All Hale the King (Sterek)(Hale Twins)

Did you care about him?

Stiles pulled the heavy metal door of Derek's old loft open. It still looked the same. The one small couch sat in the middle of the room with a simple coffee table. The taller table they used for pack meetings sat untouched in front of the large windows.

Stiles walked over to see the dust had collected in a thin layer over the wooden top. He recalled the last meeting that had taken place at the table. They had been discussing how to handle a group of Fae passing through. One of them had thought it would be funny to cast a small spell on Scott, causing him to lose his werewolf senses. Derek wanted to kidnap the Fae who had cast the spell and force them to undo it, Stiles thought it would be better to arrange a meeting with their king to discuss the issues calmly.

"I'm not going to arrange any kind of meeting. The Fae who did this is going to undo it, why waste time?" Derek snapped crossing his arms as he spoke to Stiles.

Stiles rolled his eyes, "would you like to start a war with magic wielding creatures? Cause I don't."

Derek narrowed his eyes at the human, "Scott has lost all of his werewolf senses, as the alpha I have to fix this and I am not going to bargain with someone who did this maliciously."

Stiles and Derek had continued to argue until Stiles gave up.

"Fine, you can count me out though, I refuse to be a part of this 'plan' of yours," Stiles threw his hands up in frustration.

Derek raised his brows at Stiles, "it's not like you to sit out of any plan, whether you agree or not," Derek commented.

"Like I said, I don't want to start a war with magic wielding creatures," Stiles snapped.

The truth was Stiles had had his own plan. He'd managed to arrange a meeting with their king. He claimed to be there on behalf of the alpha. The king had been very understanding and appreciative of the civil way the Hale pack had handled the acts of a rebellious teenager. The king undid the spell without hesitation.

When Derek had found out, he'd been pissed that Stiles went behind his back. Three days later, Derek left.

-

Scott stopped in front of the large metal door. He gave Gage a nod, letting him know this was it.

Gage could smell that Stiles was inside. He smelled of the familiar sadness he'd smelt like the morning before. He hesitantly reached for the door. What was he going to say to Stiles? He was once again reminded how unprepared he was to lead this pack.

-

Stiles touched the stool he had always sat on. He had always sat beside Derek. The pack had treated him like he was Derek's adviser. If Derek had ever actually listened to Stiles, he could have understood the comparison, but Derek disagreed with Stiles ninety-nine percent of the time.

Stiles turned, looking out the large windows. The moon was out now and it was shining brightly through the room. How long had he been here? It only felt like maybe thirty minutes but the sun hadn't even started to set when he'd arrived.

The sound of the door opening caused Stiles to jump. He looked over to see the familar dark haired alpha step inside.

Stiles was hit with a wave of betrayal. That wasn't Derek. Derek would never walk through that door again.

Stiles turned away hoping to hide the look of sadness that he knew was evident on his face.

"Stiles," Gage's tone was gentle. It sounded foreign hearing Derek's voice speak to him like that.

Stiles didn't look away from the window.

"Are you okay?" Gage asked stepping closer to the human.

Stiles turned to Gage. He opened his mouth to respond but he felt his throat tighten. Instead, he dropped his eyes to the floor and shrugged.

Gage now stood on front of Stiles. He reached for Stiles' chin, lifting gently.

"It's okay to miss him," Gage said, his tone sympathetic.

"I don't know why I do," Stiles spoke quietly.

"From what I've gathered, you two had a close connection," Gage dropped his hand to Stiles' shoulder.

"We didn't," Stiles disagreed. "he couldn't have hated me more. We fought all the time. I'm almost positive I'm the reason he left. It hurts. I don't know why, but it does."

"Did you care about him?" Gage asked.

Stiles nodded, "of course, he was my alpha."

"Did you care about him as more than just your alpha? Did you consider him a friend?" Gage pressed.

Stiles frowned a bit, "yes, he was like family to me. I didn't view him any differently than I did Scott or Lydia," Stiles answered honestly.

"Then I think you know why it hurts so much,"  Gage squeezed Stiles' shoulder gently.

Stiles felt tears prick his eyes. He didn't know if he was sad or mad.

"Hey, it's okay," Gage sensed Stiles sadness mix with anger.

"I thought I was past feeling like this. I thought I was over it," Stiles frowned, dropping his eyes to the floor.

"Nobody expects you to be over it, the pack knows you're hurting," Gage stepped in towards Stiles more.

"They don't understand why I'm so upset about him leaving. They think I hated him. Malia gets mad because I am so hurt by it. Scott, Allison, and Lydia pity me. Isaac and Liam claim to understand, and maybe on some level they do because they are upset too but...they're his beta's, they're expected to be upset. I'm not even a werewolf, I shouldn't care," Stiles felt the tears threatening to fall.

Gage pulled Stiles into him, wrapping his arms around the human, "it's okay to be upset and hurt. You trusted him and he let you down. He left without a word, and left you in charge of his pack. You have every right to be mad and hurt and frustrated, and you have every right to miss him. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks."

Stiles stood tense in Gage's arms. Derek had never hugged him before. But this wasn't Derek, this was Gage. Stiles relaxed a bit as he carefully returned the hug.

"I know this probably doesn't help but, I'm here, and no matter what happens I'm not leaving. Even if the pack doesn't want me as their alpha, if you need someone, I'm here. I promise," Gage held Stiles tightly. He felt Stiles relax into him further. It was something Laura used to do to calm him and Derek. Something about being in the arms of your alpha was calming. Gage had used the trick often on his pack back in New York. It worked like a charm. Sometimes it took others longer to give in, but Gage wouldn't let go until they hugged him back or their scent changed.

Stiles was still a bit tense and his scent hadn't yet changed so Gage held him closer. He wasn't sure if it would work quite the same since Stiles was a human, but he tried anyway.

After a moment it was like a switch flipped. Stiles melted into Gage's chest, burying his head into his neck.

"There you go, I've got you," Gage whispered gently. He took in Stiles scent, something about it was calming to him, even despite the sadness and frustration dripping off of him.

*AN*
Here you are, lovelies! ❤
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