Prelude

Chapter 3: Do You Believe In Love At First Sight Or Should I Walk By Again?

"Pack meeting after lacrosse." Scott said as soon as Isaac walked into the locker room, Stiles and Boyd sat on the bench next to him as they laced up their shoes. 

"Everything okay?"

"No new danger, if that's what you're referring to." Stiles said. "We seem to be on a supernatural break." 

"That you probably just jinxed." Isaac said as he took his shirt off. Stiles paused, looking up at Isaac with an uh-oh face.

"Damn." Scott shook his head with a smile and they all finished getting ready for practice. Isaac and Scott looked over to the bleachers as soon as they stepped outside, like a magnetic force was compelling them, as Stiles and Boyd carried on walking to the field with their equipment. Guinevere was sat beside Lydia, Malia slouched onto the bleacher their feet were resting on as she let her long legs dangle over the lower bleacher in a very 'I don't care and could kill you in a heartbeat' kind of way. Stiles made it half way through practice before he happened to glance at the bleachers and caught sight of the three girls, making him trip over himself and make a general fool of himself for the rest of practice. Lydia and Malia walked Guinevere to her car after practice was over, numbers exchanged and the promise of shopping with Lydia and Erica on Saturday marking their departure. Lydia was about to drive Malia home when Scott caught up with them. 

"Hey, pack meeting tonight."

"You four better shower before we meet up." Lydia said, wrinkling her nose at his sweaty hair. 

"Stiles' house in an hour. He's making dinner and his dad won't be home tonight." 

"Got it." Lydia nodded, Malia doing the same as she swung her bag over her shoulder. 

An hour later and the entire McCall pack was gathered in Stiles' kitchen while he made them dinner. They had found that it was better to do pack discussions while Stiles was cooking so he was calmer and less likely to knock over a vase. Scott had his arms crossed as he stood on the other side of the bar, Derek helping Stiles with dinner since they were the only two who actually liked cooking for eleven supernatural beings. Lydia was sipping some blackberry drink as she sat at the counter, legs crossed like she was sitting in an expensive club instead of Stiles' kitchen, Peter stood behind her as he played with her hair and rubbed her shoulders. Malia was digging through the box of fidget toys Stiles had acquired over the years, looking for her favorite as Liam snatched the stress ball he usually toyed with during meetings. Isaac was sat on Scott's right, not offering much input to their conversations but following along coherently, as Erica was sat to Scott's left with Boyd stood behind her. Parrish showed up five minutes late but they hadn't started yet anyways and he took the opportunity to shed his belt and uniform shirt in a way that made him look like a hired stripper. 

"So, pack meeting?" Parrish asked as he pulled his shirt off, leaving him in a white t-shirt.

"Yeah. There's a new girl at school," Scott started, making the others look at him with interest, ears perked like puppies. 

"We don't need a pack meeting to hear about your pathetic love life, Scott." Derek said, no real venom in his statement as he moved around Stiles to toss some crushed garlic into the waiting pot. 

"That's just it though. I think it's not just my love life she's involved in." Derek shot him a confused eyebrow raise over his shoulder and Scott carried on. "I could smell her from down the hall today before I even knew who she was. I couldn't smell anything except her. When I saw her for the first time, it was like my mind went completely blank and all that existed was her." 

"Your mind goes blank when you see a Spanish test, Scott." Stiles said sarcastically, making Erica laugh and Boyd smile. 

"This was different." Scott insisted. 

"I know what you mean." Isaac spoke up, making everyone look at him. "I could smell her all day and I didn't know what it was until she sat down with us at lunch." 

"Me too. But I just figured someone was wearing too much perfume again." Malia agreed, playing with a fidget cube as she slouched in her chair. 

"What about you two?" Scott looked at Erica and Boyd. 

"Wait, wait, wait." Derek said, holding up his hands. "Who are you three talking about?" 

"Guin." Scott, Isaac and Malia said in unison. Derek hesitated before he motioned for them to continue and Erica tilted her head back to look at Boyd who was standing behind her. 

"I didn't smell that or anything. She smelled like you guys do, nothing overwhelming." She said, Boyd nodding his agreement. 

"Liam, did you meet her at all?"

"The girl who was with Lydia and Malia at lacrosse practice?" Liam asked. 

"Yeah." 

"Sorry. I didn't smell anything unusual or over powering." He shook his head. 

"Don't apologize, Liam. It's not your fault and it's not something to apologize for." Stiles spoke up as a habit. He had taken it upon himself to start trying to Pavlov the pack into better mannerisms that weren't PTSD related or a reflex. Un-necessary apologizing was one of Liam's worse habits.

"Right." Liam mumbled, squeezing his stress ball a few times. 

"What about you?" Peter spoke up, looking down at Lydia as he gave her shoulders a squeeze. "Experience anything unusual when you met this girl?"

"It made me nervous." Lydia said, head tilted to the side as she tried to remember meeting Guinevere at lunch. "Like I had butterflies in my stomach." 

"Stiles," Peter prompted the teen. Stiles shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. 

"I don't know. It was..." He struggled to find the right words as he continued cooking. "It was like the first time I saw Lydia." Lydia smiled softly as she put her hand over top Peter's resting on her shoulder. "It was almost like a panic attack." Stiles said softly. Everyone took a second to sit in silence. As active as Stiles was with helping the pack get through their mental health issues, he rarely talked about his own issues. 

"If it's a bond strong enough that even the humans are feeling it, she's probably a mate." Peter announced. 

"To who?" Scott asked in confusion. 

"All of you. Anyone who can only smell her, has the world stop when they meet her. It's a werewolf's version of love at first sight." 

"So like with you and Lydia or Erica and Boyd?" Malia asked.

"Exactly. But since she's human, you have to be careful with her. Ease her into the supernatural and don't overwhelm her with all of you at once." Peter said. 

"Derek and Parrish should meet her or at least be around her to see if they're mated too." Scott said, a look of consideration scribbled across his features as he stared at the counter top to get his head on straight. 

"Sounds great. We'll talk more about it after dinner." Stiles said, butting in. "Malia and Liam, set the table." The kitchen was swept into motion as everyone started moving towards the table for dinner while Malia and Liam grabbed dishes.