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“A tattoo is a true poetic creation, and is always more than meets the eye. As a tattoo is grounded on living skin, so its essence emotes a poignancy unique to the mortal human condition.”
― V. Vale, Modern Primitives: An Investigation of Contemporary Adornment and Ritual
… The other wolf had his hand on his throat, squeezing tightly, almost breaking skin, growling low and looking at him straight at him, his eyes bloody, filled with rage, glowing a yellow feral color.
Derek didn’t know what to do, what to think, the other wolf was mad, looking for a Territory he couldn’t sustain, a pack that wasn’t his, a mate that was lost, and Derek now could only watch as the animal stood there menacing his only hope at healing, healing all those wounds inside of him, the scars left by years of fighting, of being alone and lost, but putting up a fight at this moment could only endanger Stiles, so human and breakable, he had always feared that he could be taken easily from his side.
He stood there, wolfed out, completely still, the cold air of the October night rushing through out the woods, the branches of the trees near the clearing crunching and dropping leaves all around them, the full moon painting the clear sky, lighting silver all around.
“Don’t move” Derek said, looking directly at Stiles, voice guttural and low behind his fangs, his red eyes gleaming brightly, burning with rage “Don’t make a sound, please”.
“There is no escape from this” growled the wolf, tightening his hold on Stiles, pressing his nose and mouth to Stiles’ collarbone, taking a deep inhaling his scent “This one smells sweet, Doesn’t he? But powerful, even if his heartbeat is pounding on his chest” the wolf continued, turning around to face Derek, he could hear it too, Stiles’ heart going strong and quick, but not in fear, adrenaline “I think I’ll just take him, you were stupid enough to leave him without a claim, alone in the woods for me to find” the wolf smiled wickedly, mocking him.
“Seriously dude?” Stiles had said “I don’t need protecting and I’m not a pray for you to chase or a thing for anyone to own” he was mad, Derek saw the cold glare Stiles sent into the night, exasperated “Let’s have some fun shall we?” he had said, suddenly, with a grin on his face.
Derek saw it happen all too quickly, where Stiles’ back connected to the wolf’s front a low red tinted light formed, changing suddenly the atmosphere around the clearing, he could smell magic and a surge of power out of nowhere, the wolf took a step back, releasing the grip on Stiles’ throat as if he was burned, he snarled at Stiles and crouched in front of him, ready to pounce and take a fight; Derek was ready to protect, all of his instincts were screaming to protect Stiles from the menace, to push him behind him and tear the other apart.
As he was about to attack, Stiles turned around to face the wolf “Not today, Fido” he said, he stretched his arm and flung his hand towards the wolf who was thrown trough the air and landed on the cold forest bed on his back, his face a normal human again, his eyes filled with fear and doubt.
“How did... what did...” the wolf was panicking, Derek saw him try to stand up, to call his wolf again with the help of the moon, but he couldn’t and Derek realized that Stiles had done that, he was preventing the wolf from turning.
“Run, little wolf, don’t let me catch you on our territory again” Stiles said, voice cold, body standing tall, claiming the territory as theirs “If any of my pack catch even a little glimpse of your scent, I will personally destroy you, you have caused more than enough drama for one night” he said with finality, the wolf (man now) stood up quickly, he had smelled the power flowing out of Stiles, he slowly paced backwards, careful steps, trying to not make any sudden movements, when he was at a safe distance he turned around and ran as fast as he could, disappearing from the clearing behind the trees on the preserve.
“See, that wasn’t that hard” Stiles said, laughing a bit, and turning to face Derek, he stood there, still frozen and wolfed out, as he was about to say something, he saw that Stiles’ whole stance changed, his back once stiffed, relaxed pointedly, his legs shook a little as he tried to take a step towards Derek, but he saw it quickly and ran towards him, just to catch Stiles as he was crumbling onto the floor.
“Stiles!” Derek said, as he held him tightly, roaming his body with one hand to see if he had any injuries, he turned his head towards Stiles and saw that he was watching him, a fond smile on his face, his eyes glowing amber in the full moon’s light.
“It’s ok, it’s ok man” he said, patting him on the shoulder as he tried to sit better, while Derek still had his arm around his waist “Whenever I use this, well kind of power I still get a little weak, but nothing big man, thanks” he smiled, his eyes crinkling.
“What was that?” he asked curious, he had never seen Stiles use that kind of magic, or power.
“Um...” Stiles’ body went a little stiff, the overwhelming scent of nervousness hit Derek like a brick, Stiles was hiding something.
“Stiles” he said, warningly, he didn’t want Stiles involved in anything that could endanger his body, he knew that magic could take a toll on a person.
“No it’s... Nothing bad I mean... Can I ask you something?” he had this look in his eyes, as if with one little question he would send Derek running the other way.
“When have you ever asked for permission, Stiles?” Derek tried to mock him to reassure him.
“Ha ha” he said unhumorously “But this is... kind of important” his eyes downcast, his eyelashes making a shadow on his cheekbones.
“Ok, you know you can Stiles, go ahead”.
“Do you know that you can take some kind of power from the earth that you are standing? Like, chanel the moments that have happened, and the people that have stepped on the land, if they had some sort of connection to it?”
“You know I don’t have a good knowledge of magic Stiles” he simply answered.
“Yeah, and that’s gonna bite you in the ass one day” Stiles said, almost accusingly, to what Derek just rolled his eyes “Anyway, these land, in specific is tied to you, and your family and your history...” he took a peek through his eyelashes, Derek could see he was afraid of his reaction, they had come a long way, but Derek didn’t talk that much about his old pack, the Hale Family, Derek nodded for Stiles to continue, if he could talk to someone about it, even little stories about Laura or his mom, it was always Stiles “Well, I can connect with them too, I... I did a... thing... without asking you first, and... well... I can take some power from that, from the history, from the runs of the moon night, the energy still left from that pack’s essence...” he sounded unsure and little.
“What do you mean you did something? Did you... Did you hurt yourself? Stiles you know that you have nothing to prove, you are an asset to this pack, to me, no matter what you are capable or not” Derek said, searching an answer in Stiles’ face, he knew that he always doubted himself surrounded by Werewolves, he knew that Stiles went out of his way to try and not be a liability, when the truth was so much more than that, he was needed, he was welcome and more importantly he was wanted in this pack, he was needed too, by him.
“No, nothing like that, and I know Derek, I swear” Stiles said, a tiny smile on his face, reaching his eyes and returning some of the glow to them “Just, I used your … I used your mark … to, you know, be closer to that pack and it’s energy”.
Derek didn’t know what to say, his mark? Did he mean... Had he... That couldn’t be...
He felt as his wolf started to rumble on his chest, he had marked himself, as his, as his own, his wolf was howling, starting to get impatient, he needed to see, to mark, make Stiles smell like both of them. His claws elongated quickly, he could tell that his eyes bleed red and if Stiles heart was any clue, Derek knew that he was getting nervous.
“No Derek!” Stiles sounded panicked “I didn’t mean to take that liberty or to assume that it would be ok to mark myself, with your own, but” he was now talking super fast, his hands in front of him “You see, I found this book and it said that I could take some power with a connection, and that if I had a bond with some part of the territory’s heritage, then It would be more powerful and wouldn’t drain me as much, with a little practice, but please Derek I didn’t mean to upset you, I know that you don’t want me to sport that mark, I mean not that is your, yours, right? Like it could be just for the pack, I doesn’t mean anything, please Derek, calm down!”.
“You... you marked... Where?” Derek could barely say the word out loud, his wolf too close to the surface, he was trying his best not to let his canines grow and wolf out completely, this was something he had been waiting for so long, being able to mark Stiles, make him his own pack.
“I...” Stiles fidgeted on the ground of the forest. Taking a quick glance over his shoulder.
“Where Stiles?” Derek practically growled. He took the collar of Stiles’ shirt and pulled to the side, revealing his shoulder and taking it a little bit lower, he could smell it then, Ink, not to old, but healed completely and he could feel the power still oozing from Stiles’ back; he took his own left hand and grabbed his upper arm turning Stiles a little so he could see better, his right hand still on Stiles’ waist, claws digging a little on the shirt.
“You marked yourself? As mine?” he asked, looking at the Triskele drawn on the upper shoulder blade, tracing it with his claws, caressing it, like it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
“I’m not a property, Derek, I’ve told you” Stiles said, slowly but clearly “I marked myself as pack, because it was needed for the spell, I don’t need a tattoo to know that...” he stopped, abruptly, fidgeting more while Derek turned around a took a look at his face, connecting their eyes.
“”Need to know what?” he said, their faces inches apart.
“Derek, I...”
“Stiles, why did you marked that on your back? For the pack?”
“Yes... No... Ugh Derek you know that I did it because I wanted to help, I wanted to help you!”
“But I told you, you are helping me, always, no matter what”.
“I don’t need to mark myself yours, Derek...”
Suddenly Derek’s nostrils were hit by a powerful scent, the scent that could only be described as Stiles and Pack, home, the woods, his family, his past, his present, the full moon. Derek lowered his face to where Stiles’ collarbone, inhaling deeply that scent, filling all of his senses and pores with it, almost drowning in contempt.
“I already am” he heard, low and sure as he mouthed the long neck filled with moles, marking him, making him smell like both of them and for Derek to see that he too, belonged to someone; out of the corner of his eyes he saw a glimmer of red light surging from Stiles’ back, and he knew that his eyes were the same...