Canines and Felines

Making New Friends

When Derek told the rest of the pack what they were going to have to do to save Stiles, he got just about the response he expected: a lot of groans and complaining. "Can I stay out of this plan? I'd rather my flesh and blood stay intact please!", Mason exclaimed. "Yeah it's probably best if we leave the humans out of this one.", Scott said.

"I think we can pull it off.", Erica said. "We just have to bribe one of the vampires - because I am not going near a zombie - and torch these Lodjur suckers.", she continued. "How are we supposed to bribe a vampire?", Parrish asked. "I know how!", Liam exclaimed. They all turned to look at the young wolf.

"We just have to promise them Deaton will enchant something for them to walk in the sun. I'm sure at least one of those vampires won't have a sun blocker yet.", he said. "That's actually a good idea.", Scott smiled slightly. Liam was happy to be useful, he usually felt like a dead weight.

"We can use my necklace to enchant.", Issac offered. "But that's the one Deaton enchanted to help you with your nightmares.", Scott said. Issac looked at him fondly, "I don't need it anymore. I've had much happier dreams lately. About someone I care about.", he said. Jackson pretended to gag in disgust. "Ew. Go be lovey dovey on your own time.", he said. "It's not like that!", Scott yelled, face flushing with embarrassment. "And besides, you and Ethan are always clinging to each other!", he accused, pouting when they both rolled their eyes.

Issac handed the necklace to Deaton and the druid pocketed it. "Great, then Parrish, you can use fire to torch them.", Allison said. The pack was relieved to have a solution, especially after so little debate - how convenient!

But Derek couldn't help but remain worried about what the Lodjur or Lodjurs were doing to his Stiles. His? That's weird...

****

Stiles woke up tied to a chair. Luckily, it was a comfy chair. Unluckily, he was in a damp and cold cave. He couldn't see much, but he could hear two people whispering in the darkness.

"When he wakes up, we need to convince him we're not a threat. If this is going to work, we need that fool to trust us.", the first voice said. It belonged to a woman whose white hair he could see slightly glowing in the moonlight. The figures of the people were shadowy but he could make out that one was a woman, the one who just spoke, and one was an androgynous person, who had almost silver hair. Both figures had pointy cat ears and odd faces. He finally figured out what made the faces so odd, they looked almost cat-like.

"How are we supposed to do that when you've tied him to a chair?!", the second person said. Huh, even their voice is gender neutral! Stiles thought. The woman turned a little, to look at Stiles. "Oh crap, he's awake!", she exclaimed. "So much for building trust.", the second said. "Oh hush!" the woman hit them playfully in the chest.

"Hi! I'm Amber.", the woman said cheerfully. "I'm sorry for calling you a fool, it's just- well... you hang out with a bunch of werewolves.", she said. "Yeah, why would you do that? They're clingy, dirty, uncivilized brutes who drool and wag their tails like idiots.", the other person said. "Oh, and my name's Fei.", they added.

"They're my friends! My pack, my family. And don't talk about them like that!", Stiles yelled. "Okay! No need to get upset dear. But wouldn't you rather be alone, with only the one you love. Your mate? And you can't do that if your mate is a smelly wolf who belongs to a pack! That's why we brought you here. We want to help you!", Amber smiled brightly. "Yeah, we can help you speed up the process of finding a new mate and than you won't have to be around wolves anymore. Or any canines, for that matter.", Fei added.

"Wait... you can help me get a new mate?", Stiles asked, intrigued. It's not that he hated his friends now, in fact he would still hang out with them just as often as soon as he got a new mate, it was just that he didn't want to be a nuisance to Derek. He knew how much Derek hated being his mate. They might be friends now, but Derek had showed a clear disinterest in being anything more than that to Stiles. As much as that pained the Kot to admit. He had grown fond of Derek, enough to realize the small crush he had on the wolf. And being a burden to someone he liked in that way - or even maybe loved - was not something he could ever imagine himself doing.

"Yep! We know a trick that can get you a new mate in 24 hours, as long as the process isn't interrupted at least. But we doubt anyone can find us here to stop it anyways! We wanted to make sure nobody tried to keep you bonded to someone you didn't want to be your mate.", Amber explained. "So should we let him out of the chair now or what?", Fei asked. "Oh! Right, sorry.", Amber apologized, moving to untie the Kot.

The two strangers worked the knot until Stiles could get up and brush the ropes off. "Uh, thanks.", he said. "No problem. We'll always help a fellow feline.", Fei said. They smiled softly, before going to hug Amber from behind so that they were both facing Stiles. "Oh, are you two mates?", Stiles asked. "No, we're a couple but we're not mates. Lodjurs don't have mates, they're free to be with whomever they want. Unless of course fate pairs them with a different supernatural creature who does have a mate bond.", Amber said. "Lodjurs?", Stiles tilted his head in confusion.

"Lynxes, basically. We're like the cousins to you Kot-folk. We're more of a loner species besides our partners, but Fei and I are a bit more social so we took it upon ourselves to help out other felines.", she explained. "Oh. By the way, if you don't mind me asking, what are your preferred pronouns and gender?", Stiles asked Fei. "Oh, thanks for asking actually. Most people just assume. I'm non-binary. And my pronouns are they/them but I won't yell at you if it takes some time to get used to those pronouns. As long as you make an effort.", Fei smiled again. Something about them told Stiles that they didn't smile often if it wasn't about Amber.

They seemed to be someone who just chills out with a blank expression most of the time. And they seemed laidback, what Stiles imagined was closest to an actual feline's demeanor.

"So, shall we get the process started? It's already almost midnight, and like I said, the process takes 24 hours.", Amber reminded. "Oh, yeah I guess we should get started then.", Stiles replied.