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August 4th, 2025
6:49 AM
Beacon Hills, California
Present time
"Why must we be here so early?" Julio whined, leaning his forehead between Derek's shoulders. Derek rolled his eyes, but he didn't move, allowing Julio to rest against him. As it was, Stiles was leaning most of his weight against Derek's chest. Derek was sandwiched between two people who couldn't stand to be awake before 9am. . Valencia was standing a few feet away from them, staring at a butterfly perched on the hood of the jeep. Her head was slightly tilted, eyebrows drawn together and lips pursed in a tight line.
"This butterfly is scared," she said.
"How can you tell?" All of their heads turned, Julio's head peeking out from behind Derek's shoulder, at Scott. He walked up to them with a tray full of to-go cups and a brown paper bag. Julio ran up to him and took the two things with a pleased "thank you!". Valencia leaned away from the butterfly, shifting on her feet, a little closer to Stiles and Derek.
"It's just a feeling," she shrugged.
"It's like the way we can read people," Derek said, laying a comforting hand on Valencia's arm. "The way we hear heartbeats, or take in scents, or read body language, Lennie can do that, just with nature and animals."
"Wow," Scott's head leaned back as he pursed his lips, impressed. "I've never met anyone who could do something like that."
"You've never met Val," Julio said with his mouth full of whatever was in the brown paper bag. Stiles smacked him over the back of the head.
"I suppose not," Scott gave her a little smile before clapping his hands. "Alright, so we usually go off in pairs, I was thinking each of us could team up with each of you? That alright?" he asked. Stiles looked back at Valencia, watching her teeth clench a little. She met his eyes and he raised an eyebrow. She stared at him for a second before slowly nodding.
"Yeah, that's fine," he said.
"Great. Everyone already knows the route for their patrol so it'll just be easier that way. Stiles, why don't you come with me?" Ah, that was it. Stiles should have seen that coming. He threw a look to Derek that he knew was instantly received, given the raise of his brows.
"Yeah, sure," he agreed. He pressed a kiss to Derek's lips and touched both Valencia's and Julio's shoulders, sending a bit of his energy into them, making them feel him as if he had hugged them. They both smiled as he pulled his hands away and turned to follow Scott. As the rest of Scott's pack was coming out of the house, Derek turned the two behind him and leveled them with his serious look — mouth drawn in and eyebrows in the middle of his forehead.
