The Fox, The Wolf and The Rabbit's Throat

Chapter 1

An eight year old Stiles was stumbling around the garden. He was pretending to be an aeroplane, like the one he'd learnt about in school a few hours before. In an explosion of sounds, he pretended he had crashed and stopped running around. He was stood next to the small horse chestnut tree his mother had planted when he was born. He listened carefully, but his developing ears couldn't pick up his father's movements. Quickly, he shot off into the woods. When he was out of sight from the house, he stopped and concentrated on his mother's words.

"Imagine it. Imagine being it. Imagine waggling your big, bushy tail." Stiles giggled. "Imagine running around on all four of your snowy white paws and imagine the hair on your back." Six year old Stiles sat in front of his mum in the woods and concentrated on everything she said. "Imagine listening with your pointy ears and imagine sniffing with your little snout. Imagine growling at all the bullies with your sharp teeth." Stiles sat and imagined it all and felt himself begin to change. His mum smiled down at him. He felt proud as he stood on all four of his snowy white paws, waggled his big, bushy tail and inhaled the sweet scent of his mum. She scooped him up in her arms and stroked him gently. "That was amazing Stiles. You couldn't have done it any better. You even waggled your tail!" She praised him. The boy purred at his mum's words.

Stiles was on all fours and started running deeper into the woods, the feel of the wind blowing through his fur exhilarating. However, he abruptly stopped when he heard something run past and he whimpered quietly when his mind started conjuring up foul beasts that could be in the woods. He chased the thing and slowed down, sneaking up on it when he could see it. Again, he stopped abruptly, but, this time, it was because of the squeals and growls he heard. He moved around so he could see what was happening, taking cover behind a large tree. It was a beautiful, black wolf, not much bigger than him with gleaming, golden eyes. The wolf was growling at what looked like the forest floor, but, when Stiles looked closer, was actually a small rabbit, pinned under the wolf's paws. The rabbit squealed and struggled and the wolf dropped it's head and bit the rabbit's head, pulling it off in one swift movement. Stiles jumped backwards and ran home. How could the wolf do that? Stiles thought. It was only a bunny. Stiles concentrated on his mum's words again.

"Now," She whispered, still stroking Stiles gently. "You need to change back. To do that, imagine your hands and your toes. Imagine your cute little nose and your belly button. Imagine your curved ears and your whiskey brown eyes. Imagine your little pink lips and your thumbs." Before she could say anything else, her son was back in human form, snuggled up in her arms. "Good boy." She whispered as she kissed his forehead and carried him home.

Stiles was sobbing as the memory of the rabbit's head being ripped off replayed itself in his head. He wandered slowly back to the garden and decided to pretend being a rabbit. He hopped around on all fours, his hands getting covered in mud and his eyes clouded with tears. He sniffed and wiped his eyes with the back of his hands when he heard his dad coming.
"Stiles!" The Sheriff called from the kitchen. "Dinner's ready!" He knew his son could hear him. He knew because his wife was the same. The only thing he didn't like about it was the fact that Stiles liked to disappear into the woods for a few hours everyday, alone. He was scared of his precious son getting hurt. At least, he thought. At least he doesn't run away from school to go to the woods.
"Daddy!" John was pulled out of his thoughts by little Stiles running inside.
"Yes?" He slowly turned around and sighed, a small smile tugging the corners of his lips up.
"I'm filthy!" The small boy giggled.
"I can see that." John laughed. "Claudia! Stiles is going to need a bath." Stiles pulled off his shoes. "Let's wash your hands, then you can have dinner." He strode over to Stiles and picked him up. "Stiles, have you been crying?" John asked when he saw the boy's tear stained cheeks.
"Um... I- I tripped." Stiles lied. He didn't like the face his dad made when he found out he'd gone into the woods. He'd heard his mum and dad arguing about it. His mum thought it was good for him to play in the woods but his dad thought it wasn't safe. For eight years old, he was pretty smart. He knew there was nothing unsafe about him running in the woods. The only unsafe things were hunters, but he also knew they weren't threats to him. The hunters in Beacon Hills worked with his dad on some cases and knew the Stilinski family well, including everything they were.
"What were you doing this time?" John asked. Stiles was very clumsy and was always falling when he played.
"I was pretending to be a bunny." He whispered, tears clouding his eyes again when the image of the beheaded rabbit surfaced in his thoughts.
"Well, let's go and get you cleaned up before your dinner gets cold." John carried Stiles to the downstairs toilet.

John put down Stiles and turned on the tap. He quickly splashed a bit of water on Stiles' cheeks to get rid of the tear stains. "Wash your hands." He whispered and went to put Stiles' dinner on a plate. Stiles walked back into the kitchen as his dad put the plate on the table with a fork. Stiles hopped up to his chair and quickly tucked into his plate of chicken. John laughed at his son's love for the white meat.

When Stiles finished his chicken, he carried his plate over to the sink and ran upstairs to his bath. He quickly stripped out of his clothes, throwing them anywhere and everywhere. He climbed into the bath and released a content sigh when the warmth of the water consumed him.
"Enjoying yourself, cub?" Stiles nodded at his mum's words. "Ready to wash your hair?" Stiles nodded again. "Okay." She walked over to a cupboard under the sink and pulled out the shampoo and shower gel. She kneeled down next to the bath and opened the shampoo, squeezing some onto Stiles' hair. "How was Scott today?" Claudia asked as she massaged the shampoo into Stiles' hair.
"He wasn't in." He mumbled.
"What about Lydia?"
"She ignored me again." Stiles desperately wanted to be Lydia's friend- she was just so smart and beautiful. And he may have a tiny weeny crush on her and tiny weeny meaning huge.
"Jackson?" Jackson was the boy that always teased Stiles for being smart. He called Stiles a nerd and beat him for 'eavesdropping' on his conversations. Stiles tried telling him he had preternaturally good hearing- his excuse for his super hearing- but Jackson didn't understand that word, you know; being nine and all, instead, calling him an even bigger nerd for knowing such a big word.
"He was with Lydia all day." He said in a sad voice. Jackson only stayed with Lydia because she was pretty. Luckily, he didn't pick on Lydia for being intelligent.
"What did you learn about today?"
"Aeroplanes!" Stiles said, perking up.
"I'm assuming you enjoyed."
"Yeah. It was really fun- we read a book on the first ever aeroplane and went outside to see if there were any in the sky. There was, but only three. It wasn't as fun as when we worked on animals in the woods." Stiles only found the animals in the woods lessons fun because he was one of them. Obviously, he excelled during those lessons and was praised by his teacher, Mrs Talia Hale. Mrs Hale's son was four years older than Stiles and captain of the school's basketball team. He was beautiful and Stiles knew, even at the age of eight, he was bisexual. Only he and his parents knew, though, to prevent more bullying.
"Did you go out in the woods today?" Claudia asked.
"Yes." Stiles didn't think he should tell his mum about the wolf and the rabbit.
"Did you do anything interesting?" She asked as she washed the shampoo out of his hair.
"Not really. I just ran around."  Stiles mumbled.
"Okay. Wash and I'll bring you your Batman pyjamas." Stiles' mum left him alone in the bath. He quickly washed and jumped out, wrapping a fluffy towel around his body.
"That was quick." Claudia laughed when she came back in with Stiles' pyjamas.
"I know." He stated. He dried himself off and slipped into his pyjamas, looking like a tiny Batman. "Night mum." He kissed his mum's cheek.
"Night cub." She hugged him. Stiles ran down the stairs to the kitchen, where his dad was making dinner for himself and Claudia.
"Night dad!" Stiles ran up behind his dad.
"Night son." John turned around and hugged Stiles. The boy ran back upstairs to his room and crawled under the duvet.

Stiles tried to sleep, but he couldn't. He tossed and turned, but he couldn't get comfortable. He imagined himself sleeping, imagined himself dreaming, but it didn't work. Instead, the wolf and the rabbit still had hold on his mind and he sobbed quietly. All of the bedrooms were soundproof, so Stiles knew no one would hear him. He still didn't understand why that wolf would want to do that to the innocent rabbit. He ended up crying himself to sleep after three hours of sobbing.