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The rain fell gently on the canvas of the tent, creating a relaxing ambiance that Derek enjoyed more than he’d expected. It had been too many years since he’d filled a backpack, grabbed a tent, and went for a hike in the woods. He had no set plans for his route or his return beyond the date he absolutely had to be back. He’d needed the escape from his life, feeling like everything had gotten to be too much with his sister’s wedding coming up the following weekend.
He was happy for Cora; she deserved all the happiness in the world, and Lydia was a great girl, but seeing his younger sister get married reminded him of his own lack of love life. Of course, it wasn’t his fault that he had trust issues, or maybe it was considering his track record in choosing relationships with less than trustworthy women. Sighing, he pulled the book he’d brought with him out of his duffle and laid back against his pillows, thankful again for his werewolf vision negating the need for a light in the tent.
He’d just gotten to the scene where Thomas asks Chuck about becoming a runner when he heard a strange sound outside the tent. Pausing, he set the book in his lap and looked toward where he heard the sound. The rain had tapered off while he’d been reading, and Derek heard rustling and a low whimper.
Setting down his book, he unzipped the tent and ducked his head out in time to see a large owl trying to get something underneath a fallen tree. Derek shouted, but the owl ignored him, so he let out a low growl that startled the owl. It whirled on him and started to fly at him but darted away when Derek let his eyes glow.
Waiting until he could no longer hear the flap of wings, Derek turned his attention to the tree. He heard another whimper and smelled blood in the air. Approaching slowly, not wanting to scare an obviously injured animal of some sort. Peeking over the tree, he spotted a ball of matted red fur. Tsking softly, Derek approached slowly. The animal lifted its head, revealing large ears and a twitching nose.
“Hey,” Derek whispered, kneeling next to the tree and stretching out a hand. He cursed when the fox nipped at the tip of his fingers. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he said, reining in the desire to flash his eyes at the animal and risk scaring it even more.
He noticed the fox was trembling; frowning, Derek stood and returned to the tent, pulling out one of the blankets and carrying it towards the fox. Setting it on the tree, he stepped back to give the animal space. He settled cross-legged in front of the tent, watching the blanket.
After a moment, the tips of the fox’s ears could be seen over the top of the tree, and the blanket started moving. Derek expected the blanket to disappear, but instead, the fox appeared around the tree, dragging it in its teeth. It froze when it spotted Derek, the blanket falling from its mouth.
“Hi,” Derek said. The fox was still trembling. “You’re cold.” He moved slowly closer, reaching for the blanket. The fox watched his hand but didn’t move to nip at him again. He curled the blanket gently over the fox. “Snuggle up while I see if you’re hurt.”
The fox burrowed deeper into the blanket when Derek tried to reach out to find the source of the blood in his fur. “Alright,” Derek said, “your injury doesn’t seem to be bothering you too much, and you have to sleep sometime.” The fox’s head popped out of the blanket, eyes narrowed in Derek’s direction. Barking out a laugh, Derek found himself entertained by the personality the animal displayed.
Derek’s stomach grumbled, and he had planned to hunt and kill a rabbit but didn’t want to shift and scare the fox, so he dug into the cooler he’d brought with him and pulled out a container of mixed fruit. “Hungry?” he asked when the fox perked up, nose twitching. He picked out a couple of large strawberries and set them down on the container lid, sliding it closer to the fox.
He nibbled on a couple of blueberries, watching the fox stretch out a paw and draw the lid closer, sniffing at the berries before taking a bite. Derek smiled when the animal made a pleased sound and continued to eat. Derek got so lost watching him that he jumped a bit when thunder rumbled through the sky. A moment later, a large raindrop hit the fox in the center of the head, causing it to jump and look at Derek with wide eyes.
Derek stood and unzipped the tent. He glanced back when he heard a noise and saw the fox trying to drag the blanket over its head. “Wanna come in?” Derek asked, unsure why he’d offered. The fox froze and looked at him, dropping the blanket from its mouth before giving a very definite nod. Derek laughed and shook his head, flashing his eyes at the fox, unsurprised when amber eyes flashed gold in response.
The rain began picking up, and Derek scooped the fox and blanket up before he could object and ducked into the tent. He set the bundle down gently and turned to pull the cooler inside and zip the door shut. By the time he turned around, there was a naked young man with amber eyes wrapped in his blanket, smiling at him.
“Hi,” he said. “I’m Stiles.”
Derek shook his head with a laugh. “I’m Derek, and I think I have some clothes you can borrow.” He dug around in his pack and threw some sweats and a shirt at Stiles. “So, why didn’t you just shift back when the owl went after you?”
Red bloomed across Sitles’ chest. “Can’t shift when I’m scared,” he said.
“Didn’t your family teach you?” Derek asked.
“Are you born?” Stiles studied him in awe. Derek nodded. “I was bitten a few years ago while camping. I didn’t know what was happening to me at first, and I’ve basically been figuring it out on my own.” He pulled Derek’s shirt over his head. “I figured out lycanthropy pretty quickly, but imagine my shock when I shifted into a fox! I got trapped in a stump on my first full moon. I couldn’t change back until the sun came up.”
Derek chuckled, biting his lip when Stiles gave him a hurt look. It soon faded into a smirk. “Yeah. It’s funny now, but not then.” He studied Derek. “So, what are you?”
“Wolf,” Derek responded, settling down on his sleeping bag. “You don’t have a pack?”
Stiles shrugged. “I have my dad and my best friend and his mom, but they’re all human, so I guess not. They know about me and don’t freak out too much, but I guess it’s not the same.”
“We have humans in our Pack. You don’t have an Alpha, though?” Derek was curious but also worried. If Stiles was Alpha-less, he could be in danger, and it would explain why he had so little control of his shift.
“Do werefoxes have Alphas?” He looked genuinely curious, but his gaze kept going back to the cooler. Finally, Derek pulled it open and took out some more fruit and a couple of sandwiches, handing them to Stiles. “Thanks.”
“I’ve never met a werefox before, but weres are weres. Sometimes, the shape you take reflects the person you are,” Derek said, remembering the stories his uncle had told him about an angry teenager that had been bitten and became a kanima instead of a wolf. “You must be very sly in real life.”
Stiles nodded. “Can I ask more questions?” he asked just as thunder clapped and lightning lit up the sky, the both of them jumping a bit, and Derek noticed Stiles’ nose twitching.
“Don’t think we’re going anywhere,” he responded and settled further into his sleeping bag, propping his head up on one arm and watching Stiles.
The conversation flowed between them, filled with laughter when Stiles asked something truly ridiculous. “No, Stiles, I don’t turn around three times before lying down.” Overall, Derek was pretty impressed with the amount of knowledge that Stiles had amassed on his own. He knew his mother would be interested in meeting him and helping guide him, maybe even ask him to join their pack.
The rain started tapering off, and Stiles’ questions slowed down, as did the blinking of his eyes and breathing. “Sleep,” Derek told him. “We can talk more later.” He studied the ease with which Stiles allowed himself to drift off to sleep in the presence of another were.
Derek awoke to fur in his face. Sneezing, he pushed Stiles away, frowning at the way the fox moved around the tent with great agitation. “What’s wrong?” If the boy was shifted, something had scared him. Scenting the air, he could detect terror and sweat. “Did you have a bad dream?” Stiles froze before giving a jerky nod.
Shifting around, Derek reached for Stiles and pulled him against his chest, pushing his nose into his neck. Then, running a hand gently over his back, he let out a soft rumble in an attempt to calm him down. Stiles fought at first but eventually stilled before relaxing. Derek started to drift back to sleep, smiling when he felt a tiny lick to the side of his neck. He loosened his hold on Stiles, but he didn’t pull away from Derek, just shifted around, so he was mostly draped over his chest, giving off a soft snore.
A few hours later, Derek woke up to find a naked Stiles lying on him. He took a moment to admire him before he started to feel like a creep. He pulled over the blanket he’d given Stiles the night before, covering him as best he could while trying not to admire the smattering of moles across his back.
He listened to his quiet breaths and took in the mix of their scents filling the heavy air inside the tent. He could still hear water hitting the tent, but it was intermittent, like drops being shaken loose from the trees by the wind. He felt content and was about to close his eyes to go back to sleep when Stiles jerked upwards with a gasp.
“Oh my God!” he shouted, limbs flailing as he struggled to cover himself with the blanket. “I am so sorry! Scott says I’m an octopus when I sleep, but that’s when we share a bed. I did-”
Derek put a hand over Stiles’ mouth, waiting until his lips stopped moving against his palm before speaking. “Do you remember having a nightmare?” Stiles nodded after a moment. “I knew when I cuddled fox-you that there was a chance of waking up with naked you. Nudity is not really that big a deal with weres.”
Stiles looked thoughtful before nodding and reaching up to pull Derek’s hand away from his mouth. He remained silent, playing with Derek’s fingers, which was a little weird, but Derek couldn’t find it in himself to stop him.
“I really have a lot to learn, don’t I?” he asked. Derek nodded. “Will you teach me?”
“I’m sure my pack will,” he said. “Would you like to meet them?”
Stiles chewed his lip before nodding. “When?”
Derek thought about it. “My sister’s getting married next weekend. You could come to the wedding.”
“I don’t know if crashing a wedding would be the best first impression,” Stiles said, staring down at Derek’s hands, smiling when Derek let his claws show a bit.
“Then, don’t crash. Come as my date,” he said, mentally crossing his fingers and letting out a breath of relief when Stiles looked up at him with a wide smile.
“I can do that,” he said, his nose twitching and brows drawing together in confusion. “Why do I smell cotton candy?”
Derek felt his face warm up. “That’s happiness,” he said, launching into a discussion of chemosignals and smiling when the cotton candy smell continued to grow between them.