Author's Note: I do not own Teen Wolf or its characters. This is set in an alternate universe. I've taken some liberties with

Prologue

Derek knew that bad things often came in threes, but he wasn't expecting this. He tried to control his strength as he clutched at his grandmother's hand, not wanting to crush it. Nana was human, and these days he could feel how fragile her bones were whenever he held her hand.

"Mom's going to be home soon. Just hold on a little longer. Please don't leave me."

She smiled at him. "Oh, sweetheart. I love you. It's going to be okay. Tell your mom and Peter I love them."

Her eyes fluttered shut even as her heartbeat slowed. By the time that Derek heard the front door slam and his mom running up the stairs, Misha Hale was gone. When Talia appeared in the bedroom doorway, Derek burst into tears. It didn't matter that he was sixteen years old or that he'd been trying to be more stoic lately and not give away what he was feeling all the time. All he wanted was for things to be all right again.

Three days later Derek wasn't feeling much better as he stood with his family for the graveside service. It was only the second time he'd worn his suit. The first had been barely nine months earlier at Paige's funeral. Derek wasn't any more comfortable then than he was now. He couldn't bring himself to really listen as the officiant spoke. He didn't want to hear about how Nana had been a good mother and an important part of the community. He knew all of that.

Nana had been the one to get Derek to talk again after Paige had died. She'd been the one to start putting him back together after they'd found out about Kate and her plans. To get him to believe that it really wasn't his fault that his entire family had almost been killed. His mom might be their pack's Alpha, but Nana had always been the one who really understood Derek. He didn't know what he was going to do without her. By the time they reached the Hale house, Derek was mostly numb. It was either that or fall apart completely again. He didn't join the rest of the family for the reception they were hosting but instead went up to his room and climbed under the covers.

Five days later, he wasn't feeling much better. However, it was both Christmas and his birthday, so Derek didn't feel like he had any choice but to try and act like normal. The mood was a little more somber than the holiday normally was, but most of the family seemed determined to be in good spirits. Derek did his best to play along. It had always been awkward to have his birthday be on Christmas, but it was especially hard this year to get through the birthday festivities so they could move on to the Christmas ones.

Still, Derek managed to get through the traditional birthday breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes and had accepted his presents with enough enthusiasm to satisfy the givers. He froze when he spotted the tag on the gift in his hands, written in his grandmother's dainty cursive. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat as he carefully peeled the paper off of the gift. It was a book. A cookbook to be precise with recipes for cupcakes. Derek had never heard of the café that put it out, but he found a note from Nana inside the front cover.

Derek,

I know you hate the way Laura and Peter tease you about baking. But it is something that you love. An acquaintance of mine in England runs this bakery, and I thought of you when he started talking about his new cookbook. I know that this year has been hard for you, and I hate that you've withdrawn from so many things that used to make you happy. You deserve to be happy, Derek. So here is a cookbook for you in the hopes that you won't give up one more thing that makes you happy. Happy Birthday, and I love you.

Nana

He knew he was crying. Thankfully, no one gave him a hard time about it. And thankfully, that was the last present he had to unwrap, so they could move on to other things. Derek was perfectly happy to fade into the background while everyone else threw themselves into celebrating. It was good to see the rest of the pack happy. That did make him feel a little bit better. He did his best to look pleased and excited when people handed him gifts. For the most part he was pleased with his gifts. There was the book about how to get laid from Peter, but he rarely gave decent gifts in any way, shape, or form.

It wasn't as bad as it could have been, but Derek was all too happy disappear back up to his room once everyone had settled in for an afternoon of watching movies and playing with new toys. He carried his new things up to his room and curled up on his bed with the cookbook. Derek hesitated before opening it. Part of him wanted to wait. This would be the last gift that his grandmother ever gave him. He should savor it, make the first experience of reading it special. But at the same time, it was just a cookbook.

He finally cracked the book open after staring at it for a good five minutes. Five recipes into the book, he got up to find sticky notes to book mark pages. Derek had to admit that he was pretty impressed by Nana's connections. He didn't exactly know how his grandmother had known the author of the cookbook, but it was definitely one of the better ones he had come across. By the time he had to turn on his bedside lamp because of the fading light, Derek had bookmarked over a dozen recipes that he wanted to try. Then he got called down for Christmas dinner.

Derek did a lot of hiding in his room with the cookbook over the next few days. It was easier than trying to fake that he was as happy and enthusiastic about the holiday as everyone else. Someone would always catch him, and then they would want to make him talk about it. Derek didn't want to talk. Talking wouldn't help. It wouldn't change anything. And the only one who seemed to understand that was his dad. Even his mom who was typically pretty good at reading him had tried to make him talk more than once. His dad just put him to work in the kitchen.

By the time New Year's Eve rolled around, the house had begun to empty back to its normal levels of people. Most of their relatives, who had come for the funeral and then stayed for the holiday, had left, leaving just a few aunts, uncles, and cousins behind. And even they were getting ready to leave. Derek was happy about that. It gave him more space and made it easier to not have stay in his room in order to avoid people.

He did get to have a nice quiet evening when it came to the end of the year though. The little ones all went over to Uncle Peter's for a slumber party and movie marathon while Laura chaperoned Cora to a party one of her classmates was throwing. His mom and dad had also gone out to some party, so Derek had the house to himself. Not that he really did much with that opportunity. He mostly was just marathoning Cupcake Wars.

It struck Derek in the middle of one of the episodes that it was something that he could do. Especially since he had a new cookbook chock full of cupcake recipes. And Nana clearly wanted him to keep baking. There were twenty-six recipes in the book that he really wanted to try. Derek suddenly sat up straighter despite the fact that there was no one around to see him. That didn't matter. He didn't need a witness to his resolution to make it. In the next year, he would make and perfect all twenty-six recipes from his new cookbook. Starting tomorrow.