This story was originally published on AO3 on 2023-02-14
It's four AM when Peter feels something in his chest shift. At first he's not sure what it is, but then the feeling intensifies and he recognizes it—a pack bond. It's reaching out to him, trying to solidify, but he's not about to accept it when he doesn't know where the hell it's coming from.
He's debating whether to call his nephew when his phone rings. Derek's name is lit on his screen and he answers faster than he usually would.
"Yes?"
"Peter. Is something… Do you feel…?"
"Please use a complete sentence," Peter says without thought. He's so used to antagonizing Derek that it comes naturally.
Derek's low growl of frustration is clearly audible across the phone line. "Something feels weird but I don't know what it is."
"So you call me?" Peter asks. "Do you think I have something to do with your weird feeling?"
"No." Derek huffs. "Never mind. This was a waste of time and breath."
"Don't hang up yet," Peter says. "Is it in your chest? Something like a pack bond trying to solidify?"
"You feel it too?"
"Obviously," Peter drawls.
"The bond with Scott is gone. Like it never existed," Derek says.
Peter frowns to himself. He never had such a bond, and never wanted one, either. But it's another piece of the puzzle.
And then his phone beeps and he looks to see who is calling now. Oh, Scott McCall. How wonderful.
"I'll meet you at your place," Peter tells Derek. "Give me an hour or so."
"But—"
Peter ends the call with Derek and answers Scott's. His greeting is much less friendly this time. "What?"
"What did you do?" Scott growls.
"I'm sure I don't know what you mean."
"You took it, I know you did!"
"What did I supposedly take?" Peter asks. "I like to at least know what I'm being accused of."
Scott growls. "You know what I'm talking about."
"I suggest we meet at Derek's loft. Say, in an hour?"
Scott growls again and hangs up. Peter shrugs to himself.
The mystery is growing, and Peter loves mysteries. Well. He loves solving them and being the smartest person in the room at any given time, anyway.
He arrives at the loft early and gets a surprise. Stiles's Jeep is there, and the boy himself is sitting behind the wheel, talking to himself.
Peter only hears a snatch of 'conversation' before Stiles notices he's there, but the words don't make sense to him.
Peter raises his eyebrows. "Are you coming in?"
Instead of some sarcastic retort, Stiles just nods and gets out of the Jeep. He eyes Peter for a moment and then he finally says, "It's gonna be a long day." With that cryptic remark, Stiles turns away and moves toward the building.
Peter falls into step behind him and a little to the side. He doesn't even realize he's put himself in that familiar, defensive position until they get into the elevator. Something isn't adding up. Or it is, but he's finding it hard to rely on his intuition. It can't be what he thinks. Can it?
"Scott seems to think the situation's my fault."
"Is he coming?" Stiles asks, stiffening head to toe. He seems… defensive? And his scent is such a complicated mix of different chemosignals that Peter can't parse what he's feeling.
"I told him he could meet us here, right after he accused me of stealing something. Know anything about that?" Peter asks mildly.
Stiles finally looks at him head-on, and having the boy's attention makes Peter's wolf preen. "I might."
Peter raises an eyebrow but all he gets is a mysterious smile before Stiles turns to greet Derek.
"Stiles?" Derek asks, sounding bewildered. "Why are you here? Do you… Did Scott call you?"
"I haven't heard anything from Scott in a week," Stiles says with a shrug. "Last time we saw each other, we had a fight."
"Trouble in paradise, darling?" Peter asks him, and he wouldn't admit it but he wants so much for Stiles' attention to be back on him again.
Stiles snorts. "Our friendship hasn't been so much paradise lately as maybe limbo. And now it's gone to hell…"
"I didn't know you were religious," Peter says.
"I'm not. But I know plenty about doctrines on the afterlife," Stiles says. For a moment, grief enters his eyes and it's a palpable, familiar look, one Peter has seen in the mirror quite often. "I decided to research it after Mom died."
"Did it help?" Peter asks quietly. He's surprised that Stiles is being so open about such a personal matter.
"Yes and no. It gave me something to focus on when I was dealing with losing her. I was eleven and my whole life was turned upside down. Reading old arguments by Martin Luther or Maimonides helped me keep my mind off it when it got too hard."
"Did you come to any conclusions?"
"Yeah. That it didn't really matter all that much to me where she went once she died. Mom was finally out of pain, and that was what was most important. The rest… I guess I'll find out when I die."
Derek clears his throat and says, "Do you want something to drink?"
Stiles smiles. "Coffee?"
Derek nods and doesn't complain, then moves to the kitchen.
Peter is still thinking about a tiny, eleven-year-old Stiles searching out the answers to millennia-old questions about the afterlife as a strategy for coping with death. It was, he realizes, much healthier than descending into madness and rage.
Stiles motions to the couch and Peter sits without being asked aloud. Stiles sits beside him. His presence is soothing, though when Stiles's arm brushes against Peter's, the shock of touch makes Peter want to get even closer.
"I think I've got it figured out," Peter says, frowning. "Not the why or how, but the what."
"And?" Stiles sounds nervous.
"I always knew you were special."
"You don't mind?"
"Don't forget I've gotten to know you quite well over the years," Peter says. He gives in to his wolf and leans more into Stiles's space.
"And? What does that mean?" Stiles asks.
But before Peter can answer, the elevator shrieks and thumps to their floor. Scott storms into the loft, his face a thundercloud. He zeroes in on Peter and growls.
"Give it back," Scott demands. His fangs and claws are out like he's a newly-bitten beta with no control whatsoever. Adding to the comparison is the color of his eyes—yellow, not alpha red. Not anymore.
Peter is giddy. Figuring it out is one thing, but seeing it is something else entirely.
"Oh, it didn't go to me," he says lightly. "Been there, done that." He flashes his blue eyes for good measure.
"I know it's your fault!" Scott yells. "Where is it?"
Stiles clears his throat. "What happened right before you lost your alpha spark, Scott?"
And even though Stiles had been seated right beside Peter, it seems Scott didn't even register his presence until now.
"What do you have to do with it?" Scott asks. "Why are you here?"
"Scott," Stiles says, low but clear and demanding. "Tell me what you did."
The fangs and claws recede, but Scott's eyes continue to glow a sickly yellow. "I was getting ready for bed."
"Okay, and?"
"What does it matter?"
"Tell. Me."
"You know that job I got offered?" Scott asks. "I sent my reply. Accepted it. Sent the email and then… this."
Pieces are falling into their places like in an old game of Tetris. Stacking up. And Peter is winning.
"The animal rescue coordinator placement?" Stiles asks. "Where was that again?"
"Upstate New York," Scott says.
Stiles smells like anger now. "So… the ranking alpha of Beacon Hills, the true alpha 'savior' of the territory, is just going to leave?"
Scott frowns. "It's a one-in-a-million chance. It's my dream."
"And what did you think would happen to the pack?" Peter asks mildly. "The territory? The nemeton?"
Scott shakes his head. "I don't get it."
"Obviously you never did," Stiles says. He's angry, now, and his condemnation is burning in his words as well as his eyes. His red eyes.
Scott stares. "When did you get bit? You… you're an alpha now?"
"Still human," Stiles answers. "Your alpha spark must have been really fucking mad to come to me."
"Wrong," Peter says.
"What?" Stiles asks.
"The alpha spark went to the person best suited to take up the mantle. It chose you, Stiles. Not because of convenience or anger, but because you know how to put others above your own selfish wants. Because you have always worked to protect us."
Stiles and Scott both blink, lacking understanding. But Peter sees it clearly.
Derek comes in and hands Stiles a cup of coffee. It's obvious he's heard everything. He says, "Who else would the alpha spark go to? Peter? Me?"
"I don't get it," Scott says. "And I want it back. What good is the alpha spark with Stiles? He's human."
"Scott, kindly shut up," Peter says mildly.
"I'm going to Deaton. There's got to be a way to reverse this. I'm the alpha. I—"
"You were going to leave your territory without its protector!" Stiles says, his anger at Scott finally coming to the fore. "You don't deserve to be alpha!"
"You don't know anything about it," Scott growls, and stomps out of the loft in a huff.
"Some wolves act like immature pups," Peter says, shaking his head.
"What are you going to do now?" Derek asks Stiles.
"I don't know?"
Peter and Derek look at each other, and for the first time in years can reach an agreement without trading angry words or blows. Peter turns back to Stiles and asks, "Will you accept us as your betas?"
"I'd be stupid not to," Stiles says, still looking stunned. "But why would you even… I mean, I'm still me."
"Would you ever leave us if you had a choice?" Peter asks.
Stiles rolls his eyes. "No."
Derek smiles. "You've been the alpha for a matter of hours and yet you're already concerned for the territory and the pack."
"And all Scott cared about was chasing his dream," Stiles says, scowling at the floor. "I can't believe him."
"You've always understood us more than Scott," Derek says with a shrug.
"And despite being a 'True Alpha', Scott never connected to his pack or territory. Not the way you will." Peter holds out a hand.
Stiles takes it without hesitation, something Peter can't help but be thrilled about.
"How do I do I accept you as my betas?" Stiles asks without looking away from their joined hands.
"It's more a matter of us accepting you as our alpha," Derek says.
"So you have the power here?" Stiles asks with another frown.
"We consent to give the power over to you," Peter says. Analogies rush into his mind, but he doesn't think Stiles is ready for all the details of the 'willing submission' talk just yet.
Derek is smirking like he knows just where Peter's mind is at. Smartass pup.
But then he closes his eyes, and Peter follows suit. Now that he knows what the waiting bond is, and who it belongs to, it's not hard to accept. Not at all.
When the pack bonds reform stronger and warmer than ever before, when Stiles inhales sharply and they all feel the connection at once—it's like finally coming home after long years away.
To Derek, the alpha/beta bond is not as monumental. He accepted Laura, and then later Scott, at least tentatively. He hasn't gone ten years without an alpha the way Peter has. Maybe he understands that, and maybe that's why he withdraws into his bedroom after the bonds are solidified.
Maybe he saw the tears in Peter's eyes, or felt the pure relief and joy through their (much stronger, now) pack bond. Whatever the reason, he gives Peter the privacy he needs… or rather, the privacy he craves to have with Stiles.
"I can feel you," Stiles says, almost in a whisper. "I didn't realize it would be…. like this."
Panic tightens Peter's throat and he looks at Stiles with wide eyes. "You don't want—"
"Hush, wolf," Stiles tells him, and wraps his arms around him. "Of course I still want it."
The wild realization that he hasn't been hugged in a decade seizes Peter, but then he pushes the thought away and reciprocates. He has an alpha. He has Stiles. And maybe he still wants more because he's a selfish, greedy man, but for now it's perfectly all right.
"Yours is so strong," Stiles whispers. "I feel Derek, too, but you're just so bright in my mind."
"I've lost too much in my life not to treasure what I have now," Peter tries to explain. Even though he speaks softly, the words ring loud and true in his chest.
"Just something else we have in common," Stiles answers.
Later, Peter will ask Stiles if he wants to catch dinner together, or maybe a movie or whatever constitutes a date these days. And Stiles will either accept or turn Peter down, and set their future in motion. If he accepts, Peter plans to do everything in his power to make sure Stiles has no regrets. And if he doesn't at first, well. Peter can play the long game. And now that he has a decent alpha again, he can think positively about the future.