This story has a major character death. Fair warning.

The sound of the battle seemed to fade and time slowed almost to a stop as Derek watched the hunter take aim. He was too far away; he would never make it to Stiles in time. Stiles was cheering on Scott as he fought and won against another hunter, both of them oblivious to the danger Stiles was in. Derek hardly even registered the fact that he was screaming Stiles' name until he saw Stiles turn to look at him, an unspoken question on his face and a slight smile underneath the question, a leftover from his cheers for Scott. Then in a moment that Derek would never forget Stiles' whole body shuddered with the impact of the bullet tearing through his chest. For a brief second Stiles, stayed on his feet his face still inexplicably smiling. Then the sound rushed back to Derek's ears as he watched Stiles plummet to the ground and heard the thud as his body landed.

Stiles' name was still tearing out of his throat as he raced over to the fallen boy. With gentle hands he turned Stiles face up, trying not to jostle him too much. Derek tried to convince himself that the wound wasn't that bad but the sheer quantity of blood that he saw and smelled told him otherwise. He desperately pressed his hand to the hole and flinched when Stiles cried out in pain at the movement but he didn't remove the pressure. Instead he used his other hand to stroke Stiles' face and whispered how sorry he was that this had happened to him. Their eyes met and Derek tried to will the boy to stay alive, to stay with him.

Derek could hear Stiles' breath coming in ragged and wet but he tried to shut out the sound and pretend Stiles wasn't dying. Distantly he registered the sound of Scott taking down the hunter who had shot Stiles. Scott yelled something along the lines of, "He's a human you dumbass!" But the anger in his voice did a poor job of concealing the tears.

"How bad is it?" Stiles whispered, pain lacing every syllable. The look Derek gave him was all the answer he needed. "So this is it? Always thought there would be more claws involved." Stiles paused with each word, struggling to make the sounds come out as anything more than a dull whine. A weak and sad smile flittered across his face and Derek had the irrational thought that the smile on his lips did not go well with the blood on them.

Derek took Stiles' hand in his free hand and made him an offer he knew Stiles would reject. "This doesn't have to be the end, Stiles. Let me give you the bite." Stiles was already shaking his head no but Derek pressed on. "Please. Stiles none of us are ready to lose you yet. I'm not ready to lose you. You can't just leave me, Stiles."

The broken apology that issued from Stiles' mouth along with another rejection was not unexpected but it still crushed that tiny spark of hope Derek had been trying to hold on to. He dropped his head to rest in the space where Stiles' neck met his shoulder and he kept murmuring, "Please, Stiles, please." into the boy's ear. The warm wet feel of tears was no surprise to Derek though he wasn't sure if the tears were his or Stiles'.

Stiles' body shook with each pained inhalation and every tremor tore away another piece of Derek's soul. His mate was dying. He had failed to protect his mate. The last of his family lay bleeding out on the ground next to him and he couldn't stop it. Derek wondered briefly what Stiles would do if he bit him despite his refusal but the thought of the betrayal that would enter Stiles' eyes convinced him not to. Ultimately he could not take this choice away from his mate. His dying mate. A strangled cry broke free from Derek and he could conclusively say that at least some of the tears were his.

Derek lifted his head and dragged the pad of his thumb across Stiles cheek as he desperately pressed his lips to Stiles'. Stiles made a weak attempt to kiss back but his grip on the world was slipping. Derek lifted the upper half of Stiles' body and cradled it tightly against his own chest as if holding the dying boy would stave off death.

Dimly Derek realized that Scott was next to them now and had one of Stiles' hands gripped firmly in his own. Stiles feebly squeezed Scott's hand. Scott was begging Stiles not to die. Begging him to take the bite that he had never wanted. Derek knew it was useless.

"Derek." Stiles forced out between his quiet whimpers of pain. "I feel cold."

Derek felt the tears start to fall even harder and he clutched tighter at his mate as he whispered, "I know, Stiles. I'm so sorry." Derek listened intently to the fading heartbeat emitting from the boy and the soft wheezing breaths still issuing from his lips. The soft sounds of the woods and the louder cries of Scott on the forest floor with them faded into the background and Derek focused his entire being on the life that he still held tightly to him. The life that was slipping from his grasp no matter how tightly he clung.

Stiles was fighting for each breath now. "I love you, Derek." He managed to say.

"I love you too, Stiles." Derek gasped out through the sobs racking his body. The boy in his arms was growing colder as the pool of blood around them expanded and Stiles let out a few more trembling breaths. His heart missed a beat and Derek felt his world crack. Stiles' heart gave a few more frail thumps and then stilled forever. Derek's world shattered into pieces and he let out a howl that shook the small clearing filled with blood and the cold dead body of a boy who ran with wolves.

I just needed to write a character death. I was tempted to in my story The Smell of Blood and I ended up not doing it so I've had all this pent up desire to write angsty character death and this is what happened.