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“What did you do,” Derek hissed as he became aware of his surroundings. They were in the deepest part of the woods and the witch they were previously fighting was just standing there smiling. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end at that smile.
Derek narrowed his eyes as he stared her down before freezing as he immediately realized that he couldn't hear the ever familiar hummingbird heartbeat of-
“Where’s Stiles- What did you do to him,” he demanded, barely able to hold himself back from launching himself at the witch and brutally ripping her throat out.
The witch rolled her eyes unimpressed. “Your lover boy is just fine.” Then she paused and gave him a curious look. “You know everyone has heard of your pack right? The werewolf pack held together by a single human. Really motivational stuff,” she hummed.
“What does this-,” Derek’s growling was cut off by the witch speaking dismissively.
“Everyone knows that human would do anything for any of you. Especially you.” She gave him a fully open, considering look. “I wanted to get him to see if any of you would come. But I forgot that he wouldn’t leave your side at all so I hopped to plan B.” The look she gave Derek chilled him to the core. “A lesson needs to be learned after all.”
Derek swallowed the roar he wanted to let out and tried to get a grip on his claws that kept growing. His eyes burned red as he stared her form down. “What lesson,” he spat as he glowered at her knowing that he couldn’t kill her. At least not yet.
The witch twirled her hair. “See the thing is I’m a huge fan of the classics. And I wasn’t kidding when everyone knows how much the poor boy trusts you all. Everyone and their uncle knows how ready he is to die for you.”
The witch paused to waggle her fingers that were now pulsing with red energy. “Ever heard of Orpheus and Eurydice Alpha?,” she smirked.
Derek immediately frowned and gave her the most hate filled glare. “Yes,” he gritted out with his fangs down.
“A man of few words,” the witch mused. “Ah well that’ll change quickly I suppose. Congratulations mutt you’re now upgraded to Orpheus and the wonderful human of course is our dear Eurydice.”
Understanding dawned on Derek and he fought not to let any of the slowly creeping panic he felt show. “So what? I walk and he follows me,” he said roughly as he fought to shove his fangs away. “Sounds easy.”
The witch gave him a look that could freeze the earth. “Easy,” she repeated blankly as she turned her gaze to the boy standing behind the Alpha staring at her with a pleading look as the teenager understood what she was planning. “Oh alpha you’ll be eating those words quite quickly,” she snorted. “He trusts you more than anyone else but do you trust him enough to follow you? To end the spell?”
Derek visibly hesitated and only responded by grunting and giving her a heated look as well as a small barely noticeable nod.
“See the funny part about that is I don't know which one of us you were trying to lie to,” she mused. “Hesitation isn’t a good thing in a situation like this.”
The teenager was glaring at the witch with his arms crossed still standing behind his alpha. He looked angry but underneath all of that he looked scared and hurt like he already knew that the one he loved didn’t trust him enough to know he’d follow him anywhere.
“You’ll walk forward and you have to trust that he’ll follow you. He can’t speak, and you can’t sense him by any means. Once you reach the forest's edge either you’ll both be there and the lesson will be learned or you failed,” the witch explained shrugging as she focused on the Alpha again.
“What happens if I fail?,” Derek hesitantly asked, needing to know despite himself.
The witch smiled at him with a sharp, dangerous look in her eyes. “Then you simply fail. You prove that you don’t trust him and that you never have. Of course I’ll offer him a place in my coven regardless.”
Derek swallowed as he shifted a bit on his feet as he clenched his fists. “Why,” he questioned as he stared at her blankly.
The witch turned her stare back to the human who was staring right back at her with wide amber eyes as the teenager crossed his arms defensively to his chest. “Because nobody deserves this,” she said quietly. “To live or die for people who wouldn’t care either way. To give everything and gain nothing.”
The teenager swallowed audibly and closed his eyes tightly as he looked away from her. The witch’s face softened slightly before it closed off as she looked at the wolf again. “Equivalent exchange mutt. After all trust and loyalty should go both ways,” she said shortly.
“Of course I care if he dies,” Derek snarled, eyes glowing crimson. “And it does go both ways.”
“Then prove it,” the witch snapped. “Walk to the edge of the forest and don’t look back. You can’t turn around -you can’t check if he’s there. You trust him? Then prove it.”
“I will,” Derek spat as he never looked away from the witch as his claws grew and he didn’t pull them back in.
“Go on then dog. The sooner you start the sooner you’ll fail,” the witch purred.
Derek let out an animalistic snarl as he turned around and started stalking forward. Stiles exhaled shakily as he scrambled after him as he hunched in on himself while pulling his red hood over his hair.
“This isn’t a lesson for you,” the witch said quietly as she tracked the boy following his wolf as they walked away. “He has to learn somehow-by any means necessary.”
Derek’s eye twitched as the farther away he got the more he couldn’t smell the brimstone and the overwhelming mixture of herbs from the witch. He paused to wipe a hand over his face.
It was silent. No chatter, no shoulder brushing against his or a slim body nudging him with a teasing remark. The absence of the familiar scent of sharp anxiety eased by freshly melted chocolate chip cookies, and lemon made him glower at the ground.
Fucking witches- he fucking hates magic.
Derek seethes at the noticeable loss of Stiles. He shouldn’t be this affected by the boy being undetectable or this fucking early on the way out of the forest and yet-
Here he is glaring at the grass under his boots so fiercely that if Stiles was able to speak he just knows he’d make a quip about how “he shouldn’t try to melt the grass with his glare” and to “stop being such a sourwolf.”
The silence was almost painful without Stiles's commentary. Derek hadn’t realized how much he was used to him being in his orbit until he was gone. It was- fuck he wasn’t good at words but it felt just plain wrong.
Derek rolled his shoulders and marched forward with a scowl. Stiles, who was staring at him with an unseen concerned look placed an unfeelable hand on Derek’s shoulder, flinched in surprise before following him with a lost expression.
Derek didn’t want to prove the witch right but he barely got out of the witches range before the silence was too much to bear.
“You better be behind me or I’m gonna be pissed,” Derek said in a low tone as he continued to walk forward.
Stiles jerked in surprise before he let out a soundless snort as he kept following the brooding werewolf.
“I’m serious this- this is bullshit-,” Derek huffed. “You know I- you have this annoying habit of always doing the right thing and saving my life so you know I-,” Derek cut himself off as the words got stuck.
The werewolf growled and he kicked the ground. “Words are more your thing,” he grumbled as he kept moving. “You know it goes both ways,” he eventually managed to say.
The lack of response only spurred him on.
“I wouldn’t blame you if you chose not to follow me though,” he said quietly. “I’m not- fuck you of all people know I’m not great. But-,” he cut himself off as he struggled with the words. “You’re- you’re good and I’m not,” he finally spat out.
Stiles was scowling at his audacity and wanted nothing more than to punch him, although that stupid spell would keep Derek from feeling it. Well at least his hand benefited from that at least.
Derek’s shoulders slumped when he realized that he couldn’t get a response. “Right you can’t answer me,” he sighed as he wiped a hand down his face pausing in place for a second. “Fucking witches.”
Stiles nodded fiercely cause yes- fucking witches was the motto of the day- or well the night.
Derek continued walking and ten steps in he snorted. “If you were able to, I bet you would have tried- and failed- to punch me for saying that,” he said in amusement with a slight smirk. “Guess one good thing came from you not being able to touch me.”
Stiles scowled at the werewolf’s back and he resolved to punch him twice when they made it out of this fucking forest. Actually three times. And maybe kick him in the shins.
Fucking werewolves and fucking Derek Hale.
Besides, just because he’s right doesn’t mean he had to say it. Rude.
Derek chuckled slightly as his mood lifted a tiny bit. “You’re probably making that face where you think you’re scowling but it’s actually like an angry pout where your nose is all scrunched up. It makes you look like a drowned kitten,” he snickered.
Stiles paused for a second before he blushed a light pink. He ducked his head into his hoodie as if to hide his already hidden face.
“Plus I bet you would have stuck your tongue out at me at least four times by now,” Derek added. “Childish brat,” he snorted with great amounts of fondness.
Stiles’s lips quirked up at the sound of Derek openly showing his feelings. His face softened as he stared at him.
Besides, even if he was a “childish brat” Derek was still a broody sourwolf.
“Shut up Stiles,” Derek automatically said as if sensing his thoughts. “I’m not a sourwolf stop thinking it so loudly.”
Stiles beamed cause he was so going to tease Derek about this later, maybe after he punched him and kicked his shin.
But still awe such a softywolf.
“You're such a little shit,” Derek sighed with a small genuine smile. “I spend way too much time with you Christ.”
The atmosphere around the two lightened up bit by bit the more Derek talked and Stiles listened.
“Seriously I’m so used to you being around and never shutting up that this feels wrong,” Derek admitted. “Not being able to see you? I could learn to like that. Not being able to hear you? Ah finally some peace and quiet.”
Derek paused for a second as he debated whether or not to say what he wanted to but he decided to bite the bullet.
If Stiles was still here, which he probably was because he was a “ride or die type of bitch” according to him, then at least he’d know how Derek felt and that Derek did trust him.
Which Derek did, despite his past and vast amount of trust issues. Derek trusted Stiles more than anyone else.
And that loud mouthed teen deserved to know it.
“I hate not being able to sense you,” Derek said quickly as if ripping off a bandaid. “It makes my instincts uneasy being unable to sense where my anchor is.” Derek took a deep breath and immediately felt like a weight had been lifted after he finally admitted it out loud.
Stiles’s jaw was basically on the floor. Him?? He was the most badass broodiest werewolf on the west coast's anchor??
Actually it was probably a good thing that he wasn’t able to talk because Stiles was rebooting.
Stiles.exe was malfunctioning- come again later.
“Breathe dumbass,” Derek said, sounding a mix of amused and fond. “And close your mouth or you’ll catch some flies. We’re still in the woods and you bitched about the bugs earlier.”
Stiles closed his mouth with an inaudible click and glared at him for calling him out while huffing.
“You’re so predictable,” Derek sighed fondly as they kept walking. They were almost out of the forest actually which was fucking great news.
Derek loved the forest but witches always ruined that.
Fucking witches.
“You’re smart enough to know what it means,” Derek said quietly. “But try not to melt your brain please. We’re literally almost done with this bullshit. Wait like two minutes and then you can freak out during the car ride home.”
Stiles flushed a violent pink at that and scowled at the same time. So fucking rude of him to schedule his meltdowns. Although he did have a point, it was still the principle of it.
A smile crept on his face though because of what being Derek’s anchor implied. Looks like his one sided love might not be one sided afterall.
Thank fuck.
Stiles doesn’t do pining very well.
Derek and Stiles kept walking until they reached right about the forest edge. Derek stopped walking abruptly, making Stiles have to stop too.
“If I leave this forest and you’re not right behind me I will storm back through the forest and drag you out kicking and screaming,” Derek swore although there was a knowing hint in his voice that showed he didn’t think Stiles wouldn’t be right behind him.
It was silent as Derek clenched his hands by his sides tightly before releasing them from his balled up fists.
“You know I trust you,” he said as the words slipped from his lips. Easier than anything he’d tried to say previously throughout this hell journey.
Derek took a few deep breaths before releasing them. “Come on Eurydice,” he said in a joking tone without the tiniest bit of fear in it. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
And here Derek Hale proved yet again to be the bravest man Stiles knows. Because despite not knowing if Stiles was actually there he trusted him.
Derek stepped out of the forest.
And like always Stiles followed his wolf.
There was a flash of red and then all of Derek’s blocked senses immediately flooded back.
Stiles wasted no time as he stepped in front of Derek and stared at him with a frustrated look while his lips twitched up unconsciously. “I still want to punch you,” he said.
Derek merely breathed in the familiar and comforting scent of Stiles and let the humming heartbeat just this side of too fast wash over him as he smiled. “I know,” he responded because he did know.
Stiles let out a sigh before he let his lips settle into a small genuine smile that he rarely wore. “God you’re such an asshole,” he sighed before he leant forward and lightly pressed his lips against Derek’s stubbled cheek before leaning back.
Derek wasted no time in leaning forward and catching Stiles lips. The kiss was soft and gentle. It wasn’t like anything Derek has experienced.
It felt right.
They pulled apart but they rested their foreheads together still unable to bring themselves out of the other’s orbits.
“You may be a good kisser but I’m still gonna punch you- I’m serious about that,” Stiled warned.
Derek let out a startled but genuine laugh. “Yeah I know.”
Stiles leaned back and pressed a quick kiss on Derek’s forehead as if afraid Derek would pull back and say Sike! “Thanks for trusting me though.”
Derek rolled his eyes and flicked Stiles’s nose making the teenager yelp and clutch his nose. He grinned at the betrayed look on his face. “Well it would be dumb not to trust my anchor,” he said in a faux causal tone.
“Your anchor hmm?,” Stiles murmured with a soft look in his eyes. “I like the sound of that.”
Derek’s lips twitched into a small smile before he couldn’t resist leaning forward and kissing him again before pulling back. “Yeah, so do I.”
They exchanged two more kisses before Stiles groaned and buried his face into Derek’s shoulder. “We can’t let Erica find out,” he said in response to Derek’s confused noise.
Derek let out a bark of laughter before hiding his face in Stiles’s hair, and his grin. “Oh absolutely. She’d never let us live this down.”
“Orpheus and Eurydice? Please, that's barely one step above sleeping beauty. She’d never shut up,” Stiles sighed.
Derek grinned openly into Stiles’s hair. As they were loosely wrapped around each other. “We’d never hear the end of it,” he agreed.
“We have such shit taste in friends,” Stiles sighed into Derek’s shoulder but Derek could feel his smile.
“We really do,” Derek sighed.
It was quiet for a minute before Stiles said quietly. “So we’re actually doing this?”
Derek blinked before pulling back. “I want to,” he said as he cupped Stiles’s cheeks in his hands and looked him in the eyes. “If you want to?,” he said, sounding hesitant.
Stiles rolled his eyes and pulled Derek impossibly closer by his wrists and grinned at the surprised noise Derek made. “You were my bisexual awakening- of course I want this,” he snorted before leaning forward.
Derek met him halfway and they shared a warm kiss. Both were smiling into it. It was ridiculous- they just spent an hour trucking through the woods and here they were kissing in the middle of nowhere.
A low whistle made them both pause in place.
“Damn I thought for sure he’d realize he could do better than a diseased mutt,” the witch mused after whistling.
Derek grinned darkly against Stiles lips before pulling back and taking note how Stiles eyes darkened at the sight of it. “You’re still here- good.”
“I did promise to offer him a place in my coven,” the witch said with an eye roll not noticing the feral gleam in the wolf’s eyes. “Well sweetheart if you ever get bored of those mangy mutts you know where to find me,” she said with a wink as she looked Stiles over while smirking.
Stiles honest to god shuddered at the predatory look on Derek’s face. God it was hot.
“You really must have a death wish,” Derek snorted before smiling while showing way too many sharp inhuman teeth. “But I’m happy to oblige.”
Before either the witch or Stiles could blink Derek lunged at her and sliced her throat open with a vicious slash of his claws.
She slumped into the ground and gurgled and choked on her own blood as she floundered.
Derek merely grinned down at her. “Thanks for the couples therapy.” And then he turned and made his way back over to Stiles.
“God I shouldn’t have found that hot,” Stiles immediately blurted out since he had no filter and was still processing everything that just happened.
Derek wasted no time in kissing him. This time it was just this side of rough. Then he softened it and leant back before resting their foreheads together as they painted. “If Erica asked, this is what happened.”
“She tried to curse us, made you slightly jealous so you slashed her throat open before making out with me?,” Stiles said incredulously. “Who would believe- actually no that does sound like us,” he sighed.
Derek laughed before he leaned forward and kissed him one last time just because he could do that now before he pulled away. “Come on, I had enough witches for one day.”
“Fucking witches,” Stiles sighed as he and Derek climbed into his car. He flushed pink as Derek squeezed his hand with a soft look on his face.
“Fucking witches,” Derek huffed and Stiles squeezed his hand back with an equally soft look on his face before driving away from the dead bitch and her failed story book spell.
Turns out they were 100% right about their friends buying their story.
None of their friends questioned their explanation when they explained how they decided to get together, well minus Lydia of course who squinted at them suspiciously. They all just mostly shrugged and laughed because of course that’s how it finally happened.
Derek and Stiles merely decided to share a secretive look before laughing about it when they were finally alone before swallowing each other's laughter in a passionate kiss.
And if they occasionally called each other Orpheus and Eurydice before cracking up as an inside joke, then that’s their business and no one else’s.