Through the years

26.

It was barely 5 am.

Stiles and Connor were teamed up to walk around one part of the woods, searching for potentially other devices belonging to the hunters that had targeted them.

They had been at it for a while now and yet still nothing.

"Look here." Connor said, stopping Stiles and pointing at the ground. 

Stiles walked to Connor's side and they both crouched down to get a better look at it.

"Think of it as part of your training." the man said with a smile and the brunette nodded. "What made these?"

"A wolf?"

"Close." Connor said but shook his head. "A fox."

"There are foxes here?" Stiles asked in surprise. He was sure he had read somewhere that foxes had left these woods for over 50 years. 

"Werefoxes, yes." 

"As in people who fully turn into a fox?” Stiles asked, just to make sure he wasn’t talking about a kitsune and Connor nodded his head. “Oh c'mon, those exist?" the brunette sighed in exasperation and the man snorted in amusement. 

"Yes, they do and they are fierce little creatures." Connor told him. "You really don't want to get one mad at you."

"Good to know."

"Alright, now....tell me about these." Connor pointed to another set of footprints  not far from the fox.

"A racoon." the brunette replied confidently and the man smiled brightly in return.

"Very good." Connor praised and Stiles couldn't help but feel pride spreading in his chest. "And these?" he pointed out to footprints a little further as they approached it and crouched down again.

"Could this be from a hunter?" Stiles asked with a concerned look to the man who only looked back at Stiles in amusement.

"No, they're yours." he announced and Stiles' expression dropped to disbelief before grumbling under his breath while Connor laughed.

However, the brunette's worried expression was quickly put back on when Connor suddenly stopped laughing, listening to something only he could hear. 

Connor put his finger up to his lips, gesturing for Stiles to remain quiet no matter what and with the wave of his hand, Connor got Stiles to follow behind him.

They walked carefully around the woods for a few minutes before Connor gestured to Stiles to make as little noise as possible and hide behind a tree. 

The brunette did as asked, understanding that something serious was happening and it wasn't the time to screw up. So he walked quietly to a large tree and hid behind it, seeing Connor do the same not too far from him. 

From where they stood, they could both see each other clearly but nobody else would be able to. 

Stiles could see Connor was still listening to something and soon, the brunette started to hear something. 

Hunters.

Surprisingly, these men were making a whole lot of noise for hunters and Stiles couldn't help but think that they may not be werewolf hunters.

Real hunters would never make so much noise.

Argent had taught him that.

Amongst other things.

Stiles peeked around the tree, his eyes falling straight to whom seemed to be somewhat of a leader. 

If they were werewolf hunters, they most likely were a leader amongst them.