Chapter Text
Of the few virtues Derek possessed, patience was not one that he held in abundance. Scanning all the doors and windows in his line of sight for any possible sign of Stiles, he couldn’t help how his mind kept cycling through possible scenarios of how things could go wrong. Each one he imagined being worse than the last. He couldn’t even pace back in forth in his frustration because any movement along the treeline might alert the guards to his presence.
As a flash of red finally appeared in the corner of his eyes, he released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, only to suck it sharply back in, when he noticed another man in Whittemore livery right behind Stiles. He was just about to draw his sword, when he saw Stiles turn and embrace the man.
A growl rumbled deep in his chest, as red started to bleed into the edges of his vison.
He only just managed to pull it back before Stiles came into hearing range. Though it was quite a feat given he could now smell the Beta on his—on Stiles.
“I take it the mission was a success?” he inquired, his voice slightly more clipped than usual.
“Even better than I had anticipated,” Stiles agreed stiffly.
The Omega then surprised him by flipping something at him. He was so caught off guard that he completely missed catching it, allowing it to bounce off his chest and fall to the ground at his feet. Looking down at it, his heart clenched. The simple piece of folded parchment, sealed with a plain blob of wax, had passed through too many hands to still retain the scent of the original sender, but he just knew.
Laura
“Merry Yuletide and Happy Birthday, now let’s get back to camp.”
With that, Stiles turned on his heels and started making his way back into the forest. Hastily snatching up the letter, Derek shoved it into a pouch on his belt. He desperately wanted to tear it open but he also wanted to do it privately. And not be lost wandering through the woods because he fell behind. He was certain that Stiles wouldn’t really leave him to stave in the wilderness, but given the Omega’s current mood, Derek couldn’t be sure that Stiles wouldn’t let him sweat for a few ours first, before eventually leading him back to camp.
Despite the letter occupying a large section of his thoughts, an even more pressing concern weighed on his mind. He still thought that Stiles was taking his bias against Alphas to an irrational degree, but he had to admit that Stiles had made some good points. And he didn’t want this one stupid argument to ruin all the progress he’d made in winning Stiles’s trust.
“I’m sorry,” he huffed, as he fell into step behind Stiles.
A slight tensing of Stiles’s shoulders was the only indication that he had heard Derek’s apology.
He continued, “I shouldn’t have gotten in the way of your first shot. You had the boar in your sights and…”
Stiles had slowed to a stop a few feet ahead, still facing away from him. He desperately wanted to close the distance between them, Stiles’s shoulders were still tense, like a skittish horse that was ready to bolt at any second.
“And maybe you’re right. My family used to pride itself on how well we treated our Omegas compared to other places. I was raised to protect and cherish Omegas, but even my family never taught me to respect them. Maybe I am wrong about how I think of other Omegas, but I don’t think about you that way.”
A strong breeze rustled the leaves overhead as Derek waited.
“You make me feel that way,” Stiles all but whispered.
“What way?” Derek asked softly, genuinely puzzled.
With a heavy sigh, Stiles turned around and elaborated, “Being around you makes want to give in to those stupid instincts and be the good little Omega for you.”
“And that’s a bad thing,” Derek stated more than asked. By now he knew enough about Stiles to understand what it had taken to admit something like that.
Stiles didn’t answer and the lack of talking spoke volumes.
After a tense few moments, Derek attempted to reassure Stiles, “I would never force you to be anything you didn’t want to be.”
“But you wouldn’t stop me either,” Stiles spat out. “You wouldn’t protest if I spent my days cooking all your meals, sewing all your clothes and had my belly always full with your brats.”
Derek’s face flushed at the thought. No, he wouldn’t protest at all, but that doesn’t mean it would ever happen.
“You would never let yourself become like that,” Derek argued.
“No, I wouldn’t because I’m smart enough to stop it before it even starts!”
“Stiles—”
“The sun’s going down,” Stiles changed topics abruptly. “We need to get back to camp.”
With that, Stiles turned and ran deeper into the forest. Derek was fast but he could just barely keep up with the erratic trail Stiles was blazing. It also didn’t help that Stiles’s fleeing form was tapping into some of Derek’s more primal instincts. The drive to hunt, to chase, to claim.
He was so focused on controlling his urge to pounce that he barely noticed when they reached the camp. The sudden awareness of being near so many people again was like the bucket of water Melissa had dumped on his head that morning.
It took Stiles less than a second to involve himself in something or other that needed doing around the camp, leaving Derek very much alone and unsure. With a sudden, intense pang of guilt, he remembered the letter from his sister.
Looking around, he decided to try and find somewhere private to read it. This turned to be easier than expected. There must have been some intense expression on his face because no one called out to him or followed him over to the currently deserted practice field.
He sat for a long moment just staring at the crumpled parchment, before finally building up the courage to break the wax seal. Tears sprung to his eyes at the sight of his sister’s familiar handwriting.
Blinking sharply a few times, his eyes cleared enough for him to see.
Brother,
We are so happy you’re alive and well. There have been so many rumor, we’ve been beside ourselves with worry. We both want desperately to see you again but you must stay away from the Palace. The court is even more dangerous than ever before. I wish I could say more, but I dare not. Stay with your new ally or flee these lands, if you can. I fear our country has entered its darkest time. Be safe.
Love Your Sisters
He read the letter three times over, trying to squeeze out any additional information but it was no use. Everything about the letter was designed to give away as little as possible in the event that it had been intercepted by the Queen. From the lack of family crest on the sealing wax to the intentional lack of specific names, Laura had crafted the letter in such a way to conceal all of their identities. As much as it pained him not to know more about how his sisters were doing, he was glad that they were taking all the precautions necessary to keep themselves safe as well.
And the danger was very real. Even from the brief message, he could practically feel Laura’s concern. Cora no doubt was putting on a brave face through it all, but she would be just as scared as Laura. Yet here he was, free and safe and more concerned with trying to court a possible mate than trying to find a way to free his sisters from the trouble he’d gotten them into. Once again his own selfishness was putting his family in harm’s way.
Unbidden, his mind flashed back to almost a decade ago.
It was a summer jousting tournament when he first laid eyes on her. A fierce and beautiful princess sitting astride a magnificent stallion, unhorsing each and every challenger that dared take her on. Heir to the throne, she was nearing her second decade and still hadn’t presented, but it was clear to all that she would make a fierce Alpha. Late bloomers were always the strongest after all.
He was still a gangly young boy, though he fancied himself a man. Serving as his sister’s squire, he was able to see her up close. To see her hair like spun gold and the way her eyes flashed with each new victory.
Laura had complained that he spent more time mooning after than actually squiring for her. He might have resented her for those remarks, if all the thoughts in his head hadn’t disappeared the moment the Crown Princess’s eyes fell on him.
She smiled at him and his heart was hers.
She had suitors and, some whispered, lovers by the scores, but she had chosen him.
All summer she strung him along with heated looks over the banquet table and ‘secret’ trysts in the stables or wherever they could find a moment. He had been so naïve back then, thinking that they were being so clever when it was plain as day to everyone with half a wit. His mother had far more than that.
It was only later that he could see the callousness in her smile and viciousness in her laugh. How she had teased information out of him. How she collected secrets and filed them away for later exploitation.
It was only when the summer was ending that he approached the subject of a formal betrothal. How giddy he was at the prospect of taking her before his mother, imagining how his family would share in his joy.
How cruelly she had laughed at him. That same laugh that had echoed in his mind the night his family burned.
Feeling his claws digging into the flesh of his palm, he took a deep breath to get himself under control, but the images still clouded his mind.
After their ‘affair’, he’d broken down and confessed everything to Laura, who in turn told their mother. The worst part was that his mother hadn't even scolded him. Later, when Kate was ransacking the country looking for an Alpha to help her keep the throne, his mother hadn’t even let her in the Castle gates. Derek knew it was that humiliation that had sealed his family’s fate.
That and the information she had so carelessly revealed to her and so cowardly failed to tell his mother. There had been a blind spot in one of the guard towers that he and his younger sister Cora used to take advantage of to sneak out. Thank the Gods he hadn’t known about the tunnel then, or he probably would have told her about that as well.
Later, people had said that Princess Katherine had changed after she lost the Throne. Derek knew better. She had always been a viper. It had just been easier to forgive her faults before she had shown her fangs.
“This time will be different,” he swore. “It will never happen again.”