Shifted

8 - Hunted

Previously:

Stiles honed in on his prey standing in the middle of the street directly in front of him. The kid hasn't seen him yet because he was hidden in the trees. All Stiles could think about at that moment was how good it would feel to break those little arms. To feel his claws sinking into the child's heart and bathing himself in his blood.

"Mr. Wiggles is that you?" The little boy looked into the trees following the noise that the newly bit werewolf was making.

As the boy got closer, Stiles readied to pounce. Ready to claim his first kill.

Now:

Before he could pounce however, something pulled him back into the woods. Whatever it was, it was immune to the scratches he was giving it. They were far from the street when whatever grabbed him shoved him against a tree and roared at his face.

It was Derek Hale.

Stiles roared back and tried to claw at his face but he stopped him before he could.

"Calm down before they hear you." Derek looked up hearing something in the distance, "Too late. They're already here. Run."

The older man was gone faster than the blink of an eye. Stiles stood up to follow him but was stopped by an arrow flying near his head and exploding into a bright light as it hit a tree. Stiles shielded his eyes from the intense brightness, he tried to run again but he was disoriented and then he felt a sharp pain on his forearm.

He screamed and tried to pull the arrow out but three men with crossbows came and pointed their weapons at him. He stared them down. Wondering if he would be able to take on all three of them so he could run away.

When the man in the middle told his partners to take him, he began to really panic. He tried to yank the arrow out again to no avail. It was buried too deep into the tree.

Then Derek came and knocked out two guys and snapped the arrow in half and took Stiles with him.

Once far enough from those men, Stiles stopped running. He was relieved that when he looked at his hands his claws were nowhere to be found. He was human again.

"Who were they?" He asked Derek

"Hunters." He explained, "Their kind have been hunting us for centuries."

"Am I really a...a werewolf?" He knew it was pointless to ask but he couldn't help it. He wanted, no needed someone else to tell it to him so he could finally believe it.

"You are." Derek said, "And the sooner you accept it. The easier it'll be for you to control your urges and your shifts. The easier it'll be for you to control the bloodlust."

Stiles thought back to what happened that night.

"I almost killed a kid." He was horrified at what he almost did. He almost killed a little boy! He wanted to kill him. He was pretty sure that if it weren't for Derek, he would have too.

"How-how do I keep myself from doing that? How can I – I want to learn how to- how to not kill people. How to not hurt anyone on full moons." He was crying now. A hopeless, guilt-ridden cry that tore at his guts and made him want to throw up.

"I can teach you." Derek said softly, remembering what his full moons were like when he was a teenager and feeling sorry for the broken boy in front of him.

"But you can't see this bite as a curse."

"How can I not when I almost killed a little boy tonight?" Stiles glared at Derek.