined the future of their conversation.

“I have to plead guilty, I am one of the few who prefer the DC Universe over Marvel.” Peter said cautiously, and his wolf was silent but tense, not knowing how Stiles would react.

But the boy’s scent turned sweet with happiness, almost making Peter choke on the wave of omega pheromones that hit him.

“Dude same!” Stiles beamed, obviously delighted by their conversation and Peter’s opinion. “My man Scotty over there” Stiles pointed vaguely in the direction of the other party guests “prefers Marvel and Captain America of all superheroes, over DC and Batman!”

Peter scrunched his nose in distaste.

“Captain America? If that guy isn’t secretly working for Hydra, then he’s officially the most boring character in the Marvel Universe, and that means a lot.” Only then did the man realize what Stiles had said.

His wolf growled in unhappiness. ‘My man Scotty’. Did that mean Stiles already had an alpha? Was he being courted? Had they mated yet?

He had the sudden urge to rip Scotty apart and needed a second to regain his control.

“Yeah, but that’s Scott. He’s like Captain America in real life, you know? The typical hero, always trying to save everyone, naïve, good hearted, never egoistical and all that.” Stiles explained, smiling a little. “He has his eyes on this girl and she’ll probably save him from being entirely useless, once I leave for college. She’s awesome with her bow and not nearly as naïve as Scotty. They fit together.”

Something in Peter’s chest loosened.

“So Scott isn’t your alpha?” He asked carefully, not wanting to push too far.

Stiles eyes widened almost comically.

“What? No, no! Scotty is a beta and totally my platonic best friend. Like, I love him but he’s like a brother to me. Really, I’ve known him since I was three, totally platonic. I don’t have an alpha, absolutely no alpha here, at least none that I know of. I don’t think I’ll ever get an alpha though, the ones at school don’t even look at me. Might be the fact that I never shut up, nobody would want an omega that never stops talking as a mate.” The boy rambled, while a blush covered his cheeks.

Peter almost growled at the words of the omega. He wanted to physically as well as mentally harm each and every alpha that had given Stiles the impression, that something was wrong with him.

Huh, Peter knew that he was always a little more willing to use violence than other people, but the urge to harm a bunch of idiot teenagers because they had hurt an omega with their stupidity, was new to him.

“I can assure you, that every alpha would be more than happy to have a mate as intelligent as you. And your voice is absolutely endearing, you shouldn’t stop talking as much as you do, just because stupid teenage alphas can’t keep up with you.” He told the boy easily and tried not to let his mind wander to dirty places, when Stiles looked at him through his long, dark lashes.

“You really think so? Man, your mate must be so lucky to have someone like you. I bet you were already mated in high school. I can totally imagine all the ladies fighting for your attention, no matter if alpha, beta or omega.” Stiles laughed, but something in his voice made it sound wistfully.

“I have to admit that there might’ve been a fight every now and then, when it came to me finding a partner for homecoming, winter formal or prom.” Peter admitted with a small smile. “But I never went to those bothersome celebrations. As to whether or not my mate is happy to have me, I’m not sure I can answer that question. I am unmated after all, but my darling cat Persephone seems to be quite happy living in my apartment.”

Stiles stared at him wide eyed.

“You’re totally kidding right? Were you ugly in school and university? Is that why you never got a mate?”

Peter chuckled quietly.

“I’m afraid that is not the reason. I’ve been told that I was a very handsome teenager and young adult. I presume that no omega ever caught my eye and I’m one of those alphas, who has no desire to claim a beta or another alpha. For short term…physical arrangements yes, but other than that, no.” He explained easily with a shrug of his shoulders. His wolf wanted to urge him to tell Stiles that he was the only omega that had ever caught their eyes, but Peter ignored it.

“Is that why the unclaimed omega ladies are here? Is your sister trying to set you up? Lemme tell you, do not talk to Mrs. Lieberman and don’t accept any of Mrs. Sandmeyers cookies.” Stiles whispered, looking around as if he expected both ladies to show up all of sudden and scold him for talking badly about them.

“Oh really?” Peter asked amusedly and his lips twitched into a small smile. “Why should I not talk to Mrs. Lieberman and what is so bad about Mrs. Sandmeyers cookies?”

“Once you let Mrs. Lieberman talk to you, she won’t stop. She has this cyst at her back that’s the size of an apple and she will describe you every little detail about it. Last year she even went as far as showing it off at the annual sheriff department’s 4^th of July barbeque.” The omega explained wide eyed. “And the cyst isn’t somewhere on her lower back, it’s all the way up and when she pulled up her shirt, you could see everything on her front because she wore one of those see through bras. She flashed half the town.”

Peter chuckled but was glad that he wasn’t talking to Mrs. Lieberman. He wasn’t really someone who had a problem with wounds or blood, but a cyst the size of an apple would even turn his stomach around.

“And Mrs. Sandmeyer?” He asked, now interested what the story behind the cookies was.

“She owns 4 rats and lets them walk around her house freely. Never eat her chocolate chip or raisin cookies, you can’t be sure if it’s really a raisin or chocolate chip that you’re biting into.” Stiles told him and Peter felt the urge to gag.

“My, it appears as if you are my savior. How can I thank you?” Peter smirked playfully and enjoyed the way the omega seemed to glow.

“Well, you have to tell me who Persephone the cat is and what exactly it is that you do in New York. And if you live in one of these artsy apartments in Brooklyn with old, lumpy furniture that you collected on the streets? And mismatching chairs?” Stiles demanded with a smile, obviously interested how it was living in a big city.

“I fear I have to disappoint you, I live in Manhattan with a spectacular view overlooking the Central Park. My furniture is neither lumpy nor old and I most certainly did not collect it on the streets. The only lumpy thing I own might be Persephone’s blanket which I am not allowed to wash. The last time I tried it I had such deep claw marks in my hands that it took minutes for them to heal.” Peter smiled. “She’s a sphynx cat kitten and as long as you don’t try to take away her blanket she’s an angel.”

Stiles seemed to be amazed.

“Whoa, you must be really good at your job.”

Peter laughed. “I like to think so.” He mumbled, and ignored Cora, who was listening to their conversation from inside the house.

“Tell him you’re the owner and president of Hale Industries. You haven’t preened enough yet.” She said clearly amused and Peter growled under his breath, quietly enough for Stiles not to notice but she heard it. It didn’t stop her from cackling up though.

“Mrs. Lieberman doesn’t even have a cyst and Mrs. Sandmeyer owns a cat but no rats.” Cora continued to whisper. “I’ve got the feeling a certain omega doesn’t want you to be interested in the omegas mom invited so you could finally claim one of the desperate single ladies.”

Peter’s growling stopped and his gaze flickered over Stiles’ face. Did the boy really not want him to talk to any of the other omegas?

If yes, then who would Peter be if he didn’t follow the young omega’s wishes? He would ignore the other omegas easily.

“So, you’re apparently a highly successful alpha werewolf, who looks decent-“

“Decent?” Peter asked with arched eyebrows, giving Stiles a skeptical look. “I like to think of myself as handsome at least.” He scoffed playfully and made the omega laugh.

“Alright, a handsome alpha werewolf.” Stiles corrected, before continuing his sentence. “And you’re trying to tell me you’re unmated because no omega ever caught your eye? I really have a hard time believing that, cus I’m pretty sure that you’ve had omega top models throw themselves at you.”

“Well, you’re an intelligent, witty, sarcastic and very pretty omega, who apparently hasn’t caught the attention of any alphas, betas or omegas your age. I have a very hard time believing that.” Peter answered. “Especially with that upturned nose and these delightful beauty marks.”

Peter could see the way a blush crept up Stiles’ neck, all the way up to the tip of his ears.

“Stop being so charming.” Stiles huffed sheepishly and wanted to say something else, but they were interrupted by a high voice screaming Peter’s name.

“Uncle Petey.” A small girl crowed in delight and next thing he knew, Peter had an armful of toddler pressed against him. “I miffed you fo much.” Little Grace told him and pressed a sticky kiss on his cheek.

“Is that you Grace?” Peter asked and picked the girl up to put her on his lap. “Look at you, have you been growing? You look so much older! I must’ve been gone for years, you’ve become a young lady.” He smiled and nuzzled the little girl’s cheek, to return her scent marking.

“’m two.” The girl held up three fingers and stared at them grumpily, forcing one down again. “Two.” She repeated then, showing a big, toothy smile.

“What, two already?! I’m such a bad uncle.” Peter gasped with a smile, remembering her second birthday.

“Mmm, no. You my nieciest Uncle.” Grace insisted and played with the hem of his shirt, one of her little claws catching on the fabric and tearing it a little. Peter growled softly and she retracted her claws, continuing to fiddle with his shirt with her human fingers.

“This is my youngest brother’s daughter, Grace.” Peter introduced the little girl to Stiles, who had a weird look on his face, which Peter couldn’t really pin down to anything. His mouth was open and his eyes wide and his heartbeat went through the roof. Another wave of omega pheromones hit Peter.

“Grace, this is Stiles.” Grace looked up towards Stiles and eyed him skeptically. Then she turned her head towards Peter and looked at him in awe.

“Petey, is he your… ma-mate?” She asked then, sounding stunned. “Cus, he really pwetty and I wanna have a ma-mate so pwetty.”

Stiles chocked and squirmed in his seat, but he smiled.

“He’s a friend of Derek’s mate, Isaac.” Peter explained the cub and she nodded quietly, before she squirmed on his lap, leaned forwards and pressed a sticky kiss on Stiles’ cheek.

“Now he’s my ma-mate.” She proclaimed proudly. “And we gonna be married like Derbear an’ Isa.”

“Derbear, huh?” The human grinned, eyes flying over to Derek, who stared at Isaac as if the boy was the sun, in such awe that it almost made Peter snort. His nephew had always been a romantic.

“Hmmm.” Grace mumbled, while she leaned her head against Peter’s shoulder, so she could scent his neck and find comfort in her long gone family member.

“If you want more blackmail material on my nephew, I’d love to help. I did change his diapers back in the days after all, I know all the embarrassing childhood stories.” Peter winked at Stiles, who grinned from ear to ear.

“I need a good one for my speech at their wedding and I thought I would’ve to bribe Cora or Laura to get one.” The omega nodded.

“Well, which of these sounds the best: ‘Derek Dion’, ‘Disney Derek’ or ‘Dick Sucking Derek’?” Peter placed both his hands on Grace’s ears, so she wouldn’t say these words and get Peter in trouble.

Stiles began to laugh, snorting while he did so and his smile stretched over his face.

“Oh my God, I can’t even decide which sounds best.” The omega looked torn. “I wish I could chose all three, but I think Dick Sucking Derek it is.” He stared at Peter expectantly.

“Good choice, now.” Peter grinned at the memory. “When Derek was seven or so, he joined a basketball team so he would learn to socialize with kids outside the pack. I was around 21 and had this friends with benefits arrangement with a beta from Stanford who lived not too far away from Beacon Hills. During summer break he often came over to my parent’s house and we hung out or fooled around when my family wasn’t home. One time we didn’t know that Derek had stayed home and he heard my friend and I playing video games in my room and I was angry because I lost a game again so I said to my friend that he could suck my dick for all I’d care. He literally did that afterwards, but anyways, Derek had heard the phrase and since Talia always made sure her kids wouldn’t hear any kind of swearwords, he didn’t really know what dick meant. He thought it was something cool or motivating.”

Stiles eyes were wide and his lips twitched in anticipation.

“A few weeks later he had a basketball game and due to his talent he was team captain, so before the game started he decided to motivate his team like he had seen on TV, so he held some kind of speech and ended it by yelling ‘Now let’s suck some dicks!’. You can imagine everybody’s reaction.” Peter grinned and Stiles cracked up.

The boy sounded like he would choke on his laughter at any second now, while Grace looked at both men confused, not understanding the situation entirely.

“Oh my god, this is gold!” Stiles exclaimed almost hysterical, wiping away a few tears that had gathered in his eyes.

“It is now, imagine my sister’s anger when she found out where he had gotten that phrase from.” The wolf smirked and sent the omega into another laughing fit.

“I’ll so bring this up at their mating ceremony.” Stiles declared and Peter decided that he had to attend his nephew’s mating ceremony at all costs. He wouldn’t want to miss Derek’s face expression when the story was brought up again, for the world.

“I most certainly hope so.” He agreed and played with Grace’s curls, while she gnawed at his shoulder.

-

He and Stiles continued to talk for what seemed to be minutes but had to actually be hours. The boy had a thousand questions for Peter about New York City, begged him for more embarrassing childhood stories of the Hale children and talked animatedly about all his favorite TV shows and comics.

Stiles was talking 90% of the time, only stopping for Peter to answer a question, but the alpha was surprisingly enough fine with it.

It was fascinating to watch the omega talk. He did it with his entire body, waving his hands to describe things, changing his posture with each key point of a subject and the aura surrounding him was filled with happiness.

Eventually they had to stop talking because the barbeque was ready to be served and Peter had to go inside and put Grace on the couch because the girl had fallen asleep on him.

During the meal Stiles sat next to Isaac and Scott while Peter had been seated next to two of the three unmated omegas his dear sister had invited and while he was his usual charming self, he felt a little hollow inside and the glances Stiles sent him every now and then, distracted him terribly.

The boy looked sad to see Peter talk with the women and surprisingly enough Peter felt guilty. He didn’t want Stiles to feel bad. He wanted the boy to be happy and as carefree as he had been before the meal.

He tried to avoid the touches of the female omegas, not wanting to get their scents on him, but he could only do so much before appearing rude and if Talia found out that he had been rude towards the unclaimed omegas, she would give him shit for the next three years.

He almost jumped out of his seat as soon as the clock hit 10.30 pm and he had the chance of escaping by blaming his early flight.

“Now ladies, it has been a pleasure to meet you, but I’m afraid that I have to go. My flight leaves early and work never stops.” He smiled flatly before saying goodbye to Derek as well, promising his nephew that he would be there at the mating ceremony and enjoyed the way the young alpha blushed.

Peter swatted Cora lightly over the head as a goodbye, pressed a kiss on Laura’s head and vanished inside the house, before Talia would notice his disappearance. When he reached the front door, a hand closed around his biceps and stopped him.

It was Stiles, who looked disappointed and hesitantly.

“You didn’t say goodbye.” The boy was biting his lip and avoided meeting Peter’s gaze. His smell was bitter with rejection and insecurity. Peter hated it, he wanted Stiles to smell like happiness again.

“You looked occupied talking to your friends, I didn’t want to disturb you.” Peter explained calmly, even though he knew it was a lie. He hadn’t wanted to say goodbye to the boy because his wolf would’ve gone wild with the want to stay or take the omega with him.

“You suck at lying, you know.” Stiles poked his finger at Peter’s stomach, frowning when he hit solid muscle and grumbling something about how unfair it was to have the advantage of werewolf physique.

“No, I don’t.” Peter denied automatically, but Stiles simply snorted.

“So, uh, do you maybe wanna do something tomorrow? I could show you around town, you haven’t been here for quite a while after all. This super awesome coffee shop opened at 6^th street and while I’m pretty sure it’s not as good at the ones in New York, maybe you and I could try it out and you could gossip about how much better things are outside of Beacon Hills?” The omega asked quietly and seemed to be almost shy.

And Peter wished, he really wished, that he hadn’t booked a flight that would leave tomorrow morning, and that he would’ve taken off longer from work.

“I’d love to, but my flight leaves tomorrow at 8 and I can’t just be missing at work without announcing it first.” Peter sighed and his wolf growled when the scent of Stiles’ nervousness turned even bitterer with rejection and embarrassment.

“Oh, okay.” The omega mumbled and his shoulder slumped.

Peter couldn’t bear it, especially not when his wolf clawed at his mind aggressively, insisting that he would have to stay in contact with Stiles and make the boy smell happy again.

“Maybe you can give me your number though, I need to keep you up to date with the city life after all.”

Immediately Stiles looked up with eyes that were shining with happiness.

“Really?” The omega asked breathless, before fumbling out his phone and handing it to Peter quickly.

“Of course.” He nodded, while typing in his contact details and sent a quick message to his own number, so he would’ve Stiles’. “I enjoy talking to such an extraordinarily intelligent omega such as you every day.”

There was the sweet scent of happiness again.

“Awesome!” Stiles declared and took his phone back with a broad smile on his face. “I’ll definitely text you.” He promised and Peter almost growled in contentment.

“I most certainly hope so.” The man said, before opening the front door. “You should go and enjoy the rest of the evening. Maybe one of my dear nephews or nieces will choke on food and someone needs to take pictures so I won’t miss a thing.”

Stiles laughed and nodded, still clutching his phone in his hands.

“You’re so mean, but I don’t mind.” He looked back over his shoulder. “Well, I’m gonna go back now, I hope you have a good flight.” The omega smiled sweetly before taking a shaking breath and leaning into Peter’s space to hug him.

Peter was rarely startled, but right now he was absolutely shocked. It took him a second before he could react and return the hug. He felt how Stiles nuzzled his nose against Peter’s neck, covering him with his omega scent.

Then the boy took a step back, blushing bright red.

“Bye.” He stammered, before turning around and fleeing back to the party.

Peter stood in the door for another 20 seconds, still surprised by the sudden hug and the scent marking, before he had gotten himself back together and was able to drive back to the hotel.

It was 20 minutes after he had slipped into bed, when his phone alerted him that he had gotten a new text message from Stiles.

It was a picture of Cora biting into a huge steak with her wolf teeth, barbeque sauce all over her face and her long nails piercing the meat.

From Stiles, 11.16 pm:
‘I think she was raised by wolves’

Peter snorted, before he answered.

To Stiles, 11.17 pm:
This was your one dog joke a year, I hope it was worth it.

From Stiles, 11.17 pm:
It totally was

Chapter Text

To say that Peter had a good night’s sleep would be a lie. He had a terrible, terrible night with terrible, terrible consequences. Really, it had been gruesome.

First, he had slept like as peacefully as possible and even fucking coma patients would move more.

Second, he had dreamed the most heavenly dreams about whiskey golden doe eyes, plush pink lips and beautiful star constellation on a pale cream colored sky.

Third, he had woken up so well rested that he felt as if he had slept on a cloud instead of a bed.

And Peter knew that it hadn’t been the bed that caused him to feel so fucking good. It was the fact that the smell of sweet, ripe omega was still clinging to his skin and tingled his nose even in his sleep. It made him want to fucking purr.

And now here he was, staring at the alarm clock on his nightstand judgingly. It was shortly after six, he would’ve to get up now, take a shower, drive to the airport and check in, so he could go back home.

Going back home was fine but… home was also so far away from Beacon Hills.

‘Far away from mate.’ His wolf added and while Peter knew that it was exactly what he thought as well, he couldn’t help but push his wolf away in the back of his head, where he could ignore it easily.

He stared at the alarm clock accusingly for another two minutes, contemplating if he should delete Stiles’ number, go back to New York City and never return to Beacon Hills, but when he opened his phone to do so, there was a new message from Cora and he automatically opened it.

It was a picture.

But not any picture.

From Cora, 11.30 pm:
You’re welcome

Attached was a photograph of Stiles.

The boy was sitting on a chair, staring up at the camera sheepishly but at the same time somehow as if he was accusing the photographer of a capital crime. A soft blush was spread over his cheeks and he bit his lower lip nervously.

It was easy to detect what caused his nervousness.

There, on top of his fluffy brown hair sat a flower crown. The small flowers had pink and white petals, some a soft lavender tone and there were one or two witch were azure blue.

An image appeared in Peter’s head all of sudden. Stiles in a white, tight shirt and slim fitting, light colored suit pants with a flower crown on his head, walking on the forest floor barefooted, in his hands a bouquet of wildflowers and on his left ring finger a sparkling engagement ring. Peter would wait for him, take his hand and put a wedding ring on his pale fingers before biting the nape of Stiles’ neck to finally claim what was his.

He shuddered at the thought of skin breaking under his sharp teeth and a little bit of blood hitting his tongue which he would dutifully lick away. He could almost hear the soft gasp that would escape Stiles’ lips, before he too buried his smaller omega teeth in Peter’s neck to show that Peter belonged to him now. That they belonged to each other.

“Goddammit!” Peter cursed and sat up in his bed while calling his assistant. She answered her phone sleepily.

“’lo?” Her voice sounded tired and annoyed. It was already shortly after 7, she should’ve been awake by now.

“Jennifer, I have to stay in Beacon Hills until this afternoon, unexpected circumstances make it impossible to fly to New York. I want you to cancel my flight and book me another one later today, first class, the usual. If that doesn’t work hire me a private jet, I always wanted to try one out anyways to see if it would be worth buying.” He ordered sharply and heard how the beta’s heartbeat shot up when she realized who had called her.

“Yes sir, of course sir. Shall I cancel all your meetings today?” She asked quickly and it sounded as if she was taking out her second phone to change Peter’s calendar.

“Postpone them to another day, if it doesn’t fit with some people it’s their own fault, I don’t care. Make sure to feed Persephone before you go to work and see if she’s fine with being alone. I want you to feed her after work as well and make sure she has fresh water depending on whether or not I’m home ” Peter realized that he would’ve made an excellent general in combat. He had a natural talent when it came to ordering people around.

“Yes sir. I’ll immediately do so. I will send you the information regarding your new flight as soon as I get them.” Jennifer hastily promised and Peter nodded, satisfied with her work.

“Good.” He hung up and took a deep breath. God, he was such an idiot.

How was it possible that some kid could make him want to stay another few hours in the hell that was Beacon Hills?!

“It’s the doe eyes.” Peter nodded solemnly. “Those goddamn doe eyes.”

With a huff he decided that it was too late to do anything about it now anyways, so he fell back into his bed and decided that he could sleep another hour. Stiles was a human teenage boy after all and they usually slept in late.

-

Three hours later he was sitting in his car outside the sheriff’s house and tried to smoother his hair for the fifth time since he had climbed into the vehicle. It was looking perfect, but he had the feeling it wasn’t good enough yet.

The alpha stared at his goatee skeptically and contemplated if Stiles would prefer him clean shaved, but it was too late about that anyways now.

He sighed and climbed out of his car and checked if his V-neck fit him perfectly in his reflection on the car window, before he made his way up to the door.

The only car in the driveway was the beat-up old jeep, well the pile of crap that should belong on a scrapyard, and he chuckled in amusement. Of course it had to be Stiles who owned such a car. To be honest, this car was so Stiles and the boy driving anything else didn’t fit.

Peter was lucky that the police cruiser wasn’t in the driveway, because that meant that Sheriff Stilinski most likely wasn’t home. Peter really didn’t want to meet the man and explain that he was there to meet a teenage omega.

 He skipped up the three steps on the front porch before ringing the doorbell and then waited. He could hear one heartbeat and it jumped at the sound of the doorbell before smothering out again.

Seconds later he heard footsteps on a stairway and a little bit of stumbling, before a lock was turned and then the front door opened.

Peter had been prepared to see the omega again, had been prepared for the plush lips and doe eyes, but what he hadn’t been prepared for was a sleepy Stiles Stilinski, who blinked at him with glassy, wide orbs.

Stiles hair pointed at every possible direction but still looked perfect, there was an imprint on his cheek from what seemed to be a wrinkle in a pillow or maybe blanket and his lashes were a little clumped with eye sand.

He wore an oversized shirt and baggy, worn off sweatpants and was barefooted. And goddammit those were cute feet.

“Peter?” The omega asked sleepily and with a slightly rough voice from a good night of sleep and Peter tried to suppress all the dirty fantasies that came up in his mind.

The strong smell of omega and typical morning arousal didn’t really help.

Luckily his eyes didn’t flash.

“Good morning Stiles.” He smiled broadly and fuck, his voice sounded slightly breathless.

Stiles stared at him for another five seconds, before he realized what was really happening.

“Holy shit, Peter.” Apparently the omega’s sleepy brain had woken up as well. “What are you doing here? What about your flight? Or your job?”

The alpha noted satisfied that the boy’s scent turned flowery with happiness and how his heartbeat began to flutter a little.

“I remember you offering me to show me around Beacon Hills again and after being gone for quite some time I think it’s time for me to catch up with what changed in this town. And I didn’t know where to get a good breakfast so I thought to myself that perhaps there is a cute omega somewhere in this town, who could tell me where I can find the best pancakes.” Peter almost purred and his wolf joined in satisfied with being close to their mate.

No, not mate. Friends, they were just friends.

Stiles eyes widened.

“Me! I know where to find the best pancakes, I promise.” He then hastily said and stumbled over his own words slightly.

“That’s exactly what I thought dear boy. Would you like to join me for breakfast then? My treat because you’re the reason I get to enjoy good pancakes.”

Stiles’ mouth dropped open and he stared at Peter disbelievingly.

“You want me to join you for breakfast? And you’re going to pay for it?” His wide eyes blinked confused but there was hope in them that Peter was serious.

“Of course. I would be honored if you’d join me. You’re by far the most pleasant company I’ve had in years.” Yes, there was that delicious blush that crept up Stiles’ cheeks.

“I…uh, I’d need to shower and change, would you wait that long? I promise to hurry.” Stiles’ heartbeat was racing and he sounded a little nervous again, but when Peter nodded, his nervousness subsided immediately even though his heart began to beat even faster.

“Of course, take all the time you want, I’m not in a hurry.” The alpha said, even though he wouldn’t mind if Stiles would join him exactly the way he was now. He doubted that there was ever a time where the omega wasn’t beautiful.

“Do you wanna come in while you wait? You don’t have to stand outside. My dad isn’t home but you can probably hear that with your super senses.” Stiles asked shyly and glanced into the hallway behind him.

Peter was glad he did, because he couldn’t suppress his eyes from flashing alpha red. An omega had invited him into their house. An unclaimed omega who smelled so sweet. A teenage omega…

“Are you inviting me inside, Stiles? An unclaimed alpha twice your age? My, my, you’re lucky I’m an honest man.” Peter joked, but didn’t miss the way Stiles blushed.

“An honest man.” The omega scoffed and rolled his eyes. “From what Cora told me I shouldn’t even let you near me.” He joked.

Peter arched an eyebrow. “And why don’t you listen to her then, little omega?” He asked with a slight smile. Stiles knew how to play games.

“Haven’t you heard? I’m the sheriff’s son, it’s my duty to be a teenage rebel. Inviting an older alpha in my house who’s unclaimed is basically textbook. Do keep up old man, my father isn’t nearly bold enough yet. He has to lose most of his hair before I’m twenty and if I don’t try harder I won’t fulfill my mission.” Stiles winked at him before he started to laugh and allowed Peter to come inside the house.

The alpha chuckled as well while he took a subtle whiff of the many mingled scents of the house. He smelled Stiles’ omega smell everywhere and an equally strong scent of beta. There was some gun oil and powder, the slight smell of coffee, a hint of female perfume that he didn’t know and a little bit of dust. It smelled homey.

Happiness with a hint of nostalgia and sadness. Every normal home smelled like that.

“Go around and do your werewolf sniffing and scenting thing. Mark your territory and all that. Just don’t pee on the furniture.” Stiles ordered while he skipped up the stairs and Peter growled jokingly at him.

“One dog joke per year Stiles, this was you second one already.” The wolf reminded the human, who simply began to cackle and then vanished into a bathroom. Seconds later a shower was turned on.

Peter used the time to look around the Stilinski household. He didn’t snoop too much even though he wanted to scent mark everything to make sure no other alpha, beta or omega would try to get to Stiles, but he refrained from doing so.

His wolf growled at him in annoyance, but Peter satisfied it by looking at the pictures that were spread all over the house. Many of them were family photos with a young Stiles who smiled in the camera so wide, that Peter was sure it must hurt his cheeks.

There was a dark haired woman in many of the pictures when Stiles had to be 6 or 7 years old, but she wasn’t found in any other photograph. Peter doubted that the reason was a divorce. No.

After a divorce nobody would leave the pictures of an ex-spouse all over the house, there was too much hurt and hatred.

But death….

Pain pierced Peter’s heart at the thought of his mate… of Stiles having lost his mother at such a young age. He wanted to take away the grief the boy had to have experienced. When Peter’s grandparents had died, he had barely coped with it and he couldn’t imagine how he would react if his parents suddenly passed away.

Luckily Ophelia and Lucien were still healthy and strong thanks to their slow aging and werewolf genetics, and Peter decided that he would call them sometime this week. They were visiting some far relatives somewhere in Europe but would be back for Derek’s and Isaac’s mating ceremony.

He continued his way around the house and glanced quickly into the kitchen, before he looked through the bookshelf in the living room. A few classics, some old fantasy novels, a few books that were required to read in high school, a couple of children’s books and a few scientific magazines. Otherwise only some bits and pieces that every family collected over the years.

Peter smiled when he saw a picture of Stiles as a toddler dressed in a wolf onesie. He growled at the camera, but his mouth was wide and smiling.

“Are you ready?” Stiles asked suddenly from the hallway and Peter blinked in surprise. His wolf had been so focused on seeing their mate….seeing Stiles in his everyday life that he had stopped listening to his surroundings.

Huh, that had only happened a few times in his life and mostly when he had been a child. It was caused when he was in environment where he felt save and without the need to constantly check if there was a possible source of danger.

Not even in his own penthouse in NYC had he experienced that.

He was probably only confused. It had definitely nothing to do with Stiles! Right.

“Of course I am. Shall we?” Peter turned towards Stiles and noticed how the boy had changed into pants that were tighter than the ones he had worn the day before and looked like they were relatively new.

None of the pictures of Stiles as a teenager showed him in tight pants and part of Peter hoped that the omega had dressed that way to impress him. Because, boy did it work.

They hugged his ass just right and showed off how long and thin his legs really were.

Peter wanted them to lay over his shoulders when he fucked Stiles so he could burry himself deep inside the tight warmth of the omega.

He was unbelievably thankful that Stiles had a human nose, because his arousal stayed undetected.

“Am I looking funny? You’re staring at me in this weird way. It’s the jeans isn’t it? I should go and change.” The omega stammered nervously and had already turned in the direction of the stairs, when Peter grabbed his arm softly. He didn’t want to accidentally bruise the boy. On purpose and consensual yes, accidentally no.

“You look delightful Stiles, there’s no need to change clothes. I can assure you that these pants are suiting you perfectly.” Peter quickly said so the boy would get rid of some of those insecurities he apparently had.

“Oh.” Stiles blushed and his gaze quickly darted to his arm, where Peter was still holding it. “Okay, if you say so. I trust you.”

‘I trust you’ Peter swallowed hard, but his smile didn’t waver.

“Good.” The alpha then said and if his voice sounded a little raspier than before nobody noticed it. “We’ll take my car then.”

-

Stiles didn’t talk any less than the day before. If anything he talked even more, nonstop babbling about whatever came to his mind.

Peter was pretty sure it was impossible to talk about so many new things after not seeing each other for barely 12 hours, but Stiles proved him wrong. The omega had so much to tell that it felt as if Peter just reunited with an old friend he hadn’t seen in twenty years.

And the worst part: Peter absolutely adored it and held on to each and every word. Fuck.

They drove to a small diner called Pancake Pantry and while both of them snorted at the name, the pancakes were definitely amazing.

Stiles ordered a stack of pancakes that even hungry teenage werewolves would struggle with and soaked them in syrup, while Peter went with two large chocolate chip pancakes. He allowed Stiles to eat a part of them because when those huge doe eyes stared at the chocolate chips longingly Peter’s alpha side immediately wanted to provide for the omega.

Just when Stiles told him one of his Star Wars theories which Peter found unbelievably interesting, when his phone ringed.

He played with the idea of ignoring it, but Stiles insisted he would answer it so he did. It was Jennifer.

“What?” He asked annoyed and impatient.

“Hi Sir, I changed your flight and you will leave at two o’clock this afternoon. Please be at the airport around 1.30, they’ll check you in and show you your plane. I couldn’t find a different ticket in first class on a flight today so I hired you a private jet. I paid the usual way. Your flight will take 5 ½ hours, so you’ll arrive in New York City at 8.30, including time difference.” Jennifer informed him quickly.

“Good, is a car ready for me when I arrive in New York?”

“Yes, I already called the chauffeur.” His assistant confirmed and Peter was glad he had hired people who were reliable.

“Alright, what about my postponed meetings?” He asked and was impatient to end the phone call already.

“I spread them over the next two weeks, it was no problem at all. I emailed you whatever paperwork got in today so you can take a look at it if you want during your flight. Shall I make sure you have dinner when you come home?”

“Yes, I want steak, medium. I don’t care about the sides, just make sure they include some fries. And get me some dessert, I’m fine with everything as long as it includes chocolate.” Peter rattled down.

“Will do. Have a good day Sir.” Jennifer said and Peter hung up.

Stiles stared at Peter wide eyed.

“Did you just order yourself food for when you arrive at home today? Do you have a personal assistant?” The omega asked in awe and Peter noticed how his chest swelled with pride.

“I didn’t order my food, my assistant will so I’ll have something to eat when I get home. I feel like I could eat a horse after long flights.” The alpha explained and showed a hint of fang playfully.

Stiles laughed but Peter still heard how his heart fluttered and how his scent turned slightly sweet with arousal. It was like a drug and he was already addicted.

“I’m never hungry after flights. I feel like I could throw up from the plane food and from the smell. Don’t even get me started on the seats. The cramps in my legs could literally kill me. Strong alphas like you can handle that shit but an omega like me? No, we need something soft and cuddly to sit on with enough space to stretch and all that. Preferably some good Wi-Fi and Netflix.” Stiles pouted and Peter winced at the horror that were economy class plane tickets.

He had once taken an one hour flight because nothing else was free and holy shit, he had felt as if his legs would never ever work properly again.

“It’s all about the class you’re flying in, darling.” Peter said and emptied his coffee mug.

The omega rolled his eyes, still blushing a little, and stared at Peter as if he was a total idiot.

“I hate to break it to you, but not everyone can afford first class tickets.”

‘Provide, provide, provide, provide.’ Peter’s wolf insisted and before he could help himself he did exactly that.

“The next time you’re flying somewhere, I’ll make sure that you’ll be as comfortable as possible. Including leg space and comfortable seats.” He promised. This was disgusting, really. If anyone would’ve told Peter two days ago that he would want to provide for an omega and potential mate, Peter would’ve laughed and rolled his eyes.

How the tables have turned.

“I’ll remember this promise and there is no taking back now.”

Peter grinned at Stiles’ determined expression.

“I would never, my dear omega.” 

-

Peter payed for both of them and Stiles smiled such a huge and happy smile at him that Peter wished he could just take the omega to New York with him and spoil him for the rest of his life, so that Stiles would never dream of leaving.

Sadly he couldn’t.

Instead he allowed Stiles to drive back to the Stilinski house with Peter’s car and pleasantly surprised at how well the boy drove. It had probably something to do with the fact that he was the sheriff’s son.

Stiles beamed like a child on its birthday and it made Peter so unbelievably happy.

How would he be able to ever live without the omega? He wouldn’t.

When they were back at the Stilinski house he walked Stiles to the front door and his heart broke when he realized that this would be a goodbye for quite a while. Probably until Derek’s mating ceremony, since it was the next time Peter planned on coming to Beacon Hills.

It would be over a month until then. Fuck.

“So I guess you’ve gotta go to the airport now.” Stiles said quietly and looked sullen all of sudden.

Peter swallowed hard and his wolf whined unhappily at the boy’s distress. He didn’t want to leave. ‘Mate, home, house, family, mine’

“I fear so.” The alpha forced himself to smile, but it felt more like a grimace.

“Oh, alright then.” Stiles stared at his feed and began to play with the white shirt he wore. “This was really nice, I’ll miss you a lot.”

‘I’ll miss you too’

“You can always text me and call me no matter what time it is.” Somehow Peter had the feeling that there was something Stiles wasn’t telling him. “I think there’s something you want to tell me, but I’m not sure what. Don’t be shy now dear boy, I won’t bite you.”

Stiles heartrate spike up noticeably and his scent turned from sad to nervous and embarrassed.

“Yes, uh, I kinda want to apologize for uh yesterday?” He then stuttered but Peter didn’t really understand why. Stiles didn’t have a reason to apologize, he had done nothing wrong.

“There’s no reason for you to apologize, you didn’t offend me in any way.” But the boy shook his head.

“I… I uh scent marked you without you agreeing to do so and you probably didn’t want that and it’s such an important thing for werewolves and I just…” His voice trailed off and he refused to look Peter in the eye.

“Stiles, did you want to scentmark me? Did you enjoy it?” Peter asked calmly and when the boy nodded he let out a silent sigh of relief.

“Yes I did and I’m sorry and I… gosh I can’t believe you even wanted to see me again afterwards. It was such an invasion of privacy, like seriously, you could’ve called my dad and get a warrant against me, like-“

The omega’s voice rambling immediately stopped when Peter put a hand on his pale neck and rubbed his thumb softly against two moles under the omega’s ear.

“Stiles, you don’t have to apologize. I didn’t mind at all, if anything I enjoyed it quite a lot.” The alpha said soothingly and noticed happily how the boy shuddered under his soft touches.

“Really?” Those whiskey doe eyes blinking up at him would definitely be Peter’s death.

“I would never lie to you.” He smiled and inhaled the scent of arousal, affection and happiness.

“Oh.” Stiles whispered and maybe it was instinctively, but he tilted his head a fraction to the side and bared the pale expanse of skin to Peter.

The man felt his eyes flash and a low growl escape his chest. His wolf was close to the surface and demanded to be let lose. His fingers itched with his claws and his gums were tickled by his fangs. He was barely able to hold himself together.

“Stiles…” He asked quietly. “Would you like me to scent mark you?” His voice was barely above a purr.

The omega’s breathing hitched and then he nodded a little.

“Yes.” The words were barely above a whisper, but they held so much power in them that it made Peter dizzy. Power that was given to him, power over Stiles that the omega handed to the alpha willingly.

Still growling softly, Peter stepped a little closer to Stiles and buried his left hand in the boy’s soft hair, to tilt his head to the side even more until his entire neck was bared. Then his right fingers wrapped around Stiles’ left wrist to caress the main pulse point properly.

His eyes were glowing bright red when he finally allowed himself to scent mark the omegas neck.

Peter nosed along the pale expanse of skin, mingling their scents and staking a claim. His lips would brush Stiles’ throat every so often and he enjoyed the spiking it caused in the younger one’s heartbeat more than he should.

His goatee cause part of the skin to turn slightly red and his wolf purred happily at that. People would see that Stiles was theirs.

Once he had nuzzled every little bit of Stiles’ left side of the neck he tilted the omega’s head the other way and did it again. He made sure that his alpha scent would cling to the teen’s skin for at least a week no matter how often he would shower.

His nose wandered higher and his cheek rubbed against Stiles’, before he hid his face in the fluffy brown hair. It took him a second until he realized that the boy scent marked him as well.

So he held still until Stiles was done, before he leant back so he could see his face again.

Stiles’ eyes were flashing in a vibrant purple, which was the usual color before they were claimed and mated including mating bites and all that and Peter’s wolf growled unhappily. He wanted every little bit of Stiles to scream that he was taken!

But he wasn’t, he wasn’t taken because Peter didn’t want an omega, didn’t need an omega.

“I like scent marking a lot.” Stiles suddenly blurted and threw Peter back into reality.

He blinked in surprise and felt as if he had been woken up from some kind of trance or daydream, but he immediately smiled.

“I like scent marking you a lot.” Peter winked and from this close he could see how the boy’s pale cheeks reddened.

And those pink lips. They looked even better up close. His eyes followed Stiles’ tongue mesmerized when he saw how it wet the sinful mouth and it took all his self-control so he wouldn’t kiss the omega right there and then.

“Spending time with you really was a pleasure. Promise that you’ll call or at least text me?” Peter asked and reminded him that he would’ve to go to the hotel and grab his things now before heading to the airport.

“I promise.” Stiles whispered.

“Good omega.” Peter had no idea why he just said that. The fuck? But all that wasn’t important when he saw the effect it had on Stiles.

The omega shuddered visibly and swayed a little bit forward closer to Peter.

“Don’t let Cora annoy you and make sure to embarrass Derek a lot.” The alpha then added and pressed a quick kiss on Stiles’ cheek before turning around and walking back to his car. “Goodbye Stiles.” He called and got in.

The teen stared after him wide eyed and open mouthed with one hand touching the spot where Peter had kissed his cheek. He looked fazed and overwhelmed.

Peter chuckled while he started and drove off.

But he quickly stopped when he realized just how fast his own heart was beating and how much his lips tingled.

Oh god, he was so, so fucked.

„Scotty, help me. “ Stiles whined, falling face first onto his best friend’s bed, burying his face in the soft pillows. “My life is ruined, my world burned down to ashes, there is no reason for me to live anymore.”

“Why, what happened?” Scott asked wide eyed, taking Stiles as always a little bit too serious.

“The perfect alpha happened. Such a fine specimen of alpha that my poor omega self can’t handle it. I’m entirely gone, I’ve found my mate and it is hopeless, there’ll never be mutual interest.” Stiles explained further, damning Peter Hale to hell and back. Why had the man to be so perfect?! Ugh.

“Do I know him or her? Did you meet them at school?” The beta asked and crocked his head slightly, looking like a curious puppy.

“No, I’ve met him at Derek’s party and the day afterwards he took me out for breakfast and he’s so…. everything. He’s so handsome and sophisticated and such an asshole and so cute and…dude. I saw him pick up his niece and cuddle her and I swear to god, if I had ovaries they would’ve exploded. It was so bad I feared it would trigger my heat! And I’m taking suppressants! I can’t even get my heat!”  Stiles complained and remembered the picture of Peter grabbing his niece and nuzzling her, vividly.

God, he had wanted to rip off his pants, spread his legs and beg Peter to be the father of his children in that moment. Or turn around, drop on the floor and present himself to the alpha, wiggling his ass like the omegas did in the cheap porn he occasionally watched.

Stiles had never planned on having children. He wasn’t opposed to the idea, he just couldn’t picture himself finding an alpha who would want to mate Stiles and start this whole family life with. Nobody had ever been interested in Stiles Stilinski.

And he hadn’t ever been interested in anyone since all the alphas he had met were idiots and he wasn’t attracted to other omegas or betas. Stiles was defined ‘alphaorientated homosexual’. And the few alphas on his school ignored him or were annoyed by his nonstop running mouth.

Peter though…. Peter was perfect.

He was so handsome and sophisticated and again; handsome. He was witty, sarcastic, sassy and so unbelievably intelligent. And most importantly; he didn’t mind Stiles talking. The man hadn’t told him to shut up even after Stiles had rambled about his theory of his chemistry teacher Harris being a soldier sent from the future to prevent Stiles from having fun at physics because Stiles would built the ultimate weapon otherwise, that had destroyed the entire planet, for over 30 minutes.

Instead the alpha had listened, actually listened, paid attention to details and even added small things that made the theory even more believable and fun.

Even Stiles’ dad didn’t manage to listen to him for an unlimited amount of time and Stiles didn’t mind, he totally understood it, but it was so… nice having someone pay attention to you.

“Why would you go into heat because you saw him picking up his niece and cuddling her?” Scott asked confused, as always, taking everything too literally. Stiles found it endearing.

“Because I wanna have babies with him. Preferably 6, if he wants less than six I want at least 4!” Stiles curled around one of Scott’s pillows and hugged it close to his chest.

“Whoa, really?” His best friend stared at him wide eyed. “Dude, that’s serious, you never talked about kids before!”

“I know. I can’t explain it but it feels so right to imagine that kind of life with him, you know? The white picket fence kind of life, the whole 9 yards. Owning a puppy and a cat, having babies together, ridiculous Christmas sweaters and dumb inside jokes. I can even imagine him making stupid dad jokes and I would find them funny!” Stiles sighed, biting his lips in something that felt like embarrassment. “And only those married to dads find dad jokes funny.”

“And? Did you get his number? Will you meet him again? Does he plan on courting you?” Scott’s puppy eyes seemed to be as big as saucers.

“No he won’t court me. I have his number but it’s totally platonic and he would never be interested in me.” The omega sulked and cuddled Scott’s pillow a little bit tighter. The beta scent of his friend comforted him in every situation.

“Why? He should be interested in you! You’re awesome and if I were an alpha I would immediately want you as my mate! Seriously.” Scott protested, before he stilled. “Is he already mated?” He then asked softly, inching closer to the bed, ready to comfort Stiles if necessary.

“No, he’s unmated, but owns a cat named Persephone. It sounds like Purrsephone which makes everything worse because he has given his kitten a pun as a name. He’s just perfect!” Stiles grumbled angrily, suddenly annoyed that Peter had to be so perfect.

“Who are we talking about anyways?” The beta wanted to know, abandoning his phone to focus on Stiles entirely.

“Derek’s uncle. Peter goddamn Hale. He lives in New York City, looks like a GQ model, is basically a god walking amongst us mere mortals, and he listens to me Scotty. He even asks questions even though he knows it’ll only end up in me rambling for another fifteen minutes.”

“Wait, isn’t the guy like…40?” Scott asked confused, slightly overwhelmed by the obvious age difference.

“Yeah, but that’s in human years. He’s a werewolf and they age slower so he’s only like 32 or so. And I don’t mind the age difference. I like it actually? This sounds so fucked up.” Stiles groaned and pulled the pillow over his head, to hide himself under it. Or maybe he tried to suffocate himself, who knows.

Scotty was quiet for a few seconds, before he laid down on the bed next to Stiles and poked his best friend with one finger.

“Hey, you know I’d never judge you, even if you’ve a crush on an elderly.” He then said and Stiles punched him blindly, missing him by a whole foot.

Both teens laughed at that before they calmed down again. Eventually, Stiles peaked out from under his pillow and blinked at Scott.

“You really don’t mind though?” He asked carefully because besides his dad’s opinion, Scott’s was the only other one that mattered.

“Of course not. You’re my brother, I’d never judge you for who your mate is. Especially not when you’re so much in love. Don’t you think he might like you back?”

Stiles shrugged and tried to seem unbothered, but his scent of insecurity betrayed him.

“We exchanged numbers and we’re texting a lot, but it’s all friendship. Well, he gave me his soda when we met and took me out for breakfast but I don’t think that meant anything. He was just being nice.”

“Dude! He might’ve tried to provide for you. It’s a thing alphas do after all.” Scott argued and Stiles smiled a little, before he blushed.

“I might’ve scent marked him when I said goodbye after Derek’s party. But I didn’t meant to, it just happened.” He defended himself quickly, when Scott stared at him open mouthed.

“And he let you?” The beta’s voice got higher with each word.

“He probably didn’t have the heart to reject me? He scent marked me after we had breakfast together though. And he…kissed me on the cheek.”

“No way! He totally liked you back.” Scott gasped excitedly and grabbed the omegas hand to squeeze it softly. They had always had a very physical friendship. Omegas responded well to physical contact and sought it out from people they were comfortable with. Scott didn’t mind Stiles cuddling close against him or holding his hand in stressing situations. They had grown up like this.

Stiles always being the louder, stronger and more active one, with Scott right behind him holding his hand softly if needed and providing hugs when necessary.

“You really think so?” Stiles almost whispered with a small smile on his lips and Scott’s heart ached a little at seeing his friend like this. He was happy that Stiles had finally found someone he was interested in, but at the same time he worried it wouldn’t turn out the right way and end up hurting his best friend.

“Totally bro, you’re a catch.” He insisted and smiled back, when Stile grinned.

“Damn right I am!” The omega declared, before biting his lip and staring at his best friend’s soft looking shirt.

Scott didn’t hesitate, instead he pulled Stiles closer, providing the warmth and familiar scent the omega needed to push his insecurities away.

“You’re a great friend, Scotty, you know? I’m so fucking glad I have you.” Stiles whispered and buried his face in his friend’s shoulder, who played with the omega’s unruly bed hair just right.

“I could say the same about you, dude.” Scott answered equally as quiet.

They both fell silent after that and only Stiles’ soft snoring disturbed the silence afterwards.

-

Stiles realized one week after Peter left, that he was practically glued to his phone. Before he had met the alpha, he had always had his phone with him in his pocket, but now he barely put it out of hand.

He could miss one of Peter’s texts after all and he wouldn’t risk that. They were talking a lot and by a lot he meant almost constantly.

It had started with a few text messages, then Stiles had brought Peter to the point where the man downloaded snapchat and that was like giving a dad snapchat. Nonstop pictures of ridiculous things.

The ridiculous long line at a coffee shop with a crying emoji, an eggplant at a grocery store with the caption ‘who is she’, a picture of a stray cat laying on a bench in the sun with the caption ‘me’ and at least a dozen pictures and videos of Persephone every day.

Peter Hale was obsessed with snapchat.

Stiles had created a monster.

The worst thing about Peter having a snapchat were the selfies. Sometimes he used these ridiculous face things that gave him dog ears or turned his face into a strawberry, but what really would be the end of Stiles were the most random selfies that showed Peter in his everyday life.

When Peter had sent him a selfie of him laying in bed with hair that resembled a bird’s nest and a sleepy face smashed into ridiculously soft looking pillows, only one eye opened with the caption ‘It’s ways too early to get up~’, Stiles had almost felt how the air around him got heavy with omega pheromones.

Everything inside him ached to be there with Peter and actually see it in real life.

He wanted to watch Peter wake up slowly, still a little grumpy and sleepy, he wanted to hear the man’s soft snoring during the night, he wanted to be there when Peter toddled to the kitchen to get himself the first coffee of the day to chase away the remains of a goodnights sleep, he wanted to make the man breakfast, pack him lunch and kiss him goodbye at the door.

So domestic.

It was disgustingly cheesy, really.

But he couldn’t help it.

It went as far as him making sure to take his suppressants every day at the same time with three reminders on his phone, so he wouldn’t accidentally forget one, because he was a hundred percent sure that it would cause his body to go into pre-heat immediately.

And Stiles was a carrier, so he wouldn’t be too happy about going into heat. It would result in an embarrassing trip to the doctor, to get a shot that would stop his heat and stop his omega body from giving off pheromones that would get him the unwanted attention from every alpha near him.

Not all omegas were carriers, and why should they. It depended on their ‘orientation’, as the doctors called it.

Everyone, no matter if alpha, beta, omega, human or were, had two orientations, one was the ‘sex’ of a person, the other the ‘gender’. The ‘Sexual Orientation’ basically determined if one was attracted to male or female, maybe both, maybe none and many more combinations. The ‘Gender Orientation’ determined if a person was attracted to alphas, betas, omegas, none of those, all of those or two of those.

These orientations were compatible with the body of a human or were.

Stiles being ‘alphaorientated homosexual’, was only interested in male alphas which fitted with his carrier gene, meaning he could get pregnant.

There were male omegas that were ‘alphaorientated heterosexuals’, who were only attracted to female alphas and had no carrier gene, because the female alphas carried the children.

Heterosexual, male omegas didn’t have a carrier gene, because they were only interested in females, who had no reproductive organ that would allow them to impregnate a male.

‘Multipleorientated bisexual’ omegas had the carrier gene as well, because they could find interest in any kind of gender and sex, including male alphas, betas or omegas.

Betas were different. The males couldn’t carry, only the females were able to get pregnant.

Every female, no matter if alpha, beta, omega, had the ability to carry and the only exceptions were birth defects.

Stiles was… well he wasn’t upset that he had was a carrier. There were a thousand ways to prevent heats and pregnancies- thank fuck for living in the 21^st century in a modern country-, so he didn’t really have to worry about anything, but sometimes he wished that he wasn’t a carrier, simply so he could live his life without having to swallow pills every day.

Well, more pills than usually, because his Adderall was necessarily to keep him focused.

But even since meeting Peter Hale, he was somehow very fucking thankful for being a carrier because, boy did he want the alpha’s children. Preferably as soon as possible so he could witness how the were would behave around his pregnant mate.

Wait, had Stiles just called himself Peter’s mate? He needed to stop daydreaming!

With a groan he turned around in his bed and buried his face in a bunch of pillows, hoping he would suffocate. Peter would never ever, ever, ever, ever be interested in Stiles. Like never.

The wolf had said it himself, that no omega ever caught his eye and he had literally male and female top models, lonely billionaires, unbelievably smart omegas and a few princesses throw themselves at him.

Stiles had read the articles that were published about it.

Yes…. He had googled Peter Hale but just because… because that was a necessary thing to do.

It had turned out to be a bad idea because it only empathized the point that Peter would never think of Stiles as anything different than some kind of weird teenager that he was friends with. The scent marking hadn’t meant anything. Well for Stiles it had, for Peter probably not.

“I hate my life.” Stiles whined, but his crises was disturbed by his phone ringing.

For a few moments he contemplated if he should simply ignore it because it would either be Scott or his dad, maybe Cora, but then he sighed and grabbed his phone only to see if it would be worth picking up.

When he saw that it was Peter who called him, he immediately hit the accept call button so hard that he was pretty sure he almost broke his phone. He sat up quickly and tried to calm down, but it only resulted in him dropping his phone, which bounced off his mattress and landed on his carpet.

“Oh shit!” He cursed, diving after it and fell right off the bed as well.

When he finally grabbed it, he immediately held it up to his ear and prayed to whatever god there was that Peter hadn’t hung up on him.

“Hello?” He asked breathlessly and tried to calm his racing heart. His elbows ached a little and he was pretty sure he had hit his nightstand with his knee, so that would probably bruise a lot.

“Stiles? Are you alright?” Peter Hale’s concerned voice asked which meant the alpha had probably heard everything that had happened, including Stiles loud shriek when he had tumbled off his bed.

“Uh, yeah, absolutely alright, totally fine. Really, I’m peachy, never been better before.” He answered while his cheeks heated up in embarrassment.

“Are you sure? It didn’t sound like you were alright.”

Stiles groaned and wished he could turn back time.

“No, I… I dropped my phone when I answered your call and it fell off my bed and when I tried to grab it I fell down as well.” He admitted with a small voice and for a second it was silent, then Peter began to laugh.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh about me. I’ll just sit here and take care of my poor, fragile omega body and my wounded pride.” Stiles snorted and tried his hardest not to pout, but he failed.

“Oh Stiles, I’m not laughing about you. If anything I find it absolutely endearing, even though I worry you might hurt yourself accidentally. Did you hit anything when you fell? Does anything hurt?” Peter asked soothingly, but Stiles could still hear the grin in the alpha’s voice.

“Liar, if you’d been here and seen it, you wouldn’t find it endearing. You would laugh so hard that you’d probably piss your pants because I’m such a klutz.” Stiles retorted, while he climbed back up on his bed. “My elbows ache a little and I’ll probably have a bruise on my knee but everything else is fine. Except for my ego.”

“If I had been there, I would’ve caught you before you’d fallen on the ground. What kind of alpha would I be if I let a gorgeous omega like you get hurt?” Peter almost purred and the omega squirmed on his mattress while trying to ignore the fucking hummingbirds that were flying around in his stomach. Fuck butterflies.

“You’re such a flirt, it’s almost ridiculous. I bet you’re talking like that to everyone and they all fall for you immediately, only to have their heart broken. You’re worse than a fucking boyband and everybody knows how many hearts they break.” Stiles snorted and tried to erase Peter’s words from his memory, but he couldn’t.

Peter had called Stiles gorgeous. Stiles was so fucked.

“You hurt me, I’m only talking like this if I want some extra packages of honey mustard sauce from the girl at the Chick-Fil-A drive through.” The alpha answered easily, not even bothering to hide his smirk.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe you’d do that.” Stiles groaned and desperately fought against the urge to imagine Peter Hale buying fucking Chick-Fil-A food and wanting to get extra sauce.

“It’s honey mustard sauce, Stiles. A man would kill for that.” The older man’s voice was so serious that Stiles couldn’t help but snort. “Don’t pretend to be better than me though, I’m pretty sure you do use your omega advantages for some extra syrup at Starbucks. I know that you flutter your eyelashes at whoever poor soul works there and nobody could possibly say no to you when you do that.” Peter sounded amused, but Stiles simply huffed.

“Oh please, I’ve never done that. Just in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly what people want as a mate. If I would try that I would probably be asked if there was something wrong with my eyes.” He shrugged easily. It didn’t really bother him that nobody was interested in him. Maybe it was good that way, maybe he was meant to be without a mate.

“I’d like to disagree with you. Something must seriously be wrong with the Beacon Hills citizens if there aren’t at least half a dozen alphas, betas and omegas trying to get your attention. Your beauty marks should charm everyone around you. They’re like star constellations.” Peter chided and Stiles cursed him for being so charming.

“Or something must seriously be wrong with you, if you really think I’m worth anybody’s attention. And it’s not too bad to be without a mate, you’re the best example.” The omega noticed suddenly, that there was a hint of sadness in his voice, so he quickly cleared his throat and forced himself to sound more cheerful again.

Peter surely hadn’t planned on listening to a whining omega when he had called Stiles.

“So, to what do I own the pleasure of you calling me? I don’t think you missed my rambling.” He then quickly asked to change the subject. He didn’t really want to bother the man with his insecurities.

For a moment Peter was silent, before he answered again.

“Maybe I missed your voice and your endless rambling. Persephone is so quiet compared to you, it makes me restless.” Peter grinned then and Stiles laughed.

“I’ve seen the videos of your kitty and she’s anything but quiet. It’s because you spoil her with so much attention, she’ll forever start meowing as soon as you ignore her now.” He answered, delighted when he heard the alpha chuckle.

“That’s true, I love to spoil those I like.”

“You only like 3 living things. Yourself, your cat and Derek.” Stiles said cheekily. “That’s why you never took a mate, you love yourself too much.”

“I like more than 3 creatures.” Peter argued, but he sounded amused.

“Oh really? Did you get another cat? If you continue like this you’ll be one of those crazy cat ladies with 30 cats before they’re 40.” The omega teased, earning another chuckle.

“No, I didn’t get another cat…yet. But I was actually talking about you, Stiles. I like you.” The wolf mused, which caused Stiles to chock on air.

 “You’ve known me for a week, in another two you’ll stop liking me when you realize just how annoying my endless babbling can get.” Stiles answered, but he sounded a little throaty. Peter Hale had said that he liked him. Him, Stiles Stilinski!

“I am an excellent judge of character, that’s why I can’t stand most of my family.”

Stiles laughed, while he pressed a pillow against his chest, to muffle the sound of his racing heart because he knew how well werewolves could hear, especially alphas! He didn’t want Peter to know just how much he affected Stiles with his simple words.

“You’re such an asshole.” He told Peter, who probably shrugged at that.

“True, but a charming one.” Damn, why did he have to be so damn witty? He had an immediate answer to whatever Stiles said.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re a God walking amongst us mere humans, I get it.” Stiles sighed, but there was a smile on his lips. He really enjoyed talking to Peter. “Is today your free day or why are you calling me this early? Shouldn’t you be working at your 9 to 5 job? Making money and all that, you know? Being an adult.”

“I am at work actually, but it bores me and I’ve nothing to do, so I thought to myself, why not call someone I enjoy talking to and because Persephone hasn’t learned to accept calls yet, my first choice was you.” Peter’s words made Stiles feel all warm and giddy inside.

“Aw, I feel so honored.” He cooed playfully.

“As you should.”

Stiles snorted, but then he smiled a little, before he got serious again. “But won’t your boss get angry? I don’t want you to get fired just because of me.” He bit his lip hesitantly and felt a little guilty.

“Look at you, being such a considerate and caring omega. But don’t worry, I don’t think I’ll ever get fired.” Somehow Peter sounded smug, as if he knew something Stiles didn’t, but honestly? The omega didn’t even care, the praise of the alpha was still ringing in his ears and his heart was trying to beat out of his chest.

“Well if you think so. But if you get fired, don’t blame me for it!” Stiles said and he was so goddamn glad that the wolf wasn’t in his room with him because that would mean Peter would know what the praise did to Stiles.

And Stiles would probably die from embarrassment.

“I would never.” The honesty in the smooth voice did things to Stiles. “And now tell me how your day was.”

-

He talked to Peter for over an hour. Over an hour! And he couldn’t even remember what they were talking about because Stiles had once again spent most of the time rambling.

His mouth was his own worst enemy!

They had eventually hung up because Peter had a meeting which he said he could skip, but Stiles insisted that the wolf would have to go and do his job. The thought that Peter was willing to skip work to continue talking to Stiles was almost too much for him.

“I’m so, so fucked.” Stiles sighed, once they had hung up and tried down his still racing heart. He would ignore the fluttering in his stomach. Maybe he was simply sick, probably the flue or something like that. “Fuck.”

Stiles got up again, ran a hand through his messy hair and was just about to leave his room to start dinner for his dad and him, when he saw himself in the mirror.

He immediately froze and noticed the hint of red on his normally pale cheeks. There was a flush on his skin and his eyes were wide and shiny. It looked… almost pretty?

Well, if he ignored the rest of himself.

With a sigh he fiddled with his wide shirt that hid his lanky frame and stared judgingly at his unruly hair. It didn’t even look messy in this organized and stylish way, it just looked like he had put his finger in a socket repeatedly.

His fingers traced the moles on his face, which he grown to hate. During his childhood he thought they were awesome, because he could play connect the dots whenever he was bored, but during his teenage years he had realized that they stuck out like dirt against his pale skin and no matter how hard he tried since that realization, he couldn’t ignore them.

‘Beauty marks’ Peter’s voice ringed in his ears. ‘Star constellations.’

Stiles bit his lip at the reminder and quickly averted his eyes from his reflection. He stared angrily at the floor, as if the carpet had just betrayed his trust, while he scolded himself. There was this little bit of hope, this tiny little bit of growing hope, that maybe Peter meant what he said. Maybe… maybe he really thought Stiles was pretty?

God, Stiles was such an idiot.

He crushed the little bit of hope that had nestled in his mind and forced himself to not think about Peter’s compliments.

The man was a flirt after all and Stiles wasn’t anything more than the poor drive through girl at Chick-Fil-A.

It didn’t stop his heart from trying to beat out of his chest though.

Shit… he was in love.

Chapter Text

“Peter.” Stiles voiced like a prayer and sent so shivers down Peter’s spine. The omega stared at him with wide, tear filled eyes. His pupils were blown, there was a red flush on his cheeks and the plump lips were bitten raw. “Peter.”

The alpha groaned and heat curled in his stomach. It was so hard to stay still, to refrain himself from thrusting into the beautiful body writhing underneath him on the sheets.

Stiles was beautiful, absolutely breathtaking.

His pale, mole dotted skin was glistering with a thin layer of sweat, his neck and chest were adorned by dark bruises and lingering bite marks, his doe eyes were merely a small ring of amber around black holes and his muscles quivered from the pleasure that overwhelmed his body.

“Peter.” He mewled and one of his hands grabbed Peter’s upper arm, where he had braced them against the mattress to keep his weight off Stiles. But the omega didn’t push him away, instead he pulled the alpha closer while lean legs wrapped around Peter’s hips, to push him in deeper.

Deeper into the tight, wet heat that almost erased all his sanity and caused his mind to regress to his basic instincts.

Mine, mate, bite, claim, mark, breed

Stiles was his, his mate, his to bite, his to claim, to mark and to breed and Peter would rather die than stop claiming his mate.

His hips began to move, first slowly and then faster, until he was pounding into the smaller body underneath him. His most primal instincts caused him to act, but at the same time they ensured that he was gentle.

But Stiles didn’t look like he felt any kind of discomfort, instead he seemed to be in some kind of haze, repeating Peter’s name over and over, voice getting more and more desperate as well as demanding.

Peter was so close, he felt his fangs drop and his claws burry themselves in the sheets underneath them, but there was something missing, something that would push him over the edge.

Stiles’ eyes flew open when he came, untouched and overwhelmed, and it was one word he breathed when his release hit him.

“Alpha.”

Peter woke up with a gasp. He looked around confused, not really realizing where he was, until something dug small claws into his arm and hissed.

With a sigh he relaxed again and petted Persephone’s head, so the kitten would retract her claws out of his flesh. He murmured an apology for moving too much in his sleep, before he grabbed his bedsheets to pull them over himself and the kitten again.

Apparently he had tossed and turned so much, that he had almost pushed them completely off the bed, along with his cat.

Just when Peter was about to fall asleep again, he noticed something that his sleep hazed mind had ignored. The front of his sweatpants was sticky and wet in a way that either told him that he had reached the age of adult diapers, or that he had such a youthful body that he could be mistaken for a teenager.

He remembered his dream and sat up with a sigh. Right now adult diapers seemed like a better option than admitting that he had creamed his pants during a wet dream about a teenage omega who he definitely wasn’t interested in and who definitely wasn’t his mate!

He was about to get up to change into a clean pair of sweats so he could live in blissful ignorance, when his phone began to ring. Peter groaned but still grabbed it to answer the call.

It was 8.30 in the morning on one of his rare days off, who the fuck would dare to call him now?!

The caller ID said Talia and of fucking course, his sister would be the one person on this planet to get up this early to bother Peter. God fucking dammit.

“What?” He growled into the phone and pulled Persephone closer, who had snuggled against his chest to enjoy his warmth. Her furless body tended to become cold easily.

“Peter Hale, you better have a good explanation why you behaved like a child at Derek’s birthday.” Talia scoffed immediately without as much as saying hello. Granted, Peter hadn’t said hello either, but she had called him and not the other way around.

“Why are you calling this early? Couldn’t you’ve waited a few more hours?” The alpha asked with a tired voice, while he tried to ignore the uncomfortable feeling of his pants sticking to his skin. He would’ve to take a shower as soon as Talia had decided to leave him be.

“If I had waited you would’ve let your assistant answer my calls and ignored me.” Talia answered simply and god, she sounded so pissed. Almost as if Peter had committed a capital crime. In her world not sending a Christmas card was a capital crime, so he had probably done something similar and deserved the death penalty.

“Why would I do such thing?” He asked with an eye roll, but Talia knew that it was a rhetorical question. Sometimes his sister wasn’t entirely stupid.

„Stop being a smartass, brother. I can’t believe you ignored those lovely omegas at Derek’s birthday party! Do you know how much trouble it was to find some that weren’t mated? I can’t believe you’d embarrass me like that! Miss Liebermann told me that you had to leave so early because your flight would leave early in the morning but then she saw you the next day around noon, eating pancakes with some boy.” Talia went on and on and Peter wanted to crush his phone and go back to sleep… or jump out of the window to end this misery, who knows.

“Talia, I don’t know who Miss Liebermann is and frankly, I don’t fucking care. I won’t mate with any of those omegas you present to me because I don’t want them. They weren’t interested in me, they were interested in my face and my money.” The omegas his sister had found were shallow and stupid. They had oh-so-obviously googled his name before meeting him and while it didn’t specifically state how much money he made, it gave them a pretty good idea.

“Of course, what else did you expect? That they could actually like someone with such a nasty personality?” Talia asked disbelieving, as if the mere idea someone could like Peter for who he was was absolutely insane.

“I think it’s pretty important for mates to love each other. Well, you prove that it works without love as well, but I prefer to be mated to someone who can actually stand me and doesn’t plan on murdering me in my sleep.” His voice was as hard as steel and he tried to ignore the way his sister’s words still stung.

Talia gasped scandalized.

“I love my mate very much! I’d never dream about murdering Joseph!” She protested absolutely shocked.

“I wasn’t saying that it was you, who had such dreams.” Peter smirked and bathed in the way his sister was speechless for a few seconds. Oh such sweet, sweet satisfaction, what a great way to start a day.

“Peter Hale, Joseph loves me very much and we’re very happy. I don’t know where you got this nonsense from.” Talia sounded slightly hysteric by now. She found satisfaction in pointing out other people’s flaws and took great care of the image her own family created. They had to appear as the perfect family everybody wanted. Successful children, happy mates, a flawless appearance, no trouble with the law, supporting charity events and a perfect looking house.

What a nightmare.

“Maybe I got this ‘nonsense’ from the fact that he has met up with a divorce lawyer multiple times the last two months and thinks about changing his status from ‘Heterosexual Alphaorientated’ to ‘Homosexual Alphaorientated’.” Peter began to grin. “Don’t worry, he’d still be part of the family of course because I’m a male alpha and know how Joseph stares at my ass. He’d only switch the Hale he’s mated to.”

“My husband isn’t homosexual. Perhaps you didn’t notice that I carried and birthed three of his children. He wouldn’t be able to reproduce with me if he were anything but heterosexual.” Talia sounded furious.

“Dearest sister, all male omegas produce fertile sperm, no matter if gay, straight, bi or whatever else. Granted, the amount of sperm that gay omegas produce is negligible, but still, the only significant difference is their ability to carry and self-lubricate. And female alphas can’t smell the omega pheromones that are meant to attract the attention of male alphas. Meaning you have no chance of knowing if your husband produces these pheromones since you can’t smell them, I on the other hand…” Peter’s voice trailed off and he chuckled slightly. “I know that he almost reeks of them when he’s around me… and I know how he stares at me. I almost thought he’d go into heat a year ago when he got a glimpse at me shirtless.”

“You disgusting, sick, evil, repulsive, egoistical bastard. Go to hell and stay there. What do you know about omegas? Other than how to fuck them? You will never find a mate because no omega in the world would be stupid enough to want a broken alpha like you. You’re a joke, an insult.” Talia fumed and Peter tutted while he held the phone away from his ear.

“Now, now, dear sister, there’s no reason for these insults, I’m merely telling the truth. And while I usually prefer my partners to be younger than me, I wouldn’t mind having such a handsome, strong omega writhing on the sheets underneath me, calling me his alpha and-“

“Stop it!” His sister hissed and for once Peter actually did. Well he stopped his sentence, he wouldn’t stop talking.

“Don’t be such a prude, Talia.” He scoffed, while he continued to pet Persephone. “Now, was there anything important you wanted to tell me? Because so far there hasn’t been anything to justify your call and I don’t really have time to catch up on all the family drama that’s been happening.” Persephone yawned and Peter joined her.

“A prude?!” Talia shrieked, but caught herself quickly. “You know what Peter? Go to hell.” Well, she hadn’t really caught herself yet.

“I would love to dear sister, but I doubt I could stand being at the same place as you. See you at Derek’s mating ceremony. Tell the children I love them.” He fake-cheered and hung up.

For a second he laid in bed, neither moving nor planning on moving and let his thoughts wander.

Peter had a problem. And that problem wasn’t his sister’s wrath and that she was possibly plotting his death, no, his problem was that he had dreamed about Stiles in a way that would make the Sheriff want to shoot Peter.

He groaned and cuddled Persephone closer, who purred happily.

“There’s no other solution, I need to distract myself.” The alpha decided and ignored how his wolf growled unhappily at his plan. But what did that animal knew anyways.

-

Peter’s idea of distracting himself was simple and effective and would hopefully work. It wasn’t a very difficult or bothersome plan, it was fairly easy actually. All Peter had to do was look good, smile charming and then whisper a few words and the rest was purely physical.

So he dressed in tight jeans and an even tighter V-neck, styled his hair, critically glanced at his barely noticeable beard and decided that his huge ego was definitely justified.

It was shortly after 11pm when he climbed out of his expensive, sleek car and threw the keys at a young man in uniform, who hurried to park his car with the ones of the other guests. Peter noticed that the beta wolf had a patch on his neck that would suppress his scent, so territorial alphas wouldn’t flip.

Peter had to admit that he disliked the smell of strangers on his personal things, car included.

He straightened his shirt before he walked into the huge house that belonged to one of Peter’s close… friends. Friends would probably be the best thing to describe them. Friends who occasionally were business partners.

Peter liked to think he was the good guy in their friendship because ‘mercy’ was a word that didn’t exist in Deucalion’s vocabulary. Peter on the other hand was merciful, rarely but still.

As soon as he had entered the foyer of the mansion just outside New York City, he was assaulted with all kinds of different scents. Most of them belonged to betas, a few to omegas and only two or three to alphas. Deucalion didn’t like many other alphas in his house, the man thought of himself as the ideal alpha and was very territorial.

Not that it would stop Peter from entering, but luckily he was friends with the man.

“Peter!” Someone cheered barely a minute after he had arrived and the next moment he was pulled further into the house by the owner. Deucalion seemed ecstatic to see him

“Deucalion.” He said in return and smiled a wolfish grin at the other were, who returned it easily.

“What a pleasure to see you, I already thought you’d refuse my invitation once again.” Deucalion tutted, while he put a hand on Peter’s shoulder in a friendly gesture.

“Don’t pretend you’re actually upset when I don’t show up. I know how much you hate other alphas at one of your precious parties. You want all the betas and omegas for yourself and everybody knows it.” He answered with a shrug and made Deucalion laugh.

“Be that as it may, I still enjoy your presence, alpha or not. You’re always invited. I have the feeling you only show up when you’re looking for someone to keep your bedside warm. Even if it’s only for a few minutes.”

“Hours, Deucalion, hours. Your stamina might’ve shrunken but mine is as good as always.” Peter answered easily, while he grabbed a glass of wolfsbane infused champagne that was offered to him by a waiter.

“If I were attracted to other alphas I would gladly demonstrate you that my stamina has not shrunken at all, but sadly you’re not my type. A pity with this handsome face you have.” Deucalion answered easily. Most other people would’ve faced serious consequences after what Peter said, but Deucalion tolerated him enough to tease right back.

“You flatter me. Now, tell me where you’ve hidden all the pretty betas and omegas, this isn’t a courtesy visit after all.”

“Follow me and I shall introduce you to a variety of beautiful young omegas, who wish to be introduced to an alpha that can blow their mind. Sounds like a perfect job for you, Hale.” Deucalion made a motion for Peter to follow him and he did so easily. He was familiar with the house and knew that most parties were held outside during summer due to the large pools.

“I appreciate it.” Peter hummed and smiled at the thought of bedding an omega. It had been far too long since he had last done it, simply because some tended to become clingy, but tonight… tonight he needed an omega because no alpha or beta could satisfy him.

He pushed away his wolf and ignored how the animal whined unhappily.

Peter did not feel like he was doing something he shouldn’t do and most importantly, he did not feel like he was cheating on Stiles!

He clenched his teeth. Thinking about Stiles was something he shouldn’t do in this situation. They were just friends… just friends.

The outside area with the two pools and a Jacuzzi was filled with probably 50 betas and omegas. Granted, there were mostly betas, but a handful of omegas had mingled with them. They all appeared to be the age of college students and while some were mated, there was a large number of unmated ones, who hadn’t yet found a mate.

It didn’t surprise Peter, Deucalion only ever invited unmated betas and omegas and those few mated would probably be thrown out sooner or later.

There was loud music playing and many were dancing, but Peter decided that sitting down on one of the comfortable seats near the pool would do it. He wasn’t keen on dancing and he knew it wasn’t necessary to mingle with the other guests in order to attract the attention of an omega.

His alpha presence had already gotten him glances from most of the guests and he would lie if he said that he didn’t enjoy the effect he had on others.

Two minutes later and omega stood in front of him.

A college student apparently, dressed in tight clothes with dark, unruly hair and sparkling green eyes. His skin was pale but otherwise plain. Not a single beauty mark, nothing.

“Hi.” He grinned and Peter noticed satisfied how the boy’s heartbeat spiked when he returned the smile.

“I’m Will.” The omega greeted happily.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Will. My name is Peter.” Peter replied easily and his voice was almost purring. It had the effect he wanted, the student shuddered slightly and his smell turned sweet with arousal.

But the scent was all wrong, it didn’t smell how it should. It didn’t smell like Stiles…

No! Peter wouldn’t think about Stiles right now!

“Peter.” Will tested the name with his tongue and smiled again. “So, Peter, did Deucalion invite you? I didn’t know he allowed other alphas at his parties.”

“Deucalion and I are friends and he knows I’m just looking for some fun tonight, I won’t cause any kind of trouble.” Peter put the glass aside which he has still not drunken out of. He didn’t feel like numbing his senses with alcohol.

“Oh, me too.” Will blinked at him innocently, but there was a smirk on his thin lips. His intentions were quite clear, even more so when he breached the little bit of distance between him and the alpha and planted himself on Peter’s lap. “I hadn’t expected to find someone like you though. I thought I might hook up with a beta or omega, but such an alpha as you… everybody else is boring compared to you.”

Peter chuckled and pulled Will even closer.

“Is that so? Maybe I should apologize for stealing you away, little omega.” He growled softly and flashed his eyes. The soft violet that lit up in Will’s eyes wasn’t as pretty as Stiles’.

No! It was all the same violet, he was imagining things.

“Maybe you should, but then I should apologize for stealing away such a handsome alpha. Do you wanna go inside? We could use one of Deucalion’s guest rooms and ruin his sheets.” Will let his hands run down Peter’s chest and played with the hem of his shirt.

“Lead the way, little one, I shall be right behind you.” Peter smiled and immediately the omega was back on his feet and pulled the older man after him. He tried to ignore that the omega’s scent was all wrong and that he didn’t feel arousal at all, but he would do this now. He would fuck Will into the mattress and forget about his wet dream. Damn right!

They reached one of the empty guest rooms and Will plastered himself against Peter as soon as they had closed the door behind them.

“Will you fuck me against the wall or into the mattress?” The omega teased and Peter growled playfully.

“Why not both?” He winked and noticed how the green eyes flashed with arousal. Good.

Just as Will was about to close the small distance between their lips, Peter’s phone rang. And he never ignored his phone… well he sometimes ignored Talia or someone else who annoyed him, but he checked the caller ID at least.

“Ignore it.” The omega whispered and who could resist such a sweet voice?

Peter, Peter could, so he ran a hand down the omega’s spine and flashed a charming smile.

“Allow me to at least see who dares to disturb us, then we shall continue.” He grabbed his phone, ready to ignore whoever it was, but the caller ID said Stiles and Peter… Peter was weak.

So, so weak.

“I’m sorry, I have to take this.” He mumbled before he left the room and had accepted the call as soon as the guest room doors had closed.

“Would you look at that, I didn’t think you’d still miss me.” Peter answered easily. “You’re a very poor judge of character if you still haven’t realized by now that I don’t deserve your attention, little one.” His words fell a little flat because guilt suddenly seemed to suffocate him.

“Am I calling at the wrong time?” Stiles asked hesitantly, instead of a witty comment and Peter could’ve hit himself upside the head. Now he had made Stiles think he called at the wrong time.

“No, no, not at all!” He hurried to say, while he made his way through Deucalion’s house to get back to his car. He only wanted to go home and talk to Stiles for hours. “You’re never calling at the wrong time.”

Stiles snorted, but he sounded relieved.

“You shouldn’t have said that, now I’m going to annoy you all the time and you’re the only one to blame.” The omega grinned and Peter couldn’t help himself but chuckle.

“Oh no, whatever will I do?” He deadpanned but all he felt was excitement at the thought of Stiles calling him to tell him about the most random things because he trusts Peter. He was so fucked.

“Now you’re joking about it, but just you wait and see. In a week of two you’ll regret it. Like, seriously regret it. You’ll have to change your number or something like that.” Stiles sounded happy and cheerful again and it was ridiculous how happy it made the alpha.

“I doubt it.” Peter answered, while he slipped into his car and started the engine.

He left Deucalion’s house behind, while he talked to Stiles about the most ridiculous things that otherwise would never interest him but when Stiles explained them they were fascinating.

It was only after he had hung up, long after he had reached his house again, that he realized that something felt wrong. Well, a lot felt wrong. His wolf was unhappy about Peter touching Will, Peter was upset with his wolf, both felt guilty towards Stiles, Peter was upset about that as well, but something…. Something was off and Peter didn’t know what it was, but it made his hackles rise and caused him to wander all around his apartment to spread his scent around his territory.

The feeling didn’t vanish, even after he had scent marked his entire den, so he stayed up until his eyes started to drop and he fell into a restless sleep.

-

When he woke up a few hours later with a snarl.

His sleeping mind had registered that someone was in his den and it caused his wolf to rise to the surface. Peter felt his shift taking control and he struggled to fight it down.

He calmed down when he realized that there was no stranger’s heartbeat inside his apartment and that it was only him and Persephone.

But there was this scent. The scent was everywhere and it wasn’t a familiar one. It didn’t belong to Peter and neither to Persephone and he would never ever allow someone he didn’t know inside his home….

Peter groaned and fell back into bed. Of fucking course.

It was Will’s scent, which still clung to Peter’s skin like a thin layer. The omega had touched his pulse points and so scent marked Peter, whether it was deliberately or not was unimportant.

And a single shower didn’t wash away the traces of scent marking.

“Fuck!” Peter growled and climbed out of his bed. Time for a trip to the pharmacy it was, if he wanted to get some more sleep tonight… or the next day. Or ever. And if he wanted to prevent himself from clawing holes into his furniture because he couldn’t control his wolf with the stranger’s scent inside his home.

The cleaner that came regularly wore scent suppressing patches to prevent shit like this from happening. And now Peter himself had brought the smell of a stranger into his home.

God fucking damn him.

-

Peter had every right in the world to be moody. Every single one, because he had slept like shit for the past week and nothing helped to relieve the feeling of guilt in his stomach. He felt like he had cheated on Stiles even though he hadn’t, even though he couldn’t.

Because Stiles and him? They weren’t together, they weren’t mates, they were just friends.

He also slept like shit because he always felt on the edge in his own home. Like a stranger was watching him, someone who didn’t belong there and it annoyed Peter that he knew that Will’s scent caused his wolf to act that way.

While he had erased every trace of the omega’s scent with the very powerful scent eraser he had bought at a 24/7 pharmacy at three in the morning after he almost clawed his way around his apartment, he still felt on the edge at all times.

His wolf was angry with him, angry at the world and angry at the rest of the universe as well. He was angry at everything… except Stiles.

And damn did that anger Peter.

But he couldn’t be angry at those doe eyes, or those moles, or those pink lips or…

The alpha closed his eyes and took a deep breath, while he listened to Deucalion’s endless chatter that once again underlined just what big of an ego the other wolf had. Peter looked like the opposite of an egomaniac next to the narcissistic alpha with an unhealthy god complex.

And yes, Peter might have a god complex as well and maybe he was a tiny little bit narcissistic, he was ready to admit that, but that and his ego were justified! More than once he had been called a God in bed and if that didn’t stroke a man’s ego, what else did?

Obviously, his looks, intelligence and success gave their fair share to further enlarge his ego but whatever, next to Deucalion Peter could be considered a fucking saint.

“…and then- Peter, are you even listening?” Deucalion’s voice suddenly interrupted Peter’s train of thought and he blinked confused, before he quickly caught up with the situation.

“Of course I am.” He snorted with the typical Hale eye roll that had been a family trait ever since the first Hale existed. Peter had seen paintings of his great, great grandparents with them rolling their eyes.

“No you’re not. You might be the only person on earth to be able to lie without a change in their heartbeat or scent, but I’m not stupid.” Deucalion rolled his eyes but the dramatic effect was a little lost at the smug expression on his face. “And you would simply tell me to fuck off or shut up because you have more important things to think about, so this must be really important when you’re trying to keep it a secret.” By now the wolf was practically leering.

“You might think you’re intelligent Deucalion, but right now you behave like an idiot.” Peter sneered while he drowned the remains of his now cold coffee and pulled a grimace. Disgusting.

“Not everyone can have a mind like you do Peter, it doesn’t make the rest of the world dumb though. Tell me what bothers you. Good ol’ Deuc will gladly give you useful advice.”

Peter refused to play along the game and also, he had too much dignity to actually answer his friend.

“So guessing it is.” Deucalion stilled for a second, then he grinned. “Does it have to do with the fact that you basically fled from my party last week? Leaving behind a very confused and aroused omega. Are you moody because you couldn’t get one up?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Peter growled and flashed his eyes at the other man, who simply laughed.

“You gave up the chance of a night with an adorable omega for a phone call. Now, work is important to you, but not that important. Usually everything can wait for a few hours or one of your many slaves can handle it.”

“Employees, Deucalion, they’re called employees now.” Peter interfered but got ignored.

“It could always be a family related matter, but if your sister would call you wouldn’t answer. Your parents wouldn’t call at that time, and god knows if you’d answer them because all they ever talk about is how you’re still without a mate. Just like Talia does. You’d pick up if it were one of your nephews or nieces you liked but there are only few that actually mean anything to you and if it were a family emergency you would’ve reeked of distress, but you didn’t. You smelled like guilt.”

Peter growled unhappily. He didn’t like the way Deucalion drew conclusions, he had obviously spend too much time with Peter because otherwise he would be just as blind as the rest of the world.

Except for Stiles… Stiles wasn’t blind, Stiles was…

“And you’ve got that look on your face.” Deucalion was gloating by now. His grin could only be described as wolfish and feral and Peter noticed distastefully how the alpha’s claws were showing.

“Peter Hale…” The other alpha drawled with such a smug voice that Peter’s gums itched with the want to bite and rip. “…could it possible that you have imprinted on someone? An omega even?”

It took every bit of self-control Peter had to prevent his claws and fangs from slipping. Instead he leaned back in the chair he was sitting and smiled his most charming smile, but added a sharp edge to it.

“Deucalion, I fear you couldn’t be more wrong and if you actually think I imprinted on an omega you have truly proven yourself to be the stupidest person New York City has to offer, if not the entire US and that says a lot.” He replied easily, before he stood up and closed his suit jacket. “Now, if you’d excuse me, I have more important things to do than to sit around and listen to your stupid theories all day.”

Deucalion laughed and got up as well, obviously not intending to let Peter get away with it.

“No need to be so defensive, Peter. There is nothing wrong with finding ones mate, especially not if the feelings are mutual. And the fact that you returned to NYC smelling like an omega had scent marked you is more than enough evidence that your mate is interested in you as well.”

“I do not have a mate, Deucalion. And if you don’t stop this nonsense, don’t think I will hesitate to rip your throat out. My threats are never empty.” Peter’s jaw twitched, while he left the restaurant they had met in.  Why did he think it would be a good idea to join Deucalion for lunch again? He didn’t know why they were friends.

Well, they did fit together in some kind of weird way, simply because they enjoyed the same things. Money, power, having power over other people…

“No, they’re indeed not. But I’m by far your only friend, without me you’d be lost. Not to mention that you wouldn’t be able to even reach my throat, I would’ve you beaten to the ground before you could even show your claws off.” Deucalion grinned cocky and Peter had a hard time controlling the snort he wanted to let out.

He had often enough proven to be the better fighter of the two of them and Deucalion knew it as well but would never admit it. Alpha egos were so fragile and problematic, Peter didn’t know how betas and omegas were able to put up with them.

“Why? Because you’re the alpha of alphas?” He shot back and Deucalion’s jaw clenched.

“I was drunk when I said that because you had infused my drink with a strong kind of wolfsbane. Will you ever stop bringing it up?” The other were asked, not sounding cocky anymore and that did make Peter grin.

“Never Deucalion, never.” Peter said and wanted to add another teasing remark, when he spotted something in one of the large store windows, which seemed to have replaced actual walls on almost every street.

It was some kind of high-tech shop with small robots and electronic gadgets, stuff Peter would normally never buy, but a watch in the display window had caught his attention. It was a sleek, digital binary watch with a small touchscreen.

He personally couldn’t find the appeal of a binary watch since he preferred the classic luxury watches that weren’t digital, but he knew someone who would probably be amazed by a binary watch. Someone who didn’t have one yet.

Peter went into the store wordlessly, leaving behind a baffled Deucalion.

Not even five minutes later he’s on the sidewalk again, a small bag in his hand with a beautifully wrapped up box inside it and a few hundred dollars less in his wallet. Not that he really cared about the money.

He only cared how efficiently he could ignore his wolf, who wiggled its tail happily at the thought of having found a gift for Stiles. A gift that would show that Peter was able to provide for an omega, that he could offer financial stability and more importantly, that he took great care in buying things that would actually interest the omega instead of buying something that simply looked flashy but had no personal meaning behind it.

Yes, Peter was a good alpha, he was a great alpha, he was…

He sounded like Deucalion… who tried to sneak a glance inside the bag.

“What did you buy and more importantly, who did you buy it for? Because I doubt you’d ever buy something from a store like this for yourself.” The other alpha asked, but Peter simply growled warningly and held the bag out of Deucalion’s reach.

“None of your business.” He growled and Deucalion sighed exasperatedly, as if Peter had been the one to annoy him all day.

“Whatever, I’ll find out who you’ve imprinted on sooner or later anyways.” The alpha shrugged and finally changed the topic to something business related.

The urge to rip out his throat was still there though, but that was basically normal for Peter to feel in Deucalion’s presence. Their friendship was…weird at best and a catastrophe at worst.

-

“Oh no, no, no!” Peter cursed and grabbed for his phone almost desperately. This couldn’t be happening, this wasn’t supposed to happen! Oh god no!

He had Jennifer on speed dial and it only took one ring for her to answer the phone.

“Yes sir?” She asked only a second before Peter already barked out his question.

“Where is the package I had taken to work with me today?” He searched through the drawers of his huge bureau desk again, hoping he had buried it underneath some paperwork, but no, nothing.

“Oh, the one you left on my desk?” Jennifer asked with a surprised tone in her voice. “I took care of it.”

Peter stilled.

“What do you mean with ‘you took care of it’?” He gritted out through clenched teeth and felt how his claws began to show.

“I ensured that it would be shipped off to…what was it again? Beacon Hills? Yes, to a Mr. Stiles Stilinski, I have the address added to your contact dates already and ensured that it would be an express delivery.”

Under any other circumstances he would’ve been pleased to have such an eager assistant, but right now he wanted to fire her on the spot.

“Why would you ship off a package just because I leave it on your desk?” His voice was a mere growl now, but it didn’t seem to impress Jennifer the slightest.

“You instructed me to take care of your mail, sorting through it, throwing away flyers, advertisements and unwanted subscription try-outs, also I’m supposed to ensure that every bit of mail you leave on my desk and isn’t addressed to you will be shipped to the address marked on it. You said you were too lazy to walk to the post station yourself.”

Peter cursed his past self for giving these instructions and he cursed Jennifer for actually doing her job. Fuck!

“Well then make sure to get it back before it’s too late! It was a mistake and I don’t want the receiver to receive it!” He ordered and any other person would be quivering, but Jennifer remained calm. She had dealt with an angry Peter often enough to know when to really fear him.

“I’m sorry sir, but I chose express delivery as always. The package is probably on its way inside a plane already and will arrive at Mr. Stilinski’s house tomorrow. I can try to get it back before he gets it, but I doubt it will work.” She spoke calmly, but it did everything but calm Peter. With an angry snarl he slammed the phone down, collected every bit of important work left on his desk, before he marched out of his large office, towards his private elevator and pressed the button for the ground floor.

He would take the rest of the day off and hide inside his apartment. Maybe he would hide there tomorrow as well… and the day after that. And after that.

Now Stiles would get his gift and that wasn’t…. that wasn’t supposed to happen.

Yes, he had bought the binary watch for the omega but he hadn’t actually planned on giving it to him. It was more the idea of it that made it appealing, and it hadn’t been an idea he wanted to turn into reality.

“God fucking dammit!” He cursed at the world and then at his wolf, who was ecstatic at the fact that they were giving their omega a present to show off what a good mate they were. They would please the omega, would make Stiles like them more.

“No!” Peter growled at himself.

This wasn’t a courting gift! This wasn’t a gift in a romantic way… it was a gift from one friend for another friend, to show the appreciation of their friendship.

Who was he lying to? It was totally a courting gift and Peter hated the fact that his heart was pounding with fear of rejection.

He groaned at the thought of staying this restless until he knew if Stiles liked the watch or not… the next 24 hours would be a nightmare.

Stiles stomach churned with butterflies when he drove back home from school. He had texted with Peter all day and it made his heart flutter to have the attention of such a perfect alpha on him for this extended period of time.

Even a months after meeting each other they were still staying in contact all the time, texting each other whenever possible about the most random things and snapchatting whenever they saw something worth sharing.

Every text or snapchat from Peter managed to make Stiles smile and it went so far that not only all his friends, but also his dad had started to notice.

By ‘all his friends’ he basically meant Scott, Isaac, Cora and Derek, because Derek and Isaac were a unit now even though they hadn’t officially dated yet. Everybody knew they were together and that they would probably be mated before the beginning of Thanksgiving break, but the Hale family wanted a summer mating ceremony, so they pushed the pair a little bit.

Stiles would bet his left hand that Derek and Isaac would’ve their mating ceremony in less than a month and he couldn’t wait for it to happen. For once because it would be the first mating ceremony he would attend and more importantly, it would mean that Peter came to town again. And Stiles really, really needed to see the alpha again.

Not only see, also smell and touch and hug and hopefully scent mark. He wanted to bath in the alpha’s scent! Wanted to roll around in it and ensure it would cling to his skin forever, no matter how often he showered.

Peter simply smelled so right… He smelled right. In every sense of the word and Stiles knew that he shouldn’t think of the man that way, but he wanted to be Peter’s mate.

He hated to admit it but… he had imprinted on the alpha and… it was hopeless.

But whatever, that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy their friendship.

So when he hopped out of his jeep and picked up his phone to see another message of Peter, he smiled to himself. Peter had been a little weird all day, asking questions that didn’t make sense, but Stiles often didn’t make sense either, so he simply answered them, no matter how weird.

He was so absorbed into the text he was sending Peter, that he almost stepped onto the mail waiting on their front porch. His left foot stood already on what looked like a letter to his father, leaving behind an ugly footprint on the white envelope, and his right foot hovered above a small package.

Stiles barely managed not to step on it and stumbled around for a few seconds, before he had regained balance. Yeah, if that wasn’t graceful Stiles didn’t know what was.

He picked up all letters and the package and curiously examined it, so he could find out what it was without opening it. When he discovered that it had his own name written on the receiver’s address, he almost stumbled again.

Why would he get a package? He hadn’t ordered anything from amazon… And nobody would send him anything anyways. He couldn’t remember the last time he had gotten a letter, besides the birthday letters his great aunt still sent him and his dad for every birthday and all holidays.

Stiles really wasn’t a patient person, so he unceremoniously dropped all letters on the kitchen counter, before he raced up the stairs to his bedroom, to open up the package in peace. He had answered Peter’s message, so he would’ve to wait for a reply anyways, so why not use the time to unwrap whatever the package held.

It took him a minute to unwrap the throughout wrapped carton and a few pieces of paper and Styrofoam were flung around his room, but finally he managed to wrestle whatever was inside out.

His brows furrowed when he saw that the true package was only the size of a small square box.

Had such a big package really been necessary for such a small box?

The omega shrugged and opened up the white, stiff wrapping paper that the box was wrapped in, but before he could fully remove it, a small, white card fell into his lap.

It was a little smaller than a postcard and made out of stiff, creamy paper. An elegant handwriting had written a few simple words with black ink and it made Stiles’ heart stop for a few long seconds, before it began to race.

‘I couldn’t help but think of you when I saw this. Enjoy, Peter.’

“Oh…” Stiles whispered wide eyed and swallowed hard, before he lifted the piece of paper to his nose and sniffed it. Normally it would weird him out, but he really didn’t really give a fuck because it smelled faintly like Peter and that warmed Stiles’ heart as much as his words did. Well, it warmed different parts of his body as well, but Stiles willed them down because he really didn’t want to open up whatever was inside the box, while having a raging hard on.

He carefully put the small letter on his nightstand, before he continued unwrapping the small box Peter had sent him.

He gasped when he saw what it was and couldn’t help the broad grin that spread over his face.

It was a watch. But not any kind of watch, it was a binary watch! With a touchscreen that promised much more than simply showing the time.

He quickly opened up the box and took out the watch, amazed by its sleek design. It was beautiful.

It had a simple, black watch strap that was obviously made out of smooth, expensive leather with a typical clasp. The watch itself was a small square, made out of some kind of stainless metal in a warm white tone, there were small buttons on either side of the watch, probably to change the settings or use it.

He carefully touched the black screen and it immediately came to live, blinking the date and time at him through three rows of white dots.

Stiles was able to read binary watches, he had been bored once and found it on wikihow after googling how sounding worked –it had been a weird and eye opening day for him-, and ever since he had wanted to have a binary watch.

Now, there were binary watches that were less than 20 dollar, but he had never wanted one of these cheap watches that would break after using them a few times and looked crappy.

He felt a little bit like a hypocrite considering that he wore clothes that people with fashion senses considered crappy and he himself sometimes thought that as well, but he liked what he wore so whatever. Stiles was allowed to be a little bit of a hypocrite!

But more important than his choice of clothes was the beautiful watch that was his now. At least he hoped it was his and that Peter hadn’t accidentally sent it to Stiles, while actually meaning to send it to some other, prettier omega.

He scolded himself for thinking that and concentrated on the watch again.

Stiles touched the touchscreen again and the binary clock vanished to open up a small home screen. His mind was momentarily blown away by the many things he could actually do with this watch. It was like a small phone on his wrist.

A small phone that also smelled like Peter, just like the wrapping paper, or the letter…. Or the T-Shirt underneath Stiles pillow, which he had worn the day Peter had scent marked him after they had eaten breakfast together… or the shirt under Stiles other pillow which he had worn at Derek’s birthday party… when he had scent marked Peter.

Yes, he was obsessed with the alpha’s scent and frankly he wasn’t ashamed of it… much.

Oh, he had almost forgotten.

Quickly the omega grabbed his phone and called Peter, who had just answered his text message. He answered immediately and that made Stiles all gooey and fluffy. This must be what Scott felt when he thought about Allison.

“Hello Stiles, what give the pleasure?” Peter asked, but he sounded nervous, like Stiles made him nervous. A hysterical giggle almost made it past his lips, but he swallowed it down the last second.

“I just got this package and it had my name on it so I opened it and inside it was this card and it had your name on it and then there was this watch and I can’t believe you’d do that, why would you do that? Are you insane? It must’ve cost you ways too much and I shouldn’t accept it because you’ve spent too much money on it but I’m feeling kinda selfish right now so I don’t want to give it back because it’s so awesome and…” He took a deep breath to stop himself from rambling and when he spoke again his voice was a lot quieter.

All I really wanted to say was, thank you, Peter.” The words were almost whispered, but they were heavy with emotions, so many more emotions than simple gratitude because of a watch. And Stiles would’ve been embarrassed by it, if it weren’t for the way the alpha’s breath hitched.

“So you… like the watch?” Peter sounded a little breathless and again so, so nervous. It chocked a laugh out of Stiles.

“Of course I like it, you big idiot. I love it in fact. But I can’t give you anything back that would be worth as much as this watch. I’m kinda broke so…sorry?” He felt bad, he felt as if he should give Peter an equally expensive gift.

“Stiles.” Peter interrupted and it sounded like he was smiling broadly and had a huge weight lifted off his shoulders. “I don’t want anything in return. Your happiness is more worth than any gift anyone could ever buy me.”

Stiles was shocked into silence for a few seconds and when he recovered he was hit with the sudden realization, that Peter Hale was the one for him.

“Peter?” He then asked quietly “You know this means a lot to me, right?”

The alpha was dead silent and for a moment the omega thought he had said something wrong, but then he became his answer.

“I hope it does, Stiles. Your happiness means a lot to me, little one.”

And Stiles’ felt as if the hummingbirds pounding against his stomach walls had finally broken through and were now spreading through his entire body, making every inch of him feel electrified and overflowing with a giddy happiness that made him let out a mixture of a squeal and a happy, breathless laugh.

“That’s… that’s good.” He nodded then and his smile was so broad that it hurt his cheeks and made it almost impossible to talk. “Because I’m really, really happy right now.”

“I can hear that.” Peter teased happily and all his nervousness seemed to have vanished and been replaced by pure smugness.

“Don’t sound so smug! I need to stop flattering you or your ego will grow even more.” Stiles huffed, but his words weren’t meant seriously.  

Peter laughed through the phone and it was probably one of the most beautiful things Stiles had ever heard.

God, he really, really wanted Peter’s children!

Chapter Text

From Peter, 13.06 pm:
I absolutely agree with you, the fact that your chemistry teacher uses green ink instead of red to grade papers is the final proof: He’s an alien. It could be possible that he’s color blind and can’t see the difference between red and green, but he being an evil creature from another planet is much more likely.

Stiles giggled at his phone as he read over Peter’s text, before he typed a quick answer, thanking him for supporting his theory.

Scott shot him a confused look over the cafeteria table, but Stiles ignored it in favor of texting the alpha.

„Watcha doing there, Stilinski?“ A voice asked next to him and Stiles almost dropped his phone in surprise.

“Damn it, Cora!” He cursed her and tried to ignore how his heart was racing. He would probably die of a heart attack if he kept hanging around with werewolves. In moments like these, where he almost pissed his pants and almost got a heart attack, he really wished he could go back to the loser life that he had happily lived before he had widened his social circle.

It had been just Scotty and him, happy, peaceful, calm. And then shit went down and everything got fucked up.

Scott had a huge asthma attack at the beginning of their junior year, which unfortunately took place in the school parking lot. Derek, who had dropped Cora of at school that day had seen the whole thing and a few days later offered Scott the bite. That had been great, really great, because Stiles didn’t have to worry about Scotty going to the hospital because of his lungs again, but at the same time it caused the whole expanding of his social life thing.

They had started to hang out with Cora more, who kept an eye on Scott in school to ensure he wouldn’t lose control of his wolf while he adjusted to his new life. A month later Erica Reyes had an epilepsy attack in class and had to go to the hospital.

Scott had bugged Derek an entire week to offer her the bite as well, until the alpha eventually threw his hands up in the air and agreed with the plea that Scott should leave him be. So he had bitten Erica, who then started to hang around with Stiles, Scott and Cora. Along with her came Boyd who didn’t ask for the bite but looked kinda longing whenever wolfy senses were brought up.

Derek bit him as well because he couldn’t stand the way Boyd looked at him. Stiles didn’t really know what Derek meant because Boyd was hardly someone with many facial expressions, but oh well, it made Boyd and Derek happy, so why not?

Stiles circle of friends were then Scott, Cora, Erica and Boyd and by far, far extension Derek.

Until Isaac came into the picture.

He had always been a loner and kept his head down, but Stiles was the son of a cop, so he knew when people were in trouble and no matter how well Isaac tried to hide it, Stiles’ observation skills were unbeatable.

And after Stiles had told his dad that Isaac’s father was probably abusing the other omega, it had taken a ridiculously short time until Isaac’s father was locked behind bars and Isaac lived with Erica’s family, since her parents took in foster children occasionally. They had quickly taken a liking to Isaac and his temporary living arrangement with them had turned into a permanent one.

Stiles hadn’t expected Isaac to ever talk to him since they hadn’t had a single conversation before the incident, but things turned out different than he thought. Instead of ignoring him the other omega began to follow him around like an adorable duckling. He sat with Stiles at lunch, kept close to him in the hallways, often joined him and Scott for gaming nights on the weekends and opened up to the rest of their circle of friends as well.

Then, shortly after spring break, Isaac had met Derek and it had almost sickened Stiles how cute they were. It was the typical romance shit that was normally portrayed in a Hallmark movie. The whole love at the first glance kind of thing with sparks flying through the air and some real twilight stuff going on.

It caused his circle of friends to expand again and in less than a year it had turned from Scott and Stiles to Scott, Stiles, Cora, Erica, Boyd, Isaac and Derek. He wasn’t unhappy about it, but Cora had the tendency to tease him mercilessly. She also liked to poke her nose into other people’s business, especially in Stiles’ business.

“Earth to Stiles.” Cora’s voice snapped him back into reality and he glared at her for good measure.

“What?” He hoped his voice sounded imitating and showed how much he didn’t want to be teased right now, but Cora, just like Derek, didn’t really give a fuck.

“I asked you, repeatedly, who you’re texting with.” Her smile grew into a grin. “Because you’re looking at your phone the way Scott does when he’s texting Allison. Like a lovesick idiot.”

“Do not!” Stiles protested the exact same moment Scotty gasped scandalized and hurt. “Scotty, you’re not an idiot, you’re awesome and even if you were an idiot I wouldn’t mind because you’re the best.”

“Really?” Scott asked brightly and turned back to his food after Stiles had nodded at him.

“Stilinski you can’t fool me. And now tell me who you’ve been texting.” The Hale insisted but Stiles wouldn’t admit it even if he were to be tortured.

“Never, Hale, never.” He hissed, but held the phone cautiously out of her reach, just in case she got the stupid idea to take it from him. Not that it would stop Cora, she would simply use her wolfy strength and kick Stiles’ ass in front of the whole school, but still. He would at least get an A for effort.

“So it’s someone I know.” She guessed and the exact moment Stiles said no he knew that he had fucked up, because Cora’s eyes lit up with excitement. Damn werewolves and their super hearing, it wasn’t fair.

“So, it’s a male alpha who we’re both familiar with. Obviously unmated by the dreamy expression on your face… Not to mention that you reeked of an alpha only a few weeks ago…” Cora was the devil, the actual devil. “And I know who that alpha was, because I’ve known that scent all my life. You have imprinted on Peter.”

“Have not!” Stiles automatically protested and cursed his quick tongue again, because his heart skipped a beat at the lie and confirmed Cora’s thesis.

“Oh you have!” She crooned happily and looked genuinely excited. Something Cora never really did when it came to someone’s love life. “I take that he likes you back?”

Okay, Stiles was really, really uncomfortable talking to her about it, but Cora looked at him with such genuine excitement that he couldn’t deny her an answer. Damn these manipulative Hales!

“Uh, not the same way I like him I guess? We’re just friends, nothing more.” Stiles worried his lips between his teeth. “It’s not…Peter isn’t interested in me that way, he told me he never had the desire to take a mate and I doubt he’d change his mind just because of me.” His smile was weak and it obviously displeased Cora.

“I’ve known Uncle Peter all my life and believe me when I tell you that he always looked a little bit longing when he came to our family gatherings, longing, sad and lonely. And he stared at everyone who was mated with this weird expression like someone does at something they desperately want but can never have.” Cora poked her finger against Stiles’ arm repeatedly as if it would make things even more meaningful. He’d probably bruise on that spot and it wouldn’t look like a weirdly placed hickey.

“But at Derek’s birthday, when he talked to you the entire day, he didn’t look anything like he normally does. He looked genuinely happy to be at a family gathering and that was definitely because of you.” She took a large bite from the apple she had held in her hand the entire time, to give Stiles a moment to progress what she had said.

“Not to mention that you’re totally his type.”

Stiles’ brain switched off for a moment and when it came back online he scoffed at her.

“I don’t know what kind of wolfsbane you’ve been poisoned with, but it’s bad and you should go to the hospital quickly. You’re already hallucinating because I am 100% not Peter’s type. I doubt he even has a type.” And if the alpha had a type it would probably not be skinny, pale and constantly talking.

“I saw him staring at your lips Stilinski, he definitely has a type.” Cora grinned and pinched his cheek, before going back to eating her apple.

“My lips? What? Why would he stare at my lips? And what does that have to do with a type? Cora?” He rambled, totally confused, but the girl simply laughed.

“You’re adorable when you’re confused.”

Stiles was about to protest that he totally wasn’t adorable, but Scott already spoke up.

“Sorry man but she has a point, you’re really cute.” The beta said with a shrug and Stiles mouthed the word ‘traitor’ at him while glowering at Cora. She didn’t really seem to care, probably because the rest of the Hale family could glower ways better.

Damn those Hales.

-

“Have you everything ready for today? Are you excited?” Stiles’ dad asked while munching unhappily on a spoon of oatmeal that was ways too natural for the sheriff’s taste.

“What’s today?” The omega furrowed his brows. It was Saturday and that meant weekend and a beautiful day to be lazy. He was excited about every Saturday because it was the best day of the week, but why this Saturday in particular?

“Yes, aren’t you going to this thing Isaac and Derek invited you to? What’s it called again? ‘The Chase’?” His father scratched the hints of stubble on his chin. “I thought you wanted to go?”

Stiles mouth fell open. He had totally forgotten about that.

“Oh shit.” He said wide eyed and ignored the distasteful look his dad shot him. They had tried to avoid cussing but it was impossible. Stiles could barely control his mouth on a good day so expecting him to have an entire conversation without swearing once? Impossible. And adults weren’t much better, they just didn’t swear when their children were around.

“Don’t tell me you forgot.”

Stiles smiled weakly.

“I forgot?” He then said with the sweetest voice possible, so his dad wouldn’t be too disappointed.

“You forgot one of your friend’s mating ceremonies? Stiles.” Yup, there was the disappointment. “Isaac had such a hard time and you’re one of his closest friends. I expected more from you.”

Stiles huffed and thought about letting his head bang against the table, but he was hovering right above his bowl of cereal and it would be a waste of perfectly good food.

“I didn’t forget, I just… concentrated on something else.” He tried to save what could possibly be saved, but his dad was having none of it.

“Really?” John asked and leaned back in his chair while crossing his arms over his chest. Oh no, he went into cop mode. “Care to elaborate?”

Damnit.

“Oh, you know, the usual stuff?” There was no saving, everything had gone to hell, the ship was sinking, the plane was caught in a death spiral towards earth and he had neither a lifeboat nor a parachute.

“And this ‘usual stuff’, does it have anything to do with your new watch or the fact that you’re constantly on your phone?” The sheriff pointedly looked at the sleek watch on Stiles wrist.

“What? No!” Stiles spluttered and shook his head so quick it almost gave him whiplash. “Absolutely not, nope. Where did you get that ridiculous thought, pops? You need to freshen up your detective skills, I think they might be a little rusty.”

His dad was silent for a few second, before he uncrossed his arms and smiled softly. Either he had gone into good cop mode or the interrogation was over.

“Stiles, are you being courted?” John asked gently and it didn’t sound angry or unhappy. He sounded wistful but glad.

Stiles felt himself pale, before his blood shot back into his cheeks, coloring them bright red. The entire conversation was a train wreck.

“It isn’t… it isn’t like that.” He hurried to say, before his dad could get even more absurd ideas. “He’s not… we’re not…We’re friends and he’s very nice and saw this watch and thought I’d like it. It was a surprise for me too, but we’re just friends.”

“So who is your ‘just friend’? Is it someone from school?” John had picked up his spoon again and continued to battle the oatmeal that had fresh fruit in it. That didn’t meant Stiles was off the hook though…

“Uh, no. I met him at Derek’s birthday a few weeks ago.” Stiles tried to think of a way to get out of this conversation. Could he fake a heart attack? What were the symptoms again?

“What’s his name?”

“Dad!” The omega whined and looked at his father with pleading eyes. “Can you just let it go? He’s not interested in me that way, we just have the same interests and stayed in contact, as friends.”

His dad didn’t look convinced.

“Please dad? There’s really nothing going on, no love declarations, no courting things, nada.” He squirmed in his seat. “Not that I would complain if someone was actually courting me but no, nobody’s interested in this fine piece of ass yet.” This was his last way of escape. “Do you think it’s my pants? Should I buy tighter pants? So people can actually see my ass? Do you think alphas will like-“

“Please stop talking son.” John pleaded and shook his head as if he tried to erase the last few things Stiles said. “I promise not to ask any more questions but please stop talking about your butt.”

“Sure thing, daddy-o.” The omega promised with such a sincere voice that it made the man smile. Stiles congratulated himself for steering the conversation away from Peter Hale before his dad could figure out who gave him the watch.

“So, do you have anything to wear for the ceremony? Do you need a suit?” The change of topic was so, so welcome.

“Nah, I’ll go in jeans and a T-Shirt. It should suit the whole thing more than enough.” He shrugged, while his dad looked confused.

“Aren’t mating ceremonies much more formal? I don’t know how it’s handled today, but back in the days everyone wore suits and dresses.” His dad’s forehead wrinkled. “Or is it different with werewolves?”

Stiles couldn’t help but laugh loudly.

“Dad, I’m pretty sure I’ll need to wear some kind of suit to Derek’s and Isaac’s mating ceremony, but today is The Chase. They have their mating ceremony in two months I think? The date isn’t a solid one yet. The Chase is a lot less formal, it’s a werewolf tradition and they’ll be in their wolf form most of the time so clothes aren’t really necessary and neither is a dress code.” He told his father, who shrugged.

“Just promise me you’ll stay dressed, I really don’t want anybody complain about my son running around naked. Enough people have seen you in your birthing suit already.”

Stiles groaned and this time he banged his head against the table, avoiding his bowl by a few centimeters.

“I was 3 when it happened and you had left the gate open!” He protested. “Also you promised to never mention it again.”

“It doesn’t matter if I promised it or not, almost half of Beacon Hills knows about it.” John said with a laugh while Stiles banged his head against the table once more.

He had been 3, it had been one of the hottest days of the year, his parents had bought one of these blowup pools for children and put it in the backyard for Stiles’ to play in, who decided after a while that swimming trunks were overrated and then decided that the grass on the other side of the fence was a lot greener.

His dad, who had been sitting on the back porch while working on a case, had noticed too late that his son had escaped through the open gate of their backyard that led to the street.

Stiles had used that time to run through the whole neighborhood, past the library and through a public park in nothing more than flip flops and a giraffe swimming ring around his belly. On his heels was his father in full deputy uniform.

Luckily there had only been few people outside, but the story had quickly spread, mostly through old ladies who were highly amused by it.

Stiles regretted ever leaving the pool and had sworn to never go swimming without trunks again.

Maybe if he would bang his head against the hard wood three more times his memory would fade? Hopefully… it was worth a try….

-

Stiles’ father left shortly after breakfast for is shift, grumbling something about too much paperwork and not enough action and how cop shows were totally unrealistic, and that left Stiles all alone with nothing to do.

Well, not nothing to do. He had a mountain of homework and his laundry called to finally be done and he needed to pick out an outfit for tonight, but that was equal to having nothing to do. And it was barely after 10 in the morning, he had so much time before he had to get dressed so why should he stress about that now?

So he went on with his day by doing the laundry that was almost at the point where it started to smell unpleasant and then continued by working on his calculus homework. He was such a good student, such an example, such a…

Who was he kidding? Five minutes later he sat in front of the TV and played Fallout 4 on his Xbox. He had worked very hard, he was allowed a break. A break that lasted hours with a few interruptions, such as the washing machine being done and the dryer finishing and then he made himself lunch and before he realized how quickly the day was passing by, the clock already told him it was shortly after 5pm and he didn’t have much time left before he would’ve to go over to the Hale house.

“Shit, shit, shit!” He cursed and saved the game before throwing the controller on the couch and racing up the stairs to the bathroom. He needed to take shower yesterday! He almost slipped thrice while undressing, showering, washing his hair and then stabbed his toe while toweling himself dry.

He noticed that he had forgotten to take clothes with him or even pick out what he would wear, so he crossed the hallway to his bedroom with the towel wrapped around his hips and his phone in his hand.

There were a few new messages from Peter and he would answer them, but first he had to find something to wear.

Stiles slipped into a pair of boxer shorts and began to search through his closet for something appropriate to wear. He was already holding two different plaid shirts in his hands and contemplated if blue or red would be better, when he realized something that made his heart stop.

Would Peter be there? It was a very old tradition after all and usually the entire family of the soon to be mated pair attended the event and participated. That usually meant Peter would come as well.

His heartbeat quickened up.

No plaid! He would not wear plaid again! This time he would wear something that would fit him well and maybe make Peter want him? He had to have his tightest jeans somewhere in his closet, maybe underneath his old sweatpants? Or next to his hiking boots which he had never worn?

He found the tight, black jeans after he had almost searched through his entire closet and just when he was about to look for a shirt, the doorbell rang.

He glanced at the time, it was 6.13 pm so maybe his dad got off his shift and had forgotten his keys, so Stiles didn’t bother with putting on pants. His dad had seen him run around in underwear countless times and it wasn’t like Stiles would do anything but open the door anyways.

He stumbled down the stairs and hit his knee against the wall and when he finally reached the front door he was cursing and rubbing his right leg. Damn his clumsiness. No, it wasn’t his natural ability to run against everything and anything, it was the fault of the house. The house wanted to kill him. He would call the Ghosthunters or something, maybe the Winchester brothers? He so wouldn’t mind Dean showing up on his doorstep…

Stiles shook his head, unlocked the door and opened it.

“Forgot your keys, old man?” He grinned but then froze in horror.

It wasn’t his dad who stood in front of him. It wasn’t the mailman either, nor the UPS guy. He wished it was Mrs. Abberly from down the road, an elderly lady who brought them cookies and pies occasionally because ‘such a sweet omega needs to be spoiled by someone with pies and cookies’.

No, in front of him stood…

“Old man? I’m hurt Stiles. Here I am, trying to surprise you, and then that.” Peter grinned, before his eyes widened a bit and he glanced over Stiles’ body. “Well, but if this is your idea of an apology then you’re forgiven already.”

Stiles was frozen in horror.

Oh no. He stood in front of Peter Hale, wearing nothing but boxer briefs. His hair was pointing in every direction and he was pretty sure that the underwear he wore had a tiny hole on his left cheek. This was a nightmare.

“Oh God.” He whispered, totally mortified.

If he were to die in this moment? He would welcome death with open arms and probably tip him all money he had left, because death’s timing? Totally on fucking point.

“You can call me Peter.” The alpha supplied unhelpfully with this annoying, stupid, attractive smirk on his lips. Stiles hated and loved it. “Don’t I get a hug? I can strip down to my briefs as well if it makes you more comfortable? I don’t have any Batman themed ones though…”

Stiles looked down at himself and spotted what kind of boxers he wore. Yes, they were black and right at the center on the front was the batman logo in a bright, almost neon yellow. He closed his eyes and groaned in mortification.

“I’m gonna go and find some pants…just…make yourself at home…” He stammered then because he couldn’t bear to stand another second in front of Peter Hale in his fucking Batman boxers.

“I don’t mind.” Peter grinned shamelessly and Stiles would’ve hit the man, but he was too busy turning around and racing over to the stairs, to flee from Peter’s eyes and find something to wear. “Nice behind, by the way. Really love the ‘Bam!’. Adds a certain charm to these boxers.”

“I can’t believe you.” Stiles groaned and skipped up the stairs, twice as fast as he had ever done it before. Usain Bolt would pale with jealousy. “And stop staring at my ass!” He called before slamming his door shut. On the back of his black boxers was printed a bright yellow ‘Bam!’ in comic book style and of course Peter had to point it out.

Stiles threw himself face first on his bed and groaned pitifully. Peter Hale had seen him in his Batman underwear…

“I hate my life.”

-

It took Stiles almost 10 minutes to make his way downstairs again. He had only taken one to dress himself and another to brush his hair and try to style it before giving up, and the remaining 8 minutes had been spent freaking out and calming down again.

When he finally made his way downstairs, face still burning with embarrassment, he had put on the tight pair of black jeans and a white shirt that he hadn’t worn in weeks. At least it wasn’t plaid?

He found Peter in the living room, lounging on the couch and reading one of the books laying on the coffee table. They were Stiles’ reading assignments for the year and he could proudly say that he had already read all of them.

The alpha looked up as soon as he heard him enter the room and Stiles was once more shocked at the intense blue Peter’s eyes were. He had developed a thing for blue eyes recently… and V-necks… and… whoa.

Peter looked so cuddly.

He wore a white, long sleeved shirt with three buttons that were opened to a V-neck and the fabric looked unbelievably comfy. His hair was a little bit ruffled and Stiles really wanted to touch it so see if it was as soft as it seemed to be.

“I see that you found your pants.” Peter smiled innocently, but in his eyes was a teasing glint that made Stiles blush again.

“Oh God, please never mention that incident again, I’m still so mortified that I want to hide in a hole for the next three decades. I could live in the woods, my dad would bring me food… at least I hope he would. It would get kinda uncomfortable during the winter but we live in California so it should be fine.” He groaned and brushed his fingers through his own hair which probably ruined the little bit of styling he had been able to do. Whatever, his day couldn’t get much worse.

“Stiles, you have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. I wouldn’t mind if you were to run around like that permanently, it would be more than welcome.” The alpha said and it somehow drained the tension from Stiles a little bit.

He laughed and felt as if a weight was lifted off his shoulders. “You’re such a dick.” He protested and walked closer to the couch, seeking out the calming effect the alpha’s presence had on him.

Peter laughed as well and stood up, abandoning the book he had been reading in order to pull Stiles into a hug.

“Now, how about a proper hello after we’ve not seen each other for such a long time?”

Stiles froze for a second before he melted into the strong arms holding him. He closed them around Peter, pressed himself against the firm body and buried his nose in Peter’s neck where his scent was the strongest.

His heartbeat was quick but calm and with each second it calmed down until it was a regular thumping. He could spend hours like this, really, he would love to just hug Peter all day because the man gave perfect hugs.

He unconsciously began to nose the nape of Peter’s neck to get as much of the alpha scent on himself, while rubbing his own into the warm skin. His back was arching while he tried to get even closer to Peter, who carefully scented him right back.

Stiles shuddered when he felt the man’s nose brush his throat and a small gasp escaped him as soft lips came in contact with his sensitive skin. Peter’s beard scratched a little bit, but it was the best kind of scratching there was and the warm burn it left behind let Stiles’ eyes flutter close.

“Stiles?” Peter’s voice was quiet and warm but always with a teasing edge to it.

“Yeah?” Stiles mumbled and noticed how his head was swimming in the alpha’s scent. He didn’t even care that Peter had seen him in his underwear less than 20 minutes ago. Nothing really mattered.

“If we want don’t want to be late we have to go soon.”

“Hmm.” The omega sighed while he tried to understand what they would be late for. “Where do we need to go?”

“Derek’s and Isaac’s ceremony? We have to be there in 10 minutes if we don’t want to be late for dinner. And it’s always a bad idea to be late at a werewolf dinner because leftovers usually don’t exist. And while I don’t necessary need three meals a day you definitely do, my fragile omega.” Peter reminded him gentle and Stiles immediately ended the hug.

“Oh shit, I forgot again. I’m such a bad friend.” He cursed himself and marched out of the living room to look for his shoes. Peter was on his heels, already playing with car keys in his hands and Stiles froze. “Wait, did you come here to pick me up?”

“I thought you might appreciate the chance of driving in a vehicle that isn’t in the danger of falling apart at any second.” Peter teased and Stiles punched his arm playfully.

“Hey, no hating on my jeep. She’s beautiful and unique and just because your car is worth 100 times more than she is doesn’t mean that it’s better. It’s probably a douchebag car, a real dick. A car that’s bullying other cars.” Stiles rambled while slipping into his shoes and walking out of the house. Peter followed him with an amused smile on his lips.

“And think about all those poor other cars who feel worthless when their paintjob isn’t as flashy and their seats aren’t made out of real leather. You should really be ashamed to cause insecurities in these other cars.” He continued to rant while he slipped into Peter’s car and planted his ass on the comfortable leather seats. God, this car was beautiful.

“I’ll take that into consideration the next time I buy a car.” Peter promised and started the purring engine which made Stiles shudder in delight. Just because he loved and adored his baby more than anything didn’t mean that he couldn’t appreciate other cars. And Peter’s car deserved to be appreciated. It was just as perfect as the owner.

“Good, because you should. Maybe a jeep would be a great car for you as well.” Stiles grinned. It was hard to imagine Peter drive anything but a flashy, fast car, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t entertain the idea of it.

“I prefer a vehicle with functioning airbags and proper air-condition.” The alpha retorted, but he grinned broadly.

“Nah, you’re a werewolf. You don’t need airbags, you probably don’t even need seatbelts. And why do you need air-conditioning? You could just stick your head out of the window and pant with your tongue hanging out of your mouth.” Stiles couldn’t help but snicker at his own jokes, while Peter rolled his eyes.

Yes, Peter was the unbeaten king of the Hale eye roll, Cora and even Derek should take lessons to get the same dramatic flourish when they rolled their eyes. Derek’s glowering was impressive though. Really broody and dramatic, film worthy, really.

“One dog joke per year, Stiles and this was probably the 12^th you’ve made this week.” Peter tutted, but Stiles simply shrugged.

“I can’t help that I’m hilarious. Also, you think they’re funny and don’t even try to deny it.” Stiles poked his finger against Peter’s biceps and forgot what they were talking about for a second, when he felt the strength of the muscles underneath his fingertips.

He could barely control the urge to caress the rest of Peter’s arm, just so he could feel the strength under his hands. God, he was so gone for the man.

“I’d never.” Peter said seriously and placed a hand over his heart. “You, Stiles, are by far the funniest person I’ve ever met, especially when you don’t even try to be.”

“Thank you.” Stiles nodded, before he halted. “Wait, what do you mean when I don’t try to be?”

Peter laughed loudly and looked over at Stiles with a softness in his eyes that made Stiles’ insides feel all warm and giddy.

“You’re quite unique Stiles. Never change the way you are.” The alpha said and dammit, now he was blushing again.

Stiles huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Stop being charming, I’m not the poor girl at the Chick-Fil-A drive through with the honey mustard sauce.”

“You hurt me, Stiles. Maybe I’m trying to be Prince Charming right now, sweeping you off your feet and all that.” Peter pouted and it looked so ridiculous that it made Stiles laugh again.

“Does that make me a Disney princess?” He asked teasingly and wrinkled his nose. “And I’ve never heard of a werewolf Disney prince. Wait, are you the big bad wolf and if yes, am I little red riding hood?”

Peter hummed and then nodded.

“I would make an awesome big bad wolf and you’d make a very pretty little red.” He crocked his head a little bit. “Are you trying to tell me that you’re into roleplay, Stiles? Do you have a revealing Little Red costume in your closet?”

Stiles blushed all the way to the tip of his ears.

“I didn’t meant it that way!” He protested. “Why do you always have to make me regret what I say? Ugh, I’m gonna die of shame.” Stiles sent Peter a sharp look. “And don’t even think about telling anyone what happened today. I will force wolfsbane down your throat until you’re chocking on it and then find a witch that makes sure it gets magically shoved up your ass as well.”

Peter eyed him for a second with a very serious face, before he began to grin again.

“I usually don’t mind things going up my ass, I haven’t tried wolfsbane though.”

Stiles was speechless. Something that happened rarely.

“You…I…oh my God.” He hid his face behind his hands. “I hate you so much right now.”

“No you don’t.” Peter laughed and ruffled Stiles’ hair.

-

They pulled up at the Hale house shortly after seven and were right on time for dinner. There were at least 30, maybe more people, most of which Stiles didn’t know and he would bet everything he owned that he was the only human in a 5 mile radius. Well, together with Isaac, but Isaac would soon be a wolf as well so he was the only one who would stay human for the foreseeable future.

They all looked like they had jumped off the cover of fashion magazines or billboards and Stiles was not feeling insecure. He wasn’t! And if he was insecure then it was definitely justified.

‘At least Peter didn’t make fun of me when he saw me in my…’ He quickly stopped that train of thought. He would totally forget the incident and never, ever think about it again.

Luckily he was distracted before he could start to feel shame again. Thank God for Scotty, because he was an angel.

“Stiles!” Scott cheered and next thing the omega knew he was sitting on a couch, wedged between Isaac and Scotty, who were shoveling away their food.

Well, Scotty was.

Isaac on the other hand was comfortably leaned back against the couch, feet sprawled on the expensive coffee table and looked like he was a cat who had just gotten a bowl filled with cream.

The reason was Derek, who sat on Isaac’s other side with a plate on his lap that was filled with Isaac’s favorite foods and he was feeding them the omega with such a lovesick expression on his face that it made Stiles want to gag.

At the same time he felt kinda jealous. Especially since Scott seemed to have forgotten that Stiles was hungry, when the beta had dragged him over to the couch with the words that he had saved him a spot.

“Scotty…” He whined and pouted a little bit. “I think you’ve forgotten something.”

That should be a hint, a very good hint.

Scott looked at him and his eyes widened.

“Oh yeah, you’re right.” The beta jumped to his feet. “I totally forgot my drink in the kitchen.” And with that he had vanished and taken his food with him.

Stiles huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Nobody cares about starving omegas these days. Here I am, slowly fading away, dying of hunger and nobody wants to feed me…” He closed his eyes dramatically and let his head fall back against the couch.

“You can have some of my food.” Isaac offered softly and Stiles felt guilty as soon as he opened his eyes and looked over at the other omega. Isaac looked genuinely caring and ready to share the food Derek had oh so thoughtfully gotten his omega.

Derek himself seemed equally caring about Stiles stomach because he held the plate of food toward Stiles.

“Nah man, today is all about you two and I’m not willing to steal your food.” He was about to get up and find himself something to eat before the wolves had wolfed everything down- high five to himself for that joke-, when someone sat down beside him.

“Don’t worry, I got him covered.” Peter’s voice said right next to him and Stiles was handed a plate full of food. His eyes widened before a grin spread over his face.

“Finally someone who likes me in this house.” He cheered and beamed at Peter, who huffed out a laugh while eating his own food. “You, my dear friend, are a perfect example of what an alpha should be like!” The omega mumbled, while he began to stuff himself full of the delicious food that had been given to him.

“Careful Stilinski, or Peter will become insufferable. He holds your own words against you.” Cora showed up and planted herself on the carpet in front of the couch with a can of soda in her hand. Stiles made grabby hands at the coke, but the girl scoffed at him.

Ugh, Cora was so cold and heartless.

Before Stiles could complain a cold can of Dr. Pepper was put in his hand from Peter, who was opening his own can of coke while Stiles stared at him speechless.

The omega blinked a few times, then he began to grin so wide that his cheeks hurt.

“I don’t even care.” He mumbled softly and then nudged Peter softly. “Thank you, Peter.” His voice was soft and honest and his heart fluttered in his chest at the thought of an alpha providing for him.

The man smiled at him with a pleased grin. “You’re welcome.” Peter sounded a little bit hoarse and strained, but Stiles couldn’t imagine what could’ve effected the alpha to cause the raw tone of his words.

Well, omegas could’ve that kind of effect on alphas. Especially when an omega thanked an alpha for something that was an alpha’s nature, such as pleasing an omega.

“No seriously, thank you. You’re great.” He repeated and kissed Peter’s cheek quickly, before eating his food as concentrated as he could, so he wouldn’t notice anything around him. He didn’t miss the way Peter’s fork slipped out of the man’s hand and fell on the ground with a loud clattering noise, nor the way Cora started to crack up and almost chocked on her food in the process.

His cheeks heated up with a dark blush and he kept his head down on his food until he was sure that his face was pale again.

And until Isaac had finally stopped laughing.

“Why is Stiles so red? Are you alright bro?” Of course Scott had to be caring and concerned.

“I’m fine Scotty.” He mumbled resigned to his terrible fate, causing Cora- who had almost suffocated on a piece of bread- to start laughing again.

‘I hate all of them!’ Stiles thought firmly, but then he felt how Peter leaned closer to him until their arms were touching each other and the alpha was a solid warmth against Stiles’ side.

‘Well, maybe I can make an exception.’

-

The dinner itself was over quickly, mainly because werewolves were quick eaters, but afterwards everyone who wasn’t a Hale living in Beacon Hills wanted to meet Isaac, to welcome him into the family.

And that took a while.

Stiles spent his time pressed against Peter’s side, to his left now Scott after Derek and Isaac had been dragged away by some great aunt or something. Cora, Erica and Boyd had joined them and Laura, Cora’s older sister eventually joined as well. Stiles hadn’t talked to her a lot, mainly because she was a lot older than he was and had no direct connection to his circle of friends, but she talked to Peter while Stiles was caught up listening to Erica complaining about the difficulties of getting rabbit fur out of human teeth after a full moon night.

He noticed how people slowly began to leave the house as soon as the sun began to set and he nudged Peter questioningly.

“Where is everyone going?” Stiles asked curiously, when Laura left and Scott, Erica and Boyd joined Derek, who also went to the backyard.

Peter smiled and got up as well, before he offered Stiles a hand, to help him to his feet. Even though he didn’t need it, he still took it and their fingers lingered for a few seconds after he had gotten up, before they let go of each other.

“It seems as if it’s almost time. We should go outside as well.” The alpha explained, before he helped Cora up as well, who grinned broadly in excitement.

“Almost time? Almost time for what?” He asked, while they made their way to the backyard, where everyone had gathered. They went a little to the side, away from most people, and Stiles was glad. He wasn’t a fan of crowded spaces, especially if he stood in the middle of a crowd.

“Time for ‘The Chase’. The full moon will rise soon and then the wolves will begin to shift.”

„The Chase? Really?“ Stiles stared at Peter and Cora wide eyed with excitement. He knew what it was and how it was done and that today was all about it, but werewolves didn’t share much about their traditions and the origins and meanings of them, so he could be forgiven for not entirely knowing what the whole running around and catching each other was about. “So, will everyone run?”

“Yes, all wolves will run, at least all who have something worth catching. Mostly it’s their mates, who are also wolves because mating with a wolf includes being turned into one. Often siblings join when they’re younger, or other relatives like cousins. It’s a game and is supposed to teach them the ritual in a playful way.” Peter explained easily and smiled when he saw how Isaac bounced on his feet excitedly with a determined expression on the angelic face.

Stiles felt his own eyes widen. He had always been too curious for his own good and now that he had a wolf right in front of him who probably knew more about wolf traditions than most other weres he wouldn’t pass up the chance and ask every question he could possibly imagine.

“I know what it is.” The omega rolled his eyes. “But why does The Chase exist? How does it benefit Isaac and Derek?”

“It’s about earning trust and proving themselves worthy.” Peter said patiently, as if he wasn’t bothered by Stiles’ intruding questions. “It reduces a wolf to one of their most primal instincts, to hunt. Derek will give up his humanity and let his instincts take over, without any human thought left. Isaac will run as quickly as he can and be given a few minutes to get some distance between them. Then Derek will shift and his wolf will only have one thought, to hunt down Isaac. Isaac will be seen as prey. He has to trust that Derek, his mate, won’t hurt him, even if reduced to his animal side without and acting on instinct. And Derek has to prove himself worthy of this trust, he has to prove that his wolf has accepted Isaac and would never hurt him, no matter what. It also has to do with showing off hunting skills, strength and speed so Derek can prove himself of being a good provider if it wasn’t Isaac or maybe a deer that he would be hunting. It shows their devotion, their trust and their bond.”

That made Stiles speechless for a second, then he bit his lip.

“But if it’s all about Derek and Isaac, why are so many other wolves also doing it? Even though they’re already mated or don’t have a mate?”

“It’s a form of security, to ensure that nothing happens to the one being chased in case the chaser reacts negatively. In that case other wolves would step in, stop the chaser and the mating ceremony would be cancelled because they’re not truly meant for each other.” The alpha chuckled. “But it’s also great fun and a way of remembering ones first chase. It proves that the mutual trust still exists, even after years of being bound to each other, it’s a form of proclaiming their endless love. The older a wolf gets the more his self-control grows, meaning that even if participating as a chaser it would be useless because the wolf is already disciplined enough. It’s a ritual meant for young wolves since mates usually find each other early.”

“Whoa. That sounds so cool.” Stiles couldn’t help but sound a little bit wistfully. He had always imagined The Chase to be fun, but now that he knew what it really was about he wished he had a werewolf mate as well, so they could participate too. “So if you would find your mate now you wouldn’t do this ritual because there’s no use in doing it?”

Peter froze for a second and seemed genuinely surprised by the question. Stiles got that a lot, his questions could be so random that nobody ever expected him to actually ask them.

“It’s been a long time since I thought about being mated…” The wolf’s brows furrowed. “But it would depend on my hypothetical mate. If he would be a young wolf who courted me then we would participate the ritual because he would be the one proving that his wolf had accepted me and that I could trust him. If I were the one to court I would have to take over the role as Chaser so I doubt the ritual would be necessary or held, simply because my wolf is too controlled and not as driven by simple instincts as the one of a young were. I’ve a stronger connection to my animal side to the point where even the wolf thinks partly rationally instead of acting on instincts.”

Stiles wrinkled his nose a little bit. It was totally logical, but then again, too logical.

“If I were you I’d totally do it.” He then said and Peter turned his head to look at him skeptically.

“Pray tell.” The wolf asked, when the omega didn’t say anything else.

“It would be fun, wouldn’t it? For you and your mate. And it’s a great boding activity, a family thing that connects both mates closer to their relatives. Kinda like family dinner for humans.”

“Did you just compare a century old tradition with a family dinner?” Peter’s voice sounded disbelieving and for a second Stiles thought he had fucked up, especially since the alpha seemed to be very traditional when it came to wolfy traditions, but then the man started to laugh.

“Hey, don’t laugh, I’m just trying to understand this whole thing, dude. And you’re totally underestimating family dinners. My dad is the sheriff and would I bring my hypothetical mate home with me, then my dad would roast him so hard that I wouldn’t have a mate afterwards. My dad could scare every boyfriend away. Not that I would ever find a mate to bring home, but you know? Hypothetically.” Stiles knew he rambled, but he couldn’t stop and Peter, bless him, smiled softly instead of interrupting him.

“Stiles, I can promise you that you’ll bring home a mate one day. One day every alpha, beta and omega in this town will realize just what a catch you are and then I’ll have to find a stick to keep them away from you, to save your virtue and all that.” The alpha promised with a grin, but Stiles couldn’t really laugh about it. He didn’t want to bring some alpha home with him, he wanted it to be Peter who would’ve to endure John’s cop glare and afterwards still want to be with Stiles.

But he didn’t say it out loud, instead he chuckled and decided to ignore the comment and change the subject.

“So, the whole thing isn’t some kind of primal sex thing? With an alpha chasing an omega, catching him and taking him right then and there in the woods, uncaring about how unhygienic and uncomfortable the whole thing is?” He asked jokingly and maybe, just maybe he was a tiny little bit serious.

Peter stared at him for a second and then began to laugh.

“What kind of terrible literature have you been reading to get that idea?”

That made Stiles blush because he really hadn’t thought Peter would ask further questions.

“Fanfiction.” He then admitted under the piercing gaze of the wolf, who only laughed louder. “Really, really bad fanfiction. I’ve never regretted reading it more than in this moment.”

“Oh Stiles. Sometimes I don’t know whether to find you adorable or a little bit strange.” Peter grinned and Stiles heart did not speed up, no sir it didn’t.

“Go with adorable. No wait, don’t go with adorable, I’m a manly man, I’m not adorable. I’m masculinity personified, I’m so manly in so many ways that other men look not manly next to me.” Stiles protested and flailed a bit, which only seemed to amuse Peter further.

“Adorable, definitely adorable.” The alpha then said quietly and Stiles felt how his cheeks heated up. And he knew that Peter saw how hard he was blushing, not to mention the way his heart betrayed Stiles.

‘Goddamn werewolves.’ He cursed them all and especially Peter. Peter who looked so smug and cocky that it almost made Stiles roll his eyes.

Luckily they were interrupted by Laura, who had snuck up on them.

“Peter, Derek wants to talk to you real quick, you’re apparently the only one who knows what this entire chase thing is about and you know Derek. He’s probably angsting and about to freak out because he’s sure he’ll do some kind of mistake.” She said next to Stiles, who did not let out a small scream. He totally didn’t. Maybe a gasp of surprise or an intake of breath, but no yelling.

“Don’t do that!” He protested, while clutching his racing heart. He was about 90% sure that he had almost had a heart attack. “I could’ve died, my poor heart doesn’t take this shit well.”

But Laura only snorted and ruffled his hair.

“Darling, I can hear your heart and let me tell you, you won’t have to worry about heart attacks. You’re quite healthy.” She proclaimed and Stiles wasn’t entirely sure if he should be relieved that his heart was fine, skeptical because Cora messed with him quite frequently so maybe Laura was talking bullshit or creeped out because listening to people’s heartbeat? Totally creepy.

“She’s right, your heart is fine.” Peter calmed him, who had apparently noticed Stiles’ skeptical expression.

“Oh, thanks.” He blinked and sent a wide smile in Peter’s direction, who took a slightly shuddering breath and smiled back. And it was such a pretty smile.

Of course their moment had to be ruined by Laura.

“Hey! Why do you trust Peter and not me? Have you met Peter? He’s so full of bullshit!” She protested and crossed her arms over her chest. “You won’t believe how many lies he told Derek, Cora and me when we were little, just so he could have a good laugh.”

Stiles looked at Peter wide eyed, who kinda reminded him of a cat who had just caught the fattest canary there was. It was obvious that Laura wasn’t lying.

“C’mon, surely he wasn’t that bad.” Stiles decided to defend Peter’s honor, but Laura had none of that.

“When Derek was seven Peter convinced him that werewolves had to mark their territory like real wolves do. Derek then refused to use the toilet and went out in the woods every time he had to pee to mark the Hale territory… for 3 months.” Laura rolled her eyes but Stiles couldn’t help but laugh.

“Yeah, just you laugh. When Cora was 6 she had gotten a pack of candy cigarettes from her friend’s birthday party and when Peter saw the package he convinced her that she had been smoking real cigarettes and that the police would probably look for her to arrest her. She went to the police station the next day to turn herself in.”

“That’s so mean, you traumatized her!” Stiles protested and playfully slapped Peter’s arm.

“No I did not.” He protested, but was interrupted by Cora, who showed up next to Laura.

“Yes you did. You fucked me up, Uncle Peter. Should I ever have issues I’m gonna blame them on you. My future psychiatrist is going to love you.” She winked at Stiles and leaned against his shoulder.

“It was funny though…” Laura grinned a little bit, which obviously displeased her younger sister.

“You’re one to talk.” Cora leaned closer to Stiles. “When Laura was 7 or 8 Peter convinced her that, if she wouldn’t stop stealing from his ‘secret’ stash of sweets, then he would call a witch and Laura would have a permanent wolf tail. She was terrified.” 

Laura grumbled but said nothing, while Stiles continued to laugh.

“You were such an asshole!” He accused Peter, who simply shrugged.

“And I still am, and now let me find my nephew before he starts freaking out too much.” The alpha sent him a wink before making his way over to Derek, who stood all the way across the backyard near the forest and looked like he was about to have a mental breakdown.

“He really is an asshole though.” Cora noted and Laura nodded.

“Of course he is, but he was a pretty awesome uncle. And still is… And the older we get the funnier it is. Especially when we start to turn the whole thing around mess with him. Revenge is so sweet.”

“When he played with Grace he seemed very nice though and not like an asshole at all.” Stiles mentioned and smiled at the memory, while a warm feeling spread in his stomach. Luckily he didn’t give off any pheromones that Laura and Cora would smell.

“He’s a softy deep down. And while he is an asshole he isn’t a mean one and would never do anything that could actually harm any of us. He’s very protective actually. During kindergarten time Derek got bullied a lot from a bunch of idiots who thought he was too weak as an alpha. Derek was always so gentle and careful, quiet and patient and followed every command a teacher gave. They thought alphas were supposed to be rebellious or some shit. Stupid kids, you know? Peter had always had a special spot for Derek, god only knows why, so when he heard about it he freaked out. We still don’t really know what he did, but the next day those idiots apologized to Derek almost in tears and begged him to never send his scary alpha uncle over again. After that they didn’t even dare to look at Derek.” Laura mumbled quietly and Stiles couldn’t help but smile.

He could so easily picture Peter being great with kids and god did he want to see Peter being gentle with their kids. He wanted to see what kind of dad Peter would be. Probably the kind that could never say no and would buy his kids everything they wanted until they were spoiled rotten. And there would be dad jokes… so many dad jokes. And he would probably be overly protective and would try to be ‘cool’ and ‘hip’, just to embarrass his children. Potential boyfriends and/or girlfriends would probably be scared shitless.

Stiles looked over to Peter and saw how Derek had taken off his shirt and was about to open his pants, so he could shift into his wolf form. Nudity was something normal for weres and no big deal. Stiles tried to get used to it, but seeing people who could easily pass as supermodels naked caused his body issues to grow, his self-esteem to sink and his eyes to wander to places where he shouldn’t look. Or he got all tense from trying to avoid looking at anything that he wouldn’t normally get to see.

But it wasn’t Derek’s hot bod that caught his attention, even though the wolf certainly was appealing. Especially with those abs…and bulging biceps… and the happy trail… and that bulge in his briefs which were… jupp they were gone now and there was nothing to hide Derek’s dick.

Stiles would never be able to look his friend in the eyes again. Well, eventually he would but not for the next few days… or weeks.

Anyways, what really had managed to get all his attention and captured his eyes was the way Peter looked in the silver moonlight. Almost like something out of a movie and Stiles was almost convinced that the alpha had rehearsed for this kind of situation, so he could look as good as possible, if it weren’t for the fact that Peter always looked perfect, no matter the situation.

Stiles would hate him for that but it turned him on too much to feel any negative emotion. Damn him.

Peter looked so handsome in the white shirt he wore in combination with the dark pants and expensive shoes. He didn’t even wear anything special and still… he could probably model for vogue with that shit. Peter would look good in Walmart clothes…

But it wasn’t the way he looked that caused Stiles to give off a powerful wave of omega pheromones, no. It was the way Peter looked at Derek. He seemed so proud of his nephew, so happy for him, like a father would look at his son and it made everything inside Stiles ache with want.

Want for… he didn’t even know. He simply wanted Peter, in any possible way.

Sadly his cloud of pheromones didn’t went undetected.

Laura’s head snapped towards him so fast that he feared she would get whiplash. Her eyes were burning bright red and Cora shot Stiles a knowing look.

“Damn Stilinski, easy on the pheromones there, even I can smell them and I’m a female alpha.” She leaned unconsciously closer and it took her a second to realize that she automatically drifted towards Stiles.

“Why do you…” She followed his gaze towards where he had stared for the past 20 seconds or so and her eyes widened, before she looked unimpressed. “Really?” She sounded bored. “Derek? I get that the whole mysterious bad boy thing works for him even though he should slow down on the leather thing before everyone thinks he’s into some really kinky BDSM shit, but really? You disappoint me Stilinski.”

Stiles was speechless for a moment and when his brain came back on he hesitated. Should he correct her and would it make things better or should he simply go with it? Cora took that decision away from him because she snorted in amusement.

“Laura it’s not Derek he’s staring at.” She corrected her sister smugly and Stiles was too mortified to even react, when he saw how Laura’s mouth fell open and gaze jumped form Peter to Stiles and back again.

“What?!” Her voice was too loud and too high, so Stiles quickly tried to shush her but it was hopeless, she didn’t even care. “You…Really? You…Uncle Peter?!”

“Laura!” He protested to prevent others from noticing just what they were talking about. Damn werewolf hearing.

“I’m surrounded by idiots.” Cora sighed and pinched her sister’s arm. “Of course it’s Peter. Are you totally dense? Didn’t you notice how Uncle Peter always hangs out with Stiles when he’s here? And that the first thing Peter did when he arrived was to go over to Stiles’ house? Not to mention the whole scent marking thing and how Peter got him food today.”

Laura seemed to be shocked.

“You scent mark each other?” She asked disbelieving even though her nose was probably answering the question well enough.

“Could we stop talking about it now? It doesn’t…it doesn’t mean anything?” Stiles murmured quietly and crossed his arms over his chest in a defensive motion. He had a hard time acknowledging whatever was happening between Peter and him himself so he didn’t really need a nosey Hale snooping into it.

Well, another nosy Hale because Cora did plenty of snooping herself.

“Stiles-“Luckily they were interrupted by some kind of signal that everybody seemed to notice except Stiles.

All wolves perked up before they began to strip quickly.

‘Dear God.’ The omega thought and tried to look away, but almost all around him were people losing their clothes and he got more and more uncomfortable, especially when he saw just how good every Hale looked.

Yes, he preferred males, but that didn’t mean that he was blind. Nobody would ever miss just how attractive the women of the Hale family were.

“Don’t be nervous Stiles, it’s just nudity, not the foreplay to some kind of orgy.” Cora laughed before she turned her back towards him. “Now, would you be so kind?” She asked, obviously teasing him and Stiles didn’t really know what to do.

“What?” He sounded so confused that he cringed at his voice himself. God, he behaved like an idiot.

“My bra, would you open it?” Cora shot him a charming smile but underneath the façade it was the smile of a demon. Stiles was 90% sure Cora was the spawn of Satan.

“Oh.” Stiles stared at her back another second, before he hastily tried to undo the clasp of her bra. It was a little more complicated than it looked like and Stiles had zero experience so he fiddled around with it uselessly for a few seconds before he finally managed to do so.

“Thank you, sweetheart.” Cora laughed and dropped the piece of black lace on the ground carelessly, before she turned around and pressed a wet kiss on Stiles’ cheek. She knew exactly to tease him and if he’d be lying if he said that he wouldn’t tease her right back as soon as he got the chance. Their friendship was a curse.

His smile probably looked like a grimace but she didn’t seemed to be too bothered by it, because the next second she had also removed her last bit of underwear and stood naked in the moonlight. It barely took a second before her body began to shift and within the blink of an eye her human form was replaced by a wolf larger than the actual animal, but more fragile.

She had dark fur on her back but it turned a little grey towards her stomach and her head and then into a soft white. Her golden eyes fitted perfectly with the picture and Stiles had a hard time to not reach out and pet her because damn, that fur looked soft.

Cora huffed and if she could she probably would’ve rolled her eyes at him, before she nipped at his leg and then took off with a waggling tail when Stiles made a noise of protest.

“Hey, those pants were new! And now I’ve got wolf slobber on them, thanks a lot, Cora.” He yelled after her, but all he got was a huffed out laughter that sounded ways too strange for his liking.

She ran over to where Peter and Derek stood, the later of them had also changed into a black wolf and was a larger than Cora and not as fragile. Stiles could see the muscles moving underneath the black fur and it really did fit Derek, who really was a wall of muscles in his human form.

Peter hadn’t shifted, he was along with Stiles and Laura the only one left in their human form, everybody else was walking around on four paws.

There were mostly grown up wolves, but Peter, Derek and Cora were surrounded by a group of cubs, who had taken great fun in pulling at Peter’s shoelaces and trying to climb on Derek’s back. Stiles saw how Peter laughed and grabbed the cub playing with his shoes to haul him or her up into his arms.

The alpha nuzzled the little wolf gently and played with the hazelnut colored fur, while the cub squirmed in his arms. Eventually a small tongue licked Peter’s cheek and when the man tried to wipe away the wolf slobber, the child used the chance to nip at his nose before jumping out of his reach to join the other cubs again.

Peter simply laughed it off while removing the wetness on his face and Stiles felt as if he would go into heat any second now.

‘I’m so fucked.’ He groaned internally and then stilled. ‘Well, not yet…’ Normally he would’ve given himself a pat on the shoulder for the quick comeback, but right now he didn’t really appreciate his brain thinking so fast.

His train of thought was interrupted by a howl and then next thing he knew was how Derek took off into the woods, like a shark that had smelled blood. Immediately the other wolves started to move as well. Those laying or sitting on the ground jumped to their feet and began to run as well and those already standing urged the others to finally move. There was a lot of playful growling and yipping, a few of the cubs chased each other and tumbled over their own paws repeatedly and got a nose full of dirt every time they hit the ground, and many adults danced around each other before also taking off into the woods, until only one wolf and the cubs were left over.

The large wolf with a sand colored fur and alpha red eyes circled the group of cubs, scented each of them before making a low barking sound and then trotted easily towards the forest. The litter of cubs followed him quickly, some toppling all over themselves, other’s determinately sniffing the ground and two or three actually formed a line and followed the adult wolf in a strangely organized way.

It reminded Stiles of a family of ducks and he laughed at the mental image. God his brain was weird.

He didn’t notice how Peter joined them again because he was so absorbed in the entire process that he startled when the two Hales began to talk next to him. They must’ve noticed the skip in his heartbeat because they grinned, but luckily they didn’t tease him.

“So, aren’t you two going to run around and sniff the ground? Maybe mark some territory?” Stiles asked to cover up that they managed to almost make him pee his pants again. He shuddered a little bit. Now that the sun was gone it was getting colder rapidly and he regretted his choice to only wear a shirt without any kind of plaid.

“I think I’m fine with keeping you company.” Peter smiled at Stiles, before his brows furrowed. “Are you cold?” He then asked and sounded a little worried.

“Only a little bit, sometimes I wish I had werewolf heating as well.” He laughed, but Peter wasn’t smiling. Instead the alpha held a soft looking, red hoodie towards him. Stiles looked at it in surprise but then took it.

“Here, can’t risk you getting a cold.” Peter said without further explanation and Stiles heart was apparently trying to beat out of his chest. At least the speed of it hinted that it wanted to.

He slipped into the jacket and shivered at how soft it was. And it smelled like Peter even though it was Stiles’ size and so ways too small for the muscular alpha.

“Thank you.” Stiles said again and cuddled himself into the soft fabric. “Where did you get it?”

“I needed to grab something from my car and apparently had forgotten it in there before. I thought you could be cold and I didn’t want to be the one responsible if you’d get a cold.” He saw Peter smile, but Laura began to giggled, as if she knew something Stiles didn’t and because of her wolfy senses she probably did.

Peter’s jaw clenched. “I think you should go and have some fun, Laura.” Something about the tone of his voice confused Stiles.

Peter sounded as if he wanted Laura to leave them alone, to give them privacy. And if Laura would leave then it would just be Stiles and Peter and… He loved being alone with the alpha so he was all for Laura joining the other wolves.

But the girl had other plans.

“I don’t know Peter, I just discovered how much fun it is to hang out with Stiles. I think I’m gonna stay right where I am. Wouldn’t want you two to get bored now.” She put an arm around his shoulder and pulled him closer to her while she smiled in a way that could only be described as wolf-ish and Stiles would lie if he said that it didn’t make him shudder.

Peter on the other hand only arched an eyebrow, as if daring her to say more.

“Man, and I was so excited to finally see you in your wolf form.” Stiles pulled himself out of Laura’s tight grip and decided to change the subject and pouted at Peter, who blinked in surprise.

“You want to see me shift?” He asked, but he didn’t sound opposed to it, so the omega nodded.

“Of course. You can’t take me along for this ritual and then stay human and refuse to let me see your wolf.” Stiles rested his case, his arguments were unbeatable.

Peter seemed to agree, because he quickly pulled his shirt off and then unbuttoned his pants and-

Oh shit, werewolves could smell emotions and body reactions and Stiles willed himself to not smell like arousal right now. He hoped that he wouldn’t give off another wave of powerful omega pheromones, but who was he kidding, he was probably already swimming in them.

Peter was fucking built.

Stiles had never seen him shirtless before but he so wouldn’t be opposed to seeing those abs again… and that chest. Peter had a wonderful chest, a chest that would probably make Michelangelo’s David jealous and Michelangelo himself weep with joy. That chest deserved to be sculptured! Just so the following generations would get a chance to appreciate Peter’s good looks.

Peter’s skin was tanned and looked baby smooth, his pecks were well trained and shoulders broad, there was a hint of chest hair, followed by hairless abs and then a furry happy trail leading down from the man’s navel to his jeans which were now… gone, they were gone and replaced by tight boxers…which were also gone…

Stiles would never admit that he did it, but he peeked, just a little peek, an unnoticeable one.

Peter Hale’s dick was porn worthy. It was beautiful and Stiles would probably worship it, should he ever get the chance of actually becoming close with it. Peter was uncut, thick and long, just on the right side of pleasurable and slightly edging at the kind of size that could be considered scary, and damn it made Stiles’ mouth water.

Then he realized just what he was doing and quickly averted his eyes to stare at his sneakers instead of a dick. God, it sounded even weirder than it actually was. His nervousness made him fiddle with the sleeves of the warm zip up hoodie.

“Did you want to see me shift now or are your shoes more interesting?” Peter teased and that got Stiles back on track… luckily before he could embarrass himself further.

“Why Peter, are you jealous that these beautiful, wonderful, amazing shoes have my undivided attention instead of you?” Stiles retorted because he somehow felt as if he had to defend his shoes. They were very comfortable after all and his toes screamed in fear when he looked at the leather shoes Peter sometimes wore.

“Of course, your attention is a privilege I’m not willing to share, especially not with a pair of sneakers.” The alpha said, before he rolled his shoulder and popped his neck. Then he stretched his arms out over his head and Stiles was about to make another snorty comment about Peter’s age in connection with physical fitness, but the words died on his tongue when he saw how the man shifted.

Bones shifted, muscles rearranged themselves, Peter’s spine twisted visibly, his face grew longer, hair began to sprout and then claws dug into the earth.

Peter’s form had been replaced by a magnificent wolf and Stiles was speechless for a second.

The wolf towering in front of him was huge and beautiful.

Peter had black fur and glowing red eyes, his long muzzle displayed a row of dangerously long, white teeth and his paws held powerful long claws. But even though he appeared to be dangerous at the first glance, Stiles wasn’t afraid.

Maybe it was because of the long tail that was swaying back and forth, like an overgrown puppy, or the way Peter nosed along Stiles’ shirt and the zip up hoodie and then sneezed. Whatever it was, it made it impossible to feel fear and really, Stiles was simply excited.

“Whoa dude! You’re so big!” He exclaimed excitedly when he noticed that Peter could easily put his head on Stiles shoulder and rest it there. He wasn’t taller than Stiles in this form, but if he would stretch his wolf neck a little bit they would be nose to nose. “You’re like one of these wolves from this Japanese movie…”

“Princess Mononoke?” Laura supplied helpfully and Stiles beamed.

“Yes! That one. I loved the movie when I was younger!” The omega’s fingers itched with the want to touch Peter’s fur, but he restrained himself, even though it was hard. A second later Peter ended his suffering by butting his head against Stiles’ hands until he got on with the program and caressed the wolf’s fur gently. “Damn, if you’d been a white wolf we could’ve totally done some kind of roleplaying shit. I could’ve dressed up as Mononoke and then ridden you.”

Laura made a choking noise, but quickly stifled it behind the back of her hand.

“So, you’d rather play Princess Mononoke as roleplay than Little Red Riding Hood? Even though you’re already wearing a red hoodie?” She asked with such a serious voice that Stiles needed a moment to realize what she was implying.

“Did my idea really sound so sexual?” He asked no one certain, but Peter as well as Laura nodded. “I hate all of you. I was having a good time here and now everything had to be turned into something dirty. I just wanted to ride Peter.” Stiles whined and this time Peter laughed along with Laura. Well, as far as a wolf could laugh.

“Oh shut up you two.” Stiles’ felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment. This was the fucking worst. “I came here because I thought I could experience this whole chase thing first hand and understand were traditions, but instead I’m forced to undress one of my friends and everybody is making fun of me.”

Peter, who had stood in front of Stiles and enjoyed the petting he got, whined and began to circle Stiles as well as Laura, before sniffing the ground and air.

The human was about to ask just what was wrong, when Peter came up behind him and nudged him a few steps forward with his big head.

Stiles couldn’t do anything but stumble around a bit because damn that wolf was strong, but he didn’t really understand what Peter wanted him to do. All the wolf did was herd him towards the trees and huff exasperatedly at him. Stiles was sure that if he could Peter would definitely roll his eyes so hard that they would fall out of his skull.

No more Hale eye rolls for the alpha then, too bad.

“He wants you to start running.” Laura explained, just when Stiles was about to ask what he was supposed to do.

“Run? Like, through the woods?” The omega couldn’t hide his excitement because he beamed and his voice got a little higher. “And you’re gonna chase me?”

Peter nodded and nudged him again with a playful glint in his eyes.

‘Why the fuck not.’ Stiles thought, before he made sure that his shoes were tied properly and looked at both Hales.

“I’m getting a head start of at least three minutes and if I break my ankle or leg then you’ll have to explain it to my dad.” And with that he took off.

He didn’t notice the way Laura grinned broadly or how Peter wiggled his tail subconsciously with excitement. 

Chapter Text

Stiles‘ heart was pounding in his ears, his lungs were rasping and his calves were starting to burn from the muscle exhaustion, but he didn’t stop running.

He ran as fast as he could, faster than he had ever run before.

And it was fucking amazing.

There was adrenalin pumping through his veins and his stomach was fluttering with excitement, while he tried to avoid running into trees or stumbling over roots on the forest ground. He was glad that The Chase was traditionally held on a full moon night so the humans could see where they were running without having to stumble around helplessly.

The moon was spending just enough light for him to see his surroundings. He couldn’t exactly decipher colors, everything looked black and purple, but he was able to identify things.

Stiles didn’t know how long he had been running, but he was fairly certain it had been a lot more than three minutes, meaning he was already being chased.

He heard a howl close to him and stumbled over a tree root, before he caught himself again and continued to run. A few seconds later another howl from the same wolf, this time further away.

The omega knew it wasn’t Peter’s wolf simply because the man was a smart hunter and wouldn’t give himself away by howling. He would attack silently, like the perfect predator he was.

But Stiles wasn’t stupid.

He knew that Peter’s biggest advantage was his nose and while Stiles couldn’t avoid leaving behind a scent trail, he was able to find small ways of trying to minimize the scent he left behind.

He tried to avoid touching branches or bushes while he ran and made sure to run with the little wind that was blowing instead of against it. He couldn’t do much else except run as fast as possible to get a good distance between them.

But Stiles knew that he couldn’t outrun a werewolf, especially not a hunter as experienced as Peter. Peter had said that he was so in control of his wolf that the animal had begun to think rationally rather than on instinct meaning that he had Peter’s intelligence and strategic thinking.

Really, the thing was so unfair. Stiles deserved at least three hours of a head start and a motorbike so he could escape faster.

He snickered at that thought, but quickly stopped when he remembered that Peter could probably hear him easily.

Another few minutes passed with Stiles running as quickly as he could, before his legs gave up. His sides hurt, his lungs burned, his legs ached from the effort, he could hardly breathe and the loud pounding of his heart made it almost impossible to hear anything around him.

“Fuck.” He cursed quietly while trying to catch his breath. Since he had quit lacrosse he was so out of shape that it would make Coach Finstock cry. But then again, he had been running for his life here and that was a lot faster than running across the lacrosse field. Stiles was 80% sure that he had broken a couple of world records. Well, human world records, he would never be able to break a wolfy world record.

His heart slowed down a little bit and the breathing became easier so he decided to continue running.

The ache in his legs had slightly subsided and his sides weren’t burning as much as before anymore, so he picked up the pace a little bit more. He jumped over a fallen over tree, almost ran into another one and cursed quietly when he hit his leg against a stump he hadn’t been able to see.

The forest began to clear a little bit to a small clearing with long grass and Stiles was grateful for the open space since there was nothing he was able to run into, but just when he had reached the middle, he realized how stupid it was to cross a clearing while being chased.

There was no way to hide himself here, no way to-

He had no time to finish that thought because the next second he was hit by something warm and solid and thrown on the ground. Stiles squeaked and was prepared for the pain of the fall, but it never came. He tumbled over but hit the soft grass almost gently. Peter had turned them around so that he took the force of the fall instead of Stiles.

Stiles was slightly dazed from the sudden fall and needed a second to get his brain back on track. It gave Peter enough time to get on his legs again and pin the omega down. Stiles was laying on his back, wide eyed and not daring to move.

The wolf above him stared at him with red eyes, before growling in a soft but at the same time demanding way. It was clear that the animal wanted to prove that Stiles wasn’t in charge and establish who the dominant one was.

Stiles swallowed heavily and before he could think about what he should be doing, he tilted his head to the side, bearing the pale expanse of his neck to the alpha. It was pure instinct and he hoped that he did the right thing.

The wolf growled again and lunged toward Stiles’ neck while baring sharp, white teeth.

The reaction of a normal person would probably be to scream or struggle and be afraid, but Stiles felt none of that. Instead he tilted his head even more and closed his eyes, while holding his breath.

He noticed how the wolf stilled for half a second, then sharp teeth clamped around his neck. They didn’t break his skin and it didn’t hurt, but they were a firm pressure that reminded him that he couldn’t match the wolf’s strength and shouldn’t struggle.

Stiles took a shuddering breath and relaxed, letting the alpha hold him down.

Peter purred happily and then the teeth were gone and replaced by a warm, wet tongue licking at the spot where they had previously clamped on down.

“Peter, that tickles.” Stiles would forever deny that he squealed those words, but he did. He totally squealed. “Peter!”

But the alpha didn’t really seem to care, not stopping with the damn licking even when Stiles was squirming underneath him.

“Peter!” Stiles protested while he tried to push the wolf’s muzzle away and glared at Peter as broody as he could. Derek would probably laugh at his poor attempt of looking stern, but Stiles wasn’t a Hale, he wasn’t born with the talent of looking like a serial killer.

Peter stopped for a second and stared at him curiously with alpha red eyes, then the wolf bend down again and licked an especially slimy, wet lick across Stiles’ face, leaving behind a trail of rapidly cooling saliva.

“Ew, gross.” Stiles wiped the wetness away with the sleeve of the red hoody he wore, but froze when he realized what he was doing. “Oh shit, sorry. I made your jacket dirty with spit. Well and dirt because you made me fall on the ground but that was your fault. Technically this is your fault as well so-“ He was interrupted by another lick of the rough tongue right across his mouth, over his nose and even touching the line of his hair. He didn’t care about wiping it off with the red sleeve this time. “Ewww, Peter!”

Peter huffed out something similar to a laugh, before he went back to the very important task of covering Stiles entirely in his wolf saliva and scent.

He nosed at Stiles’ hair, licked over his neck and then sniffed the collar of the t-shirt he wore.

“Sorry buddy, I’m so not going to strip just because you wanna slobber all over me.” The omega grinned which made Peter look at him with a deadpan expression. It was weird for a wolf to have so many expressions and Stiles was sure he wouldn’t get used to it.

Then Peter simply used the hem of Stiles’ shirt to get to the hidden skin underneath the fabric.

“Peter!” Stiles squealed, but the wolf didn’t really care. Instead his cold, wet nose sniffed his stomach and sharp teeth caught on the rim of his belly button. “Hey! Careful with the goods, buddy.” He protested, but his voice sounded slightly breathless.

The wolf pulled out from under his shirt and blinked at Stiles before diving right back in, continuing to nose at Stiles’ skin. There were a few licks and Stiles didn’t really mind the tickling sensation, at least not until the rough tongue came dangerously close to his left nipple.

“Oh no, this is definitely not where this is going.” Stiles protested and pushed Peter’s head away. “First, you haven’t even wined and dined me yet and second, I’m not letting a wolf lick my nipples in the middle of the woods!” He said with a stern voice and tried to look as serious as he could witch twigs, leaves and grass in his hair.

Peter stared back for a few seconds, before the wolf sneezed and shook his fur. Then he simply flopped down, laying himself across Stiles’ and rested his head on Stiles’ chest, right above his heart, before closing his eyes.

“You look really scary and hunt better than any real wolf, but deep down you’re just a big puppy, aren’t you?” He asked teasingly, but his voice sounded fond and he couldn’t stop himself from reaching out and burying his cold fingers in Peter’s thick, soft fur.

Peter huffed at his words and teasingly nipped at his shirt, but other than that he simply wiggled closer to Stiles and tilted his head so the omega could scratch behind his floppy ears.

“Yeah, yeah, big bad wolf my ass.” Stiles snorted with a smile on his lips. “I take that this means your wolf likes me, which is good, very good. But I expected you to catch me faster. This wasn’t really all that impressive, oh alpha mine.”

The wolf opened one eye unimpressed before closing it again. It was equally as affective as the Hale eye roll was.

“I was kidding, no need for you to eat me.” He laughed and continued to scratch Peter gently. When he hit a spot right underneath the wolf’s left ear he heard a loud thumping noise and felt how the wolf’s body pressed even tighter against him.

It took Stiles a second to realize that Peter was wiggling his tail so much that it hit the ground repeatedly, while arching into the touch.

“So this is your weak spot, you big puppy?” He asked and took great care to rub the spot in just the right way, turning the big, bad alpha to putty in his hands. Peter didn’t even bother glaring at him, all he did was craw even closer and pant in delight.

Something warm spread in Stiles’ chest when he realized that this was a part of Peter that the alpha probably kept hidden from most other people.

Stiles had heard a lot about Peter, mainly about his personality and basically almost everyone had told him that Peter was an asshole. And yes, Peter really was one, but Stiles had experienced how caring Peter could be, how gentle and… genuinely nice.

It made the omega feel special that Peter had no problem showing this hidden part of himself around Stiles. In combination with the usual snark and sass of course, but Peter wouldn’t be Peter without it.

“So, you know how much I love researching and all that, and since we’re doing a little bit of chasing ourselves you normally need to catch me something to show that you can be a good provider, you know?” He began to ramble because now nobody could stop him. Well, Peter never stopped him anyway. “And I know you’ve gotten me food and something to drink this evening, but that isn’t quite hunting, is it? And you took a pretty long time catching me, are you sure you’re a good hunter? You said you were the best of your family but right now it’s kinda hard to believe.” Stiles grinned when Peter grumbled unhappily.

“Calm down wolfy, I wouldn’t want you to kill some poor wood animal anyways. I love animals ways too much and if you’d show up with a dead Bambi or Bambi’s mom I would be so mad at you. And I can hold grudges better than anybody else.” Now that Stiles had started rambling there was no stopping him. “There’s this guy in my school, Jackson, and we played together often because our parents knew each other and were best friends before I met Scotty. We had this awesome friendship until my fourth birthday. Then he spilled the soap bubble water my dad had gotten me and ever since there’s war between us. I still haven’t forgiven him!”

Peter opened his eyes again and stared at him.

“I don’t even know what I wanted to say.” Stiles furrowed his brows. He sometimes lost track of what exactly he had wanted to say. “Oh, now I remember. You haven’t displayed your hunting skills yet. I bet Derek has already caught something for Isaac. A deer? Do you think he caught him a buck? Or a mountain lion? I guess Derek could easily take down a mountain lion, he’s this whole bulky alpha thing going and could probably pick a whole deer up with one hand and balance Isaac on top of it as well.”

The wolf laying on his chest growled unhappily and stared at him with wide, red eyes. It was heartbreaking, really.

“Don’t worry, you’re a thousand times better than Derek. Even though I shouldn’t have boosted your ego like that…” Stiles sighed, but began to scratch Peter behind the ears again while getting comfortable on the soft grass underneath him.

The sky above him was clear and he was able to see dozens of stars and in the middle of it all the bright full moon. He was so caught up in beauty of it, that it took him a while to notice the slow rise of glowing spots around them.

It looked like there were small stars flying around on the clearing, chasing each other and vanishing into the woods and for a moment Stiles was pretty sure they had to be real stars or at least fairies.

But then he realized that they were hundreds of glow worms who were brightening up the night with their own little light.

“Peter.” Stiles whispered in awe and nudged the wolf, who had closed his eyes at some point.

With an impatient huff the animal opened them again right when one of the little light dots sat down on the slightly damp wolf nose. The image of a squinting wolf would be forever burned into Stiles’ memory and he wouldn’t have it any other way since it was one of the funniest things he had ever seen.

He laughed loudly while Peter shook the little bug off and snapped at it halfheartedly but with no real attempt at harming the insect.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” The omega asked while sitting up so he could get a better look at his surroundings.

Peter had sat up as well and was taking in the scene equally awed.

It really was beautiful and Stiles wouldn’t want anyone else beside him than Peter in this moment. He grinned when a glow worm landed on his fingers and heard Peter huff out what had to be a chuckle when another one sat down on his upturned nose.

Two more landed in his hair but Stiles didn’t mind as long as it amused the alpha.

But Stiles wasn’t the only one who attracted the glow worms, many sat down on Peter’s soft fur, looking like stars against the darkness of it. Peter was immediately on his paws, shaking them off and chasing after them playfully. He never actually caught one between his sharp fangs, but if he had wanted to he probably could’ve done so easily.

Stiles watched the whole thing with a content smile on his face.

This, this moment could only be called perfect. It was one of these moments that he wanted to save somehow so he could relive it again and again and get this feeling of being utterly content with everything again.

The atmosphere was so peaceful, so relaxed; almost dreamish and for a second he felt as if he was part of some kind of fairy tale.

He didn’t know how long he sat on the ground and watched Peter chase after the small insects, but it could’ve been hours easily. There was something about seeing the otherwise so composed, elegant and serious alpha run around like an excited puppy that made Stiles’ insides melt and his heart flutter.

At some point he began to shiver from the dropping temperatures of the night and pulled the red hoodie tighter around him.

Peter seemed to notice because he stopped in his tracts and turned towards Stiles, staring at him with huge eyes. Then the wolf quickly made his way over to the omega and draped himself over the shivering body.

“Damn you’re warm.” Stiles grinned and wiggled around a little until he found a comfortable way to lay on the soft grass with a huge living wolf blanket draped over him, giving off a delicious kind of heat.

With the warmth comforting him and the adrenalin of him running leaving his bloodstream, his eyelids quickly became heavy and he couldn’t help but let them drop. He was so comfortable right now that he was only seconds away from falling asleep.

Peter seemed to notice because he wiggled out of Stiles’ tight grip and got up on his paws.

Stiles blinked up at him confused and slightly pouting because the generous heat had been taken away, but the wolf simply closed his teeth carefully around the fabric of the hoodie and tugged on it.

He didn’t stop tugging and pulling until the human caught up with the plan and got up on his feet.

“Alright, alright.” Stiles yawned and stood up, before trying to shake off the leaves and grass that were sticking to his hoodie and jeans. “I’m up.”  He sighed and petted Peter’s head sleepily, who simply huffed at that, before leading Stiles towards the woods again, probably in the direction they came from.

And while Stiles was able to barely keep his balance while being fully awake, he was hopelessly lost when he was tired so while Peter gracefully trotted through the trees Stiles stumbled over every single tree root there possibly was, no matter how small, and almost ran into a tree multiple times.

Peter suddenly stopped right in front of him and before he could help himself Stiles stumbled right into him.

“Sorry, I’m a helpless klutz when I’m tired.” He mumbled and rook a step back so he wasn’t in danger of falling on Peter once he stumbled over the next tree root.

The wolf stared at him with a look that was partly amused and partly exasperated before he lowered himself a little and nudged Stiles with his long muzzle.

The human stared at the alpha with a dumbfounded expression, not really knowing what Peter wanted him to do.

“What?”

Peter huffed again and lowered his back even more, until he was barely the high of Stiles’ hips.

“Do you…Am I supposed to…ride you?” Stiles asked disbelieving but at the same time excitement bubbled up inside him. Hell yeah, he would never miss the opportunity to become a real life Princess Mononoke!

It took him a few seconds until he had figured out how to get on Peter’s back the easiest way because it was everything but easy to climb on the back of a giant wolf, but eventually he managed and was sat safely right behind Peter’s shoulders.

He gripped the long, black fur tight when the alpha stood straight up again and giggled a little breathless when he realized just how big Peter really was. Even if he would stretch his legs as much as he could he would by far not be able to reach the ground.

Peter didn’t seem bothered by the extra weight, instead he trotted through the darkness easily not much than he did before he had a human sitting on his back.

Stiles didn’t know how far they were from the Hale house, but it took them quite some time until the trees parted and by the time he saw warm lights from windows he was stretched over Peter’s back with his cheek resting almost between the wolf’s large ears.

He had his arms hug Peter’s neck for support because his legs had slumped at one point, but even they were slowly losing their strength as the sleepiness overran his body.

He was asleep by the time they reached the backyard.

-

Peter felt how the boy sitting on his back began to slump down and eventually lost his grip. The tight grip of Stiles’ fingers in his fur loosened up and eventually they let go of it completely. He heard how the fast heartbeat slowed down and evened out, until he was 90% sure Stiles had fallen asleep.

The even breathing supported his theory.

His ears perked up when he realized that they were only a few meters away from the Hale house and by the noise of it they were amongst the earliest back home. He could hear the pups still in wolf form playing in one of the children’s rooms, a few of them already asleep and his slightly older brother watching TV, who had taken over the task of watching the pups during The Chase and the rest of the night.

There were a few wolves in the area, but most of them ran aimlessly around or further into the woods except for Cora, who seemed to head back to her home as well.

Peter was glad that Talia was still out and he was equally glad Laura was gone as well because right now he wouldn’t have the bite to deal with his sister and her oldest offspring. Laura was too similar to Talia for Peter’s taste.

In their view the world was only black and white, good and bad with nothing in between. Peter lived in a world with many shades of grey, some lighter, some darker. There were no hard edges, no noticeable contrasts and while it didn’t solve every moral dilemma easily it helped him to think things more through.

He had never viewed the world as good or bad, maybe if he had then Talia would’ve no trouble accepting him as her brother.

Peter realized how he growled involuntarily at the thought of his sister’s idiotic morals. Luckily Stiles was sound asleep on his back and didn’t notice the slip up that Peter had.

The alpha shook his head slightly to get rid of the bothersome thoughts and trotted up the few stairs to the terrace, before slipping inside through the open door. He ignored the amused look his brother shot him from the couch and instead navigated himself through the house, up the stairs and all the way to the last guestroom, where Stiles was least likely to be disturbed.

For a moment he stood in front of the large bed, not entirely sure how he would manage to get Stiles on it without disturbing the sleeping omega, then he snorted because he was by far taller than the bed and could easily let Stiles slide off his back and onto the covers.

He was about to tug the blanket away from underneath Stiles to cover him with it, when he noticed the sound of little paws on the hardwood floor coming closer. With a sigh he turned around and spotted one of the cubs wandering around the room, looking especially interested in Stiles.

Peter growled warningly, before he huffed exasperated and clamped his fangs carefully around the scruff at the cub’s neck before lifting the little one up and carrying it out of the guestroom and back to the other cubs.

They seemed ecstatic when they saw him and immediately tried to climb onto his back and even though he growled at them they didn’t seem to care. If anything it only motivated them.

Eventually he flashed his red eyes at them so they would let him leave so he could go back and take care of his omega…of Stiles.

He returned to the occupied guestroom and cherished the way Stiles was smothered in their scent. His wolf was equally content, happy with having proven their strength and self-control and with the way Stiles had bared his neck to them.

Peter didn’t hesitate when the animal urged him to join Stiles in bed, he could always blame his wolf later, so he jumped on the mattress and stretched himself across Stiles’ body to keep the omega warm and save. He buried his muzzle close to the boy’s neck and if his tail swished from side to side happily then no one would ever have to know.

When he felt small bodies jumping on the bed and curling close to him he didn’t even huff at them, too content to be pressed close to his mate.

Peter woke up still in wolf form. It was the kind of waking up where part of his brain was still asleep and he could enjoy the few minutes of blissful haze that came along with it. He was so, so comfortable.

There was a source of warmth radiating from underneath him, he was laying on soft cotton sheets, the morning sun was shining through the windows and warmed his back in such a perfect way that he was tempted to arch himself like a cat to bathe in the moment.

But the best thing was the smell.

It smelled slightly stale, probably since he was laying on a bed in one of the guest rooms, but that didn’t matter because there was a scent surrounding Peter that he had never smelt before and it was delicious.

He felt so…homey.

Both he and his wolf felt content in a way he had never felt before. He felt save bathing in the smell of home, protection, love, mate. It reminded him of his early childhood when he had been sure that there was a rouge hunter living under his bed, trying to kill him and his family and how he would shift during the night and climb into his parent’s bed, where they would either shift as well and curl around him or hug him and tell him old fairy tales until his racing heart was beating at a normal pace again.

He had felt so save back then…so happy about being with his family.

Family. Mate. His wolf whispered and it was that, that woke Peter up.

Mate.

He blinked sleepily and his breath hitched when the first thing he saw made his knees go weak.

Stiles was still asleep and slightly snoring. His hair pointed in every possible direction, his eyes fluttered slightly but didn’t open at all, his heartbeat was slow and steady, his face was mushed into a couple of pillows and they had left imprints on his pale skin, his lips were parted and there was a tiny little bit of drool escaping from the corner of his mouth and most importantly, he had one arm thrown around Peter and his skinny fingers were holding onto his fur tightly, even in his sleep.

He probably shouldn’t look as appealing as he did, most people didn’t look too pretty sleeping, but Peter wished he could wake up to this face every day.

His wolf yipped happily and forced him to inch even closer to the sleeping omega, so he could nuzzle Stiles’ cheek and neck, to chase away the scent of the sheets that carried the smell of too many strangers and too much laundry detergent.

When he was content with the way the human smelt, he carefully wiggled out of Stiles’ tight embrace and jumped off the bed with making as little noise as possible. He managed to open the door in his full shift (thanks to the European door handles his family preferred) and trotted out of the room towards one of the bathrooms.

There he quickly shifted back to human, allowed the wolf to settle in the back of his mind happily and then proceeded to take a much needed shower, to get rid of the dirt and grass that stuck to his body. There were small twigs in his hair and a thorn stuck in his big toe that he hadn’t noticed.

Once he felt human again, tongue tasting like fresh mint toothpaste and hair smelling like werewolf nose friendly shampoo instead of the forest, he left the bathroom again and crossed the hallway to the guest room again, where he had left Stiles as well as his own luggage.

He hadn’t packed much, since he didn’t plan on staying long, and while he was as comfortable with nudity as any werewolf was, he quickly changed into fresh clothes again, to prevent the human relatives from getting flustered.

They were strangely sensitive with nudity….

Stiles was still sound asleep, snoring softly and peacefully and had already found a replacement for Peter, an unused pillow which he hugged tightly against his chest. Peter refused to be jealous of an inanimate object, he refused to, but he could admit that he wished to be in the pillows place. It felt right to curl around Stiles, to shield the human from everything that could be a threat and the chance of bathing him in Peter’s scent was appealing as well.

But Peter wasn’t a young and thoughtless pup, he knew that Stiles had to be exhausted from the night before and that the young omega would probably be starving as soon as he woke up. Peter himself felt his stomach growl and he could only imagine how Stiles felt after last night’s activities. And the omega was already lean enough, a good breakfast wouldn’t harm him in any way.

So Peter did what every good alpha would do and made his way downstairs into the kitchen, where his youngest brother was sitting and happily chewing on a piece of crispy bacon.

As soon as he saw Peter he began to grin, never a good sign when it came to the Hale family.

“Would you look at that, Peter Hale actually sleeping in for once in his life, I never thought I’d get to see the day it happened, but here I am, witnessing it and I must admit, I can hardly believe it.” Nathan grinned and wolfed down a slice of toast.

Stiles would’ve high fived him for the wolf joke.

“Shut up, Nathan.” Peter growled and hope that there was some leftovers from the breakfast he and Stiles had obviously missed. “Where is everyone anyways?” He asked then and huffed unhappily when he realized that Nathan had eaten the last remains of the huge breakfast the rest of his family had been able to enjoy.

“Most of them are at work, Cora and Laura left half an hour ago to see a movie, Derek and Isaac are god knows where and the cubs are upstairs sleeping in Cora’s room. I was left home to watch over them, like I didn’t do enough of this shit last night.” Nathan grumbled and emptied his glass of orange juice.

He was usually the one to babysit the cubs during pack activities because he had yet to find a mate and because he was the youngest. Peter was glad because usually he had been the one chosen as a babysitter, but due to his many absences at pack activities he had luckily lost his job as babysitter. He didn’t mind that at all because while he loved the cubs, they could get quite exhausting after some time.

“Don’t fret brother, it’ll only get worse. You’ve proven yourself to be a good babysitter last night, the torture has only just started, now you’re the number one to call whenever someone wants a break from their offspring.” Peter grinned satisfied and snatched some fresh bacon and eggs from the fridge as well as cheese and vegetables and grabbed a clean pan from the cabinet.

Luckily Talia always had enough food to feed an army of werewolves, so he should manage to get a proper breakfast for Stiles together.

“So does that mean I’ll have to babysit your future spawn as well? Because I don’t think I can, one version of you is enough to deal with already, imagining to have a small version of you running around gives me a headache.” Nathan snorted and Peter would’ve chocked on his own spit at those words, but he was far too elegant so he only bit his tongue hard enough to pierce it.

The metallic taste of blood vanished in seconds as well as the stinging pain as his wound healed itself.

“I fear that I can’t follow you, dear brother. There are no children planned in my near future and I think I’d know if I had knocked someone up.” He said shortly even though he knew what his brother implied. Sadly Talia was the only stupid one of his siblings, the rest was pretty smart, not as smart as Peter himself but still intelligent enough to annoy him.

“Oh really? Does that mean your pretty omega mate doesn’t want children?” The younger Hale arched one eyebrow. “He looked quite fazed when he saw you cuddling the cubs. Especially at Derek’s birthday when you played with little Grace.”

Peter gritted his teeth together while he tried to make the most perfect omelet of his entire life. It looked perfect so far and he wouldn’t let Nathan ruin it. In a second pan he was already cooking the bacon and the toaster was ready to toast the…toast.

“Stiles isn’t my mate. I don’t know whether or not he wants to have children with his future mate but I believe that is not really something that interests me, we’re friends.” He tried to sound as calm as he could, but the annoyance in his voice didn’t escape Nathan’s attention.

“You know what’s funny, Peter? I know that you have somehow learned to lie without letting your heart skip, God knows how, but I still know you and the way you look at the Stilinski boy? You’ve never looked at anyone or anything quite that way, with utter adoration and some longingness that could belong in some kind dramatic rom-com.” Nathan got up and made his way over to him.

Peter growled warningly, but his brother simply rolled his eyes and put one hand on his shoulder, scenting him in the process.

“We all might tease you about it, but you know that we’re happy for you, right? We want you to have a mate, you deserve one. You’d be great for each other.” Nathan said quietly with such a sincere voice that Peter wanted to flee the room. He wasn’t comfortable with his family’s constant need to finally find him a mate. If they wanted to play matchmaker, fine, but they had to find themselves a different victim because Peter really didn’t want them to meddle in his personal life.

Especially Talia, if he could he would ban her from his life entirely.

“Drop it, Nathan. I don’t want a mate, I don’t have a mate.” He took a deep breath to clam his growling wolf. The damn thing wasn’t just growling at Nathan but also at Peter because he denied their mate. Stupid thing.

“Peter, if you really want me to believe you, you should stop behaving like a courting alpha and act like you would around every other one of your friends.” Nathan simply snorted unattractively and left the kitchen, probably planning on watching TV until all the cubs were reunited with their parents and he was finally done with his job as babysitter.

Peter growled after him, low and threatening, while he concentrated on not burning the toast while filling a glass with orange juice. Stiles would hopefully like orange juice, but then again, what kind of person didn’t like orange juice?

He finished the omelet, placed it on a plate along with the bacon and spread a bit of butter on the crispy toast. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a good looking apple and decided that a young human like Stiles shouldn’t start the day without some much needed vitamins.

One minute later he made his way upstairs again, carrying a full plate, a glass of orange juice as well as some silverware so Stiles wouldn’t have to eat everything with his bare hands. He had the slight suspicion that the omega wouldn’t mind eating without silverware, but while Peter was raised by wolves, his parents still insisted on proper table manners and the regular use of knives and forks.

The door to the guestroom was still open and Peter was confused for a second because he had been pretty sure that he had left it just slightly ajar, but when he walked in he realized why it had been open.

On the bed were 6 wolf cubs, all happily playing with the pillows, the blanket and Stiles himself, who had apparently been woken up by the cubs but didn’t seem to mind. He was cradling one cub against his chest and laughed when a small tongue licked his cheek, while another cub pressed its cold nose against his neck, sniffing out Peter’s smell and trying to rub their own scent onto Stiles’ skin as well, to mark him as pack, as family.

It warmed Peter’s heart a little and he found himself standing smiling in the doorway for a few moments, just drinking in the sight before him. Something pulled on his stomach, some kind of longing that he had never experienced in such a strong way.

Yes, sometimes he yearned for having a family of his own, especially with such a big family himself where almost always someone had a baby. And while Peter didn’t seem like the nurturing kind at the first glance, the truth was that he adored babies. He didn’t like babysitting all cubs at once, but when he was younger he spent endless hours keeping an eye on Laura, Derek and Cora.

Seeing Stiles surrounded by cubs, happily cuddling them and cooing softly into their soft fur, made him want this.

With Stiles. With mate. His wolf added softly and at this moment he didn’t have the strength to deny it, no matter how much the part of his mind that refused to accept that they had a mate, fought him.

Goddammit, last night hadn’t helped trying to be just friends with Stiles.

A tug on his jeans brought him back to reality. He looked down and spotted a grey cub fighting with the dark denim, apparently not caring one tiny bit that the pointy teeth could easily pierce holes into it.

He sighed, bent down and grabbed the little wolf by the scruff of its neck and dropped it on the mattress again, where it yipped happily and pounced over to the others, who were currently trying to burry Stiles underneath them.

“Oh, hey.” Stiles said in surprise, as soon as he spotted them and tried to free himself of the cubs, but they only took it as a challenge to pile up on his chest as quickly as possible. The omega’s voice was rough from the sleep and damn it did things to Peter.

“’Oh, hey’? Is that how you greet those you abused as a personal mattress and blanket the night before?” Peter asked smugly and yes, he did note the way Stiles looked confused and then paled before he started to blush heavily.

“Oh god,” He groaned and hid his face in the fur of a sand colored cub. “I fell asleep on you, didn’t I?” The omega asked sheepishly and blinked wide eyed at Peter.

“Yes, and when I finally managed to get you into bed you refused to let go of me, I couldn’t even shift back.” He teased and laughed when Stiles flushed even more. The boy was mortified. “But don’t worry, I didn’t mind much.” Peter added then with a wink, before he put the breakfast plate on the nightstand, and picked up two of the cubs, to shoo them out of the room.

He knew how much wolves could eat and if he didn’t ensure that they were out of the room, Stiles wouldn’t have much breakfast to eat.

They left unwillingly and tried to sneak back in when Peter grabbed the ones left on the bed, but he growled warningly at them and flashed his eyes quickly, so they immediately turned around and scrambled down the hallway towards the stairs, probably to annoy Nathan.

Good.

“You didn’t have to kick them out, I don’t mind them.” Stiles said from the bed and Peter smiled slightly.

“I know and I don’t mind them as well, but if you want to be able to eat your breakfast in peace then you shouldn’t try to do so in the presence of six wolf cubs.” He grinned and sat down on the side of the bed, brushing Stiles’ right thigh in the process. It sent a slight shiver through his body. “And now eat, before it gets cold.” He instructed and held the plate towards the omega, whose eyes widened at the sight of food.

The human sniffed it and hummed contently, before his stomach growled.

“God, your timing is perfect.” Stiles groaned happily and looked at Peter through his long lashes, while grabbing an apple slice and munching on it happily. “Thank you, Peter.” He said softly and damn, those words went straight to Peter’s heart, piercing it in the process because only an actual hole in his heart could explain why he suddenly felt all warm inside. He had to be bleeding out internally.

“Your very welcome, Stiles.” He answered gently, while his gaze was transfixed on the cherry red lips that were gnawing on the piece of fruit. They looked soft and shiny, and perfectly plump. He ached to feel them against his own or at least his fingertips to see if they were really as soft as they seemed to be.

Stiles noticed his look, of course he did because what didn’t the boy notice, but seemed to interpret it differently.

“Are you hungry as well? We can share, I’m not a werewolf, I doubt I’ll manage to eat all of this, no matter how amazing it smells.” The omega offered with a sweet smile and it made Peter’s wolf purr happily.

Not only had they pleased the omega and provided for him, the omega even provided for them as well, offering to share with Peter, obviously interested in their health.

“The apple is really yummy.” Stiles grabbed another slice and held it towards Peter, obviously expecting him to take it. He didn’t know that it wasn’t the apple that was the reason for the alpha’s hunger and that his hunger couldn’t be sated with food.

Peter decided to humor Stiles and bent forwards, before he let his fangs drop and took a quick bite from the offered slice, his lips grazing Stiles’ fingertip ever so slightly. The human gasped in shock and jerked his hand back, only to start scowling when Peter laughed and crunched the apple between his sharp teeth.

“You asshole.” Stiles protested, but there was a grin on his lips. “See if I ever share food with you again.” He grabbed a pillow and threw it softly at Peter’s head, who only laughed more and easily avoided it.

“Why am I feeding you anyways? This isn’t supposed to be my job, you’re the alpha here and therefore you’re the one required to feed me!”

It was obvious that the omega meant it as a joke, but Peter simply smirked at that.

“Why, Stiles, if you wanted me to feed you all you had to do was ask.” He said sweetly, picked up a piece of crispy bacon with his fingers and held it towards Stiles’ lips.

The boy’s eyes fluttered from the offered piece of food to Peter and back again, obviously recognizing the unspoken challenge and of course, Stiles never backed down when it came to a challenge.

Peter watched how the omega leaned towards him, how the plush lips closed around the piece of bacon and his breathing hitched when he got a glimpse of Stiles’ red tongue. Suddenly it wasn’t a game anymore, his laughter died in his throat and he swallowed hard.

Stiles seemed to notice the change in atmosphere as well, because he stared at Peter wide eyed while he chewed on the piece of bacon.

For a second they were both completely frozen, then the omega swallowed and nudged Peter with his foot.

“Next, please?” The human’s voice was tender, soft and almost so quiet that Peter had to use his advanced werewolf hearing to catch what he said. He hadn’t even notice that he had held his breath until he released it as he picked up another piece of bacon and held it directly in front of Stiles’ lips.

The omega sighed in relief, smiled at him sweetly and allowed Peter to feed him the crispy meat. He hummed happily at the taste of the food and it caused Peter’s heart to stutter again.

He waited until Stiles was done chewing and swallowing, before he chose the next food item and fed it the omega as well. It felt so incredibly right, having Stiles eat out of his hand, spoiling the omega, taking care of him.  

His mind raced, throwing hundreds of reasons at him why he should stop this immediately, turn around and leave the room, leave Beacon Hills and return to his life in NYC without ever planning on returning, but he couldn’t bring himself to listen to any of it.

Instead Peter continued to feed his omega, making sure Stiles ate a healthy balance of fruit, bacon, omelet, toast and orange juice until the plate was completely empty.

For a second they stared at each other, not really knowing what to do next, and Peter felt suddenly like an inexperienced teenager who tried to court someone for the first time, then Stiles took the plate from Peter’s grasp, put it carefully on the nightstand and planted himself so close to the alpha that he was almost sitting on his lap.

“Thank you, alpha.” He said sweetly and pressed a soft kiss on Peter’s cheek, so low that his lips caught the corner of the alpha’s mouth.

It felt like an electric jolt raced through Peter’s body when he felt the soft lips brushing his skin.

Stiles yelped and immediately backed away, apparently as surprised by the slight contact of their lips as Peter was.

“Sorry, I didn’t meant to…I…It was an accident I’m so sorry, I-“ The omega began to ramble, obviously embarrassed as seen on the deep red flush on his cheeks, but before he could work himself up too much, Peter had caught Stiles’ wrist in his hand and pressed a soft kiss to the boy’s skin, right where the racing pulse was the strongest.

“You’re very welcome, my sweet omega.”

Chapter Text

Stiles felt like he was in heaven and if there was the slight chance that a higher power actually existed and that death wasn’t the end of it all, then Stiles would be pretty damn disappointed, even if he would end up in heaven.

Because he couldn’t imagine anything being better than this.

He had woken up on a mattress that was unbelievably comfortable and buried under soft, warm sheets. There had been cubs climbing all over him, licking at his face, playing with his shirt and cuddling against his sides and damn, they had been adorable.

Then of course, Peter had shown up, bringing him a perfect breakfast and only then had Stiles realized just how hungry he was.

But the highlight of his morning had definitely been Peter feeding him.

It wasn’t something that people just did, not even if they were close friends. It was considered something intimate between alphas and omegas. An alpha would never feed a random omega, it just happened between mates, or soon to be mates in case of the alpha courting the omega.

Peter had never officially said anything about courting, less so about mates, but still, he had fed Stiles by hand with a soft smile on his face the entire time and even allowed Stiles to feed him as well.

That was quite unusual.

Alphas were supposed to feed omegas, not the other way around.

But Stiles had always been different, always stood out from the masses and Peter, being unmated at his age despite not being aromantic or genderless was equally as abnormal. Hell, as far as Stiles knew Peter had never even had a serious relationship with a romantic partner, he hadn’t even attempted to have one.

So maybe it didn’t mean anything to Peter?

No, that couldn’t be.

Stiles had been best friends with Scott for many, many years and they were as close as anybody could possibly be. Their parents had been 99% sure that they would end up as mates until Stiles had turned out to be an alphaorientated omega and with Scott being a beta the possibility of them having a romantic relationship and being mates had dissolved into thin air within seconds.

And even though they were so close that nobody would be surprised if they ended up together despite Stiles orientation, they had never done anything remotely close to what Stiles and Peter had done.

Stiles had kissed Scott on the cheek occasionally, they had no problem with holding hands, cuddling, spooning while sleeping because they enjoyed the comfort it provided, but Scott had never kissed Stiles except on his cheeks, top of his head or forehead. And especially not on his pulse point after having fed him by hand.

That was something between romantic partners, something intimate in a way that didn’t happen between best friends, but something intimate with intend.

And it made Stiles’ heart race in his chest because he couldn’t for the love of god believe that an alpha like Peter would ever be actually interested in Stiles.

He had always thought that he would either end up alone or eventually find an alpha that would want him. Of course it wouldn’t be the kind of alpha he dreamed about, but it would be better than being all alone, wouldn’t it?

Stiles knew he wasn’t gorgeous like Isaac was, he knew that his personality and self-esteem wasn’t as attractive as Erica’s, who could wrap any alpha around her pinky with one confident smirk and he knew that he wasn’t as sweet and flirty as the omegas in books and movies were.

He was too loud, too annoying, too mouthy, too sassy, too talk active and too nosy to attract an alpha, even though omegas were rare. Most, if not all, alphas would rather be single than consider seeing Stiles as a potentially romantic partner.

But that didn’t mean he hadn’t imagined how his dream alpha would be, once he had realized what his dick was for and that kisses would feel pretty amazing instead of gross like he had always thought. Of course, his theory had yet to be proven because his lips were equally as much a virgin as the rest of himself was, but he had many, many fantasies.

His dream alpha was a mixture of his own preferences and the preferences that came along with his instincts.

Stiles’ instincts painted a clear picture.

His alpha would’ve to be strong, with broad shoulders, bulging biceps and enough strength to protect him and their children from anything that could possibly harm them. Along with that came a bit of stubble that was hinting at maturity, masculinity and again, strength.

The alpha would’ve to be able to provide for them, demonstrate his ability to offer stability. Originally stability when it came to hunting and providing food, nowadays it was financial stability as well as the possibility of a stable life.

Then of course, leadership skills. Based upon the old cave days, where the offspring of the strongest alpha would be most likely to be healthy and survive if they were under the constant protection of the group’s leader.

Additionally there was the social status, meaning the alpha had to be dominant, represent himself as confident and in control of every possible situation so he could – again- provide protection for a mate and offspring.

And the alpha would’ve to be gentle and caring, interested in kids, invested in his family’s happiness, and wanting to fulfill Stiles’ every wish immediately.

These basic instinct were anchored in every alphaoriented omega, no matter what. They were part of their nature, just as much as it was part of an alpha’s nature to seek out an omega who looked healthy, young and vibrant, and therefore would be able to birth healthy offspring and care for it over several years.

It sounded ridiculous and shallow, but it was a solid part of reproduction and found in every species, even if in different ways. Sometimes it was skill, other times strength or beauty.

Stiles rational mind added other qualities to the picture of his perfect partner.

Intelligence was a major point. He himself wasn’t stupid, if anything he was the exact opposite, so he yearned for someone who could keep up with his weird brain, someone who was clever and quick and had no trouble following his thoughts. (Nobody would probably ever be able to keep up with his mind, it was simply to random and jumped from one topic to another- thanks ADHD-, but he was allowed to dream.)

He liked a good sense of humor, including a healthy dose of snark and sass, simply because it was the kind of humor that fitted best with his own quick tongue. Having no one to banter with would be terribly boring in a long term relationship.

Stiles liked playfulness and physical comfort. He loved body contact, be it in a platonic way or more, he enjoyed it all. He slept better when someone was next to him and best if there were arms holding him tight. Soothing touches calmed him, be it body or mind, and helped him in uncomfortable situations.

And his dream alpha would’ve to be able to endure Stiles’ endless chatter. He just couldn’t be silent, it didn’t work. His mouth had a mind of its own and once he was interested in a something he couldn’t help himself but ramble on and on and on about it until someone literally clasped a hand over his mouth to get his lips to stop running. He understood that he sometimes overwhelmed even his dad and Scott with his rambling, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t hope that one day he would find an alpha that would listen to him with interest and never shut him up.

And he knew those were all dreams and that you couldn’t always get what you wanted, but everybody had their dream of a romantic partner and a perfect relationship. And he knew that there’d never be a Disney prince waiting for him, but whatever, he wasn’t too interested in the whole relationship thing anyways, even if it sometimes stung to see most of his friends being disgustingly cute with each other.

Well, then he had met Peter Hale.

And goddammit, Peter was his dream alpha come to live.

He fulfilled every aspect of Stiles’ fantasies and even surpassed them easily.

Peter was the epitome of strength and his amount of muscles promised protection from possible dangers, his character additionally promised that he wouldn’t hesitate to kill whoever dared to lay a finger on those he loved- maybe that should worry Stiles, but it didn’t. Then there was the stubble that made Stiles’ knees slightly weak and his fingers ache to feel if it was as rough as it seemed to be.

Additionally to that Peter was a fucking werewolf! And that made Stiles instincts fucking melt at the simple sight of him. Who would be a better protector than a fucking apex predator?

Peter obviously would be able to provide for a family and mate, especially in the financial aspect. He made a shit ton of money in his job and obviously had to have leadership skills to get a highly paid position in New York City.

Also the man seemed always in control of every possible situation and at least three steps ahead with plans all the way from A to Z. He walked around with this aura of confidence, self-control and undoubted dominance.

And finally, he was unbelievably gentle with kids and always took great care that Stiles was cared for. He brought him food, had sent him a gift that was well thought through and had carried him back to the Hale house when Stiles had barely been able to keep his eyes open for more than a few seconds.

That satisfied Stiles’ instincts. And because Peter was a stupid bastard he just had to fulfill all of Stiles rational preferences as well.

The alpha was clever and unbelievably intelligent. His sharp mind easily kept up with Stiles’ and sometimes even challenged his mind.

Peter’s humor was similar to his own with a healthy dose of snark and sass and so much wit that he occasionally outwitted Stiles without much effort at all. Yes he was an asshole, but so was the omega.

The man was also playful, his human part as well as his wolf could open up and show a gentle and caring side. And all wolves sought out physical contact just like Stiles loved it.

And Peter was the only person who had not once interrupted Stiles’ endless rambling. If anything Peter seemed to be endeared by it and interested in everything Stiles had to say, no matter how random it was.

Stiles never really had a chance not to fall in love with Peter Hale.

And he really wanted to hate the alpha for making him have these stupid, stupid feeling even though there was no possible way that Peter would ever be remotely interested in Stiles, but he simply couldn’t because he was so deep in love with him that he had no hope of escape.

“Stiles?”

Stiles blinked and only then noticed that he had been staring at Peter the entire time without saying anything. God, way to embarrass himself.

“Oh, sorry.” He smiled sheepishly and tried not to blush. “I kinda lost myself in my brain there for a second.”

Peter laughed, but it wasn’t mocking, instead it sounded understanding and gentle.

“Don’t worry, pretty boy, with such a magnificent brain as you have, it surprises me that you don’t constantly lose yourself.” The alpha said easily, before he stood up and picked up the empty plate. “I’ll go downstairs and take care of the dishes, you should go and take a shower, you still have a little bit of grass in your hair.”

Stiles’ hands immediately flew up to his hair to remove all possibly left over pieces of grass and small twigs left, and grimaced when he noticed that they wouldn’t come out without a proper shower.

Shit, he hadn’t packed anything, including fresh clothes and the ones he currently wore were dirty from last night’s run in the woods.

“I don’t suppose you have some clothes I can borrow? I didn’t pack anything.” He asked without a second thought and only then froze.

Would Peter even offer him clothes? It would mean that Stiles would carry his scent, mingle their scents for everyone to smell. Would the alpha mind that?

Before he could break his head about it Peter had already crossed the room and was searching through a traveling bag. It only took a few seconds, then he held soft looking grey sweatpants and a white V-neck shirt that looked equally as comfortable as the sweats.

“I’ll be downstairs.” He said after he had given Stiles the clothes and strutted out of the room. Fuck, Peter didn’t even walk like a normal person would, he always had this level of superiority, elegance and danger in his step that reminded everyone that he was a predator.

Sadly it also caused Stiles’ mind to go to very naughty places.

Shaking his head, Stiles got out of bed, grabbed the bundle of clothes and slipped into the bathroom down the hallway. He knew where everything was, he had been at the Hale house often enough because of his friendship with Cora, Derek and Isaac.

He took a quick shower, toweled himself dry even quicker and tried to tame his hair for a few minutes before he gave up.

Stiles darted back into the guest room to leave his dirty clothes there and quickly grabbed his phone in case that his father had texted or called him, but what he saw baffled him.

There were many, many new text messages and the notification that he had been added in a whatsapp group called ‘The Cool Hales + Derek & Laura’.

He unlocked his phone confused and opened the whatsapp group where most of his messages came from. The group had a total of 4 members, not including Stiles.

Cora was the admin, then there was Isaac and of course, Derek and Laura. He had apparently been added last night, somewhere after he had fallen asleep and since then there were already countless messages in the group.

Why had they added him?

From Stiles: 10.36

‘Not that I’m complaining, but what am I doing in this group?’

He was already in a whatsapp group with Derek, Cora and Isaac, along with Erica, Boyd and Scott which was called ‘All Us Single Ladies’, so he didn’t really get why Cora would add him to a group that was obviously just for Hales and Isaac, who already was a Hale by heart but would soon be one officially as well.

Stiles wasn’t a Hale.

He pocketed his phone, not expecting an answer immediately and decided to join Peter downstairs. The house was quiet, apparently nobody was home, except a bunch of children, still in wolf form, who played in Cora’s room happily with each other.

But it wasn’t just Peter in the kitchen, there was also a young man who looked slightly similar to the older Hale. Stiles had seen him last evening and at Derek’s birthday party, but he had no idea who the man was.

Apparently the stranger knew exactly who Stiles was, because as soon as the omega entered the kitchen a grin crossed the man’s face.

“You must be Stiles.” He said and straightened up his posture, before he walked around the kitchen island and held his hand towards Stiles. “It’s so good to finally meet you, I’ve heard so much about you. I’m Nathan, Peter’s younger brother.”

Stiles hesitantly took the offered hand and shook it.

“Hi. Nice to meet you.” He said tentative because he really had no idea how he was supposed to react. Nathan looked at him in a way that made Stiles feel like a science experiment.

“Nathan, stop bothering Stiles and make yourself useful.” Peter tutted from where he was perched at the kitchen sink, drying one plate and ignoring the huge tower of dirty dishes next to him, which was probably the aftermath of a werewolf breakfast.

“I’m babysitting, somebody else can wash the dishes, I cleaned my plate after all.” The man snorted, before he stared at Stiles again, with his almost glowing green eyes. “Right now I want to get to know dear Stiles better, because the one person to capture your interest in such an excessive way has to be quite fascinating for us all.”

Peter flashed his eyes at his brother, and put the plate back into one of the kitchen cabinet with more force than necessary.

“Nathan, leave it be.” Peter growled and damn, that did things to Stiles.

“Calm down Peter, I won’t harm your pretty omega. I just want to find out how this darling boy managed to steal your heart.”  He smiled at Stiles, his eyes still beta golden. “How long have you two been together?”

Stiles’ eyes widened and he spluttered helplessly.

“Together?” His voice squeaked. “We’re not together, I don’t know where you got the idea but no being together here.” He then hastily explained while glancing at Peter helplessly.

“Really? Could’ve fooled me. As far as I can remember Peter has never allowed someone to wear his clothes, sleep in one bed with him or ride on his wolf form. I also can’t recall ever having seen my brother cook someone breakfast and it’s a little hard to believe he did it just because you two are friends.”

Stiles saw how Nathan threw a challenging glance at Peter.

“And the way you smell...” The wolf bent forward, closer to Stiles and inhaled deeply. “It smells like you’ve scentmarked each other. Like you’ve both staked a claim.”

“Enough.” Peter growled and crossed the kitchen within a second, to grab Stiles’ wrist and pull him out of the room, away from Nathan. Stiles didn’t really complain because the feeling of Peter’s warm fingers snugly wrapped around his wrist was quite pleasant, but he would’ve liked to know where Peter was wanting to take him.

They left the Hale house and crossed the driveway to Peter’s expensive car.

“Not that I mind this whole caveman manhandling, but where are we going again?” Stiles asked when Peter let go of his wrist so the omega could get inside the car.

“To your place, before my family will drive us both insane.” The alpha answered and started the car quickly.

“I like your family.” Stiles shrugged. “Nathan is kinda creepy but he seems alright and the cubs were adorable.”

“That is because you don’t know my family very well.” Peter laughed. “Most of them are tolerable over a short period of time before they become unbearable, then there are those I genuinely like and of course those that I wish I wasn’t related to.”

Stiles snorted and didn’t bother to hide his grin.

“And Nathan belongs to which category? Because I can’t imagine that the part you genuinely like is very large.”

He saw how Peter glanced at him with a fond look, before he replied.

“Nathan is tolerable over a few hours, maybe a day tops, and after that I can hardly stay in one room with him without losing my mind. There is a reason why I moved all the way to New York and it’s not the weather.” The alpha hummed. “But you’re right, the part I like is very small.”

“Who’s your favorite?” Stiles couldn’t help but ask. “Is it Derek? Or maybe Grace?”

“I don’t know if I have a favorite. Derek would probably be the one I like the most other than my parents. He reminds me of myself sometimes.” Peter’s voice got a little lost and Stiles immediately recognized that this wasn’t a topic Peter liked to talk about.

He didn’t really know how Derek reminded Peter of himself because they seemed like polar opposites.

Derek was a hopeless romantic who believed in this whole true love/mates thing and basically walked around with heart eyes whenever he was with Isaac. He had no hard angles –besides his jawline and cheekbones because holy shit, they were so defined-, wore sweaters with fucking thumb holes and had godforsaken bunny teeth. An alpha werewolf with bunny teeth!

Well, his default facial expression was the one of a murderer but underneath that grumpy exterior he was a fluffy little bunny who couldn’t flirt for the life of him. It had almost been physically painful to watch him nervously fumble around Isaac, who was normally a pretty smooth guy but had turned into blushing, stammering mess whenever he had talked to Derek during the first few months of their…pre-relationship time.

And Derek was naïve to an extend that had Stiles worried sometimes. The alpha believed that everybody was good in their core, no matter how deep down that was, and it would be so easy for bad people to take advantage of Derek’s good heart that Stiles wanted to wrap Derek in three layers of bubble wrap to prevent that from happening.

Peter was the exact opposite.

He didn’t seem too invested into romance and dramatic love declarations, even though he had a tendency to be quite dramatic. He was an apex predator through and through with no bunny teeth to hide it and Peter didn’t want to hide it. The alpha enjoyed his place on top of the food chain, especially because of his wolf. Peter’s usual facial expression was always something between fake-friendly and flirty and boy was the man smooth.

His tongue was skilled with making compliments and he wasn’t ashamed to use his looks and words to get what he wanted.

And Peter wasn’t naïve, nobody would be able to take advantage of him. He didn’t need protection from others, he needed protection from himself.

Stiles didn’t understand how Peter found similarities between himself and Derek, but then again, Peter had partly raised Derek so he knew him better than Stiles ever would.

“Who’s your least favorite?” He regretted the question as soon as he had asked it, because Peter’s hands clenched around the steering wheel and his smile became forced. Stiles was about to tell Peter that it didn’t matter, that the question was stupid and that they should switch topics, but the alpha spoke first.

“My sister, Talia.” There was no doubt in his voice, no hesitation. It was obvious that he didn’t have to think about the question long.

“Oh.” Stiles said softly. He hadn’t met Mrs. Hale often, so he didn’t know much about her. “Well, my least favorite is my aunt Susan. Her character isn’t all that bad but since my fifteenth birthday she had constantly been asking me whether or not I have finally found a mate and when my dad can finally expect grandchildren.”

Peter snorted and it should be unattractive, but he did it with such class that Stiles’ heart skipped a beat. Fucking Peter!

“Talia has been talking my ear off about finally finding an omega for the past ten years and it only got worse when my youngest sister popped out twins five years ago. She regularly arranges blind dates for me with single omega ladies.”

Stiles couldn’t help but laugh at the annoyance in Peter’s voice.

“So she likes to play match maker? Have you ever actually gone to any of these blind dates?” He couldn’t help but ask, even if he knew that he shouldn’t be too invested in the alpha’s dating life. It would just end in Stiles realizing that he wasn’t playing in the same league as those, who regularly tried to win over Peter’s heart.

“No, they don’t interest me the slightest. Also, while I appreciate talking to a beautiful woman, I prefer the company of men slightly better.” He shrugged. “And I’m not a charity case they have to worry about, it was hard enough to get my parents off my back when I was a teenager and showed no interest in courting an omega. I tried to convince them I was aromantic when I was 19 because I couldn’t stand their worry anymore.”

Stiles stared wide eyed at Peter.

“Wow, that would drive me insane. My dad isn’t like that…much. I know he worries because he thinks I could be insecure since so many people my age already are in a relationship or have imprinted on someone.” Stiles smiled slightly. “I would like for someone to show interest in me, but it’s not that important, especially when it’s not an alpha I’d like to be with for the long run, you know?”

“I think I do.” The alpha next to him nodded slightly. “Not everyone is interested in being high school sweethearts and 80% find their mate outside of high school, many are unmated until they’re almost done with college. You don’t have to worry about ending up alone with 30 cats.”

“I’d never end up with 30 cats! I’m a dog person, nothing against cute kittens, but a cute puppy is unbeatable. I’d probably own 10 or so dogs and eventually show up on the show Hoarders.” The omega joked before he got serious again. “But are you sure that you’ll never take a mate? Even if you’d fall in love with someone?” He worried his bottom lip between his teeth and looked down on his hands. “Would you really give up the chance of finding love just to spite your family? Do you think you could ever find someone that makes you consider changing your mind?”

He didn’t ask because he was interested in Peter, nope, not at all. And he didn’t ask the question because there was this little spark of hope inside him that maybe Peter could change his mind…

Peter was silent for a few moments, so long that Stiles looked up from his hands and at the alpha, who stared at him with an unreadable expression. The man’s eyes wandered over Stiles’ face and the intensity of the blue orbs made Stiles flush and feel like he was some kind of puzzle that Peter was trying to figure out.

The alpha raised one hand and allowed his fingertips to caress Stiles’ cheek and the omega shuddered when Peter’s thumb rested on his bottom lip. He had the urge to lick his lips like he usually did when he was nervous, but he restrained himself.

When he spoke Stiles almost flinched because his voice seemed so loud compared to the silence that had surrounded them.

“I was entirely sure that I’d never take a mate; that nobody could possibly catch my interest…” Peter mumbled, apparently lost in thought. “But I don’t know what to think anymore.”

Stiles felt how his heart stuttered and normally he would be ashamed since he knew Peter could hear his heartbeat and notice ever single irregularity, but right now he didn’t care, because the alpha’s hand felt hot against his skin and the weight of Peter’s words made his toes curl with anticipation and nervousness.

“Oh.” He licked his lips automatically and his tongue grazed Peter’s thumb slightly, who’s eyes flashed a vibrant red for such a short second that Stiles wasn’t entirely sure he hadn’t imagined it. “Well, that’s good, isn’t it?”

Peter blinked and the intensity of the moment was broken.

“I don’t know. It could be, but it could also end badly, I don’t know if I could play off the whole perfect boyfriend thing.” A weak smile appeared on the alpha’s face. “Not everybody can stand my personality in the long run.”

Stiles rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

“C’mon dude, you’re not that bad. I enjoy your company a lot.” He said with more force than necessary, because he needed Peter to understand. Yes, the alpha had a very high self-esteem, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t have insecurities, no matter how hard he pretended to be entirely without them.

“Thank you, Stiles. Normally I’d say that it should worry you, but I’m too selfish for that.” Peter pulled his hand back, which had still been resting on Stiles’ cheek and opened the car door. The omega blinked in surprise, he hadn’t even noticed that they had already parked on his driveway.

His dad’s cruiser wasn’t there, but that didn’t surprise Stiles because he knew that his dad had taken a double shift and wouldn’t be home until the late evening.

Before he had a chance to open his car door as well and climb out of the vehicle, Peter was already there to do it for him.

“And you say your personality is bad.” Stiles teased, but he took Peter’s offered hand and climbed out of the car. He tried not to blush when Peter didn’t release his hand immediately, and desperately hoped that his hands weren’t clammy as they felt.

“That doesn’t mean I have bad manners, my dear omega. My parents raised me to be a perfect gentleman and that includes to help such pretty omegas as you out of a car.” Peter tutted with a sly grin and Stiles couldn’t resist to roll his eyes.

“For someone who says that his personality is bad, you have a very huge ego.” He huffed, while he walked up to the front door and took out his phone. His phone case had a little secret storage pocket on the backside, big enough for a credit card or key and he always kept a second house key in there, in case he didn’t take his keychain with him.

Peter stood one step behind him and hummed when he saw what Stiles did.

“Smart thinking.” The alpha commented and no, the compliment didn’t make Stiles’ heart beat faster! It was just excess energy.

“Thanks, my dad refuses to have a spare key hidden outside the house, with him being the sheriff and all, you know?” Stiles grinned. “That doesn’t mean I couldn’t manage breaking into my own home in case I really have no key with me.”

That made Peter laugh.

“I should’ve expected that.” He said and his eyes sparkled with amusement.

“Thanks, my record is one minute and 45 seconds. He was quite impressed.” The omega grinned and unlocked the front door. He walked in and mentioned for Peter to follow him. The alpha didn’t hesitate and took his shoes off as soon as he had entered the hallway and closed the door again.

“What do you wanna do? You’ve been the one to kidnap me to my own house after all so you’ve gotta tell me what today’s plans are.” Stiles said while he made his way through his home into the kitchen, to get himself a glass of water. He offered one to Peter as well, who took it with a thankful smile.

“Kidnap is such a strong word, wouldn’t you agree? I like to think that I rescued you from my family.” Peter said with a smirk and leaned against the kitchen counter. It looked unfairly sexy.

“Oh yes, you’re my knight in the shining armor.” Stiles snorted, while his eyes lingered on Peter’s defined chest.

“Knight in a shining armor? Yes, I can see that. Are you my damsel in distress then? In need of a strong hero to rescue you?” Of course, Peter had to ignore the sarcasm in Stiles’ voice and turn his words against him.

“Are you asking me if I need rescue or are you simply looking for an opportunity to sweep me off my feet and manhandle me around like every hero does when he saves the damsel in distress? I know you werewolves and I’ve witnessed enough manhandling in Isaac and Derek’s relationship.” An uncomfortable shudder went down his back when he thought about the many times he had accidentally caught Derek holding Isaac up easily and snogging the breath out of him.

Don’t get him wrong, he could see the appeal of it, somehow, but he was convinced that kissing wasn’t as great as the sickeningly sweet couple made it seem to be. If anything it was probably overrated.

Manhandling though, that was something he was probably into.

“That’s not quite what I was thinking about, but it does sound appealing.” Peter mused and before Stiles could answer, he felt how strong hands gripped his waist and the next thing he knew his feet left the ground and he was pressed against Peter’s chest.

He spluttered wordlessly in surprise and almost brained his head on a kitchen cabinet in his flailing and only Peter’s reflexes prevented him from doing so, because the alpha quickly took a step back so Stiles missed the dangerous piece of furniture by a few centimeters.

“Hey, that so wasn’t an invitation for you to manhandle me around.” Stiles protested, but Peter simply arched one eyebrow and looked at him challengingly.

“Are you honestly telling me that you don’t enjoy this?” He grinned cockily. “And remember Stiles, I can hear your heartbeat and will know if you lie.” The alpha teased and that made Stiles blush even more.

“Maybe I’m able to lie to werewolves, how would you know?” Stiles grumbled with narrowed eyes, but Peter simply laughed. “Hey, you aren’t the only person on this planet who can lie to werewolves, I just haven’t figured out how you do it, yet.”

A secretive smile played around Peter’s lips.

“Maybe I’ll teach you one day. It’s quite a handy skill.” He winked at Stiles before he got serious again. Well as serious as he could be, pretending to be some kind of hero. “And now tell me what can I do for you, my dearest damsel in distress.”

Stiles toes tingled at Peter’s words, but he tried to stay calm, cool and collected while he was fucking pressed against the alpha with his legs wrapped around Peter’s hips and surrounded by his addicting scent. Dear god he was even wearing Peter’s clothes!

“Well first you could let me down again.” He wiggled in a helpless attempt to free himself out of Peter’s tight grip but that was a very, very bad idea because it only caused him to get very close and personal with the alpha’s marbled chest and rock hard abs. Stiles was only human and if his one hand lingered on one of Peter’s pecks then it was entirely the other man’s fault because he had decided to wear such a tight and well-fitting shirt.

“What do I get in return?” Peter asked and that made Stiles snap out of his trance, so he quickly pulled his hand away from Peter’s strong chest and put it on his shoulder so he could steady himself without accidentally groping Peter.

“Peter.” Stiles shot him a glare, but the man just arched one eyebrow that made Stiles sigh heavily. He was not above begging Peter to let him down, because he had the feeling this would lead to a very inappropriate boner in a very inappropriate situation and he really didn’t want to molest Peter. It would be so embarrassing that Stiles would die immediately.

He was about to answer something snarky, to continue their ongoing non-stop banter, but stopped the last second. He knew Peter and that meant he knew that the alpha was just waiting for an opportunity to outwit him again.

Stiles wouldn’t let it come down to that, he was an omega, he had the natural ability to manipulate every alpha…even if he had never done it before. He wasn’t smooth, he wasn’t flirty and he was definitely not sexy, but he was aware of the power an omega’s voice held and even if he were to fail miserably, it wouldn’t be as bad as getting a fucking hard on while pressed against his crush’s body.

So he nestled closer to Peter, tangled his fingers in the man’s shirt and bit his bottom lip nervously before he looked into the alpha’s eyes. He had been told that he had deer eyes more than once and that was good, wasn’t it?

“Will you please let me down, alpha?” He then asked and tried to sound as sweet and pliant as possible, even though his lips were itching from the grin that threatened to break over his face. He wanted to avert his eyes and look down to calm his nerves, but he felt like it was impossible to break his gaze from the intense blue orbs that stared back at him.

And damn, he was so glad that he hadn’t been able to look away, because under no circumstances would he have wanted to miss Peter’s reaction.

The usual smirk vanished from the alpha’s face and his mouth dropped open ever so slightly, ever little bit of smugness had disappeared and was replaced by something that looked very much like speechlessness. Hell, Peter looked dumbfounded.

But most noticeable were his eyes.

The bright blue turned into an intense red the dark pupils widened significantly.

Stiles felt his own eyes flash in return, but he hardly noticed. He was too caught up in the sudden change of atmosphere.

The air around them seemed to be heavy and crackling with electricity and sparks. It felt as if time had suddenly stopped and that took Stiles’ breath away.

He swallowed hard, his mouth suddenly dry, and for a moment he was tempted to close the little distance between them and press his lips onto Peter’s, but then the alpha seemed to regain control over himself, because he laughed and carefully let Stiles down.

But Peter sounded slightly breathless and strangled, like he had an equally hard time breathing as Stiles had.

As soon as the omega’s feet touched the ground, he wished that Peter would still hold him up because damn, his knees were fucking weak as those of a newborn fawn. He felt like he was goddamn Bambi.

Peter cleared his throat and smothered his already perfect hair with a hand that had been resting on Stiles’ hip only seconds earlier.

“Well played, Stiles. Well played indeed. Your ability to manipulate my alpha side is quite remarkable.” The man then complimented the omega with a slightly hoarse voice that turned Stiles’ stomach upside down and made his heart skip a beat.

Peter’s voice usually sounded husky in a way that made people have naughty thoughts as soon as they heard him speak, but the huskiness combined with the hoarseness and a little touch of breathlessness really got Stiles.

With that voice Peter could probably work at a phone sex hotline and make millions. He could do audio books for erotica novels.

Wait, did those exist? Erotica audio books? And if yes, what kind of person would listen to them and when? Probably not in the car when carpooling with co-workers or friends.

‘Focus Stiles!’ He scolded himself and forced his thoughts back on track. Had he taken his medication today? Probably not.

“Why, thank you Peter.” He said sweetly but with a sarcastic edge to it. “I actually never knew, you were the one who told me to take advantage of my omega privileges. I can’t help that I’m so charming, it’s the Stilinski charm, and nobody can resist it. Maybe I can teach you sometime how to properly win over someone’s heart. I’m actually thinking about publishing a book about dating.” He snarked while he looked through one of the kitchen cabinets for his medication.

He had some in his room, but his dad kept some downstairs as well in case Stiles forgot to take them in the morning and then remembered it when he was already on his way out the door. With his brain all over the place the omega tended to forget what he was supposed to be getting on his way back into his room, so the kitchen always had a backup stack of his Adderall.

The medicine was easy to find and he turned around again to look at Peter, who was suddenly standing right before him.

“Is that so?” The man practically purred and rested his palms on the kitchen counter, caging Stiles in against the hard wood with no chance of escape.

Peter crocked his head a little to the side and his eyes wandered over Stiles’ body with an expression that the omega couldn’t quite place but damn, it was definitely not PG 13! His blue orbs lingered on Stiles’ lips for a second and he couldn’t hesitate but lick them, which made Peter growl slightly.

“I think you’re forgetting one thing, little omega.” Peter almost whispered and leaned even closer, so that they shared the same air. Not that Stiles was currently able to breathe. His throat had closed up and he was gaping like a goldfish.

“You aren’t the only one who has certain…advantages.” The alpha’s eyes burned red again and it caused Stiles’ heart to speed up significantly. “I’m an alpha and do you know what that means?”

The human needed a second to process the question and normally he would’ve had twenty witty answers on the tip of his tongue, but right now he was stunned silent. He had no idea what to actually say. His brain had apparently stopped functioning.

He didn’t even really notice that he shook his head slightly.

Peter smirked at that and leaned forward until his lips were brushing against the shell of Stiles’ ear. It sent shivers down the omega’s back and there was a heat in his stomach that was spreading through his entire body.

“It means that I know exactly how to treat something as precious as you. It’s anchored in my most basic instincts and my wolf abilities tell me everything I need to know.” Peter whispered and let his nose brush along Stiles’ throat to demonstrate his ability to smell all his emotions.

“Oh.” Stiles swallowed hard and tried his hardest not to pop a boner right then and there because he couldn’t promise that he wouldn’t come into his pants from the mere sound of Peter’s voice.

“And don’t forget what I am, darling. An apex predator and right now you look like the most tempting prey I’ve ever encountered.” His teeth were grazing Stiles’ neck and he carefully nipped on the pale skin before pulling back. “But don’t worry, I won’t bite you. At least not in any way you like.” He winked and damn, Stiles was so gone. This seemed like some kind of wet dream.

His neck was still tingling where Peter had bitten him and…

“Dammit Peter!” He cursed and pushed the alpha away from him. “I bruise like a fucking peach.” Stiles groaned and walked over to the small mirror they had in the kitchen. Yup, he could already see his skin bruise and there was no way he would be able to hide it with any of his shirts. And he wouldn’t start wearing a scarf because he wasn’t Isaac and he knew that his dad would get suspicious if Stiles started running around with a fucking scarf.

“You asshole!” He glared at Peter, who looked a little stunned and highly amused. And of course, pleased with himself. “What am I supposed to tell my dad? The truth? That an alpha werewolf decided I was a proper meal and mauled me in the kitchen? Are you trying to get arrested?” Stiles rubbed over the red spot as if it could miraculously cause it to disappear but of course it didn’t.

“Well, you could always tell him that a very handsome, strong alpha couldn’t resist those delicious pheromones you’re carrying around and simply had to take a taste.” Peter grinned smugly and opened the medicine container that held Stiles’ Adderall. “Just make sure not to mention I’m a werewolf, so he can shoot me without this whole bothersome wolfsbane poisoning thing.” He sounded like it was an everyday occurrence that he got shot, while he took out one single, white pill and closed the small bottle again.

Stiles rolled his eyes at Peter’s words and stomped over to him to grab the little pill and swallow it, but Peter tutted and held it out of reach. For a second the human didn’t really know what he was supposed to do, but then he remembered how Peter had fed him at breakfast and he almost automatically opened his mouth.

The alpha smiled, obviously pleased with Stiles’ instinctive reaction and carefully placed the Adderall on his tongue, before reaching him a glass of water.

“Thanks.” Murmured Stiles and swallowed his medication with a little bit of water so it would go down easier, before he jabbed his left index finger against Peter’s strong chest. It hurt his finger more than it hurt Peter, but that wasn’t important right now. “And now stop being so cocky. My dad knows the Hales are werewolves and he would probably use a double dosage of wolfsbane just because. Don’t forget, he’s the sheriff, he hasn’t missed a single target in the last five years. He could shoot you in his sleep.”

“It’s just a little bruise. You could always tell him that you ran into a doorway. I’m pretty sure he’d believe you without a second thought.” Peter shrugged easily.

“Well, he might, but your nosy family will smell you all over me and Cora has a huge tendency to tease me at every opportunity. This whole scent marking thing already gave her enough material to tease me for a whole year, what do you think this bruise will do? It looks like someone staked a claim on me and she’ll so know who did it. And we’re not even dating or anything, I’m telling you, 150 years ago we would’ve scandalized the entire town. Imagine all the gossip! I did a paper about courting and claiming in the 19^th century once so I know exactly what I’m talking about and you are so lucky we have 2016.” Stile continued to ramble. Apparently the Adderall wasn’t working yet.

“An entire paper?” Peter looked intrigued. “What class was it for? History?”

Stiles felt a blush rise on his cheeks. This was the embarrassing part of the story and the reason why he should think before he spoke.

“Uh, no, biology to be exact.” Even the tips of his ears turned red. “Please don’t ask, freshman and junior year were really weird. But I’m a senior now and that means I’m more mature now. I only wear sweatpants to school on Mondays and Fridays.” He tried to get Peter’s attention away from the embarrassment that was Stiles’ life.

“I never wore sweatpants to school.” Peter quirked an eyebrow. “But let me tell you a secret. When I work at home and have an online meeting with a work partner over a webcam I only wear my suit jacket, a nice dress shirt and a proper tie so I look professional and so they don’t know I’m walking around in sweatpants and barefoot all day. 90% of the time I have Pursephone on my lap and sometimes the TV is on but on silent because work can be really boring.”

Stiles stared at Peter for a second in shock, then he began to laugh.

“Oh my god.” He wheezed. “This is gold.”

“I have to warn you, should anyone find out, then you’ll have to pay for that because you’re the only one who knows, besides Pursephone.” Peter glared at him playfully and showed a little bit of fang.

“Aw, I’m flattered, fluffelbutt.” The omega cooed and tried to hide how flattered he really was, that Peter trusted him with such a small but meaningful detail of his life.

“Flufflebutt?” The alpha asked baffled with both of his eyebrows drawn together. “I’m an apex predator, I’m not a ‘fluffelbutt’!”

The human cracked up again and petted Peter’s cheek comfortingly.

“Sorry, but you were literally a huge, fluffy puppy last night. This whole apex predator thing isn’t going to work on my anymore, alpha.” He teased, but when Peter flashed his eyes his heart sped up a notch.

“Really?” Peter asked playfully around a mouth full of sharp teeth and Stiles stomach churned with excitement.

“Really, Flufflebutt.”

Chapter Text

When Peter had been 4 he had endlessly fallen in love with a book character. It had been the first book he had read on his own (a four hundred pages long German adventure book with a ton of fantasy creatures and an amazing story line that his oversea relatives had sent him), and the protagonist’s sidekick had won over Peter’s heart. It had been a male, little fairy with quick wit and a difficult temper and even though his German hadn’t been as fluent back then as it was now, he had been able to read it all by himself with the little help of a dictionary and occasionally his father.

He could remember how he had read the book over and over again, how he had known almost every word the little fairy spoke throughout the story and how he had written countless letters to the author, bugging her about a sequel.

He had been able to understand German, but it had been terribly hard to learn how to write it correctly with all the different articles and because everyday objects were sometimes masculine or feminine instead of a simple ‘it’ and not to mention the whole writing certain things with a capital letter in the front and other’s not or learning the weird ä,ö,ü and ß things that he hadn’t even known how to pronounce back then.

His father, the one who had been teaching him German since he was fluent in the language himself, had taken his time to read through every single one of Peter’s countless letters to check if they were in need of correcting in case Peter had switched to English in the middle of a sentence- even though that wouldn’t be bad because his German relatives had told him that it was common in their country to learn English and at least another foreign language in school- and had quickly realized that Peter had been crushing on the little fairy in the book called Schnak, inspired by the word ‘Schabernack’.

And Peter had been crushing hard. He had dreamed about the damn fairy, he had daydreamed about Schnak, drawn pictures, planned their marriage and repeatedly told his parents all about it.

It was a childhood crush but it was still the closest thing he had ever felt to love.

Well, he loved his parents, and most of his nieces and nephews, and a few of his siblings and most aunts and uncles, but it had been the closest thing he had felt to romantic love.

He didn’t really know what love someone romantically felt like and had yet to find a good description of it because most romance books were simply to cheesy, but he guessed that that, what he felt for Stiles was probably what being in love felt like.

He didn’t want to admit it but he had been charmed by the hyperactive, nonstop talking, sarcastic, loud and unbelievably intelligent omega the second he had first talked to him.

Peter had no problem admitting that he was attracted to someone physically and why should he, his taste was excellent, so he wasn’t ashamed to say that yes, Stiles’ appearance had attracted him the second he had bumped into him, but what Peter wasn’t willing to admit was the fact that he had fallen for Stiles. And he had fallen hard and deep.

If anybody would ask him, he would deny it to death, no matter what, but he couldn’t lie to himself anymore. Both his wolf and himself had imprinted on the omega and it took Peter’s entire self-control not to simply pull Stiles close to him and kiss the omega breathless just once.

He wanted to know if the plump, red lips were really as soft as they looked like and if his pink tongue was really as velvety as he fantasized in dirtiest dreams. God he couldn’t even remember how often he had woken up hard and frustrated with the phantom touch of a hot, velvet tongue licking his dick, lingering in his sleepy mind.

It didn’t really help that Peter hadn’t been able to have sex for the past few months. The last time he had satisfyingly fucked someone was the night before Derek’s birthday, before he had met Stiles and afterwards, after he hadn’t been able to kiss Will he hadn’t tried to pick someone up again. The memory of how guilty he had felt was still lingering in his mind and he couldn’t risk it again.

 A loud ringing noise cut through his train of thought and he cursed quietly, when he realized that he had apparently spaced out in typical Stiles fashion, because the omega stared at him with a highly amused look.

“Excuse me for a second, my dear.” He sighed and took his phone out of his pocket to see, who dared to disturb him during his time off. It was Jennifer, of course. Why did she have to be such an ambitious employee? She should slack a little bit, take some time off when Peter wasn’t there, and behave like a normal human being instead of a robot.

“Yes?” He asked only slightly annoyed, which usually had been enough to scare his former assistants, but not Jennifer, oh no, she didn’t give a shit.

“Sir, I’m sorry to disturb you, but I need to know if I shall take Persephone with me for the night in case that you won’t return today. She seems unhappy to be by herself and I fear she might destroy a few things when getting too bored.” Jennifer said easily, without caring that her boss was quite annoyed by her sudden phone call.

“Yeah, yeah, I won’t return today, take her with you and make sure that you-“But Peter was cut off before he had a chance to end his sentence.

“I know sir, I’ve already packed her favorite snacks, the pink feather toy, her pillow and the soft brushes so her fur stays smooth. And yes I wore a patch so my scent would be masked and already bought the scent erasing cat-shampoo so I can bath her when I bring her back.” Jennifer almost sounded a little annoyed that Peter doubted her cat sitting abilities, like he should know by now that she knew how to deal with the spoiled kitten.

“Alright,” He huffed and tried not to frown too much at the thought of Jennifer being that good with Persephone. He didn’t want to be his cat’s second favorite person in the world. “I’ll let you know when I’ll return to New York.” Peter hung up before Jennifer had a chance to answer. He unhappily admitted that perhaps she deserved a raise, because she had actually managed to endure Peter thrice as long as any of his former personal assistants.

“I hate her.” He sighed and his shoulders sagged when his phone beeped pitifully and showed him that his battery power was under 10%. Dammit.

“Phone battery running low?” Stiles asked knowingly and laughed at Peter’s unhappy huff. “Don’t worry flufflebutt, the Stilinski household is only interested in apple products, well aside from my Xbox One and my laptop, so I have at least five iPhone chargers in my room.”

“Only apple products? Are you an apple fanatic? Would I using everything but apple ultimately lead to the end of our…friendship?” He asked with faux seriousness and enjoyed the playful way Stiles’ eyes began to sparkle.

“Nah, I don’t think so, Acer is pretty rad too; their computers are awesome for gaming.” Stiles declared with a grin and motioned for Peter to follow him up the stairs. “I have to warn you, if you show up with anything Samsung related I might’ve to kick you out though.”

“I wouldn’t dare!” Peter said scandalized while his wolf preened smugly that they had pleased Stiles with something as simple as their choice regarding electronic devices. Sometimes he hated the stupid animal.

“Good.” Stiles laughed and opened the first door on the left, which lead apparently into the omega’s room. Only then did Peter realize that he was about to enter Stiles’ room. He would step into the boy’s personal space and get a very intimate and private glimpse of Stiles’ life. His wolf began to pace in the back of his mind, anxious and excited at the same time.

Peter stopped in the doorway for a second, not daring to take a breath and took in the room before him.

It was slightly messy with a couple of clothes laying around haphazardly on the floor and on the back of the bureau chair in front of a desk that was covered in all kinds of papers, there were a few empty packages of snacks on the dresser while the trash can was empty, the bed was barely made and the bookcase in the room was overflowing with all kinds of books which were all surprisingly organized and well taken care off. Well, except for a few school textbooks but Peter could understand that.

But most impressive were the many, many different things pinned to two of the walls. Pictures, printed pages, notes, some written with computer, some by a scrawling handwriting and all seemed to be somehow connected in a system without any kind of logic, or perhaps with a logic that only Stiles understood.

It made Peter smile a little and that smile only widened, when his eyes landed on the owner of the room again.

Stiles was halfway vanished underneath his bed, obviously looking for a charger and Peter couldn’t help but stare at the omega’s cute looking butt. Damn, he wanted to bite that ass, maybe spank it a little bit but preferably eat it out until Stiles was sobbing from ecstasy and pleasure.

He took a deep breath to calm himself, but it didn’t really help because he inhaled a high dose of Stiles’ scent and it immediately caused his eyes to flash and his fangs to drop. A low growl vibrated through his chest and he was so very glad that Stiles was human and couldn’t hear it because Peter should’ve better self-control by now.

But his wolf was going wild and he himself was equally as overwhelmed by the pure and unfiltered smell of unclaimed omega; of his mate. It smelled slightly stale like most teenage rooms smelled, probably because of the dirty laundry that had yet to be washed, but what really made Peter’s fangs drop was the sweet scent of Stiles’ arousal and undoubtedly the traces of the omega’s release.

Peter was barely able to stifle his groan and quickly tore his eyes away from Stiles’ ass, so he could gain a little control over himself again. He forced his fangs away, but it was impossible to stop his eyes from flashing.

He cleared his throat and tried to distract himself by inspecting the things pinned to the pale blue walls.

There were different topics, some regarding topics Peter had no clue about- such as video games- but other’s he was well informed about. There was a whole section about the myths of mermaids and whether or not they existed, then a theory about unicorns and their relationship to virgins and what exactly the word ‘virgin’ included in that matter and…

Peter’s eyebrows arched up on their own as he realized what most of the papers on the walls were about.

Werewolves.

He saw papers about pack dynamics, rituals, the Bite, medical aspects, weaknesses and strengths, the moon cycle and how exactly it influenced a wolf’s behavior and there was a lot about mates. Especially the mating process between a human and a wolf, how the courting worked, how affection was shown, the importance of scents and body contact, what certain kinds of touches meant in ‘werewolf language’ and there was even a very informative section about werewolf pregnancy and the raising of cubs.

It was almost like a big ‘Werewolf Guide’, spread out all over Stiles’ walls. Almost everything was correct, which was surprising, considered how little the supernatural shared with the rest of the world. Of course, there was a lot missing, but those were things even most weres didn’t know anymore.

Stiles must’ve spent many, many hours finding all these little details that even most young wolves didn’t know. Peter had a strong feeling that Stiles had become Cora or Derek’s barnacle and bugged them until they’d resigned them and given him every piece of information he wanted.

Peter’s wolf was howling in the back of his mind with happiness that they had such an intelligent mate, who informed himself about all aspects of the werewolf life, even about the carrying of cubs. Their mate was well prepared when the time came and they would breed their mate. Mate would take great care of their unborn cubs and once they were born, mate would know how to nurture and raise them.

‘Mate is smart, mate is good choice. Mate will give strong cubs, healthy cubs, cubs to continue Hale line.’ His wolf purred so happily that it momentarily caused Peter to feel absolutely blissful. His instincts were satisfied, his wolf was satisfied, he himself…wasn’t satisfied because he would never get the chance to actually claim Stiles as his mate.

But for a short moment he allowed himself the fantasy of being mated to Stiles, before he continued to snoop. Well, it wasn’t really snooping, he was merely looking around to get a glimpse on the omega’s personal life.

The papers on Stiles’ desk were mostly for school, he spotted some calculus, a few French grammar instructions, there were hastily scribbled notes on printed pages and a few chewed pens spread around.

One thing he found made him hesitate. There was a large book about law and different university brochure as well as a few incomplete university applications and an opened enveloped with a slightly sticking out letter which had a familiar label on top of it.

Peter frowned and picked it up, a little awed, definitely impressed and somehow smug because their mate was smart.

It was definitely a letter from the Columbia Law School and even though Peter respected Stiles’ privacy enough to refrain from reading the letter, the paper felt stiff and smooth. Definitely not the paper a university would use for a denial letter.

Underneath the envelope was Stiles’ last school report card as well as a note from the school regarding early graduation and exam days. With that GPA every university would probably accept the omega immediately.

“Do you plan on studying law?” Peter asked, while he put the papers back down and turned around to look at Stiles, who quickly scrambled out from where he had halfway vanished underneath his bed. He bumped his head in the process and cursed quietly, while rubbing the sore spot.

“Huh?” The omega seemed confused for a second, before he seemed to realize what Peter had found. A slight blush reddened the pale cheeks and Stiles began to bite his lip nervously. “Oh, yeah, either law or psychology. But I tend towards law mostly, people always say it’s such a boring and stiff subject, but I’m a good researcher and that comes in quite handy as a lawyer, with searching for the right paragraphs and looking for possible other paragraphs that could counter what I’m looking for. I think I might be the only person on this planet who reads through license agreements and all that stuff just for fun.”

Peter snorted slightly, he had once attempted to read through the stuff that he got sent whenever he downloaded something or made a software update and he had stopped after a paragraph because his brain had turned off immediately.

“I can see that,” He nodded to himself, because he knew that Stiles would be a very qualified lawyer. Probably an unbeatable one, perhaps Stiles shouldn’t major in criminology though, with his rambling he would probably admit that whoever he was defending was actually guilty. “I take that you got accepted by quite a few universities, especially with that flawless GPA?”

The flush on Stiles cheek only darkened. Oh boy, he looked delicious when flattered.

“Uh, I did but I’ll probably go to a community college or something first. Maybe a small college afterwards, something affordable, being sheriff doesn’t pay as well as it should and I don’t want to bother my dad financially too much.” The student shrugged nonchalantly, but Peter saw the hidden sadness underneath the mask of calm.

He frowned while he tried to ignore his wolf who clawed at his mind because of the unbearable urge needed to support their mate. Needed to spoil their omega, like every alpha would usually do. It was quite common for alphas to pay for their omega mate’s education. It didn’t have anything to do with power imbalance or an alpha ruling an omega’s life, it was simply a social norm that alphas were expected to spoil their mates even if the omega in question could’ve afforded it easily.

“But I don’t mind that much, it’ll give me the chance to stay close to home and my friends here. Scotty will probably go to a community college as well, his mom is only a nurse, and I can keep an eye on my dad’s diet so he doesn’t get a heart attack from all the greasy food he eats.” Stiles grinned, but it was obvious to Peter how much the omega worried about his dad’s health. He would make sure to listen to the Sheriff’s heartbeat the next time he saw him, just to make sure that there were no irregularities Stiles would’ve to worry about.

“I’m sure you’d make an excellent lawyer, especially in a tight suit, regardless which school you go to.” Peter smirked in a way that he knew could only be described as wolfish and was pleased with the way Stiles began to blush. He didn’t know why, but it somehow pleased him to see the slight tint of red on the omega’s cheeks, especially if it was caused by Peter’s compliments.

The omega’s scent turned light with happiness and suddenly a little sweet, almost like vanilla, maybe strawberries but at the same time it was heady, raw…Peter knew this smell. All omegas smelled good when they were aroused, but Stiles smelled exceptional and the alpha almost gave in to the temptation of simply pulling the omega close to kiss those plush lips.

“You’re such a flirt.” Stiles complained with a grin. “You could easily play one of the sappy TV-Show alphas. Perhaps a cocky doctor who is sleeping with all the pretty beta nurses and flirts with everything that has a nice face and a pair of bouncing boobs.”

“Oh yes, I can see that. I’d make an excellent doctor, I’d look great in a white lab coat.” Peter played along and decided to paint the picture further, just to humor Stiles. “But don’t forget the most important part of these TV-Shows, the Mary Sue type of omega with a very low self-esteem, a heart made out of gold, a gift when it comes to handling kids and is, of course, a hopeless romantic, dreaming about meeting the one special alpha who will fulfill their every wish.”

“Right, how could I forget?” Stiles laughed. “And of course the omega is a female and a nurse and the doctor immediately starts flirting with her because she’ll be his newest conquest, but she knows he isn’t sincere so she refuses. That doesn’t change the fact that she’s attracted to him and eventually falls in love with him when she notices that underneath all the alpha-testosterone exterior he is a very sensible family guy with a soft heart. She’ll probably find out by watching him save a child or a puppy.”

“Ah, yes, of course. And then something tragic happens to the omega and of course, he’s the doctor who saves her life or he falls ill and she’s sitting by his bedside and nurses him back to health. And they realize how much they’re in love with each other, get married almost instantly and then the omega pops out two to three children and they live the family dream.” Stiles fake sighed wistfully. “What a beautiful story.”

Peter huffed out a laugh and shook his head. “Perhaps you should write sappy rom-coms instead of studying law. I’ve got a feeling that you’d do an exceptional job, I’m talking Hallmark movie levels, the real deal.”

“Asshole.” Stiles snorted and playfully hit Peter’s upper arm. “I’d make an exceptional rom-com script writer. I could even turn this into a rom-com. You do fit the flirty asshole alpha role after all. And I, the inexperienced omega I am, fall for your charms immediately but only because I’ve seen the way you are with your family. This is great stuff, somebody call Hallmark, we have their next Christmas special!”

Peter smirked slightly and looked at Stiles with a challenging arched eyebrow.

“I’m starting to get the feeling that you’re actually quite fond of Hallmark movies.” He teased and to his delight Stiles heartbeat stuttered and the boy’s cheeks heated up.

“Shut up.” Stiles protested and crossed his arms over his chest.

“I don’t hear you denying it.” Peter continued with a grin. He found great pleasure in teasing the omega, some people might call it pigtail pulling, but Peter was an adult, he was too dignified for pulling pigtails…mostly.

Stiles worried his lip between his teeth and scowled at Peter. “So what, everybody has a guilty pleasure.” He sniffed, faux upset and held his chin high, “I bet you’re not only watching documentaries either!”

A laugh escaped Peter’s throat and he decided that, since he knew about Stiles’ guilty pleasure, it was only fair for him to share his own.

“I might as well admit to it…” He sighed and lowered his voice slightly. “I’m actually a big fan of trash reality TV. I know the names of every Kardashian, love watching The Real Housewives of whatever, am a sucker for anything with scandal and family drama and on my rare days off I watch Hoarders while eating breakfast, without throwing up.”

Stiles eyed him with a mixture of amusement and disgust.

“You can watch Hoarders while eating breakfast?” The omega pulled a grimace. “You disgust me.” There was a laugh in his voice though, so Peter didn’t take his words too seriously.

“Perhaps, at least I don’t swoon while watching cocky alphas find their one true love in a holiday themed romance movie.” He teased right back and got a soft punch on his upper arm for that.

“I don’t swoon. Also, shouldn’t you be more anxious? I’m pretty sure that there was The Bachelor on TV last night and you still don’t know who didn’t get a rose this time.”

Peter frowned, he had indeed forgotten about that. It had been the half finale already and he only hoped that Jennifer had remembered to record it for him.

“C’mon alpha, we can watch the re-run while you let your phone charge.” Stiles held up the found phone charger and grabbed Peter’s hand to pull him downstairs. “While I’m not that big of a fan of reality TV I’m still waiting for Judy to get kicked out. She’s a real bitch.”

Peter laughed while he allowed the omega to drag him along. He felt the same way about Judy.

-

After they’d watched the half finale rerun and complained loud and long about how Judy hadn’t been kicked out after all, they went down the spiral to hell that was a trash TV-marathon. Most romantic trash-TV shows resolved around beta couples, including The Bachelor, simply because Alpha and Omega couples were spoken holy by most societies, including the American one and therefore too precious to be mocked by shitty TV-Shows.

They had started out sitting together on the couch with a comfortable amount of space between them but due to Stiles flailing and a short fight over the TV remote the omega had ended up halfway sprawled over Peter’s lap, head resting on the alpha’s shoulder and one of Peter’s arms around his waist.

Peter had no idea how they went from sitting next to each other to almost cuddling, but he wasn’t complaining. Not when he had such an adorable boy in his lap and the sweet scent of mate and omega in his nose. He enjoyed the way his left arm was wrapped around Stiles’ slim waist and how his hand was resting on the teenager’s stomach, one finger grazing bare skin, he couldn’t get enough of the way Stiles’ was relaxed, pliant and peaceful, and his wolf took great pleasure in the easy way Stiles was baring his neck at Peter, like he had unconsciously accepted him as his alpha and trusted the predator fully to keep him save and not harm him.

And Peter would, keep Stiles safe. He would do everything in his power to ensure that the boy would be protected from every possible kind of harm.

The alpha was enjoying the peaceful and somehow intimate atmosphere so much that he didn’t notice the oncoming doom until said doom stood in the living room doorway, one hand on his gun and a thunderous expression on his face that promised Peter that his chances of being shot today were currently very high.

How big were the chances that the bullets the gun was currently loaded with had wolfsbane in them? A regular bullet Peter could take without blinking, wolfsbane wouldn’t be much fun though… He believed that the Sheriff had enough of a conscience that he would be willing to give Peter the antidote before he could actually die from wolfsbane poisoning, but he not without letting him suffer for a long time.

“Hello Sheriff.” Peter greeted the man easily and noticed unhappily how the hand that hoovered over the gun twitched.

Luckily they were distracted by Stiles’ flailing, who had finally realized that his father had entered the room, just to find his son sitting on an alpha’s lap.

“Dad!” Stiles almost shouted and flailed so hard that his elbow hit Peter square on the nose. The crack that echoed through the room startled the poor omega even more so that his quick moving hand slapped Peter across the cheek as well.

For a second everyone in the room was absolutely frozen in shock, then chaos erupted.

“Oh my god!” Stiles shrieked, close to hysterics and jumped from Peter’s lap, his knee punching all the most painful spots possible and Peter groaned quietly in pain.

“Your nose!” The omega exclaimed, obvious to the fact that he had could’ve caused a weak human male to lose all his potency. “You’re bleeding.”

Only then did Peter notice that he was, in fact, bleeding. Warmth was running out of his nose, over his lips and dangerously close to dripping on his clean shirt. It was a designer shirt, he would not risk ruining it with blood, not now that it was deliciously soaked in Stiles scent.

“May I ask for a tissue?” He asked with a polite smile, while getting up and holding a hand in front of his nose. There was no reason to scare the omega with the sight of blood, not when he already felt his body healing. He would’ve to straighten his nose before it healed uneven so he wouldn’t have to break it again. “And perhaps a mirror?”

Sheriff Stilinski stared wide eyed at Peter, before his eyes wandered to Stiles, who was still freaking out. For half a second the man seemed speechless, then his lips curled up ever so slightly and he left the room, mumbling how he would be right back. Peter could hear him chuckle in the kitchen.

“We need to get you to the hospital, please don’t sue me, I can’t believe this, I broke your nose. Oh my god, I’m the worst.” Stiles ranted quietly, almost talking more to himself than to Peter.

“Stiles,” The alpha interrupted and put a hand on Stiles neck to calm the boy down. The effect was immediate, the omega froze and then slumped slightly against Peter. “Please calm down, it was an accident and my body is almost done healing. I just need to make sure that my nose is still straight and then it’s all fine.” He tried to smile reassuringly but it didn’t really seem to chase away the worry in Stiles’ eyes. Perhaps the reason was because there was still fresh blood on his lips.

“But you’re hurt!” The teenager protested weakly and there was a slight wetness in his large doe eyes. Seeing him so close to tears was worse than a broken nose could ever be.

“Darling, I want you to listen to me very carefully, alright?” Peter asked quietly and pulled the omega closer until they were almost breathing the same air. “This was an accident, you didn’t mean to do it and I’m not angry with you. I’ll be as good as new in less than a minute.” The thumb resting on the soft skin of Stiles’ throat was moving in slow circles and it seemed to work, if only slightly.

“I’m still sorry.” The omega mumbled quietly while he leant forward and buried his face in the soft material of Peter’s shirt, to hide his face from the alpha.

“Even though there’s nothing to be forgive, would it make you feel better if I said that I forgive you?” Peter asked and got a tiny nod in return. “Alright, then I forgive you, dearest one.” He pressed a soft kiss on the crown of the boy’s head and enjoyed the scent that filled his nose for a peaceful second.

The clearing of a throat startled them both and Stiles head snapped up so quickly that he almost hit Peter’s nose again. But the wolf had learned from his earlier mistake and quickly moved out of harm’s way.

“Here.” Sheriff Stilinski had a damp cloth with him. “There’s a mirror in the bathroom down the hall but your nose looks like it healed fine.”

“Thank you very much, Sheriff.” Peter said politely and took the offered cloth before he left the room to take a look at his now fully healed nose. The bright light of the bathroom made him look a little macabre with the dried blood on the lower half of his face. A few drops had rolled down his neck and if it weren’t for him wearing preferably V-necks, then his shirt would’ve been ruined.

But as it was it simply took a few wipes with the wet cloth and the red traces vanished from his skin. His nose looked indeed like it had healed perfectly, but when he touched it he felt a slight bump. With a sight he used his bloodied hand and enough strength to break it again so it could grow together smoothly without any long lasting traces.

It began to bleed again, but this time the cloth prevented the blood from spreading too much. It took barely a minute then the bleeding had stopped and his nose was healed. Quickly he washed away all remaining blood from his hands and face, before he threw the bloodied cloth in the hamper and dried his hands off.

He had been so focused on his broken nose that he hadn’t listened to the conversation Stiles had with his father. Now he regretted it.

“Is he the one who courts you?” Sheriff Stilinski asked and Peter’s eyes widened. Had he been so obvious? Were his intentions so clear that even Stiles father had noticed it even before Peter himself had known what he unconsciously did?

“He isn’t courting me, dad. We’re just friends.” Stiles protested quickly and Peter could imagine all too well how prettily the omega blushed.

The Sheriff was silent for a second, then he sighed exasperatedly. “Stiles, you were sitting on his lap, cuddling. That’s not what ‘just friends’ do.” The man’s voice sounded fond but also slightly concerned.

“I’m cuddling with Scott all the time.” Stiles protested and the alpha knew that the boy had crossed the arms in front of his chest and jutted his chin out in protest. When had he gotten so close to Stiles that he could predict his body language?

“Yes and Melissa and I were sure that you two would end up being mates until Allison came along. And as far as I know you two have got a pretty platonic relationship going, but this was different,” The Sheriff sighed again but this time his voice was soft and emotional. “Stiles, you were purring.” He added and silence settled over the room.

Well not silence because Peter could hear how Stiles’ heartbeat skyrocketed so quick that he almost worried the omega would have a heart attack.

“Well, maybe I did but that doesn’t matter,” Stiles eventually broke the silence. “Peter doesn’t feel about me that way. He doesn’t want a mate and I know that so… it doesn’t matter how I feel, he would never feel the same.”

John Stilinski was silent for a moment and then laughed quietly.

“Oh son, for someone as smart as you, you can be painfully oblivious sometimes.” The Sheriff laughed again. “Son, you broke his nose and he wasn’t even annoyed with you, instead he tried to calm you down because you freaked out. I’ve seen enough lovesick alphas in my life to know that he’s basically head over heels for you, even if he has a hard time admitting it.”

John Stilinski was sharper than Peter had anticipated, if he could read him that easily.

“So, are you angry?” Stiles wanted to know after another second of silence. “He’s uh, a little bit older than me…”

Ah yes, the age difference. While it didn’t seem to bother Stiles much, Peter could hardly imagine that the boy’s father felt the same way.

“Well, there were quite a few years between your mother and I… and I’d rather you be with someone who treats you right, regardless of the age difference, then with someone your age who hurts your feelings.” The Sheriff said slowly. “Also, I’ve seen how he eyed my gun, he won’t dare to disrespect you. A healthy dose of fear for the soon to be father in law is always good. Your mother’s father cleaned his gun at the kitchen table the first time I was invited for dinner.”

“Oh God dad!” Stiles protested with a shocked voice. “You won’t give him a shovel talk anytime soon and put your gun away before you scare him off! We’re not even together and you’re already talking about stuff like being a father in law. What’s next, are you making a schedule when you can hang out with your grandkids?”

“Well, I’d prefer it if you two wait until you’re out of college with the whole kids thing but I’m not opposed to becoming a grandfather anytime soon.” John Stilinski mused, apparently to tease his son, but his heartbeat said that he indeed didn’t lie. He would be alright with Peter being Stiles mate and with Peter being the father of his grandchildren.

That was too much for Peter and he had to sit down on the edge of the bathtub because his knees weakened all of sudden.

“I can’t believe you, you’re ridiculous old man!” Stiles laughed with a snort, but clothes rustled and it sounded like he was hugging his father tightly. “Still thank you, even though you won’t be getting any grandkids in the next few years, I’m far too young to be a dad!”

Stiles wanted to have kids with Peter, at least some day. He was accepting Peter as a mate, Peter’s feelings weren’t unrequited…

“Don’t let the man wait too long, he isn’t getting any younger.” Sheriff Stilinski said to his son and patted Stiles on the head.

“Nah, he’s a werewolf, he’s aging so slowly that he’ll probably look like he’s in his twenties for the next thirty years or so.” Stiles laughed before his heartbeat stuttered. “He’s a werewolf…and that means…” The omega groaned. “That means he’s heard every word I just said.” There was a hint of anger in his words but Peter was still too stunned to worry about that now.

Instead he listened to how Stiles stomped down the hallway, stopped in front of the small bathroom and then pushed the door open so forcefully that it hit against the wall with a loud bang.

“Didn’t your parents tell you not to eavesdrop? That’s just rude!” Stiles accused but his angry and embarrassed expression vanished once he looked at the alpha.

Peter could barely imagine how he must look, open mouthed, stunned with wide eyes and possibly sickly pale skin, sitting on the edge of the bathtub because he had been so overwhelmed by Stiles’ words that his knees had gone weak.

Stiles blinked at him in confusion and crossed the arms over his chest.

“What? Why are you looking like that?” The omega grumbled slightly, not sounding angry anymore, instead he sounded a little ashamed.

“You want to…have kids with me?” Peter asked and was surprised at how raw and weak his voice sounded.

Stiles began to squirm while his cheeks flushed a bright red. “Damn those wolfy advantages.” He grumbled under his breath before he sighed and nodded slightly. “There might’ve been the one or other fantasy that included you being the father of my future children.”

Peter swallowed, his throat suddenly too tight and too dry for him to speak loudly.

“So does that mean that you wouldn’t be opposed to me courting you?” He asked, just to make sure that he understood the situation correctly.

Stiles huffed and looked away, but he couldn’t hide the flush that was spreading over his entire face and down his neck. “I wouldn’t mind it.”

“But would you welcome it?” Peter had to make sure that Stiles wanted this, that the omega would be happy if he would start courting him.

For a second Stiles seemed baffled by the question.

“Are you serious?” The boy then exploded and stared at Peter in disbelief. “Have you seen yourself? I’d give up my soul for you to court me, you’re like the alpha of my dreams!” He began to babble while he gestured wildly. “You’re seriously asking me if I would welcome you courting me? Isn’t the answer obvious?”

Peter was silent for a long moment. He knew that he was attractive, all Hales were looking great, and he knew that it tended to draw other people in, especially omegas. That and his obvious wealth, but these things were unimportant, it was his personality that would drive them all away sooner or later. He was an asshole after all, no matter how charming he was. Talia’s words were too fresh in his memory, too clear to just forget them. She had always said that his face was the only thing that could make people like him, at least until they found out what was behind his charming smiles. Then they would run.

“Stiles, I’m not…I’m not a good person. You shouldn’t… you could find someone much better than me.” It physically pained him to say these words, even though they were the truth. “My appearance is one thing but I’m a dick with a shitty personality and you’re so kind. Too kind, I would ruin you.”

The flush had vanished from Stiles’ cheeks and instead they were sickly pale now. His doe eyes were opened wide and his mouth had dropped open.

‘That’s it, he finally realized what we are.’ The alpha thought to himself and tried to ignore how his wolf yowled in pain. Stiles would leave them, before they could even call the omega theirs.

“Who said that?” Stiles words were seething with anger. “Who told you that the only positive thing about you is your face?” The omega had his hands balled to tight fists and was shaking with rage. He looked like an angry little kitten. It almost made Peter smile, almost.

“Stiles-“ He tried but he was cut off.

“Don’t Stiles me!” The omega hissed and stepped closer until he was standing right in front of the alpha. Now that Peter was sitting he had to look up to make eye contact with the teenager in front of him. It was an interesting change of perspective.

“It’s true that you’re pretty, beautiful even, but that’s not even close to being the best part of you. In fact it’s not even in the top twenty. And maybe your smile makes all omegas swoon, but I didn’t fall in love with your ridiculously attractive smile. I fell in love with you because you’re probably the kindest person I know, and believe me I’m surrounded with kind people, Scott and Derek are almost obnoxiously kind.” Stiles was still looking ridiculously enraged. “Also you’re hilarious and you always listen to me even though I’m known to ramble a lot. Not even my own dad manages to actively pay attention to my endless monologues. I’ve seen the way you adore your family and how you try to be there for them whenever they need you,”

Stiles took a deep breath and rubbed a shaky hand over his face.

“And you’re so unbelievably smart. I’m constantly amazed by all the things you know, and how you seem to seek out knowledge because you have fun in knowing all there is to know about almost everything that captures your interest. And you love books almost as much as you love your relatives, which is pretty hilarious but at the same time so endearing because your whole face is lighting up when you open a book you haven’t read yet.”

There was no way he could stop Stiles now.

“And you’re so quick witted and sarcastic, I’ve never had so much fun talking to another person. You challenged me and I can’t wait to talk to you every day because you never fail to make me smile with your teasing remarks. And you’re never running out of patience with me even when I annoy you with my insecurities and you have to tell me for the hundredths time that I’m not an ugly duckling or some kind of omega spaz who’ll never find an alpha.” Stiles took a deep breath to continue, but Peter’s brain was still hung up on the ‘in love’ part so he quickly put a hand over the omega’s mouth to catch up with everything that had been said in the last minute.

“You’re in love with me?” he asked, just to make sure that he hadn’t heard wrong.

The omega huffed and batted the hand away that was still preventing him from speaking.

“Really, that’s all you’ve gotten from my rant?”

“No,” Peter shook his head slowly, still feeling a little dizzy. “but you must forgive me, I’m slightly overwhelmed, I had never imagined someone could see me so positively.”

“And always the perfect gentleman, you’re literally driving me insane here. I swear to god, the number of times you would’ve triggered my heat if it weren’t for my suppressants is growing by the hour, you giant puppy!” Stiles sighed and smiled slightly. “You’ve seen my obsessive research about werewolves and their mating habits, I tried to gather as much knowledge as I could so I could be a good mate for you. If there was the slightest chance that you would ever consider courting me, I wanted to be prepared and prove to you that I could be perfect for you. Well, perhaps not perfect but good enough.”

“Don’t ever sell yourself short.” Peter’s brain was back on track and his heart clenched painfully at the thought of Stiles’ insecurity. “If my wolf had gotten its way I would’ve claimed you right then and there the first time we talked to each other. I had to fight it with all my self-control so it wouldn’t take over and try to make you ours. The way you smelled, the way you looked at me and how you always moved when you talked to me; it drove me insane. I wanted you from that first second on, my wolf and I both knew that you were perfect. Are perfect.” His words were little more than a whisper, but they stood so closely to each other that even the human had no problem hearing him. “You’re constantly testing my self-control. I wanted you to be mine from the moment I first saw you. Even though I tried to fight it for so long I couldn’t bear to not talk to you.”

“And now? Are you still fighting it?” Stiles asked quietly, his words breathless and filled with anticipation.

Peter smiled slightly. There was a hurricane of emotions inside him and his wolf was paying rapid attention to everything that happened, anxious to finally show Stiles how much he meant to both of them. The animal was purring in delight.

“No, I’ve given up, for the first time in my life I’ve given up a fight. Mainly because I wanted to lose it anyways. I’m a selfish creature, I didn’t want to lose you, a life without your terrible dog jokes seemed like a nightmare to me. I tried to resent you for the fact that you made me fall for you so quickly and for the fact that I had to fight my wolf, my best friend, for such a long fight because the damn animal wouldn’t stop insisting that you were our mate. But I couldn’t, I already loved you too much.”

“Peter…” Stiles whispered wide eyed and swallowed heavily. The omega’s eyes were brimming with happiness and wonder and the scent pouring off the teenager was so sweet and wonderful that it made the alpha’s head spin.

And then the boy surged forward and pressed his lips against Peter’s so forcefully that the man lost his balance and fell backwards into the bathtub.

The back of his head hit painfully against the faucet and Stiles’ forehead knocked against his freshly healed nose. Both groaned in pain and Stiles quickly sat back, trying to untangle their limbs so Peter could get out of his cramped position.

“Oh my god.” Stiles mumbled weakly and hid his face behind his hands, shame pouring off of him.

“Are you alright, I heard a crash and…” in that moment Sheriff Stilinski entered the bathroom, looking equal parts curious as well as exasperated. When he saw them tangled up in the bathtub, Stiles still flailing around and Peter numb from the excruciating pain that spread from the spot where his skull had connected with the surprisingly hard faucet, the man began to laugh.

“Dad!” wailed Stiles in embarrassed agony while his hands fluttered uselessly over Peter’s shoulders, apparently trying to check if the alpha was alright. “Oh my god, Peter! You’re bleeding again!”

‘Oh great.’ Stiles had broken his nose again then, three times in one day, twice accidental and one time on purpose, a new record, even for Peter.

He lifted a hand to check if his nose was growing back together straight, slightly surprised that it didn’t even hurt half as much as it had the first time. Perhaps he got used to it.

“Not your nose! Your head. Oh my god did I crack your skull open? Do we need to go to the hospital?” The omega seemed sick with worry and Peter’s first instinct was to calm him down.

“No need darling, head wounds always look more serious than they are, I will heal. But would you get me the cloth? It should be in the hamper and I would hate to bleed all over your bathroom.” He asked Stiles with a pained smile. He didn’t mind the wound too much, he was much angrier about the fact that his own idiocy had destroyed the kiss before he had even gotten the chance to enjoy it.

“Of course, of course!” Stiles quickly got out of the bathtub to look for the already bloody cloth.

Now that he had more space, Peter used the chance to sit up and climb out of the tub as well, so he could straighten his clothes. He could still hear John chuckling in the hallway.

“Here, turn around and let me see how bad it is.” Stiles had the cloth in his hand, a little wetter than it was before, with a determined expression on his face that made clear that he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“Alright, but don’t faint. If you hit your head we will have to go to the hospital and then we would miss out lunch. I make a mean steak and I can hear your stomach rumbling.” Peter sighed and turned around, showing his already healing head wound to Stiles, who breathed in sharply.

“That looks really bad, are you sure that you’ll be fine? You should’ve a concussion at least! And it looks like you need quite a few stitches.”

The alpha sighed and grabbed the cloth that was pressed to the wound so he could turn around to face Stiles.

“I’m fine darling. I’m an alpha werewolf, I’ve had worse injuries from play fights with my siblings when we were kids.” There was a slight hint of annoyance in his voice that was directed at himself because he had messed up Stiles’ first kiss.

“You sound angry with me.” The omega mumbled quietly and played with the hem of his shirt.

‘This boy…’ For once the wolf agreed with him.

“I’m angry with myself because I messed up your first kiss.” He put his free hand underneath Stiles’ chin so he could lift it up to look into the omega’s large doe eyes. “But I intend to make up for it.”

This time, he took the initiative and kissed the plump, red lips before Stiles had the chance to start worrying again.

It was better than Peter had imagined.

Stiles mouth was soft and pliant, tasting like sugar, honey and something so uniquely Stiles that Peter was already addicted. He couldn’t get enough of it and used the surprised gasp from the boy to sneak his tongue into the soft mouth, chasing after his sudden addiction.

He couldn’t control his growl when his own tongue met Stiles’ velvety one and the answering whimper he got from the omega only spurred him on to deepen the kiss.

The hand that was laying on Stiles jaw snuck around the boy’s neck to pull him even closer and his eyes dropped shut almost automatically. He felt how Stiles grabbed Peter’s shirt with both hands to have something he could hold onto.

Before this kissing had been something necessary but not really enjoyable for Peter. They were needed so he could get his partners into bed and aroused. He had never enjoyed them, the taste they left behind had always been repulsive to him, the texture of lips colored with lipstick or without had always felt wrong and it had caused him to feel uncomfortable. He had never minded giving his family kisses on the cheek, on the forehead and their hair, it was normal for wolves to be close to each other, but kisses on the lips were something entirely different.

Now he saw the appeal and he feared that he was hopelessly addicted. If kissing Stiles always felt this good then he would never want to go a day, or even an hour without kissing the omega.

Apparently the boy felt the same way because he kissed back just as enthusiastically and was basically purring in delight in a way only omegas could purr. It caused Peter’s chest to rumble, content that their mate felt this happy from a simple kiss.

Yes, Stiles was clumsy, his lips were moving slightly helpless and he tried to imitate the movements of Peter’s tongue, it was obvious that this was his first kiss, but that made it even more perfect. It may have been Stiles’ first kiss, but for Peter it was also a first; it was the first kiss he had enjoyed.

Eventually they had to break the kiss though, because air was sadly a necessity and Stiles was giving off so many pheromones that Peter worried he could’ve triggered the omega’s heat or that he would unexpectedly fall into rut, no matter the suppressants he took.

One last time he chased after the taste of warm honey, then he pulled back.

With delight he noticed that Stiles chased after his lips, before the omega also opened his eyes. They were slightly clouded with lust and his pupils were so large that Peter could barely see the small ring of warm gold around them.

He felt his eyes flash a bright, vivid red and when he saw the answering, light purple in Stiles’ eyes his wolf waggled its tail happily. He lost enough of his self-control to surge forward and steal another kiss from the omega, before he forced himself to take a step back so he could take a deep breath without inhaling a potent dose of omega pheromones.

His eyes were still bleeding red and at the sight of Stiles’ slightly swollen, cherry red lips, he knew that they would take quite a few minutes to return to their usual blue.

“Wow.” Stiles said then, breathless and slightly unsteady. “That was, wow.” The omega shook his head slowly, almost as if in trance. “We need to do that again, and soon, preferably now but I think I might pass out of you kiss me like that again and we’ve had far too many household related injuries for one day already. Are you still bleeding?”

Peter took the cloth away and checked the back of his head. The wound had closed and he couldn’t even feel a scar anymore. The few strands of dried blood were the only indication that he had even hit his head. That and the blood on the faucet of the bathtub.

“No, I’m fine. More than fine actually.” He smiled, feeling lighter than he had ever before in his life. He felt like he could fly if he were to run quick enough, that it would only take a few long strides in his wolf form and his paws would leave the ground. This must be how drugs made humans feel like, he could understand the addiction; he was already mourning the moment the high he was on would fade. But he knew that all it took was to steal another kiss from his omega and then he would feel like this again. If this was what a simple kiss was like, how would it be when their relationship took a much more intimate turn? What would it be like to bite Stiles finally?

He shuddered in anticipation and fear. It scared him how much Stiles could influence him but at the same time it excited him too much to ever give this up. Stiles was his and he wouldn’t let the boy go, at least not until Stiles had decided he had had enough of Peter and found himself someone more fitting. It would destroy Peter, that was for sure, but he would’ve to deal with that when the time came.

“I don’t want to intrude but I think I heard something about lunch and steak being on the menu.” Sheriff Stilinski appeared in the doorway of the bathroom, looking ecstatic.

“What?” Stiles was still slightly dazed, but then he seemed to realize what his father was saying. “No way, you’re not getting steak, you have to look out for your cholesterol. I know about the donuts you’re sneaking at the station!”

“Stiles, I think I deserve a steak, after all I found my unclaimed omega son in the lap of an unmated alpha twice his age, if that didn’t give me a heart attack, a single steak won’t do it either.” The Sheriff said with a wide grin, enjoying the advantage he had.

The omega contemplated those words for a moment, then he huffed.

“Fine, one steak! But I’ll make sure that we’ll have lots of veggies on the side! And you’ll eat salad and no coffee for the next week!” Stiles eventually compromised with a grim look on his face.

Peter listened with sharp ears to the sound of John’s heart. It didn’t sound too unhealthy, perhaps a little bit strained but Stiles worry about his father suffering from a heart attack wasn’t justified. The man smelled healthy enough and even the slight strain of his heart was quite usual for men John’s age.

Still, Peter’s cousin was an excellent cardiologist who was almost a celebrity in his field and the best of the best. He would make sure to get John an appointment next week so he could be checked through. There was no need to risk anything and if it turned out that there was something wrong Peter wouldn’t hesitate to offer the Sheriff the bite. He would do anything to protect Stiles from emotional and physical pain.

“Fine.” John agreed and watched with a smile how his son stomped into the kitchen to find the ingredients for healthy side dishes.

Peter threw the bloodied cloth into the hamper a second time and wanted to follow Stiles into the kitchen already, when the Sheriff stopped him.

Immediately Peter’s gaze hushed to the gun attached to the man’s hip, which caused John to laugh quietly.

“No need to worry, I just wanted to say one thing,” Stiles father said with a slight grin on the thin lips.

‘This is it, he’ll give me the shovel talk’ Peter thought with a mixture of amusement and a healthy amount of….respect. It wasn’t fear, and even if it was, it was totally justified.

“I know that you’re one of the Hales and I know that the Hales are very traditional when it comes to courting so I know that you’ll probably want to ask for my permission to court my son.”

Peter nodded silently. While it didn’t mean as much as it had in the past, he still felt like he needed to get the parental approval of his intended mate before he started the official courting.

“Make sure that I get a large piece of meat and I’ll give you my permission.” John said quietly with a stern look that made it clear that this was nothing Stiles should find out.

“Yes, Sir.” Peter felt slightly ridiculous. He was an alpha and Sheriff Stilinski was a beta, how was it that he still felt so much respect for the man? Perhaps it was the alpha personality the Sheriff seemed to carry. Weird.

“Call me John, son. And wash that blood out of your hair before you start cooking, it looks like someone tried to murder you.” There was a grin on the man’s face, he obviously enjoyed the whole ‘intimidating dad’ act.

“Yes, John.” His wolf rumbled, happy that they had gained the permission to court their future mate for the small price of angering Stiles about the Sheriff’s diet. It still wouldn’t stop Peter from getting John the appointment at his cousin’s clinic, an appointment people usually had to wait months, maybe even a year for.

“Dad, stop terrorizing Peter! Or I’ll make sure that you’ll get a nice tofu steak instead of the real thing.” Stiles called in that moment.

“I’m not terrorizing him.” John grumbled and left the bathroom, but not without throwing one last, long look at Peter. What had John called it again? A healthy amount of fear for the future in laws, Peter definitely had that now.

The Sheriff was a terrifying man.

Peter felt a grin pull at his lips. Still, he had gained the man’s approval. He had never felt as great as he had in this moment, even though his feelings were comparable with the ones of a lovesick teenager.

It should disgust him, but he was far too happy.

Chapter Text

“So Peter,“ John began, while cutting into his steak “what is it exactly you earn your money with? I couldn’t help but notice your car outside. I hope it’s acquired legally.”

“Oh my God, dad!” Stiles protested and for a second Peter worried he would choke on his food, but the omega swallowed effortlessly “Peter made us food, stop trying to interrogate him!”

“Stiles, I’m your father, it’s my duty to interrogate the alpha who courts you.” John focused his gaze once more on Peter. “I may have given you my permission to court my son but that doesn’t mean I’ll not look up your records as soon as I’m at the station. So you better answer all my questions truthfully.”

“Of course.” Peter tried not to grin. He had nothing to worry about, his records were absolutely clean, not even a parking or speeding ticket, he was pure innocence. Well, less pure innocence and more smart enough not to get caught and powerful enough to get away without as much as a few speeding tickets.

“So Peter, your job. It looks like you’re financially able to take good care of Stiles.”

The omega gasped outraged and grumbled something about not needed someone to take care of him.

“I lead Alpha Industries.” Out of the corner of his eye he saw Stiles’ mouth drop open. Oh yes, Stiles had been under the assumption that Peter was just an employee there. “We’re a multinational conglomerate financial company but our headquarters are in New York City. Our main company wholly holds as well as partially owns some of the biggest American companies. We have a large amount of subsidiary companies which cover everything from publishing firms to airlines and fashion brands. These subsidiary companies are led by other family members, so you could describe it as a family business.” Peter explained easily. “The founder was one of my direct ancestors and it has been passed down for generations and once my father decided to retire he passed it on to me. I always thought Derek would eventually take my place since the chances of me having children was very slim, but it seems like I have to rethink that now.” He mumbled, distracted by his own thoughts. If Stiles and he were to have kids he would’ve a successor. Derek wasn’t really made to take over Peter’s position anyways, he was too soft.

Stiles and John were staring at him wide eyed for a few seconds, then the Sheriff coughed and nodded, apparently satisfied.

“Good, good. Will you be able to concentrate on your family if you have to worry about such an important job? It sounds like you spend a lot of time at work.” John sounded doubtful.

“I have to admit that I am a workaholic, but simply because I don’t have much else waiting for me at home. My father raised five children while managing the company, I think I’ll be able to do so as well.” Peter added, just to calm his possible future father in law a little bit.

“But you live in New York, how do you plan on courting my son? And what about once you’re mated? He’ll graduate half a year early and then go to college, I doubt you could move to somewhere like Berkeley that easily.” The Sheriff continued his interrogation.

This time Peter hesitated, he hadn’t told Stiles about his plan yet and wasn’t sure how the omega would react. The poor boy was already staring at him wide eyed and slack mouthed, obviously speechless, which was worrying.

“I haven’t had a chance to talk to Stiles about this but I planned on spending the remaining time until Thanksgiving here in Beacon Hills so I could court him properly. And I wanted to ask for your permission to take him to New York City over Thanksgiving so he could take a look at the Columbia University, it’s one of the best universities in the US and I thought that perhaps he’d like it and decide to study there.” Peter felt a little unsure, he didn’t know how excited John would be about the idea of his son living across the country with an older alpha. “Should he become my mate I’ll be the one to finance his education.”

But John didn’t look angry or displeased, instead he looked confused.

“I have heard about Alphas financing their omegas, at least the traditional ones. But I thought you hadn’t gotten into Columbia.” The Sheriff looked at his son, who turned his gaze away guiltily. “Stiles?”

The omega huffed and pushed his plate away.

“Columbia is expensive, so are most of the universities I applied for. I’m not doing any sports so I’ll probably not get a scholarship, I know you would never allow me to take a bank credit so I could pay for university myself and I didn’t want to bother you with the large student loans.” Stiles then admitted quietly. “I didn’t know that I’d find a potential mate before I was done with High School so I decided to focus on a community college or Berkeley.”

“Stiles,” The man sighed. “it’s not your job to worry about finances, I’m the adult, I’m the parent, not you.” John looked at Peter again. “I’m not very familiar with Alpha-Omega relationships, especially the more traditional ones so there might be a few things I don’t know about yet, some traditions that are foreign to me, but I like what I’ve seen so far. I think it’s a great idea for Stiles to spend Thanksgiving at yours, Melissa and Scott will spend it with relatives in Arizona and I will be at the station most of the time.” The Sheriff cleared his throat. “Normally I would not be too excited about my son spending a week with an Alpha who courts him, but since you’ll obviously end up being mated anyways I don’t think there’s much use in trying to keep you two apart. God knows, by the time Thanksgiving arrives you two might be mated already.”

 “Thank you, John.” Peter said while he watched amused how Stiles had turned beet red.

“I’ll still look up your criminal record, though.” The man countered, but there was a grin on his lips so Peter didn’t worry too much. Still, he would keep in mind that his possible father-in-law was excellent when it came to handling guns.

-

“I guess you’ll be staying at the Hale house again?” Peter heard John ask his son, who shrugged.

“Maybe, there’ll be a huge bonfire and a large BBQ tonight so it might get late. And the moon is still pretty full so there might be a midnight run.” Stiles mumbled while trying to slip into his shoes without falling over. He had changed his clothes into something more formfitting and Peter really appreciated the way the black jeans hugged the boy’s ass when he bend over.

“I can drive him home tonight, if you’d prefer him to sleep at home.” Peter offered, but the Sheriff just shook his head.

“No, I have the night shift so I won’t be home anyways, he can stay at the Hale house.” He glanced at his son. “Behave kiddo!”

Stiles gasped. “Why are you telling me that? For all you know Peter is the alpha twice my age who might try to seduce me into his bed.”

Peter felt the sudden urge to buy himself a promise ring so John wouldn’t be tempted to shoot him after all.

John sighed and stared at the ceiling for a moment with a sigh. “Kiddo, are you really trying to tell me that it would be Peter who did the seducing despite him knowing that I’m quite handy with a gun, have wolfsbane bullets and know a thousand ways to get rid of a body?” He glanced at Peter who tried to look absolutely innocent.

“Yeah, you might have a point there. And now stop trying to scare my boyfriend away!” Stiles had a small grin on his face and hugged his dad quickly, before bouncing back to Peter, to grab his hand and pull him out of the house.

The alpha followed willingly, cherishing the way he could touch his boyfriend. He liked the feeling of Stiles’ hand wrapped around his own. His brain was still stuck on the fact that Stiles had called him his boyfriend. Perhaps a little juvenile considering that Peter was twice the boy’s age but it still caused his heart to flutter in his chest.

“Boyfriend, huh?” He asked once Stiles had dragged him to the car and let go of his hand. But Peter didn’t plan on letting go of his omega so soon, so he manhandled the boy and pressed him against the sleek black car, caging him in with his arms and burying his face in the omega’s neck to inhale their mingled scents.

“Uh, aren’t we boyfriends? Should I’ve called you my intended? Or is that too quick for you? I know we just started the whole courting thing but I thought…” Stiles voice got smaller. “Of course it’s too quick for you, you don’t even know if you really want to be my mate, right?” The omega’s scent clouded with disappointment and embarrassment.

“I don’t care if you call me your boyfriend, partner or intended, well I would prefer the last one since I’d like to be your intended mate but that’s your choice.” He pressed a quick kiss to his omega’s neck before he backed off so he could look into his eyes. “And please stop worrying about me suddenly breaking off my courting because you somehow think you’re not good enough. I would go to the register today and become your mate officially if you wanted to and the only thing stopping me from biting you right now is the fact that your dad is watching us and that I was raised rather traditionally. I always wanted to do the courting thing properly. But if you don’t want me to court you the way I intend to and would prefer it a little more modern then I would understand that and follow your wishes.” Peter mumbled and noticed delighted how Stiles’ scent got lighter again.

The boy blushed bright red and pulled the Alpha even closer until their bodies were pressed against each other.

“I would like it very much if you courted me the traditional way. But can we exclude the part where we’re supposed to be chaperoned constantly? I don’t think I could do that.” He asked with a smile and Peter laughed.

“Lucky for you werewolves don’t include chaperones in their courting.” Peter couldn’t stop his eyes from glancing at the omega’s cherry red lips. He wanted to taste them again.

“You know, now that you’re my intended you’re allowed to kiss me whenever you want.” Stiles mumbled cheekily and licked his lips quickly. “In fact, you’re allowed to touch me whenever you want, wherever you want.”

Peter growled as he saw the pink tongue peek out of the boy’s mouth and his eyes flashed.

“You should be careful with what you’re offering, little omega, or I might never let you go.” He almost groaned and since he now had a constant go ahead he would definitely use it. Quickly he closed the distance between their mouths and kissed Stiles sweetly. He had no intention of deepening the kiss, especially since he could still feel John watching them from the front window, but then Stiles sighed sweetly and he just…he needed more.

With a growl he used the opportunity and slipped his tongue into his intendeds open mouth and tasted the sweet, addicting taste that drove him insane.

He heard Stiles whimper and felt how bony fingers grabbed his shirt tightly. Apparently he wasn’t the only one affected by the kiss.

Peter could’ve kissed Stiles like this for hours and he would’ve, but he heard John clear his throat from inside the house and mumble an amused “Don’t make me have to arrest you for public indecency!” so he quickly ended the kiss with another short peck and took a step back.

Stiles was leaning against the car and breathing heavily. “Goddamn you Peter Hale, you’re one hell of a kisser.” He panted and tried to steady his wobbling legs. “And now help me into the car, I don’t think my legs are stable enough to work yet.”

Peter couldn’t help but grin smugly but did as he was ordered and helped the flustered omega into the passenger seat before rounding the car to get in as well. As soon as he had sat down as well he reached over and fastened Stiles seatbelt automatically.

When he heard Stiles take a sharp breath he stopped in his tracks and realized what he was doing. Perhaps Stiles didn’t like this part of his alpha instincts, perhaps he felt babied, Peter should’ve known better.

“Don’t stop, I like you treating me like I’m something precious and breakable.” The omega whispered before Peter could pull away and looked at him with wide eyes.

The Alpha took a deep breath and continued buckling the boy in, this time a little slower and still slightly unsure. There were quite a few omegas nowadays who didn’t like the careful ways Alphas treated them and insisted that they were capable enough to do stuff on their own, but it wasn’t about them being incapable. It was purely instinct.

“But you are something precious and you are so, so breakable. It would only take a second of me not controlling my strength and I could accidentally harm you.” Peter mumbled and carefully caressed the teen’s cheek. “I just need to lose control for a second and my claws could come out and accidentally cut your porcelain skin, I just need to grip your arm too quickly and without thinking about it and could accidentally break your fragile bones. You’re my breakable omega and I’m trying to make sure that nothing will happen to you.”

Stiles was silent for a moment, then he looked at Peter with determination.

“You have too much self-control to harm me, I trust you. And now start the car before my dad thinks I could be groping you in the car. He knows I’m responsible enough to not give anyone roadhead, not even you but I can’t guarantee for anything while the car is off.” He snorted and leaned back into the comfortable leather seats.

Peter stared at him for a moment, absolutely speechless, then he laughed. He had truly found himself a remarkable mate.

“As my omega commands.” He started the car, which immediately purred to life and backed out of the driveway with one fluid motion.

“So, what’s on the agenda today?” Stile asked curiously.  “The chase was yesterday so what will happen today? The moon is still pretty full and I take it that some sort of ritual is on the agenda, but what will it be exactly?”

Peter chuckled, he loved how curious the omega was.

“Today Derek will have to show off his abilities to care for Isaac. He will have to hunt down something and present it to his intended mate, the larger his prey the better. And Isaac has to deem the offering worthy enough. But before that we’ll have a huge dinner. There’s part of our family who’ll arrive today so they will want to meet Isaac before the traditional part of the day starts and afterwards, if Isaac has deemed Derek worthy which will be the case, there’ll be a huge bonfire and everyone will stuff themselves with campfire twists and smores.” Peter was slightly torn because of the campfire.

The last time he had been at a campfire was before he watched his grandparents burn and felt his flesh melt off his bones. Afterwards he had tried to attend a bonfire once when he was 17 and had a full blown panic attack. The first he had in years. He had been scared out of his mind, the smell of smoke and burning wood had caused him to shift and run as far as he could.
He had regained consciousness the next morning, finding himself laying naked in the middle of the woods in fucking Washington. That had been a fun trip back.

Ever since he had avoided all sources of open fire, barely being able to tolerate candles.

How would he cope tonight? Stiles didn’t know about his past experiences with fire. What would happen if he saw Peter freak out like he had done all those years ago? An omega wouldn’t want an Alpha who was scared by a freaking bonfire. He would think Peter was weak and break off the courtship.

“Awesome, I love smores. Especially with chocolate sauce.” Exclaimed Stiles and bounced in his seat excitedly.

Well, Peter mused, watching Stiles lick chocolate sauce off his sinfully long fingers might be worth the fire.

Suddenly images of Stiles licking the chocolate sauce off Peter’s fingers flashed in his mind and he had to think about the time he had walked in on Deucalion fucking that beta, dressed in a tight latex suit to prevent himself from getting hard.

He shuddered in disgust and took a deep breath. That day their friendship had been tested, but Peter had proven himself to be able to look past the whole seeing your best bud in a latex suit fucking a twink wearing a puppy mask.

“But what do you mean that part of your family will arrive today? I thought I had met all Hales yesterday.” Stiles looked a little intimidated at the size of Peter’s family.

“Well, our family originated from Northern and Middle Europe and a huge part of our relatives still live there. A few will be coming today.” Peter suddenly remembered something very important. “Oh, and my parents will visit of course. My dad is the head alpha, he will have to give Isaac and Derek his blessing…” His voice trailed off as he heard Stiles choke.

“You parents will be there?” The omega squeaked nervous and began to fiddle with the hem of his shirt.

“Yes, I should probably introduce you to them…” Peter mused and grinned a little. His mother would probably cry with happiness that he had finally found a mate. He could actually imagine his dad getting wet eyes as well. They had always put themselves at fault that Peter hadn’t taken a mate.

“Will they like me?” Stiles asked with a small voice and bit his lip.

For a second Peter was stunned. Was Stiles honestly unsure if his parents would like him? They would adore him, worship him!

“They’ll love you darling. I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to adopt you. I’ll be lucky if I get you back!” He laughed and noticed how his intended relaxed again.

“Lies, but I hope they like me.” Mumbled Stiles quietly and smiled to himself.

They would, Peter wouldn’t be surprised if they would end up liking Stiles better than him.

-

The Hale house was once again packed with relatives even Peter only barely recognized. He could hear a mixture of languages being spoken, everything from English to Finnish, there was some French, some Danish and a lot of German and Swedish. Seemed like a lot had shown up to welcome Isaac into the family.

Peter had spied his father’s new Tesla outside and was almost giddy with happiness to see his parents again. He had his arm wrapped around Stiles tightly and his wolf was preening that they had been chosen by such a fertile, beautiful, intelligent omega.

He could smell Stiles’ nervousness rising again and quickly pressed a kiss on the top of the boy’s head to calm him down.

Someone gasped behind him.

He turned around and found his aunt Ester stare at him wide eyed, next to her was her daughter and Peter’s cousin Emmett with his wife Tessa, both looked equally stunned.

Immediately his hackles rose even though he understood their shock. He himself was pretty shocked about the fact that he wanted to court an omega.

As soon as they noticed his glare they turned around and skidded away, whispering excitedly about his new relationship status. He growled quietly. This would be a terrible day.

“I need to talk to Scotty real quick, gotta tell him the big news. Do you wanna come along?” Stiles asked and glanced up at Peter with big eyes.

“Go ahead pup, I’ll get you something to drink and look for my parents.” He had barely finished his sentence before he got a sweet kiss pressed on his lips. Stiles giggled, obviously amused about Peter’s surprised face and vanished in the sea of wolves to look for his best friend.

Peter needed a moment to recover from the kiss and from the butterflies fluttering in his stomach. He hoped that he would always feel this way whenever Stiles touched him. It was an addictive feeling.

He ignored the stares he got from everyone and made his way towards the kitchen through the slightly more empty living room, where he was stopped by two familiar faces.

“Peter.” His mother sounded stern and glared at him angrily. One should never underestimate the anger of an omega, especially if that Omega was their own mother.

“Mom?” He asked confused and noticed his father standing right next to her. “Dad?”

“Do you have an explanation, young man?” Ophelia asked with a strict voice. Honestly, Peter had no idea what he had done wrong.

Apparently his expression showed that he was absolutely clueless what she was talking about, because his dad grinned. That dick knew exactly what had his mother this angry but wouldn’t tell. Damn these Hales for always being assholes.

“Why do I have to hear from my sister that my dearest son…” She began but was interrupted by another voice.

“Thanks mom!” Peter’s brother James called from another room.

“That my dearest son,” she continued with a slight smile and ignored her husband laughing “showed up with his intended mate? I am your mother, I should be the first to find out that my baby boy has finally found himself an Omega!”

Peter was speechless for a moment, then he smiled.

“Well, I would’ve told you sooner but I only started courting him an hour ago.” He shrugged his shoulders and got a slight slap on his arm.

“See? You had an entire hour to tell me. You could’ve texted me, Peter!” But now she was smiling broadly and there were a few tears in his eyes. “I’m so happy for you.” She pulled him into a tight hung and sniffled wetly.

“My boy finally found himself a mate.” His father chuckled and hugged Peter as well, as soon as Ophelia let go of him.

Peter cherished the way his parent’s scent clung to him. He had missed them terribly.

“Now, where is your Omega? Is it a man or woman? Your father says it’ll be a nice young man, I think it could be a pretty lady as well. How did you two meet? Will you court them traditionally? Do I know him?” His mother began to ramble and grabbed his arm excitedly.

Peter smiled slightly. He was happy that his mother was this excited, she had worried about him being alone for far too long.

“His name is Stiles and he is currently looking for his friend, I was just about to get him something to drink, do we have some Dr. Pepper?” His wolf noted happily that they still knew which drink Stiles preferred.

“Oh, my little boy is such a good Alpha. Darling dearest, can you see how our son is taking care of his intended? We raised him so well.” His mother tried to blink away her tears but failed miserably. With a soft thank you she accepted the tissue her husband handed her.

“We did an exceptional job!” Lucien agreed with a grin. “Our son will be just as whipped as I am.”

Peter snorted, but he had to agree. He would do everything for Stiles.

Before anyone could say anything else, they heard a loud “Peter” and a lean body pressed against the Alpha’s side.

It was Stiles, who was gripping his arm and basically threw himself against Peter, bouncing giddily . His mother’s eyes widened with excitement and his father nodded approvingly after his eyes had roamed over Stiles’ frame.

Peter was just about to say something when the smell of Stiles omega scent mixed with the smell of a baby hit Peter and it felt as if he had been punched in the stomach; breathless and a little nauseated.

“Look, Peter!” Stiles grinned broadly while he bounced a toddler in his arms. A toddler in a wolf onesie. Whoever’s child this was, they obviously shared Stiles’ humor. “When Isaac and Derek have little wolf babies I’m so gonna buy all of them wolf onesies and take a million pictures when they wear it. Look how adorable it looks.” The omega focused on the baby. “Yes, you’re adorable, aren’t you? Yes you are.”

The little toddler squealed happily under the attention and wiggled even closer to Stiles, until his head was resting on the omega’s shoulder and had his arms thrown around the teen’s slender neck, obviously scenting him.

Peter had no idea how this could’ve happened. How did Stiles end up with a toddler? Hadn’t he wanted to talk to Scott? Who in his family even had a toddler currently? He had 4 siblings, his parents both had many siblings and those had many children each, who mostly had children already as well. Usually there was always a baby around or someone pregnant, but Peter couldn’t remember seeing a toddler this young yesterday.

The cub smelled flowery, woodsy and somehow warm in a way all babies smelled, but he also carried the strong scents of two adult wolves on him, which were very familiar to Peter. This had to be his second youngest cousin’s baby.

But that all didn’t matter because Peter’s wolf was going wild at the sight of their mate with a toddler. All omegas were nurturing, it was in their DNA, just like all alphas were protective of what was theirs, and him seeing Stiles with a child, even though it wasn’t theirs, made his instincts kick in, which told him that he needed to protect, provide and well breed.

He couldn’t help it, the smell of a fertile omega, of his fertile mate, caused his head to spin and his wolf to impatiently pace around, wanting to sweep Stiles off his feet to carry him away from all these other wolves, these other alphas, before they also realized just how special Stiles was. He wanted Stiles for himself alone, wanted nobody else to touch him and wanted to rub against the teen until he was bathed in Peter’s scent. He felt his claws itch and his body tense, he was ready to fight for what he thought of was his mate. His more rational side tried to push his wolf back, he was surrounded by his family; there wouldn’t be anyone trying to challenge his claim.

If Stiles had been a wolf, he would’ve smelled the whirl of emotions racing through Peter’s body, but as it was the only one noticing Peter’s inner turmoil was his mother, who looked in disbelief and eventually awe between the two of them.

He had seen how joyous his mother was when most of his siblings had found their mate and when she had heard the news of grandchildren being on the way, and the expression on her face reminded him at those occasions, but all those times were nothing compared to the sheer happiness in her eyes.

Peter felt a flash of guilt because it was obvious how worried his parents had always been that he had yet to find his mate or any kind of love interest. He had always felt their gazes on him when he hadn’t brought anyone along for the holidays or a birthday, but he had also been great at ignoring them.

A surprised gasp from Stiles ended Peter’s depressing thoughts, his wolf immediately close to the surface and looking for the source of the omega’s slight hint of distress. What he saw made his instincts change from ‘protect, danger’ to ‘breed, fertile’ so fast that Peter almost got emotional whiplash.

The toddler had finished scenting Stiles and one small, chubby hand had moved to the omega’s chest and pinched Stiles’ right nipple giggling before the child bend his head and latched onto it instinctively and began to suckle through the T-Shirt.

“Holy shit!” Yelped Stiles and quickly but gently brought a little distance between himself and the toddler so he held him half an arm length away and made it impossible for the little wolf to repeat the instinctive action.

A high flush colored the teen’s cheeks and he smiled slightly nervous. “Well, that was weird.” He stammered and rubbed his assaulted nipple with his free hand to get rid of the traces of spit left behind on his shirt. “I swear to God that has never happened to me, I don’t know why…” Stiles looked like he was begging for a hole to show up and swallow him right on the spot.

If Peter hadn’t been so shocked at his sudden urges he would’ve laughed and then reassured his mate that everything was fine and that young pups acted similar around other young omegas due to the soothing effect of an omega’s scent, but as it was he was absolutely speechless. Something that happened a lot when he was anywhere near Stiles.

Luckily, his mother wasn’t speechless, because she laughed with an amused expression on her face.

“Oh darling, don’t worry,” She tried to soothe Stiles, who looked unbelievably embarrassed. “Young wolves act a lot more on instinct than human children do. He recognized that you’re an omega, and a young one as well. In large packs it has always been quite common for cubs to get milk from many different pack members, he’s probably a little hungry.” Ophelia touched Stiles’ shoulder reassuringly, mindful to keep clear of the places where Peter had scent marked the teen. While alphas tolerated the scent of foreign cubs on their omega, they tended to dislike the scents of other adults, especially other alphas, on their mate. And while most alphas were mostly fine with the scent of another omega, his mother apparently didn’t want to risk angering his wolf.

“C’mon dear, there should be some milk left in the kitchen for Elias and I doubt that he’s willing to let go of you anytime soon so you should probably feed him.” She ushered Stiles along with her towards the large kitchen, giving Peter a look that obviously meant that he wasn’t welcome to go with them.

He almost went along anyway, just so he could prevent his mother from doing something that would scare Stiles away- like showing him Peter’s baby pictures-, but a strong hand on his shoulder stopped him.

“Let your mother get to know your omega, she’s waited long enough for this moment.” His father said from next to him and the hand on his shoulder wandered to his hair to ruffle it. Peter tried to save his carefully styled hair, but it was no use, his father had done this ever since Peter- back when he was a baby- had first grown hair. “He seems adorable, she’ll love him.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Peter grumbled but leaned into his father’s touch to get that familiar scent to cling to his skin again. Lucien smiled slightly and moved his hand to Peter’s throat to scent his son thoroughly. “She’ll never be able to let him go and I’ll ultimately lose my status as the favorite child.” He sighed, making his father laugh.

“He’s lovely, not really what I expected from you.” The older alpha smiled with a slightly wistful tone in his voice.

“Really?” Peter arched one eyebrow while he looked at his father. “What did you expect? That I’ll never imprint on someone? That I’ll stay single for the rest of my life?”

“No,” Lucien shook his head, the expression in his eyes soft and calm. “I always knew you’d eventually find someone who you could love unconditionally, someone who you’d accept as your mate. I only expected it to be someone closer to your age, not because of maturity reasons or something similar, simply because I expected that you’d become a father quicker than even you’d expect.”

Peter swallowed heavily. He wasn’t very good with sincere emotions, always wearing a mask he had carefully created over so many years of his life, a mask he only allowed to take off around Stiles, who was- just like Peter’s parents- able to look behind it whether Peter wanted to or not. He felt someone heavy around his heart loosen and eventually leave, it made his throat close up slightly.

“A father?” He asked and tried to make it sound like a scoff or a snort, but it came out weak and almost disbelieving.

“Peter, you’re a great wolf and an even greater alpha, I know how much you love those close to you, I see how much you’ve always doted on your nieces and nephews, you’ll make a great father and I can’t wait to meet my grandchild once the time comes. You’ve left me waiting far too long.” Lucien teased and while there was still a certain heaviness in Peter’s throat, he managed to bark out something similar to a laugh.

“You’ve already close to ten grandchildren, some who could have children soon as well, I doubt you need another one.” Peter eyed Derek and Isaac, before his gaze landed on Laura.

“I do, but none of them ever showed a particular interest in knowledge like you did. I miss that,” His father said and smiled when they heard a sound of protest from somewhere in the house. “and I’d like to have a small version of you running around, begging me to teach them yet another language because ‘three aren’t enough’. Since you’ve moved out the Hale library has almost been untouched, it would be nice to find a cub in a nest of blankets in a corner in there, surrounded by books and fast asleep with their stuffy by their side.”

Peter had to smile slightly. He remembered all too well the countless days and nights he had spent in the large room, surrounded by thousands of books, determined to read each and every single one at least once. It had been a daily occurrence that his father found him in there, asleep over yet another fascinating story. When Peter had been a pup, Lucien had picked him up and carried him to bed, just so Peter could sneak out an hour later after a quick nap to continue reading, but eventually his father hadn’t bothered anymore and instead bought the world’s most comfortable couch and softest blankets and pillows so Peter could sleep in the library instead, dreaming of all the adventures he had yet to discover.

“Don’t tell Stiles about the library, he’d never leave again.” Peter smiled and couldn’t help but imagine how it would be to have a child with Stiles. The cub would be brilliant without a doubt, absorbing knowledge like a sponge.

“He’s a charming young man, your mother and I would welcome him with open arms.” Lucien laughed. “He reminds me a lot of you actually.”

“Really?” Peter asked skeptically while he arched one eyebrow. Yes, Stiles was intelligent as well, brilliant even, and his wit had a certain bite that almost rivaled Peter’s, but that was about it. While Stiles remarks were teasing and still friendly, Peter’s could be a tad too mean, while Stiles used his intelligence to become a walking, talking Wikipedia, Peter used his brain to his own advantage, often not caring if it affected other negatively; sometimes he even went as far as purposefully making other people’s life harder. Stiles was a much better person than Peter.

Lucien hummed with a smile.

“Well, at the first glance you might not think so, but I know you, Peter. You’re not as selfish and self-inclined as you like to make others believe. It’s sometimes hard to see, but you care a lot about your family, even if you sometimes show it by making our lives a little difficult. Stiles seems to care just as much about those around him. I heard that he’s the reason Isaac managed to get away from his father, and that it was Stiles who brought their little group together, without him Derek probably wouldn’t have met Isaac, Erica would still have seizures, Boyd would still be lonely and Scott would still suffer from his asthma. He will make an excellent mate, you should claim him soon and make it clear that he’s yours before others start to realize just what a catch he is.” His father advised and smiled when he noticed how Peter tensed at the mention of other alphas wanting to court the omega.

“I just started officially courting him, it’s far too early to even think about-“ A delighted squeal interrupted Peter. It came from the kitchen and even though it was a happy noise, Peter couldn’t help but quickly rush towards it, to make sure the cub squealing was alright.

He was gob smacked when he walked in on Elias giggling and squealing. Stiles was tickling the cub with a large, happy grin of his face and bright shining eyes. The scent of pure happiness was in the air and together with the omega pheromones and the smell of baby, Peter’s wolf was going crazy.

His mother was leaning against the kitchen counter, waiting for Elias’ milk to finish heating up, watching the scene with a knowing smile on her face and her eyes darting between Peter and Stiles. She knew what the scene was doing to her son.

“This is the cutest thing ever, I can’t believe how adorable you are. And those pretty eyes.” Stiles cooed at the baby, which answered with a happy squeal. It made Peter so dizzy that he had to grab the kitchen counter to support his wobbling knees. Thank god for the Quartz countertops, otherwise Talia would’ve to replace them due to serious indents and possibly claw marks.

“It’s really not a big surprise my dad is anxiously waiting for grandchildren, he gets to have all the fun without the trouble.” Stiles obviously hadn’t noticed Peter entering the kitchen, because his words were apparently only meant for Ophelia.

“Does he? Well, Peter is a good alpha, he would make a great father. Is your father alright with the age difference?” Worry flickered in her warm eyes, a worry Peter had had himself as well. Luckily John had happily accepted Peter’s intentions to court his son.

“Nah, he’s too glad that there’s finally an alpha showing interest in me. He was worried a lot because nobody even looked at me twice even though omegas are so rare. I can imagine that he would’ve preferred me to find myself an alpha closer to my age if Peter had been human, he knows what it’s like to lose your soulmate too early. But Peter is a wolf and you guys are aging so slowly that age differences lose their meanings and my dad knows that.” Stiles shrugged, his eyes still staring at the little one in his arms.

“That’s good.” Ophelia said with a relived smile and arched one eyebrow at Peter, who guiltily left the kitchen again, equally as unnoticed as his entering had been. He knew that his mother wanted to have some privacy with Stiles, to make sure he was the right one for Peter. At least she wouldn’t give him the shovel talk…hopefully.

“He’s a very sensible man, has always been that way, even as a child. He may not seem like it but he has a very delicate soul and a very fragile heart. And while I can see that you feel for him just as much as he does for you, I’m just asking you for one thing: If you don’t intend to become his mate, then please break it off now. For his own good.” Her voice was quiet, her words obviously only intended for Stiles’ ears and while Peter would normally grant her the requested privacy, he couldn’t this time. It was too important.

“I know that he has a fragile heart and I don’t intend to break it. If he would ask me to skip the whole courting process and become his mate officially tomorrow, I wouldn’t hesitate to agree. I can’t say that I love him, not yet at least, but I’m falling in love with him.” Stiles admitted and Peter knew exactly that the omega was flushing.

He felt his own cheeks heat up and ducked his head a little when he noticed his father’s gaze resting on his face.

“Oh shut it!” Peter huffed, which only made his father laugh. And people wondered where he learned how to be an asshole.

“Let me enjoy seeing my son behave like a teenager with his first crush. I always had the feeling you skipped that phase, it’s great that I get the opportunity to tease you about it now.” Lucien said gleefully, mischief sparkling in his eyes. “Do we need to have the talk again? Do I need to be worried about you sneaking off to spend the night at your omega’s place?”

Peter could hear a few of his relatives laughing and sighed. He was already planning on fleeing the conversation, when his father grabbed his shoulder.

Lucien was a lot more bulky that Peter. The older alpha had much more muscles, something that was reflecting in Derek, and could easily hold his son in place. Peter was the smallest adult male alpha in the family. Yes, he was tall and could tower over all the betas, but compared to someone like Lucien or Derek, he looked ridiculously lean.

He was the fastest of them all though, by far, and could run for hundreds of miles without feeling a strain on his muscles, but his speed advantage caused him to lack in the whole strength department.

The tight grip his father had on his shoulder made it impossible for him to escape. If he could free himself, which was impossible, he would easily be able to dodge everybody and run away from awkward conversations, but he had already been captured and would’ve to suffer through the teasing now.

Damn it.

“I’m just teasing you, son.” Lucien tried to calm him and his hand shifted from Peter’s shoulder to the nape of the man’s neck. “I’m proud of you. I don’t think there’s ever been a moment where I haven’t been proud to call you my son.” His fingers tightened slightly. To most human betas it would’ve seemed like a threat, but for wolves it was a form of reassurance, especially since Lucien was the most powerful alpha of the family.

Peter shifted uncomfortably. Yes, he was happy that his father was proud of him and it pleased his wolf as well, but the moment was far too emotional for him. He wasn’t one to carry his feelings on his face and all this reassurance and the glances he got from his relatives made his skin crawl. He just wanted to flee and hide until they treated him like they had before.

His father noticed Peter’s uncomfortableness and huffed out an amused laugh. He knew his son well enough to know when Peter had reached his limit and needed a change of topic.

“And now tell me how the company is doing? I’ve heard that you’re planning on expanding to the European market. Have you found a partner who’ll grant you access? It’s hard to establish yourself on another continent, especially if their economy is as strong as the one in the European Union. You did a great job with China, but this is much more difficult.” Lucien didn’t look worried, Peter knew that his father fully trusted him to not run the family company into the ground and over the past few years he had almost doubled the profit.

“I’ve a good relationship with the CEO of SilverCo., they’ll be our key to the European Market. Argent and I met up quite a few times already and the contact is almost finished. As long as he doesn’t change his opinion he’ll sign the contract in the next few weeks.” Peter shrugged. It had been fairly easy to come to an agreement with Chris. They were friends and would both benefit if they worked on this project together.

“SilverCo? One of the biggest European companies? I’ve tried to work with them for years but Gerard Argent was a stubborn ass who refused to make business with ‘dogs’.” The disgust in his voice was obvious. Peter understood that, the old Argent had been a racist asshole with an unfounded hatred towards everything that wasn’t a hundred percent human.

“His son is now the head of the company. His father and sister were apparently trying to get out of paying taxes and had stored quite a lot of money in some shady places. You know how strict the EU is when it comes to taxes. Gerard and Kate are currently rotting away in prison after failing to escape to South America before the tax authorities got them. It had been a disaster for their company’s name and took Chris years to get everything in order again. I helped him out quite a bit by buying up part of his family’s company, we’re friends after all. And he knows that we’ll both benefit from this agreement, our company has an excellent name and will only strengthen his more.” Peter chuckled. “He has no problems with werewolves despite how he’s been raised. His wife Victoria is a little distrustful towards weres though. She and their daughter Allison might be a risk, I’m keeping an eye on them.”

“Allison? Do you mean Allison Argent?” A voice piped up next to them. It was Scott, Stiles’ slightly dumb friend who had been bitten by Derek because of his worsening asthma condition. “Do you know her?” God, he looked like an eager puppy.

“She’s the daughter of one of my business partners.” Peter answered and arched one eyebrow. Where did Scott know her from? This was Beacon Hills, not exactly a hot spot for daughters of rich businessmen.

“Isn’t she wonderful?” Scott sighed dreamily. “I’ve met her at a college visit in Sacramento, I borrowed her my pencil. She’s so perfect.”

Peter blinked, slightly confused. He wasn’t exactly sure how he should treat the lovesick beta and from the look on his father’s face, Lucien didn’t know either.

“Why is Scott wearing his ‘Allison face’?” Stiles showed up as well, still holding Elias in his arms. The toddler appeared to be well fed and content with nuzzling the omega.

“Did you know that Peter knows Mr. Argent? They’re business partners.” Scott’s eyes were almost glowing with happiness. “Do you know which college she’ll be going to? We’re texting a lot but she told me she wasn’t sure yet, was she lying? I would like to go to the same college but she’s so smart she could go to any school…and her dad has the money to afford all these ridiculously expensive schools.” Scott’s face fell and he looked like a kicked puppy. Peter felt so bad that he almost thought about offering the beta to pay for his tuition, just so he could see the boy smile again. From the way his father looked, he felt the same way.

“I’m sorry but I don’t know.” Peter scratched his chin. “I’ll make sure to ask her the next time I see her or Chris.” He promised the boy, who was smiling again.

“You’d do that? You’re really awesome, dude.” Scott beamed at Peter like Christmas had just come early. Yeah, definitely a puppy.

-

His mother adored Stiles and so did his dad.

They were absolutely in love with Peter’s intended mate while it pleased him, the attention he got from everyone made him uncomfortable. Everyone stared at him and Stiles, some even congratulated them, Derek and Isaac had hugged them.

Luckily Peter wasn’t the only one feeling overwhelmed and as soon as he noticed that the Omega felt slightly uncomfortable as well, he grabbed their drinks and led the teen outside.

They escaped the packed house and found themselves a rather quiet spot in the large backyard, away from his relatives. It was rather quiet out here, most of the kids were playing in the soft grass but there weren’t many adults to stare at Peter and congratulate him.

“Thanks, the attention was a little much.” Stiles sighed and laid down on his back with a sigh to enjoy the slight breeze and warm sunshine on his skin. Peter watched him for a moment in awe before laying down as well. Here he could ignore the stares that had bothered him so much.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know everyone would make such a huge deal out of it.” Peter sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He felt like he’d get a headache.

“It’s not your fault.” Stiles mumbled and grabbed his hand, the touch sparked a deep desire in Peter’s guts. “But I’m really happy that I’ve met your parents, they’re awesome and super nice.”

“They are. And they adore you.” Peter agreed with a smile. He was glad that his parents approved of Stiles but he hadn’t expected anything else. Everyone had to love Stiles.

“I’m glad.” The Omega sounded thoughtful. “So your dad is an Alpha, right?” He then asked, curiously.

“Yes, and my mother is an Omega.” Peter didn’t really know why Stiles wanted to know that, but he would gladly answer all questions the Omega had. The boy was absolutely fascinated about this whole werewolf stuff.

“And you have 4 siblings, right? Two betas and two alphas.”

“Yes.” Why did Stiles want to know that?

“And Talia has three children, two alphas and a beta. And your brother has 5 children, 3 alphas and two betas, right?”

Now Peter’s curiosity was piqued as well.

“Yes, why?” He wanted to know and quirked one eyebrow.

Stiles hummed and shrugged his shoulders.

“You have an abnormally high percentage of Alphas in your family and no related Omegas, how does that work? The whole pack dynamics thing is confusing. Most wolf packs only have one alpha and that alpha has an alpha child who’ll later take over the pack. Usually a son.” Stiles looked at Peter curiously. “You have an abnormally high percentage of alphas in your family. You’re an alpha, two of your siblings are alphas; Derek and Laura are alphas; you have alpha uncles, alpha aunts, alpha cousins and even alpha grandparents. Of course you also have a lot of beta relatives but I have yet to meet an Omega who is related to you. All Omegas have married into the family.”

Yes, the high number of alphas in the Hale pack was something of a mystery, not only to them but also to scientists and doctors. Only 15 % of the world’s population were alphas, it was unusual for a family to even have one alpha, but in the Hale family there was a high chance that the orientation of the male offspring would be an alpha. It was generally more likely for men to be alphas than women. Almost 70% of all human alphas were male and when it came to werewolves, the number raised to over 85%.

That didn’t change the mystery that far too many of the Hales were alphas.

And Stiles was right, the last time a direct Hale child had been an omega was almost a hundred years back and while omegas were rare, that was especially unusual. Nobody had an explanation for that, maybe it was just something in their DNA.

“So how does your pack function? After all there’s Derek with his own betas, does Talia have betas? What about Laura? And you?”

Peter smiled slightly. His family’s dynamics were slightly hard to grasp for other werewolves or humans, but it felt natural to him.

“Well, I guess you could say that my father Lucien is the head of the family, and the main alpha. While I don’t feel the need to obey him, it does make my wolf feel happy when he approves of my actions and we both feel deep respect towards him. That could also be because he is my father, but since most of my relatives, especially those younger than him, feel the same way, I guess it means he is the head alpha.” Peter hesitated for a moment. His family’s situation was very complicated. “My grandfather is also an Alpha, but not as dominant as my father I guess. I’m not sure if he stands above or below my father though. And then there’s Talia, James and I, while Talia is the oldest she doesn’t stand above James or I, and Ana and Nathan don’t feel obligated to listen to her. James is the alpha of his own family, even though he has two alpha sons and one alpha daughter, as well as two more beta children. Talia has her own children so I guess they’re kinda her own pack, with the exception of Derek who has Isaac, Erica and Boyd as his betas. Since he did bite Scott I think he is his alpha somehow as well.”

Stiles looked so overwhelmed that Peter was tempted to find him a piece of paper and draw it out for the omega. The struggles of having a large family.

“Basically, every alpha has their own little pack, mostly consisting of their children, mate and wolves they’ve turned. Until an alpha has their mate they don’t have their own pack. They’ll still always be part of the Hale family pack unless they join another pack, which isn’t something an alpha would ever do. Were alphas don’t tend to mate other alphas so it’s only the betas who occasionally leave the Hale pack.” Peter shrugged.

“So when you and I’ll be mated to each other, you’ll have your own pack? And our cubs would be your betas?” Stiles asked curiously with a small smile on his lips.

‘When’ not ‘if’… The omega seemed absolutely sure that they’d eventually have their own mating ceremony. Like it was already set in stone and not just a possibility if Peter’s courting was to Stiles’ satisfaction.

And perhaps it was already set in stone. Perhaps there was no way that they wouldn’t end up together. It was a nice thing to imagine.

“Not my betas, our betas. You’d become the Alpha mate and be my equal, they’d be your betas as well and so would every human I’d bite, regardless of their orientation. You’d stand above them. Born wolves have technically two orientations, our wolf has one and our human as well, but they’re always the same orientation. Humans who get turned gain a second orientation too, their wolf will usually be a beta so there’s no fight over dominance with the alpha who turned them since that would throw the pack dynamics off. A human alpha would turn into a beta wolf while a beta and omega human keep their orientations the same.”

The boy was silent for a few seconds, taking all the new information in, before he huffed.

“Can you imagine that?” Stiles laughed loudly. “Little skinny me being an alpha mate and the head of the pack. Wait until Jackson Whittmore hears that.” The omega turned around until he was sprawled across Peter’s chest.

The alpha stared down at his omega. He didn’t understand why Stiles felt constantly self-conscious. He was beautiful, absolutely stunning. Peter was so lost in the sight of the long eyelashes that were resting on Stiles’ high cheekbones, that he forgot what he had wanted to say.

Stiles’ eyes fluttered open again and he peaked up at the older man, apparently curious what was taking Peter so long to answer him. The sunlight was reflecting in the few speckles of gold mixed into the beautiful shade of whiskey and for a moment it seemed like they were glowing like the ones of a beta.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” He asked with a small smile on the full lips.

Peter carefully traced a smattering of beauty marks on Stiles’ face, the fragile skin underneath his fingertips made his protective instinct run wild. Stiles could get hurt so easily, he had to make sure that his omega would stay unharmed.

“You’re beautiful.” The alpha then breathed and felt how the boy’s cheek heated under his touch. “The most beautiful omega I’ve ever seen.”

“Stop it with the flattering,” Stiles rolled his eyes and closed them again. “You’ve already successfully managed to make me fall for you.”

“That doesn’t mean I’ll ever stop telling you how magnificent you are. You deserve to know that there’s nothing that isn’t beautiful about you.” His arms wrapped around Stiles’ waist pulled him even closer. “If we have cubs I hope they get your good looks.”

“You’re such an emotional sap.” The teenager giggled. “And when we have cubs I want them to have your eyes. And your smile, and your hair and…you know what, we’ll just agree that one third will look like me, another third like me and the last third like the both of us.”

“One third? How many children do you want?” Peter felt slightly worried. He had thought that he’d eventually buy Stiles and himself a nice large house with enough space for two nurseries, an office for each of them, a library, a guest room and enough privacy that little werewolves could run around unbothered. He had wanted to go with a white American classic, a nice picket fence, a red front door, a porch all around the house and dark green window shutters. That’s what he had imagined was what Stiles liked.

“Well, I want more than one because I wasn’t happy being an only child, and two is boring, what if we only get boys or girls? Three sucks because the middle child will be unhappy, four seems okay but then we might have the problem of having three boys and only one girl, or the other way around and five is an uneven number. So I guess six should be alright.” Stiles shrugged. “But we always have to worry about the possibility of twins happening, you’re an alpha wolf and the next ten years will be my most fertile ones, especially if you’re turning me, so the chance of having twins or even triplets will be very high. That means we might even have seven children, who knows. And then there’s the uneven number again, so we’d have to top up to eight. But I’m currently more comfortable with 6 children, I know the pregnancy of werewolves is not as long as the ones of humans, so I wouldn’t have to worry about being home too long. Also, your mom had five kids and still managed to maintain an awesome career, so I kinda wanna be like her.”

Peter’s head was spinning. A few months ago he had been content with forever being only an uncle and never having a child himself or the possibility of finding himself a surrogate if he really wanted to have a cub, and now he had to think about managing six kids. Granted, he had a few years of peace before he’d have to deal with diapers again because Stiles wanted to finish university first, but still.

“Alright.” He croaked out and thought furiously of where he could possibly find a house that large. He didn’t want to move to some pretentious area and have snobby neighbors. The large Hale house had been especially built for a large family by his grandparents so that was always an option. Why hadn’t he thought of that in the first place? He knew some of the finest architects, why buy a house when they could build one that suited them and their future family perfectly?

“Are you alright? You look a little pale? Are six too much? I’d be fine with four too…or at least two.” Stiles looked up at him worriedly. “Or don’t you want kids with me?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Peter sighed. “I was simply thinking about where I would find a house that large for us that didn’t come with snobby neighbors. We’d need a large yard, enough privacy to let the children explore and get their wolf under control. Full moon runs are important as well so a forest would be good too. I think it would be better if we simply hired an architect to design us our perfect home. I know some very good ones and by the time you’re done with university it would be finished and we could move in there…we should make a list of what we need….and more importantly, where do you want to live?”

Stiles looked flabbergasted.

“We could always stay in Beacon Hills. The preserve is large enough and Talia and her husband will move to Washington in a few years and give the house to Derek and his family. Then it would be no problem for us to live here, that would be good for the cubs too. And you could be near your dad and all your friends. My company’s second headquarters are in California so I would be able to work here as well and most of the stuff I do I could do at home.” He hummed, already planning everything out in his head. He’d have to ask his dad about how he had managed working full time as the head of the company while living in Beacon Hills.

The omega on his chest squeaked in disbelief.

“Do you prefer a modern villa or rather something more classic like the current Hale house? I prefer large windows and a lot of open space but if you want something old fashioned I’d be fine with that too…but I shouldn’t get too far ahead, we aren’t even officially mated yet.” Peter glanced at his boyfriend, who was staring at him slack jawed. “What? Have I offended you? If you don’t want the stress of building a house we can just buy one. Was I too forward?” 

“Oh my god,” Stiles groaned. “why are you so perfect? It’s literally not fair. I’m constantly asking myself what you see in me, you’re literally my dream alpha come true and the way you’re talking about building us a house makes me all hot and bothered. You need to stop talking about kids and nurseries, I can already feel my hormones tingling.” The Omega sighed.

Peter chuckled slightly and played with Stiles’ soft hair.

“Sweetheart, if you think for one second that I’m not feeling the exact same thing about you, then you’re mistaken. You’re simply not a wolf, you can’t smell the way my body reacts to everything you do. My wolf is constantly preening that I can call you mine.”

Stiles stared at him wide eyed and seemed speechless.

Before the teen could answer a little hand grabbed Peter’s arm and startled them both. They had totally forgotten about everything around them.

“Setä Peter.” A little boy was sitting in the grass next to them, glancing shyly at Stiles. The soft smell of Omega was clinging to the child’s skin, slightly mingled with an equally young Alpha scent. The child was adorable and would melt even the coldest heart.

Bright blond hair, deep blue eyes, pale skin and a cute, upturned nose, he looked like a little angel. It took Peter only a second to realize who was sitting next to him, demanding his attention.

“Look at you my little suosikki!” He exclaimed and opened his arms to hug the boy. “You’ve gotten so tall cub.” Peter grinned before he turned to Stiles.

„This is Levi,“ Peter introduced the little boy wrapped around his neck with a smile. “He’s one of my rather distant relatives. Levi, this is Stiles, a very close friend of the family and my intended mate.”

Levi’s little fingers tightened in the alpha’s shirt, before the boy found the courage to peek at the strange omega he was just introduced to.

“Hello.” He mumbled shyly. His words were spoken so softly that his accent went almost unnoticed. “I’m Levi, how are you?” This time it was strongly noticeable and the way Levi said his own name gave away that English was not his first language at all.

“Hello Levi, I’m fine, thank you, how are you? You have a very pretty accent, would you mind telling me where you’re from?” Stiles asked gently and caused the little boy to blush slightly.

“Finland.” Levi answered with another glance at the other omega.

“Talk about distant relatives.” Stiles grinned at Peter, but suddenly the Omega’s eyes widened and he stared past the Alpha.

Peter followed his eyes and laughed.

“That is Alexander, Levi’s slightly older twin brother.” He explained while he let go of Levi, who had started to wiggle in his arms. The little Omega immediately ran over to his twin again, who hugged him possessively.

“Is he an Omega as well?” Stiles asked with a smile.

“No, alexander is an Alpha.” Peter used his free arms to pull Stiles closer to him again.

“So they’re two different orientations even though they’re twins? I didn’t know that was possible.” Stiles frowned slightly while he watched the twins interact. Alexander had started to carefully pick flowers, obviously spending a lot of time searching for the prettiest ones, and gave them to his younger twin, who was trying to turn them into a flower crown. There was a look of determination on the young omega’s face, which turned into happiness and adoration whenever Alex handed him another flower.

“It’s not common in human twins but for werewolves it’s quite normal. Alexander is an alpha, Levi an omega, they are like ying and yang, entirely different but fitting each other perfectly.” Peter shrugged. “If were-twins are born, they’re always alpha and omega, it’s almost impossible for them to be betas or share an orientation. In the past twins were representing the concept of mates and almost holy, but that was a couple of thousand years ago. A soul split into two bodies, both made for each other, complementing the other to create a full picture.”

“Wait, are you saying that it was common for twins to…mate each other?” Stiles frown deepened. “I knew that inbreeding was viewed as something normal for royal humans in Europe a few centuries ago, but I didn’t think that weres had practiced it as well.” The omega didn’t seem to be disgusted but neither did he seem to accept these specific werewolf traditions.

“Well,” Peter hesitated slightly. He didn’t want to repel Stiles, but it didn’t feel right to ignore the boy’s obvious curiosity. “There are a few differences though. Humans did it because they wanted to keep their blood lines pure, not knowing about the genetic consequences. Now that humans know what happens when close relatives produce offspring, they forbid it but due to our healing abilities genetic disorders are non-existent for were creatures so therefore there is no reason to condemn inbreeding between siblings and twins.”

“’Is’?” Stiles blinked up at Peter with wide eyes. “Are you saying that it’s still…”

“While the law forbids it here in the US, in Europe they differ between humans and weres and the governments have been a lot fairer in the past as well as present, so there’s no law against a relationship between relatives, as long as its consensual at least.” The alpha shrugged and smiled slightly. “Nobody would even dare to think about separating mates, no matter if they’re siblings, twins, cousins or related in any way.”

“So Levi and Alexander will be mated to each other? When?” Stiles was still frowning, his eyes a mixture of confusion and curiosity.

“They’re already mated and since the age of consent in Europe varies from 14 to 16 with a few exceptions they’ll have a proper mating ceremony once they reach that age. But those are just the formalities and everybody knows that they’ll claim each other as soon as Levi hits his first heat because it will instantly trigger Alexander’s rut and trying to keep them apart from each other would be torture, so… considering the average age when a were omega hits their first heat I would guess they’ll claim and bite each other when they’re thirteen, maybe fourteen if Levi is a late bloomer but I doubt that.” Peter glanced at the omega child.

Levi was basically the definition of an omega, be it in character or in his appearance. He was a sweet child, cheerful, shy, gentle, and caring with a big heart and a fragile soul. Levi was a sweetheart, a real angel who tried to help everyone and everything, no matter if it was a person, a bird or even a weak bee. Peter was pretty sure that Levi’s parents had financed their local vet at least one luxury sports car by now.

And even though Levi and Alexander were identical twins, they were still mirroring their orientation. Alexander was slightly broader while Levi had a relatively fragile built. The omega had slightly softer looking skin, longer eye lashes and a far sweeter smell. Their differences would become more noticeable once they had entered puberty. Alexander would start growing stubble and other body hair while Levi would stay hairless and soft. There were indeed omegas who were able to grow stubble, but those had unusually low hormone levels to the point where they weren’t able to carry children or even get heats. But Levi was a wolf so if anything his hormone levels were exceptional.

Peter looked at Stiles again, who was still watching the children with an unreadable expression on his face. He didn’t seem disgusted or repelled, there was a certain curiosity in his eyes, but that was it.

“I get that it’s something rather unusual to a human and perhaps a little strange. I can imagine that it might startle or repel you, but-“

“No, dude, no!” Stiles protested before Peter could even finish his sentence. “Unusual yes, this is the first time I’ve heard this whole ‘twins are automatically mates’ kind of thing because the supernatural world isn’t exactly forthcoming with information so give me a few seconds to kinda grasp the whole thing please.”

The omega took a deep breath before he continued.

“I think Levi and Alexander are very cute and the way Alexander treats him is adorable. It’s just a little hard to grasp how easily everybody accepts that their whole love life is basically already set in stone and they never get to choose who they fall in love with.”

Peter tilted his head slightly and took a moment to think about Stiles’ words.

“But does any were really get to choose who they fall in love with? Derek had never been in love before he had met Isaac, because wolves can feel it if a person is their mate. Cora will only ever fall in love with her mate, my parents were each other’s first everything and that applies to everyone in my family. It might be different for humans, their instincts aren’t as strong as ours so they will probably fall in love first before consciously deciding to take their partner as a mate.”

“Okay, you have a point there and if you look at them from that kind of perspective I guess Levi’s and Alexander’s relationship makes sense.” Stiles watched the twins with a smile on his face. “And there are many cases where people meet their mate at a young age and that’s not really that much different.”

“Uncle Peter!” Levi was running towards him with Alexander on his heels and an almost-finished flower crown in his hands and tears in his eyes. “I broke Alex’ flower crown. I tried to make it the prettiest but it won’t work.” He thrusted the flower crown at Peter with a wobbling lip.

“I told him I think it’s pretty just the way it is.” Alexander mumbled, still holding a whole bunch of freshly picked flowers in the hand that wasn’t holding his twin’s.

“It looks very pretty, Levi. And you almost finished it, you just have to connect the ends and tie them together.” He quickly finished the flower crown and handed it back to the little omega, who watched him wide eyed. Immediately his bottom lip stopped wobbling and the tears were blinked away. With a happy smile he took the finished piece and carefully placed it on his alpha brother’s head, who began to beam like he had gotten the world’s best gift. Alexander quickly gave his twin a peck on the cheek while trying to keep his head as still as possible as to not lose his crown.

“Now I’ll make you one.” Alexander promised and pulled his mate back to the sunny spot where they had sat moments before. Peter watched them go with a smile on his lips and was so lost in his own thoughts that he almost startled when Stiles spoke again.

“You said that you never wanted a mate but still you can make flower crowns like a pro. Something doesn’t add up here.” Stiles teased, but there was a hint of question behind his words. The boy was never able to stop his curiosity from slipping through. It was an endearing character trait, at least in Peter’s eyes.

He hesitated for a few seconds, not knowing if he should share this particular piece of his past with Stiles, but then again, this was Stiles and he could never keep something from the omega.

Except for the probably most traumatic experience of your life and the way your sister treated you, which lead to a whole load of issues.

 “When I was really young, perhaps Levi and Alexander’s age, I was obsessed with being the perfect alpha for my future omega. I was practicing making flower crowns every summer so I would be able to make him the perfect flower crown at our mating ceremony. It almost drove my mother insane because every spring and summer I would use up all her carefully planted flowers in the flower garden and she would’ve to plant more and more every fall, hoping I wouldn’t pick all of them as soon as they bloomed the next year. Instead of them being too much flowers for me to pick I took it as a challenge and a chance to practice making flower crowns even more.” He explained, surprised at how easy the words slipped out.

His heart clenched painfully at the memory how sad his mother had looked the first year he hadn’t picked flowers. She had always called his flower crown antics a pain in the butt, and so he had expected her to be happy that she would finally have a lasting flower garden. It was much later that he had realized that she couldn’t be happy about it because she understood that it meant her son had given up of ever finding a mate.

“Damn, you were real lucky. My mom’s flower garden was so small that I could barely gather enough to make one, perhaps two flower crowns each year. After her death nobody took care of the flowers because my dad and I have the rare talent of killing everything blooming without even touching it. After a year there were so many weeds that the flowers began to vanish. So, my flower crowns look pretty shitty and sad.” Stiles said with a laugh, seemingly unbothered by his missing talent.

Peter hesitated for a second, then he smiled.

 “If you’d like to I could show you how to make one.” He offered with an easy shrug of his shoulders.

Stiles head turned towards him so quickly that Peter worried for a second that the omega could suffer from severe whiplash, and his plus mouth dropped open, unwillingly stirring an all too well known heat low in Peter’s stomach.

“You’d do that?” Stiles asked breathlessly while a large grin crept upon his lips. “Really?”

“Sure.” Peter tried to go for nonchalant but his body betrayed him. “Let’s collect a few flowers and then I’ll show you.” He said and got up from the soft grass. He offered Stiles a hand, who grabbed it happily and allowed the alpha to pull him up as well.

“Awesome!” The omega exclaimed and immediately started looking around for pretty summer flowers, pulling Peter along.

Peter followed him with a happy smile on his face, which he was unable to get under control.

“You should get him some of the pastel colored roses that grow near the preserve, they’d compliment his skin tone.” He heard his mother say from where she sat on the porch, her voice barely more than a whisper, only meant for his ears.

Peter turned his head a little so he could look at her and felt his heart clench when he spotted the soft smile on her lips and how happy she seemed to be. He nodded slightly, just so she knew that he had heard her before he made his way over to the pastel covered roses, already having let out one claw so he could cut off a few of the blossoms.

-

It took them approximately ten minutes to collect flowers and another ten before Stiles had decided which ones he would want to use. Normally Peter could finish a flower crown within minutes, but since he had to show Stiles every step it took them almost half an hour to finish their crowns. Stiles really hadn’t exaggerated when he had said that he had no talent at all when it came to flower crowns.

The omega was still pleased with his final result and showed it proudly to Peter, before fawning over the flower crown Peter had been able to put together in the same time and only stopped his praising once Peter had put it on the omega’s head.

The teenager’s mouth dropped open, his eyes widened and a high blush covered his cheeks. He gaped for a few seconds, speechless, before he seemed to think fuck it and almost jumped on Peter’s lap, so he could hug the alpha tightly and press a sweet kiss on the man’s cheek.

Peter absolutely refused to admit that his face heated up and he could only hope that his skin wasn’t mirroring Stiles’. While a blushing, pale skinned omega like Stiles was something rather delicate and entrancing, a blushing alpha Peter’s age was simply ridiculous. He was far too old for that, also; he couldn’t remember the last time he had blushed.

However, all his thoughts and doubts about him blushing faded away when Stiles took his own attempt at a flower crown and placed it onto Peter’s carefully styled hair. The crown wasn’t as expertly made as Peter’s and a few blossoms had lost quite a few of their petals, but the alpha couldn’t care less because his wolf was howling with happiness about their mate performing such a highly valued tradition on him.

Still, Peter placed one hand on Stiles’ jaw to softly caress the mole dotted skin, while he nuzzled his nose against the pale expanse of the omega’s throat, scenting the delicate area throughout, before pressing a fleeting kiss on it, which caused the teenager to shiver.

“My flower crown might look pretty crappy now, but by the time we have our mating ceremony I’ll have perfected my flower crown making abilities and you’ll be knocked off your socks, just you wait.” Stiles exclaimed happily and grabbed the leftover flowers to practice making another flower crown.

Peter smiled a little smile which couldn’t possibly express his happiness. He had never felt this way before and he never wanted these feelings to vanish.

“I believe you sweetheart.” He mumbled and made himself a mental note to find out how he could best preserve the flower crown on his head. It was the first one Stiles made for him and he would keep and cherish it forever.

-

Peter was so happy and careless the entire afternoon, that he almost forgot about the bonfire until he noticed a few of his cousins building a huge mountain of dried wood on the fireplace in the backyard.

Stiles and he had been so lost in their own world that they had barely noticed anything else going on.

The sun had already begun to set and slowly everyone was leaving the house and gathering in the large yard which stretched into the preserve. A few had already shifted and were playing in the woods, but most were still in their human form and would probably stay that way to enjoy the bonfire.

He could already see the large packages of marshmallows, the tubes of chocolate sauce, crackers and multiple bowls filled with campfire twist dough.

First everyone would eat dinner and then, once the sun would’ve set, Derek would take off into the woods to find Isaac a prove of his ability to care for the Omega. The bonfire was a way to keep everyone entertained while they waited for the Alpha’s return.

Suddenly Peter got nervous. He tried to pay attention to Stiles’ words, but his mind circled around the bonfire. What would happen if they lit it? Would he lose control again? Only his parents knew what had happened last time, were they also worried about his reaction?

“Will you be alright?” He heard his father ask quietly from the inside of the house, but he couldn’t answer because he didn’t know.

“Peter, is everything okay?” Stiles interrupted his negative thoughts.

“Oh, don’t worry darling, I was just thinking about what Derek might get Isaac.  There are quite a few large deer in the woods but as far as I know my nephew he will want to bring Isaac something exceptional. A cougar perhaps…” He lied quickly and put on a charming smile. “What do you say, pup, I’ll get us something to eat and you will be good little Omega and stay right here, okay?” Peter tried to deflect and got up.

Stiles looked at him a little suspicious but then he snorted.

“A good little Omega?” he asked with a quirked eyebrow. “If you say so.”

“Behave pup, I’ll be right back.” Peter couldn’t stop himself from smiling amused the entire way to the kitchen. It was already full with everyone trying to get some food for themselves and their mates but Peter had long since mastered the art of battling an entire werewolf pack for food.

In less than five minutes he had gotten himself a huge plate of food which would be more than enough for him and Stiles. He dodged the attempts of his youngest brother to steal some food, escaped great aunt Sue’s idea of a “short” conversation but failed to escape his father’s hand, who ruffled his hair again. Goddamnit!

Finally he made it outside and back to Stiles, who was still spread out on his back and staring up at the sky, not having moved an inch like Peter had asked him to. Somehow that made him irrationally happy. Stupid instincts.

“Whatcha got?” Stiles asked excitedly once Peter had sat down next to him again and eyed the plate hungrily.

“A little bit of everything.” The alpha answered easily and picked up a slice of bite sized chicken. Since most people were mated and it was quite usual for mates to feed each other by hand if too many other wolves were around, everything was more or less suited to be picked up with fingers without it ended up being one big mess.

“Oh yummy, gimme.” Stiles immediately groaned and nudged Peter with his elbow.

The man laughed but did as he was told and offered the slice of chicken to the teen, who opened up his mouth obligingly and closed his lips around Peter’s fingers with a hum.

Peter swallowed hard and took a deep breath to calm himself.

“You shouldn’t tease me, little one.” He growled and grabbed another slice of chicken for Stiles, who simply giggled.

“Hey, I’ve spent most of my teens thinking I’m an ugly duckling who’ll never find an Alpha and now the finest male alpha specimen has a hard on for me and wants me as his mate, let me feel desired and hot for once in my life.” Stiles argued with a full mouth and while that would normally put Peter off, he now found it endearing and cute.

“Alright little minx, tease me all you want but remember that I won’t touch you that way until we’re properly mated.”  Peter reminded the boy, who pouted a little before picking up a slider and offering it to him.

He carefully took a bite and was almost overwhelmed how the mating bond began to strengthen between them.

That was why Alphas courted Omegas. Couples would start forming a bond which strengthened over time and would be completed by the mating bite. It served to strengthen the union of mates and to connect them properly.

Peter had heard about the indescribable feeling of a forming mating bond, but it totally overwhelmed him anyways. It was like warm water was pouring into his very soul and spreading through his body.

“Do you feel that?” Stiles asked, sounding equally as overwhelmed as Peter did.

“Yes.” He nodded, breathless and a little shaky and picked up the next bite of food to feed his intended.

They continued to feed each other by hand and slowly the sexual energy vanished and got replaced by a deep emotional intimacy that caused Peter’s heart to race.

After every couple of bites Stiles would give him a soft kiss, the Omega’s free hand was constantly touching Peter, playing with his hair, caressing his arm, drawing invisible patterns on his skin. He briefly wondered if he had died and gone to heaven because this, this was far too beautiful to be true.

Eventually the plate was empty and put aside and Stiles was once again sprawled over Peter’s chest, nuzzling into his shirt. The Alpha liked the weight on his body, like how he got smothered in the delightful omega scent and could wrap his arms around Stiles’ slim waist.

Stiles was speaking quietly, rambling on and on about something Peter had no clue about, but he enjoyed listening to it, even if he didn’t know who this Corvo was and why he was at least half in love with something called the Outsider.

He got lost in the soft voice of his omega and his mind slowed down, at least until Stiles sat up excitedly.

“It’s time!” The boy exclaimed excitedly and patted his stomach. “I’m pretty full but not too full for smores!”

Peter looked around confused, the sky was dark, the sun had set and he could hear the sound of Derek’s paws hitting the ground, running north. Seems like the boy really planned on travelling a large distance to find Isaac a cougar.

But if Derek was gone….

Peter realized what was about to happen and immediately tensed. He was fine, he could deal with it, he’d be calm and not fear the totally controlled bonfire. It would just be a bit of burning wood and some smoke, he could deal with it. Especially if it meant hand feeding Stiles melted marshmallows.

“C’mon Peter.” Stiles got up and pulled him along with him towards where most of the family began to gather. He followed silently, his nervousness growing with every step.

This close the pile of wood seemed much larger than he had expected.

Stiles stopped a few meters away from the pile of wood, right next to Scott and chatted excitedly, apparently not the least worried about being so close to a soon flaming bonfire.

Peter glanced around nervously, he saw his parents watching him, their eyes full of concern and guilt, saw how Cora looked at him a little doubtful but also happy. He ignored the few pitying glances he got from relatives until his eyes landed on Talia.

She wasn’t looking at him with concern, she was looking at him expectantly, like she knew something he didn’t. And that something was in no way benefiting Peter, if anything it was out to harm him.

Something in her face irritated her. There was something in her eyes that he couldn’t put his finger on, an expression he had rarely seen.

Glee.

She was looking at him gleefully with a coldness written in the lines framing her mouth that made his blood freeze.

He smelled it the fraction of a second before everything turned to shit.

The slightest whiff of gasoline, only noticeable to those who knew what it smelled like mixed with wood. Someone had put a bit of an accelerant so the fire would rise quicker. And Talia had known, without telling him.

Peter saw in slow motion how Laura pulled out a lighter, grabbed a ball of newspaper and lit it on fire to throw onto the pile of wood. For a moment everything went black and when he blinked again a suddenly wave of heat crashed against his body as the bonfire came to life.

He heard various “awwww” and “ooooh” noises coming from the kids and a few adults, but all he could concentrate on was the way the wave of hot air had felt against his skin, how the smell of gasoline made his nose itch and how the flames danced in front of him towards the sky.

With a formerly unknown force his wolf began to claw at his head until he broke free. With a roar the animal took over Peter’s body and forced the shift onto him. He felt his bones break, his spine snap and his nails and fangs to grow before he was ripped apart with a painful howl.  

It was the most painful shift since the first one after the fire.

He somehow noticed how his mother had put her hands over her mouth, how his father was running towards him and how Stiles stared at him confused, then the shift was completed and for the first time since his childhood the wolf forcefully took control.

Peter blacked out.

-

He couldn’t have been unconscious for more than a few seconds, but once he regained control  he realized that his mouth- no muzzle, he was still shifted- tasted like copper, like blood , and that someone was calling his name.

Dazed he realized that he was crouched in front of his father, ready to attack. His father, who’s white shirt was drenched with blood where Peter had apparently bitten him.

He immediately backed a few steps away, his wolf still clawing and howling inside of his head, calling for their mate…

Mate!

Peter’s eyes focused on Stiles, who stood behind Lucien, eyes wide with fear and swimming in tears. The boy was as pale as a sheet, like he had seen a ghost, and his scent was clouded with panic and terror.

He was scared, scared of Peter and his wolf.

A low whine escaped Peter, his eyes flickered from his intended to his father and his mother, who was putting a protective hand on Stiles’ shoulder, and then he couldn’t take it anymore.

He had disappointed everyone.

With one last look at the Omega he had so desperately wanted to be his he turned around and vanished into the woods like the devil was on his heels. He heard his mother call out to him and felt how his father shifted to chase after him, but Peter was the fastest and soon the sounds of his father’s paws grew more and more quiet until the distance between them was too large to carry the noise.

Peter didn’t know where he was running to, he just knew that he was running away. Away from the pain, the memories, the nightmares, the fire, the smoke and especially from Stiles, whom he had so severely disappointed that he could barely breathe.

He had always known that their relationship was too good to be true. He wasn’t meant to have a mate.

Peter didn’t need a mate, Peter didn’t deserve a mate.

But that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t have sold his soul to be worthy of someone like Stiles.

Talia had been right, Peter would never be good enough for an Omega, he was a broken Alpha, a burned out shell of a man.

He would’ve cried if he had been in his human form, but wolves didn’t cry so he simply picked up on speed and raced through the woods like he had never before. Perhaps he could make it to NYC before dawn, he should pack some bags, grab a few things and then leave the country for a while.

Peter would never be able to face his parents after this, and especially not Stiles. Stiles who had to be so disappointed in him. Peter had known it would only be a matter of time before the Omega would’ve found enough flaws to end their courtship and now it had happened.

Peter had lost the one chance to have a mate, to be happy.

Chapter Text

Stiles was in shock.

One second everything was alright, he was holding Peter’s hand and anticipating being fed with smores until he couldn’t walk anymore and the next all hell broke loose.

The bonfire lit up far too quickly and a wave of heat hit Stiles and all of sudden Peter freaked out.

The Alpha flinched back, removing his hand from Stiles‘, and then there was a loud, terrifying roar and Peter shifted.

The last time Stiles had watched Peter shift was pretty quick.  In just a blink of an eye the man had turned from a human to a wolf, like it was the easiest thing in the world.

This shift was different.

Stiles watched in horror as Peter fell on his knees and how his body seemed to grow. His clothes ripped and fell onto the ground, allowing Stiles to see what happened to his intended’s body. He would get nightmares from this.

He could see the way Peter’s bones cracked and healed again, he saw the man’s spine twist and turn before it snapped as well, almost piercing through his skin, just to grow back together. Peter’s hands were bleeding where his claws were growing and retracting again and again and his lips were dripping with blood due to his fangs which were slicing through his mouth.

Another painful howl and then the human body was gone and replaced with a wolf.

Stiles was used to seeing the wolf’s eyes human and clear, now there wasn’t a trace of humanity left in them. They were wild, chasing around and feral.

He saw out of the corner of his eyes how most wolves took a few steps back or shifted as well, like they were afraid of Peter. Almost unconsciously he noticed something that made his body freeze. Talia wasn’t staring at the wolf wide eyed, instead she was smiling.

A grim, gleeful smile, like everything had turned out the way she had hoped it would.

“Stiles!” He felt Lucien’s hand on his shoulder, wanting to pull him back. But he didn’t want to be moved away from Peter, he was his mate and he was scared and needed someone to comfort him. And that someone was Stiles.

But before he could react, Peter shot forward and threw Lucien on the ground, who was so surprised that he went down with a grunt. Peter’s wolf didn’t hesitate, instead he opened his muzzle and lunged forward, burying his teeth in his father’s shoulder and ripping.

Lucien howled and his eyes began to glow, which seemed to clear the wolf’s head a little because Peter immediately scrambled backwards and tucked his tail in.

The older alpha didn’t hesitate and got up again, pushing Stiles behind him protectively. He didn’t need protection, he was 100% sure Peter had only bitten his father because he had tried to pull Stiles away.

“Peter!” he chocked and tried to move past his potential father in law, but a soft hand on his shoulder stopped him.

It was Ophelia who was holding him back.

“Darling, give him a moment to calm down.” She whispered, eyes carefully trained on Peter, who had started to whine. For a second Stiles thought he would shift back, but the wolf simply backed a few steps away. He looked one last time at Stiles and the pain in his eyes made Stiles’ heart clench.

No.

Before anyone could react, Peter turned around and raced into the dark forest.

“Dammit, Peter!” Lucien called after him before shifting as well. The older Alpha had no problems turning into a wolf and quickly chased after his son, leaving behind a pile of ripped clothes.

Stiles stumbled forward, wanting to go after his mate to soothe his pain, but Ophelia stopped him.

“Lucien will get him back, trust me. You can’t catch up with him, you’ll just break you neck in the dark and then we really have a problem.” She smiled at him slightly. Stiles couldn’t understand why she was so calm.

“But…” he whispered and now he couldn’t hold his tears anymore. They were running down his cheeks, leaving hot trails in their wake.

“Don’t worry, he’ll be alright.” She soothed in a way only Omegas could to and Stiles relaxed slightly despite his fear for Peter.

He took a few deep calming breaths, then his throat closed up again and he began to sob.

“I don’t understand, what did I do? Why did he freak out all of sudden?” He couldn’t breathe anymore, panic filled his head and black spots were dancing in front of his eyes.

“Oh sweetheart, you didn’t do anything wrong. C’mon inside, I’ll get you a tea and a blanket and then we’ll talk.” She put an arm around him and pulled him along wither and this time Stiles was too weak to resist.

-

He found himself sitting on the large couch five minutes later, a cup of peppermint tea in his hands and a blanket wrapped tightly around him. He hadn’t noticed that he was shaking until he almost spilled the tea all over his hands.

Ophelia calmly took the cup from him and placed it on the couch table.

“Are you gonna tell me why he freaked out now? I’d really like to know what I did wrong…” He whispered while staring blankly at his hands.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, cub. Peter has an aversion to fire, he’s downright afraid of anything more than a candle. I think the bonfire overwhelmed him.” She soothed him and carefully petted his hair.

“He never told me.” Stiles swallowed hard. “Why didn’t he tell me? And why is he so afraid of fire?” He looked at Ophelia questioningly and saw hesitation and guilt in her eyes.

“When he was 5 he spent the summer at his grandparent’s house. One night a group of rouge hunters set the house on fire using gasoline so it would light up quicker and so that Peter and his grandparents wouldn’t be able to get out. He never really told us what happened inside the house, but whatever it was, it traumatized him severely. It was pure luck that he was still alive when they found him, he was laying closest to the door, almost as if someone had dragged him there before going back further into the house. The police thinks that it must have been his grandfather who tried to save him and then went back to find his mate. Peter was severely burned and had to spend weeks in the hospital, he recovered slowly and met up with a therapist for over a year but he changed.” Ophelia sighed. “He once tried to attend a bonfire when he was a teenager and ended up shifting and running halfway through the country, I thought he would be a little less sensitive towards fire now but apparently I was wrong. Don’t worry darling, he’ll come back, you’re his intended after all.” She smiled and ruffled his hair softly.

Stiles barely noticed it.

 Ophelia had said that the rouge hunters had set the house on fire using gasoline, if they knew that why had they used gasoline for the bonfire? Stiles was not an expert when it came to fire but he knew that no natural bonfire would light up that quickly and aggressively.

“Why did you put gasoline on the bonfire then? Did you not think that it would set him off?” Stiles asked angrily and bit his lip. He didn’t want to unleash his frustration on Ophelia but right now he was furious. Who would do that kind of shit?

“Gasoline?” Peter’s mother blinked surprised. “Why would you think that?”

“Well, I’m not an expert but wasn’t the fire spreading a bit quick?” He asked while his fingers clenched in the blanket that was wrapped around him tightly.

“I don’t know… why would anyone…” She seemed unsure and glanced outside, where the fire was still burning high. Stiles could see how a few men had gathered around it to extinguish it, while most women gathered the pups and carried them inside. A few of the Hales were shifting and running into the woods, apparently joining Lucien in searching Peter.

“Would you mind excusing me for a moment? I would like to see if I can smell anything weird before they put out the fire.” She waited until Stiles nodded and then quickly left the room towards the bonfire.

Stiles slumped into the couch and closed his eyes. He felt exhausted all of sudden and the tears in his eyes threatened to spill over again. His thoughts circled around Peter, where he could be right now, if Lucien had managed to catch up to him, if he had been hurt, if he would come back.

He was so occupied with panicking about his intended, that he didn’t notice another wolf entering the room until the couch dipped next to him.

Stiles quickly opened his eyes and found Talia sitting next to him, a concerned look on her face. But something was off, he couldn’t put his finger on it but something irked him and made him feel uncomfortable.

“Are you alright, Stiles?” She asked quietly and raised a hand to put it comfortingly on his shoulder, but he instinctively flinched back a bit. He didn’t want this alpha to touch him.

“I’ll be fine once Peter is back here.” He answered quietly and tried to harden his voice so it wouldn’t sound as fragile as he felt.

“Oh darling.” Talia mumbled and sighed sadly. “You shouldn’t trust Peter with your emotional wellbeing.”

“What?” Stiles asked confused, not following what she was saying.

“Stiles, you are part of this family, regardless of your relationship to my brother and I want to protect you from getting hurt even more. Peter will break your heart. There is a reason he never took a mate, he knows that he would only ruin them.” Talia’s voice sounded gentle, but her words were harsh. “You’ve seen what happens when it really matters. He abandons you to take care of himself because he will never care about anyone else as much as he cares about his own skin.”

“That’s a lie.” Stiles winced when he noticed how hoarse his voice sounded, how weak his protest was.

“I’m sorry but it’s the truth. I know my mother told you about the fire when Peter was a child and I know everyone thinks someone dragged Peter towards the door to save him, but that’s a lie. I know that Peter got there himself, that he left behind our grandparents and didn’t even try to help them in order to save himself. You should leave him as long as you can, a clean cut. And then you should find yourself an Alpha who can love you.” She explained like it was no big deal at all, like Stiles could simply walk away and forget all his feelings. It made him furious.

“Stop it!” Stiles jumped off the couch and clenched his fists, a sudden violent urge flashed through his body and made his cheeks glow red with anger. “Stop talking! I don’t want to hear it!” His voice grew louder until he was almost screaming.

“You listen to me!” Now Talia had gotten up as well and something in her voice made Stiles freeze. It was something heavy, something that made his insides coil and his ears ring. His heart clenched and his bones felt like they were made out of lead.

The Alpha voice.

“You will end your relationship with Peter, you will forget whatever little crush you have on him and never talk to him again. You will hate him, like he deserves to be hated.” Her eyes were glowing red and every word was as cutting as a whip. Gone was the nice and caring woman he had gotten to know over the past few years. He could barely recognize her.

Stiles couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t move, everything inside him fought the urge to obey and suddenly he just felt empty.

For a moment he feared that he would obey her, but then he realized that he still loved Peter, that he would never end their relationship, especially not if another Alpha commanded it.

He took a deep breath and slowly turned towards Talia.

“I will do no such thing. I love Peter and I will not let you change that.” Slowly the hot rage started to rise inside him again until he felt like he could explode with anger. “I don’t know what your problem is but should you ever try to get in between Peter and I again, should you ever try to harm him in any way, physically or emotionally, I will end you. I’m the son of a Sheriff, I know a thousand ways to kill a person and another thousand ways to hide the body so well, not even an army of werewolves could sniff out where I would bury you.” In a sudden rush of confidence, he took a step forward and was suddenly eye to eye with Peter’s sister. “Do you understand?” He hissed and pointed a finger at her.

Talia stared at him for a moment with something akin to surprise, probably because her alpha voice hadn’t affected him, then her face shifted and she lunged forward, closing a clawed hand tightly around his throat.

“I hate mouthy omegas.” She snarled and tightened her hand, closing off his air supply. “I think it’s time to learn your place.”

Stiles panicked and automatically raised his hands and closed them around her wrist in an attempt to pull away. His survival instincts took over and he hoped the sudden adrenalin rush would give him more strength, but instead something astounding happened. His hands were glowing? No, they were sparking, it almost looked like electricity was dancing between his fingers and as soon as his skin touched Talia’s, it released itself, making the Alpha scream and letting go.
Stiles mind was rushing, the moment his fingers had touched Talia’s wrist, his brain had been flooded with pictures, emotions and thoughts and he realized something.

Talia stared at her arm, which was hanging limply down her side.

Paralyzed! Stiles realized and stared at his hand, who were looking exactly like they had before.

“What are you?” Talia asked, still holding onto her limp arm.

“You did it.” The omega ignored her question and instead held onto his head, trying to chase away the sudden headache that overcame him. “You put the gasoline on the wood before the fire started. You knew he would freak out.” He didn’t feel any rage anymore, instead he felt light and at the same time heavy.

“Answer me, what are you?” Now the woman screeched, but Stiles didn’t care.

“You should leave and pray that Peter will come back and be alright because if he isn’t I’ll make you pay for it.” He ordered her and barely noticed how strong his voice sounded.

“This is my house, I will not let you order me around like this.” She protested but before Stiles could answer, another voice cut in.

“No, this house belongs to your father and me. Your children and Joseph can stay here but you can’t.” Ophelia entered the room at her side Lucien, who’s eyes were glowing red. “You will leave now and you won’t come back until your father and I decide that you can, if we decide so at all.”

Talia opened her mouth, her eyes flashing red, but was interrupted again, this time by her father.

“I raised you to be a respectful Alpha, an Alpha who respects other orientations and would never abuse the power they were born with.” Lucien took a few steps forward, pulling Ophelia along with him. He was only wearing a piece of ripped fabric that could’ve been a shirt at one point. It was hazardously wrapped around his hips, barely covering him up.

Stiles guessed that he had only bothered to cover himself up so he wouldn’t make Stiles or Isaac uncomfortable, since all wolves were startlingly fine with nudity.

“I will call Deaton so he can check if Joseph has been influenced by your Alpha voice at any point and if Deaton should find any proof then I won’t hesitate to call the Sheriff. The Sheriff, who is Stiles father and who won’t be happy once he finds out that his son has been threatened by an Alpha and tried to be controlled with the Alpha voice.” Lucien continued calmly put an arm around Ophelia. “And now leave this house. I don’t know what Peter will do to you once he comes back and I’m not sure that I would stop him.”

Stiles felt dread rise in him.

One he comes back. Lucien hadn’t found Peter, hadn’t been able to catch up with his son and bring him back.

Suddenly all energy left his body and he fell back on the couch, this time not holding back the tears that were running over his cheeks. He could almost hear how his heart broke.

The omega didn’t notice Talia leave, he didn’t notice how Lucien quickly exited the room, just to come back a few seconds later, dressed in a dressing grown, he didn’t notice Ophelia hugging him, petting his hair soothingly or how Lucien joined, mumbling reassuring words.

He didn’t notice anything at all, just the pain that radiated from his heart.

Peter woke up to the sound of birds chirping and a heavy, earthy smell filling his nose.

Slowly he opened his eyes and needed a moment to understand why he was laying in a small cave that was surrounded by high trees. He could hear a small river burble near him and suddenly noticed how thirsty he was.

Slowly he got to his feet, well paws, and left the safety of the cozy cave his wolf had apparently found. While he trotted over to the fresh water he looked around. It was a very beautiful part of the woods, there were wild flowers, long grasses and many animals prancing around. Most of them were small rodents, all keeping a safe distance from him and watching him, but he could hear a large herd of deer rest nearby and even a mountain lion pacing in the distance.

While he eagerly drank the cool water that seemed to come from a nearby spring, he tried to remember how he came here. He tried to ask his wolf but the animal was curled up in the back of his mind, unusually quiet and absent.

Peter sighed and sat down on his haunches, enjoying the warmth of the sun on his dark fur. It was a pleasant sensation, the heat slowly seeped into his bones, waking him up properly and-

A sudden rush of memories overwhelmed him and he automatically buried his claws in the sand lining the river bed, while a low growl escaped his throat.

The bonfire.

A sudden rush of heat had made his skin burn and his wolf had suddenly broken out of his mind, taking over his body and forcing the shift onto him. The last time the shift had hurt so badly was shortly after the fire that had killed his grandparents.

He could still feel how his bones had turned and snapped, again and again.

Then he had only been able to watch while the animal controlled his limbs. His wolf had wanted to get to Stiles, their mate, who was standing so close to the fire without any protection. They had wanted to pull him back, towards safety where he couldn’t burn, but a large shape had pushed in their way.

They had noticed too late that it was Lucien, their alpha. The coppery taste of his blood was still bitter on Peter’s tongue.

His heart broke at the next memory. The expression of fear on Stiles’ face. Their mate was afraid of them.

Peter whined quietly and lowered his ears. He was once again overwhelmed by the urge to run away, like he had done last night, his father hot on his heels.

He had eventually lost the other alpha, who simply couldn’t keep up with his speed.

Peter didn’t know how long he had run, time had started to blend together while he had raced past tall rows of trees. At one point he had simply stopped thinking and allowed the wolf to push him all the way to the back of their mind.

Now his wolf was resting quietly again, clearly upset. Upset about the forced shift, the attack on their father, but mostly he was upset about scaring their mate.

Their mate who would surely never accept Peter again, their mate who had probably run back home to his father, towards safety and decided he never wanted to see Peter again.

God, he felt so ashamed, if a wolf could cry Peter would’ve cried now.

The alpha got up again and began to pace around on the small clearing in front of the cave. He didn’t know what to do. If he would go back to Beacon Hills he would’ve to be confronted by his parents. He couldn’t look them in the eye anymore, he had attacked his father after all.

Or he could go back to New York City and go back to his old life, his lonely life that was spend working at the company. And the little free time he used for a little sleep and finding a quick fuck. But once again, his parents would immediately find out he was back in NYC since Deucalion, the traitor, was like another son to Lucien and Ophelia and wouldn’t hesitate to tell them he was back.

They had probably already called him, just in case Peter had run all the way up to New York.

What should he do?

Suddenly he stilled.

The answer was obvious. To avoid all confrontations, he could just lay low for a few weeks. It didn’t feel like he would be able to shift back to being human anytime soon, he was far too emotional for that, so he might as well stay in the woods as a wolf.

He had a nice cave, fresh water and enough pray in these woods to survive for quite a while. And after two to three weeks he could go back to New York, perhaps his parents would calm down until then.

Who was Peter kidding? No matter if now or in two weeks, they would still fly up to check up on him immediately.

But Peter was a coward. Talking to them in two weeks seemed a whole lot better than talking to them in one or two days.

Yes, he would stay here- wherever “here” was- and calm himself down a little, get his emotions in order and accept the fact that he had lost every chance to ever be happy with a mate.

It was tragic really, only yesterday Stiles and he had talked about children, a family home and he had gotten John’s approval. Oh no, the sheriff.

Peter could never go back to Beacon Hills; the sheriff would probably shoot him as soon as he crossed the city line. And Peter would deserve it.

No, the decision was quite easy, he would stay in the woods for a while and then go back to New York and never go to Beacon Hills again!

It would be some time to wallow and self-pity and regret and mourn the loss of his intended.

Unfortunately, he had forgotten his parent’s determination and stubbornness.

-

It took his father two days to find him. Two days Peter spent curled up at the back of the cave, not moving unless he was dragging himself to the spring to drink a little bit, then he would go back into the darkness and mourn more.

His wolf was just as quiet as he was, occasionally the animal would whine pitifully, but then it would curl up again as well. It was pathetic really.

Apparently, he was so unthreatening that deer were now grazing on the clearing in front of the cave and occasionally a few too curious rodents would come into his cave and hobble so close to him that he could feel their body warmth.

His wolfy ancestors would probably turn in their graves if they could see him now.

It was midday the second day when he heard quiet steps approaching the cave. The deer and rodents fled suddenly and a small breeze quickly explained why.

Another wolf, an alpha, a very familiar alpha.

It was his father. He had probably spent the past few days tracking Peter’s trace down. Usually it was Peter’s job to trace lost family members down, he was the fastest and had the sharpest nose, but his father seemed quite skilled himself. Not a surprise since he was the one to teach Peter how to track.

He heard the steps come closer until they stopped at the cave entrance. For a moment it was quiet, then he heard a little sigh and feel the way his father shifted back to human.

“Here you are.” Lucien mumbled with obvious relief in his voice.

Immediately Peter felt guilty, knowing he had probably worried everyone, and curled into himself a little bit tighter, tucking in his tail and flattening his ears.

“Are you hurt? Can you move?” His father asked while coming closer, before sitting down right next to Peter’s head.

Peter huffed quietly and slowly uncurled a little to rest his head on his father’s lap, seeking out comfort in the familiar smell.

“I’m glad you’re alright. You had us all worried.” Lucien said quietly and buried a large hand in the soft fur on Peter’s head, slowly petting him and occasionally scratching behind his ears. It felt heavenly.

Peter whined again, pushing into his father’s hand and baring his neck.

Lucien smiled a little and accepted the offered submission by placing his hand calmly on Peter’s throat.

“Will you come back anytime soon? Everyone is waiting for you. Your mother has gone into full cleaning mode, the house is sparkling and smelling like cleaning products. She cleaned the entire house three times, it makes everyone itchy when she reorganizes the closets and drawers. She already found Derek’s secret stash of Isaac themed pictures. Did you know he had made a collage? Laura teased him for that mercilessly until your mother found a whip and a pair of handcuffs under Laura’s bed.” His father shuddered and Peter almost huffed out a laugh.

It was true, his mother was a stress cleaner. In fact, whenever a stressful situation arose, she went into full Martha Stuart mode and turned into a perfect 50s housewife, spoiling everyone with delicious food and then cleaned up until the supermarket either ran out of cleaning products or she wasn’t stressed anymore.

“If she continues to cook that much even our werewolf metabolism won’t manage to work against all those calories and we’ll roll around the house.” Lucien continued. “She even started cooking polish dishes. Stiles is teaching her some secret family recipes and it’s delicious.”

Now Peter’s ears perked up. Did that mean Stiles was at the Hale house? That he hadn’t run back to his father?

“He’s worried about you. When he isn’t at school he bakes the most delicious deserts or helps your mother cleaning.” The older alpha grimaced. “If you’re worried about facing Talia, you don’t need to. She’s not there anymore. After you ran she tried to control Stiles with the Alpha voice and physically attacked him, apparently, she had put gasoline on the bonfire while nobody was looking so it could trigger your reaction. She has used the alpha voice on Joseph as well and after Deaton lifted the effect we found out some pretty disturbing things. Currently she’s held at the Sheriff station for various reasons and it seems like she will most likely go to jail for a while. Sheriff Stilinski insists on Stiles pressing charges and helped Joseph find the courage to do so as well.”

Lucien hesitated for a moment, then he continued.

“We found out what she did to you when you were younger. Well, Stiles did. It turns out your mate isn’t as human as he seems. When Talia “attacked” him his Spark was triggered so he could defend himself. Deaton says he’s quite powerful and when you give him the bite he will become a force of nature. You really chose a wonderful omega. I’m sorry that I never noticed how much you had to suffer under Talia’s comments after the fire. You need to know that neither your mother nor I or any of our other relatives, ever believed that you are to blame in any way. I knew my father in law pretty well and I know that his first instinct would be to protect you. I know that he dragged you to the door to get you towards safety, and that the only reason he would go back and burn as well was because of his mate.” Peter’s father went silent after that to give his son time to process the large amount of information.

Peter’s head was spinning.

Talia was at the Sheriff station, Stiles was a Spark, his parents had found out about the secrets he had carried with him since he was a child, and most importantly, Stiles hadn’t run. Stiles was still staying at the Hale house, Stiles was worried about him.

Why? Why hadn’t he run? He should be terrified of Peter after seeing him so feral.

Apparently, his father noticed his confusion because he laughed quietly.

“He’s stubborn Peter, even more stubborn that you are and seeing you nibble me a bit won’t scare him off. So however long you decide to sulk in this cave, he will sulk even longer, until you finally find your balls again and come back with your tail tucked in and a proper apology. Maybe some chocolate, if necessary a ring as well with a big diamond.” Lucien explained and made Peter huff again.

He had known that Stiles was as stubborn as a mule, but he hadn’t anticipated this and his wolf was immediately up and alert. Their mate was waiting for them, their mate still wanted them. The animal was ready to jump up and run all the way back home, to crawl back to their perfect omega and beg for forgiveness.

But his human side stopped him.

Stiles may be still convinced that he wanted Peter as an Alpha, but Peter knew that the boy could do better. He could find an alpha who wouldn’t freak out because of a small bonfire, an alpha who would be able to control himself.

“Whatever you’re thinking, stop it. I can almost hear your self-destructive thoughts and they’re not true. I can’t imagine how you must’ve felt last night but I know how you feel regarding Stiles. You feel like he could do better, that he deserves better. I felt the same way about your mother. When we met I could only think how perfect she was, so beautiful, so smart, so funny and just…irresistible. She could’ve had any alpha she wanted so why would she pick someone as boring as me? It’s a curse every alpha has, we never feel good enough, always think there’s someone better out there who could make our chosen omega happier. But, as I’ve been repeatedly told by your mother, that’s apparently bullshit. They’re omegas and they had a reason why they chose us, so instead of thinking about how we can sabotage their decision and decide for them, we should suck it up and finally be happy.” Lucien laughed and scratched Peter behind the ears in such a skillful way, that Peter felt how he started waggling his tail.

“But I’m serious Peter. If you want to stay here for a few days to sort yourself out that’s fine, but don’t think I’ll keep it a secret where you’re hiding. And please, don’t be too hard on yourself, your omega is waiting for you.” Lucien leaned down and pressed a quick kiss on Peter’s head, before getting up to shift.

Peter watched how his father turned into a large wolf and softly nudged his snout against the larger alpha’s shoulder, to show his appreciation over the surprise visit.

Lucien nodded once, then he took off, heading south towards Beacon Hills.

Peter was left behind, no longer mourning and wallowing in self-pity, but instead thinking about how their mate waited for them.

He ached to go back.

-

The next day he got more visitors.

First there was Derek, who had towered over him for a moment, before huffing and laying down as well, comforting Peter with his familiar scent. Half an hour later they had been joined by Cora. Three wolves at once had almost filled out the cave and caused a small puppy pile.

They left in the afternoon, none of them had shifted back to human, but it was fine. Lucien had talked enough the day before and Peter was still processing.

At early evening he got another visitor. A more fragile wolf walked across the clearing with light fur and large violet eyes, carrying a picnic basket. Peter would’ve laughed if he could’ve.

As soon as the wolf was at the entrance of the cave, it shifted back to human and Ophelia got up on two legs, stretching herself a little before opening the basket. Immediately the mouthwatering smell of his mom’s homecooked food filled the cave and Peter’s stomach growled loudly.

“If you want food, you’ll have to shift.” His mother said easily while unpacking a few clothes. She quickly put on a lose dress before throwing pants and a shirt at her son.

For a moment Peter was hesitating, then he grabbed the clothes with his muzzle and got up to leave the cave. As soon as he was outside beside his mother, he shifted back to human and quickly slipped into the sweatpants and the shirt.

He stretched his numb limbs a little and groaned when he felt how tense his muscles were.

A warm bath sounded like heaven right now.

“Good.” Ophelia smiled and unraveled a picnic blanket, which she spread across the grass before sitting down.

Peter joined her and watched with large eyes how she unpacked one Tupper box after another. His stomach was clenching from hunger and he could feel how he was just seconds away from drooling.

There were amazing sandwiches, perfectly cooked meat, a bowl of mac n’ cheese, garlic bread, fried chicken, potato salad, a pasta salad, some chips, some chocolate and a whole lot of other boxes with some of his favorites.

He was ready to just shovel everything in with his hands, but his mom stopped him and pressed a fork and a knife into his hands with a stern glance.

Peter smiled a little before he tucked in, shoveling away the food like a man on a mission. God, everything tasted so good.

“You know, I’ve a piece of large chocolate cake sitting at the house with your name on it.” Ophelia chirped while slowly eating a turkey sandwich. “Stiles baked it, it’s delicious.”

Peter eyed her suspiciously, knowing exactly how manipulating his mother could be. He may be smart but his mother was a genius.

“It’s a really good cake as well. He used German chocolate, the one our German relatives brought along. It’s apparently made from Madagascan cocoa and it melts on your tongue. I know how much you love moist cakes and this is the best one I have ever tasted.” She continued while licking a little bit of mayonnaise from her fingers.

“Mom.” Peter grumbled while finishing the pasta salad and switching to the garlic bread. “That’s not working.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m simply saying….and if there’s a whole bowl of mousse au chocolate sitting in the fridge as well, then it’s just something I thought I should mention. I’m not sure how long Cora can behave herself though, if you don’t come back soon I doubt there will be anything left for you. And I can’t imagine you would want to miss out on a desert your omega prepared.” She smiled innocently, but Peter knew exactly what she was planning.

“You don’t have to tempt me with chocolate desserts, I’ll come back anyways.” Peter mumbled, still stuffing himself with food.

“I know you will.” His mother’s voice sounded gentle. “But I hope it might motivate you to come back sooner.” She reached over and petted his hair softly.

Peter continued to be quiet, keeping his eyes firmly on the food.

They sat in silence, eating their food and watching the sunset until every container was emptied and Peter felt too full to even move. He knew he would’ve to go home soon.

“Stiles knows that we found you and he wonders what he did wrong for you not to come back. Joseph caught him sneaking out and trying to find you on his own, he almost broke his neck stumbling around in the dark.” His mother said while they packed up the boxes. “Tomorrow we won’t stop him, we might even bring him here if you don’t get yourself together.”

Peter didn’t answer, but he knew that she would really do it. At the same time, he worried about the omega. Stiles was so clumsy, with his luck he would probably stumble into a bear trap.

“Come home, Peter.” She mumbled, gave him a kiss on the forehead before shifting back to a wolf. She licked his cheek once while he put her dress into the basket, then she took the handle between her teeth and turned around, vanishing into the dark woods again to go back home.

Peter watched after her for a long time and suddenly he felt ridiculous.

What was he doing sitting here? Stiles was hurting and probably worried sick about Peter.

He got up again, scaring a nearby hedgehog who started to huff at him, and quickly shifted back. As soon as his paws hit the ground he began to run. He instinctively knew where he had to go and even if he hadn’t known, his mother’s scent was easy to trace.

It took him a few hours and by the time he stopped in the bushes surrounding the Hale backyard, the moon was up high.

The house was quiet, only a few lights were still burning, most relatives stayed either in hotels or had houses of their own nearby. Usually it was a chance for the adults to get some alone time, since all kinds under the age of 6 slept in the Hale house, having a giant sleepover.

For a few minutes he sat there, catching his breath again, then he left his hiding place and crossed the lawn towards the large door that led from the living room to the veranda.

He didn’t need to shift back because Derek was sitting on the couch, still watching TV and had heard his approach. The younger alpha opened the door for him with a small smile.

“Glad you’re back, uncle Peter.” Derek mumbled before kneeling down and reeling his surprised uncle into a tight hug. “I’m sorry.” He said into the thick fur making Peter squirm.

He was fine being hugged, but should his family start apologizing for Talia and treat him like a hurt puppy, he would go back to his cave and stay there.

“Alright, alright.” Derek huffed and let go.

Peter regarded his nephew for a moment, before softly nudging his nose against the stubbled cheek and huffing quietly. He appreciated the concern, but he was fine, really.

“Love you too, uncle Peter.” The younger alpha answered and finally let go, making himself comfortable on the couch again.

Peter stood in the living room for a moment, just scenting the air. Only now did he notice, how strongly everything smelled like Stiles. Sure, there was the scent of cleaning products and of his other family members, but it smelled like his mate had been living here for the past few days. He liked it.

“Don’t make the boy wait.” Derek advised from the couch, which made Peter roll his eyes. He didn’t need advice from his nephew, he was just fine.

But before he could actually go to find his mate, a person stumbled into the living room, a gaggle full of little werewolves clinging to his arms and legs.

“Hey, Der, did you see where I left the copy of ‘The Griffin’s Feather’? The little ones refuse to go to sleep unless they find out if the Pegasus eggs get saved.” Stiles asked with a slight smile, while he tried to stop little Grace from chewing on his fingers.

Peter almost laughed, when Stiles didn’t even notice him, too occupied with handling a bunch of werewolf cubs.

The children noticed him first, they probably smelled him, and immediately let go of Stiles to fling themselves onto him. In less than a second he was buried underneath a haggle of children, all screaming happily that he was back and demanding piggy back rides.

He glanced at his mate, worried that Stiles might be angry with him and his heart stopped once he saw how the boy’s eyes widened. Then the omega bounced across the room as well and pulled Peter into a tight hug.

“Alright, kiddos, off to bed. Uncle Peter and Stiles will have a little adult talk now.” He heard Derek tell the kids, who reluctantly let go of them.

“Does that mean they’re gonna kiss now? And do naked wrestling?” They heard a high voice ask and a few answering ‘Eww, kisses’, but Peter barely heard it, he was far too occupied raveling in the strong scent of his mate, mixed up with the soft smell of cubs.

Carefully he nosed along Stiles’ neck, rubbing his scent onto the boy’s skin and pushing himself even closer to the human. He had missed him so much.

“I’m so glad you’re back.” He heard Stiles whisper hoarsely and noticed with distress, that the omega was crying. Quickly he freed himself from the tight embrace to lick away the tears spilling down Stiles’ pale cheeks, who only laughed and pushed Peter away.

“Stop it, doggy breath. These are happy tears you big goof.” He wiped across his wet cheeks, but new tears simply wettened them again. “If you ever vanish for days again I’m gonna kick your ass.” Stiles voice was soft, quiet and Peter finally felt how the clench of his shift loosened before it faded away.
The fur almost melted off of him, making the last shift seem like a bad dream compared to how easy it was now to change his form.

One second he was a wolf, the next he was human again and finally had hands to touch his mate.

Carefully he put them both on Stiles’ face, cupping it so he could look into the boy’s eyes steadily.

“I’m sorry.” He mumbled then, his voice rough from disuse. “Forgive me for leaving you. I promise you, if you still want me, I won’t ever disappoint you like this again. Please.” Peter knew he was begging, but he would gladly go down to his knees and kiss Stiles’ feet, if it meant he wouldn’t lose his mate.

“You really hurt me, Peter.” Stiles whispered and leaned against his shoulder. “I didn’t know what was happening until your mother explained it to me. I thought I had done something wrong, you can’t just vanish like that and leave me behind. I’m supposed to be your mate but in that second, I felt like I meant nothing to you. Like I was something you could just abandon whenever you didn’t want it anyone.”

“You are my mate. I just, I was too ashamed to face you after losing control like that. I thought you were afraid of me, that you had run back to your father, that you didn’t want me anymore. I’m not as strong an alpha as you thought I was.” Peter admitted quietly.

“I know, I understood once your mom explained what had happened and I could…feel what you felt. At least some of it. It took me a while to realize that they weren’t my emotions but yours. After that it was easier, I knew you’d come back. But it still hurt. Not knowing where you were, if you were hurt.” Stiles voice was soft, but his words cut deep.

“I’m sorry.” Peter mumbled and closed his eyes. “I’m so sorry.” He hung his head low, not sure what else to say.

“Stop apologizing.” Stiles climbed onto his lap and wrapped his arms around Peter. “Just promise to never do something like that again, okay?”

“I promise.” And Peter meant it.

Chapter Text

“You know you’ll have to let go of me when I shower, right?” Peter asked, around his toothbrush, eyes fondly resting on his reflection. He didn’t admire himself, especially not when he looked like he had spent weeks in the woods instead of a mere three days. Instead he admired the pale, mole freckled arms wrapped around his middle.

“No.” Stiles grumbled into Peter’s back, voice muffled by the T-Shirt Peter had put on. Derek had thrown it at him along with a pair of sweats when he had come down again.

“While I would never complain about getting a chance to shower with you, I feel like a mountain man and fear you would not enjoy watching me wash away all this dirt.” Peter mumbled, scrubbing especially hard at his fangs. They were a bitch to clean.

Stiles didn’t answer, instead he simply shuffled even closer, a long line of warmth pressed against Peter’s back, hugging him so tightly it would’ve bruised a human’s ribs. He hadn’t let go of him once and Peter enjoyed it.

He could feel their mate bond slowly repairing itself, growing stronger than it was before.

They spent a few minutes in silence and once Peter deemed his teeth clean, he carefully detangled himself from Stiles’ grip, so he could rinse his mouth properly. The boy let go of his back reluctantly and instead wrapped himself around Peter’s left arm.
As soon as Peter was done brushing his teeth and started applying shaving cream on his stubble, Stiles turned into a human backpack again, hiding his face between Peter’s shoulder blades.

Peter could smell the hurt radiating from Stiles and even though it lessened with every passing second, it made his wolf whimper.

He quickly shaved, forgoing his usual goatee so he could clean up quicker and curl around Stiles in the guest room which had started smelling like his Omega, and burry his nose in Stiles’ soft hair.

“Sweetheart, you really need to let go of me now. How about you go ahead to bed, I’ll join you in a few minutes.” Peter soothed, pressing a soft kiss on his intended’s forehead.

“Don’t wanna.” Stiles tugged on the hem of Peter’s shirt.

“You don’t trust me, do you?” The Alpha asked through clenched teeth, feeling gutted. He knew he had abused Stiles trust, it shouldn’t be surprise that the boy didn’t believe his words anymore.

“I trust you.” The Omega answered, voice fierce and heart steady. “It’s just that I don’t trust myself to be important enough for you to stay.”

Peter clenched his jaw. This was even worse.

“Take your shirt off.” He commanded and wormed out of Stiles’ grip to turn on the shower. The omega stared at him, confusion written all over his face.

“Why?” Stiles asked, blushing furiously now.

“Well, if you’re already in here and refuse to let go of me, you might as well take your clothes off, so the water won’t get them wet.” Peter shrugged off his shirt.

“You want me to… shower with you?” The human only sounded slightly hesitant, but there was excitement radiating off him.

“Just shower.” Peter remarked dryly. “Your father has already too many reasons to shoot me, I wouldn’t want to give him another.”

Stiles rolled his eyes, but wrestled out of his shirt and jeans before he hesitated at his boxers. Peter had already stripped and thrown the discarded clothes in the hamper.

After taking a deep breath, Stiles seemed to collect all the courage he had and pushed off his boxers, discarding them in a small pile along with his jeans and shirt. The boy was blushing deliciously, but Peter was aware that the cause of the delectable redness tinting his cheeks and spreading over his neck was embarrassment rather than arousal.

But Stiles had no reason to be embarrassed, not when he was the epitome of omega beauty.

His skin wasn’t just pale, it was fair and a little translucent, his blue veins were slightly visible on his arms, his shoulders and his hips. Everything about him was delicate; from his slim, elegant fingers, to his tiny waist, flat stomach and long, coltish legs.

Idiots would possibly call him gangly instead of lean and skinny instead of fragile; but Peter wasn’t an idiot, he was an Alpha. And the reason almost all male Alpha’s were drawn to omegas was because they were naturally compatible. Peter was broad and strong, the tendons on his arms were traceable like a pattern from his wrists to his shoulders; his body was sturdy and coiled with muscle. Sure, compared to his father or even Derek, he could be considered rather lean for an Alpha -something that had never bothered Peter before he had met Stiles- but he liked to think his intelligence made up for that.

So, while Stiles was the typical omega, delicate and beautiful, Peter was strong. He was able to protect his pretty mate from others, be it Alpha’s who wouldn’t take a mating bite seriously or really any kind of threat that might try to harm his omega and their cubs.

“Stiles, come here.” He mumbled and held a hand towards the omega, who took it with a shuddering breath and allowed Peter to pull him closer. He reeked of nerves and while it covered the stench of fear and hurt, it wasn’t an electric scent of anticipation.

Stiles tentatively buried his face against Peter’s neck, before scenting him almost automatically. Peter’s wolf grumbled happily, a pleased growl low on his throat, and Stiles almost purred in response, like he was a wolf and not a human anymore. In just a few days, he had already adopted the habits of the wolves he had lived with.

“You’re perfect, sweetheart.” Peter whispered and pressed a soft kiss on the crown of Stiles’ fluffy hair. Like all omegas, Stiles lacked all kind of body hair, except for the soft, brown strands on his head and his eyebrows. In all his years, Peter had once been with an omega who had been able to grow body hair -due to his body producing an excess of testosterone, resulting in patchy stubble, a little trail of pubic hair and tragically, infertility despite the omega being a carrier- but he preferred Stiles like this. He wanted to run his hands over Stiles lean figure, map out every inch of his soft, hairless skin with his fingers until he was as familiar with his mate’s body as he was with his own. He wanted to know every sensitive spot, every place that would make Stiles moan and writhe in his sheets and use them to make his beautiful omega see stars.

“Stop flattering me. I already told you there’s no need to butter me up. I won’t leave. You’re stuck with me now, mister.” Stiles grumbled against his skin. “And now let’s get in the shower, you’re dirty and I wanna go to bed and cuddle with you.”

Peter chuckled quietly; but did as his mate commanded. One handed he tested the water carefully to make sure it would have the perfect temperature and not accidentally scald Stiles, before stepping into the shower with Stiles. It was large enough for at least 4 people and the multiple shower heads ensured that everyone got enough water for themselves.

Stiles arched against Peter’s body when the warm water hit his back and groaned quietly. It was obvious how much he liked it and as much as Peter wanted to let his hands roam down that delicious curve of his spine down to his pert little ass, now was not the time.

Instead he grabbed the shampoo, before he’d start something John would definitely shoot him for. Especially now that Stiles wasn’t in the right head space to fully consent. And to be honest, neither was Peter. As much as he always liked to be in control or at least seem like he was, right now he couldn’t think entirely clearly either. He was simply desperate to be as close to his mate as he possibly could.

But when he was about to squeeze some of the scentless, organic shampoo on his hand, Stiles stopped him, by taking the bottle.

“Let me.” The boy whispered and even if he had wanted to, Peter couldn’t say no to his mate.

So when Stiles poured himself a handful of shampoo, he obligingly lowered his head so the human could reach his hair without having to get on the tip of his toes. Knowing their luck, Stiles would probably slip and break something.

But all thoughts of broken noses and emergency room visits were forgotten the second Stiles fingers touched his hair. They roamed softly over his scalp, spreading the shampoo in his wet hair until every strand was covered in white foam. Peter felt his knees go weak under Stiles’ touch and had to brace himself against the slippery walls of the shower to stop himself from falling on his ass.

His eyes fluttered close and when Stiles washed the suds out of his hair, he almost whined. Luckily, Stiles quickly continued by using the conditioner next, which made Peter purr again. As soon as they were officially mated and living together, he’d insist on always showering together. Or at least beg Stiles for scalp massages on a daily basis.

Next he grabbed the scentless shower gel and spread it on the shower puff, before rubbing it in his hands to make it foam. Peter watched with beady eyes how Stiles methodically cleaned him, starting at his shoulders. The omega dragged the puff over his arms to his hands, where he carefully cleaned Peter’s claws, before cleaning his broad chest, down to his waist and just stopping short of his pelvis. The boy blushed even more and nudged Peter’s shoulder, who turned around with a slight smirk. He could smell Stiles’ arousal, even though it was muted by the water steam.

The loafer scrubbed across his back down to his ass and then over his legs down to his ankles. He turned around again, so Stiles could reach his front as well and chuckled quietly when the Omega’s eyes flickered almost automatically to his crotch.

Stiles spluttered and threw the puff in Peter’s face, who caught it easily.

“Come here, sweetheart.” He pulled Stiles to his feet. He wanted to reciprocate the tender gesture, starting with Stiles’ hair. The omega became putty in his hands within seconds and groaned quietly when Peter’s fingers massaged down his neck, before rinsing off the foam.

But as nice as it was to turn Stiles’ knees into jelly by simply massaging his scalp, he wanted to explore every inch of the omega’s body. So, he grabbed the loafer, applied the scentless soap and began cleaning Stiles’ body. The omega was clean already, he had probably showered this morning and -unlike Peter- hadn’t spent three days in a cave. But he was still as throughout as Stiles had been with his.

When he cleaned Stiles’ fingers, the omega giggled delightfully, and he couldn’t help but smile as well. The puff slid over his slippery skin, leaving a trail of foam in its wake that was washed away within seconds. Peter took a special delight in the way Stiles’ breath hitched when he brushed across the omega’s pink nipples and couldn’t help himself but brush over them again, this time with the tips of his fingers.

“Behave.” Stiles laughed and nudged a finger against Peter’s sternum. The alpha complied and brushed lower, until he had almost reached the omega’s groin. Stiles squirmed under his touch, clearly torn between arousal, anticipation, nervousness and insecurity. Peter decided now wasn’t the right time to try and cure Stiles’ hesitance and insecurity, not when they were still healing from their time apart.

So, he ignored that sweet little cock nestled between the gap of Stiles’ thighs, even though he longed to wrap his hand around it and make his mate moan with pleasure. Peter was nothing but a gentleman and Stiles’ first orgasm with another person wasn’t supposed to happen in a guest shower with Derek in the living room, telling Peter amused that he shouldn’t give the Sheriff more reasons to shoot him than he already had.

Gathering all his self-control, he kneeled in front of his mate and cleaned Stiles’ legs. The human giggled again when he rubbed the puff over his toes and the underside of his feet and Peter couldn’t get enough of the sound.

Less than an hour ago he had thought he’d never get to hear it again and the relief of knowing Stiles still wanted him made him almost giddy. He had heard how the rejection from an omega affected alphas. How they crumbled under the weight of it and needed time to recover from it. It was a biological reaction rather than a mental one and another reason why alphas tried to court their desired omega for months if necessary, providing thoughtful and personal gifts and showing them again and again how much they admired them.

A hand on top of his head made Peter look up. Stiles stared down on him, eyebrows pulled together in a worried frown. Only now did the wolf realize he had frozen, lost in his thoughts.

“What is it?” Stiles asked quietly, fingers caressing the side of Peter’s face. The alpha nuzzled into the touch, before getting up in order to press a quick kiss on top of those plush lips.

“I’m just glad you still want me.” Peter admitted, squirting more shower gel on the puff. He hated how vulnerable he felt even though he knew Stiles would never use it against him.

“Always.” The omega promised quietly, making the wolf’s heart skip a beat. Peter kissed him again, lips lingering this time, before he put on his always present smirk.

“And now turn around love, I want to get my hands on your sweet ass.” He murmured and the heaviness of the tender moment was chased away by Stiles’ laughter.

“And here I thought you were a traditional alpha who would woo and court me before feeling me up.” The human pointed out but turned around much to Peter’s pleasure.

“I am traditional, but who can blame me for wanting to get a good look at what will soon be mine?” He teased and kissed Stiles’ neck, before cleaning his shoulders with the puff. He followed the slightly visible knobs of his spine down the delicious arch of his back until he reached the soft swell of his ass.

Peter had seen many asses, and even though he had some very pretty omegas, including models and actors, in his bed, he had never seen anybody as perfect as Stiles. It was a shame that the boy kept his body hidden underneath too many layers and clothes three sizes too big.

But Peter hadn’t been joking when he said that he was traditional. His parents had raised them that way, teaching their alpha children how to treasure and treat omegas. His beta siblings had also been taught to woo and adore their future mates, including the importance of respect, but the culture between beta couples or regarding betas in general was almost non-existent.
But he had been taught the old values, how alphas were supposed to cherish and worship their omegas, fulfill their every wish and try to protect them from every burden in the world.

So no matter how much he longed to slip a finger between Stiles buttocks and tease his sensitive hole, his parents had taught him differently, so he methodically cleaned Stiles back, before rinsing off the puff.

“Alright sweetheart, how about you grab some towels for us while I finish up?” He mumbled into the human’s ear and watched goosebumps spread across his back.

“You better not leave me waiting.” Stiles ordered, before slipping out of the shower, not without glancing at Peter’s groin once more.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He closed the shower door again and made quick work to clean all the nooks and crannies Stiles had skipped or missed, before rinsing off one last time. He stepped out of the shower just as Stiles wrapped himself in one of the large, soft bath towels.

Peter tied another towel around his waist, before he couldn’t ignore his instincts anymore. They screamed at him to keep taking care of his omega and from the way Stiles glanced at him, he could tell the human felt the same.

So he took the towel from Stiles and started drying him just as throughout as he had cleaned him. It took less time and when Stiles’ hair was just slightly damp and his skin was dry, he quickly dried himself, before putting on a clean pair of sweats and a new T-Shirt that he had grabbed from his suitcase. Stiles had also taken some of Peter’s clothes and was already slipping into them. They hung on his lean frame and Peter marveled at the way their scents mixed.

They left the two towels in the hamper and quietly crossed the hallway, careful not to wake the cubs sleeping two doors down to their left, and as they stepped into the guest room that Peter always occupied when he visited Beacon Hills, he was once again hit with the scent of Stiles.

The boy had slept in this room every night since Peter ran away, patiently waiting for the alpha to return. The sheets were soaked in his sweet omega pheromones and while Peter’s own darker and spicier scent had started to fade, it still lingered enough to make the room smell like theirs.

At one point in the future an entire house would smell like this, maybe even mixed with the warm scent of their pups.

Peter pulled Stiles into bed with him. They slipped under the sheets together and Stiles didn’t hesitate for a second; instead he immediately wrapped himself around Peter like he was a particularly adorable octopus. But who was Peter to complain? Instead he pulled the human closer and buried his nose in his soft hair.

“I’ll never leave you again.” He promised quietly. Some part of him needed Stiles to hear it again and again, until the boy would never doubt how important he was to Peter again.

“Yes, you will, Peter.” Stiles raised his head and his amber eyes were reflecting the moonlight beautifully. “I still have a few months left until I graduate, and you need to take care of your company. I think it’s pretty obvious that we’ll be mated sooner rather than later and that I’ll most likely move in with you when I start college in New York City. But until then we can’t be around each other all the time. You need to go back and do your job.”

“I could work from here.” Peter muttered petulantly. He had planned on staying in Beacon Hills until Thanksgiving anyways, so he could take Stiles with him over the holiday and show him New York. And after that it would’ve only been a few more weeks until Christmas and with some careful planning and scheduling, he could work from Beacon Hills.

“No, you can’t.” Stiles was right. He wouldn’t be able to do everything from here. They had their second US headquarters in California, but it was a five-hour drive from Beacon Hills and time wise not much a difference to a flight to New York City.

“I don’t want to leave you.” He admitted as he caressed his mate’s back by running his hand up and down his spine, from the beginning of his tailbone to nape of his neck.

“I know. And I don’t want you to leave, but you’ll stay until Thanksgiving anyways. And afterwards we’ll just keep doing what we did before. You’ll spam me with Snapchats and I’ll call you every day and refuse to hang up.” Stiles sighed. “I know it won’t be easy; Derek and Isaac get anxious every time they’re separated for more than three hours and you’re even more possessive than Derek is, but we’ll make it work.” The omega nuzzled against Peter’s cheek, before pulling back with a frown.

“I miss your beard.” Stiles pouted a bit. “You’re too soft. Grow it back, right now.”

For a second, Peter stared at him incredulously, then he laughed. The tension, the unease and hurt between them had lessened significantly, but now it had vanished entirely. It felt like the past few days had never happened, like the bonfire was a memory of the past that faded quickly.

His intended smiled broadly, obviously pleased that he had made Peter laugh, before his expression sobered again.

“I’m not kidding, you better grow that beard back quickly, or I’ll find myself an alpha who isn’t as baby cheeked as you. Hey, do you think Derek and Isaac would be open for a poly relationship? His beard is incredible.” Stiles rambled and even though it was obvious that he was joking, Peter could feel a growl low in his throat.

“Don’t even think about it.” He grumbled, and something gentle shone in Stiles’ amber eyes.

“I would never. In case you haven’t noticed, you’re pretty much it for me.” The confession was raw and the blush on Stiles’ cheek was bright, even in the dim room. A human wouldn’t have noticed it, but Peter’s eyes picked it up easily.

“You’re it for me too, sweetheart.” Peter answered and Stiles’ heart skipped a beat in his chest. They were both aware that the meaning behind their words was even more significant. It included love and commitment, erased every doubt that they might not be mated after all, and promised a picture book like future together.

But Peter was aware that there were still issues to sort out. He would have to deal with Thalia, which was an even bigger mess since not only had she attacked Stiles, she had apparently used her Alpha voice on her husband for years and tried to use it on his intended as well. And manipulating anybody, especially an omega by doing so, was not something the law tolerated. Then there were Derek, Cora and Laura. While Peter had no real connection to Laura because she was too much like her mother, he sympathized with Cora and Derek. Finding out about the dark side of their parents’ marriage would affect them in one way or another. Sure, Derek had seemed fine, but his nephew had the talent to expertly hide his feelings from everybody. And Cora was the type who preferred resolving arguments by physically fighting each other than talking about her feelings.

And of course, there was the Sheriff. Sure, he had approved of Peter and looked past their age gap, but that was before the bonfire. Peter saw some bullet holes in his future and if he was honest, he’d gladly let the Sheriff shoot him if it earned him forgiveness from his future father in law.

Another thing he had to deal with would be his family in general. He’d be receiving pitying glances and rueful smiles for months and be treated with kid gloves.

Tomorrow would be an exhausting day and he already dreaded it.

A soft snore chased away the thoughts about bullets and pity that circled his mind and when he looked down on his chest, a warmth that he had only been experiencing since he had met Stiles, spread through him.

The omega had fallen asleep. His head was resting above Peter’s heart and his fingers clenched around the soft fabric of his shirt. He looked beautiful in the silver moonlight and the peaceful smile on his lips made his stomach somersault. He was so glad that his intended still trusted him enough to fall asleep in his proximity so easily.

For a while, Peter simply watched the omega sleep. Sure, he could be called creepy, but Stiles was fascinating. Sometimes his adorable nose would twitch, then his lips would curl into a small smile before going lax again. His face was just as lively and expressive as it was when he was awake. But as much as he enjoyed watching Stiles, eventually his intended’s steady heartbeat lulled him to sleep as well.

For the first time in three days, he didn’t dream of raging fire, the scent of burning flesh and the agonized screams that quieted down into whimpers before silencing entirely.

Chapter Text

When Peter woke up, the first thing he noticed was the weight on his chest. Then the familiar scent in his nose. He felt disorientated, his mind slow and hazy, and it took him a moment to realize why he wasn’t still shifted in a cave, moping and suffocating from guilt.

Relief flooded him once more, when he remembered that Stiles had forgiven him, his mate still wanted him. Their weakness hadn’t repelled the omega.

His wolf purred contently and stretched in the back of his mind. The animal behaved like the feeling of terror and heat that had haunted their dreams the past few days, following the incident at the bonfire were merely a faded memory that would soon be forgotten.

Peter could live with that, although a small part of him had the urge to maybe look for a therapist to finally get over his fear of open flames. He didn’t want to lose control like that again, especially around Stiles.

He sighed and focused on Stiles, who was sprawled across his chest and still dead to the world. One of his long legs was wrapped around Peter’s hips and Peter’s left arm was holding on to Stiles waist and keeping him close.

Peter buried his nose in his mate’s soft hair and inhaled deeply. He almost couldn’t believe that he was holding Stiles in his arms.

The omega made an adorable snuffling noise, then his big doe eyes fluttered open. He blinked a little confused, then his scent blossomed with happiness. He seemed just as surprised as Peter had been, that he was really here.

 “Morning.” Stiles mumbled softly.

“Good morning, my sweet omega.” His voice was still gravely, and he saw how the omega blushed, a hint of arousal clinging to the air. They were both hard, a mixture of early morning arousal and attraction, but Peter didn’t intend to act on it. He was firmly set on courting Stiles properly and honour the traditions valued by his parents. No matter how much the young human tempted him.

“How late is it?” Stiles asked and rolled off Peter to stretch. The alpha mourned that he had to let his mate go but sat up as well.

“Shortly after ten.” He mumbled and swung his legs out of the bed before he stretched his sore muscles. Staying in his wolf form for multiple days had been a burden on his body. His muscles and tendons had grown used to his other body and were now uncomfortably stretched into a human body.

“That’s fine. Before I forget, my dad wants me to come over for lunch today.” Stiles worried his plump bottom lip between his teeth, tempting Peter to pull the omega closer to capture his mouth into a gentle kiss. He refrained and focus on Stiles instead.

“Mind if I join?” He asked and could smell the relief pouring off the boy. “I don’t think I can let you out of my sight yet and I would like to ask your father for forgiveness.” Peter added and Stiles rolled his eyes.

“You don’t need to apologize to my dad.” The omega protested, but the alpha disagreed.

“Stiles,” Softly, he curled his fingers around the omega’s wrist and pressed a soft kiss onto the back of his hand. “I told you that I’m a very traditional alpha. Your father’s approval is a particularly important part of our courting and our relationship. Allow me to respect these customs.”

Stiles looked at him for a long moment, his whiskey eyes wide and curious, then he smiled softly. “Alright, Alpha. But whether my dad forgives you or not, I’ll still be your intended and I’ll still want you to claim me. I might be an omega, but I can think and decide for myself, without anybody’s approval.” He reminded Peter gently, who smirked.

“Oh, darling. I would never presume that anybody could make a decision for you. You’re headstrong, smart and your mind is a beautiful puzzle that I’ll spend my life trying to solve. You’re an omega, nobody would dare to try and get in your way.” The Alpha said and Stiles puffed out his chest.

“Damn right. And now let me get up, my bladder is about to burst.” Stiles ordered and swung to his feet, only to almost stumble and fall to the floor. It was only due to Peter’s quick reflexes that he caught the boy before he could brain himself on the sturdy oak dresser.

Worried, he caressed Stiles’ cheek, who shrugged sheepishly.

“Low blood pressure, sorry.” He explained, blushing deliciously, but Peter frowned. The human’s body temperature was elevated and his heartbeat just slightly too fast. He held a hand to Stiles’ forehead and frowned when he realized that the human was burning up.

“Stiles, you have a fever.” Peter mumbled, now worried. Stiles frowned and batted Peter’s hand away, to check his temperature himself.

“Huh.” He mumbled, swaying slightly again. “Now that you mention it, I’m not feeling too well.” He decided slowly. “I’m almost feeling like…” His whiskey eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open.

“What is it?” Peter asked gently, cupping the omega’s face, who arched into the touch like a cat. His eyes fluttered close for a second and when they opened again the amber had been replaced with the pale violet iris of an unclaimed omega.

“I think I’m going into pre-heat.” He explained and Peter sucked in a sharp breath.

Pre-heat was a rare and usually harmless condition. Unlike the name suggested, it didn’t occur right before an omega’s fertility window, instead it could hit at any point during their cycle and even suppressants couldn’t stop or prevent it.

Pre-heats were caused if an omega had endured great emotional distress, usually about the loss of their mate or a cub. The stress and anxiety released a rush of hormones which made omegas affectionate and touch starved. Evolutionary, the purpose behind the pre-heat was a body’s instinctual reaction to protect the omega.

An omega having experienced a miscarriage or the death of a child would seek the attention of their mate and strengthen their bond, resulting in survival of the mating bond and an omega’s willingness to conceive again during their next fertility window. If an omega lost their mate, the pre-heat had the purpose to help them seek comfort in the arms of another potential mate. It secured an omega’s protection since only Alphas were influenced by an omega’s hormones and their instincts would force unbonded Alphas to focus their attention on an omega in pre-heat, which lead to a vulnerable omega having a protector and care taker in a situation that would otherwise leave them helpless and unable to defend themselves or their cubs.

Pre-heats couldn’t truly be compared to heats. They focused on bonding, not reproduction and emotional and physical intimacy in the form of gentle touches and unlimited attention. Despite the influence of hormones and pheromones, both Alpha and omega continued to have a clear mind and the ability to think rationally. It would simply reveal the traits of their second gender.

An omega would get needy and soft, eager to please and yet demanding to be pleased at the same time. They would nest and seek the scent and warmth of an Alpha, their emotions would be all over the place and the mood swings of an omega during a pre-heat were something to be feared.

An Alpha was affected by an omega’s pre-heat just as much. They would get aggressive and protective, trying to shield their omega from harm and other Alphas. Their domineering personality would intensify and they would try to take charge of everything and everyone, trying to get control over the situation. At the same time, they would get incredibly affectionate with the omega and constantly fight themselves, trying to pay enough attention to their vulnerable partner while also trying to look out for potential threats or rivals.
And they would submit to an omega, because that was the very core essence of an Alpha. They submitted to omegas and crawled at their feet trying to gain their affection and attention.

And in just a few hours, Peter would be at Stiles’ feet, trying to please his intended. If Stiles wanted to share his preheat with him.

A sudden flash of panic and fear turned Peter’s stomach into ice. What if Stiles didn’t want to spend his preheat with Peter? What if he didn’t trust him enough? If he was worried Peter would leave him vulnerable?

There was no greater pain for an Alpha than to be rejected by an omega and just another one of countless reasons why courting between Alpha and omega couples was taken so seriously and had such a long history of traditions and customs.

“What now?” Peter asked carefully, trying to test the waters. He didn’t want to presume, and he knew that Stiles had to be aware that Peter’s disappearance had triggered the pre-heat. Stiles had thought his intended Alpha had abandoned him and after running on adrenalin for a couple of days, his body was now exhausted and switched to a different survival strategy. Since Peter was to blame for it, he didn’t know if Stiles was willing to grant him the honour of being present and taking care of him.

The omega bit his plump bottom lip, then he glanced at Peter nervously. “Would you mind spending it with me? It’s supposed to be unpleasant if there’s no Alpha present and since we’re courting anyways and I’m your intended, I thought that maybe you wouldn’t mind…” He trailed off and Peter’s heart skipped a beat as pure relief flooded him.

“Of course my dear, it would be my honour. As long as it’s fine with your father, of course.” He said softly and Stiles rolled his eyes fondly.

“I swear to god, if I didn’t know how well you can operate a phone, I’d think you were a time traveller from the 19^th century.” He grinned, before he climbed to his feet and snatched a pair of jeans and one of his T-Shirts. “Would you mind taking your luggage with you? Scent is supposed to be really important during pre-heats so I think it would be good if we have some of your clothes with us.” He explained shily and Peter didn’t have to be asked twice.

He dressed himself casually, focusing on soft fabrics soaked with his scent and was rewarded immediately by Stiles, who plastered himself against Peter’s side and buried his nose in the man’s V neck.

The house was empty except for another heartbeat in one of the bedrooms. Peter didn’t bother trying to decipher it, instead he was focused on leading Stiles to the front door and helped him into the car. A slight redness tinted the human’s cheeks now and he shifted in his seat ever so slightly. The wolf watched his mate out of the corner of his eyes while he slipped behind the wheel and started the car. The weather was nice and warm, but not too hot, yet Stiles immediately cranked up the air condition and breathed a sigh of relief.

Peter’s wolf got more and more restless with every mile they drove and by the time they pulled up in front of the Sheriff’s house, he felt dangerously on edge. It didn’t help that he would have to face Stiles’ father as well.

He quickly got out of the car and opened Stiles’ door to help him out, before he herded the omega to the front door. The entire time his wolf urged him to crowd closely to Stiles and he glanced around, worried about possible threats. He herded Stiles into the house and breathed a sigh of relief once the door was firmly closed behind them.

But his relief barely lasted a second, because there was a strange heartbeat in the house. Someone other than the Sheriff, a stranger that could turn out to be a possible threat. Peter felt his hackles rise and his fingertips flexed as he tried and fought the shift.

“Peter.” Stiles mumbled quietly, trying to calm the Alpha down and Peter immediately obeyed the unspoken command. He took Stiles fingers in his hand and led them deeper into the house, into the living room where the Sheriff and a kind woman with dark curls and gentle eyes who flickered through a magazine, were sitting on the worn couch.

“Morning dad.” Stiles said cheerfully, just in time for his father to look up. Peter watched the man’s reaction to him carefully, but there was no hostility or anger in the worn, grey eyes, instead they were filled with warmth and understanding.

“Morning son. Good to see you again, Peter.” He stood up from the couch, wincing when his knees popped and took a few steps forward to pull his son into a tight hug, before he put a hand on Peter’s shoulder. His grip was strong and heavy, but grounding. “I’m glad you’re back.”

“I want to apologize to you for-“ Peter began, but the Sheriff silenced him with a soft shake of his head.

“Peter, I’ve been working as a cop for decades and have been the sheriff for half of that. I know what PTSD can do to a man, no matter how strong he is. The only thing that matters is that you came back even though you didn’t have to. You still have my permission to court my son and even if I was against your bond, Stiles wouldn’t listen anyways.” John chuckled slightly and Stiles puffed out his chest with pride, like being a stubborn little shit was something to be proud of.

But then the omega grimaced and shifted nervously on the spot. “Awesome, since you still love Peter and I love Peter and we all love Peter, promise not to shoot him.” He started to babble and John’s eyes narrowed.

He arched one eyebrow at his son, who quickly continued to pour words out of his mouth. “So, you see, here’s the thing. Peter running away, which I totally understand and I don’t blame him for, may have triggered a pre-heat.” He squeaked and John sighed deeply.

“Of course, it did.” The Sheriff mumbled and sent a suffering glance at the woman, who smiled amusedly. “And let me guess, you want Peter here for it.”

“Well, it’s been proven that a pre-heat lasts between 24 to 72 hours but if an Alpha is present, it will be reduced to half of it and if that Alpha is the omega’s mate, then a pre-heat doesn’t last more than 24 hours, 28 at most. So it would make sense for Peter to be here, you know. Scientifically.” The omega declared and for a moment Peter thought that now would be the moment the sheriff would pull out his gun and shatter Peter’s kneecaps.

But the man simply shook his head with an amused snort and looked at his son fondly. “He’s your intended, of course he’ll be allowed to stay. It helps that Peter is the most conservative Alpha I’ve ever met.” John said, knowing fully well that Peter’s beliefs would forbid him from having sex with Stiles before they were officially mated. He wasn’t wrong.

“Alright, I have to go to the station now, I’ll leave you something to eat on the porch after I’m done with my shift and stay at Melissa’s.” He decided with a short glance at the curly haired woman, Melissa apparently, who nodded in agreement. “Have fun boys.” The Sheriff said, before he arched one eyebrow at Peter. “But not too much of course.” He chuckled when his son spluttered, cheeks flushed with embarrassment, before he allowed Melissa to pull him out of the house, scolding him for teasing them.

Stiles watched them go and jumped slightly when the door fell closed behind them. Hesitantly, he turned to Peter and fiddled with his sleeves. “Sooooo, how do we do this?” He asked quietly and Peter suddenly realized that this was a first for both of them. Peter had never shared a pre-heat with an omega, it was a highly intimate moment for a pair, so he was just as lost as his intended. But Peter was an Alpha and his instincts made him take control of the situation.

Gently, he took Stiles hand in his and led him up the stairs, towards the boy’s bedroom. The omega’s scent was soaked into everything in the room and a quiet, pitiful whine escaped Stiles’ throat. Peter shushed him softly and opened his suitcase, only for Stiles to dive into it and pull out his most worn clothes.

“How about you get comfortable, while I get us something to eat and drink?” He asked the human, who nodded eagerly.

To leave Stiles’ room cost Peter an incredibly amount of strength. His wolf was clawing at him, demanding that they go back to their mate, but his rational human side remained in control. Still, he hurried down the stairs, ruffled through the cabinets for food and pulled bottled water out of the fridge. He returned to Stiles with muesli bars, grapes, crackers, chocolate and enough water to last them a couple of days.

When he stepped through the door, he almost dropped everything he was carrying. Stiles had lost all of his clothes except for his boxers and was sitting in the middle of the bed, in the midst of a nest made out of their combined clothes. He was carefully arranging one of Peter’s shirts and huffed at a stray sock that refused to stay in place. When he noticed Peter’s return, his amber eyes flashed violet and Peter could feel his own eyes respond. He slowly inched into the room, cautious of the human’s reaction. He wasn’t sure if the omega would tolerate him in his space, but Stiles reached out for him with a sweet whine and Peter was putty in the boy’s hands. He put the food and water on Stiles’ desk, before he climbed onto the mattress.

“Come here already.” Stiles grumbled and pulled the Alpha into his nest of clothes, before he started to tug at Peter’s shirt. “And take that off. The pants too.” He ordered and what Alpha could ever resist the command of an omega.

Peter undressed quickly and the clothes were snatched out of his hands immediately by the omega, who added them to his impressive nest. The room was warm enough, and since he was a werewolf and had Stiles next to him, who’s body temperature had increased quite drastically, it was almost uncomfortably hot.

After Stiles had arranged everything to his liking, he shily urged Peter to lay down and immediately plastered himself against the man’s side, burying his nose in Peter’s neck. The Alpha closed his arms around the omega’s body instinctively and pulled him closer until not even a piece of paper could’ve fitted between them.

Peter could feel the tension seep out of Stiles’ body as the boy melted against his chest and the wild thumping of the boy’s heart slowed down to a regular, calm beat. Soothingly, Peter stroked Stiles’ naked back, covering the pale skin in his scent, and the boy began to purr. It was a soft, quiet sound and Peter could feel an appreciative rumble rise in his chest as an answer. Stiles sighed quietly and ran one hand from Peter’s side all the way up to his collar bones, before it settled on his right peck and started playing with his tuff of chest hair.

“I like this.” The human mumbled against his naked skin. “You’re big and hairy. And strong. Like an Alpha ‘s supposed to be.”

Involuntarily, Peter preened at the omega’s words. So he liked having his ego stroked, who could blame him?

“And what can I say about you, my little omega? You’re perfect. All delicate, pretty, soft and so sweet I want to eat you up.” He mumbled into the boy’s hair, before he inhaled deeply. “And your scent drives me wild.”

Stiles giggled and threw one leg across Peter’s hip. The hormones of the pre-heat had made him forget about his shyness and his insecurities for the moment and Peter liked it. Stiles had nothing to be insecure about, Peter meant it when he said that he was a perfect omega.

“Do you really think I’m pretty?” Stiles whispered against Peter’s chest, lips catching on the tanned skin. The Alpha tried not to shiver and willed the hint of arousal pooling in his stomach away, but it was hard to keep his body from reacting to his omega’s touch, especially surrounded by so many pheromones.

“Of course, my dear. My pretty, beautiful, smart and oh so strong omega.” He murmured and felt Stiles shiver against him. He allowed his hand to wander from the boy’s back over his shoulders and to the nape of his neck, where one day Peter would hopefully be allowed to put a claiming mark. Stiles arched into the touch with a breathy exhale that gave Peter goose bumps. Stiles whined right into his ear, his breath caressed Peter’s already sensitive skin and just as he thought he would lose his mind, he felt it.

It being the hot length of another man’s erection pressed against his side. A second later, the thick scent of arousal filled his nose and his fangs extended with a growl. Stiles was hard and clearly aroused. Peter shouldn’t have been surprised, even though the purpose of a pre-heat was to create an emotional bond, the close touch and pheromones could lead to arousal in both partners.

“Sorry.” Stiles breathed, clearly embarrassed and attempted to pull away, but Peter didn’t have that. Instead he tightened his grip on the omega’s waist and hitched the slim leg that had rested just below his hips a few inches higher. Stiles froze instantly and his amber eyes widened. “You’re…” He started and blinked owlishly at Peter’s lap, where his own thigh was brushing against his trapped arousal.

“Hard? Yes.” Peter felt no reason to be ashamed about his body’s reaction, considering that it was entirely natural and nothing dirty or inappropriate and he hoped that Stiles would stop feeling insecure about his own body’s reactions as well.

“Oh.” The omega breathed, the scent of arousal thickening in the air.

“Stiles, this is a very intimate situation for both of us. With so much naked skin and us touching, not to mention your pheromones and my testosterone, these reactions are anything but unusual. I don’t mind and I hope you don’t mind either.” He explained carefully and Stiles blushed, before giggling softly.

“Nah, I don’t mind.” He decided and wiggled a bit closer, brushing his leg over Peter’s erection again. The Alpha arched one eyebrow at the human, who blinked at him with wide, innocent eyes.

“Stiles.” He warned, flashing his eyes, but the omega simply arched one eyebrow at him seemingly oblivious to what Peter was talking about. “Be a good little omega and stop teasing your Alpha.” Peter ordered, but Stiles simply moved his leg again.

“But I’m just trying to get comfortable.” Stiles argued, a challenging smirk on his lips. Peter growled again and quickly turned them again until he was propped above Stiles, covering the human’s body with his own. He realized the mistake of his impulsive behaviour just a second too late. Their bodies were now pressed tightly against each other, their erections brushed through their underwear and Stiles had almost instinctively wrapped his slim, elegant legs around Peter’s hips.

They both froze, Peter’s red eyes locked with Stiles wide ones as the omega’s mouth dropped open into a silent ‘oh’. Peter wanted to kiss those plump lips until neither of them could think straight anymore, but he gathered all his self control and quickly backed off.

Stiles made a disappointed noise at the distance between their bodies and immediately reached out to pull Peter back against him, but the Alpha gently grabbed his wrists and stopped him. “We can’t.” He argued gently, but Stiles wasn’t having it.

“Why not? You want me too.” He reasoned with a glance at Peter’s boxers, that were still tenting obscenely.

“Because one of us has to be the rational one. We’re still courting, Stiles, we’ll have sex once we’re properly mated. You knew that I was traditional when I asked if you would allow me to court you, this is part of the deal.” Peter said, even though he would rather peel off his fingernails than stop touching his omega right now.

“We don’t have to have sex.” Stiles argued immediately and scrambled up to his knees. In a surprisingly smooth move, he had seated himself on Peter’s lap and pressed the Alpha’s back against the headboard of the small bed. “We can just stay like this for a while. Touching and making out, and if our hips touch and if, hypothetically, one of us has an orgasm, that would be purely an accident.”

Peter rolled his eyes with an amused huff, endeared by his omega’s reasoning, but he didn’t budge that easily. He opened his mouth to argue, but just in that moment Stiles shifted in his lap and whatever Peter had wanted to say was replaced by a deep groan.

Grinning victoriously, Stiles wrapped his arms around Peter’s neck and carefully nosed at his throat. The Alpha’s hands landed on the human’s hips to still them, but his muscles acted on instinct and pulled the omega closer instead. This time, they both groaned.

“Peter, please.” Stiles whined, almost begged and the last of his resolve crumbled. Between his wolf fighting to get closer to his mate, his instincts telling him to obey the omega and fulfil his wish and his own arousal, it was impossible to keep a clear head. His control slipped away and Stiles noticed it immediately. With a smug grin, the human kissed the corner of his mouth softly. “Yes, Alpha. Touch me, please.” He whispered.

“Stiles.” Peter groaned, but he couldn’t push the lean body away. Instead, he relented. “Perhaps just a bit.”

Stiles sighed sweetly. “Yes, just a bit, Alpha. Not too much, just a little bit of touching.” One hand wandered from Peter’s neck down his chest and traced a featherlight touch over his abs. They spasmed under the teasing caress of Stiles’ long fingers and his hips flexed upwards against his will.

Now they truly were Alpha and omega.

Whenever some beta activist ranted about omegas being taken advantage of by Alphas or some beta macho scoffed that Alphas were on the top of the gender hierarchy and that omegas were weak and useless, Peter shook his head pitifully at their ignorance. Alphas and omegas knew that there was no power imbalance in an Alpha-omega relationship and if there was, then it was definitely not the omega who was taken advantage of.

Because it was the omega who had control over the Alpha.

And this moment, with Stiles straddling Peter’s lap and the omega’s blunt teeth against his neck, represented the dynamic of an Alpha and omega relationship perfectly. Peter was a willing slave, eagerly awaiting to be put in chains by the soft, delicate, breakable omega he would protect with his own life.

“You’re such a little shit.” Peter growled fondly as the last of resolve crumbled. “Why are you so irresistible?” He murmured and finally captured the omega’s plus mouth into a hungry kiss. Stiles’ moan made Peter pop his claws and he instantly withdrew, worried he had drawn blood.

But the omega didn’t have it. “It’s fine, you didn’t hurt me.” He assured Peter, but the man only relaxed after he had taken a quick glance at the omega’s waist, where his claws had popped. There were 10 pinpricks of redness, but no blood or scratches and he could see the marks fade as he watched. “See? I’m not as breakable as you think I am.”

Peter wholeheartedly disagreed, but he couldn’t protest, because Stiles had already sealed their mouths together again. At the first brush of the human’s wicked tongue against his own, Peter’s thoughts flew right out the window.

They crowded closer to each other, Stiles gently rocking on Peter’s lap while the Alpha guided the boy’s hips to set a rhythm that satisfied them both. The omega was inexperienced, something Peter’s wolf appreciated very much, but his enthusiasm made up for his lack of finesse.

He allowed one of his hands to wander from the boy’s waist, up his side and towards his rosy nipple that had perked up with arousal. Stiles’ whole body shivered as Peter teased the pink but with the pad of his thumb and the omega arched into the touch.

“Yes.” He breathed and Peter hissed when one of Stiles’ hands tangled his hair and pulled at it tight enough for pain to race across his scalp. “More, Peter.”

What Alpha could resist an omega’s sweet pleading?

Swiftly, Peter rolled his hips up against Stiles’, who made a truly obscene noise and scratched at Peter’s neck and shoulders. His wolf crowed at the marks that would undoubtedly be left on his skin and he briefly wondered if there was a way to make them stay for a while. He wanted to wear the claim of his omega clearly, display them and show off the fact that he had been considered worthy by an omega. He wanted them to last until the day when Stiles would sink his blunt omega teeth into the nape of Peter’s neck, leaving a scarred vow that they belonged to each other, body and soul.

“Touch me, Peter.” Stiles begged and guided Peter’s hand that wasn’t holding on to his slim waist down his chest, over his flat stomach and towards the elastic band of his boxers. Peter hesitated again, he didn’t know where to draw the line anymore. Almost as in trance, he followed Stiles request and pulled the offending piece of fabric aside, revealing the omega’s cock.

Precum was glistening at the tip, not much since omegas, especially carriers like Stiles, produced little to no sperm because their body focused on securing their fertility and the health of their womb than the production of sperm. It was one of the many reasons the few rare omega couples usually had to find a sperm donor if they wanted a child because it was almost impossible for an omega to impregnate anybody.

Peter marvelled at the human’s erection. His cock was small, pink and adorable. His mouth watered at the thought of driving his mate insane with his mouth, before he would lick his way further down between the omega’s plump cheeks where he would open him up with broad strokes of his tongue.

But they would do that all in good time. For now, his hands would have to be enough.

“You too.” Stiles whined and tugged at Peter’s briefs with his long, spindly fingers. Peter chuckled and helped him pull down the offending piece of fabric, leaving them both completely naked. Stiles’ breath hitched when their erections bumped against each other first time and straight out wailed when Peter closed one large hand around both their cocks.

He watched Stiles’ reaction carefully and smirked when the human’s scent spiked with arousal as he saw their erections side by side. The difference between Alpha and omega was visible here as well. Peter positively dwarfed Stiles’ dick in both lengths and girth, and the precum that had gathered at his tip was enough to slick the way for both of them.

“Can I…?” Stiles asked hesitantly and when Peter nodded, his fingers ghosted around their combined erections. His careful touch as he probed and prodded at Peter’s dick, careful and light as a feather, was the sweetest torture Peter had ever experienced. “I can’t wait to get it into my mouth.” The human mused and then added, almost as if it was an afterthought: “And my ass, of course.”

Peter growled at the sheer thought of thrusting into Stiles’ tight, wet heat and his hips bucked against Stiles’. “Show me what to do.” Stiles requested and he didn’t need to ask Peter twice.

Carefully, the Alpha covered Stiles’ hand with his own and guided it around their cocks. Slowly, he showed Stiles how much pressure he had to use and just how he had to twist his hand to make Peter whine high in the back of his throat.

The human was a quick learner and just after a couple of slightly fumbling strokes, he had found a rhythm that drove them both insane. But he was still inexperienced and once the please rose, Stiles couldn’t focus on moving his hand anymore, so Peter took over.

He turned them both around, almost falling out of the far too small bed in the process – he made a mental note to get Stiles a bigger bed- which made Stiles laugh loudly. Peter chuckled as well, before he silenced his intended with another kiss. He inserted himself between Stiles’ legs, smothering the lean body underneath his Alpha bulk and thrusted their erections against each other with fluid rolls of his hips.

Stiles whined and moaned, clawed at Peter’s back and arse to pull him closer and get more friction, one second he kissed him, the next he bit his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood and Peter loved every second of it. The pleasure and pain, the scent of their arousal, the taste of Stiles’ sweat and his own blood…

When he pulled his hips back and thrust forward again, his cock slipped along Stiles crack and nudged against his hole and Peter could almost feel the heat of the omega’s sweet hole. Stiles shouted in surprise at the sudden touch and only a second later, he was spilling his release all over himself and Peter. The Alpha growled and quickly pulled back, pushing his dick between their bodies again and rutted quickly towards completion. The powerful thrusts of his hips rattled the bed and made it thump against the wall, then he was tumbling over the edge as well. White hot pleasure flooded his mind and body, and only a slight slip of remaining sanity made him force his knot down before it could pop. His orgasm seemed to last forever and when he finally came to himself, he was laying on top of Stiles with his nose buried in the omega’s neck.

Slim arms were wrapped around his body and slim fingers caressed his sweat slick back. Stiles was purring softly into his ear, the sound of a thoroughly satisfied omega.

“If you came this much without even popping a knot, I’m pretty sure you’ll knock me up during our first shared heat, birth control or not.” The human mused and Peter groaned weakly, chuckling against the omega’s neck.

“You’re impossible.” He sighed, before he peeled away from his mate.

Stiles looked positively debauched and was glowing with happiness. He was the perfect example of a satisfied omega and Peter puffed his chest out, knowing that he was the one who had pleasured the human.

“What are you doing?” Stiles asked, when Peter picked him up and carried him out of the bedroom. He was pliant and relaxed in his arms, watching everything with half lidden eyes. When he noticed that Peter headed towards the shower, he nodded his head in agreement. “Yes.” He cooed at the thought of a warm shower and Peter smirked. He was glad that he knew how to spoil his omega in the best of ways, even in situations that were new for the both of them.

The shower they took was a quick one and this time Stiles didn’t blush when Peter washed him. This time, Peter also didn’t bother skipping Stiles’ more intimate body parts. Once they were clean again, Peter wrapped himself in a towel, before he took a second one for his mate. The human watched the Alpha towelling him dry through heavy eyelids, which were dropping more and more with every second.

Once Peter deemed them sufficiently dry, he carried Stiles back into the boy’s bedroom and deposited them back into the nest that was now in disarray. They curled around each other and just before they fell asleep, Peter grabbed the duvet from where it had fallen to the ground and wrapped it around them, then he was out like a light.

-

He woke up an hour later to a dry throat and grumbling stomach. Stiles was stirring beside him as well and when the omega’s eyes fluttered open, they were burning a bright purple.

“How long did we sleep?” Stiles mumbled as he yawned loudly and Peter felt endearment blossom in his heart. He couldn’t describe how much he loved this omega.

“A little more than an hour.” Peter answered quietly and sat up, raking a hand through Stiles’ hair, who leaned into the touch. “You can go back to sleep if you want.”

But the human shook his head and sat up as well. “No, I’m hungry.” He said and Peter almost jumped out of bed to get to the desk to grab a plate of grapes and two bottles of water. They weren’t as cool as he would’ve liked, but neither he nor Stiles minded, because they both drowned half a bottle each.

Peter sat down in the nest again, smiling slightly when Stiles leaned against his chest. Quickly, Peter manoeuvred them around until he was leaning against the headboard and Stiles was across his lap. The scent of arousal had faded from the air and this time it seemed like neither of them harboured sexual desire.

Peter’s instinct screamed at him to take care of his omega, so he took one of the grapes and offered it to Stiles, who ate it out of his hand. For a few, silent minutes he continued to feed the human, then the boy started to offer him grapes as well. Their mating bond was humming at the intimate act of handfeeding each other and Peter suddenly realized that he would never be able to give this up. That his heart would break, indefinitely, should he ever loose Stiles.

The thought both terrified and excited him. He had thought of Stiles as the next chapter in his life, now he realized that the omega wasn’t just a chapter, the omega was the book and Peter’s life so far had simply been the prologue.

He couldn’t wait to turn the next page.

Chapter Text

Stiles nodded off again after they had shared the rest of the grapes between them and purred even in his sleep. While his intended slept, Peter didn’t stop petting his hair and gently caressing his back. Sleep was impossible, his wolf and the Alpha in him were tense and on edge, so he sat next to Stiles in their bed, keeping watch over the boy until the sky darkened and the red numbers on Stiles’ alarm clock started to swim.

His eyes grew heavier and heavier, the soft snores and purring of his mate lulling him to sleep with every breath. Peter fought the drowsiness tooth and nails, but the adrenaline pumping through his veins was slowly fading and he was quickly crashing. His eyes flickered between the window, the door and the alarm clock, now showing shortly after 10 pm.

Just as his head fell down against his chest and his hand stilled on Stiles’ back, he felt the human stir under his palm. Peter startled back awake, just as Stiles eyes fluttered open.

“Peter?” The human whined, sleep drunk and confused. Peter shushed him quietly and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead, but Stiles wasn’t having it. “I’m not feelin’ well.” The human mumbled pitifully and curled himself around Peter.

“What’s wrong, little one? Are you too warm? Do you want something to drink?” Peter asked, but Stiles shook his head.

“I’m hungry.” He complained, but when Peter wanted to get out of bed to grab the muesli bars and crackers from the desk, but the omega stopped him before he could even get his feet on the ground. “No, not that. I want takeout.” He sniffled against Peter’s chest and allowed Peter to reach for his phone on the nightstand.

“Alright, darling, what do you want?” Peter asked, as he unlocked his phone. At this point, he would charter a fucking private plane to fly to Paris if Stiles wanted to eat a plain baguette or send a jet to Italy for a simple pizza.

“I don’t know.” Stiles sighed as he watched Peter type on his phone, looking up takeout places that would deliver the quickest. Beacon Hills wasn’t NYC, so their options were limited to Italian, Chinese, more Italian and classic greasy diner food.

“How about pizza?” Peter asked, but Stiles shook his head.

“No!” He grunted, stubbornly.

“Pasta?”

“No! No Italian!”

Peter ran a hand down Stiles’ back to calm down the agitated omega. “Chinese? We can order spring rolls…” He offered.

“No! I don’t want Chinese; I hate rice.” Stiles positively growled, even though Peter knew for a fact that Stiles loved rice and would eat spring rolls every day if he had the chance. “And spring rolls are stupid.”

The Alpha hid a smile at his mate’s antics. “Okay, do you want a burger and some fries?” He offered, but after a short moment of silence, Stiles disagreed once more.

“No! I want something a mom would make.” He whined and now his voice sounded suspiciously heavy like he was fighting tears. “Something made with love.”

Peter had heard how emotional omegas could get during pre-heat so this wasn’t really a surprise. To him, it was even charming.

“Alright, how about I call my mother and see if she has some leftovers for you. She always cooks with love.” He offered and dialled her number as soon as Stiles nodded against his chest. It barely rang once, before his mother answered, voice warm and fond as always.

“Peter, how are you and Stiles doing?” She asked softly. Peter had texted his parents that Stiles had gone into pre-heat after his omega had fallen asleep, but she didn’t sound worried. She trusted Peter that he would take care of Stiles, of both of them, properly.

“We’re doing fine so far, but Stiles is hungry and wants something made with love. Somehow no restaurant in town can offer that, so I wanted to ask if you had some leftovers and if you could send Cora or Laura to bring them over.” He requested quietly and heard his mother chuckle. It was a girlish giggle that could belong to a teenager rather than a woman who was a world-famous neurologist and known in the medical field as being one of the toughest and most competitive doctors.

“Of course, Peter. Hold on tight, we’ll be there in half an hour.” She promised and ended the call.

Stiles snuffled against Peter’s chest and blinked up at him with wide eyes. “Is she angry? Do I annoy her?” He wondered, and Peter quickly shook his head.

“Oh no, my love. She loves you; everybody adores you, my dear. She’s so, so happy that you chose me. She told me that you’re perfect and that she can’t wait until you’re officially family. You’ve wrapped her around your little finger, Stiles.” Peter soothed, but Stiles’ hormones were all over the place and suddenly, big tears spilled from his amber eyes and then the omega began to cry his little heart out against Peter’s chest.

His broken, hiccupping sobs shattered Peter’s heart and made him and his wolf feel like they had failed their mate, but the rational part of him knew that mood swings were part of a pre-heat and that they would be severe, no matter how much an Alpha doted on an omega.

“Your mom is so nice.” Stiles cried and buried his face against Peter’s naked chest. “I love her so much. I want her to think of me as family.”

Peter forced down the chuckle that raised in his chest and curled at the corners of his mouth. “She already does. And she loves you too, Stiles.” He promised, only for the omega to sob harder. Peter could do very little but continue to sooth his mate until his tears finally subsided and Stiles was no longer breathing wetly against his chest.

When Peter heard a familiar car pull up in the driveway, he carefully peeled himself out of Stiles’ arms. “I’ll be right back, darling, I’ll just need to get the food.” He promised and his mate reluctantly allowed him to leave their nest. Peter raced down the stairs, not bothering to dress himself and pulled the door open just as his mother climbed up the porch steps, his father on her heels who was dutifully carrying a large picknick basket.

“How is he doing?” His mother asked quietly, a knowing glint in her eyes.

“He’s experiencing some mood swings right now, but overall, he’s doing fine.” Peter explained and took the food from his father. “I’m confident his pre-heat will break tomorrow morning. Thank you for the food.” He pressed a soft kiss to his mother’s cheek and allowed his father to run a hand possessively over Peter’s neck, just as a small, tear filled voice called out his name from inside the house.

“Your omega needs you. Once he’s feeling better, come back to the pack house, we’ll need to talk about some things.” Lucien nodded, noticing Peter’s impatience to get back to his mate. He offered his wife his arm, who took it with a slight blush, as if she was still the young omega she had been in high school when Lucien had first asked her father for permission to court her. Peter hoped that by the time age started to show its signs, he would still be able to make Stiles blush like that.

“I’ll be back home as soon as Stiles pre-heat is over.” He promised and watched his parents leave. His father escorted his mother to their car, opened the door for her and once he had climbed in as well, fastened her seatbelt like it was the most natural thing in the world -which for Alpha and omega couples it was-, before they drove off. His mother mentioned something about craving one of the milkshakes from that little place in Boston, where they had travelled once and Lucien immediately promised to take her there once the whole situation had been dealt with and offered to take her to the little 70s diner on the edge of town where they served the best milkshakes in all of Beacon county.

He closed the door once his parents’ car had disappeared and made a quick detour to the kitchen to get some plates, cutlery, napkins and some cool water. When he returned upstairs, he found Stiles standing at the end of the stairs, leaning against the bannister with a comforter wrapped around his shoulders and big, uncertain eyes.

“You were gone so long.” He mumbled and circled Peter’s left wrist with his fingers to tug him back into his bedroom. The scent of Stiles had vanished and been replaced and instead been replaced with a StilesAndPeter scent that made Peter’s wolf purr and revel in it. Just as he revelled in the fact that their omega was leading them into the nest he had made. Even after spending hours inside the sacred space, the Alpha knew that it wasn’t a permanent invitation if an omega allowed someone into their nest.

“I’m sorry, love. Forgive me?” Peter murmured as he opened the picknick basket. The Tupperware containers inside were warm and filled with food. Peter peered into the largest one, only to reveal freshly made tortellini with mozzarella filling in rich, creamy tomato sauce. There were some incredibly soft bread rolls with baked-in herb butter and even some chocolate cookies.

“What did your mom make?” Stiles cuddled against Peter’s side and hummed happily when he spotted the food. He quickly grabbed the cutlery Peter had brought from the kitchen and began to eat straight from the container.

Peter chuckled but didn’t touch the food himself. First, he had to make sure that his omega was sated. His mom had gone all out on this and Stiles seemed to enjoy it because he was stuffing his face with tortellini and bread rolls quick enough to almost choke on it. The omega barely allowed himself to breathe between bites until he had eventually ate three quarters of all the containers and sank back into their nest with a content sigh.

The Alpha polished off the leftovers. He knew that heats, even pre-heats, took a toll on an omega’s body. In the week leading up to their heat, omegas were eating constantly to sustain their fertility window without risking the health of their reproductive organs due to malnourishment. It wasn’t much different with pre-heats, except that they were unpredictable, and omegas had no way to prepare for them.

That’s why it was Peter’s responsibility to ensure that his omega would be taken care of. He had to provide for him, even if it meant sacrificing his own health and body. In modern times and with the invention of takeout food and granola bars, malnourishment was a rarity, but his instincts were millennial old, and the comforts of civilization couldn’t change that, even though humans liked to pretend it did.

“Happy now, my dear?” Peter asked, as he put the empty containers back into the picknick basket and set it aside. He ran a hand up and down Stiles’ side, who shuddered under the touch.

“Almost.” Stiles smiled with a sigh and urged Peter to lay down as well. The omega fussed with the nest of clothes surrounding them and manoeuvred Peter around until everything was perfect, then he curled up against Peter and wrapped his long limbs around the Alpha like a particularly cuddly octopus. Peter hid a smile in Stiles’ soft hair and pulled the omega as close as possible, tucking the human’s head under his chin and resting a possessive hand right above the seam of Stiles’ underwear.

“And now sleep, Alpha. You don’t have to keep watch all night.” He mumbled against Peter’s throat, lips brushing against his thin skin. The wolf shuddered under the intimate caress, almost high on adrenalin and testosterone from having someone this close to his vulnerable neck, to submit so easily to an omega.

“Sleep well, my love.” He whispered, just before Stiles nodded off. Even though Peter had intended to continue keeping watch, his energy quickly faded and before he knew it, he had dozed off as well, letting the darkness pull him under.

-

He was woken up by the sound of a door falling shut. Immediately, Peter came to himself with a growl and sat up in the nest with flashing eyes and extended fangs. The bed next to him was empty, his mate no longer curled up around him and Peter was just about to lunge out of bed to chase down whoever could’ve taken his mate from him, when an amused snort and a following hearty laugh made him freeze.

Irritated, he focused on the noise only to find his mate standing in the middle of the room, hair dripping with water and in the process of getting dressed. “Your face.” Stiles grinned, pulling a shirt over his head. “You looked ready to jump my throat.”

Peter retracted his fangs and stretched his limbs. He felt well rested and his wolf was curled up in the back of his mind, resting instead of pacing. He scented the air and noticed the distinct lack of pheromones with a small pang of disappointment but also relief.

“Your pre-heat is over.” He realized and Stiles smiled softly.

“Yes. Thank you for sticking around, even if I cried all over you and made you call your mom to bring us food.” The human was blushing slightly. “And for everything else.” The red flush wandered up his neck and down his throat to the collar of the graphic tee he wore.

“It was my pleasure, my pretty little omega.” Peter promised as he got out of bed. He pressed a chase kiss to Stiles’ cheek and scent marked him in the process. “Would you mind if I take a shower as well?”

The omega grinned cheekily. “Only if you hurry and get dressed where I can watch you.” He winked, surprisingly confident. Peter liked it.

“Whatever you want, my adorable voyeur.” He snorted. “But remember, the next time we’ll do anything sexual will be after we’re mated. Yesterday was an exception, so don’t even think about it.” Peter nudged Stiles’ upturned nose and smirked at the adorable pout on his plush mouth.

“Alright.” The human grumbled, muttering something about respectful, sophisticated Alphas and how he just wanted to be fucked into the mattress until he couldn’t walk, under his breath. Peter chuckled as he slipped into the bathroom, taking a quick, lukewarm shower. It barely took him ten minutes until he emerged again, smelled like Stiles’ shampoo and mint toothpaste, only to find his omega sitting fully dressed on the edge of the bed, typing away on his phone.

Stiles’ eyes flashed violet when Peter entered the room, only wearing a loose towel around his waist and the sudden scent of spicy, honey sweet arousal thickened the air. “Fucking tease.” The human said and demonstratively turned around, so he was facing the wall while Peter got dressed.

Peter would’ve liked to tease and spoil his intended for a little while longer, but it was close to noon already and he had a long day ahead of him. He would need to talk to his parents, apologize to Derek and Isaac as well as all his family members who had been worried about his sudden freak out, he talk to Joseph and see what could be done there, then contact the police station as well as the DA and figure out what the next steps were, he would need to call Jennifer and set up a meeting with the PR-team to minimize the fallout of Talia’s actions because it could potentially damage the Hale name. He would also have to remind Stiles to register for a magic evaluation because the omega was anything but an ordinary human.

“I have a busy day ahead of me and there are some matters I need to attend by myself.” He explained to Stiles. “My parents have asked Deaton and two other council members to evaluate your magic, they will be waiting for us at the Hale house. I’d suggest that we drive over there and then I’ll leave you to it while I take care of everything else.” Peter suggested and Stiles shifted nervously in his seat.

“Can’t we just pretend that I’m human? I don’t really want or need magic.” He asked tentatively and Peter frowned. Stiles had never seemed averse to becoming a werewolf, why was he uneasy about having a magic potential?

“What bothers you about magic?” Peter sat down on the bed next to his intended and gently caressed his jaw. “This test will reveal your true potential, your powers.”

The omega avoided his gaze and fiddled with the sleeves of his plaid. His heartbeat was elevated and Peter could smell anxiety filling the air. For a long moment Stiles stayed silent, then he finally spoke his words barely more of a whisper.

“Do you still want me?” His wide doe eyes met Peter’s. “Even if I have magic?”

The Alpha froze. What was his mate talking about? Why wouldn’t he want him any longer?

“Of course, I do. Why wouldn’t I? I already knew you were a strong, stubborn omega when I started to court you, a little magic doesn’t change who you are. If anything, knowing how strong you are makes you even more desirable to me.”

Stiles inhaled sharply, a hot flush spreading across his cheeks. “But someone with magic can’t be turned. I’ll be immune to the bite; you won’t have a werewolf mate.” He argued softly and Peter almost had to laugh. Why would this beautiful, powerful, strong and sinfully tempting little thing even think something as ridiculous as that? Peter would need to build up his mate’s self-esteem.

“I couldn’t care less, my love. Even if you had refused to take the bite, I would’ve still tried to make you fall in love with me. Human, wolf, fox or witch, it doesn’t matter to me. I think I would’ve fallen for you no matter what, even if you had been an Alpha.” He purred and inhaled deeply when Stiles’ scent turned from sour anxiety to thick, honey sweet happiness.

“Don’t lie. Were-Alphas aren’t attracted to other Alphas.” Stiles grumbled, which was technically the truth, but Peter brushed it aside.

“If I know anything about you, Stiles, it’s that you drive my wolf crazy. And not because of your second gender or your beauty, it’s your personality that caught my attention and captivated me.” Gently, he tipped the boy’s face up and kissed him softly. Stiles’ melted under his touch and responded eagerly. Despite his enthusiasm, the kiss stayed slow and innocent, expressing more than words could ever do.

“Okay. I’ll do the evaluation, but I don’t want to do it alone.” The human whispered then, lips brushing. “I know that you have business you need to take care of, but can you make sure that someone else is with me? An Alpha, preferably.”

Peter didn’t hesitate to agree. While he would never allow an Alpha that wasn’t family by blood or instinct to be close to Stiles and comfort him, there were enough Alphas in the Hale family to take his place for a while. The best choice was his father and Peter was sure that Lucien wouldn’t hesitate to say yes.

After Stiles had written a quick note for his dad, they left the house and drove back towards the preserve. Even though Stiles had calmed down significantly, his anxiety returned with every mile that passed. By the time they had arrived at their destination, Stiles was almost brimming with nerves.

Peter helped his omega out of the car and intertwined their fingers, stroking the back of Stiles’ hand with his thumb. “There’s nothing to worry about, love.” He mumbled softly and Stiles gave him a half-hearted smile.

As they climbed up the porch steps, the front door opened, and Joseph appeared. The omega looked pale and tired, clad in a sweater soaked in Peter’s father’s scent. Even though Lucien wasn’t Joseph’s mate or Alpha, he was still the head of the Hale pack and Joseph was one of his betas, thus his scent offered him a comfort only few others could provide.

“Peter, Stiles.” Joseph greeted with a smile. “Glad to see you’re feeling better.” He said to Stiles, who blushed ever so slightly.

“Yeah, sorry for occupying Peter.” The young omega shrugged sheepishly. “But now he’s all yours, I’m gonna go ahead and thank your mom for the food.” He decided, probably sensing that Peter wanted to ask Joseph a few personal questions. The human bounced into the house and shut the door behind himself pointedly, leaving Peter and Joseph on the porch.

Peter observed Joseph carefully, taking in every little detail about the omega. “How are you holding up?” He finally asked and watched as the other man exhaled with a slight shudder.

“I’m fine. People are making a bigger thing out of this than it is.” He shrugged. “I’m not a poor, abused omega that should’ve sought out a shelter or gone to the police. It’s true that Talia used her alpha voice multiple times on me, but…” Joseph rubbed his forehead with a tired sigh. “I’m not a victim. I refuse to be called that.” He finally decided almost angrily and Peter put a hand on the man’s shoulder.

“Nobody in our family would ever call you a victim. Talia needs to own up to her mistakes and you need to cooperate with the authorities. What she did is an unforgivable act, you and I both know that and she needs to stand trial in front of the council for it.”

Joseph scoffed. “Of course, I’ll cooperate with the authorities. Stiles was pretty insistent about it as soon as he realized what Talia had done. He’s incredibly stubborn.”

“Truer words have never been spoken.” Peter chuckled. “And yet you adore him.”

“Persistent or not, he’s easy to like. You’ve chosen well, Peter.” Joseph’s words were fond, and Peter realized once more how easy it was for people to welcome Stiles into their lives. Something about the young omega made people adore him. No wonder he had wrapped the entire Hale family around his little finger.

“Thank you, Joseph.” Peter said sincerely and after a moment of hesitation hugged his brother-in-law. The omega chuckled against his shoulder and patted his back. “If I can do anything for you, anything at all…” The alpha begun, but Joseph took a step back and shook his head.

“You don’t need to, I’m fine. Just don’t make a big deal out of it and try to keep your father from ripping Talia’s throat out the next time he sees her.” After a moment of hesitation, Joseph grinned and added: “And don’t get any ideas either. Stiles wouldn’t like it if you harmed her. Something about upholding the justice system…”

Peter chuckled and shook his head. “Alright, no mauling.” He conceded and watched as Joseph’s grin turned positively filthy.

“Oh, no mauling? Your omega’s neck tells another story.” The man teased, before he vanished into the house, laughing about Peter’s threatening growl.

Relived that Joseph had not been as affected by Talia’s action as Peter had secretly feared, he finally entered through the front door as well and followed the sound of multiple heart beats into the main living room, where not only his parents but also two council members, a mage, a druid and a half fae were talking quietly. The magic users ignored the conversation between the wolves in favour of staring at Stiles, who had jutted his chin out and met their curious gazes with narrowed eyes and a harsh scowl. He seemed especially focused on the half fae, who’s silver filled eyes were expression- and motionless.

When he noticed Peter step into the room, he quickly rushed to his side and buried his face against the older man’s shoulder. “I don’t like them. And I don’t trust them either.” He whispered quietly, too quiet for any of the magic users to hear.

Peter hummed quietly while he comfortingly caressed the boy’s soft hair. “Don’t worry, a council member and my father will be present during the evaluation, they won’t come close to you. All they’ll do is measure the strength and origin of your magic, it won’t take more than a few minutes.” He promised, but Stiles still pouted.

“I wish you could be there as well.” The human sighed and Peter’s wolf whined, equally upset.

“I know my love, but I can’t. Our bond would disturb their evaluation, I’m sorry.” He murmured quietly, while pressing a soft kiss to Stiles’ temple, who closed his eyes with a soft hum. The scent of warm omega contentment that smelled like sunshine felt, that these days seemed to surround Stiles constantly, grew so intense that Peter worried he could lose his mind the second he had to take a step away and would be bereft of the aura of peace that blanketed them.

“It’s fine.” Stiles sighed, his heartbeat steady, but he made no move to free himself from Peter’s grasp. Only when the druid cleared his throat pointedly, did the Alpha finally break their embrace, albeit reluctantly. He met his mother’s knowing gaze and his father’s fond expression and felt almost like a little pup under their watchful eyes again.

“The time has come.” The half fae sing-songed with a pointed tilt of her head in Peter’s direction. The wolf felt his hackles rise at the clear dismissal, but he knew all too well how vain fae, especially half-fae were, so he forced himself to smile easily and pressed a quick kiss to his mate’s knuckles before shooting his father a questioning look.

Lucien nodded once and put a comforting hand on Stiles’ shoulder, carefully avoiding his scent gland, before Ophelia ushered Peter along with a council member out of the living room and into the soundproof office down the hallway.

What followed was an agonizing hour filled with legal questions, pack business, the council’s responsibility, the next steps towards the authorities, keeping it out of the public eye, damage control, support for Joseph and how to change the pack dynamics since Joseph and Cora were now wolves without an Alpha – that question was relatively easy to answer because Lucien had already declared that he would take Talia’s place for as long as necessary. Peter tried his best to pay attention, but his mind kept drifting off again and again, until they had finally resolved all remaining issues, planned their next steps and had had signed numerous sheets of paper.

Peter barely waited until the council member had closed his briefcase, before he shot out of his seat and hurried into the living room, his heart trying to beat out of his chest. He expected everything, Stiles unconscious from exhaustion, magic users arguing, his father with bared fangs and red eyes, but what he found instead was almost underwhelming.

His omega was sitting next to Lucien on the couch, looking a tad tired, but otherwise happy while nursing a cup of tea and listening with wide, attentive eyes as Peter’s father told him some of Peter’s rather embarrassing adventures. He had to put his tea cup down to avoid spilling the hot beverage all over himself when the older Alpha made him giggle so hard that he was shaking from head to toe and clapped his hands together in delight.

Lucien ruffled the boy’s hair, running his hand carefully over his neck, not overtaking Peter’s scent or staking a dominant claim, but marking Stiles as someone under the protection of the dominant Hale Alpha and unofficially declaring him part of the pack. Peter found he didn’t mind at all.

“Peter.” Wide whiskey eyes were staring at him and a second later, he had an arm full of beaming omega pressed against his chest. “You won’t believe what happened. That weird druid and the mage were all high and mighty while that fae kept staring at me and they mumbled about this being a waste of time because I obviously had very little potential-“

Peter’s wolf growled, but he forced the damn animal into submission because rationally, he knew that even the weakest magic users were arrogant assholes.

“-and then they started their evaluation, and I felt this weird pull like they were tugging on something inside my spine, when suddenly this thing connecting me to them snapped and they were pretty much flung across the room onto the floor. I’m not even kidding, even if it was rather anti climatic… but, it was still totally awesome because their jaws had literally dropped. And then, the druid tried to gather his composure and muttered something about having an appointment and the fae tucked her tail in as well and the only one who stayed was the mage and only long enough to snap at the council member that she had no interest being in a room with an untrained spark and then-“

Peter put an abrupt end to Stiles’ rambling by simply placing a hand over his mouth, successfully cutting him off. The omega squeaked indignantly and pushed Peter’s arm away, glaring at the Alpha.

“Why did you do that?” He moaned dramatically. “That was so not hot, ugh. You could’ve kissed me, but nooooo.”

The Alpha chuckled amused and quickly tried to placate his omega by kissing his cheek softly. “I apologize my dear, but surely you’ll understand that it’s rather inappropriate to be so bold as to kiss ones intended on the mouth without proper reason.” He murmured and took great delight in the way a soft red started to tint Stiles’ cheeks.

“You’re terrible.” The omega sighed, although it sounded more like a compliment rather than a complaint and nuzzled his face against Peter’s throat, brushing against the sensitive skin with his lips. Peter suppressed the shudder that slowly crawled up his back and focused on what Stiles had told him again.

“Take a deep breath, darling and tell me what the evaluation result was. And not quite as fast, please.” He urged and the human quickly pulled away again to beam at Peter.

“Like I said, I totally flung them across the room, and they said something about me being a spark, which I don’t think is possible because there are like what… five sparks in the entire world and surely I’m not one of them, but that was their verdict.” The boy recounted and Peter’s wolf howled victoriously. Their mate was strong, stronger than any other omega, he had magic, so much magic that he could manipulate time and space, so much magic that he could do everything.

Strong mate, strong pups. Mate is magic, mate will give magic pups. Strong mate. His wolf chanted, absolutely delighted at the knew knowledge. Peter had always known that there was more about the omega than met the eye, but he had never expected that.

Sparks were indeed rare; they were pure magic and had unlimited access to their abilities. They couldn’t be trained because the magic was part of their very essence and came to them as naturally as breathing did. Once their powers were triggered, their potential was endless and all they had to do was will something to happen and it did.

They were some of the most dangerous and worshipped creatures in the world, being considered gods or at least half gods in many religions…

“You’re a spark.” Peter breathed and Stiles nodded with a cheeky smirk.

“Yup. I can’t wait to see the look on Jackson’s and Lydia’s faces when they find out. Not only did I bag myself the hottest alpha in the entire world, I’m fucking magic.” A frown spread across the adorably freckled face. “Not that I know what to do with my magic. I don’t even know how to use it or why I would.” He hummed thoughtfully.

“You will figure it out. It’s part of your nature and if you feel no need to access your powers, don’t force it.” The Alpha soothed and pulled his intended closer once again, embracing the boy tightly. He allowed himself to scent mark the omega slowly and thoroughly, until he heard someone clear their throat with an amused chuckle. When he looked up it was his father, who still sat on the sofa, now joined by Ophelia.

“There’s still something that needs to be discussed.” Lucien began calmly and Peter arched one eyebrow. Something? What an understatement. The older Hale alpha smiled slightly, before he mentioned towards the couch across the coffee table. Peter pulled Stiles gently along with him and the omega climbed willingly onto his lap once he had sat down.

“Your father and I have talked about how you should proceed with your courting.” His mother began gently and Peter stiffened slightly. If his parents had concerns… “Stiles pre-heat has tightened and established your bond, but since you’re still not mated and since this union is quite new and yet incredibly intense already, we don’t think it would be wise… or if it would be possible, for you to be separated again. Even if it was just for a couple of days. At least not without triggering a real heat or a rut.”

Peter wanted to argue because he was no longer a little pup without any control about his instincts, but he felt a sharp pain at the pure thought of being separated from Stiles and could feel the alpha side of him getting agitated. When he glanced down at the omega in his lap, he was met with wide amber eyes that told him that Stiles felt equally attached as he did.

“What do we do?” He asked his parents. “Stiles has yet to graduate and I need to work.”

“We could prepare a proper mating ceremony. If you claim is official and the bond gets acknowledged through a mating bite, you might be able to be separated for a few weeks, if not months. Enough time for Stiles to graduate and you to run the company in New York.” His father explained and Peter felt his fangs elongate and his eyes flash.

“No. That’s not an option.” He growled, his words slightly slurred but allowing no space for discussion.

He felt Stiles shift in his lap and the air filled with an acrid scent that made his nose itch.

“I thought you wanted to be bonded to me. Have you changed your mind?” The omega asked quietly and Peter’s heart plummeted in his chest. Why was this beautiful, powerful creature still so insecure? He would spend the rest of his life trying to make Stiles see just how much better than Peter he was, how superior to everybody else…

“My wolf wants to claim you right here, darling.” Peter started, his heartbeat steady. “But we wanted to do this properly, with me courting you like you deserve to be courted.”

Stiles relaxed against his chest and his scent changed again, to quiet contentment this time, with a sweet hint of unconditional love.

“I’ll work from Beacon Hills, meetings can be held online and I can just as well complete all the paperwork from home. At least for the two months until you graduate.” He glanced at his intended, who’s lips stretched into a wide, pleased smile. “Then we’ll proceed as we had originally planned, if you still want to come with me to New York that is. And we can have our bonding ceremony in the spring or summer, whatever you prefer.” He mumbled and chuckled when Stiles nodded so quickly that he resembled a bobble head for a moment.

“Yes, I’d like that.” The boy beamed and Peter could hear his parents chuckle in the background, his father rumbling something like ‘young love’ against his mother’s neck.

“Alright, then it’s decided.” Lucien agreed. “I will support you as best as I can and handle the public matters. Once the press hears about Talia’s actions, the papers will try and rip us to shreds, so I’ll meet with our lawyers and then we’ll hold a family meeting to plan the next steps. We need to keep this under wraps, I won’t allow this to overshadow Isaac and Derek’s mating ceremony.”

Peter’s eyebrows furrowed. “Derek and Isaac want to keep the date?” He had almost entirely forgotten that his nephew was supposed to be officially bound to his mate in less than two weeks. But with Talia now imprisoned and their family in the middle of a drama that included the mistreatment of an omega and the unlawful use of the Alpha voice, he had thought that they had cancelled everything.

“Yes. But the whole situation has impacted Derek severely. He feels guilty that he didn’t notice the way Talia treated Joseph, or you for that matter.” Ophelia explained softly and Peter sighed. At times, his nephew could be a real self-sacrificing idiot. Sometimes he wondered if Derek was a huge masochist and secretly enjoyed blaming himself for everything bad that happened around him. “Will you take care of him? He has always looked up to you.”

“Of course. Where is he now?” Peter asked, while trailing a hand up and down his omega’s back. Stiles had positively melted against the Alpha’s chest and his sweet pheromones kept Peter’s wolf placid instead of pacing around and growling.

“At the station. The police have held Talia under pretty tight restrictions for the past few days and he’s hoping that he can finally talk to her.” Lucien explained. “So far, only Deaton and I have been allowed to see her. It’s… not pretty.”

Peter could feel his wolf tense. Of course, it wasn’t pretty, nothing with Talia ever was. What a mess. “I’ll driver there right now and see what can be done.” He decided and saw relief spread across his mother’s face.

“I was hoping you would say that.” She admitted, before glancing at Stiles. “Would you be alright with staying here? The little ones are upstairs and miss you, especially Elias.”

Stiles looked torn for a moment, undecided between being separated from Peter and seeing the cubs he had obviously fallen in love with again before he made up his mind. “I’ll stay, I don’t think it would be helpful if I went to the station now anyways.”

“Very well. Come along darling, I’m sure they’ve already heard and smelt you and can’t wait for you to join them.” She smiled and waited until Peter had pressed a soft kiss to Stiles’ cheek and scent marked the inside of his wrists, before she led Stiles out of the living room and upstairs.

“I’m sorry to put this much stress on you, especially after you just spent a pre-heat with your mate.” Lucien apologized while Peter got up and grabbed his car keys, but he simply shook his head.

“It’s fine. It’s my responsibility as an Alpha.” He said and allowed his father to run a hand over his neck, before he left the house with one last glance upstairs, where he heard the cubs cheer as Stiles and Ophelia joined them.

With his mate safe and sound and happy, he now needed to take care of Talia.

-

Because Talia was a werewolf as well as an Alpha and not just some run off the mill abusive spouse, she was not kept at the Beacon Hills Sherriff Department, but at a compound like police station three towns over that was specifically reserved for weres. The staff consisted entirely of shifters and Alphas, so that no prisoner could influence them by using the Alpha voice. Beta and omega visitors were not allowed to talk to prisoners without supervision from at least three guards and the security precautions could rival the pentagon or the white house.

It took Peter an hour to drive there and another fifteen minutes until he was led into a comfortably furnished waiting room. Just because this was a prison didn’t mean that it was short on money. Shifter families donated well to ensure their imprisoned loved ones had all the comforts they could want.

Derek was already sitting on one of the comfortable wild leather couches, looking increasingly frustrated. According to the two frown lines on his face, he must’ve been waiting for quite some time already. When he spotted Peter enter the room, he shot out of his seat and stared at his uncle with wide eyes.

“Hello Derek.” Peter greeted easily and pocketed the ID he had had to show in order to be allowed in. “I hope you haven’t been waiting too long.” The next second, he had his nephew plastered to his chest and blinked slightly in surprise.

“Don’t worry, nephew. I called the prison warder on my way here, just a few more minutes and we can see your mother.” Peter explained patiently. The man had been more than accommodating, after having heard Peter’s name.

“I’m glad. But I also don’t know what to say to her.” The young man admitted, and Peter frowned thoughtfully.

“She’s your mother, Derek, you love her. Just because she did some terrible things doesn’t mean that she didn’t love you with all her heart, or that you’re not allowed to love her like you have always done. Her actions as an Alpha, as a wife, a sister, a leader, don’t reflect on her actions as your mother.” He then said and Derek nodded against his shoulder.

They were disturbed by a guard, who knocked at the door and told them to follow him, deeper into the compound. After walking down a corridor and showing their visitor IDs another two times, they were eventually led into a small room with a table in the middle. Guards stood at the walls and the door, while Talia sat on one of the three chairs. She looked as composed as always, her eyes cool when they landed on Peter, but warming quickly when Derek followed him into the room.

She had been arrested the day after she had tried to control Stiles, as far as Peter knew. The young omega hadn’t hesitated to report the incident and the council quickly cleared the way for the authorities to put her in handcuffs, not wanting to make this an even bigger scandal. They had surprised Talia while she had been in the hotel suit she had rented for the week and taken her with them through the back entrance to avoid making a scene in front of the other guests.

“Derek.” She breathed and smiled broadly. “Oh, how are you doing, my love? Is everything alright back home? How is Laura holding up?” Talia looked like nothing was wrong and Peter felt his hackles rise when she asked how Laura was doing. Her influence on her daughter was dangerous and he would have to keep a close eye on his niece, to keep Laura from becoming too much like her mother. If that was still possible…

“Everything is fine.” Derek mumbled quietly and settled down in the chair across his mother, still unsure on how to handle the situation.

“I’m glad to hear that. What about your father? How is Joseph?” She continued and obviously hit a sore spot because Derek’s eyes flashed, and he tensed. The guards eyed them cautiously but didn’t move. Peter put a calming hand on Derek’s shoulder, trying to calm the young alpha’s nerves.

“Derek.” He urged and observed as the glowing red eyes changed into their usual shining hazel and the hint of sharp fangs disappeared.

“Don’t talk about dad.” Derek ground out and hunched up his shoulders. “After what you did…” He was obviously searching for the right words, but Derek had never been the most eloquent person so he clenched his jaw shut and from the stubborn expression in his eyes, Peter knew that Derek wouldn’t talk anytime soon.

“Talia, I think it would be best if we skip the familial chit chat and focus on the next steps. Joseph as well as Stiles will press charges.” He explained curtly and ignored how his sister sneered.

“Thank you, Peter. I hadn’t noticed.” She gestured to the wolfsbane shackles tying her hands to the table.

Peter didn’t bother paying any attention to her words. “You will have to face the council, if they decide on a mild sentence you will simply be sent to a rehab facility for the next two to three years and released after a psychological evaluation.”

“And the worst-case scenario?” His sister’s words were biting and harsh.

“They will take your Alpha spark and turn you into a beta.” Peter said calmly.

Talia paled for a moment, her skin turning ash grey and her eyes flashing bright red before she reeled herself in again. “Impossible.” She spat. “Only a spark can take away an Alpha’s spark and as far as I know there are only five in the world, four of them in Europe and I doubt any of them are interested in our little family squabble.”

Derek stiffened next to Peter once again, his lips parting in disbelief. “A little family squabble?” He repeated. “You abused dad for years and-“ Before the young Alpha could talk himself into rage, Peter interfered.

“You are correct, Talia, that none of these sparks would be interested in this specific crime. But, unfortunately for you there has been a sixth spark discovered just about two hours ago. And you made the foolish decision to try and control him with your Alpha voice. I’m confident that he would not hesitate to aid the council, should they decide to turn you into a beta.” And with those words, Peter raised from his chair and left the room, closely followed by Derek, without another glance at his sister, who was staring after them in stunned.

He had nothing else to say to her.