14: Renewal – Part 4

As much as they were a pair and Stiles was there to give advice and guide Derek, he was still the alpha of their small pack. The last word was technically Derek's. Especially since he was the wolf, not Stiles. His mate would know better if another wolf was a good fit to the pack or not.

"Let's give him a chance to prove himself," he said barely above a whisper onto Derek's lips. "We'll deal with the rest and the possible problems later..."

"Awww, you two are fucking adorable. Why aren't you married yet?" The Norse wolf didn't even bat his eyelashes twice at them, not giving any indication on what he had heard because it wasn't his fucking business to hear the alpha talk with the mate. "I mean, I didn't see rings but I could be wrong because there's a kiddo running around. Did you two have a surrogate? Is she both your genes?"

Tyr did take a whiff in the kid's room but she was living with them too long to understand her scent, and there was something off about it. The other one was male, which was probably this sheriff they kept mentioning because he stank like humans did. Not that Stiles was stinky, he was like magic so that was way different. Humans did have a particular smell to them, usually masked by aftershave, perfumes, shampoos and whatever else they could use. Tyr didn't use anything, probably why he was considered to be requiring a shower, no deodorant to mask the smell of sweat.

"Oh wait, was she born from magic? Did one of you birth her like in the movies? That would be so fucking out there! You should totally do that if you haven't yet."

Derek threw a disparaging look at his mate because he didn't want to deal with yet another one asking about the marriage. Was everybody on his case to propose? What happened to being allowed to do it in a romantic way once they have moved to the loft?

"No, she has a mother but she's not part of her life anymore."

Touchy topic, though a lot of topics seemed to be sensitive these days and as Derek realized that, he sighed. It wasn't that he wanted to bite anybody's head off like this. Tyr came at a wrong moment and he was a lot to deal with when there was a spastic mate and a hyper toddler in his life already. The doorbell rang and he heaved a sigh of relief – saved by the bell. Glancing to the beta in Stiles' clothes which were a surprisingly well fit, Tyr looked younger, especially with the wet long hair.

"I'll get it. It’s the Chinese food I ordered." Did he rush to the door? Only a little bit...

Stiles chuckled softly from Derek's hasty retreat then winked at Tyr before going to the kitchen cabinet to get some plates and forks out in case someone wasn't a fan of chopsticks – Stiles definitely had some difficulties with them at times. To the delight of many. Not that he cared, he thought those sticks were the invention of the Devil. Okay, maybe it was a good thing he didn't voice this thought aloud around Derek.

"Don't mind him. He's tense about a lot of things going on in our lives currently. Elizabeth is his biological daughter with a former friend of ours, but she had decided to focus on her own life so she had left for good. Understandably that's a touchy topic around this house, so if you are going to stick around, please, don't bring it up in front of Derek, and especially not in front of Beth," Stiles paused, looking up at Tyr seriously for a moment.

"Otherwise it's a running gag among us that he hadn't proposed to me yet. Even if he keeps telling me and my dad that we are already technically married in the werewolf-sense because of our mate bond," he shrugged with a grin, pouring another glass of lemonade to Tyr and himself, sensing that Derek found his too sweet so he got just some water. Picky alpha...

"I think he'll pop the question in the foreseeable future, though. Once things calm down a little. But I love to pull his leg about that. And I did the same with the kid question. I mean the possibility of getting each other pregnant, but he had told me it was sadly not possible in either way..." Stiles sighed over-dramatically. "Too bad, because I think I'd look hot with a round belly full of his kid or kids," the druid giggled, stroking his flat stomach for emphasis then put his laptop into safety on the kitchen counter.

Right! Tyr realized that he had unknowingly broached all the topics he wasn't supposed to say, even though the wedding one was funny to him. Why not propose and get it over with? Fucking done! Everybody happy and no hassle. But what the hell did he even know about any of that? He had never had a serious relationship before. It was all about fucking for him. But he'd get that the missing mom was not something the little kiddo had to be burdened with – poor kid. What mom wanted to abandon her offspring to focus on her own life?

"The mom sounds like a fucking bitch," he settled on as he watched Stiles busy himself.

There was a beam when the sweet lemonade made its appearance again, who even drinks water when there's lemonade?! He didn't sit down yet though, he wasn't sure if they had their usual spots at the table and the alpha was still at the door, paying for the food which smelled like heaven and made his stomach rumble loudly.

"Magic makes everything possible as long as you believe in it." Tyr wasn't even kidding with that. Magic was magical, it could do stuff that wasn't fucking possible. Maybe the alpha didn't want one of them with cub? Maybe he didn't want to believe but it wasn't like he had much of a fucking choice. If the Spark believed in it enough, it wouldn't need Derek's faith. Now that would be amusing!

It was that moment that Derek had made his return with two big bags of steaming Chinese food. From that sight Stiles' stomach did a loud grumble in anticipation too. "Just in time!" he grinned at his mate and took one of the bags while pecking his mate's lips. Then he hurried to the table to unload the paper boxes into the middle so everyone could pick from whatever looked good for them.

"You'd look good with a round belly full of food," Derek deadpanned as he brushed past Stiles, his fingers lingering on the flat stomach. He wouldn't mind some rounding happening there, something for his hand to settle on, all soft and inviting. Stiles wasn't one to gain weight easily though, because he was too active and didn't have the rest in him to not burn as much calories as he ate. But babies? Yeah, no. It was as bad as that omega trope people always went on about… that omegas were capable of breeding because they were like a third sex or something. Maybe in some werewolf packs that was a truth but for his bloodline it really wasn't a thing. Probably anyways? He had never been a bottom when omega but he was pretty sure if that was a thing, the bestiary would have mentioned it – and his mother when he had been young.

This already had been discussed between them. Stiles was going to be the dad when they were ready for another child and they'd pay for a surrogate. Never again somebody they knew. Besides, if the magic was capable of anything, then Stiles might get pregnant with a unicorn if it was all about believing. Amused at that thought, Derek sat down so the beta would stop lingering restlessly at the table like a hovering cloud of energy. All the food did smell amazing, clearly, because two stomachs were rumbling and neither was his.

"Eat, don't wait on me, I'm a slow eater." Compared to Stiles he was the turtle of eating with his careful chewing and taking his time to eat food. Which was just because Derek hadn't been able to enjoy food for a while with Beth making meals like an adventure which got messy fast. So yes, when there was a meal to be had where he could actually eat, he was taking his time.

When Tyr hesitated, Derek rolled his eyes and put some egg rolls on his plate to show he was eating.

"I'd look good heavily pregnant with your pup too," Stiles rolled his eyes as he took a seat too and started loading his plate full with a bit of everything to be offered. Yeah, well, he had never strictly followed pack customs and hierarchies, especially not when it came to food, but he'd make an effort if Derek voiced being displeased with that or if there were more wolves than just Tyr. Who, by the way, was probably starting to get a hang of the fact that Derek and Stiles were equals in pretty much everything aside from the important wolf-business part of things.

"Just saying. I'd surely drive you up the walls with my weird food choices in the middle of the night and all the hormonal mood shifts. It'd be fun to take videos of it for later to laugh on it. Damn, now I kinda crave having another kid..." he sighed but waved Derek off before he could say anything about it. "I know, I know, not the time yet. Still, it'd be cute. The C-section I wouldn't be looking forward to, though, with not being wolf and having to borrow probably a big chunk of your healing factor," he babbled on, half-realizing that he was dropping hints to Tyr to pick up on how they as mates worked. But Stiles didn't mind. The young wolf deserved some information about them if he wanted to make a big decision which would affect their lives greatly.

"Cub. Pups are for dogs, wolves have cubs." Though there was a remark Derek was tempted to make about a bitch bred full of pups but that would be toeing the line he didn't want to cross. Not when Stiles was so fully into the fantasy now about actually having a baby like that and the Hale didn't want to correct him on the fact that males couldn't be pregnant for a reason. On the one hand, it would be nice to be part of a pregnancy instead of getting updates through the phone like it had been with Lydia but on the other hand, Stiles full of hormones? The world wasn't ready for that, Derek wasn't ready for that. No matter how good his mate would look all filled up with babies.

The thought that Stiles wanted to was a nice one, though. Derek certainly wasn't eager to subject himself to that even though he'd be the better choice with his healing. Nope. He'd rather loan his healing to Stiles, and let him handle it but... Derek mostly preferred a surrogate still. Or adoption. Adoption was good too and not completely out of their limit since gays were able to adopt these days and Derek had enough income. The rap sheet might be an issue, though. And why was he even thinking about babies? He blamed that on Tyr and Stiles for bringing it up. He loved kids, and the smell of babies was like doing yoga. The wolf shifted, shooting Stiles a look, knowing this was going to be a need they had to talk about now that babies had been brought up. Stiles was giddy with babies.

"So... Derek. Why don't you tell Tyr what we had decided about him?" the human changed the topic once the first few bites were down in everyone's bellies. Because Stiles could practically feel the restless buzzing and curiosity in their guest and he thought it was high time to 'put him out of his misery,' so to say.

Biting into an egg roll with more power than needed, Derek angrily chewed. Angry with himself for wanting another baby. The food did calm it though and by the time one roll was annihilated, Derek was glad for the distraction of explaining to Tyr what they had decided while the beta was stuffing his mouth full with food. Hamster cheeks included.

"We don't know you, you don't know us. And we think it's fitting to give us all a period to get used to one another and see if we mutually want to be pack. We're going to move soon and you'd have your own room then. And if you'd become pack, you can have your own apartment but the building is still worked on. So for now you'll be a guest here with us, if you want." Hopefully Noah wouldn't mind housing another one for just a little bit longer. They were going to be ready to move soon.

Woooooow, the sexual tension was off the charts between the two, they looked ready to start baby-making right away and Tyr grinned widely, putting as much as possible on his plate while they bickered. Tyr stuffed his mouth full, as full as possible, barely even tasting what was in his mouth because it was already smelling like he wanted to roll into it and be covered in the scent for as long as possible.

"Okay, cool, awesome!" Tyr exclaimed with his mouth full, resuming chewing and already putting more on his fork. "I know what you're thinking: why would you even want the weirdo fucker? But I'm a nice person, ‘kay? You'll see you'll like having me around." The second fork was shoved in his hungry mouth, and he once again talked while chewing.

"So, how do I earn my keep? I can sleep with you both, easy-peasy." Silence descended on the table as the beta glanced from one to another before erupting into loud laughter. "Fuck! You should see your faces! Oh man, that was so good!"

Not surprisingly it was Stiles who erupted into laughter from that joke. It was a good one. "You're something else, Tyr!" he wiped at an eye then shook his head. He knew Derek wasn't going to share his amusement because he was too grumpy and... angry-ish at the moment. Or at least that's what he felt about and saw on his mate. To ease that and stop Derek from growling at Tyr or something, he put a calming hand on the alpha's thigh under the table and kept it there.

"I like your humor. Anyways, to answer your question: no, we don't need your surely awesome sexual services. You know, if it wasn't clear, we are the kind of mates who have eyes only for each other," the druid moved his empty fork between him and Derek and yes, even threw some heart-eyes at him because why the hell not? "But you can earn your keep by helping us move. We'll also see how Beth takes to you. Our daughter is always our top priority and like in any pack, we are very protective when it comes to our cub," he looked at Derek pointedly as he emphasized the last word then looked back at Tyr to continue.

"If things go well with her and you are good with kids, we might sometimes need you as a babysitter when we are otherwise occupied. Of course, death threats regarding her safety included," he grinned somewhat darkly at the beta, letting his eyes flare up in amber color. "But that will take time. You'll have to focus on reintegrating into the human world. I'll work on that with you since I had done it before and Derek will have other stuff to deal with. You can also help us with the remodeling and renovating of the building we are moving into soon. You can make and furnish your apartment as you want to. With time, when your integration is going well, we might ask around in town to find you a job. But most of these are further down the line. We take things step by step and Derek has the last word in things as alpha."

That was a lot to take in. Tyr could be playing with the kid, have his own apartment and the only demand was he was going to have to get a job at some point? It seemed to be too fucking perfect. Sure, he had to help move but that was no big deal. "Why do I have to reintegrate into the human world? I'm not human." Tyr didn't think he needed to change much, it wasn't his fault others didn't know how to handle him. He didn't want to be normal, didn't want to adhere to boring stuff. Getting a job, helping out, sure. But fitting in? He'd try if that's what they wanted of him, but it just didn't seem right that they wanted to change him right away. But he didn't speak of it and instead focused on all the good food.

The joke, after the initial bristle, would have made Derek grin but he didn't want to encourage the beta so instead he kept his face neutral, while Stiles' hand was on his thigh to ground him. Stiles was his, and nobody else’s, but with Tyr Derek didn't have as much need to show it, he didn't pose a threat, he didn't smell like arousal, didn't look at them with that kind of interest. Biting into yet another egg roll, he knew the question was to him, since he too was a born wolf and he understood the reluctance to somewhat conform to what society deemed normal. He never had done that, was an outcast in his own way and fine with it.

"We share the world with others, human or otherwise, and as pack we still live in human territory where the rules of society apply. You don't have to change, you adapt. You play by the rules and make your own while making sure it's not getting you caught. We have hunters out there who will be eager to cut our heads off the moment we make a mistake. Because we're stronger than humans, more agile, we are a threat and they think of us as monsters. We're not monsters. We're not animals. We're werewolves and I know you can do it. You wouldn't be here otherwise. You'd be out there with a wolf pack instead of a werewolf pack."

Derek didn't say it harshly, there was a gentle and patient tone to his voice but he made sure he made it clear that this wasn't up for debate. Blending in was a key point in survival, because the world wasn't fair and they were always up for scrutiny and there wasn't a judge or jury to give them a fair trial. There were only hunters with wolfsbane bullets and machetes to cut them in half.

"You're not a wolf, you're a werewolf and it's time you learn the difference."

Stiles couldn't hide the proud look with which he looked at Derek. Not that he really wanted to hide it, he'd feel it through their bond either way. It was because this was the first time since they had gotten together and went through all the shit storms that he could see a glimpse of the alpha he was surely going to become with Stiles' help and their growing family/pack. Stiles will make sure that it was going to happen. Now Derek had him as help, he wasn't alone anymore. He had someone to turn to for advice or just listen to his thoughts, figuring things out on his own. That was something Stiles sometimes let to happen instead of influencing his mate with his words. And he wanted to believe that this last half a year on his side helped Derek somewhat in moving towards that future self the wolf was maybe one day going to be proud of.

With a small smile, Stiles looked back at Tyr while his hand lightly and fondly squeezed Derek's thigh under the table. "He's right, you know. The main goal here is to stay yourself but blend in enough not to draw the attention and suspicion of hunters and humans. As long as we play by these rules, everyone should be safe. There have been... hunts in this town. Not really because of what the supernaturals in this town were, but because of money and someone playing on the fears of the humans. It was ugly. But it showed how little it is needed for the people around us to turn against us," he explained.

"That's why it is important to play by most of society's rules, or bend them between acceptable limits. One can get quite good at it. Plus we have inside people at the Sheriff's station too. Including my dad and a few in the know whom we can trust. They help cover things up because the truth about our existence is often perceived as a threat and awakens fear and hatred against us. Now I work there too, so I'll have more tools to cover up stuff that might be happening in the future. And believe me, this town is far from boring."

Being put on the spot like this, Tyr squirmed in his seat a little because the alpha was right, he wanted to be in an actual pack, not just a wolf pack. He wanted to be werewolf and he had forgotten what it was like to not be an animal. It was easier to be one, it's why he lived in the now, not once planning ahead or looking back. There was no future and maybe having one, to dare to look to a tomorrow would be a nice idea. A step forward.

The mention of hunters was completely ignored by Tyr. Instead he reluctantly nodded to them both, for the first time seeing why Derek was an alpha instead of the troubled young man he’s seen so far. He had been told repeatedly that a lot had happened so he knew Derek was like that for a reason but he wondered if the man even knew how to smile, it seemed like it wasn't something he did often. Tyr smiled a lot, laughed a lot, didn't take much seriously, not even the possibility of death. He never had needed to care about others, only his own hide and he didn't care much about that either. Wild and free.

"I don't know if I can do that, but I'm willing to try. Fuck if I know what it's all like, so I can't turn it down or promise to succeed. I'm willing to try." It was the best the beta could offer at this point. Maybe he'd find out that being part of society in a pack wasn't his thing, maybe he was born to be an animal after all.

"That's all we ask for, to try. Give it time." Derek wasn't sure either where this all would lead to. They were taking a risk with him but that risk would be worth helping somebody. Stiles was going to do most of the work with Tyr because he had the experience with Malia and had the patience for it. And Derek had to focus on getting the loft ready. Though he knew Stiles mostly volunteered himself to do it so the Hale could focus on therapy as well, on not putting more strain on him with this since they didn't know when memories would become too much. Or sometimes a memory was so bad that it meant a few bad days in a row. That's what they called it: a bad day. Which was code for Derek being too messed up in the head to function well. Beth knew now when daddy had a bad day; that he mostly would hole up in the bedroom. It was to protect her because he didn't want to lash out at her.

And he knew that was something this beta had to learn as well.

"You two eat some more, I need to take a shower before Beth needs to be picked up." Derek leaned close to Stiles to kiss him on the cheek, hands running along his neck. "Maybe you can tell him about the bad days." That way Derek didn't need to worry about ripping apart the new beta without him having the discomfort of explaining. It was too personal, too raw. It was important of course, but the human was better at explaining things.

Stiles nodded in agreement. Tyr willing to try was a good start. So he smiled a bit from the kiss on his cheek while his neck was caressed, raising goose bumps and a few small sparks because he was too excited about their guest and too into explaining things to him, which manifested like that when his mate touched him. It was a pleasant feeling, though, making him long for more touches, but he knew that had to come later. They had stuff to do. Starting with sharing some background story about the alpha for Tyr so he'd understand Derek's past better.

The whiskey-brown eyes were glistening with that same pride from earlier as he smiled up at Derek and stroked along the back of a hand before the Hale pulled it back and left the kitchen. Stiles knew it was a permission and a significant thing that he was allowed to talk about Derek's past to practically a stranger. It was also an attempt from the alpha to be – in a way – more open towards a possible new pack member. And Stiles wasn't surprised that his mate, who usually struggled to express himself verbally, chose to leave this with him. He could feel the trust in sharing what's important and it warmed the emissary's heart.

"Okay... so..." Stiles smiled at Tyr while stuffing an egg roll into his mouth, quickly chewing and swallowing it. He could eat as much as a werewolf, if not more, even before his magic had awakened. That never changed with time. "I guess I should give you a summary from the start to understand my mate a bit better, huh? All right then... So here's what you need to know in a nutshell... Derek's a born wolf, coming from the strong Hale bloodline. His family is basically the reason this town exists in the first place. They used to live in a big ass mansion in the preserve, but long story short, a huntress tricked him when he was just a teenager and it resulted in a big fire which had killed most of his family and pack. For a few years he had disappeared with his older sister to NYC, but she had to come back here for reasons and later Derek found her murdered too. As it turned out, it was the deed of his insane uncle who wanted to become an alpha. Peter stole her alpha spark and then went feral. That's when my best bud was bitten and I came into the story and had learned about the existence of the supernatural world. So that's how basically our journey had started..." he paused, eating some fried pasta with sweet and sour chicken then continued with his mouth mostly full.

"While I was still in high school, my bud Scott – who became a true alpha – and our pack went through a lot of supernatural attacks. All kinds. The Nemeton draws creatures in and we always tried to protect the town from those shit storms. Derek was part of that too, created a small pack from teens after he killed his uncle and became an alpha for the first time. That didn't last for long, though. Sadly he had lost nearly all of that pack then that huntress came back and kidnapped him to steal his powers and there were a lot of other complications along the way. But he had managed to evolve as a werewolf and now can shift into a big badass black wolf..." he said with a dreamy expression on his face, but his fast talking stopped only for a soft sigh.

"He had left town for a couple of years again, but I did the same too to study and become a detective in San Francisco. During these years Derek moved around, joined another pack but was eventually kidnapped again with his baby daughter and dragged literally to Hell where he's been tortured daily..." Stiles continued, his eyes and expression getting dark. "Needless to say, it was bad, but managed to come back with Beth, half of his soul the price to be able to do so. He had found refuge here at my dad because he found himself and Beth alone in the world again. Around four months ago I came to visit my dad and found them here and we had started working on fixing his soul. We accidentally bonded with both the emissary and mate bond, although as I've told you before, we've been pining for each other and in love for years by then. With my magic rapidly wakening up and myself diving head-deep into my magical studies, I had managed to open a portal to Hell and got his soul to seal it back into him. Well... that had brought a shit ton of other problems too. Like literal insanity and hallucinations. So he blinded himself to make at least the latter stop and keep himself from hurting me again," he sighed bitterly, pushing the food on the plate with his fork.

"But with the help of two other druids I managed to create a magical wall in his mind to hold back his overwhelming memories from Hell. You see, time moves differently in that dimension. While only a few months have passed here on Earth, there his soul-fragment had to endure daily torture for three decades in human terms. So you can imagine just how messed up that made him. But this wall limits the memories seeping through, helping him to deal with them in a more manageable way. Though depending on the memory he's dealing with, it might give him a bad day or days until he gets through it. He goes to therapy and I'm helping him in any way I can too, but it's not easy still. So... now you have a bigger picture about him. Why he is so closed up and scarce with words and loves to communicate with his eyebrows and expressions instead," Stiles smirked at the end. "I think I've pretty much mastered that language by now. Which is one of my biggest prides in the world," he chuckled then ate some more. "Any questions?"

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