Chapter Text
Drip.Drip.Drip.Drip.
Derek gritted his teeth. That had to be one of the most annoying sounds in the world, dripping water. Although, it was probably to be expected in a place like this. Derek looked around the gloomy metal corridor with disdain. He still didn’t understand why they were here, why they were risking their pack to help another pack.
Scott said they needed alliances, needed to branch out so when the Mead pack came to them for help, Scott was eager to agree. Derek scowled. He hated the politics of dealing with other packs, but since he was the only other born wolf and Peter flat out refused to participate, that left it up to him. The decision resulted in long hours ensconced in his family’s vault, usually with Lydia or Danny who were researching other things, to brush up on pack hierarchy and law. Isaac said he was always extra grumpy on those days.
Scott’s desire to help is what led them to this godforsaken, abandoned, quite frankly disgusting, underground bunker. There were hunters holding two captives and apparently one of them was extremely important to the son of the Alpha that requested their help.
~~~*~~~
~three weeks ago~
The pack filed in, wary of being in another pack’s den, but Scott tried to make them as comfortable as possible. Alpha Mead brought his second, who happened to be his son, his enforcer, and a few other betas. Derek had explained to Scott that this was normal for negotiations and he shouldn’t view it as a threat, but Scott was still new to the concept of reaching out to other packs so it was obvious he was a bit flustered at having so many unknown wolves in the pack house.
Despite the tough appearance they put up, Derek could tell the pack was tired and beaten down. They weren’t a large pack, and only a few of them were present for the discussion. They seemed to huddle around their Alpha protectively.
Both packs arranged themselves around the massive dining room table that Lydia had forced Derek to buy, and they started talking, the Alpha explaining why they needed assistance.
“A group of hunters is holding two individuals captive about thirty miles from here, in an underground facility,” he started quietly. “We would go in ourselves but it has been near impossible to get information about their exact numbers. They seem to be coming and going all the time,” he said, running a frustrated hand through his hair.
Scott and several others nodded in understanding, hunters tended to be good at concealing their numbers and it had caused more than a few issues for them over the years.
“Do you have a rough estimate?” Peter asked dryly from his position behind Derek.
“About thirty or so? If I had to make a guess,” the Alpha responded, looking to his son, who nodded in agreement. Derek and Peter exchanged a look. Thirty hunters for two captives?
“And the captives?” Scott asked worriedly. The wolves on the other side shifted uncomfortably.
“We’re not sure,” Mead grimaced in apology.
“What do you mean, you’re not sure?” Derek asked, narrowing his eyes. Mead’s son responded quickly.
“We don’t know what the hunters are doing to them, but we know it’s not good.”
“How do you even know if they’re alive?” Peter demanded, ignoring Scott’s look of reproach.
“One we know for sure they won’t kill, he’s far too valuable.” The Mead wolves winced at their Alpha’s blunt words. “The other is good leverage against the first,” he ended with a half hearted shrug. Scott looked incredulous at their words.
“What’s so important about them that you would come all the way up here from Utah?” Peter asked casually. Mead and his son exchanged a look that spoke of a strong familial connection.
“One of them, he’s….. special,” the son hesitated. “That’s really all I can tell you. He’s an extremely private individual.”
“He is also hopefully going to be the next Alpha’s mate, which should be reason enough,” Mead interjected before any of the pack could object.
“Special how?” Derek questioned suspiciously.
“He just is,” the son insisted stubbornly, tilting his chin up in defiance at Derek. His father gave him an exasperatedly fond look before turning back to Scott.
“He has helped our pack on numerous occasions and if it weren’t for him most of us probably wouldn’t be alive.” Derek was stunned at the admission, and glanced at Peter, who was watching the
Alpha in consideration. Alpha werewolves weren’t exactly known for accepting help. It was one of the reasons his family was so powerful, his mother having had the ability to persuade Alpha’s to accept the assistance and alliance of other packs.
“My son has decided he wants to take him as a mate, if the boy is willing,” Alpha Mead continued certainly while the left hand nodded from his other side.
“The boy has earned our respect and we consider him part of our pack.” The bulky beta added. The rest of their pack nodded in agreement.
The gesture did not go unnoticed by Peter, who knew as Talia’s enforcer that it was hard for the left to trust anyone. He and Derek exchanged another look and then Derek looked to Scott and nodded again.
“We understand how it feels to have a missing packmate, we’ll help you,” Scott said softly, feeling Derek stiffen beside him as he reached a hand over the table to shake Alpha Mead’s. His son visibly slumped in relief and Derek guessed that whoever this boy was, future alpha’s mate or not, must be important if an entire pack was willing to go to war with hunters for him.
“Excellent! I will bring the rest of my pack tomorrow and we can discuss strategy,” the Alpha said with a smile and a seemingly renewed enthusiasm as the packs stood and dispersed from the table.
The Mead pack declined the offer of dinner or snacks, claiming they all needed to rest after the mad dash out of their territory. Scott showed them to the door and watched as they piled into their cars and headed down the Hale house’s ridiculously long driveway, Derek grumbling at his side.
“Whoever the hell this kid is, he better be worth it,” he said softly as they turned back into the house.
~present~
Derek watched as Mead and Scott discussed final preparations a few feet ahead of them. Peter was absently sharpening his claws against a metal pillar while Erika and Boyd stood a few feet away murmuring quietly.
The Mead pack stood stiffly, tension clear in the outline of their bodies, but Derek figured that was to be expected. Not many packs were battle ready like they were, and he could tell it was taking a toll on the softer wolves.
Derek sighed.
They never did figure out why the guy was so important, other than being Mead’s son, Andrew’s potential mate. Once in a while they caught snippets, a word here or there, about the boy. They guy they were holding with him was a wolf, apparently they traveled together. Peter had been able to eavesdrop enough to figure out that Mead was willing to let the wolf join his pack if the boy decided to be Andrew’s mate.
Derek had to admit, he was curious, they all were at this point. The Mead pack never lied to them, but only gave them the information necessary to pull off the operation and not get killed. The closer they got, the more agitated Andrew became. It was obvious that he cared deeply for the person they were saving and fully expected to make him his mate.
It made Derek’s chest hurt. He brought his hand up to rub around his heart absently. Lydia noticed and rubbed his arm sympathetically.
“Danny found something promising, we can look at it when we get home,” she said softly looking up at him. Derek didn’t respond. Scott watched their exchange with sad eyes.
As a group, Mead wolves in front, they continued down the passageway. Getting into the bunker had been easy, the hunters weren’t expecting one whole pack, let alone two so they went down without much of a fight.
The two were being held in the center of the bunker and the closer the wolves got the more blood they smelled. Andrew was practically vibrating and had fall a few steps back to calm down after gouging a hole in the stone wall. They came to a stop just before another set of double doors. They could smell the hunters and hear their rapid heartbeats.
“It looks like they’ve concentrated their forces here,” Mead said low enough for only the wolves to hear, closing his eyes in concentration for a moment. “No wolfsbane bullets.” Mead looked up at Andrew with a frown.
“They weren’t expecting wolves to come for him, you know how he is about secrets,” Andrew answered distractedly, glaring at the door like he could put a hole in it. Derek saw Peter narrow his eyes at the pair. Scott opened his mouth to ask a question, but he got cut off.
“We have the element of surprise on our side, let’s use it,” Andrew grinned ferally, his eyes wild. There were several ‘clicks’ as multiple pairs of claws were flicked out and Kira unsheathed her Katana. Mead looked to Scott and Derek, who nodded in agreement and they took off in a wave.
They burst through the doors fully shifted and surprised the hunters, who started shooting at them wildly. The hunters rallied around another set of double doors and Derek knew that’s where they were holding them. He caught Andrew’s eye and motioned towards the doors and they started to make their way towards them.
The sound of metal hitting metal was jarring as the wolves jumped and dodged around the frantic hunters. Derek spared a moment to find Peter and Cora, who were both grinning viciously at the violence. They were working together to disembowel the closest hunter and didn’t even pause as his head when his blood spray drenched both of them.
Derek really needed to reexamine the pride he felt at how efficient his pack was at taking out their enemies.
The two packs worked together to clear a path for Derek and Andrew to get to the doors, but the hunters continued to regroup and eventually those still standing formed a barrier into the room. Luckily the wolves were quick and agile, continuing to dodge the majority of the thankfully non-lethal bullets.
After a few minutes they realized they wouldn’t be able to get closer without taking at least one bullet. Derek’s eyes scanned around and landed on a jagged opening in the ceiling.
He caught Andrew’s attention and cupped his hands, motioning towards the ceiling. Andrew followed his gaze and nodded. He sprinted towards Derek and jumped into his palms, using the upwards momentum to vault upwards into the open space.
One of the hunters yelled and pointed at the motion, but he was quickly cut off as a chunk of stone was hurled at his face, courtesy of Boyd and Isaac.
Derek would have to remember to thank them later.
Andrew grunted and Derek smelled blood where the wolf was cut on the metal ceiling, but the wolf ignored it and reached down to help Derek through.
Making a jump his high school basketball coach would have been proud of, he locked his fingers with Andrew’s and was hauled through the opening. They crawled carefully around some rocks and old debris, ignoring the clunk, cluck of bullets being fired at them before finding another open section behind the hunter’s line.
They dropped down silently behind the hunters, who were concentrating their fire at the rest of the two advancing packs and Derek felt no remorse as he gutted the closest one. Andrew ripped his claws across the throat of the other.
After several more minutes, it was over.
It was obvious that the hunters weren’t expecting anyone to come for the boy, let alone two werewolf packs. They were ill prepared and it was over quickly once the guns stopped shooting and the remaining hunters were swiftly dispatched.
Andrew seemed to spare no thought for the hunter he killed, not that Derek blamed him, if his mate had been taken he would be ripping the world apart to bring him home.
Andrew barreled through the double doors before anyone could stop him and they heard an anguished cry and smelled fresh blood, wolf blood.
The rest of them followed quickly.
Andrew had killed the three hunters still in the room and stood a bit frozen, watching his arm heal from a jagged knife cut and taking in the scene with an overwhelming anger they could all smell.
One of them was hanging from the ceiling, barely awake and seemed to be the source of the majority of the blood they’d smelled. Derek could only guess that this was the wolf, no one else could survive losing that much blood. He was conscious, but just barely. The cuts on his body seemed to be healing much too slow.
The other was slumped on his side in the center of the room surrounded by what looked like circles of runes and sigils.
Mead was working frantically trying to undo the ropes that attached the wolf to the ceiling but he couldn’t touch them. They were coated in wolfsbane. Lydia and Kira rushed over. Kira slashed the ropes with her Katana and Mead caught the body as if fell.
Andrew rushed towards the circle, ignoring everyone else.
“Hang on, baby, just hang on.” Derek heard him muttering as he pulled a knife out of his pocket.
“Damien? Damien can you hear me?” Alpha Mead questioned softly. The wolf opened his eyes a crack.
“Mica,” he breathed.
“Don’t worry Damien, Andrew’s getting Mica, he’s safe,” Mead said gently with a small smile. Damien coughed violently for a moment before passing out. Mead laid his head down gently and turned his attention to his son and the rest of the wolves followed suit.
Andrew was walking around the circle slashing his knife through various symbols while they rest of them watch apprehensively. When he finally cut the last one there was a brief flash of light and a wave of power extended from the circle, making the wolves double over.
Derek gasped and felt his eyes flickering back and forth. A look around the room confirmed the rest of the wolves were feeling it too.
It only lasted a few seconds and when everyone was in control again and they looked back up Andrew was kneeling next to the boy. Although, boy may not be an accurate word, Derek noticed. He was lying on his back, both of them were turned away, but it was easy to see how built he was since he was shirtless. Andrew carefully scooped him up and settled him on his lap, holding him tightly still facing mostly away from them. Derek thought it must be an instinct to shield his mate. In this position, though, it was easy to see the sleeves of tattoos running up and down both arms, as well as extending onto his back, it looked like.
“Dad do you have it?” Andrew asked, extending his hand, not taking his eyes of the man in his lap. Mead moved forward and handed him a small vial with what looked like blood in it.
Derek and Lydia exchanged an alarmed look. Mead must have noticed.
“Don’t worry it’s just a plant extract to help wake him up. He gave it to us to use in situations like this.” Derek nodded. Peter came up to his other side.
“Derek, those markings, that boy definitely isn’t human.” He said in a low voice. Derek looked at him sharply but Peter just nodded towards Andrew who was tipping the vial into the boy’s open mouth. The moment the liquid hit his tongue the boy’s chest seemed to expand and Andrew practically sobbed in relief. The tension in the Mead wolves seemed to dissolve and they were smiling at the pair.
“Mica, Mica, oh my god, I thought I lost you,” Andrew sobbed.
“D-Damien?” the man’s soft voice questioned, croaky and dry from disuse or screaming, Derek couldn’t tell which.
“He’s fine Mica. Passed out from blood loss but there won’t be any lasting damage,” Andrew said softly, running his fingers through the man’s hair.
A weak hand raised and cupped the side of Andrew’s cheek, making Derek look away. It felt wrong to intrude on such an intimate moment. Derek caught Scott’s attention as well as the rest of the pack and they took a few steps away to regroup while the Mead pack moved closer to surround Andrew and his mate.
A few minutes passed while Derek and Scott were discussing their next steps before Alpha Mead came up to them again.
“I can’t thank you and your pack enough,” he said sincerely, glancing behind him where Andrew was helping his mate stand.
“Can we meet this young man we risked our lives for?” Peter asked coolly and suspiciously. Scott rolled his eyes and frowned at the gesture, but Derek couldn’t help but feel the same suspicion Peter did.
Mead looked back at Andrew, who nodded without looking at them, his instincts having calmed down a bit.
“Of course, you might as well know now, he’ll want to repay you for your help. Fair warning though, he can be a bit abrasive,” Mead said with a chuckle as he started walking towards them. The wolves parted as they approached. The boy had his head buried in Andrew’s shoulder, Andrew was practically purring as he stroked his hair.
“Mica? I want to introduce you to the pack that helped us rescue you, the Hale-McCall pack,” Mead said. The boy went ramrod straight in Andrew’s arms and everyone seemed to still. The air was suddenly heavy with the smell of sweetgrass and thunder. It made Derek’s mouth water.
“Mica? Baby, what is it?” Andrew said worriedly. Slowly the man lifted his head from the shoulder supporting it and turned to look at the two packs.
Derek felt like his heart had been punched from his body, his chest throbbing. Scott’s mouth dropped open and Lydia gasped loudly.
“Stiles?!?” Scott choked out.
“Fuck,” Stiles sighed.