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Ever since Beacon Hills was officially made a beacon for supernatural creatures, Scott and his band of miscreants (aka his pack) had been wary of any new creatures moving into town. Some, like Parrish, were awesome badass additions to the craziness that was Beacon Hills. Others just contributed to the pandemonium and had to be taken out.
So it wasn't surprising that Scott made it his pack's top priority to get a gauge on the new werewolf pack that had just made its home in BH. "Isn't it like werewolf etiquette to ask permission from the current land's alpha before moving your pack to their land?" Kira asked at the pack meeting.
"It's just a formality." Scott said. "This alpha doesn't need to contact me at all. Technically, he and his pack don't become pack business until they step out of line or threaten anyone in our territory. Until then, they can do whatever they please and live anywhere they want." He ate a cheeto from the big bowl on the table. "It honestly isn't a problem. Until it is. Watch them, don't leave yourself unaware, and watch your back. We don't know if they have any ulterior motives yet. Just be careful. Meeting adjourned."
Scott slowly found things about about the new pack. It consisted of the alpha, his beta sister, his human mate, and their werewolf daughter. She was eight years old, adorable, and in Isaac's 1st grade class. The alpha was an EMT who also taught classes at the community college, and the mate stayed at home and apparently wrote books and newspaper articles. Boyd and Erica, who worked as firemen and police officers respectively, both reported that the alpha seemed fair and kind, and was always gentle with the people he helped. Kira, an ER nurse, said he was easy to work with, but not a talker.
All in all, the new pack seemed okay. The alpha was nice, the sister was badass but funny, the mate had yet to be spotted, and the daughter was innocent but in control. And that was why Scott was waiting for things to go downhill.
Allison didn't meet the alpha nor his mate first: no, she met their 8-year-old daughter, Meg. She had showed up with Allison's son, Leo, one day at parent pickup, hand-in-hand. "This is my friend Meg, Momma!" He said. "She's new here. She said she moved here with her pack. She, she's a werewolf like me and Daddy! We knew 'cause we could smell it! Aren't you proud of us?"
The little girl had pale skin, an adorable button nose, and very wavy, dark, long hair. A few freckles dotted her face and she was wearing a precious pink smock—not unlike the ones Allison herself was excited to buy for the new baby she and Scott were expecting— which was rumpled in the way that small children managed to disarray their clothing. "I'm Margaret. It's very nice to meet you, Mrs. McCall." She made a wobbly curtesy.
"It's very nice to meet you too, Margaret." Allison said back, holding in her laughter at the formalness of the introduction.
The little girl perked up, as if hearing something, then sighed largely. "Well, my papa is here. I must go. Bye bye!" She waved gayly, then skipped off to her father.
"You can't mess this up for me, Mommy," Leo informed her seriously as he clamored into the backseat. "I really like Meg."
Allison once again stifled her laugh. "Of course not, sweetie. I'll be sure not to interfere."
"Thanks." Leo answered, watching the other kids at the parent pickup from the back window. Allison chewed the corner of her lip, wondering how this might come back to bite them in the ass in the future, and hoping with every fiber in her being that it wouldn't.
Kira was able to meet both the alpha and his mate in the hospital on a Thursday. The alpha was wearing his all black EMT uniform, looking sharp and dark and surprisingly intimidating. His scowl could've taken down buildings and infrastructures that were long-standing. Despite his rocky exterior, he commanded the attention of everyone around him. Maybe it was his beauty, his symmetry, his presence. Whatever it was, it left all those in the ER sneaking glimpses and some even outright staring.
So everyone was a tiny bit amazed as they watched a lithe man in a flannel shirt traipse over to the hot, God-given EMT specimen like it was nothing. The guy was pretty beautiful himself, too, just in an entirely different way. While the alpha was rugged and handsome, the flannel man was delicate and beautiful, light in all the ways the EMT wasn't. He wasn't a werewolf, Kira could tell immediately.
The entire ER watched as the flannel man laughed, managing to make a tiny smile tick to the EMT's face, and placed a hand on his chest. As the flannel man leaned in, Kira was sure one of the nurses next to her gasped. They watched as the two inched closer, and then suddenly their mouths were on each other and they were kissing in front of the whole ER. Kira looked closer, and suddenly the matching gold bands on their fingers made sense.
They pulled away, eyes shining, and the flannel man—the alpha's mate, Kira guessed—leaned in close again, as if to share one more kiss. He took a deep breath, put his lips to the EMT's ear, and said "Gay!" really loudly, then proceeded to kiss his husband on the cheek.
He waltzed from the ER, waving to his disgruntled husband. "Every time," Kira heard the alpha grumble, but it was fond as he watched his mate leave the room. He also wasn't the only one watching the flannel man's ass. Kira bounced in her gym shoes, excited to tell her pack of the new development: the second gay couple in all of Beacon Hills, and it just happened to be the alpha and his mate. Scott would be surprised.
He was. Liam, who worked at a local diner as a part-time job while he finished up his senior year of high school, gushed about the couple endlessly. "They come in all the time, at really weird times. Like, remember that one time I worked the midnight shift? They came in at 1am, Scott. 1am. The mate was the loudest one in the diner and the alpha was really gruff, but sometimes he smiles and all the girls swoon."
"What else about the alpha?" Scott asked, interested.
Liam screwed up his face. "I can't remember much about the alpha. He's really quiet. He nods along with the mate a lot, and glares. But he's not mean. He tips well, I mean." Liam tapped his foot a little impatiently. "Can I get to lacrosse practice, now? Coach is always annoyed when I'm late."
Scott nodded, smiling fondly. "Give 'em hell, Liam," he lightly punched the boy's shoulder, and the pup rolled his eyes fondly before turning and running from the parking lot. "Come on, bud," Scott held out his hand for his son to take, Leo seized it, and they both began the walk home.
"Can we get ice cream on the way, Daddy?" Leo looked up at his father with his big eyes, puppy eyes that Scott heard came from him, but never really believed it. He sighed, never one with a strong will when it came to his son.
"Don't tell your mother."
"Yay!!"
Erica had plenty to say about the alpha's sister.
"She's so great! The first time we met, she fixed me with a bitchy look and said 'Now don't get any ideas about trying to turn this into a competition,' and I was totally in love! Like, how we got partnered up I will never know, but she is the best at the shooting ranges. We had a competition to see who could make the most 5-point shots and we actually tied! She won at the memory game we made up, though, and I got her back when we did a stamina thing. Honestly, she's like my soul sister."
Scott stared at Erica, a bit stunned, while Boyd just stood by her, shaking his head and fixing his work helmet. "So...she's got your stamp of approval?"
"Cora Hale is my favorite. Besides Boyd, of course." She leaned over and kissed his cheek, beaming. "Love you, boo!"
Boyd just rolled his eyes. "Love you," he grumbled back.
It never slipped Scott's attention though, that Boyd always told her that he loved her back, and he smiled.
Stiles loved the new house. He loved their lawn, and their driveway, and their mulch, and even took the liberty of making window boxes for the flowers he picked up on their second day of moving in. Sometimes, Derek could hear him wandering through all the halls, checking the bedrooms and sighing with happiness at the abundance of them all. Stiles had always planned on more children, and now that they had a bigger house, a more permanent residence, and stable jobs, it seemed like it might be a possibility sometime in the future. That was, if they ever got their current situation all sorted out.
Meg was loving the new place as well. She was making friends with the kids at school, including the son of Beacon Hills's alpha, Scott McCall; She loved her teacher—a member of the McCall pack; and she rambled about how wonderful it was that Leo's mom (Scott's wife) brought in cookies for the class on his birthday (Really, all that did was prompt Stiles to make cute little mini-cupcakes for the class to celebrate the first day of fall, but Derek could see that, for his husband, it definitely wasn't a competition. No, not at all).
Cora loved their new town. She lived in an apartment one block away from the house, and spent many nights in one of their many guest rooms. She loved her job at the BC Police Station as part of the Sheriff's Department, and loved how NorCal had a lot less of a recreational drug abuse problem than New York, New York did. She loved her co-workers, loved her landlord, and loved the people she protected.
Derek just loved his family. As he watched each one of them thrive in their own way, he sat back and enjoyed their success. Sure, maybe he was making friends kind of easily. Sure, maybe he really enjoyed saving lives. But he did all of that back in New York too. Whether it was fast-paced big city or lazy small town, he was only happy if his pack was. And seeing them here made him think that moving to Beacon Hills was probably the smartest thing he ever could've done for them.
They initially moved because of Stiles. But even with that, they did come to the conclusion that Meg would have a better childhood in a small town, that she would have a better chance of succeeding, a better chance at making friends...a better chance at life in NorCal. Also, it's very hard to keep a young werewolf reigned in on full moons in a big city. It was unanimous. But really, Stiles was the reason they needed to live life in a small town.
Scott was the first one to officially meet the mate. He was at the supermarket, contemplating wheat, rye, or white bread (Allison said wheat, but he knew he would inevitably put white in the cart), when someone crashed into him.
"Sorry! Sorry!" It was a man with wide amber eyes and flailing limbs. "I'm so sorry! I'm so clumsy and not superhuman like you and honestly I'm all limbs even though I'm nearing thirty and I just I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I just needed bagels I swear I'm not some crazy person who thought running into you was fun I never watch oh I'm sorry!" And in a flash Scott watched the man lug his basket away, not leaving Scott any time to say anything. He watched the man hurry away to a register, set his basket down on the belt, and then promptly walk out of the store.
The man smelled like werewolves, so he must have been the mate. Scott ran to follow him, to maybe make sense of what just happened or ask him if he knew that he left his groceries at the store (the guy consciously put the entire basket on the belt before leaving, he had to have known) but when Scott made it outside, he was greeted with an empty parking lot, and empty road, and not even a trace of the guy's scent.
It was weird.
Lydia was dragging Jackson around the mall like she did the first Saturday of every month when she heard the yell.
"No! You have to save yourself! Run!! There's no way the omegas can get to you and me!!"
Lydia and Jackson shared a look before bolting towards the yell, only to find a large crowd of people gathered in a more central place in the mall, watching a dark-haired man desperately try to reign in a long-limbed guy. The guy was flailing about, screaming hysterically, and the dark-haired man roughly grabbed the guy's face and held it in his hands. For the longest time, everyone watched in silence as the two stared at each other, and then the long-limbed man seemed to collapse into the other man's arms, gasping quietly. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," was what they could barely hear him whisper.
"That's the alpha," Jackson murmured to Lydia.
She watched as the alpha held who she supposed was his mate. "It's not your fault. It's not your fault," he whispered back. A little girl who had been watching from a few yards away with the rest of the crowd stepped forward and took hold of the now-crying man's hand.
"Come on, Papa. Let's get you ice cream." The man sniffed and cracked a broken smile, and the crowd turned and pretended to go about their business when the small family unit began to walk.
"Derek, I—" the mate began, and Lydia watched with interest as the alpha shut him up with a kiss.
"Don't apologize. We'll grab some ice cream and then head home, okay? You must be exhausted." They laced their fingers together as Lydia pulled Jackson into the next store.
"Weird, huh? Scott said something was up with the mate." Jackson noted.
"Yeah," Lydia said distractedly, thinking. "Weird."
Isaac loved his 1st graders with all of his heart. They were so innocent and pure, and he would fight a thousand armies for any of them. Growing up under the hand of an abusive father, he had no tolerance for parents that didn't put forth all of their effort into loving their children, and that's why he had a slight problem with Meg's fathers.
It was clear that she loved them: she waxed poetic about their love and drew pictures of their cute wolf pack during drawing time. She was always dedicating her macaroni necklaces to "Daddy" and making magnets for "Papa to stick to the refideratr." But they never came to parent days or conferences or field trips, and Isaac decided he absolutely hated them when one day Meg was the last one at the parent pickup, waiting with Isaac an hour after school let out.
"Papa's just a little late," Meg said conversationally. "It's okay. He'll be here. Thanks for waiting with me, Mr. Lahey." It wasn't that Isaac had a problem with waiting. Like he said, he'd do anything for his first graders. He just didn't want Meg's heart to be broken when her papa didn't show up. It was bound to happen, Isaac had watched it happen tens of times before.
They were nearing the hour and a half mark when a black truck came tooling into view, stopping at the parent pickup and parking. Isaac watched as a man with dark facial hair stepped out, dressed in a black EMT uniform.
"Daddy!" Meg squealed from beside Isaac, but she waited patiently for her father to walk over to them. "Where's Papa?" She asked confusedly.
Her father—the alpha, Isaac recognized—crouched down next to her. "Papa wasn't feeling well. He wished he could pick you up, but he can't leave the house right now." He took his daughter's hands in his own. "I'm sorry I couldn't make it earlier, sweetie. I rushed over as soon as the school called."
The little girl smiled. "That's okay, Daddy! I love you anyways, you silly goose!" She pecked him on the cheek, and Isaac maybe melted a little.
The alpha straightened up and looked at Isaac gratefully. "Thank you for being patient with us. Things are a little...complicated at home. I really appreciate you staying here with Meg."
Isaac nodded. "Of course. She's such a good kid."
"She really is," the alpha said, then took Meg out to the car and drove away.
The next day the alpha's mate picked up Meg right on time, and Isaac was left wondering what was up with the odd mate.
Derek and Stiles fell in love easily. Stiles was working on some magic for his mother's pack and suddenly he went from magical stranger to boyfriend, then boyfriend to fiancée, then fiancée to husband/mate.
The hallucinations happened somewhere in between.
They started after Stiles finished dealing with a particularly strong and persistent coven. He was able to use his magical abilities to put an end to the coven's terror, but ended up getting cursed in the process. The curse wasn't specific enough to lift, and from then on, Derek and Stiles had to deal with the hallucinations Stiles received because of it.
He would see things that weren't there, forget events and dates, and even think he was living in an alternate universe. Derek once came home to Stiles sobbing about how he was sorry that Derek had lost his entire family in a fire, and Derek freaked out...only to find that Stiles was under the influence of the curse. Most of the time, it wasn't active. Stiles was able to be himself, be normal. But sometimes it would act up, causing him to do random things at the most random of times.
Their wedding day had been marred by a humorous appearance of the curse: Stiles had thought that their wedding party was a pack of werewolves intent on killing him and Derek, and the only way he could save them was by throwing their wedding cake on the groomsmen and bridesmaids. Needless to say, there were plenty of pictures of Stiles violently hurling cake at their wedding party.
The two of them had learned to deal with it the way they always dealt with problems: together, and when they had their daughter, they learned how to cope with her and the curse together. She, of course, was a perfect bundle of werewolf genes that understood completely and loved both of her father unconditionally. Stiles would constantly ask her what he did to deserve someone so patient and loving, and Derek would always wonder what he did to receive a family so perfect, despite their troubles.
He wouldn't trade them for the world.
Date night was always important to Derek and Stiles. They had it at least once a week, and whether it was bowling, watching a movie, eating dinner, or going to a fair or festival, they were always inclined to have one Meg-free night a week. That week, they had picked dinner and a movie, and it was nearing midnight when they were headed home. Derek was in the passenger seat of their SUV, Stiles driving, and Derek was admiring how lovely the night had been.
Derek was just about to suggest that they call Cora and tell her that they were almost home when Stiles suddenly yanked the car over to the shoulder of the road. "Stiles?" Derek asked, concerned. He didn't answer, instead threw the driver door open, swung his legs to the side, and went on to vomit out onto the road. Derek immediately began rubbing his back, sniffing the air and becoming worried when he couldn't smell any kind of sickness on Stiles. That meant... "This is the magic," Derek said quietly. "This is something the magic is doing to you."
Stiles hiccuped and was only able to give Derek a fearful glance before he was back to emptying the contents of his stomach. Between heaves he leans back against his husband, breathing hard. "What's wrong with me?" He whimpered. "Why won't it leave me alone? What's wrong with me?"
Derek pulled him close, trying to take away pain that was way beyond his werewolf ability's comprehension. "I think it's about time we asked for help. We need to talk with the McCall pack."
Stiles retched his agreement.
Derek had approached his favorite member of the McCall pack—Boyd—the next day and asked if Scott and the rest of the pack would meet with them sometime soon regarding matters of importance. Boyd had called up Scott right then and there, who had set up dinner at his own house that night. That was where Derek, Stiles, and Meg were now, standing on the porch of Scott McCall's pack house. Meg was between her dads, holding Derek's left hand and Stiles's right. Cora had decided that her attendance was unnecessary and had chosen to to pick up a co-workers shift instead.
Derek looked at Stiles, who was awkwardly straightening up the nice half-sleeve burgundy Henley he was wearing to compliment Derek's long-sleeve gray one and nodded once. Derek nodded back, took a breath, and knocked. Almost immediately the door opened, revealing a grinning Scott McCall. "Hale pack," he greeted warmly. "Welcome. Please come in." As a family they trooped through the threshold, and it felt like they had crossed a physical barrier instead of a mental one. From a foot away, Derek could feel Stiles relaxing.
"Derek! Stiles, Meg!" Kira appeared, greeting the pack in their respective order. "So glad you wanted to meet up."
Allison followed, and behind her was her son. "Leo!" Meg squealed, and broke from her fathers' hands to embrace her friend. They sniffed each other and chattered on as only children can, leaving the adults to their own devices.
"Welcome to our home. It's always open to your pack," Allison said, taking the pie from Stiles's hands.
"Thank you," Stiles said humbly, and Derek shook hands with everyone. They were led into the dining room, which had been set with a huge table. Since it was a Friday night, many of the McCall pack members were able to come and eat with the new alpha and his pack. There were 15 places set in all for the dinner.
"Please take a seat!" A girl who introduced herself as Erica said loudly. Derek had met her a few time through Boyd, and figured that she and Stiles would get along famously. "Us women spent an hour slaving over dinner, now it's time to enjoy it."
Using Scott as a guide, the Hale pack sat in their seats, getting briefly introduced to everyone in the pack. They all ranged in age, much to Derek's surprise. Most —like himself and Stiles—were in their late twenties to early thirties, but some were teenagers and Allison and Erica's kids were mere children.
Not all of them were werewolves, either. Kira was a kitsune, Lydia was a banshee, Mason and Allison were human, and Jackson had been a kanima at one point. It was a motley crew of pretty decent people, and Derek knew that Stiles and Meg felt right at home. Polite smiles and a few laughs were shared over the good food, right up until Scott cleared his throat.
"So. You called this meeting together because of your matter of importance? I doubt that matter was because of my wife's chicken," he laughed quietly, but looked at Derek with serious eyes. "Is this a matter that can be discussed here, or would you rather we retire to my study?"
Derek looked around, then at Stiles. Stiles just nodded his head slightly. "If I could, I'd like to speak with whomever you dub as important. If you trust everyone at this table completely, I do as well Alpha McCall."
"Scott, please." Scott took a quick glance around. "How about we let the children eat dessert and play in Leo's room?"
"Actually," Stiles spoke up, "It's fine with us if Meg hears it. She's been growing up with this anyways. It pertains to her as much as it does to the rest of our pack."
Scott nodded. "Go on, then."
"My mate is magical. An emissary, if you will. He has been an important part of my pack's safety dating back to when I was a beta in my mother's pack. Before my pack was killed, Stiles was tested against a coven of witches. They were powerful and old, and were reigning terror on an unassuming nearby town. Stiles was able to defeat them, but not without getting a curse cast on him. It isn't specific enough to have an exact counter-curse, so we don't know how to lift it."
"What does the curse do?" Allison asked, looking concerned.
"It makes me black out. I forget time, I think I'm in different dimensions. My grip on reality slips on some days. I see things that aren't there. I hallucinate a lot. I scream, I have nightmares. I've sleepwalked before, I've brought home dead animals. I forget who I am. I forget to pick Meg up from school," he shot Isaac an apologetic look. "Recently, I've started getting physically sick. That's why we decided to ask for your help. We had hoped to live peacefully and quietly here, but that won't be possible until we can find a way to hide the curse from others."
Lydia pursed her lips, looking contemplative. "Allison," she said slowly. "Do you still have your beastiary in the house?" The woman nodded. Lydia bobbed her head back. "Go get it for me, please." Allison excused herself from the table and ran to get the book.
"What do you think is in there?" Scott asked.
"I think I remember reading about a spell one can use to counteract the effects of a curse. It has to be done by powerful beings, but I think having two alphas, a kitsune, an emissary, and a banshee should do the trick."
Allison returned, and Lydia flipped to a part of the book near the back. "See, here it is." She turned it around to show the packs the ancient writing. "It's in Latin, so I'll say the incantations. Also, my power is in my voice, so that makes sense. Scott, Derek, Stiles, Kira...join hands." The four did so. Lydia began to recite the written words in a dead language long lost to most, and everyone at the table suddenly felt a dramatic change in the air. Everything seemed heavier the longer she chanted, and with no warning Stiles began to scream and broke the powerful circle, writhing in pain as he convulsed in his chair.
"Papa!" Meg exclaimed, eyes wide and mouth gaped in a terrified silent scream.
Stiles stopped convulsing and his eyes sharpened. "Whoa," he said quietly, sitting up in his chair.
Lydia looked at him curiously. "How do you feel?"
"I...it's gone." Stiles said, surprised.
"How can you tell?" Derek asked worriedly.
"There's no more dark magic." Stiles smiled wide. "I can't feel the curse anymore." He looked around excitedly. "I can't feel the curse anymore!"
Derek smiled back, grabbing Stiles's hand and squeezing it. "What was that spell for?" He asked the banshee.
"Reversing curses." Lydia shrugged. "It borrowed power from all the powerful beings in the circle and used it to chase away the curse. Apparently we had enough power, and it worked."
Stiles had tears shining in his eyes and he shared a look with Derek. For so long...so long they had been struggling with this. Living with it. They coped, but now they could live. "Thank you," he choked out. "Thank you."
"Welcome to Beacon Hills," Scott said grandly, and Meg goofily howled with happiness. The rest of the pack followed.
In the end, Stiles and Derek decided to stay in Beacon Hills like they originally planned. They never officially joined Scott's pack, but lived in harmony with them and helped defend the territory whenever it was necessary.
Meg and Leo grew up best friends, eventually going on to date.
Cora ended up with Isaac, much to everyone's surprise, and they went on a year-long tour of France together.
Allison had a healthy human daughter, who ended up becoming best friends with the Hale's second daughter...also human. The Hale's daughter had a knack for magic, and started to learn magic under Stiles along with Erica and Boyd's oldest son.
Stiles and Derek are expecting their third child (and okay, maybe Stiles charmed it so it's a boy. Sue him).
Scott and Stiles became best friends, and Derek actually grew to enjoy the McCall pack.
The packs still eat dinner together every Sunday.