THE HYBRID'S MATE, sterek [book 01] ✔

xv. female fox's claim

↱                                                                                   ↰

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐘𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐃'𝐒 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐄

𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯: 𝘧𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘹'𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮

↳                                                                                   ↲

The Next Day

     I groan and drop my head onto the desk. Why did Deaton have to announce my other Mate to almost the entirety of the two Packs? He just made things even more strained between myself and Derek, and that is something that is taking a toll on both Packs. Liam has been more worried about me, and so has his Pack, and it is making them stress about me.

     "Stiles?" Liam asks, knocking on the door and opening it. "Stiles, are you okay?"

     I don't move. "He just had to announce that she's coming right in front of my other Mate?! Sometimes I wonder if he even cares about our emotions. I mean, we're almost pure animal. He must think of us as just that - pure animal."

     "Deaton doesn't think that. I just came back from talking to him. He's sorry about what he did, but they would have found out either way."

     I stay quiet.

     "Would you have preferred them all to find out when she turns up? Or before she turns up? I have a feeling that it's the first one. Derek's Pack would have killed her without a second thought. To them it wouldn't have mattered if she was your Mate, they still would have killed her."

     "But you wouldn't have?"

     "No. I'm not like my old Alpha. I don't instantly want to kill a new supernatural creature if they cross into our territory. Okay, maybe I did want to kill Theo originally, but that was over two years ago. We all got over it, and now he's in our Pack; he's our friend."

     "Can you make sure our Pack gets to her before Derek's does? I have a bad feeling."

     "Of course, Sti. No one is going to harm her."

•

     It is that night that I feel someone enter the territory. I jump out of my bed and send out a message through the Pack Link announcing that someone has crossed the boundary and that we need to find them before Derek's Pack does. They all jump awake and send replies, all except Stiles. I let him sleep as the rest of us head out into the Preserve to find whoever crossed into my territory.