A Place to Call Home

Unable to keep her fear at bay, Dakota let her instincts take over and shifted back into her wolf form. With a whine, she moved closer to Stiles and nudged his hand.

“It’s okay,” Stiles reassured her, stroking her head and looking over at Derek as the alpha growled deep in his throat, “Who is it?”

“Gerard,” Derek told him.

“What is my grandad doing here?” Allison asked with a frown.

“I guess we will find out,” Derek mumbled, glancing at Dakota and heading over to answer the door.

The dislike for the man who entered was instantaneous and Dakota felt her hackles rise, watching the man’s every move like a hawk.

“Rumor has it that you have another wolf in your pack,” Gerard said as soon as he walked in, setting his gaze on Dakota and smirking, “Looks like the rumors were correct, you have a deal with my son to keep to Hale.”

“The terms of our agreement states that I cannot turn another human being unless absolutely necessary, it mentions nothing about taking in a wolf that needs help,” Derek replied.

“This one looks feral...” Gerard began.

“She’s not,” Stiles added quickly.

“Stiles,” Scott warned, but Stiles knew exactly where Gerard’s sentence was going and he refused to let him hurt Dakota.

Dakota tensed as Gerard took a step towards her, holding her ground and looking up in surprise when Isaac moved to stand with her. The action of standing shoulder to shoulder with an omega wolf was powerful, it showed that the outsider was considered equal and that was something that Dakota had never experienced before.

“I think that you should leave,” Allison suggested, glaring at Gerard and closing the door as the man left.

The pack meeting quickly turned into a movie night after that and Dakota, not feeling safe enough to shift back to human, curled up on the floor at Stiles’ feet. With her head resting on her paws, she watched the movie and shifted as Isaac sat down beside her.

Aside from Stiles, Dakota’s interactions with people had been scarce and she wasn’t entirely sure of how to act. Hesitantly, she moved her head to Isaac’s leg and closed her eyes as he stroked her.

***

They had just pulled up to the Stilinski house later that night, when an unfamiliar scent caught Dakota’s attention and she gently pawed Stiles to stop him from getting out of the jeep.

“What’s wrong?” Stiles asked with a frown.

‘Someone’s been here.’

“Can you tell who?”

‘The scent isn’t familiar, but it was definitely an alpha and he wasn’t alone.’

“Is it safe?”

‘I don’t sense them nearby.’

Dakota kept close to Stiles as they made their way inside, checking the house to make sure it was empty and lying by Stiles’ bedroom door. The quiet that fell over the house did nothing to settle her nerves and she anxiously paced in front of the window, guarding Stiles as he slept peacefully in his bed.

Hours passed and the sun slowly rose into the sky, greeting the new day with its usual warmth. Stiles soon left for school and Dakota caught up on some much-needed sleep, though it was far from peaceful. Nightmares often plagued her mind; the darkness conjuring up memories she longed to forget and offering up a stark reminder that the dangers were still out there.