A/N: This Story has amazing art by the very talented Kate. You should really go check it out, because it sets the perfect mood. (There's a link at the top of my personal page.)

This is the gen version of my Little Red Riding Hood AU. (The slash version can be found at AO3.) This means this has a slightly lower rating, but still contains graphic gore and a different ending.( Go to AO3 for happy ending! + smut )

Enjoy!

There's a house in the woods. It's large, but neglected - on the verge of being a ruin. The walls are cowered in moss and soot and the floor is littered with old leaves and bones of things that crawled in here to die.

The air is thick and smells of rot and burning flesh, even after all these years. People in town say that the smell will never go away and neither will the screams of pain that echoes between the trees at night.

Some say the shrieks are just the bats that hang under the charred rafters of the house, but most people agree it's the sound of the Hale family burning for unknown crimes in the afterlife, screams echoing onto the plane of the living.

Some nights the screams mingle with another howl – deeper and more feral. They once said it was beasts - not wolves, but something darker; not mindless, but ferocious - but no one ever saw them. All the townsfolk ever saw was the gnawed bones left behind and traces of blood between the trees.

When Stiles was little he used to play in the woods, but that was before the fire. The fire changed so many things. People moved away and the forest around the town became darker. It's hard to say how, but everyone agrees. It's like the ashes of the Hale family is still lingering between the trees, blocking out the sun. Only the town is free from the darkness, like a little beacon in the night.

As years passed, however, people began to forget. They forgot the fire and the screaming. They forgot the chill that runs from head to toe when you venture too close. They forgot the darkness and the way the ground is soaked with blood, rotting and thick like tare.

"It's wolves." They say now, because it's easier to be scared of something you can shoot with a gun or slice open with a knife.

The only one who never forgets is the Sheriff, Stiles' father. He was the one who had to walk into the Hale-house and see the half-burned children with melted eye-balls and fingers with no nails, because they had been scratching on the walls to get out. He was the one who had to inhale the sickening smell of singed flesh and the one to wake up screaming in the middle of the night when it all came back to him night after night after night.

And because of that Stiles never forgets either. Instead he wears the red hoodie his father gave him, but it's not to scare off the beasts. It's so that the sheriff can find his body between the leaves on the forest floor the day the creatures are tired of waiting. Because Stiles knows better than most what the darkness hides.

Stiles is sixteen when the creatures in the darkness becomes impatient.

There's a chilling howl piercing through flesh and bone - a forewarning of claws that can do the same. It shatters the night into screams and wakes Stiles from nightmares that are waiting to come true.

"Stiles?" His father comes bursting through the door with his rifle over his shoulder and Scott barking at his heels. "Get up, get dressed!"

"What's going on?" Stiles asks, but he's already pulling on pants.

"You remember the way through the forest? The one you used to run when you were a kid?"

"Yeah, I remember. What is it? Dad?"

The sheriff raises his hand to silence his son and rough fingers make an attempt at being gentle as they brush down Stiles' cheek, resting for the briefest moment on his shoulder. "I need you to go now. I need you..."

"No, dad!" Stiles interrupts and Scott lets out a sad wailing howl. "I'm not leaving you, tell me what's going on!"

But the sheriff continues. "...to go to the next town. There's a man there they call Grandpa."

"Dad, would you just stop! Tell me what's going on!" The city walls stand solid and tall around town and the Sheriff's deputies are brave men. Surely they are safe inside?

"Be quiet, Stiles, and listen!" His father says sharply. "We don't have time to argue. You need to find Grandpa, but don't trust him. Not for a second, you hear me?"

"I don't even know what's going on!" Stiles pleads, but his father shakes his head and looks at Stiles like he's never going to see him again.

"You do. You do know, Stiles. And that's why it has to be you." Stiles has never seen his father look scared before, not like this. "No one else understands what's out there, they don't remember. So it has to be you, son."

Stiles slips the hoodie on and pockets a small folding knife and he's at the door before he's even catching on.

"Take Scott. Run fast, don't stop and don't look back." His father opens the door and peaks out into the night. "And remember, find Grandpa, but don't trust him."

"What are you going to do?" Stiles demands, holding on to the door frame, so his father can't push him out into the night without answers. "Dad? What are you gonna do?"

"What ever I can." He says and leaves Stiles alone in the doorway with Scott barking after him as the darkness swallows his silhouette.

Stiles runs. The darkness doesn't scare him, but he knows it's more than darkness out there. Scott runs next to him, pointy ears constantly moving and bristles raised.

He follows the road and it's more from memory than sight, because the red moon above him doesn't reach down between the thick tree tops. On the ground everything is suffocating darkness and liquid shadows threatening to crawl into his mouth and nose and eyes and choke him. But Stiles keeps running, even when the darkness wraps around his ankles and makes him stumble and fall, making the palm of his hands bleed.

The forest takes his blood as a sacrifice and lets him run a little further.

Stiles doesn't even see it at first. If Scott hadn't stopped, big paws digging into soft mud and lips sneering back to reveal long canines with a snarl, Stiles might have run right into it.

The huge creature is blocking the road, still and black as the night around them. All that gives it away is the red eyes, shining like the blood-red moon above them. It ignores Scott who barks bravely, and Stiles is pretty sure the thing in front of them could break Scott's spine with a lazy crunch of its jaws.

Blood thunders in Stiles' ears as the creature leans back and raises its muzzle to the blood-moon. The howl is deafening and numbing, bouncing off the trees and echoing for what seems like forever in the dead-silence of the forest.

But it doesn't move.

And that's when Stiles realizes that they're at an impasse; There is no point in running, but he can't stay and the creature is waiting for his move. But in the end Scott makes the decision for him, breaking heel and diving into the beast with bared teeth and all the courage of a lion.

Stiles doesn't wait; he can't wait. He can't stay and watch Scott get ripped to shreds, won't stay and listen to the pitiful whimpers as the dog bleeds out on the ground, over-sized heart beating pointlessly with no connection to a brain.

Maybe he'll cry later, maybe he'll come back when this is over and bury what ever remains he can find, but for now he runs. Thorns and low brush rips his hands and leaves gashes on his face, but he doesn't notice. And if the creature is closing in behind him he doesn't hear it. All he has to hold on to is the frantic beat of his own heart.

"Run away little boy, run away!" The forest whispers, and Stiles feels like he's running on a stage, around and around while the audience watches and waits for him to be caught. "Run Little Red. Run for your life."

It's been hours since he left the screams of the town behind and now, here in the graying light before the dawn breaks, it's like the entire forest holds its breath.

When the pale light begins to filter through the treetops Stiles is hardly moving forward. And to what use would it even be? He has no idea where he is.

His dad told him not to stop, but Stiles has to. He needs water and his legs won't hold him up for much longer. He wonders, as he crawls onto a large rock with a shallow pool full of rainwater and half-rotten leaves, if there's even any point of going on. Now that he knows what was attacking town he has little hope that anyone is still alive.

He bends down to drink, lips hovering just above the mirror of the water. The reflection stares at him with accusation and anger. "Of course your father is alive." It says. "Don't you give up on him for a minute! Don't you dare!"

Stiles closes his eyes and drinks, ignoring the bitter taste.

"What are you doing here?"

Stiles bolts backwards - uncoordinated and ungraceful - and tumbles off the rock. The soft ground breaks his fall, but he's too scared to notice. It takes an embarrassing thirty seconds to realize that the person asking had to have been human and not a black-furred monster with red eyes. Slowly he gets to his knees and peaks over the top of the rock.

The man who spoke is young. He's dressed in sensible clothes, leather and thick linen made to resist the weather and cold. His hair is dark, almost black and grey eyes are fixed on Stiles, assessing and curious.

Stiles realizes that he's staring at the stranger only when the man moves impatiently.

"I - ehm, I think I'm lost." Stiles shrugs, unsure how he's supposed to explain why he's sitting here alone in the middle of the forest with no idea where he is or where he's going, because he's an idiot who can't follow a road.

"Lost?" The man offers an amused smile. "This is a pretty dangerous place to be lost. Trust me, I know these woods."

Stiles gets to his feet and barely manages to keep standing; his legs are so heavy and he's just realizing now that he strained an ankle. "You think maybe you could point me in the direction of the road then?"

The man doesn't answer at first. Instead he looks at Stiles, looks as if he's trying to see through attitude and skin and flesh, see right into the heart and mind of him. In the end he nods. "Sure. It's not like I'd leave you here on your own, but I have to warn you. It's a two hour walk and you don't seem like you're up for it."

"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm peachy! Or better than that, actually. I'm immaculate. And that's a real word, my dad taught me."

"I hope the rest of you can run as fast as your mouth." The man says with a sigh. "You might still need it." Then he turns and walks off – in the wrong direction.

"Hey! Hey, Forest-guy. Is there any chance you can get me to the road in the… Well, other direction?" Stiles points behind them, in the direction of where (he's pretty sure) he came from.

"There's no road back there. Not one you're going to reach before night, anyway." The man says with a frown. "And it's Derek. Call me Forest-guy again and I'll make sure a sprained ankle is the least of your problems."

And it's pretty weak as far as threats go , especially since a sprained ankle already is the least of his problems, so Stiles just lets his mouth hang open in false shock of the rudeness and starts limping out of the clearing in protest. Luckily Derek falls for it and with a painful sigh he comes jogging up on Stiles' side. Stiles has to admit it feels good to not be alone right now, even if he's not quite sure he trusts this Derek fella, but right now the sun is up and the birds are singing and there's a complete lack of black-furred monsters lurking in the shadows, so Stiles grits his teeth and limps after Derek, trusting the stranger to know the woods around them.

"You're not gonna make it to the road like that." Derek says matter of factually after just twenty minutes. He keeps glancing back at Stiles, sometimes even taking a short pause to make sure Stiles doesn't fall too far behind. "What are you even doing out here? It's miles away from everything."

"Picnic. Yeah, I always go out here to enjoy the nature and a good lunch, you know?"

Derek huffs out something that could qualify as laughter. "Picnic, hu? Can I ask where your food is?"

"I live off the riches of the land." Stiles deadpans. "What'd ya say we don't talk about this right now, okay? I mean, you look friendly enough, for a serial killer type, but there's only so much information a guy can share on a first date with out looking like he's trying too hard."

"A simple "no" would have sufficed." Derek says, but it's less brooding and more amused.

"Really? Because my dad tells me no all the time, and I'll tell you what, that word? Means nothing to me; might as well have been a different language."

"Good thing I speak fluent teenager, then." Derek throws back and for a while the banter takes Stiles' mind off his pain and worries.

Derek doesn't allow for real breaks. Instead he keeps the pace slow and takes his time to guide them through the trees to avoid the large blackberry thickets and steep gullies. Once in a while he tells Stiles to go on in a certain direction and leaves to scout ahead. Stiles is really surprised how far he managed to run during the night and also how he managed not to fall and break his neck in the darkness. Sometimes Derek returns with berries or wild fruits for Stiles and around lunch time Derek stops at a small brook and tells Stiles to drink.

They don't talk a lot, but Stiles doesn't mind so much. He'd like a distraction, but at the same time he knows he needs to save energy. When the sun begins to hang low and the forest gets darker Derek returns with a dead rabbit and tells Stiles that this is as far as they're going to get today. An old pine has been toppled by a storm and the large net of roots provides shelter from both wind and the light drizzle that starts up around dusk. Derek makes a fire and Stiles tries in vain to find a comfortable patch of dirt to sit on.

"I'm so hungry I'm pretty sure my stomach has begun to digest itself." Stiles says and moves closer to the fire and the roasting rabbit.

"I thought you lived off the land?" Derek reminds him with a small smile. Stiles makes a face that's not very mature.

"Nah, I..." He hesitates, because he knows he doesn't exactly owe Derek anything, except maybe his life and his eternal gratitude, but not anything when it comes to explanations. But he can't help but think that if he can tell Derek the truth, actually say out loud what has happened, then it might be less frightening and surreal. "I - I'm not really out here for my enjoyment."

"I figured as much." Derek says and turns the rabbit. He doesn't look at Stiles, but Stiles knows Derek is expecting him to go on.

"My dad told me to run away. Or well, not away so much as towards. I'm supposed to get to the next town and find someone. Hopefully that someone can help." Stiles' mouth moves a bit without producing sound. He's trying to find the right words, but they somehow keep escaping him. "I just don't know if it's even any help at this point. I don't know if anyone is still even alive."

"That sounds bad." Derek says with a frown, eyes searching Stiles' face. "What happened?"

"I don't know... well, I'm not sure. You wouldn't believe me anyway."

"Try me."

"Would you believe me if I told you it was monsters?" Stiles asks, but he can't even say the words without smiling, because it sounds so ridiculous now.

But Derek isn't smiling. "I would. When you live out here in the forest you see things. These woods are full of monsters." Derek turns the rabbit over the flames again. "I learned that when I was younger."

Stiles doesn't know what to say to that, so instead he looks into the flames licking against the meat of the rabbit, making the skin crackle and liquid fat bubble out.

"Why do you wear that stupid red hoodie anyway?" Derek asks when he lifts the rabbit off the fire and starts cutting it up with his knife.

Stiles raises his eyebrows. "Haven't you heard? Red keeps away the beasts of the forest…"

Derek snorts. "No, it doesn't and you're too smart to believe that anyway, so why do you wear it?"

Stiles hesitates. It's his story, he doesn't have to share it with Derek. But he wants to, just like he wanted to tell him about the monsters that attacked his town.

"When I was younger my mom went out into the forest and got killed. My dad looked everywhere for her, but he never found her. So he gave me a red shirt, so he'd always be able to find me."

"And everyone else can find you too. Wolves, wraiths… monsters."

"You found me."

"I know." Derek says and there's something close to a smile on his face. "I think I know what's attacking your town, though. From what you've told me it's fast and strong and bloodthirsty. But the good thing is it's probably alone."

"How do you know that?"

"Like I said. I know about monsters. You said you had to find someone?"

"Yeah. My dad told me to find someone called Grandpa."

"I'll go with you." Derek said, poking the fire. "I'll help you find him."

Stiles feels a swell of warmth running through him and he realizes how cold and lost he's been feeling. While they eat Stiles tries to tell himself that everything's going to be okay now. He looks into the flames and tries not to think about black fur and red eyes and claws that can easily split open a grown man, rip him to shreds and leave him bleeding to death with intestines spread out on the cold ground.

When they've eaten Derek throws more wood on the fire. The circle of light around them is small and fragile and Stiles isn't even sure it would hold off the monsters. But at least it'll allow them to see when the monsters are coming. Stiles guesses that's the best they can hope for - extra time to run. Because run is all they can do. They have no guns or rifles, not even a proper dagger. Stiles moves closer to the fire and tries not to think about how he'll managed to find the strength to run away again.

"You want to take turns keeping watch?" Stiles asks and wraps his arms around himself, more for support than warmth. The trees are looking at them, rotten holes for eyes and gaping mouths.

"No," Derek says with a small smile. "You need to sleep."

"I'm not sure I can sleep, you know?" Stiles says with a shrug of his shoulders. "Now that I know what's out there..."

"If you expect to walk anywhere tomorrow you need to rest now." Derek throws another branch on the fire. "You've trusted me this far. So do us both a favour and go to sleep. I'll keep watch."

Stiles doesn't stay awake much longer after that. He falls into an uneasy sleep full of red eyes crying blood and black fur that burns and melts and becomes darkness, thick and suffocating. At some point during the night, however, the fur becomes something else, warm and soothing and Stiles thinks in his sleep that Scott has found him and has come to keep him safe.

Stiles wakes up to the smell of smoke and stale earth, wet from rain and moldy. He feels like his entire body should be falling apart, that it already has and someone put it back together the wrong way. There's not a joint that's not aching, not a patch of skin that's not covered in scratches or mud or dried-up blood.

He can't see Derek anywhere, but he's not worried - doesn't have the strength to worry. Instead he sits up with some difficulty and examines his ankle. It's swollen and sore, but not excessively so. When he gets to his feet and takes a few testing steps it's not as bad as he'd feared. Truth be told the rest of his body hurts just as bad.

"You shouldn't walk on that ankle." Derek says as he appears in the clearing. He looks surprisingly rested and relaxed.

"Guess you'll just have to carry me then." Stiles jokes.

Derek rolls his eyes at him, saying: "I'm not your mule."

"You're as stubborn as one, though." Stiles mumbles, brushing bits of dead leaves out of his own hair. Derek huffs out an amused sound and kicks wet dirt over the embers, making sure the smoke is gone before they leave the clearing.

Like yesterday they keep a steady pace. Derek steers them past a hazel thicket and they collect a few handfuls of nuts each. Stiles cuts a long stem off and uses his small knife to make one end pointy while they're walking. He hasn't seen anything moving between the trees, not yesterday or today, but it doesn't hurt to have a weapon.

After a few hours Derek leaves to scout ahead. They've been following a wide ravine that cuts through the forest, hoping to find a place to cross, but so far no luck. Stiles is biting back pain with every step, using the spear as a walking stick. He's debating with himself if he should demand a break when ever Derek returns when the first few drops start falling through the canopy above. It doesn't take long for the moist forest floor to become a muddy sludge from the pouring rain and Stiles moves closer to the ravine where the terrain is made up of cliffs instead. It's a little harder on his ankle, but at least he's not getting stuck.

That's when he sees it, blurred by the curtain of rain: a huge, black form padding along on the other side of the ravine. He stumbles and slips on the wet rocks, hitting his knee, but he doesn't even feel the pain, because adrenalin is already flooding his system.

Run, little boy. Run for your life.

When he risks another glance across the ravine the beast has stopped, red eyes fixed on Stiles. Panic overrides all reason and he fumbles for the hazel stick - the only proper weapon he has - praying that the beast can't possibly jump that far. His fingers just scarp over sharp stone and he cast a quick glance down and realizes that the makeshift spear is gone. He looks around, spotting it on a small shelf some 15 feet down in the ravine.

"Derek!" He yells, but as soon as the words are out of his mouth he regrets it, because across the span of the ravine the black monster lets out a deep rumbling sound. Stiles swallows and crawls closer to the edge, keeping his eyes on the mass of black fur as he moves. The stick isn't that far down and the slope isn't very steep. He's pretty sure he can get down and back up, even with his ankle, so he casts a last glance across the ravine, but the beast is gone.

"Go on straight ahead, he said. I'll keep an eye out, he said. I won't go far." Stiles mumbles under his breath as he slowly makes his way down the cliffs. It's not that he blames Derek for this, it's not. But just for a short while he felt like things were going to work out, that if he trusted Derek things would be fine.

"Stiles!"

Derek's voice is loud and much closer than Stiles would have expected and it makes him snap his head up to see. The movement makes him lose balance and his fingers slip on the wet stone - he fights for purchase, but there's just empty space.

He hits the shelf below, back colliding with sharp stone. The pain in his leg is so blinding that he doesn't even realize he's hit his head as well. Not until everything goes blurry and Derek's voice up ahead sounds muffled. "Stiles! God damn it, kid. Don't do this to me now. Stay with me."

Then everything goes quiet.

The sounds are the first to return, chasing away dark dreams of blood pooling, thick and black, and flesh being torn. It seemed so real, but Stiles knows it was a dream, because no one can suffer through being maimed like that and not scream. The only screams he remembers were his own.

"Your leg is pretty torn up, but it's not broken." Derek's tired voice says close to his ear and Stiles becomes aware that he's popped up against Derek's chest. Somewhere to their left there's the crackling sounds of a fire. "There's a deep gash down your side and you have a few pressed ribs. Your wrist and shoulder were dislocated, I had to pop them back in. I though you were never going to stop screaming."

"You sure aren't sugar coating it." Stiles croaks out. He can taste blood and bile and ash. Derek shifts and Stiles feels wood pressed to his mouth and then water, cold and soothing, running between his dry lips.

"You didn't hurt your head as badly as I thought." Derek offers as Stiles drinks and it's a shitty comfort, but Stiles guesses that's probably the only good news there is to deliver.

"They're all going to die now. There's no way I'll make it to town to get help." Stiles says and makes an effort to open his eyes. That's when he realizes that there's a warm hand covering his eyes and a gentle thumb rubbing across his forehead in sympathy.

"We're closer to the next town than I thought. We'll go in tomorrow. Now you need to relax." Derek moves them both closer to the warmth of the fire. The hand covering his eyes stays in place. "What were you doing playing mountain goat for, anyway?" Derek asks and Stiles jerks when fingers brush around sore flesh on his side as Derek examines the gash. He wonders if Derek has closed it up.

"I dropped my spear." He says and it sounds so stupid when he says it out loud.

"You risked you life for a stick?" Derek's voice is amused and Stiles feels hot breath on his neck.

"It was the only protection I had!"

"I'm the only protection you have." The thumb presses against Stiles' forehead, the closest to a physical reprimand Derek dares. "All you had to do was to trust me."

"With my life, yeah. I don't even know you." And it sounds absurd, especially as they sit here, pressed close to keep away the cold and nightmarish remains of the day.

Apparently Derek thinks so too, because he huffs out a soft laugh, warm breath dancing across Stiles' neck. "I used to swim in the stream. I was so fast, faster than my sister and she was usually better than me at everything. Her name was Laura. I once broke my arm, but I heal pretty quickly. Made me realize I wasn't immortal, though." As Derek talks the pressure of his hand against Stiles' eyes become lighter. "Then I learned what death really means. When my family died I didn't speak for a month. I was your age."

Stiles turns his head and this time Derek's hand doesn't follow. He blinks a few times, not surprised to see it's dark. Derek is leaned against a fallen tree and he's staring into the fire, light flickering eerily in his eyes.

"You've been living alone since then?" Stiles asks, head rising and falling in time with Derek's breathing.

"Yeah. I knew how to survive, but I had to toughen up." Derek says. "I got smarter. Smarter than you, little mountain goat."

"And stronger." Stiles agrees.

"And faster."

"Definitely grumpier." Stiles mocks, happy that Derek is playing along.

"Shut up." Derek growls, but there's no anger in his voice and when Stiles drifts back into sleep he's trusts Derek to keep him safe.

Dawn breaks through the trees and wakes Stiles from dark dreams. He's still resting against Derek, who's been keeping Stiles from shifting too much during the night.

"You talk in your sleep." Derek informs him, and Stiles isn't sure how Derek always knows when he's awake. "Nightmares."

"Yeah, well." Stiles mutters and presses closer to the heat of Derek's body, ignoring the sting in his side. "Apparently you deal with monsters better than I do."

"Or maybe you're just afraid of the wrong monsters." Derek sounds impatient, a bit of the grumpiness returning to his voice as he untangles himself from Stiles and starts kicking mud on the embers. Stiles fights to a sitting position, looking at Derek's back as he moves around.

"So what's the plan?"

"I guess I'll have to play mule after all." Derek says, coming over and crouching with his back turned to Stiles so he can crawl up. "But I swear, if you make a single donkey joke I'll drop you like a sack of rocks."

"Oh, come on. Don't be such an ass." Stiles says, before he can stop himself. Luckily Derek doesn't drop him, but he does demand that Stiles gets down and walk when they reach the level dirt road after a short hour. Derek still supports most of Stiles' weight for the better part of three miles until Stiles blank out refuses to take another step.

Derek crouches down and examines Stiles' ankle with a concerned frown. "I didn't realize you'd be healing this slowly."

"You don't get hurt much, hu?"

"No." Derek simply answers and signals for Stiles to crawl back up. "Not for a long time."

"Well, I get hurt a lot." Stiles confesses. "That was my first time as a mountain goat, though."

"You could have fooled me." Derek says. "Must be the smell."

Stiles ignores the insult and instead he starts to tell Derek bits and pieces about his life, about his dad and Scott. It hurts to talk about, but Derek understands, and when Stiles has too stop talking because the pain of the memories and the pain in his side becomes too great Derek distracts him by telling stories about how he and Laura used to build animals in the snow every winter.

But then Derek stops talking and Stiles raises his head. The city wall is standing tall and dark up ahead, half obscured by a light mist, but that's not why Derek stopped. On the road in front of them there's a dead doe, the open crater in its neck and the big black eyes full of flies.

Derek takes a few more steps and lowers Stiles from his back, even as he moves closer. Stiles hardly feels the pain in his ankle as he comes up on Derek's side and sees the claw marks on the animal. Derek crouches down and hesitantly his fingers brushes over the mark on the doe's side: a perfect spiral drawn in blood.

Stiles swallows and looks around, but for once the trees are silent. He's not sure why he starts to shake, except a mindless beast wouldn't be drawing spirals on its prey. "That's the town up ahead. We should keep moving."

"I need to know what this is." Derek says and gets to his feet. "Stay here."

"Derek? Derek, the town's right there." Stiles yells just as Derek disappears from sight into the thick mess of ferns and mist. Stiles turns, spins and the world seems to be spinning too. He tries to look in between the trees, but there's nothing to see. There's a rustle somewhere, but it could be anything and the mist makes it impossible to pin-point where it came from. Still he listens, listens until he hears his own breath hitch in his throat, his own heart banging in his chest like a caged bird of prey.

It's on the road between him and town when he turns to face it, watching him silently and motionless with its red eyes. With a lazy stretch of muscles the beast begins to move, circling him, sniffing. He tries to turn with it, limping around himself, and the world slows down. He doesn't realize that he's holding his breath until his lungs starts to hurt and when he draws breath it's a shaking sob that sounds deafening even in his own ears and the beast rumbles deep in its throat.

Stiles stumbles backwards, tripping over air and falling helplessly on his back. The beast lowers its body, getting ready to jump, but then Derek is there, charging into the beast. Stiles watches in panic as the beast gets on its hind legs and claws at Derek, tearing deep into flesh and tendons. Derek's knees give in and Stiles watches in slow motion how Derek stumbles and falls, blood bubbling from his mouth.

"Run, Stiles." He chokes out pushing himself away from the beast, away from where Stiles is lying frozen. "Move!"

And Stiles does. He ignores the way his ankle hurts and the way blood starts running down his leg as the gash in his side springs up. He ignores the way his chest aches every time he draws in breath. He even tries to ignore the sound of the beast roaring behind him, the sound of Derek calling out to distract it, voice shaking.

Run little boy. Run and don't look back.

The gate creaks open as he closes in on the city wall and the moment he's through there are guards around him, catching him before his legs give in under him.

"Get the Doc." Someone calls, and everything turns into chaos.

"I need to find someone." Stiles croaks, fighting to stay conscious. "Grandpa. I need to find Grandpa."

"Easy, kid." The guard says, hands pressing against the bleeding wound in Stiles' side. "Just try t'stay awake, the Doctor's on 'is way."

But Stiles doesn't stay awake, he doesn't want to. As he blacks out on the cold stones there're screams in his ears and claws, red with blood.

The tea is lukewarm and bitter, but Stiles drinks it down anyway. The chair he's sitting in is huge and soft like the one his own grandfather used to have, but Stiles doesn't relax into it, because remnants of nightmares are still lingering from his sleep and this time there's no one to chase them away.

"Stiles, right?" The old man asks and Stiles nods. He's already told his story to the city guards, but this is the man he came here to find, so he tells it all again. "I knew your father when we lived in your town, before we moved away. He's a brave man."

"He is." Stiles nods. "But he needs help."

"I know." The old man says, putting a comforting hand on Stiles' shoulder. "The guards are getting ready to leave as we speak. All you have to do is tell me where we can find the beast. Where is Derek Hale?"

"Derek..." Stiles blinks, feeling dizzy and confused. "Hale?"

"He followed you here, no doubt trying to get to me. He's a monster and if he's really hurt as badly as you tell me then now is the time to strike."

"But weren't you listening? Derek saved me from the monster!"

"Did he now? You were hurt and burning from fever. Don't you think it's more likely you hallucinated? Derek Hale is a monster - you're lucky you got away alive." Stiles shakes his head like a stubborn child, because he doesn't want to face the way the pieces fit together all too well. Grandpa tightens his hold on Stiles' shoulder. "Your dad sent you to me for help, remember? So tell me what I need to know in order to help you."

"No he..." You need to find Grandpa, but don't trust him. Not for a second, you hear me? His dad's words echoes back to him and he shakes his head again, trying to clear it, but it's so heavy. "This isn't..."

"This isn't what? You thought Derek was some kind of hero who sacrificed himself to keep you safe? Naive little boy. He's the monster who killed your dad, with the claws and fur and fangs to prove it. I've been hunting him for years, but he's smart. Probably managed to keep it hidden from you too, or maybe you didn't want to see."

Stiles closes his eyes. Fur in the darkness, warm and comforting. It's dark because Derek keeps Stiles' eyes covered, not letting him see. Across the ravine the beast looks at him. He calls out for Derek and the beast growls in answer. Stiles runs away, runs from the monster and right into Derek, waiting so Stiles can lead him to Grandpa. Stiles' eyes snaps open and he's shaking, not just his head, but his whole body.

"No. I know what I saw. My dad told me not to trust you." Stiles tries to get to his feet, but he's still weak and the old man is stronger than he seems, holding Stiles in the chair with what seems like little effort. You're scared of the wrong monsters.

The Hale House burned and the family too, children screaming in the night. People moved away. Grandpa moved away, thinking he had killed all the beasts, but Derek survived. Derek is the beast. And he's been roaming the forest, trying to find the one who killed his family. And Stiles' dad knew. The Sheriff remembered what everyone else forgot and when Derek attacked town he sent Stiles to find Grandpa, to lead the beast where it needed to go. No, there were two. There had to be two, Stiles had seen them.

"Who is the other?" Stiles demands and Grandpa pulls back, cold eyes gleaming in the light of the fireplace. "Who's the other Wolf?"

"Those unnatural beasts aren't wolves!" The old man roars. "They're freaks. Abominations! Mindless and evil, but easily controlled. I found one in the remains, barely alive. Every breath it took was a sin. But one body was missing. The boy. So I took the creature and made it mine to command. And when I heard your father had been helping the Hale kid survive I sent my own monster. To kill the only ones who could threaten me."

"Because my dad remembered."

"Because he didn't know how to keep his mouth shut!" Grandpa sneers, lips pulling back to bare his teeth. "A family trade, it seems. I guess I can manage to wipe out one more family."

Stiles tries to slip past the old man, but he stumbles and trips, head spinning and body refusing to respond.

"It's the tea." The old man says, sounding almost comforting as he pulls out the long hunting knife. "Mild sedative so it won't hurt. You're not a monster, after all."

"No, you are." Stiles whispers, eyes stinging with tears of anger and exhaustion.

When the door slams open, Stiles doesn't even have the strength to feel relief. Derek's shirt is ripped and his side is smeared with blood, but he doesn't seem injured, which Stiles knows is wrong, because he saw. He saw the monster rip Derek open, saw blood spill, and now Derek is here, seemingly uninjured and pissed.

Derek charges into Grandpa, colliding with a feral sneer and Stiles just manages to see the nails on Derek's hand grow out to long claws before he buries those claws deep in Grandpa's chest, effectively puncturing his lungs. Grandpa's eyes goes wide and he's mouth moves uselessly, with out breath to make sound.

"I should have burned you instead!" Derek growls close to the old man's ear and he retracts his claws, leaving Grandpa to fall to the floor like a rag doll. A long death rattle bubbles from his blood-filled mouth.

Derek doesn't look away until he's sure the old man is dead, then he lets out a shaking breath.

"Derek?" Stiles asks, as Derek takes a single swaying step towards him. Then Derek falls to his knees, looking at the silver hunting knife sticking out just below his heart.

Stiles fights to his knees and crawls to Derek's side, pulling out the knife. Derek growls from pain, eyes turning red as he focuses on Stiles. " My uncle - the other... beast," Derek forces out, breathing heavily. "You don't have to worry about him either. He's dead."

"Did he kill my dad?"

"No." Derek shakes his head and bites back the pain. "He left town when you ran away. Because he knew I'd be following you to get to Grandpa. Your town is safe." Derek says and coughs.

"Why aren't you healing?" Stiles asks, examining the wound. "You healed before. I saw you get torn up and you healed!"

"Silver knife." Derek mumbles and moves to lean against the wall. "I'm not going to heal. Not this."

"What are you talking about? Derek?" Stiles follows Derek to the wall, moving the larger man around so he's resting back against Stiles' chest.

The movement makes Derek cough and blood bubbles on his lips. "I'm sorry I won't be around to keep you safe or your way home, Kid." He whispers. "You be sure to stay on the road this time, okay?" He tries a weak smile, pressing a hand against the wound.

"No! Derek, you can't die!"

"I died a long time ago, Stiles." Derek says, a dribble of blood running from his mouth. "A wolf needs a pack."

"People used to say you were a monster." Stiles says, hand pressing down on Derek's wound, but he knows that it's pointless. There's hardly any more blood to hold in. "But I'm going to make sure they know you were a hero."

But Derek doesn't answer, his entire body's going slack against Stiles.

When Stiles leaves town the sun is shining and golden specks of light are dancing through the canopy above, inviting him to come play between the trees. But he stays on the road this time, following the twists and turns through the forest to where his father and the rest of the town people are waiting for him, so he can tell them the story. The story about the man who turned out to be a wolf, who turned out to be a hero.

~The End~