Payment (revised)

Chapter 31

I edited this late at night after already being exhausted all day so I might go over it again tomorrow to fix some things.
For a song for this chapter, the one we decided fit starts up at Derek's pov and is Car Crash by Three Days Grace. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy this chapter! The next one will be out soon :)

edited: 5/14/20

edited: 9/7/23

Stiles's head hurt.

Someone was pounding their fists against the inside of his skull like they were trying to break free. He moaned softly, even that simple noise created an uncomfortable rippling effect in his brain. He had never had a headache like this before. Stiles rolled over in bed, ignoring the throb in his body as he reached out trying to find Derek's warmth.

A frown rounded Stiles's lips. If Derek had woken up at the crack of dawn and left before Stiles was awake he was going to-

"Wake up, Stiles," a voice called out to him.

Every muscle in his body locked up.

That wasn't the soothing baritones of Derek's morning voice. That wasn't the person he had woken up to every day for the past few months. This wasn't the man who made him feel safe.

Therefore, he wasn't.

Stiles opened his eyes. He was facing a concrete wall which meant whoever else was in the room was behind him, and hadn't realized Stiles had awoken. The boy focused on his breathing, trying to keep his chest rising and falling in even intervals to keep the illusion of sleep. He wasn't ready to turn over yet, he wasn't ready for whoever awaited him. While he was asleep, he hadn't been hurt, he hadn't been killed. That was a good sign.

He was valuable to his captors.

Stiles began to remember what led him to his current predicament as he blinked the sleep out of his eyes.

He'd been reading in the lounge, anxiously awaiting the pack's return from Theo's. He had agreed not to accompany Derek on the mission, for good reason. In this case, he would just be in the way.

It was better for them all that he stayed home; it was better that he not be another thing for the pack to worry about. They could all protect themselves, Stiles could not. Not yet anyway. He had made it clear to Derek that he wanted to be trained. He wanted to feel the strength beneath his skin, and know that it was a match for the strength within.

It was as Stiles was skimming over the same sentence on the page for the third time that he picked up the sound of footsteps outside the room.

His head snapped up, they were back.

Stiles knew it wasn't a business partner waiting in the foyer, and it couldn't be a stranger wandering in from the street. Derek had canceled his meetings for the next two weeks, and he had insisted Stiles lock the door behind them when they left.

The anxiety in Stiles's chest eased, he could allow himself the luxury of relief. His pack was home, they were all home.

Stiles's book slid off his lap in his hurry to get to his family.

He didn't question why he hadn't been met with the usual cheering and excited chatter that accompanied the pack when they were all together in one place. He didn't question why he couldn't feel the vibrations of his friends' footsteps bounding throughout the halls as they came down from their highs. He didn't question why he couldn't hear Derek calling for him to join.

He knew how Derek got after stunts like this. The Alpha would be amped up, and in need of something, or someone, to help release his racing energy. Stiles couldn't deny his arousal. He wanted to feel Derek, whole, underneath his touch so badly it never crossed his mind that it wasn't Derek waiting for him at all.