Are you coming to Derek's tonight? – Scott

Idk man, I don't feel like being thrown against walls tonight – Stiles

Dude please? – Scott

Stiles sighed and threw his phone onto the bed. He was only agreeing to this because he could see Scott's puppy eyes in his head, begging him to go, and he just couldn't refuse. 'Damn wolfy powers' Stiles muttered to himself, going to the wardrobe to change his shirt. As much as he hated to admit it, he was a little bit intimidated by the rest of the pack, especially Derek, and he wanted to make a good impression. He shrugged on a blue and green checked shirt that he remembered Lydia complimenting once. He glanced at himself in the mirror. The shirt, no matter how 'cute' it had been deemed, probably still didn't make up for the Avengers t-shirt or scruffy converse he was also sporting, but it would have to do – the pack meeting started in 10 minutes.

Jumping out of his jeep approximately 9 minutes and 37 seconds later, he trudged towards the Hale house, sighing to himself. The last 2 pack meetings he'd been growled at by Derek, Peter and Jackson, when he wasn't even trying to be difficult. It wasn't his fault that he was naturally so funny that the others were jealous! Or at least that's what he told himself...

The front door flew open just as Stiles reached it, and he was pulled into a crushing hug by Scott.
"Dude, dude!" Stiles choked. "My bones don't heal like yours! Give me a break!"

Laughing, Scott released him and apologised.

"Nice shirt, dumbass," Lydia called from the sofa, as Stiles sloped into the lounge. He grinned at her, happy she'd noticed that he was making an effort. His crush on her was completely over, but he was still keen to impress her – she was still a badass!

As he made his way to his normal spot on the floor by Scott's feet he caught Derek's icy glare. What was it with that dude?! Stiles resolved to stay quiet throughout the entire meeting today, to see if he'd be subject to any growls or sudden attacks.

The meeting wore on, and after a while of staying silent Stiles found his attention wondering. In an effort not to break his resolve, he distracted himself by trying to imagine how many corn chips you would need to cover the earth. He was glad that wolfy powers didn't include mind reading, otherwise he was pretty sure the pack would've kicked him out by now!

The only interesting this Stiles picked up from the meeting was something about a report of a sphinx around the outskirts of the next town over. Stiles didn't know much about sphinxes, so he made a mental note to look them up when he got home.

"STILES!" A loud growl disturbed him from his thoughts. Huh, well keeping quiet obviously didn't stop the growling. He looked up to see Derek glowering at him from his arm chair.

"What, sorry?"

"I said: Do. You. Know. Anything. About. Sphinxes?" Derek repeated, emphasizing each word heavily.

Stiles shook his head and Derek let out a low growl. The younger boy sighed and stood up. He didn't really care if the meeting was over yet or not, he needed to get away from here. Every time he tried his best to help the pack, it always turned round to bite him in the ass. What he really needed right now was to be alone, chain-watch episodes of Adventure Time, and snack on Reese's.

He sloped out the front door, ignoring the various cries of protest from the living room. Stiles had almost made it to his jeep when he heard a low, seductive female voice behind him.

"What gets wetter, the more it dries?" the voice purred. Stiles assumed it was Erica, and was in no mood for her teasing.
"Your mum," Stiles quipped. The voice chuckled quietly, and as Stiles turned around, he could see that it certainly didn't belong to Erica. The voice came from a stunning woman, her oval face framed by waving golden locks and her lips turned up into a cruel smirk. Stiles looked down and saw that below her bare chest was the body of a lion, with two huge, glowing wings growing from its back. On all fours, the creature was as tall as Stiles, and its head was dangerously close to Stiles's, as her breathy laugh tickled his cheek bones. The sphinx raised her paw, 5 perfectly pointed claws shining in the moonlight. Before Stiles had a chance to notice the pack running out of the house towards him, the creature brought its paw down violently, claws slashing through Stile's t-shirt and into his flesh. He just registered the creature springing agilely into the boughs of a tree before blackness washed over him.