Archive of Our Own

Teen Wolf || Stetopher || The Golden Couple's Golden Boy || Stetopher || Teen Wolf

Title: The Golden Couple's Golden Boy – Stiles Summer Stories 2025

TW Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Jeff Davis and MTV. This fanfiction on the other hand is entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Tags: m/m/m, polyamory, True Mates, Spark Stiles, age change, high school AU, fluff, m/f

Main Pairing: Chris/Peter/Stiles

Side Pairings: Logan/Dalia, Verne/Anita, Berto/Susie, Aaron/Fiona

Teen Wolf Characters: Mieczysław 'Stiles' Stilinski, Chris Argent, Peter Hale, Bobby Finstock

Original Characters: Dalia Hale, Logan Hale, James Hale, Laura Hale, Aaron Hale, Fiona Collins (Hale), Vernon 'Verne' Boyd Senior, Anita Milton (Boyd), Roberto Berto' Reyes, Susanne 'Susie' Macedo (Reyes)

Writer’s Month 2025 Prompt : flower + river

Summary: Stiles was hopelessly in love with Chris and Peter. They were seniors, hot as burning, popular jocks and also the school’s Golden Couple. So far out of Stiles’ league, he doubted they knew he even existed. Until Stiles got paired with Peter’s brother for a history project.

The Golden Couple's Golden Boy

Stiles Summer Stories 2025

Stiles knew that he was hopeless. Twice as hopeless as most others with unrequited crushes.

He was acutely aware of where he stood in the social hierarchy of the school. Very, very, very low at the bottom. He was a nerd who couldn’t shut up about his interests and his ADHD and anxiety made him an easy target for bullies, because he was ‘weird’ and ‘annoying’. He was also clever and vicious though so bullies usually learned pretty quickly that he wasn’t a good target for them.

He only really had one friend at school, after having been held back a year when his mom died, he never really managed to connect with any of his new peers. Only Bobby Finstock, who was a similar brand of neurodivergent than him and was as weird and loud as him seemed able to tolerate his presence long enough to be considered a friend.

It was fine. Whatever. He just had to get through high school and then he would be off to college anyway and things would be different in college, he knew it. Could feel it in his bones.

It would just be so much easier if he didn’t have two very pathetic and painfully hopeless crushes. Yes, two. Because he had managed to fall not just for one unobtainable person, nope, he fell for two. Two people who individually would already be way out of his league, but they were also dating each other, which didn’t just fully negate any chances of him getting either of them, it somehow put him into a negative space when it came to chances, or something like that.

Peter Wermund Hale. Star-player of Beacon Hills High’s very successful basketball team. The JockTM. Charming, gorgeous, witty, truly the full package. And on top of all of that, a Hale. In Beacon Hills, the Hales were considered royalty. The founding family of the town who had significantly shaped the town ever since, influential, wealthy, politically involved. Peter’s father was a highly respected judge, his aunt was the sheriff of the county, Peter’s older sister was currently running for mayor. There was no important event that the Hales didn’t attend. Everyone either wanted to be them or to be with them.

And then there was Christopher Alexander Argent. Peter’s boyfriend, hence the double hopeless. However, Chris was also individually out of his league. He’d been an emancipated minor and living on his own since he was sixteen years old. He had tattoos and a motorbike and a badass bad boy vibe that made Stiles feel this – and here he was mentally pinching his fingers together very tightly – close to swooning.

Both were already individually out of his league, but together? Stiles heaved a soft sigh as he watched the couple bicker during lunch. They sat at what was deemed the Hale Table and had, supposedly, belonged to the Hales since Peter’s own father and his siblings had gone to school here. Chris had a casual arm wrapped around the backrest of Peter’s chair, an amused grin on his lips as he watched his boyfriend argue some point very animatedly. Clearly, Chris was not invested in the argument. He was more invested in staring at Peter.

Stiles could relate. He too was very invested in staring at Peter. However, he wasn’t Peter’s boyfriend, so it was considered creepy and he tried very hard not to. He would also not mind being stared at by Chris like that though.

“Bilinski, stop it with the sad pining, it’s making this already bad meatloaf taste even worse.”

Stiles glowered for a moment before aiming a sarcastic grin at his best friend and saluting. “On it, Coach.”

Bobby just rolled his eyes and looked tempted to fling some potato mash at Stiles. Which would probably be fair. As Stiles’ only friend, Bobby had to put up with Stiles’ sad and pathetic pining. But the two of them worked because Bobby never minced his words either, he was as loud as Stiles and was never bothered by how others thought them weird.

“What are you doing after school?” Stiles asked while poking his food.

Bobby made a face. “Taking Billy and the team out for ice-cream that I am, apparently, paying for.”

Stiles raised both eyebrows and smirked. “You literally promised the girls you would if they won last week’s game. They won last week’s game. Now you gotta pay up.”

The reason Stiles called Bobby ‘Coach’ was because Bobby more or less willingly coached his little sister’s soccer team. Stiles had spent many Sundays cheering Billy Finstock on and heckling Bobby from the sidelines. The other boy had a very… unique style of coaching, to say the least.

“Come on,” Bobby grunted and got up.

Stiles wrinkled his nose. They had history next. Which, in itself, wasn’t bad. Maybe his favorite subject because he got to fall into research holes all the time and history usually gave him enough leeway to get away with essays that would, in other classes, classify as off topic. However. Their history teacher had threatened them with a partnered project for this week – and that they wouldn’t get to pick their partners themselves. Bobby was chill to work with, he let Stiles go on tangents and he’d hold the presentation if Stiles did the grunt work. They worked. But someone else? Someone, who wasn’t used to Stiles’ rants and tangents and also his work-ethic of procrastinating until the night before and then binge-doing the whole project in 14 hours without sleep and with too much coffee? That could be a problem.

/break\

Stiles had hoped against hope that he may end up partnered with Bobby after all, but Bobby got assigned Natalie, so there went all hope. Stiles just sat tensely and waited for his name to be called.

“Stilinski and Hale.”

Three words Stiles had dreamed about hearing for a long time now. His eyes widened and his head snapped over to stare at the youngest of the three Hale siblings. Aaron Waldulf Hale. Peter’s two years younger brother, who was in Stiles’ class. But Stiles had never interacted with him before. Aaron met his eyes with a grin and a small wave. Was this it? Was it fate? Would Stiles finally get to actually maybe perhaps interact with his crush because he was going to spend the next couple weeks working with Peter’s little brother? Stiles’ heart leapt into his throat.

“Hey,” Aaron greeted as he walked over to lean against Stiles’ desk. “French revolution.”

“Yeah,” Stiles nodded dumbly. “French revolution.”

“You’re on the track team, right?” Aaron asked. “I don’t know their training schedule. What days would fit you to work on it? I was thinking we should maybe meet up twice a week?”

Aaron was a great student, had ambitions of becoming a doctor. So at least Stiles wasn’t stuck with a slacker. Stiles nodded and desperately tried to remember his schedule. But all he could think about was that this up close, Aaron’s eyes were really blue and they were the same as Peter’s. Those Hale genes were ridiculous, the whole family was hot.

“Uhm, I can’t really say two fixed days that work every week?” Stiles said after a moment. “My dad works shifts and when he works so he’s home at night, I kinda… wanna have dinner with him.”

Oh wow, that probably sounded really lame, didn’t it? He flushed and ducked his head. But Aaron just grinned at him and nodded in understanding while crossing his arms thoughtfully.

“Okay, sure, we can just do two different days each week. I just don’t want you to bail on me and leave all work with me, you know?” Aaron explained. “And I totally get it! Dad’s a judge, he’s so busy sometimes it feels like he is living in his office, until Hurricane Dalia drags him home.”

Aaron’s grin turned more lopsided and fond as he talked about his parents. Stiles relaxed a little.

“Okay, cool. So, uhm, I mean I’m not busy today?” Stiles offered. “We could brainstorm first ideas? If you’re free, I mean. With the family and the girlfriend and the-”

Stop talking, stop talking, stop talking. He probably came off like such a stalker. It was just, it was a Hale thing. He kinda liked knowing everything about Peter, so he knew more about his family than he probably should, which included Aaron. Aaron cocked an amused eyebrow.

“Not wrong,” Aaron chuckled. “But today should work. Fio got training anyway.”

Fiona Collins, Aaron’s girlfriend and Peter’s best friend. The couple actually met through Peter, because Fiona was hanging out with her best friend and started spending more time with Aaron and it was this epic love story. The redhead was a total badass who could kick anybody’s butt. She wasn’t the head cheerleader, but she was on the cheer squad.

“Okay, cool,” Stiles nodded. “Uhm… Library, after school…?”

“I was thinking we could go to my place?” Aaron suggested after a beat. “We got enough space and we actually have our own library. Yeah, I know, it’s super weird. But the Hales have lived in that house for two hundred years. Generations have gathered… a lot… of books. We could check if there’s anything that’d cover the French revolution and maybe use them as a jumping off point?”

Stiles just gaped at him. “Did you just say you have a library?”

Apparently, Stiles’ expression must have been hilarious because Aaron burst into laughter. “Yeah. Yeah, we got a library. Yes, it has wheeled ladders. Yes, you can play Belle.”

Was he that transparent? Flushing again, Stiles ducked his head a little.

“If you’re lucky, we will also have our own Beast,” Aaron snorted and, at Stiles’ confused look, laughed a little. “I’m talking about my brother. He can be a real drama queen. Very Beast.”

Let the record show that Stiles was very down to being the Belle to Peter’s Beast. Though he didn’t really know how Chris would fit in that because he was definitely no Gaston. Or maybe Stiles’ life wasn’t actually a Disney movie and he should stop daydreaming.

/break\

Peter and Chris were practically stumbling into the living room, half making out. Dad was at work, mom was off at some Druid meet and greet at the Nemeton, aunt Laura should still be at the station and uncle James always pretended he didn’t see their PDA. Which meant making out in the living room. The two of them froze when Aaron cleared his throat annoyed. Usually, his little brother wouldn’t really bother Peter, but there was a different, very familiar scent there with Aaron.

Peter pushed against Chris’ chest and broke their kiss to turn toward his little brother. Aaron was sitting against the couch on the floor, with a mess of papers and books laid out all over the living room floor. And right in front of Peter and Chris sat Bambi. The boy’s head was tilted back so he could stare up at Peter and Chris with the biggest, prettiest doe-eyes, framed with long lashes. A neon-green highlighter was loosely hanging out of the boy’s mouth, pink, plush lips parted around it and the tip of his tongue pushed just slightly out on the other side of his mouth.

Well, that sure was a view. He’d wondered what Bambi would look like on his knees. Now he knew. And he liked. Peter’s smirk turned just an edge evil as he regarded the pretty prey, who was all his to hunt and claim and devour. He absentmindedly wondered how Bambi had found his way into the den of wolves, but he wasn’t going to look a gift horse – or deer – in the mouth.

Chris cleared his throat and elbowed him in the ribs. Chris wasn’t even a wolf, he couldn’t even smell the dirty thoughts in Peter’s head! Why did his mate know how to read him so well? Oh. Peter’s smirk turned a different shade of evil when the scent of Chris’ arousal hit his nose. That was why. His boyfriend’s mind was right there with Peter’s, down in the gutter. Which was all the more delightful considering that Christopher wasn’t even a werewolf. He couldn’t feel the bond thrumming inside his soul the way Peter could. But it was still there, even for the humans. Though, seriously, how had Peter ended up with two human mates.

“Usually, you only bring Fifi home,” Peter asked, turning to look at his brother and then at Bambi. “Quite the upgrade, I gotta say. Much better view.”

Aaron heaved a long-suffering sigh while Bambi blushed prettily. “That’s Stiles. We have history together and got assigned a partnered project. You’ll be seeing a lot of him in the next weeks.”

Wonderful. Maybe Peter should buy his little brother a sign of appreciation. The grin turned into a pleased, more genuine smile as he regarded Bambi. Stiles, then. He finally had a name to the pretty face. He’d been trying to figure out the boy’s name for months now and after all his attempts, his brother just came home, delivering Bambi on a silver platter. He supposed there really was fate involved when it came to True Mates. Ever since he’d first caught a whiff of that scent during one of Chris’ swim races, he’d tried to track down their third. He’d catch the scent occasionally at school, had sometimes caught a glimpse of that pretty face, but whenever he wanted to approach, Bambi was just gone like a startled deer escaping the big, bad wolf.

“Well, Stiles,” Peter’s voice dropped to a purr as he said the other boy’s name. “I’m Peter, Aaron’s prettier, smarter and older brother. And this is my better half, Christopher.”

“Chris,” Chris corrected him immediately and stepped up to offer a hand. “Hey.”

Stiles stared at the offered hand for a long moment, like he was considering if this was a prank, before he took it and shook it. Peter delighted in his mate leaving his scent on Bambi. Now he just needed to drag them both upstairs into his bedroom so he could sink his fangs into that pretty, pale neck and claim his second mate and then they could cover themselves in each other’s scents.

“Peter,” his father’s voice echoed through the house, demanding obedience. “A word.”

It appeared his father was working from home today. Lucky Peter. Chris shot him a brief, concerned glance that Peter quickly eased by leaning in and kissing his hunter’s cheek, trailing his lips up toward Chris’ ear so he could whisper and be unheard by the other humans in the room.

“I’ll be fine. Keep Bambi’s attention,” Peter requested, a hand against Chris’ chest.

Taking a deep breath, Peter headed into his father’s office. Behind the large, imposing desk sat Logan Hale on his big, fancy chair that had always felt more like a throne to Peter. One day, he vowed, he’d sit on that chair and rule too. Logan regarded him until Peter felt like squirming.

“So you found your second mate,” Logan observed softly.

Peter’s eyes widened in surprise. “How did you-”

His father huffed out a laugh, the expression on his face growing more gentle. “You’re still not good at masking your feelings through pack-bonds, pup. You are broadcasting your excitement about the boy like you have put up a neon-sign on main-street.”

Peter flushed embarrassed and ducked his head. In his defense, finding one’s True Mate was an overwhelming and exciting feeling for a wolf! Especially since Peter had been on the hunt for months but had nothing to go by aside from the scent and those big doe-eyes.

“I’m very happy for you, son,” Logan got up and walked around his desk to stand in front of Peter, looming and imposing as the Alpha always seemed. “But you can’t forget that your mate is human. I know your instincts are telling you what to do now, but… he isn’t a wolf, his instincts don’t match yours. He will be frightened and confused if you just flash your eyes and fangs at him.”

Peter big his lip and glared stubbornly at the rug. A heavy hand landed on his shoulder, giving it a gentle and reassuring squeeze and Peter relaxed just a little bit. He knew he’d been lucky with Chris, that though he was a human, Chris knew about werewolves and the supernatural. Though ‘lucky’ might be a bit of a stretch, all things Gerard Argent considered.

“Then what do I do, dad?” Peter asked in frustration, looking up at his dad.

“I heard your brother say that the boy will be by frequently over the coming weeks,” Logan rubbed a thoughtful hand over his own chin. “Befriend him. Get to know him and give him the chance to get to know you – and our pack. I’ll talk to James about dinner today, we’ll make something special and invite him to stay. We’ll make your mate feel at home here and in our family and then, once we have his trust, we can explain everything about the supernatural world to him.”

That sounded time-consuming and like it would actually take weeks. All Peter’s wolf wanted was to drag the pretty Bambi up into his room and claim. He gave a disgruntled growl that earned him an amused look from his father.

“Yes, Alpha,” Peter muttered after another moment.

He knew, logically speaking, that Logan was right. That didn’t appease the wolf inside though.

/break\

Dalia Hale was a force of nature. Like a hurricane or something. The doors to the house burst open and the woman came running in with a wild look in her eyes – the same blue as her sons’, Stiles noted startled when he found himself decidedly too close to the woman. The moment she’d entered the living room, she had zoomed in on him and grabbed his face between both hands, bringing him close. Stiles opted for the prey response of staying very, very still and waiting.

“You must be Stiles,” Dalia declared, a slightly manic smile spread over her lips. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you, dear. Look at you!”

“Uhm… Huh?” Stiles blinked doe-eyed at the Hale matriarch.

“Mother,” Peter’s voice cut through the room, sounding severely annoyed.

Stiles, for his part, was kind of just along for the ride. That was what he had settled for the moment Chris and Peter came stumbling into the living room, heavily making out. All Stiles had been able to do was absolutely gape at his crushes. And what a spectacularly poor first impression he’d made! On the floor among the disorganized mess of his and Aaron’s pitch ideas for the project, gaping dumbly at them with a highlighter in his mouth. Urgh.

While Peter had gone to talk to his father (Judge Hale kind of scared Stiles, he had to admit. He’d greeted the man when him and Aaron had arrived at the house. First time Stiles had voluntarily called an authority figure ‘sir’ and not in a mocking tone), Chris had just… sat down next to Stiles and started asking questions about the project, bringing up that his family was French and he used to spent a lot of time in France so if they needed any help with French texts for the project, he’d be more than happy to help. Absolute twilight zone stuff happening there.

Stiles had just nodded while trying really hard not to stare at Chris’ Celtic knot tattoo peeking out from under the short sleeve of his shirt (he failed miserably but at least he hadn’t openly drooled. Yay, him). It somehow got even weirder when Peter got back from his conversation with his dad, because Stiles fully thought Chris just stuck around to pass the time and once Peter was done, he’d come pick up his hot boyfriend and they’d head to Peter’s room. Instead, Peter just… joined them. And sat down next to Chris on the floor, also asking questions about the project and, clearly for the sake of polite small talk, also questions about Stiles. And now Peter’s mom was even weirder.

“I apologize, sweetie,” Dalia smiled and patted Stiles’ cheeks. “When I was talking to my husband on the phone earlier, he told me we had a guest that Aaron had brought home. And that boy, he always has his nose in his books. The only person he ever brings home is Fiona. Nothing like our Petey, he’s a social butterfly, his friends practically live here! So I got a little carried away.”

Stiles nodded slowly and cast a glance at the Hale brothers, who both looked annoyed now. This was nothing how Stiles had ever pictured meeting Peter’s family. And yes, of course had he thought about it before. In some fairy tale take on his life, he would have been swept off his feet by Peter and Chris and would find his place among the Hale family the way Chris and Fiona had.

“Uhm, we’re not…” Stiles trailed off, eyes darting between Dalia and Aaron. “We’re just partners for this project, ma’am. But thanks for having me.”

He was trying really hard to not be weird. Pretending like him and Aaron were friends would be weird, right? Dalia furrowed her brows and then patted him on both shoulders.

“You’re staying for dinner, yes?” Dalia asked (though it did not entirely come off as a question). “You’re only skin and bones. Honestly, what is your mother feeding you?”

“My mom’s dead, so she’s not really feeding me anything,” Stiles replied, blinking at her and suddenly feeling weirdly defensive. “I feed myself. And I’m doing just fine.”

There was an awkward stretch of silence and oh right. Most people were really annoying about the dead mom thing. Eggshells and ‘oh, you poor baby’. Stiles shuffled a little on his feet, trying to avoid Dalia’s gaze, at least until he got pulled into a bear hug by her.

“Oh, sweetie, I am so sorry, I didn’t know. I didn’t mean anything by it, I promise,” Dalia squeezed him a little tighter. “You are definitely staying for dinner, then.”

“I absolutely love when you invite people to stay for a meal you’re not cooking.”

Dalia laughed and turned away from Stiles, while Stiles peeked past her at the man standing in the doorway with an exasperated look on his face. Totally spotting the Hale cheekbones, which meant this must be Dalia’s brother-in-law. He had the same thick, dark hair as Peter and Aaron, so probably Logan’s younger brother, then, because Logan was already a full silver fox (and he rocked it. If that was in Peter’s future, then damn).

“Hey, kid,” the man smiled and headed for Stiles, holding a hand out. “I’m James. The one who keeps this household running. Otherwise these heathens would eat frozen pizza every day.”

“Not every day, uncle James,” Peter argued with a huff. “We’d also order take-out in.”

James heaved an exasperated sigh and reached out to ruffle Peter’s hair. Peter Hale, prince of Beacon Hills High, getting his hair ruffled and squirming away. Stiles bit his lips at how weirdly cute that was. He’d never thought of Peter being this kind of cute. But then most people were different in high school under the peer-pressure as opposed to at home with their family.

“I’m sorry, uhm, I don’t mean to impose? I’ll just… I can just leave, when we’re done-”

There was a weird sound behind him and he wasn’t sure what it was, it sounded kind of like an angry dog but he knew the Hales didn’t own a dog. James smiled amused at him.

“Nonsense. The lady of the house has invited you to stay, you stay,” James leaned in and whispered in a conspiratory voice. “She does not take no for an answer, so just concede.”

Oh, this was getting more weird by the minute. Because even in his fairy tale swept off his feet fantasies did the Hales not welcome him that enthusiastically. Even in his fantasies, Stiles liked to apply a certain amount of realism and three people relationships just weren’t exactly common, so surely there’d be side-eyes and judgments and frowns. Well. He wasn’t here as Peter and Chris’ third. He was here as Aaron’s project partner and, apparently, potential friend.

“Okay,” Stiles aimed a smile at Dalia. “Thanks for having me.”

“Atta, boy,” Dalia smiled pleased and patted him on the head.

/break\

Chris couldn’t help the small grin as he held his boyfriend. Peter was sprawled out on top of him, face buried in Chris’ chest while he tried to recover from his embarrassment. One of Chris’ hands was tracing Peter’s spine up and down, the other was playing with Peter’s hair.

“Why can’t my family just be normal?” Peter complained annoyed.

“I am so sorry that your loving and kind family enthusiastically accepts your potential second boyfriend,” Chris drawled, voice dry and sarcastic. “It must be such a hardship.”

“Oh, shut up! Don’t play the disowned half-orphan card on me now, Christopher!” Peter sat up to glare at him. “You know exactly what I mean! Mom came racing in and hugged him like she wanted to adopt him on the spot! It must have been so weird for him. Why did dad have to call her and tell her that we found our second mate. Urgh. She can be so embarrassing.”

And okay, Chris had to admit that Dalia had come on a little strong. But then that was just Dalia’s whole personality. When Chris and Peter had first met and fallen in love, she had immediately gotten protective of him too and when the Hales noticed that Chris’ dad was abusing him, they let him stay in their house, Logan helped him file for emancipation, aunt Laura had helped him find a part-time job so he could start saving up for his own place and show to the court that he could be responsible and take care of himself, uncle James taught him how to cook and run his own household. He wouldn’t be the independent young man he was now without them and their unwavering love and support. But yes, they could all be very overwhelming at times.

“Look at the bright side,” Chris offered with a small smirk. “Talia’s not living here anymore.”

Peter heaved a sigh that was pure relief. His relationship to his older sister was… complicated, to say the least. But with Talia currently expecting her first baby, her and her husband had moved out of the Hale House. Probably not permanently, Chris knew the Hales lived in each other’s pockets and the Hale House had been a multi-generational household for centuries, but at least for now, Talia was a bit too territorial to share with the rest of the pack.

There was a look on Peter’s face as he regarded Chris slowly, like concern. “How… What do you think about him? I know you can’t feel the matebond the way a wolf does and I never meant to-”

Chris cut his boyfriend off by pulling Peter into a slow, deep kiss. “When you told me I’m your True Mate, you said that it was fate. That we’re meant to be. And you were right. You were damn right. So if fate thinks that Stiles is perfect for us too, I will not argue with fate.”

For a long moment, Chris looked into Peter’s bright, ice-blue eyes, until his wolf nodded slowly and settled down a little. Smiling, Chris wrapped his arms around Peter’s waist to pull him closer.

“It did help that you’ve caught his scent before and I had… time to mentally prepare for there being a third for us,” Chris admitted. “I think things would be different if coming home today would have been the first realization that we had a third. But I had time to sit with that and… anticipate it. I don’t know Stiles, as a person, well enough to tell you how I feel about him specifically, but he’s… very pretty. He’s exactly the type of boy we usually hook up with.”

And now Chris wondered if that had been Chris and Peter’s attempt to fill a void they hadn’t even known was there. Their souls were entwined, but there were supposed to be three and even if Chris wasn’t a wolf and even if Peter hadn’t known until he first caught Stiles’ scent, deep down, their souls had known that they were missing something. Someone.

“He is a total pretty boy,” Peter agreed with a preening smirk. “I lucked out on my good-looking mates, that’s for sure. I just wish we could… just tell him.”

The smirk vanished and was replaced by an annoyed frown. Chris leaned in to kiss the crease between Peter’s eyebrows. His impatient wolf would have loved to just drag the boy upstairs and claim him on the spot. But Stiles was human, Stiles didn’t even know about the supernatural. It’d overwhelm and most likely scare him off. Logan was right, they did need to ease Stiles into all of this. Befriend him, build trust, to the point that they could trust him to tell him about the supernatural, and then about the matebond. Chris knew that was going to be hard for Peter, because his instincts didn’t understand that, his inner wolf just wanted to curl around his mates and make them feel safe. Chris dragged his lips down Peter’s temple and captured his mouth again.

“Patience, love,” Chris whispered. “And it’ll be rewarded.”

/break\

It was Monday and things were back to normal, though Stiles was still reeling a little from Friday night at the Hales. That family was intense. The food had been absolutely amazing though, James was a great cook. And afterward, there was blueberry pie – which he had praised highly and told Dalia was actually his favorite kind of pie. Turned out the ‘lady of the house’ couldn’t cook for her life (apart from Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner turkey, which, according to everyone at the table, was amazing. And now Stiles was imagining spending the holidays with the Hales, sitting between Chris and Peter and holding hands and trading kisses while laughing and talking to the other Hales and urgh), but she did make the best pies on the West Coast.

Still, all of that was over now. The weekend had passed, school was back on and things were back to normal. Stiles got into a fight with Adrian, the slimey weasel he had chemistry with and definitely his arch nemesis, which had gotten him detention after school today (but was totally worth it because Adrian’s face was now neon pink thanks to a chemical reaction that was totally harmless but still dyed wonderfully), Bobby caught him up on what the weekend at the Finstocks’ had been like (Billy’s soccer team won their game on Saturday, go Billy, Bobby’s older brother Barry had a new girlfriend who apparently sucked, Benny’s new obsession was Star Wars, which meant Stiles had to come over some time this week to indoctrinate the kid properly, nine was such an impressionable age after all, and Bunny was visiting from college this week, which was awesome because everyone loved Bunny). Everything was normal, until they entered the cafeteria.

“Stiles!” Aaron called out from the Hale TableTM, waving at him and halting conversations all around. “Come here! You can sit with us.”

“What the hell is happening here, Bilinski?” Bobby hissed confused.

Stiles made a small, confused and nearly distressed noise as he shrugged and started looking between Aaron and Bobby, until Aaron waved again. “Your friend can come too.”

Bobby elbowed him to push him along. “Whatever’s going on, I am not missing out on this. Move.”

Fiona Collins sat at one end of the table, her legs crossed and strawberry hair put in a French braid. She had a hand on her boyfriend’s thigh, leaning into Aaron’s space, but her eyes were on Stiles and Bobby as they approached. That girl was scary. He once saw her sucker-punch a guy who tried to touch her friend’s butt. They had to call an ambulance for the guy. Next to Aaron sat Chris and on Chris’ other side was Peter, who pulled the empty chair beside himself back for Stiles. Stiles wanted to argue or pinch himself but he just sat down on autopilot, Bobby taking the seat opposite to him.

“Hey, Stiles,” Chris leaned forward to smile at him past Peter.

“Hi,” Stiles offered, unsure what was happening here.

“Dude, I swear, I run late once, you give away my seat.”

Stiles tensed and turned toward the gruff voice. He tilted his head back to look at Vernon Boyd, point-guard of the basketball team and one of Peter’s best friends. On one side, he was flanked by his girlfriend, a tall, dark-skinned girl with a serious look on her face, her hair put up in a knot at the top of her head. On Vernon’s other side was Roberto Reyes, another member of the basketball team, with broad shoulders and dark hair and eyes. Usually, Vernon would sit next to Peter. Stiles was about to shoot out of his seat when Vernon laughed and just sat down next to Bobby.

“Hey,” Vernon turned toward Bobby. “You’re on the track team, right? Finstock? I’m Verne.”

“I’m only on the track-team because this school doesn’t have a lacrosse team,” Bobby huffed.

Verne. Right. Friends got to call him Verne. Stiles watched with bizarre detachment how Bobby and Verne shook hands. Anita sat down next to her boyfriend, smoothing down her dress and offering Stiles a polite smile before she turned toward Chris and started talking to him. Stiles knew the two were good friends, from his not stalkerish observations over the past year. A blonde whirlwind came shooting up to them and the next moment, Susanne Macedo, captain of the cheer squad, took the seat next to Anita, latching onto her and interrupting her conversation with Chris without a care in the world. Chris didn’t look annoyed, he seemed mostly amused and moved his own attention on to Aaron instead. Roberto took the last empty seat at the end of the table beside his girlfriend.

This was surreal. Stiles didn’t know how to compute this. He was sitting at the popular table. With the popular kids. Eating lunch. Sitting right next to one of his crushes. What was happening here.

“What’s lacrosse?” Verne asked once his mouth was empty again.

“Oh, just the best game in existence,” Bobby sat up straighter.

Stiles wanted to intervene, eyes widening. He knew his best friend had the same tendency of enthusiastic rambling and when someone got Bobby going about his special interest, that was it, that would be the conversation for the next two hours. But while Bobby launched into an explanation of the rules and game mechanics of lacrosse, Verne looked… genuinely interested and like he was actually listening. Huh. That usually didn’t happen to either of them.

“Hi,” a hand was thrust at Stiles and when he looked up, he met the sparkling green eyes of the cheer captain and the most popular girl at school. “I’m Susie! So you’re Stiles, huh?”

Why did these people know his name. Had Stiles somehow entered the twilight zone? He forced a smile and shook Susie’s hand while nodding slowly. Susie was a short, perky blonde with some more curves than most other cheerleaders, but that didn’t stop her from being the absolute star of the team. The Beacon Hills High cheer squad actually competed on national levels.

“Oh, hey, you’re a nerd, right?” Susie asked after a moment, blinking.

Stiles froze like a deer in the headlights. He knew that him and Bobby had that reputation at school, as being ‘the nerds’. But being called out like that made Stiles think that he had fallen for it. Like every tragic, nerdy, brunette (female) teen protagonist of a high school movie, he had let the cool clique lure him into a false sense of safety that was going to bite him in the ass Mean Girl style now.

“Uhm…” Stiles had no idea how to reply to that.

“So you play DnD?” Susie asked next while munching on a carrot.

“He totally does,” Bobby injected, throwing Stiles that judgmental look. “Tricked me into playing it once too by making it sound cool. It was not cool.”

“Excuse you!” Susie gasped and threw a napkin at Bobby. “DnD is super cool!”

DnD was… what? Stiles stared at the cheerleader and coolest girl at school like she’d grown a second head. Anita next to Susie huffed offended and put her cutlery down to glare at Bobby.

“It’s all about math,” Anita said, like that was a selling point for DnD.

Which, he supposed, for the mathlete and smartest girl at school, it probably was. Stiles leaned back a little and watched the reactions of everyone else. Verne just smiled at Anita like she was the moon. The big guy treated the mathletes like genuine sport, had banners and all to cheer on his girlfriend whenever she had a competition, Stiles had seen it once when the mathlete tournament had been held at their school and it was mandatory to come cheer their team on.

“You… play DnD?” Stiles asked, looking between Anita and Susie.

“Yup,” Susie popped the ‘p’ and grinned broadly. “Anita is usually our DM, though we sometimes play shorter games in between that others… try… to DM.”

At that, she shot a withering glare at Fiona, who just lifted her hands and rolled her eyes. “I’ll never do it again, I apologize profoundly for the disaster.”

She did not look apologetic at all. Stiles let his eyes wander, staring intensely at Chris and Peter.

“I like the strategic element to it,” Chris shrugged with a small grin.

“I get to play a devilishly handsome rogue. What’s not to love?” Peter winked at Stiles.

“And I am all for the theatrics! Theater! Playing the part!” Susie gasped, clutching her chest. “I mourn every day that our school doesn’t have a drama club.”

“They wouldn’t be able to handle you, baby,” Roberto said and pecked his girlfriend’s cheek.

Huh. The cool kids were playing DnD. This really was some kind of parallel universe, wasn’t it?

“So, you do play?” Susie asked eagerly, leaning forward and toward Stiles.

“I… uh, well, I’d like to?” Stiles shrugged awkwardly. “I convinced Coach and his siblings to give it a try once, but you just heard his enthusiasm.”

“Coach?” Peter raised an eyebrow, looking from Stiles to Bobby.

Bobby rolled his eyes. “I coach my little sister’s soccer team. He thinks that’s funny.”

“It is fucking hilarious, Robert,” Stiles stuck his tongue out. “You, of all people, trying to wrangle a gaggle of vicious preteen girls fighting over one ball. It is delightful.”

Susie giggled at that and some of the others chuckled too. Stiles felt himself blush some.

“Uhm, so yeah. I’d like to. But kinda needs more than one person,” Stiles shrugged.

What a wonderful way of saying ‘I don’t have friends’. He poked at his food, ducking his head a little, but before he had time to dwell on the embarrassment too much, did he hear Susie clap.

“Perfect!” Susie’s eyes sparkled with unholy intent. “You’ll join our party, then. We’ve had this campaign going for three years now and I wanted to switch it up a little for a while! A guest player is always a great way to inject things with new life – not that your story needs new life, Annie, you are the best DM on the planet, but you know what I mean!”

Anita huffed amused and then regarded Stiles very intently. “You take it seriously, yes? I’ve seen players who are more dedicated to ‘the bit’ than to the story. And I am not having any of that.”

“No, ma’am, no bits,” Stiles stared at her wide-eyed.

“Some bits are allowed,” Roberto whispered to him. “It’s not like she’s against fun, she just doesn’t like when we get too carried away and do dumb shit that may be funny for us to play out but makes little sense to the story. She takes her story-telling very seriously.”

Anita nodded with a stern look before she relaxed some and offered him a smile. “Well then, you are welcome to join us next time. We meet at the Hale House twice a month, every second Saturday. How does your weekend look?”

“Depressingly empty,” Bobby answered for him. “Me and my fam are driving my sister back to college so he doesn’t even have me. With his dad on shift, he’s most likely going to binge-watch Star Wars for the two-hundred thirty fifth time. His social life is sad.”

Stiles stared at Bobby with seething hatred. “I hate you.”

Bobby just smirked at him and shrugged, while Susie gave a delighted yelp. “Perfect! So you’ll come join our game. We meet at nine in the morning, because James – Peter’s hot uncle-”

“Don’t call our uncle hot,” Aaron and Peter complained at the same time.

“-sorry, Peter and Aaron’s hot uncle,” Susie corrected herself, but ignored the boys otherwise. “Always cooks breakfast for us on DnD day. There will be pancakes, omelet, sausages, bacon, fruit salad, waffles, other stuff I can’t remember right now, it is always super delicious. Game starts at ten though. We usually play until ten at night. Unless someone derails us.”

Susie shot Peter a dirty look and Peter just shrugged unapologetic. “Annie shouldn’t introduce a cute magic twink NPC and not expect me to fuck him behind the bar. How was I supposed to know he was a spy for the enemy kingdom? I couldn’t!”

“Babe,” Chris sounded exasperated. “Anita introduced a cute magic twink NPC. She literally tailored him to make you fuck him. He was always a trap.”

Anita smiled, and it was that edge of evil and genius and Stiles might adore her a bit. He also tried not to think about Peter fucking a twink behind a bar. Absolutely no thoughts going to that. Nope. Stiles turned to side-eye Peter doubtfully, expecting the Hale to protest. But Peter looked weirdly pleased. Well, maybe he was still thinking about the magic twink. Okay. So this was actually happening. He was going to play DnD with his two crushes and their friends. Okay, okay, okay.

/break\

Peter decided that it was actual torture to have his new and unclaimed mate in his pack’s den and not being allowed to claim, touch and generally mark-up said mate. Especially since the boy’s pale skin most certainly would bruise well. The array of hickeys he could leave all over the boy.

“Bit less intense, Peter,” Verne muttered beneath his breath. “You look like you are ready to jump and devour him. Tune down the Big, Bad Wolf vibes, dude.”

Peter narrowed his eyes at his friend but he did try to breath deep and calm down a little. Verne bumped his shoulder against Peter’s. Damn, Peter really was lucky to have his pack. And no, he didn’t mean his family – he meant his pack. Yes, yes, by technicality, he was a pack beta and only one of his friends, Fiona, was a werewolf while all others were human. However. One day, when they were graduated, Peter was going to find a feral Alpha, steal himself an Alpha spark and become Alpha of his own pack. He was going to offer Verne, Berto, Anita, Susie, Chris and now also Stiles the bite. He would accept any no he got, because he knew that humans were just as valuable in a pack as any wolf, his mom and Aaron were proof of that, but he would still offer. Verne and Susie had already told him before they would accept the bite. Christopher insisted on staying human, but that was now. Maybe things would change in a few years and once Peter actually was an Alpha. And then there would be two packs in Beacon Hills.

“So you have been recruited into the forces of evil,” James commented with a fond smile.

He was looking at Stiles, who sat tense and a little wary at the kitchen table. Honestly, Peter was starting to think his mate was afraid of him, the boy’s heart-rate always sky-rocketed when Peter looked at him and he generally looked like startled prey when Peter and his friends talked to him.

Sighing, Peter turned to exchange a look with Susie, who just grinned and winked at him. Best girl on the planet. She really had managed to identify a shared interest and roped Stiles into spending all day in the same room as Peter, which would also give them plenty of time to get to know him better. Yes, Peter was, just like Susie, a social butterfly, as his mom liked to say, but he was a suave son of a bitch, while Susie was the lovable, excitable one nobody could say no to. They were on very different ends of the spectrum, which at times caused them to clash. Not this time though.

“I… guess so?” Stiles shrugged, shooting Peter another unsure look.

Seriously, Peter really started to think Stiles feared him. What was the boy’s problem? Okay, fine, Peter didn’t necessarily have a reputation for being kind and welcoming to others. Maybe even the opposite. But still, he would never harm his mate, or make him feel unsafe. Not that Stiles knew he was his mate. This whole situation would be so much easier if he was allowed to scent-mark and claim. Stiles would understand once the matebond fully snapped into place. Humans could feel that too, once it was sealed, just like they could feel pack-bonds. But right now, it was an unsealed matebond and only the wolf could feel it. Like an open wound Peter kept picking at.

“Brother! Coffee!” Laura yelled, zombie-walking into the room.

“It is literally half past nine in the morning,” James pointed out with a look. “Act human.”

“I had a night shift, fuck you,” Laura flipped him off and then stole the nearest cup of coffee.

The nearest cup of coffee belonged to Stiles, who know stared doe-eyed (those were definitely very quickly becoming Peter’s weakness) at Peter’s aunt. Great. Another family member to leave a horrible impression on Peter’s mate and make Stiles squirm. Peter blinked stunned as Stiles’ face brightened and he… went in for a hug with Laura?

“Huh?” Laura blinked and looked down. “Oh. Stiles. Hey, kiddo. What… are you doing here?”

She put the cup down to properly hug – and scent-mark, how dare she – Stiles. The boy was absolutely beaming at her, the happiest and most relaxed Peter had seen him at all since he’d first come face to face with him in the living room a week ago. What was going on here.

“I guess I’m here to play DnD with your nephews?” Stiles replied, sounding unsure.

“You are here to play DnD with us,” Peter corrected pointedly, giving his aunt a jealous look.

She was still hugging Stiles. Why did his aunt Laura have hugging-Stiles-privileges? Everyone told him he couldn’t hug his mate yet because they weren’t ‘at that stage yet’ since they barely knew each other and they were trying to not spook Stiles or chase him off.

“Oh, poor new victim,” Laura sighed with a playful smile, ruffling Stiles’ hair. “Though, on second thought, poor them. You’re gonna wipe the floor with them.”

“That’s…” Stiles stuttered out a laugh. “That’s not a thing in DnD.”

“I’m sure you’ll make it a thing, clever boy,” Laura grinned at him and then turned toward his nephews. “You watch out for this one, he’s wicked smart. He’s gonna outsmart you kids.”

“I would love to see that,” Anita declared, her chin raised at the challenge.

Oh no, she was going to make this even harder than usual, wasn’t she? Someone should have warned Peter about playing a strategic math-based game with an actual genius. Shaking his head, Peter returned his focus to his aunt and to Stiles, who still stood very close to her.

“How do you know each other?” Peter asked, trying not to sound jealous.

Considering the twin-elbows that met his ribs from either side – Chris on one and Aaron on the other – he wasn’t wholly successful. Stiles did that ducked head thing again and started looking like nervous prey again. How did Peter make him stop doing that? He wanted beaming smiles and hugs too! Grinding his teeth together, Peter breathed deep through his nose, trying to be ‘less intense’.

“Stiles’ dad is one of my deputies,” Laura explained, laying an arm around Stiles’ shoulders and giving him a gentle squeeze. “Noah Stilinski. He’s good police, great instincts and deductive skills. This kid is absolutely his dad’s son.”

Stiles visibly preened at that and his scent softened into delicious, sweet honey. Peter reached for Chris’ hand to keep himself from jumping the boy. Chris gave his hand a tight squeeze.

“It is too early for you lot to be so loud,” Dalia sighed as she entered the kitchen. “Ah. The children are taking over our basement again, I see. Hello, Stiles, it’s so good to see you, sweetie. Oh! Oh, I had a question for you about my garden, can I just borrow you for a moment…?”

She grabbed Stiles’ wrist and pulled him out the backdoor into her garden. When he’d been over last week, they had talked about the pie and the fact that all berries came from Dalia’s garden, which then brought the conversation to the garden and to the fact that Stiles apparently knew a lot about plants. His mother used to have a flower shop in town before her passing and he had ‘rabbit-holed’ (Peter wasn’t entirely sure what that meant yet) from flowers to all kinds of things growing in the garden. Peter glowered after his mother as she stole his mate.

“So Stiles is your second mate?” Laura asked, soft eyes on the window, watching Dalia and Stiles through it. “You gotta be… gentle and patient with him, Peter.”

Peter frowned at his aunt. “Why? I am already being patient.”

When Laura turned to look at him, she seemed very serious. “After his mom died, he practically lived at the station. His dad… didn’t handle the loss of his wife well. The whole station practically helped raise him after. Losing his mom, he… He got some serious abandonment issues. Used to steal our radios, always listening in on any call his dad is on, heart racing and panic growing. He’s afraid of losing his dad, or losing anyone really, that’s why he doesn’t really let others in. I used to try and set up play-dates for him and Aaron back then, but he always shook his head, said he didn’t need friends, because friends could leave him too.”

Oh. Peter blinked and stared out at Stiles. Was that why he seemed so nervous and weird about all of this? Because he didn’t let people close, so they couldn’t… leave him again?

“Thanks, aunt Laura,” Peter muttered softly.

Laura smiled at him and ran her fingers through his hair before grabbing a bagel. “On the upside: Once he does let you in, he’ll do anything for you. That’s the kind of person he is. And he can be… damn vicious about it. One time, his friend Heather got bullied and he locked the bully up in a holding cell. I still don’t know how he even got the key for the cell. The kid was nine and scared straight for life.”

Chuckling, Laura waved them all goodbye and then left for work. Vicious and loyal, huh? Peter liked the sound of that. He tilted his head and looked from Stiles over to Chris, who seemed as intrigued as Peter. He pulled his mate into a quick kiss.

“Come on, we got Endora to raid,” Peter announced. “Also, we gotta rescue Stiles from mom.”

“Yes,” Chris huffed out a laugh. “That is a very good plan.”

/break\

Stiles was tired. Really, truly so damn exhausted, actually. With a yawn did he slump down the tree trunk and then just tilt sideways, leaning against Chris’ side without even thinking about it. Chris looked up from the chess-board set out between him and Anita.

“Hey, Stiles,” Chris wrapped an arm around his waist. “You… okay?”

Well, clearly not, considering he was doing very highly inappropriate things with Chris Argent. Like pseudo-cuddling. Tensing, Stiles tried to retreat, but Chris kept his arm rather firmly around his waist, holding him in place. Okay, so over the past three weeks, his life seemed to have changed significantly. He’d been over at the Hales’ for two DnD sessions now – he was a cat-hybrid rogue who had joined the party just as they raided the castle of Endora, his trickster and thief nature helping them out and getting them out with the loot – and he was over at the Hale House like two to three times a week for his and Aaron’s history project, which was now nearly wrapped and would be presented next week. He helped Dalia with her garden, had actually cooked with James a few times, and Laura seemed to be more affectionate with him at the station too.

Stiles was slowly growing comfortable with the Hales and with Peter and Chris’ friends. It helped that they welcomed Bobby into the group too. Verne and Chris had convinced some of their team-mates to join them to form a lacrosse team, Stiles got roped into it too somehow. He had zero talent or coordination, but he had fun with it. He had a lot of fun lately, with them.

“Sorry,” Stiles mumbled, cheeks red. “Just… didn’t sleep well.”

“Something troubling you?” Anita asked concerned. “Checkmate, Christopher.”

“What?” Chris’ head whipped over to the board. “How did you…”

Stiles snickered a little at the look on Chris’ face. One would think he should know better. There was no besting Anita at chess. Smiling her pleased victory smile, Anita moved the board over toward Stiles and scooted after it, until the board was set between them.

“Nothing’s bothering me,” Stiles watched her set up a new game. “I mean, not more than usual. There’s a certain stress-level that’s like baseline. Comes free with the anxiety and the ADHD and the dad who’s a deputy, right. But it’s not that. I keep having the same weird dream.”

“Is it a fun dream?” Peter asked with a leer as he plopped down next to Stiles.

Once again, Stiles tried to get up, so the couple could sit next to each other, instead of having Stiles sit awkwardly between them. But Chris wouldn’t budge and the chess-board in front of him and the tree behind him didn’t exactly give him another way out. Fine, whatever. If Peter wanted to sit next to Chris, he could have gone around them and actually sat down next to Chris.

“It’s a weird dream,” Stiles corrected. “I keep dreaming about the forest. But it’s… quiet. Like, all quiet. No sound. It feels… dead. And then there is a wolf and it’s beautiful. Pitch-black and with red eyes, which is like a little creepy I mean I have never seen a wolf with red eyes before. I follow it to this huge, stunning tree. It’s just… It’s a massive, old tree and it feels… I don’t know? It feels powerful? I’m unsure how a tree can be powerful, but…”

Stiles shrugged helplessly and rubbed his eyes. “That’s usually when I wake up though.”

“That…” Peter was staring at him strangely. “That sounds weird.”

Stiles huffed and rolled his eyes. “Thank you for the incredibly valuable input, Peter.”

“Don’t blame him,” Anita smiled. “You know he is fairly useless.”

Peter growled at her and Stiles shot him a look. It was one of the weird things about the Hales that Stiles had been noticing more and more the longer he spent time with them. There was a lot of growling and it… didn’t always sound human. Sometimes, they’d do something casually that shouldn’t be casual. He was fairly sure he’d seen Laura lift up a whole dresser on her own because her keys had fallen under it. She’d laughed at him and told him that the kids might have played a little too much DnD the night before and that he should get more sleep. But it wasn’t the only instance of weirdness. One time, James had cut himself while they were cooking and Stiles had rushed to get the kitchen towel to stop the bleeding – but by the time he got back, there was no visible injury. James tried to convince him that nothing had happened, but later on, Stiles did spot droplets of blood on the floor. It was like the injury had just… healed. And then there was Dalia’s garden. Beyond normal cooking herbs, berries and vegetables, there were some seriously weird things growing in there. Stiles had googled them. Some where hallucinogens, others straight-up poisons. It nearly felt like a witch garden, but that was ridiculous… right?

/break\

Dalia smiled mischievously as she led Stiles into the forest. Peter had come home a few days ago, enthusiastically telling the family about Stiles’ recurring dream. He was convinced it was a sign of Stiles feeling the matebond between then, but Dalia thought it meant something different. Peter didn’t have red eyes, Peter wasn’t yet an Alpha. If the dream had been about Peter, the wolf would have had Peter’s beautiful golden eyes. No, Stiles had dreamed of an Alpha and a tree.

“Not that I don’t appreciate the scenery, Missu-” Stiles cut himself off when she shot him a pointed look. “Dalia, but… where exactly are we going?”

“There’s something I want to show you, Stiles,” Dalia smiled at him. “I think you will understand everything much better once we’re there. Patience, young one.”

They followed the bent of the river, taking their time on the way. Every now and again, Dalia would pause to pick a flower or an herb. The river was a gurgling, gentle companion on their way and the further they got, the more Dalia could see Stiles relaxing. When they reached the clearing of the Nemeton, Stiles stopped all on his own, like he knew this was their destination.

“That’s… but it’s…” Stiles trailed off, staring at the beautiful, massive tree. “How did you…”

“Peter told me you’ve been dreaming about it, sweetie,” Dalia offered him a kind smile. “I think it means you two are supposed to meet. This is our territory’s Nemeton.”

“Territory? Nemeton? Meet a tree?” Stiles looked at her like she lost her mind.

But he still went and approached the imposing tree. He raised a shaking hand and the moment he touched the rough bark… Dalia could feel that in her soul. She gasped surprised, a hand flying up to her chest. Her phone in her pocket started vibrating and she knew it was her husband, who had also felt it and would be demanding answers from her. He knew his wife was always scheming, knew when something magical went awry in their territory, his Emissary and mate was usually involved. She ignored the phone off and instead focused on the young Spark before her. His eyes were wide open and they glowed a bright, intense teal, the wind picking up around them.

“Holy shit, what was that?” Stiles gasped and stumbled back. “It’s like I could feel every blade of grass in… in all of Beacon Hills? And wolves? But there are no wolves in Beacon Hills!”

Dalia’s smile grew wider. “There are wolves in Beacon Hills and they’re dying to meet you.”

“No, seriously, what was that?” Stiles demanded.

“You’re a clever boy, I know you figured out that something is… strange about my family. That’s because they’re werewolves. And my husband is the Alpha, the leader, of our territory,” Dalia started to explain. “You… You’re magic. You’re what is called a Spark. A Spark is a person who gets magic from a sacred, powerful tree called the Nemeton. This is our Nemeton. You’ve been dreaming about it because the close proximity to the local pack has awakened the potential in you. The wolf you dream about is my husband, the Alpha. Both the Alpha and the Spark are… protectors, they work together to guard the Nemeton’s territory.”

“You have lost your damn mind,” Stiles stared at her baffled and then bolted away.

Dalia heaved a sigh and followed Stiles at a more moderate pace, safe in the knowledge that nothing in this forest would hurt its Spark. She fished her phone out and accepted the fifth attempt of her husband’s to call her. A pleasant smile stretched over her lips at his exasperated huff.

“What did you do, my flower?” Logan asked, sounding tired.

“I helped speed things along, love,” Dalia replied. “He would have found his way to the Nemeton eventually. But you know I share our son’s impatience.”

“...Did he take it well?” Logan asked, a little hopeful.

“Well, he accused me of losing my mind and then ran off,” Dalia supplied. “But he did touch the tree and I could see the magic embrace him. I could feel it. So could you, right?”

“Yes,” Logan sighed. “That’s what a Spark feels like? It’s… intense.”

Dalia hummed her agreement. The territory hadn’t had a Spark in a long time. Sparks were rare. This boy was a true blessing, not just for Peter but for them all.

/break\

“’Be patient, Peter’, ‘Wait and build trust first, Peter’, ‘Don’t rush him, Peter’,” Peter muttered beneath his breath, mocking his family. “But mother can just make him touch magic trees!”

“She wasn’t supposed to,” Logan growled next to his son. “She very explicitly wasn’t supposed to.”

Chris snorted and slipped a hand into Peter’s. “When does your wife ever do what she’s supposed to? ...Sir.”

Logan shot him a look but didn’t argue otherwise. After all, Logan and Chris were in the same boat there. Dalia and Peter were much alike in that respect and their mates suffered for it. Right now, the pack was out in the forest, tracking Stiles. James, Aaron and Fiona were headed a different way, Laura, Talia and Damon another. And oh, Talia had absolutely bitched about this before they split up, considering the stage of her pregnancy. However, considering Stiles’ current state of mind, potentially volatile magic and the fact that he was all alone in the forest? She had bitched, but she’d still come, concerned for the boy. All Hales had grown attached to Stiles in these past weeks.

“What if he’s not even in the forest anymore?” Peter asked agitated. “What if he left the preserve, what if he got hit by a car because he was so distracted and-”

“Stop picturing horror-scenarios, babe,” Chris sighed and pulled his mate closer. “Besides, I texted the group chat. Verne and Anita are headed for Bobby’s, Berto and Susie are checking his home.”

Peter relaxed a little at that, nodding his acceptance. Chris understood his wolf’s agitation and worry. He was pretty worried himself. At the end of the day, Stiles was human and the preserve was dangerous. Chris was a hunter, he’d seen what kind of nasties lived in this forest, had taken care of plenty of threats together with the pack.

“Stiles,” Chris called out. “Stiles, come on. We know you’re out here somewhere. Please. We’re worried about you. You’re not picking up your phone. If you don’t wanna talk in person, at least answer your phone so we can know you’re safe. Please.”

His phone buzzed with a text and he quickly got it out, with both Logan and Peter looking over his shoulder at it. I’m fine. Unlike your boyfriend who apparently howls at the moon once a month. Also his mom totally IS a witch. I knew it. Chris snorted softly, feeling fond and warm.

“That is honestly so offensive,” Peter muttered annoyed and raised his voice. “It’s not a once a month situation and I am in perfect control, I only howl at the moon when I want to.”

“Either this is some seriously elaborate prank your family is playing on me, or…”

They stilled and watched as Stiles stepped out of the tree-line. Stiles trailed off the moment he laid eyes on them. His mouth hung a little open and his eyes… Holy shit, his eyes were glowing. Similar to the wolves, but a whole different color. A bright blue-tinted green.

“You’re mine,” Stiles declared with unwavering certainty. “Wait, what.”

Peter grinned pleased and stepped up to Stiles. “Yes. Yes, we’re yours. It’s called True Mates. It’s… the werewolf equivalent of being soulmates. You’re our soulmate, mine and Christopher’s.”

Chris held his breath and waited. He knew how much Peter had been dying to say these words to Stiles, for longer than they’d known the boy. Stiles met them in the middle and rested a hand on Chris’ chest and one on Peter’s chest, like he was trying to figure something out.

“I can feel you, like, inside my… soul?” Stiles frowned. “Did the tree do that to me?”

“In a way, yes,” Logan smiled warmly at the boy. “When you touched the tree, it connected to the magic within you. My wife said she already explained things to you, but I assume that was… a bit much all at once. Why don’t you come back to the house with us? James will make tea and we’ll explain everything nice and slow again.”

Stiles frowned at Logan and then turned back to Peter and tilted his head. “You’re the wolf from my dream. You, bringing me into all of this, made me meet the tree.”

“No, Peter said the wolf in your dream had red eyes,” Logan flashed his eyes red. “Only Alphas have red eyes. Peter is what we call a beta, his eyes are golden.”

Peter flashed his eyes golden at Stiles and the boy jumped back a step, but didn’t drop his hands from them. He breathed deep and took a step forward again, regarding Peter curiously. One by one, Peter showed more. The fangs, the claws, the face. Stiles moved his hand from Peter’s chest up to cup his face, to trace his brow, no fear in his own eyes, only curiosity.

“No,” Stiles shook his head with absolute certainty. “Peter’s the wolf from my dream. His eyes aren’t right but that doesn’t matter. I know it, in my bones. Peter is my wolf.”

“Mh,” Logan raised his eyebrows surprised. “That is… interesting.”

Stiles then turned toward Chris. “Can you do the glowy-eye-thing too?”

“Not a wolf,” Chris smiled and shook his head. “I’m just human.”

“There is nothing ‘just’ about you, Christopher,” Peter chided him.

“Yeah, I’m with Peter on that one,” Stiles agreed, looking Chris up and down.

It was oddly flattering and Chris felt his cheeks grow a little warm. “How about we go back to the house? There’s whole search-parties looking for you right now.”

“Oh. Okay, yeah,” Stiles nodded and then slipped his hands down into Chris and Peter’s.

Chris and Peter shared a smile at that, just to receive a glare from Stiles. “I’m still mad at you guys for lying to me. You knew I’m your soulmate and you just didn’t tell me. And werewolves! Are you serious. Fucking werewolves.”

“Well, that part comes later, darling,” Peter whispered with dark eyes.

Chris elbowed Peter while Stiles blushed furiously. Logan heaved an exasperated sigh at them.

/break\

Werewolves, magic trees, soulmates, Druids and Sparks were a lot to take in. Thankfully, Dalia provided him with a whole stack of books to read up on each of those topics individually. Stiles didn’t leave his room all weekend, devouring them all, making notes and cross-references and constantly calling Peter with any question that came up. Whenever Peter couldn’t answer, he’d put Stiles on speaker with some member of the family who could provide an answer.

Sunday evening, he made his way to Chris’ apartment downtown and knocked on the door. He only then realized that maybe Chris wasn’t home. He spent a lot of time at the Hale House, after all. But moments later, a shirtless Chris opened the door and Stiles sighed in relief. He also paused to drag his eyes over Chris’ tattoos. Damn, he had lucked out in the soulmate department.

“Someone is enjoying the show,” Peter noted teasingly as he joined Chris at the door. “Hello, darling. It’s good to see you. Can I…?”

He trailed off and reached a hand out for Stiles. They hadn’t seen each other since that Thursday in the woods and then at the Hale House. Maybe Stiles had ducked and hidden on Friday because he’d been severely overwhelmed and didn’t know what to do with his two soulmates of whom one was a freaking werewolf. He’d had an indecisiveness triggered panic-attack when he’d seen them in the hall-way, had fled to the lockers, where Bobby had found him and talked him down from his panic-attack. What did one do with their soulmates, after all? He’d spent so much time feeling stupid for his downright obsessive crush on them and now it turned out that nah, that was actually his inherent magic enabling him to feel the open matebond and thus making him feel drawn to them.

“Yeah,” Stiles practically launched himself at them, wrapping his arms around them.

He may have hidden on Friday and may have spent the weekend obsessively reading, but he could feel the raw ache of the unsealed matebond, pulling him toward Chris and Peter. Missing them. They hugged him close and buried their faces in his neck from either side. Chris’ stubble made Stiles shudder a little and it also made him feel a bit weak in the knees.

“This shit is intense,” Stiles muttered, eyes closed tightly. “Is it always gonna be like that?”

“Only until the matebond is sealed,” Peter promised. “It’s raw and open right now, but once we seal the bond, it’ll settle. I missed you, sweetheart. When you kept dodging us on Friday, I thought…”

“Yeah, sorry,” Stiles sighed embarrassed. “I just… This is a lot, you know? I mean, shit, I’m not even human. It’s like my whole life got flipped over night. I was… overwhelmed.”

“We get that,” Chris reassured him, pressing a kiss to his jaw. “But we also want to be the people you come to when you feel that way, not the people you hide from.”

Stiles ducked his head and blushed a little at that. “I… I’d like that. But that’s… not something that’s just gonna happen over night. I need to… We need to… There needs to be a ‘we’.”

Because he didn’t just want it to be ChrisAndPeter and Stiles, because he didn’t want to be out of the loop anymore, because this was all just too much, because he didn’t know how he felt anymore.

“Yeah,” Chris agreed and smiled at him. “There needs to be a ‘we’. How about we start out simple? Let’s go on a date. Let me take you and Peter out on a date.”

Stiles liked the way Chris had phrased that. Let Chris take him and Peter out, not let them take him out. He gave a tentative nod and shot Peter a look. The wolf looked very pleased before he returned to nuzzling Stiles’ neck, adamant to leave as much of his scent on Stiles as possible.

“Can I… uh…” Stiles blushed embarrassed. “Have a kiss, maybe?”

There, he said it! Hah! And the next moment, he had Chris’ lips on his and oh yeah, that was good. They moved against his, soft and gentle and Stiles’ knees felt weak. He barely got to take a breath after the kiss ended before Peter captured his mouth in a kiss. The wolf was much more demanding than Chris, but Stiles found himself liking both equally.

“Okay,” Stiles nodded pleased, grinning a little and bouncing on the balls of his feet. “So… I’ll see you guys at school tomorrow? I gotta get home before dad.”

“Date, tomorrow after school,” Chris smiled at him. “I’m looking forward to it.”

“Wait,” Peter made Stiles pause and then disappeared into the apartment before he returned, carrying his Letterman jacket. “Here. I want you to wear that tomorrow.”

Stiles stared wide-eyed from the jacket to Peter and then to Chris, who just grinned. “He’s been trying to make me wear it for ages now. But I prefer my biker jacket, on account of the actual bike I drive. This thing isn’t very useful for that. You can wear it, if you like.”

Oh, Stiles liked very much. His own grin nearly split his face as he slipped the jacket on. And then he gave a startled yelp at the downright primal growl from Peter and the flash of golden eyes.

“Behave yourself, wolf,” Chris rolled his eyes and then pulled Stiles in for a quick peck. “Get home safe and text us when you do, okay?”

Stiles nodded and then boldly leaned in to also give Peter a quick goodbye kiss before he made a hasty retreat, heart hammering in his chest. He had really just done that. He had kissed the Golden Couple and they kissed him back and they wanted to go on a date with him, because they were his soulmates . Holy shit. His heart was still racing when he got home and collapsed onto his bed. When he got out his phone and worried over who to text first, he noticed that he’d been added to a new group chat, titles Boyfriends [sparkle-emoji, wolf-emoji, arrow-emoji]. Stiles did not hold back on the giggle as he rolled over his bed once, clutching his phone. He had boyfriends.

/omake\

Stiles sighed and poked his head out of the kitchen. “Get a move on, Lazy Wolf! Your niece and nephew are gonna be here a—any second. As the Alpha, you should be an example.”

Chris at the kitchen table snorted softly, while their children giggled and exchanged looks. With the fondest smile did Stiles turn toward the rest of his family. Chris was a bit prematurely gray – he liked to blame his mates, but Stiles loved taking the blame for that because his hunter was a hot-as-hell silver fox – and he was spotting a neatly-trimmed beard. Once Stiles was close enough, Chris wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him in for a brief kiss, which of course resulted in more giggling from the peanut gallery. After the kiss, Stiles went and gently patted their girls Allison and Malia on their heads and then leaned down to kiss the top of Isaac’s head. Though not biologically either of theirs, Isaac was as much their child. They’d adopted the boy recently, after getting him out of an abusive home, when Allison had alerted them to the boy’s home-situation.

“Your dad’s a slowpoke,” Stiles declared, earning himself a swat to the ass.

When he whirled around he came face to face with a glowering Peter. For a second, Peter flashed his eyes red, knowing how much that always got to Stiles. Grinning, Stiles pulled his wolf into a kiss, with Peter’s arms winding around his middle.

“Tell me again why we are babysitting both of them,” Peter requested. “At the same time.”

“Well, when Anita heard that we’re having Erica over, she smelt an opportunity for date-night with her husband so her and Verne volunteered us for babysitting,” Stiles grinned. “And you know I can never say no to Erica’s big eyes, so that’s how Berto and Susie got us on babysitting duty.”

As if on cue did the doorbell ring. Chris got up to open and moments later, a tiny blonde whirlwind attached herself to Stiles’ leg, huge, dark eyes staring up at him in excitement.

“Uncle Stiles! What are we gonna do today?” Erica asked.

Vernon Boyd Junior walked in at a slower pace and went to sit next to Isaac. Stiles bent down to pick up Erica, nuzzling the pup’s cheek and making her giggle. When Chris entered the kitchen again, both him and Peter stared at Stiles with so much warmth and fondness. Yeah, he knew they had a weakness for him with pups, that was why they had three of their own, after all. Though only Malia was an actual shifter, being Peter’s biological daughter. Stiles shot his mates a soft smile of his own as he launched into telling the five kids what was in store today.

~*~ The End ~*~