Sterek One-Shots:Book Two (BoyxBoy)

The Sacrificial Hart

This is a bit different. Enjoy.

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Stiles walks along the end of the unreachable forest, they're not allowed to go into the forest, and he sighs. Everyone has always been taught that monsters live in the forest, and they're easily angered. So much so that every ten years a sacrifice is offered to appease the monster with in. Stiles wonders what it is, if they're really dangerous, and he wonders who the sacrifice is going to be this time.

Stiles is a curious young man, he's just turned eighteen, and he's never been in trouble. Maybe because his father is on the council or maybe because he just keeps to himself. He has some friends, Scott McCall and Jackson Whittemore trust him enough with their secrets, and he really wonders what would happen if he walked into the forest. Would someone stop him or would nothing happen? Stiles looks behind himself to see that no one is around, most people don't venture this close, and he takes a step forward on the other side.

Nothing happens. Nothing attacks him or tries to eat him. No one jumps from behind the shadows to tell him to get back where it's safe. There's a thin line of ash enclosing the forest, and Stiles makes sure not to break it. He knows that that is what keeps the beasts away, along with the sacrifices, so he's careful around it.

The forest is nice, Stiles thinks. The birds chirp and the trees provide shade from the harsh sun overhead. The air is chillier here, Stiles notices, and he pulls his cloak closer to himself. He pulls cloak around himself tighter, it's red since the elders believe the color scares away the beast, and he walks until he sees an apple tree. Stiles loves apples, they don't have them all the time in the market, and he reaches up for one. "You shouldn't take things that don't belong to you." Someone says, and Stiles makes a soft 'oh' noise of surprise before he drops his hand.

Stiles turns his head to look at who said that, and it's an interesting looking man. He cannot be a man, maybe part man, and Stiles looks at him curiously. He's taller than Stiles with black hair, and his face isn't human. It's morphed so that he has scruffy sideburns, along with pointy ears, and sharp looking teeth. His eyes are red like blood, and deep inside Stiles he knows that he should be afraid but he isn't. "I'm sorry. Is this your tree?" Stiles asks, softly. The man looks at Stiles like he doesn't know what to make of him, but he nods his head. "May I have one then?" Stiles asks, looking hopefully at the bright green apple that hanging just in his reach.

The man walks around as if to take in Stiles, and Stiles watches him curiously. "Yes, but it will cost you." He tells him, and Stiles looks at him before blushing. He was just out for a walk, he didn't think to bring money with him.

"I'm sorry. I don't have any money." Stiles tells him, and the man grins wolfish at him.

"A kiss then." He offers, and Stiles blushes again before reaching up to pluck the apple from the tree. He leans over to press his lips against the man's cheek, who seems to be holding his breath, and he only lingers for a second before pulling away.

"Thank you for the apple!" Stiles calls, and he's rushing towards his home with his prize in his hands.

****

Stiles thinks about the man the entire walk home, and eats the apple slowly. It's the best thing he's ever tasted, and he smiles with every bite. The man is odd, maybe even a little bit brutish and obviously daring since he lived in the unreachable forest with the monsters. The sun is going down so Stiles hurries his steps, there's a curfew for non-elders as well as children but Stiles isn't a child anyone, and when he gets home he's surprised to see that his father is already home from work. Stiles throws away the apple core, not wanting his father to ask where he got it since he thinks he wants to keep the man to himself. Plus, going into the forest is a crime so being quiet about this is the smart thing to do. "Father." Stiles says in greeting, and his father smiles at him.