Werefox

Chapter Five

It was early in the morning, when the sun was barely rising, when Derek woke up. He didn't know why, he just felt a pain in his chest, his eyes opening in a bright red as a sharp stabbing feeling of worry and anxiety ran through his chest, making the alpha shiver, and not because of his lack of a shirt.

The cause of this sudden wake-up call was answered when Derek heard a sound from the upstairs, in his bedroom. He quickly got up, walking quickly to the spiral staircase and up to his room where the werefox was sleeping.

Derek's eyes laid on the boy only for a moment before he quickly ran forwards, his hands flying to the boy's shoulders as he tried to steady him. Stiles' face was contorted into pain, muttering something in his sleep, and he seemed to be shaking with the memory of something terrible.

"Stiles," Derek's soft voice said, still groggy from sleep. "Stiles, wake up." The boy jerked forwards, eye snapping open as he fell into Derek's arms, pulling away in confusion.

"You're fine." Derek said, sitting down on the edge of his bed. "It was just a dream, you're okay here." Stiles eyes were frantic, looking around the room as the werewolf reassured him, finally meeting the alpha's worried gaze, his fears almost immediately being assuaged by the man's reassuring gaze.

"Sorry," Stiles breathed out, looking down at his hands, the adrenaline from the fear slowly beginning to leave his body, being replaced with the pain of his slowly healing injuries. Derek shook his head, his hands still on Stiles' shoulders.

"It's no worry." Derek said, not realizing exactly what he was doing as he pulled the boy closer to him, wrapping him up in a reassuring hug.

Stiles was tense for a moment before falling into the hug, wrapping his arms around the buff man and pressing his face into the man's exposed collarbone, taking in a deep breath to calm himself with the scent of him.

Derek shifted more onto the bed after a few moments, figuring that the boy was already half asleep in his arms, sliding closer to the top of the bed with Stiles in his arms, reclining back as he heard the boy's heartbeat steady at a normal pace, asleep moments later in the alpha's arms, and the alpha himself fell asleep a few moments later.

Stiles woke up a few hours later, confused for a moment as to why his head was resting on Derek's chest before remembering the events that occurred in the middle of the night.

"Are you awake?" Derek asked, his chest vibrating next to Stiles ear. Stiles nodded, leaning back to look up at the alpha with a small, sleepy grin.

"Where's the rest of your pack?" Stiles asked, remembering that they had all gone home the day before.

"They're all your age, so they all live with their parents." Derek explained, his hand crawling up and down Stiles' arm making him shiver. "They have school today, I think."

"School." Stiles repeated. He hadn't gone to school in what seemed like forever. Because of the hunters, the foxes were constantly on the run and it seemed like they were in a different place every week, so Stiles never really had the chance to go to an actual high school. However, his mother was adamant on him starting a life after they escaped from the hunters, and as a retired college professor she taught the young boy anything from geometry to astronomy.

"You could go to school, after you heal." Derek suggested. "If you want." He added on, realizing that they weren't even sure if Stiles was going to stick around them after he was better. He was a fox after all, and although the wolf pack had no problem accepting a fox into their ranks, he wasn't sure if Stiles felt the same way about befriending a bunch of wolves.

"I haven't been to school in forever." Stiles admitted, sitting up next to Derek and running his hands through his hair that was resting gently on his forehead. "We moved around a lot."

Derek nodded, watching the other boy as he sighed, his eyes beginning to grow distant at the thought of his fallen pack. "Are you hungry?" This question distracted Stiles from the memories, making him grateful for the older man as he helped him down the stairs and onto the couch while he made the two breakfast.

A few hours later the pack began to filter in, school having been let out, the first to arrive being Scott and Allison, who had the last period of their days off. Scott was talking about lacrosse tryouts to the girl when his eyes landed on Stiles who was sitting next to Derek, his eyes lighting up with an idea.

"Stiles, you're going to enroll in school when you get better, right?" Scott asked the fox, sitting down on the other side of the couch as Allison took one of the chairs. Stiles nodded slowly. He had talked about it with Derek during the day, how it would be easier for him to adjust to the world if he went to the school most of the pack did, and it would also allow him protection from the hunters.

"You should totally try out for the lacrosse team!" Scott said, grinning. "Me, Liam, and Isaac do it. I'm sure we could get coach to let you try out."

"I've never played before." Stiles admitted. He knew the basic rules and what it was, and he was sure with his heightened senses of being a fox would help. He nodded along intently as Scott began to explain the game into more detail, the rest of the pack slowly joining them throughout the long explanation.

"He still needs to heal." Derek said as Scott finally finished. Stiles threw his head back gently onto Derek's shoulder, looking up at the alpha.

"Actually, I feel much better." He told Derek, whose arm was wrapped around Stiles' neck, draped across his chest. "I think it was just the foxglove that was stopping the healing."

"You still have a cough." Derek said, referencing to the sickness that made the younger boy sometimes double over as his chest heaved up and down erratically.

"I can go to school with a cough, can't i?" Stiles asked.

Derek just nodded, and he didn't seem all that pleased that Stiles said he would go to the school after his checkup at the animal clinic, muttering how it was too fast, but Stiles didn't notice because he was asking Liam a question about lacrosse.

The pack smiled fondly as time went on, each of them telling Stiles more about themselves and trying to make the boy laugh and fill the loft up with his pretty voice. There was something about him that made the pack happy, something that made their alpha happy; they could all see it in the way Stiles was leaning against Derek, the way Derek had his arm around the boy's lean shoulders and the way the older man would watch as Stiles talked about the most ridiculous things with a small smile on his face.

Maybe there was something about Stiles that was going to make them all a better pack.