The mall was already heaving with last minute Christmas shoppers when he arrived. Why did he always leave his shopping until the last minute? Probably because he never knew what to get anyone he thought. It was even worse this year as Lydia had forced the pack into a secret Santa and everyone was too afraid of her to refuse. As luck would have it Stiles had picked Derek's name out of the bejewelled Santa hat Lydia had brought to their last pack meeting. It was the alpha's first Christmas without Laura so he wanted to get him something special, something to show him that Stiles cared, that the pack cared.
Stiles had been searching the mall several times a week for the last month trying to find the perfect gift. There had been several somewhat decent gifts but nothing that had stood out. After the first week he had already found presents for the Sheriff, Scott and Mrs McCall so he was able to spend all his free time focusing on his remaining gift.
It was 6 days until Christmas Eve when they were meeting for the gift exchange and Stiles was getting anxious. He had spent yet another day roaming the mall for ideas and still ended up empty handed. It was only when he got home that inspiration finally struck. He didn't know how he hadn't thought of out sooner it was, in his opinion, a brilliant idea.
The next day he set his plan in action so by the time Christmas Eve finally arrived everything was ready. They had taken a group vote and decided to have their party at the Stilinski household. Stiles didn't mind, it was better than spending more time in the burnt out shell of the Hale house. He put together a 'small' buffet which could probably feed 20 people but wouldn't even begin to satisfy a bunch of teenage werewolves.
The pack arrived around 6 with varied expressions. The girls were excited, Boyed and Jackson seemed bored, Scott and Isaac were eyeing the food, Stiles was nervous and Derek's expression was unreadable as always.
After a short meal the pack sat on any available surface in the front room as they passed gifts between them. Once everyone had a present each they all looked expectantly between Lydia and Derek not sure who was opening their gift first. After no one had said anything for a few moments and Isaac looked like he was about to pass out from excitement Stiles decided to take matters into his own hands. Sighing loudly he picked up the nearest thing he could reach and threw at Isaacs head.
"Go on then, open it before you give yourself an aneurism." He said playfully once he got the wolf's attention. Grinning broadly Isaac shredded the wrapping paper with no hesitation. His smile grew even larger when he saw what was inside. At first Stiles was confused. Why was Isaac so excited by a video game? But then he spotted the tickets stuck to the case and everything made sense. The tickets were for a gaming convention a couple of hours away, Isaac, Scott and Stiles had been planning to go but hadn't been able to find tickets. Looking around the room Isaac tried to work out who his gift was from, it was obviously someone who knew the teen well. Surprisingly it was Derek that responded to Isaac's inquisitive look.
"I heard you talking to Scott about how much you wanted to go but couldn't get tickets so I tracked down an old acquaintance that owed me a favour and got both of you a ticket. Oh and there's one for Stiles as well if he wants to go." Derek said without looking at anyone. Everyone knew Derek was a good alpha, they just sometimes forgot how much he cared for them all. Breaking the awkward silence Isaac turned to Scott.
"You next Scott, I got you." He said nudging the boy sat too his left with a small smile. Scott looked at the obviously shaped gift in his lap. Hiding his laugh he used a single claw to slice the paper in half before pulling it back to reveal new lacrosse gear. Werewolves seem to go through twice as much gear than regular teenagers did.
"Thanks Isaac. This is just what I needed." The smaller boy grinned at the praise still not used to having people treat him well, probably due to the aggressive way they play.
