Chapter 1 - Worry Like A Wolf

It was after all the chaos of the lacrosse game and the incident with Gerard that Stiles managed to get away. Everybody had been caught up in the events happening, Stiles could handle the injuries that came from the old man by himself, there was no need to worry his friends.

It was after all the chaos of the lacrosse game and the incident with Gerard that Stiles managed to get away. Everybody had been caught up in the events happening, Stiles could handle the injuries that came from the old man by himself, there was no need to worry his friends.

It was upon entering his room, finally feeling able to breathe easier that he froze, his body aware once again. A low growling filled the room, Stiles flicked the light on, his eyes widening at the slight of a huge dog – wait, a wolf curled on his bed.

Stiles stood near the open door, unsure of what to do. If he ran, the animal would surely follow, if he stayed, well he would die either way.

"Nice doggy," Stiles said, a hint of hysteria in his voice. "No need to get all growly on me." Stiles raised his hands slowly, keeping his palms facing the animal. "How did you get in here?" Stiles asked himself out loud, pausing as the animal's head moved to the window.

Stiles let out a panicked laugh, "werewolf?" he asked the growling form who had turned back to stare at him.

Stiles had the imagine of the wolf raising an eyebrow, instead it gracefully jumped off the bed and was in front of Stiles in an instant, causing the younger man to squeak and flail backwards.

"Not cool dude!" he cried as the wolf moved even closer still and pressed its muzzle against Stiles' side. The growling stopped and in its place was a low whine.

Gently placing a slightly shaky hand on the wolf, Stiles began to run his fingers through the fur. "It's ok buddy," he said softly. "I would like to know why you're here but if you promise not to eat me then I guess you can stay for a while?" Stiles offered, unable to help the smile as he felt a puff of warmth on his side at the snort the wolf gave.

Stiles smile fell when the wolf nudged his side again, causing a soft hiss to leave his mouth. The whining began again as the wolf gently took hold of Stiles' clothing and lead him to the bed.

"I'm ok," the kid murmured, letting himself be moved. He sat on the edge of the bed, bemused as the wolf jumped up next to him. "I don't –"

Stiles was cut off from continuing as the wolf pushed him back. "Ow you fucker," he had complained as his chest exploded with pain.

The wolf whined again, lowering its head and moving closer to Stiles, its body close to the bed.

"Fine," he huffed. Stiles rolled his eyes as he toed off his shoes, he hesitated for a second, considering taking off a few layers but not quite being prepared to see the damage that was caused to his body. Without worrying on it, Stiles let himself stop thinking as he moved properly onto his bed, the exhaustion from the past day's events finally catching up to him.

"Oof," Stiles exhaled as a warm body was pressed against his front. "You aren't a blanket," he muttered, unable to voice his thankfulness that he wasn't alone. He brought his arm up and curled his fingers in the fur on the back of the wolf, absentmindedly stroking the soft fur.

If Stiles didn't know better, he would have said that he had caused the wolf to purr. A cold nose pressed against Stiles' neck as his eyes grew heavier, the lingering pain in his body slowly began to ease as he drifted off to sleep.

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It was with a groan that Stiles finally began to awake, his body stiff and sore. Before even opening his eyes, Stiles mentally made a comment on how warm his lower body felt and how unusual it was that he hadn't kicked the blankets off completely.

It was a strange feeling that caused him to open his eyes, momentarily blinded by the brightness from the open window as he felt the sensation again. Looking down he saw the wolf from his imagination laid on his legs, realising that the feeling he had felt was from the wolf's minute movements.

Stiles let out a shaky laugh. Lifting a heavy arm to touch the wolf, unsure of whether the past day had caused him to have a psychotic episode. Reacting to the turn, the wolf turned its head and pressed its muzzle against Stiles crotch, causing the male to yelp and attempt push the wolf away.

"Bad dog! Bad touch!" Stiles chastised, much to the (in Stiles' opinion) unamused wolf who just stared at him. "I don't care if you just woke up but you do not just go around pressing your nose anywhere."

Stiles was sure the wolf had rolled its eyes as it crept up the bed and then slowly licked up Stiles' face.

"Ew! Oh my god, don't people teach you manners!" Stiles fussed, thrashing around, trying to move from the wolf.

It resulted with the male on the floor, groaning from the impact.

"Shut up," Stiles hissed as he saw the wolf look over from the bed. "This is your fault."

The wolf growled.

"Fine, it isn't completely your fault," Stiles amended. "I wouldn't be in so much pain if Argent didn't – whoa, calm down!"

At the name the wolf growled again, a lot deeper and more menacing. Even though Stiles knew that the wolf had had the chance to hurt him it did not stop the fear that bubbled up in his throat that the sound.

Slowly the wolf began to calm down, he (as Stiles finally noticed) made his way down off the bed and began to press itself against Stiles' side once again. The growling had changed from angry to soothing, causing Stiles to relax into the fluffy creature.

"It's ok," Stiles muttered, his hand once again moving to run through the fur. "I'll survive. They only wanted to send a message, they could have done that by killing me – but they didn't!" Stiles said loudly as the growling began to grow deeper again. "Jesus, you are so damn angry. Yes, they hurt me but it's what happens when you're the weakest link in the pack. Or connected to the pack I guess," Stiles said with a shrug.

The wolf pressed his nose against Stiles' neck again, breathing his scent in before nuzzling his muzzle against the boy. Stiles felt helpless against the action, the gently grumbling of the wolf along with the softness of the fur caused a lump to form in his throat.

"God," he said with a bitter laugh. "I don't even know who you are. You could be anyone – well a werewolf anyone. I don't think I know any that can turn full wolf though," Stiles let his voice trail off. The two sat in silence, the wolf having stopped scenting the boy and sat next to him, not letting the boy's hand leave his fur.

"You could be searching for secrets," Stiles said softly. "If you are," he added, looking into the wolfs blue eyes, "you're in the wrong place. I don't even know if I'm classed as pack, the hunters seemed to have the opinion that I was just a toy," Stiles smiled softly, his fingers tightening in the wolfs fur as it growled lowly again. "I had a similar reaction," he confessed. "I mean I don't think I can really pull off the growly mean face but I didn't just let them say that."

The wolf whined again, he softly nudged Stiles' cheek with his nose. Stiles murmured a soft 'I know' as he brought his other hand to the wolfs muzzle, gently stroking the thin fur.

"Sometimes I wish none of this was real," Stiles said honestly. "It would just be easier you know. No worrying about dying. No worrying hunters will kill my best friend. The biggest thing to worry about would be my dad's health. No psychopath headmasters that are insane hunters, the good old days," Stiles said bitterly.

The wolf pulled back from Stiles, just staring.

"Don't give me that look," the boy huffed. "I bet you're a born wolf, all judgemental because you never had a normal life."

The wolf rolled his eyes again.

"I'm taking that as a yes," Stiles said, smirking in victory when the wolf did nothing more than forcefully lay across Stiles' lap.

The silence grew again. Stiles felt calm, a rare feeling. There was no panic, no worrying. It was just relaxing. There was nothing but the warm body across his legs and the soft fur under his fingertips.