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“Derek, you home? I seriously need some—um. Hi?” Stiles stopped short in the doorway, staring blankly at a tall, fiercely regal woman who looked to be about in her mid fifties, with short blond hair slicked back from her angular face. She stared back at him with calculating eyes the color of steel.
Before he could ask who she was or she could offer up the introduction herself, Derek was suddenly there beside Stiles. “It's always great to see you,” said Derek, smiling in such a sweet way that Stiles felt genuine fear that it might be a doppelganger, “but now's not the best time.” And then. Then he kissed Stiles. On the mouth.
What.
When Derek pulled away, he looked right into Stiles' eyes, and his expression was his own again, communicating a silent message: Play along.
Pouting, Stiles reached out to snag a finger through one of Derek's belt loops. “But I haven't gotten to see you in ages.”
Derek tried to bite back a laugh and allowed Stiles to reel him in closer. “You saw me yesterday.”
“Exactly.” Stiles grinned at Derek before leaning in to gently bump their foreheads together and give Derek Eskimo kisses. If Derek needed him to pretend to be his boyfriend, Stiles would be the best goddamn boyfriend ever. Hell, maybe it would serve as a bit of inspiration. Like, maybe Derek would be all, “Heeeey, Stiles is a really great kisser, and he's super cute. We should totally date for really reals.” Or something.
Behind Derek, the stern woman pointedly cleared her throat. “Right, sorry,” said Derek, pulling away from Stiles as if it pained him to do so. He turned enough to wave a hand between Stiles and the woman. “Stiles, this is Lillian Azzari, the alpha of the Manhattan pack. Lillian, this is Stiles, my mate.”
Hahaaaaa, what?
Lillian arched a brow, looking thoroughly unconvinced. “Well, your intended mate,” she corrected, voice just as cold as her eyes.
“Right,” Derek agreed, trying to remain amicable, which Stiles could understand because Ms. Azzari was definitely imposing as hell. “As I told you, we've been waiting until he finished college.”
“Which he has,” Lillian said, crossing her arms. “Or so I would assume, since I have betas who started when he did.”
Stiles felt himself getting more and more lost as this conversation continued, but he did his best to keep his heart rate and breathing steady, one hand maintaining constant contact with Derek. “Okay, so putting a pin in you knowing that little detail about me, you're kind of ignoring the fact that I still need to figure out what I'm doing, and where I'm going to end up living.” Stiles stared her down, not letting her see any sign of intimidation. “Plus I'm considering getting my masters, which would be another two years. More, if I'm working full time while attending class.”
As if in reward, Derek reached over and placed his hand soothingly at the small of Stiles' back. It felt nice there. As if that was a place it should linger often.
“Now,” Stiles continued, before Lillian could start up again, “I really hate to do this, but I gotta steal Derek away for a little bit.” He lifted his free hand up to pinch at the air in front of his squinting eyes. “Just for a tiiiiiiny bit, promise. I'll have him back before you know it.”
Then he looked to Derek for confirmation, and after a moment of looking adorably flustered, Derek nodded in agreement. “Right. I forgot that we needed to go do that.” Derek turned back to Lillian with an apologetic wince. “I'm really very sorry. Please, make yourself at home; we won't be gone long.”
Smiling despite looking the furthest thing from pleased, Lillian gave an agreeing dip of her head. “I'll be here when you get back.”
-----
“Okay, she shouldn't be able to hear us now,” said Derek, watching the forest blur by the Jeep's windows.
Just to be safe, Stiles went a little further before stopping at a scenic lookout. As soon as the car was in park, he was taking a deep breath and turning to Derek with wide eyes. “What the shit?”
Lifting his hands up, Derek said, “Sorry! I had no idea she was going to ever come here!”
“Who—what—how does she know about my schooling? And why are you calling me your mate? What the fuck—what even is that?”
“Something rare,” Derek said with a little wince, “and pretty much the only way I could get out of an agreement to marry one of her betas.”
That drew Stiles up short, and he blinked rapidly while trying to fully process that. “What?”
Huffing, Derek sank back into his seat and looked utterly defeated. “Back when Laura and I lived there, we made a deal with Lillian. It's the same deal she makes with any smaller packs that move into her territory, because her pack is old and massive, and she constantly needs to pawn betas off on others. She packages it like she's doing the smaller pack a favor, because it helps bolster their ranks. Both Laura and I were supposed to find someone to marry from her pack, in exchange for her pack's protection.”
Stiles held his palms up in confusion. “But you don't live there anymore. You don't need their protection. Hell, they haven't been protecting you for over seven years.”
“I know,” sighed Derek, “but a deal's a deal. At first I was able to hold her off because of everything going on when I came back here. Then there kept being a lot of dangerous things, and I explained to her that I just couldn't leave my family's territory without defending it. Then, we got everything under control and things were peaceful, so she grew impatient. She said she understood that I might not want to return to the city, so she'd send over potential partners for me to meet and get to know, see if I clicked with anyone.”
“Well that's nice of her to give you some options, at least,” snarked Stiles.
Derek breathed a rueful little laugh, but then his expression was shifting into resignation. “So I told her I wasn't able to uphold the deal, because I'd found my mate.”
“And you told her it was me?” Which was probably the most confusing part of this whole ordeal. “Why me?”
With a one shouldered shrug, Derek answered Stiles while not even looking at him. “Why not? You'd make a good mate.”
“What even is a mate, though? Besides super rare?” Stiles tried valiantly to keep his heart under control. Just because Derek thought he'd make a good mate for someone, it didn't mean he thought Stiles would be a good mate for him.
“It's like a soulmate?”
“Is that a question?”
Derek shrugged again, though he finally started looking at Stiles again. “It's not talked about a lot, because it rarely ever happens. But what's known is that the bonds of it are supposed to be irrevocable, and it's considered something close to sacred amongst werewolves. To try to get in between two mates is a pretty high offense with some hefty consequences.”
“Great.” Stiles gently banged his head back against the headrest. “So we're magically married or something?”
“Well, we aren't. Not yet.”
“Right. She'd said intended mate. So, what, is there like some sort of special ceremony?” He was already starting to plot out what they needed to do next. Stage this ceremony, let Lillian see how schmoopy doopy in wuv they were, then boom Derek would have his freedom. Easy.
“Not...exactly.”
Or Derek could ruin everything. “What? So, then, how do you seal the deal?”
God, Stiles would never get over how cute it was that Derek blushed all the way to the tips of his ears. “Consummation.”
“Right, so how do we—oh. Ooooooooooh.” Well, that explained the blush. “Wait! How long have you been telling her I'm your intended mate?”
Derek cleared his throat, but then mumbled, “Five years,” looking away again.
“Well no fucking wonder she looked like she didn't believe us! You can't possibly expect anyone to believe we've been in a relationship for that long and haven't boned!”
That jerked Derek's attention back to him, his eyes wide. “What?”
“Have you seen yourself? And if this mates thing means you're supposed to be crazy in love with me, I'd assume that also means you want all up on this. So who could possibly believe we've gone all that time without consummating?”
“You—you were in high school.”
“Five years ago I was eighteen. Try again.”
“Well, then you were in college.”
“So, you could have visited me on campus and fucked my brains out, and I could have returned the sentiment when I was home for holidays and summers.”
For a long moment, Derek just stared at Stiles, face completely blank. What Stiles wouldn't give for some sort of magical device to be able to peek into Derek's mind sometimes. Usually Stiles could read him like one of those squishy books toddlers gnaw on, but then there were always moments like this, where Derek successfully shuttered everything away.
“Yo, earth to Derek.” Stiles snapped his fingers in front of Derek's blankly-staring eyes, jolting him back into lucidity. “Have fun out in space, while leaving me here to deal with the crazy scary alpha at your house?”
“No. I. Right, so anyway, my excuse was that I wanted to wait until you were ready to settle down.”
“Sweet of you. But what if I had found someone at college and came back engaged?”
That, wow. That made Derek's entire expression turn into a mix of having eaten something rotten and watching a puppy get kicked. “I hadn't thought of that.”
Suddenly it all made sense. “Oh, so you figured I was a safe bet for a fake mate, because you figured there wasn't a risk of anyone else wanting me enough to snatch me up.”
“What?” Derek looked offended, and then angry. “Of course not!”
Not expecting such a forceful objection, Stiles felt confused and flushed. “Right, but you just can't imagine me coming home engaged to someone.”
“No, that's not—it's just not something I wanted to think about. You and...people.”
“Why, because it would be gross?”
“Yes, but not in the way you're thinking.” Derek made an aggravated sound and pulled a little at his hair. “Look, can we get back to the topic at hand?”
“The topic being that we somehow need to convince this alpha lady that I'm your mate, when you're grossed out by the thought of me.”
“With others!”
“Other what?”
“Other people!”
“That doesn't even make sense. People other than who?”
Derek opened his mouth to answer, then snapped it shut and glared at Stiles. “Don't be a dick.”
“What! What did I do?” The hell? It wasn't like Stiles was the one dropping surprise kisses on Derek and telling lies to people about being destined to be with Derek for all time or whatever.
“You made it very clear you aren't interested in anything with me, and I've done my best to respect that, so it's dick to rub it in my—”
“Whoa, whoa, stop. Rewind. What the actual fuck are you talking about?”
This time when Derek glared, Stiles noticed the hurt it was masking, the way his jaw clenched and released a few times as he tried to regain his composure before speaking. “It was years ago,” said Derek, his voice quiet, as devoid of emotion as he could manage. Hearing that voice physically hurt Stiles to his core. “It doesn't matter.”
“Like hell it doesn't! Are you trying to tell me you attempted to initiate—something—between us, and I supposedly rebuffed you?”
Derek's stoic mask flickered away for a second. “Are you saying you don't remember?”
“No! Of course not! I think I'd remember if the guy I've had a thing for since I was sixteen tried to hit on me!”
Oops.
They stared at each other from across the center console, faces mirrored in shock, both barely daring to breathe. Eventually, Derek swallowed and said hesitantly, “You. You're interested in me?”
“That's a massive, and I mean monumental understatement.” Stiles could feel his face burning in embarrassment, but at the same time his heart was racing in something like hope.
“Why didn't you ever...” Derek looked lost, confused, some of the hurt still lingering along the edges. Unable to resist, Stiles reached out and cupped a shaking hand to his cheek.
“My self-esteem has always been shit, dude. You can't honestly expect me to be the one to put myself out there like that. Especially not when it's you.” Stiles rubbed his thumb along Derek's skin, feeling the rough scrape of his stubble. “And I'm sorry if you tried and thought I turned you down. I just must not have realized what was happening, or didn't think you were serious, because why would you ever want me?”
Eyes flicking back and forth while Derek studied Stiles' face, he whispered, “Because you're the one I trust most, out of everyone in the world.” He paused, and Stiles hoped Derek wasn't expecting him to say something, because Stiles' throat was closed up in amazed shock. “You're brave,” Derek continued. “You're somehow even more stupidly brave than I am. You're tenacious, and won't stop until the day is won and everyone's safe. No one else gets my humor like you do, and our banter always makes me happy, even when you're being annoying.”
“Oh,” squeaked Stiles.
“And,” Derek added, leaning closer over the console, “you're gorgeous.”
Breathing. What was breathing? “Oh.”
Kisses didn't help with breathing, but Stiles sure as shit was not going to complain when he felt Derek's lips press against his. Breathing was overrated, anyway. Stiles was definitely down for trading breaths for more kisses. And touches. He rather liked how Derek's hands began to run along his body. Liked it so much, in fact, that he helped Derek have better access by crawling over the console in order to straddle Derek's lap.
Yeah, that was much better. Excellent idea. Perfect.
But then Derek's hands stopped their caressing and were gripping Stiles' hips to stop him from rocking and hold him a safe distance away from his crotch. “Wait,” gasped Derek, though it looked like he hated himself for saying it. “We can't.”
“Can't what, make-out?”
“I doubt it would actually end there.”
Stiles made a frustrated whine and tried to tug free of Derek's hands. “How is that a bad thing?”
“Because,” Derek closed his eyes, took a breath, and said, “I didn't really lie to Lillian.”
“Yeah you did, you said we were together when we aren't. Weren't. We are now, though.” Stiles bit his lip. “Right?”
Eyes flying open, Derek surged up to kiss Stiles, but it was too short and Stiles tried to chase after his lips for more. “We are. At least, I'd like to be.”
“Yes,” agreed Stiles. “Yes, me too. So now that that's settled, can we get back to the kissing and touching and so on?”
“No.”
Stiles felt like crying. “Why nooooooot?”
“Because. I didn't. Lie. To. Lillian.”
“We just went over this. You did, you said—” but then the implication slammed into Stiles, and his body went slack, sitting heavily on Derek's thighs. “Oh.”
“Yes. Oh.” Derek stared up at him, eyes so full of worry. “I can't ask you to tie yourself down so permanently immediately after us getting together.”
“How do you know I'm your mate? If it's some super rare thing?”
“I just,” said Derek, unconsciously rubbing circles on Stiles' hips with his thumbs. “I just...do. It's something from deep inside. I think it might have started when we first met, and just got progressively stronger as time went on, until I couldn't ignore it anymore. It's like a pull, drawing me to you.”
For a moment it was as if Stiles' entire world had shifted, but then he stopped to really think about it, and everything actually just seemed to have clicked into place. “You know,” he said, drawing out the words, eyes glinting, “I never really bought into social constructs like virginity, and so never really saw sex as being this big, life-altering event. And when it comes to something like this, cementing some sort of bond? I honestly don't think sex is really what does it. I think a bond like that is forged in complete trust and devotion, when two people would do anything for each other and can't imagine being with anyone else. So if that's the case...” His fingers played with Derek's hair, and he was torn between grinning and the desire to lean in and kiss Derek. “I'd say that bond's already set.”
Stiles could feel Derek go absolutely still beneath him, watched the breath stop in his throat. “Don't...this isn't something to joke about.”
Face going serious, Stiles locked eyes with Derek. “I'm not joking.”
Slowly Derek started to breathe again, and he looked up at Stiles with a raw expression full of hope and fear. “You need to be sure.”
Snorting, Stiles cocked his head and offered Derek a conspiratorial grin. “Tell ya a secret, big guy: you've been it for me for a long time. There's a reason I'm chronically single; no one else can come close to—umf!” Yeah, kissing was the best. Stiles hated himself, but he was the one to put an end to the kissing this time. “But I do agree, we can't do this here.”
Derek frowned, his hands sliding from Stiles' hips up his torso and back down. “What?”
With a wave of a hand between them, Stiles elaborated, “Sex. Now. Here.”
“What, do you want candles and rose petals? I thought you didn't buy into conventions, you said.”
“And I don't. But my leg is cramping.” Cringing, Stiles wiggled a little as he tried to get his leg in a better position. It only made it worse.
That got Derek laughing, and he let Stiles go so he could climb back over to his own seat. “So, home?” Derek asked, eyes twinkling. But then his happy expression was wilting. “What do we do about Lillian?”
Stiles popped his knuckles and wiggled his fingers before wrapping them around the wheel. “You trust me?”
“I think we already established that.”
“Then don't worry.” Winking, Stiles started up the Jeep.
-----
Lillian was on the couch, tapping away at her phone when they arrived. She looked up at them, seeming unimpressed. “Finished with whatever you needed him for?” she asked Stiles.
A smirk tugged at one side of his mouth. “I'll never be finished with him.”
“Right.” Lillian clicked her phone into sleep mode and rose from the couch with that effortless grace all werewolves seemed to possess. “Then I hope you don't mind if I speak with Derek alone.”
“I do, actually,” said Stiles, holding his clenched fist in front of his mouth in a “oo, that's too bad” gesture. “See, he's filled me in on the little deal he and Laura had made with you, and so I get why you're probably here. But, the thing is, we're mates. And, far as I can tell, that's a sort of sacred, permanent thing.”
“Intended mates,” she tried to correct again.
“Nah, I don't really think there's as much of a differentiation as you're trying to make of it. If mates are really like soulmates, something rare and magical and all that, then there is no 'intended,' you just are.”
Her right eye twitched, but it was the only muscle on her face that moved. Even when she next spoke, her lips barely parted. “You have not consummated the bond.”
“Don't see how that changes the fact we're cosmically destined and also willingly choosing to be together.”
When he saw that his words weren't serving to placate or convince her, Stiles sighed and tried a different tactic. “Look, I get that you want to marry some of your massive pack off. So, how about this? You send some of them out here, maybe one at a time or in a little group, whichever you feel would be best, and they get to meet the rest of our pack. We've got several members who are single. Not promising anything.” Stiles raised his hands up, palms out. “Just proposing we give everyone a chance to get to know each other, see what—if anything—happens.”
Lillian seemed to consider that for a moment, but Stiles could tell she was still going to be a little stubborn. “The deal was with—”
“I realize that,” Stiles dared to interrupt, his face going hard. “But less than six years of protection is hardly worth breaking a mate bond and signing away the rest of Derek's life to someone he doesn't want.” He felt Derek step closer, his hand once again finding the small of Stiles' back.
The silence as Lillian mulled everything over was thick with tension. Finally she gave a slight nod, and Stiles' muscles all seemed to relax at once. “Derek, email me as much information about your available betas as possible, and I will send over those whom I think would be most compatible.”
“Alright,” agreed Derek. “But, as Stiles said, no promises.”
She clenched her jaw, but then nodded again. “That's fine. Thank you for your...hospitality, but I must return to my pack.” When she was at the door she paused and looked back at them over her shoulder. “Your mate is as fierce as a wolf. I had thought you were exaggerating in some of your emails, but if anything, they didn't do him justice.” Then she was gone.
“Wait, is she...walking back to the airport?” Stiles hadn't seen any strange new cars outside.
Derek shrugged. “She likes running when she can. The city isn't always the best place to let loose.”
“Wow, I...” Eyebrows raised, Stiles shook his head. “Wow.”
“So,” Derek purred. He slipped his hand down to dip into Stiles' back pocket, and he turned and pulled at him until they were chest-to-chest. “How's your leg?”
Stiles grinned.