Baseball Bats and Sour Wolves

Chapter 60

Derek feels lighter after talking with Erica and Boyd, but he knows he really needs to talk with Isaac. Maybe he should've brought Isaac into that discussion so he could hear the Alpha bit and then talk to him after about how he treated him.

Derek doesn't know what the right move is, but either way he'll talk to Isaac about both. Considering there's nothing more to talk to Erica and Boyd about unless they want to bring anything up, he can go to Isaac now.

"Was there anything you guys wanted to talk to me about?" Derek double checks, Erica and Boyd consider it for a minute before shaking their heads. "Alright, I'm gonna go talk to Isaac." Derek smiles as he bids his farewell.

Isaac is leaning against the wall having a conversation with Stiles about school and Derek feels a little bad about interrupting.

"Hey, Isaac would you mind if I talked to you for a minute?" Derek asks, Isaac shoots Stiles a panicked look and Derek feels even worse. "It's nothing bad, I just want to apologize." Derek trails off, scratching the back of his neck with a shrug.

"O-okay." Isaac nods and pushes off the wall.

They head over to the free couch where Erica and Boyd have just vacated, having gone to the kitchen looking for snacks. Derek knows they moved just so he could talk with Isaac and is grateful to them. Stiles watches them with a warm smiles and Derek can feel approval through their pack bond.

"What did you want to talk about?" Isaac questions, glancing at Derek before looking away and surveying the room.

"Well, I wanted to apologize to you, for being a shitty Alpha for one, I'm sure you overheard some of what I told Erica and Boyd. But I also wanted to apologize for kicking you out." Derek sighs, and dives into the Alpha conversation, trying to convey that it had nothing to do with Isaac and just that he was a shit Alpha with no real experience.

"I mean, I never really blamed you for the Alpha bit, I knew it must've been hard for you to take care of all three of us while trying to get used to the Alpha spark. When I got a handle on chemo signals I understood how frustrated and upset you were, I knew you were struggling and I never reached out to help you, none of us did. That's on us, so I don't really think it was all you, Stiles has kinda showed us that a real pack is really there for you, supports you, treats you like family. 

"And, Derek, we used you for your strength, didn't treat the pack bonds seriously enough. So, I'm sorry that we weren't there for you, that we left you alone with barely there pack bonds and that we were pretty shitty Betas too." Isaac states and Derek stares at him before smiling softly to himself.

"Issac, I never blamed you guys, I never explained what a real pack was like, how the pack bonds should feel. I was more worried about your transformations and going out of control, I should've trusted you guys more, and given you all the information before turning you. In fact, you used me for my strength, and I used you to gain a pack. I," Derek pauses with a sigh and a guilty expression.

"I probably manipulated you guys a little to, and that's not something an Alpha should ever do, even if it was before I turned you guys. Anyways, I never blamed you guys, just myself." Derek finishes.

"Yeah, but we never asked you how it was supposed to be, and even when you did tell us, we mostly ignored me. I'm just saying that you don't shoulder all the blame, so stop trying to." Isaac pouts at the end, and Derek has to turn his head away so he doesn't laugh at his expression. 

"Fair enough, now are we good on that?" Derek questions, looking up to see Isaac nod. "Alright, on to the next subject then." Derek continues and Isaac frowns.

"On the whole kicking me out thing?" Derek nods and Isaac sighs. "You know how grateful I am to you for housing me, I'm sure it wasn't easy to." Isaac states and it's Derek's turn to sigh.

"I shouldn't have kicked you out to begin with, or thrown that glass at you when I knew about your home situation. I was scared that something bad was going to happen to you, and I didn't think I would be able to protect you, this isn't an excuse, at least I'm not trying to make it one." Derek explains, glancing up to see Isaac watching him intently.

"I was scared I couldn't protect you, so I pushed you away instead. I was terrified the Alpha pack would somehow force me to kill one of you, and they almost did. Boyd almost died at my hands, if Stiles hadn't gotten there and thrown mistletoe at Kali, he would've died and I never would've forgiven myself. Isaac, I'm so sorry I kicked you out and threw a glass at you and I understand if it will take time to gain that trust back again." Derek continues and Isaac is still just watching him.

"I had a feeling that's why you did it, that doesn't mean it was okay though. And you're right it might take me awhile to get over it, especially because I told you that my Dad used to throw shit at me, and how you did it anyways, but Derek I'm not going to hold it against you forever and an apology goes a long way." Isaac smiles softly and Derek feels another weight life off his chest. 

"Well, I hope that you can forgive me sometime in the future, and we can start trying to build our relationship back up." Derek simply replies and Isaac smiles again before nodding and bounding back over to Stiles. 

Derek watches as Stiles smiles warmly at Isaac and messes up Isaac's hair playfully laughing at Isaac's pout. Derek smiles softly and looks around at his pack, they have a long way to go, but Derek thinks they will get there and once they do they will be a strong pack. Filled with so many different people and hopefully they'll grow closer to a family than a pack, be what a pack should be. 

Derek is hopeful anyways and he can't wait to see how lovely this pack will become.