The Long Way Home

Chapter 16

They had made camp in a small cave; it was a lot like the one they had stayed in earlier when they had first got here, but it was a few feet deeper. The only difference was that a huge slab of rock jutting out from the top of the caves mouth a few feet like a restaurant awning, he was just glad there were no bears in sight. Derek had come back with a decent kill, still not something he liked to think about it, but he was steadily making his peace with it. This was his life right now, and he'd have to be an idiot to pass up any food Derek caught could get for them.

They had a small fire going, like before it was big enough to cook their food and offer warmth but not big enough to make out from a far distance. The trees of the forest curved close to the cliffside but gave a wide gap so they could see a good portion of the sky clearly. They were still at ground level, and the cliffside was almost as tall as the trees. Stiles had watched the entire trek here as the ground rose higher and high and the river twisted away from view.

They still had a few hours before sunset, so there really wasn't much to do till then, though Stiles was trying to think of something to do.

"You should sleep." Derek said as he tossed a random twig into the fire.

"What about you?" Stiles asked.

"Stiles."

"What? I know for a fact that you haven't gotten a wink of sleep in the time we've been separated."

Derek glared at the younger man over the fire, he had a point. Derek hadn't gotten any sleep since they'd been separated, he also knew the same was true for Stiles, he had the markings to prove it.

"Fine, we'll both rest for a bit, but I'll keep watch at night."

Stiles looked like he was about to protest but then thought better of it, he sighed heavily as he moved to stand. His bare feet barley making a sound as he walked over to where Derek was sitting, he was closer to cave wall so all he had to do was scoot back. It was a familiar position they'd been in many times before since they got here. It made it easier to just get up and go at a moment notice if they needed to.

Stiles slid down beside the alpha and rested his head on the wolf's shoulder. He felt no urge to talk, but days of running had sapped him of any excess energy his brain had created. Instead he watched the flames dance and let them lull him to sleep.

"Stiles."

The teen jerked awake, scrambling to grab ahold of the wolf that was beside him. but Derek wasn't next to him, he was above him?

"Derek? What? Is everything okay?" The teen questioned.

He realized then that he was laying down on his side, Derek must have left him to sleep while he kept watch outside. The sun had long since set, but there was still some light from the moon, whatever portion of it that was showing that is.

"Everything's fine, but there's something I want to show you." Derek said.

"Okay?" Stiles dragged out as he moved to stand, his body aching.

Derek waited for him to stretch out a bit, then took his hand and lead him out of the cave. They went left a few feet till they were out from under the rock awning, then Derek had him face the wall of the cliffside with a simple order to follow as he scaled the wall with ease.

Stiles hesitated for a second wondering what Derek wanted to show him. Hand and foot holds were easy to find, when he was a few feet from where the stone awning began Derek's hand suddenly appeared in front of his face, he took it gratefully and allowed the wolf to help him up the rest of the way.