The New Pack

All Our Firsts – Thanksgiving

Going out for Halloween came and went, Derek went to work and Stiles went back to school and suddenly it was time to make a plan for Thanksgiving. According to one of their many late night conversations, Thanksgiving was a holiday that werewolves were all about supporting since it was mostly an eating holiday. Sure, there were actual reasons but being thankful and stuffing your face were the front-runners for the day.

Derek told Stiles a couple of amusing stories about three table tops filled to the brim of food, trying to feed a large family of werewolves. And of course due to the hierarchy of a healthy werewolf pack, there is usually one person called the Dinamarca (Spanish for den maker for who knows what reason) but during Thanksgiving everyone in the pack would help out to the best of their ability. Stiles's favorite part of these stories is that Derek is willing to tell them to him.

But now they were out of prep time and though Stiles readily agreed to taking on the task of making sure everyone had their jobs for the dinner, he hadn't counted on the workload at school picking up so quickly. He was just barely ahead of the workload all of a sudden and he didn't like it because it meant that this weekend was going to be able playing catch up with his studies instead of the catch up he wanted to do with Derek.

Even though they talked every day, between school and Derek's work schedule they hadn't seen each other as often as Stiles would like mostly because he liked seeing his Sourwolf fiancé every day. The last time he'd been home was about two weeks before and he'd spent the first three hours in bed because he didn't smell like Derek anymore and the werewolf didn't like it. Of course the easiest way to transfer scent was skin on skin so that's what they'd done.

Naked necking and sex until he was layered in Derek's scent again.

He was looking forward to the same treatment this time, though they were going to have to make it fit into him getting into town and Derek getting off his late shift at the sheriff's station because tomorrow he was waking up early to head over to the McCall house which was the destination of everyone due to the large sitting room.

Everyone had instructions on how the day would be prepped and it was going to be one of the first pack Thanksgivings they were going to have. Last year everyone had still been separated and before that they had all been ignoring the pack dynamics that were a part of the Bite. Derek and Stiles had been pretty new and the werewolf hadn't wanted to intrude but now he wasn't going to be left out, the Stilinski's weren't about to let that happen. Stiles was looking forward to making new memories, ones that didn't make him forget what it was like with his family but to help after the loss of his family. This year, with all the focus on the holidays, he only wanted Derek to know that he had a family again. They can never replace his mom and dad, brothers and sisters but they were there for him.

Stiles made it into town after his last class on Wednesday, dragging his suitcase to the loft and dumping it just inside the door before he looked around the open space and thought about the new Hale house that was almost ready to be lived in. The loft wasn't an awful place but even after all this time it didn't ever really look warm and inviting. Derek wasn't that kind of decorator. He was the kind of guy who had a bed and a table and that was it.

Finding that indeed Derek wasn't magically here, he turned and left the loft climbed back into the jeep and headed for the station. He couldn't drag Derek out of work, mores the pity, but he could at least go say hi to him and his father before he started double checking with everyone who was going to be at the McCall's tomorrow.

He was going to be starting first thing in the morning on the cooking of the turkey and stuffing. He'd made it plenty of times when it was just he and his dad, then Stiles would pack up the leftovers and load them into a handcart and take them to the sheriff's station for the people who were on duty. And they would have a thanksgiving dinner in the station. He missed his mom a lot but the people in the station had become his confidants and the people who mattered, and now when he went there only a few were left. So many had been taken in the supernatural shit-hole of his high school years, but because of his dad and now Derek's time there, he was getting to know a whole different set of deputies.

And if there were leftovers, he would load them into the jeep and take them to the station after dinner, probably drag Derek with him just because the werewolf was going to probably dislike the idea of letting Stiles out of his sight even if it meant he was going to the station on a day off.

He parked the jeep in the lot and waved at the guys as he rushed inside and looked around. The woman behind the front desk waved him back and Stiles grinned at her. He pushed open the door and into the main room where people were sitting at their desks or working together. Derek was huddled in with Parrish and Stiles's dad in the Sheriff's office so Stiles headed towards the door and grinned, "Hey guys, got room in there for me?"

Derek's head snapped around (Stiles was surprised it took him that long to sniff him out), the Sheriff was close behind as they rushed over to hug him. Stiles laughed, wrapping his arms around the other two men and stumbling back into the doorway in their combined exuberance. His dad ruffled his crazy hair while Derek pushed his nose into the side of Stiles's neck and huffed happily.

"You're here," Derek whispered into his skin.

"Yeah, missed you," Stiles whispered and gripped the back of Derek's jacket, scrunching the uniform material under his fingers. His dad patted him on the back a couple more times then let go just so Derek could wrap more completely around Stiles and he chuckled, "I need to breathe Der."

The werewolf let up, murmuring apologies in his fiancé's ear before he pressed into a quick hard kiss before he took a resolute step backwards but he couldn't keep that grin off his face. Stiles smiled back, pressing a hand to Derek's cheek and caressed him gently, "Hey there handsome."

"Hey love," Derek whispered back, then ducked his head in embarrassment. Even after all the time they'd been together, Derek didn't really prescribe to the idea of pet names and public displays of affection, crap left over from Kate and Jennifer but Stiles just smiled and let him be embarrassed.

Stiles shook off the desperate affection that had him begging himself to drag Derek off to a private corner somewhere and scrubbed at the back of his head, "I didn't come here to keep you guys from working but I couldn't stand not seeing you for another minute. When do you get off?"

"Derek's shift isn't over until eleven tonight, you'll see him after that. I'm assuming you are going to be at the loft with Derek tonight?"

Stiles nodded, barely looking away from Derek long enough to answer.

"Well I expect to see you both first thing in the morning but you should go and make sure that we have everything."

Stiles nodded, pressed another kiss to Derek's mouth and whispered into his warm skin, "I'll see you tonight then."

"Yes you will," Derek returned and Stiles took another step back and forced his hand to let go of Derek's hand as he turned away. He couldn't stop from looking back and giving Derek a wink as his dad pulled his lovestruck deputy back to work. Stiles grinned, waving to Derek's partner before leaving the station.

His dad knew that getting ready for tomorrow was probably the only way to get Stiles back out of the station so he was going to have to go get some things from the store, though not the turkey since he made Derek take pictures of turkeys in the supermarket last weekend and even went so far as Facetiming with his fiancé for the express reason of picking the best turkey himself. He would have just brought one from one of the markets close to Berkley except that he had no place to put it and he didn't like the idea of waiting until the last minute. Bonus: he spent over two hours on the phone with Derek that day, most of it in the store but the rest when they were both home and had privacy. Phone sex definitely wasn't anywhere near as good as being with Derek obviously but it helped; hearing Derek's voice and though neither of them really prescribed to the idea of roleplay or really dirty talk, they made it work.

As he walked towards the jeep, he texted Lydia and Scott, letting them know that he was in town. Scott would tell Malia and he still wasn't a huge fan of texting either of his exes but his split with Lydia had been a lot easier than the one he had with Malia who still didn't understand boundaries. He was glad that she had found a different anchor, even if that was Scott, it just meant that Stiles was able to step away from that relationship and focus on Derek. Lydia was just as logical about their breakup as anything else in life, he'd wanted it so badly after Derek left but when he came home there was no contest, what he'd once felt for Lydia Martin had well and truly been eclipsed by his feelings for a certain Sourwolf.

He got back several responses and headed towards his dad's house to finish prepping the biggest Thanksgiving the Stilinski's were going to have in a long time.

Hours later, after everything was set to grab and go to the McCall's in the morning, Stiles left his dad's house and headed back towards the loft. He looked at his phone and sighed, there was still another three hours before Derek was getting off work and though he might be tempted to go see Scott for some bro time, Malia was with him and Derek didn't really like when he smelled like the alpha. Scott and Derek had long ago gotten the proverbial sticks out of their asses about each other but that didn't stop the instinct to lay claim to the human from happening, much to Stiles's amusement and annoyance (depending on the day and the actions of the guilty posturing werewolf). Scott sometimes was just an asshole because Stiles was a part of his pack and would scent mark him while Derek liked to lay claim to his mate. They didn't seem to understand that he wasn't a piece of meat to be argued about.

He parked the jeep in his spot and trudged up the stairs to the loft and opened the sliding door and walked inside. He shoved the door closed while he dragged the sweater he was wearing off of his shoulders and dropped it on the floor. Heaving another weary sigh, he continued towards the couch and was spinning to slump down when he caught sight of something out of the corner of his vision and spun back to see Derek sitting there in his favorite lounging outfit, a wife beater and loose shorts.

"Huh? What happened to eleven?" Stiles demanded even as he threw himself into his fiance's lap. Derek gladly caught him and hugged him close.

"You're dad figured keeping me longer than absolutely necessary was just abusive. I just got home a little while ago."

"Remind me to let him have some really greasy foods tomorrow as a thank you," Stiles said and he hugged Derek tightly.

"Oh he said that there is also going to be pie and ice cream and you are not allowed to say a word otherwise he is going to pull me in for the crappy shift on Friday."

Stiles frowned, "Oooh, that man sometimes! He knows that I want to talk you Black Friday shopping."

"Um, no."

"What no?" Stiles responded, confused at the shift in conversation.

"I am not going shopping on Black Friday. I hate shopping pretty much every day of the year but that day, its contemptible what people will do for a sale and to buy that much stuff they don't need."

Stiles sat back enough to watch all this garbage come out of his fiancé's mouth and wonder how he missed this last year. Then again Derek didn't really want to join in the Stilinski Thanksgiving which meant that Stiles had gone Black Friday shopping at like 5AM on the day and then spent the rest of Black Friday curled up on Derek's couch to make up for it. It hadn't occurred to him about Derek's likes or dislikes about the day because he hadn't been with him. Plus, the Christmas present Derek gave to him last year had been one of his leather jackets, not something he had to kill himself over on the shopping holiday.

"Derek, Black Friday is like a part of the whole Thanksgiving experience. Of course for us, we have to drive over to the next town to get the really good deals because its like Beacon Hills doesn't exist to the rest of the world," he rolled his eyes at the uselessness of the mall here in town. It was really only good for clothes and housewares anyway.

The werewolf just judged Stiles with his eyebrows before he spread his hands across Stiles's back and reeled him in for a slow kiss that went on long enough to wipe out whatever the human had been thinking let alone what they were talking about. Derek pulled away after an eternity of blessed kissing and Stiles settled with his head on Derek's shoulder.

"Okay, this is good."

"Missed you," Derek whispered, pressing one of his hands under the edge of Stiles's shirt and rubbed his thumb across the skin gently. Stiles had no doubt they were going to get to the naked scent marking and the sex at some point but this was good too.

The next morning came quickly, both Stiles and Derek woke with bleary vision and dark marks under their eyes from not getting anywhere near enough sleep before they started fumbling around for a quick breakfast, shower and dressing. When they were a little more awake, Stiles packed up the food they had at the loft for the day and headed to his dad's house. The sheriff had said he expected them early but when Stiles burst through the front door shouting, "Dad! We're here!" to hear a shout from his dad's bedroom and smirked as he walked to the kitchen.

"You're kind of an ass sometimes," Derek determined as he followed.

Stiles snorted, "You knew this well before we ever started dating. He's woken me up a lot in my lifetime, its payback time."

Derek nodded, "Fair. On the first part, not the second."

"Suck up," Stiles said under a fake cough then patted his chest in show.

"No lies detected," Derek returned as Stiles chuckled and started gathering what needed to go to the McCall's and loaded his fiancé's arms. They loaded everything into the jeep and his dad's second car, which as the sheriff, was an unmarked cop car. He was rarely 'off duty' for real so he needed something with 'Sheriff' not along the side of the vehicle but still capable of chasing bad guys or heading to a scene. It also had a healthy trunk space, more than capable of carrying everything else they needed, including some extra folding chairs that his dad swiped from somewhere earlier in the week. By the time they were done loading everything, his dad was in the kitchen cradling a cup of coffee in between his hands and blearily glaring at the both of them.

"Derek stuck up for you, if that helps," Stiles said with a shrug. Then watched with a fond expression as his dad jerked Derek into a hug.

"You are my new favorite son," the man grumbled.

"You say that a lot," Derek mumbled into the man's shoulder as he sank into the hug. Even now Derek still always had a little bit of tension when the sheriff hugged him but the tension was starting to seep away faster and faster. Stiles snorted, continuing the humor so Derek could have this moment and hopefully not feel embarrassed because everyone was paying attention to him.

"And yet somehow, I'm not concerned about being replaced."

The sheriff laughed and reached out to pull Stiles into the embrace to, slightly altered from the embrace yesterday in the sheriff's station but still just as good. After some back slapping and grunts about finishing his coffee, all three of them were piling into the two cars and heading over to the McCall's house. Stiles rushed in, kissing Melissa on the cheek as he passed her and headed straight to the over where he got to work on the turkey as quickly as he could. If they wanted to eat at a certain time that evening he would have his work cut out for him.

Derek watched as his fiancé moved around the kitchen preparing the main dish for their meal, munching on some of the meat and cheese that Melissa handed to him as other people came in and out of the room. Some would speak to him or Stiles, others were cooking as well but as the noise in the house rose exponentially with the people arriving, he couldn't help but zone a little and think about Thanksgiving with his family.

Cora wasn't here, she decided not to come back for the holidays this year but they had been calling each other every once in a while, just to catch up. She was still in South America at the moment, enjoying the attention of several betas in the pack she was staying with. He missed her but then again it was more because she was his only remaining family. Peter didn't count, he wasn't invited nor would he attempt to come here. The idea of being a part of the family had long since disappeared from his uncle's personality and urges. He'd spoken to the man a couple of weeks ago and he was in Paris for the holidays, attempting to woo a married woman away from her family because he figured he could. Derek couldn't wait for the "husband shot me" call so he could say 'I told you so' like he promised to.

For now though, it was easy to forget for a moment that none of these people were blood related. He'd gotten used to being alone over the years then Stiles rushed into his life, making a mess of everything and sticking around for good measure. It had been over a year of dating, over five years of knowing each other and it had been four years of trusting Stiles with everything he had in his body and soul.

And most people might not believe it but trust is harder than love, for someone who had been so battered by love and trusting people, the fact that Stiles had made it under Derek's skin to be trustworthy in his life was a miracle. Love for Stiles had only been the final obvious piece of the puzzle and now they were celebrating Thanksgiving together and arguing about Black Friday shopping and when they were going to make it to each other during the school week and weekends.

It was a good life, only made more so by all the other people around them.

Melissa had opened her arms and heart to Derek as soon as he started dating her second 'son', just like Noah did (after the shovel talk anyway/added bonus for the request for him not to be wanted for anything ever again). Chris Argent, though he was still stand-offish with the werewolves, was there because of the kindling romance with Melissa. Also he realized that the connection his daughter had with Scott, Stiles and Lydia was the best way to keep a little bit of his daughter. The best friend who became warm and felt loss because Allison died, and the boy she loved with all her heart. Even Stiles who was always the ridiculous human willing to die for the sake of the werewolves having rights and though many people would have easily forgotten, Stiles and Allison had been friends too, and though it had been his body hosting the Nogitsune that inevitably caused her death, Argent had never held him responsible even if Stiles himself did.

Lydia, Malia and Scott were running around. Each of them with a purpose which Stiles had handed out like a three star General might much to Derek's amusement and Scott's bemusement. He looked over to Derek, frowned and asked, "Alpha, right?"

Derek just shook his head and gestured to Stiles and Scott just moved to carry out the other man's orders. Malia had greeted him with her normal awkward side-hug though it was getting better right after she plastered herself across Stiles's back and scent marked him up and down. Derek and Scott had both moved to separate her from the human, Derek moving to scent marking the laughing Stiles who smelled a little like confusion and concern. Scott redirected Malia, like Stiles used to do for her. They were making a good team, after all.

Derek knew that the 'baby betas' were coming over later, Liam and his friends and girlfriend but they were thankfully not feeding them. There was supposed to be a run in the preserve later, after the face-stuffing portion of the evening was completed. Derek remembers those runs with his family, more than once eating so much that he puked during the run only to rinse his mouth and continue on. Now he knew to wait a little while before the run though he was considering letting Scott and the others learn the hard way.

Stiles had easily agreed to the possible theatrics, Derek expected to get several leering grins later on from his fiancé. He would be disappointed if Stiles didn't do it honestly. And then the others would ask and Stiles would stutter about sexual positions and everyone would groan and throw things at Stiles. It was the way of things with this crowd, Derek thought with a smile.

"What are you grinning about?" Stiles asked as he came over and pressed a quick kiss to the side of Derek's head. He kept his hands away, covered in stuffing.

"I'm happy to be here, with all of you," he said and everyone paused in what they were doing to coo annoyingly at him before carrying on with what they were doing. Stiles chuckled, grinning manically and bouncing in place.

"Does that mean you'll go shopping with me tomorrow?" he asked expectantly.

"No," Derek said emphatically.

Noah laughed, "Give it up son, Black Friday is a long standing Stiles tradition."

"Not a Stilinski tradition?" Derek asked his soon to be father-in-law.

Noah shook his head, horrified look on his face causing Derek to chuckle.

"Yeah," Scott said from the living room, "We've been doing it for years."

"Fine, you two go together and have some bro time, without me," Derek returned.

"Aww that's so cute," Lydia cooed, "You think you have a chance to say no to Stiles."

Noah, Malia, Scott and Melissa all laughed, even Argent was looking suspiciously like he was going to agree or grin or maybe his face was just cracking under the impressive beard the man was now sporting.

"I think you should all shut up or else…"

"Or else what?" Stiles asked with a grin.

"You know," Derek faux glared, enjoying the banter and the fact that he could smell Stiles's happiness and sarcasm bubbling around in the kitchen. He was so attuned to the scent that he knew exactly how long it took to have the scent dissipate from their bed and the loft.

His fiancé walked back over to him and leaned down, pressing his mouth to the side of Derek's throat to the lovely sound of frustration and faux disgust from the others in the room, "Or you're going to rip my throat out? With your teeth?"

Everyone laughed while Stiles moved back just enough to lock eyes with Derek who couldn't keep the stupid grin off his face. He grabbed Stiles around the back of his neck and pulled him for a kiss, hearing the boos and hissing for everyone in the room. "Get a room!" Scott shouted then paused, "Wait, no… don't do that here, I come here and I would have to smell it. Just stop."

Derek held on as Stiles chuckled into the kiss, and then lengthened the touch. It was like that movie that Stiles begged him to watch the last time they were together, where the Grinch's heart expanded three sizes. All of a sudden he couldn't breathe through the gratitude and wonder he felt. Wetness pricked at the edge of his eyes as he let Stiles go, who was looking dazed until he saw Derek's watering eyes.

He nodded and smiled, "I know love."

Derek sucked back the tears and smiled because Stiles knew him and all his stories, he knew all the aches and loss. He knew what Derek had gotten used to feeling on days like today and now because a spastic lanky human kissed him and he trusted himself to kiss Stiles back – this was the result.

This family.

His Pack.

The Beacon Hills Pack, no name was strong enough to carry them all and he'd returned to make it his.

Author's note: I considered going on and actually describing the dinner but I decided that the prep time, that's when Derek really gets to just bask and I wanted them to bask. I love them, I will attempt to get Christmas and New Year's out on time. Real life took a turn for the non-functional for a while.