Prologue

Stiles kneeled shivering in the middle of the road, the smells of blood and damp earth filling his nostrils. When he tried to get a good look at the lifeless body of a woman lying in front of him, a blood-curling scream pierced through the night and he woke up gasping for air. Dude, what hell was up with that? Every damn time, the same thing happened. The nightmares started the night Stiles first saw Scott fully shifted and they've been embedded in his brain ever since. The fact that he helped kill a man a few weeks ago didn't exactly help his conscience, but then again, Peter Hale couldn't have been considered your average man. In the end, he deserved what he got.

Freaking werewolves, man, who would've thought? Sure, he always complained nothing exciting ever happened in Beacon Hills but with all this Scott-becoming-a-werewolf business, his life just spiraled out of control. The lies he told his dad just kept on piling up, he couldn't sleep, his grades were dropping. Okay, they were already dropping, but now they were getting worse. Coach Finstock was even threatening to kick him off the lacrosse team. To top it all off, there was the Mr. Sour wolf-Hale situation. Always lurking around in the shadows and never leaving Scott and Stiles alone. What bothered Stiles the most was not Derek's stalking itself, but the fact that he didn't mind Derek following him around and popping up in his room unannounced. What the hell was it about the sulking werewolf that appealed to him? Surely it had nothing to do with Derek's eyes and how even when he was ready to bite someone's head off they were still full of sorrow and despair, or the way Derek's leather jacket seemed to hug him in all the right places, or how good his ass looked in a pair of black pa-AHH. What the fuck, man? He was supposed to like Lydia: Lydia, with her luscious strawberry blonde hair, and pouty lips. Why was he thinking about how good Derek Hale looked in a pair of tight jeans?

Scott, Allison, Lydia, Jackson and Stiles were part of Derek's pack now. Lydia, Allison and Stiles were the only humans. They still didn't know in what way exactly Peter's bite had affected her, but they did know for sure she was still human. Some of the nurses at the hospital said her screams used to wake up the entire floor. After the attack, she refused to talk to anyone, spending most of her days in silence staring into space. The first time she uttered a phrase again it was "What the hell, Stiles?" when she found him trying to hold back tears. He managed to smile and hugged her despite her half-hearted attempts to stop him. They had become friends since that afternoon. She spent as much time with Stiles as she could, going to his house to hang out after school, helping him with his homework, and sitting always by his side during the pack meetings; which is why she noticed there was something wrong with him today.

"Stiles, are you okay?" she mouthed.

They were sitting in chemistry class but Stiles had spent the entire period thinking about his dream. When he didn't answer her, Lydia poked him in his side which resulted in him groaning loudly.

"Mr. Stilinski. You've been so quiet today I barely noticed you've been here. Is there anything you wish to share with the class?" Mr. Harris voiced to the entire class.

"Um no, Mr. Harris. Please, continue." Stiles answered, after clearing his throat.

When the class's attention was back to the front, Stiles turned to Lydia.

"What the hell?" he hissed at her.

"I've been trying to get your attention for the past 15 minutes and you're just out of it. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he whispered, "just have a lot on my mind lately."

"Want to talk about it?" she offered, her face a mask of concern.

Stiles felt tempted to tell her, but what would she think about it? Would she dismiss it as being some stupid dream? Would she think he was crazy? He paused at that thought and smiled to himself. She was already kind of crazy after her attack. Two crazy heads might think better than one.

"I'll tell you today after the pack meeting."

During lunch, all members of the pack had received a text message from Derek saying there would be an emergency meeting after school.

"Whatever for?"Allison had asked during lunch while all of them sat together.

"I have no idea. Whatever it is, though, it must be the reason why he has been so edgy since last weekend."

Stiles had been waiting with anticipation for the day to be over but unlike his pack mates, he wasn't looking forward to hearing the news. He just wanted to see Derek. From a young age, he had always had a fascination with the young man who lost his entire family in the fire, especially after Stiles himself lost his mother in a car crash when he was 10 years old. Derek and his sister had to learn to look after themselves. Stiles had always wondered how they managed to deal with all that sorrow. They didn't only lose their parents in the fire; they lost their entire family. The hunters wanted to kill the werewolves, but they ended up killing all the humans that were present that night for the Hale family reunion. Derek had no one left except for his pack and he had turned from a sourwolf to a guy who cared for this group of misfit teens. He was still an ass to Stiles, though. Stiles was used to people treating him like that but when Derek did it, it hurt a little more. Lately, his feelings towards Derek had started to change and he was too scared to delve on them.

When the bell rang, Lydia and Stiles stormed out of the building towards Stiles' jeep while Scott and Allison made their way to her car. There was no sign of Jackson but they guessed he was probably trying to find an excuse to tell Danny of why he was skipping the swim team meeting. Lydia kept badgering him about his dream the entire way to the Hale house but he didn't want to tell her anything yet. When they arrived at the house, Derek was already waiting for them outside. By his expression, they could tell he didn't have good news. He gestured for them to follow him inside. Once they did, everyone settled into their usual spots. Scott and Allison lounged themselves on the loveseat while Stiles and Lydia headed for the couch. Jackson just leaned against the wall.

Derek stood in the middle of the living room and took a deep breath. Always the king of suspense,Stiles thought to himself.

"I went running last night." Derek started only to be interrupted by Stiles.

"And that's supposed to interest us because?"

The Alpha growled and Stiles just shrugged. He was used to Derek's growls. In fact, they kind of turned him on at this point. He just hoped none of the other werewolves were able to notice his now speeding heartbeat and the smell of his arousal. Who am I kidding? Stiles thought, they can probably smell it in freaking Narnia by now. Although, since neither Scott nor Jackson were looking at him strangely, he chose to believe everyone was too distracted to pay attention to the half boner in his pants. He looked to his left only to find Lydia eyeing him suspiciously, a small smirk forming in her lips. Crap.

"And I smelled traces of another werewolf, an Alpha to be exact."

At the mention of another Alpha, Scott and Jackson perked up, their werewolf senses craving for some action.

"Do we know why he's here?" Scott asked.

"What makes you think it's a he? For all we know it could be a she." Allison offered, albeit a little offended.

"I told you guys from the very beginning this was going to happen. News about my uncle's death was bound to spread sooner or later."

"News spread quickly through the werewolf grapevine, and here I thought girls were the only gossipy creatures." Stiles murmured.

Lydia glowered at him and elbowed him in ribs. Derek seemed a bit taken aback by Stiles behavior towards him but chose to ignore him.

"Even though I'm the Alpha now, other werewolves will stop at nothing to try to take my place. They figure since I'm so young, they can take me down easily. What they don't know is that as a pack, we won't give up without a fight." He finished solemnly.

Jackson and Scott went to the kitchen with Derek to talk about training schedules and fighting tactics, whereas the girls decided to stay behind with Stiles. He was so tired, he'd barely had any sleep since the nightmares started and right now he found himself with a terrible headache. He leaned his head back against the couch and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Are you okay?" Allison asked him worriedly, cuddling to his side.

"I'm fine, just tired and my head hurts a little bit." He answered softly. Lydia moved closer to him and offered to massage his temples.

"You'll be fine." Allison mumbled.

"Is this about the nightmares? You promised to tell me about them after the meeting, so spill it. What the hell is going on?" Lydia demanded.

He righted himself of the couch and proceeded to tell them in hushed tones. It was one thing telling the girls, they were more sensitive and wouldn't judge him too harshly but if the guys found out, they would probably make fun of him. He told them about the first night he dreamt it, about how he woke up gasping for air and tears running down his face. He told them in detail about what he saw: the deserted highway, how lonely and scared he felt, about the woman covered in blood and how she looked familiar to him though he didn't know why, and finally the scream that always ripped him out of the dream.

Both girls looked at him in stunned silence. Lydia was thoughtful and Allison just looked terrified.

"That's awful."

"Have you tried to see the lady's face?"

They blurted out simultaneously.

"Would you keep it down? I told you I don't want the guys to find out." Lydia jumped in before Allison said anything else.

"Have you tried to see the woman's face, in your dream?"

"Yeah, but it's always the same. I get close to the body and when I try to turn her, someone screams and I wake up."

"Hmm, I wonder…" Lydia mused biting her lower lip. Before this would've made Stiles crazy with lust, but right now? He felt nothing, zero, nada.Damn Derek Hale, his flawless physique and nasty attitude.

"What?" Allison asked.

"Stiles, do you reallywant to find out why you're having these dreams?" Lydia asked seriously.

"Yes!" He answered with no hesitation.

"Are you completely, sure? Things might get pretty ugly," she warned.

"Yes, whatever, I just want to have a decent night's sleep again. What do I have to do?"

"You don't have to do anything, just listen to the sound of my voice."

Stiles and Allison blinked at Lydia in confusion; she rolled her eyes and flipped her hair.

"I'm going to hypnotize you." She added smugly.

"Who's getting hypnotized?" Scott asked through a mouthful of his sandwich.

"Hypnotized?" Derek asked, walking in behind Scott.

Lydia was about to answer them when Stiles cut her off.

"No one's getting hypnotized, it's nothing." He mumbled.

Derek watched the three teens sitting on his couch carefully.

"You're lying. Your hearts are about to pop out of your chests. Alright, what's going on?"

Allison looked everywhere except at Derek's face and Lydia just tapped her heel on the floor, looking at Stiles expectantly. Go ahead, tell them. Her eyes seemed to say. Stiles took a deep breath. Screw it. He had made up his mind about it. He was going to tell them about the dream and he didn't care if they thought he was insane. They were werewolves for Christ's sake; it didn't get crazier than that. So, he went through the process of narrating everything again. Derek made accenting noises and asked questions from time to time; telling Stiles dreams shouldn't be underestimated. Scott just looked from face to face in the pack, his eyes like those of a lost puppy who had no idea of what was going on.

"We're doing it." Derek said with a tone of finality.

"Wait, what?" Stiles sputtered.

"You will let Lydia hypnotize you."

"And just who the hell do you think you are for coming to that conclusion for me?" he challenged.

"I'm your Alpha; I'm looking out for your interests." He said matter-of-factly.

After a few seconds he noticed Stiles' flabbergasted expression and the blush spreading through his neck. The rest of the pack stood quietly, pretending not to notice Stiles' reaction or the smell of arousal permeating the room.

Derek cleared his throat and added, "What I meant to say is that when you're agitated and lacking sleep, you won't be able to focus on pack matters. The sooner you get over whatever it is that has you like this, the sooner we can go back to normal."

Stiles' face fell a little and Lydia was looking daggers at Derek.

"Fine," Stiles said somberly, "work your Houdini shit on me, Lydia. Let's get this show on the road."