Hey guys, sorry it's been so long and thank you for everyone who showed some interest in this story and kept asking for more. It meant a lot and I know I've made a lot of excuses for why there hasn't been another chapter in so long, but life just gets in the way sometimes, blah blah blah :P

Wanted to say thank you to Minipou for translating this fic into French :) I don't speak the language, but I know you haven't had a completely easy time doing it, so thank you for all the hard work you put in! :)

There's probably going to be one more chapter of this, an epilogue of sorts and then I might write some one-shots of future bits for the 'verse if I can think of anything.

I hope this chapter is worth the wait and if it isn't, I'm really sorry :) All reviews are appreciated!

Stiles bounced slightly on the balls of his feet as he stood between Maggie and Derek, wondering if it would be obnoxious for him to make Chris walk the distance between them or if he should maybe be courteous enough to meet the guy half way. Normally he wouldn't have had any issue with doing so, but there was still a phantom ache in his ass where Derek's knot had been and walking wasn't exactly the most comfortable thing he could be doing right then.

Something that he had a horrible feeling Maggie knew all too well as she kept grinning at him and finding every excuse possible to 'accidentally bump into' his ass in the short time between him leaving the bedroom, walking down the stairs and moving through the house towards the outside.

Then again, he couldn't say like he'd expected much else from her.

Chris Argent was probably one of the only people in Beacon Hills who hadn't seemed to change all that much in the time that Stiles had been gone. Sure, the grey that had once just collected around his temples had spread through most of his hair and there were lines in his face that Stiles could see even from this distance, but other than the tell-tale signs of pure age, Chris Argent didn't look any different really.

Chris' eyes watched them carefully, one hand curled around his hip in that tell-tale way that he was packing weaponry, but all Stiles could really focus on was the calm flooding into his muscles as his Pack, both new and old – and he'd be damned if he knew which was around those labels went – fanned out around him.

Maggie rocked back onto her heels beside him, anxious in the way that she often got when she didn't know what was going to happen. But then did any of them really? Did Alison even know what was going to happen? She was the hunter's daughter, she was maybe even still part way a hunter, but did she know what words her father was going to deliver?

Stiles thought probably not, because the Argents – hunters – had always played their cards close to their chest, even amongst family. They were unpredictable and Stiles had always had to learn things like that the hard way. His skin itched just below his collarbone, a burning line that should have been a scar but wasn't, what with werewolf healing abilities and all.

He skimmed his fingers over Derek's wrist, for comfort maybe, except Stiles didn't have a clue when he'd even started to swing his arms. It all felt surreal for so many stupid reasons, because his brain was trying to tell him that this was only Chris Argent, he wasn't going to stand too much of a chance in driving him and his Pack out of this territory, he didn't really have any right to do so; but at the same time Stiles' veins were singing with the worries of his wolf that this was still a hunter.

Hunters weren't ever a good thing to be throwing into the mix; which was why Scott would always be unique, or maybe just especially dumb to have fallen in love with one.

In the end Stiles took two steps forwards, Derek and Maggie still tight at his side and Chris covered the rest of the way. Stiles could make out the bulge of a gun in his pocket now that he was closer, could smell the Wolfsbane and it put him on edge in a way he didn't like, but then he wondered if Chris was even fast enough to draw the weapon in the time it would take Stiles to snap his neck.

Would he snap the guy's neck? If it came down to it? He didn't really want to think too much on that if he was being honest, knew it would create more problems than it would solve.

Still, he wondered if age had hit Chris in ways that were so much more real than the subtle lines on his face. He didn't really want to find out.

"Chris," he said, cocking his head to the side slightly and smiling in a way that was meant to be nice, it really was, but he couldn't say for sure how it turned out.

A large part of him knew he was being irrational, but his Pack was behind him, there were Pups behind him, so he supposed it wasn't all that unfair of a reaction that he was having. His old Pack – new Pack? The other Pack? The one with Maggie – would certainly not judge him for it and he supposed that at some point he was going to have to stop seeing them as separate entities in his head, they were all one Pack now after all.

Not that that meant he thought it was going to happen any time soon.

He wasn't stupid or naïve enough to think that he could sleep with and mate with Derek and suddenly everything would click into place like he'd never left at all. Like it was all oh-so-simple. When of course it wasn't, probably wouldn't be for a long time.

Chris watched him carefully for a minute and Stiles caught himself trying to find traces of Alison in his face. "Didn't want to believe the rumours about you Turning," he said eventually, "Always thought you were going to be one of the smart ones and stay human; for your father at the very least."

Stiles scowled and next to him, Maggie tensed up slightly, perceiving it as the insult that it was probably meant to be on some level.

"My Dad was the first to know outside of the immediate Pack, he just wanted me to be happy," he replied, even though he didn't really know why he was explaining himself, why he felt the need, "And I wasn't bitten anywhere near here, so it wasn't exactly anything you should have been getting your panties in a twist about."

Chris blinked at him a few times, hand shifting unsubtly on his hip. "I'm not here to threaten you, Stiles," he said and Stiles didn't even have to hear the slight blip in his heartbeat to know that was a lie. Circumstance would have painted it as such anyway.

"Yes you are," he replied bluntly, "New wolves moving into town, wouldn't really expect anything less from you." He smirked slightly, "You're a bit slacking though if you're only turning up just now."

The hunter's eyes flickered towards his daughter and Stiles was thankful that he didn't have the gall to try and deny threatening them, because it was one thing to try and get away with lying the first time, but it was just plain stupidity to persist with it when you already knew you'd been caught out. "Alison asked me to stay away for a little while, all things considered," he said eventually and Stiles really shouldn't have been surprised by that, maybe he wasn't, he didn't really know; either way it wasn't all that much of a stretch of the imagination that Alison would tell her dad everything that had been going down. It made him feel guilty for not keeping his own Dad so in-the-loop, just slightly. "And I don't know what you think I'm here to do, but it isn't to try and force you to leave town."

Behind Stiles, Jason snorted and muttered, "Good luck with that," under his breath and Stiles almost smiled when he yelped shortly afterwards as someone kicked him in the shin as a not-so-subtle reminder to keep his trap shut.

On more than one occasion Jason's comments had gotten them into shit during what otherwise would have been a relatively peaceful discussion and negotiation between Packs. Fortunately – not that it would have mattered too much he supposed – Chris wasn't in possession of werewolf hearing and probably wouldn't have picked up Jason's comment.

"What exactly are you here for then?" Derek asked, his fingers sliding through Stiles' and gripping tight in a way that felt a lot like a statement of some kind.

Chris looked down at their joined hands but didn't comment, didn't even really look surprised. But then, Stiles supposed that Alison would have filled him in on that one too.

"To make sure all the new wolves you've brought in know that the same rules apply to them as to the others," Chris said, licking slightly at the corner of his mouth as his eyes slid over all of the new wolves that he spoke of, no doubt cataloguing faces. His eyes soon found Stiles again though and neither of them blinked for a long minute or so. "You harm any humans or cause too many problems and I won't hesitate to put you down."

Behind him, someone kicked Jason again, who no doubt had just been about to open his mouth to say something that would have landed him in shit. If not with Chris, then definitely with Stiles.

"And if you or any other hunter harms any of my Pack without just cause or evidence, you answer to me," Stiles replied levelly, grinning with too many fangs, a rush of low level anger surging through his veins just at the thought of it.

He could feel his features shifting about, settling back to human finally when Derek squeezed his fingers tight enough to make the bones creak. On his other side, he knew without looking that Maggie was smirking, but then she was anything if not predictable.

Or maybe they just all knew each other too well.

"That's fair," Chris conceded, head bowing slightly and Stiles had to admit that despite not being the biggest fan of hunters, he couldn't help but feel something close to respect for Chris Argent. He hadn't been dealt the best lot in life and he'd always had the unwavering desire to stick to the code. So Stiles supposed he was better than most, certainly better than the majority of his family.

"We done here then?" Stiles asked him, thumb swiping across the back of Derek's hand, feeling the bump of his knuckles almost reverently, because a part of him still wasn't entirely sure this was real. He wondered when that would wear off. He wondered when the thought process would fade that maybe one of these days he was going to wake up to find Maggie sitting next to him rolling her eyes and calling him all the names under the sun for having let Jason slip something into his drink to 'loosen his tight ass up'.

He wasn't adverse to waiting it out in this dream world if that was what it was though; not when it was almost everything that he'd always wanted. Some minor details aside.

Chris nodded, fingers ghosting over the bulge of a weapon in his pocket like he was had to check that it was there. He didn't turn his back on them once until he got into his car, peeling out of the driveway with a squeal of tires that had Stiles almost wanting to wince.

They all stood there in silence for a while, shifting around awkwardly because none of them seemed to know what the proper protocol was for this sort of situation. Stiles knew that they were waiting for either he or Derek to move, to say something and he knew Derek was watching him carefully. Derek wasn't even trying to be subtle, he was just staring at Stiles with an odd look on his face that Stiles didn't know if he even wanted to begin to decipher.

If he had to, he'd do it later.

"So can we eat breakfast now or what?"

Jason predictably was the first one to speak, sounding bored in the way he dragged his words out until they were practically a drawl. Stiles looked over his shoulder to see the wolf leaning forwards with his forearms resting on the railing of the porch, eyebrow raised and looking expectant. He also reminded Stiles so much of Jackson right in that moment and he wondered if they'd eventually find themselves to be the best of friends through common douchebag-sensibilities or if that much arrogance and ability to piss someone off in one room would just end with war.

He kind of hoped it would be the second one.

"I'm down with that, but I refuse to eat with those two smelling like they do," Brady put in, "I don't care if they're the alphas, there's kids present!"

When Stiles looked over at him, eyebrows raised and a smirk on his face, Brady just grinned and it was so familiar and so relaxed that it made Stiles just want to rush over and hug the guy for unknowingly – or it probably was fully knowingly actually – making everyone relax.

Scott spluttered out a laugh, as did Isaac and Stiles could feel a blush rising in his cheeks that he hid by turning his face into Derek's shoulder. "I don't have to shower if I don't want to," he muttered petulantly into Derek's t-shirt, feeling the rumble of a laugh vibrate through him from Derek's chest.

He jumped when Maggie's hand landed on his shoulder. "Sorry sweetie," she said, grinning at him evilly in that way that meant he just knew she was up to something, "But it's knot really up for discussion."

Her hand landed on his ass sharply enough that it startled a yelp out of him and she was already running by the time that her words caught up with him. He sprinted after her, almost bowling Martin straight off his feet, ignoring the ache in his ass as he chased Maggie.

He also chose to purposefully ignore the fact that pretty much the entire Pack was laughing behind him. Except Callum and it seemed Scott, although the latter immediately chimed in with his own disgusted snort as soon as Alison explained it to him. Because apparently the guy could easily mistake beastiary for beastiality, but knot puns were beyond him.

"I swear to God, Callum's the only one getting made pancakes this morning," he snarled out under his breath as he held Maggie pinned to the ground, the effectiveness of that was probably ruined though by the fact she was giggling uncontrollably.

Jason spluttered from somewhere off to the side – Stiles didn't raise his head to look – and when he spoke, it sounded just like he had when he'd found out that they'd killed Mitch on Being Human. "But that's not fair, I didn't even do anything!"

"You laughed," Stiles ground out, baring his teeth at Maggie even as she kept on giggling. If anything, it seemed to make her laugh harder.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Jason cross his arms and pout.

"What's the big deal about some pancakes?" Jackson asked and only he could manage to fit so much contempt into words without making Stiles even a little offended. It was probably just because he knew it was Jackson; he knew the guy had a soul in there somewhere.

Jason scoffed loudly at the same time as a few other snorted and he sounded positively indignant as he did what could only really be called informing Jackson given the tone of his voice that, "You obviously haven't had his pancakes."

Stiles' answering smirk vanished off his face pretty quickly when he was seized by the back of his shirt and hauled up off of Maggie. He snarled low in his throat for a minute, his claws extending until he realised it was Derek behind him. He relaxed almost instantly, a pout settling onto his features.

"Put me down," he growled out, squirming as Derek tossed him over his shoulder.

"Not going to happen," Derek told him, "We're going for a shower while the Pack start on breakfast."

Stiles snarled, pounding fists on Derek's broad back, "Sourwolf, I swear to God, put me down."

Derek didn't even seem to think that was worth a reply.

"I hate you," he muttered into the fabric of Derek's t-shirt, sagging against him, the pout vanishing when he realised how much of a great vantage point for groping Derek's ass he was in right then.

Derek snorted, jumping just a little when Stiles' hands clamped down on his ass, "Love you to, Stiles."