Through the years

59.

Today was different.

Noah had gotten hold of a criminal who he had struggled to catch for a while now and he was then successfully transferred to the FBI. It was a good day for the Sheriff's station, and so, the pack had decided to celebrate it by going to lunch in a fancy restaurant. It was a happy day today. They had fun and laughed together, they ate good food with people they care about and they could feel that their bond was growing stronger day by day. 

They had all walked to the restaurant as they had decided they would train together in the afternoon in the woods and so they left all together as well, walking around the streets while talking happily. It was only when they walked past another restaurant's terrace that things started to change. They hadn't been paying attention to anything surrounding them as they were in their own happy bubble when they suddenly heard a person talk. It was a young man in his late twenties and he had called out Derek's name loudly in what seemed to be surprise. 

The pack stopped walking, bewildered as a group of men sitting at a table on the terrace of the restaurant smiled and cheered when they realised it really was Derek Hale who had walked in front of them with the large group of people. They were quite surprised actually to see him hanging out with so many people as Derek never was one to like big crowds.  

"Derek, my man, where have you been!" One of them exclaimed, not noticing how unenthusiastic Derek looked at the idea of talking to them again. However the pack noticed and they all stood there, watching carefully the three men with tension tightening their muscles and rendering their bodies rigid with apprehension. They were ready for attack if needed. Because it sure looked like Derek wanted to hit someone right now. 

"Yeah, dude, you ghosted us because of that little bitch and then you completely vanished when your family died." another one followed with and Stiles felt like throwing hands. He made his way through the pack and stood next to Derek with a hard look directed to them. 

"Oh," the guy said when he realised who Stiles was. "you're still here." he said in distaste. Trying to hide how surprised he was by the brunette presence by Derek's side and how he looked the exact same he did back then when they were in high school. 

"And you're still the homophobic little prick I remember you to be." Stiles snapped back with venom. The pack was watching the interaction anxiously as Stiles seemed to be pissed as well as Derek and they could only conclude that these guys were people from the Hales' past. "How unpleasant it is to see your face again. What made you think Derek would want to talk to you? You're just a bunch of assholes."

"We're friends." One of them spat back before looking to the side. "Der, seriously dude, what are you still doing with that freak?" he asked but before Derek could actually reply to him, Stiles had already taken care of that. 

"You know, there's something called minding your own goddamn business." Stiles replied with a glare. "You should try it sometime."

"You fucki-" the guy cursed at Stiles, standing up and taking a few steps forward to attack him but Derek was faster. 

The alpha grabbed his old friend by the collar before he could even reach his mate and without any hesitation, nor holding back for that matter, Derek pinned the man's back against the table they were sitting at, holding him down by the throat and crowding his space by approaching his face inches away from the guy's. The table trembled under the shock and some of the liquid in their glasses had spilled on the table next to the man's face. The other two from the group sat frozen in place, eyes wide as they stared at the scene. 

"Calm down, Mike." Derek warned calmly and Mike as well as his friends gulped. 

Because no matter how calm Derek seemed to be, the threatening tone hiding in his voice indicated that he wouldn't hesitate to destroy them if need be. They remembered Derek was never one to fight or get into an argument. However whenever he did fight, the other person would always end up badly injured. Seeing how much Derek had grown in size, they could only guess how much damage he would do now.