you can get anything you want (at stiles resturant)

8/10/2019 You Can Get Anything You Want (at Stiles Resturant)

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Chapter 1: Virgin Blood Marys

Ingredients:• 2 lemon wedges

• 2 oz Vodka• 4 oz blood (pig or cow)• 2 dashes Tabasco Sauce• 2 dashes Worcestershire sauce• generous pinch o Stiles secret spice mi!

Instructions:Salt the rim o a pint glass and hal "ll it with ice# S$ueezelemons into a cocktail shaker# %dd all ingredients to the

cocktail shaker and shake well# &our into prepared pintglass# %dd celer' or marrow bone depending on customer preerence# *+ e!tra or resh ,irgin human blood#

*******************

Stiles was very glad he had decided that his cafe would onlyhost vampire nights once a month. Not because he was dizzyfrom Scott drawing his blood earlier in the day. No, he knew

exactly how to deal with that. Stiles disliked vampire nightsbecause he always had to deal with at least one pretentiousbastard.

"an you tell me a little bit about the source of the humanvirgin blood!" sked the most recent winner of thepersnickety prick award.

"#f course, the blood comes from a local $% year old virginmale who eats a health conscious omnivore diet." Stiles oftenwondered when his life became a &ortlandia sketch. 'e hadput the virgin blood cocktail on the menu for the (rst vampirenight as a )oke. t seemed unlikely that anyone would want tobuy a +- drink at a casual cafe. /o his shock, he sold out inunder an hour. 0emand had waned slightly as the noveltywore o1, but he had yet to have any of his blood go to waste.



"nd how was it harvested!" /he customer wore a slightlysuperior expression as if he was the (rst person to be soethical as to ask these 2uestions.

"t was drawn this morning by a 2uali(ed medicalprofessional and the human received generous compensationfor the sale." /his was not completely true. Scott was actuallya supernatural medicine resident at 3eacon 'ills 4eneral andStiles didn5t pay himself anything for his own blood. 3ut heowned the cafe and received all the pro(ts so he (gured itwas close enough.

"an meet the source to ask him further 2uestions!" /he

vampire had )ust been upgraded from pretentious to creepy."No," Stiles said (rmly. nitially he had kept the source secretbecause he didn5t want to publicly announce to all his patronsthat he was a virgin. /hen, two years ago one of thecustomers became obsessed with the virgin blood. 'e hireda witch to scry for the donor and tried to take a large sampledirectly from Stiles carotid artery. 6ortunately, he was stupidenough to make the attack right after closing while 3oyd was

doing kitchen prep for the next day. /he vampire was lucky tohave lived long enough to make it to prison. /he 3eacon 'illssupernatural community was very protective of its favoriterestaurateur.

"'mm," mused the vampire. "/hat all sounds good, but 5dbetter go with the pig5s blood )ust in case." #f course hewould. Stiles 2uickly prepared the drink. t least the creeptipped well.

Stiles wiped the counter with a cloth and turned his attentionto the next patron. Stiles was glad that working around somany supernaturals had gotten him used to interacting withridiculously beautiful people. n front of him stood muscularperfection with )ust the right amount of stubble. 7ampirestended towards slender builds and haughty expressions so he



glanced at his enchanted mirror. Stiles wasn5t surprised tosee the stranger5s re8ection had glowing eyes and claws. 'ehanded the werewolf the supernatural carnivore and standardomnivore menus.

"9elcome to Stiles :estaurant. /onight our specials aredesigned for a vampire pallet, but all of our regular menuitems are still available." /he man didn5t even glance at themenus.

"0o you have any hearts available!" he asked. Stiles was alittle surprised. ;ost werewolves stuck to a mostly humandiet this close to the new moon.

"bsolutely," responded Stiles. "t the moment we have pig,cow, and chicken hearts." Stiles didn5t believe in obfuscatingthe source of meat by calling it pork or beef. 'e thought thatif you were going to eat meat, you should acknowledge youwere eating an animal.

"9hich is the freshest!" /he man asked grumpily.

"/he chicken and cow hearts are fresh, but the pig hearts

have been frozen." ctually they were still frozen, but Stileswas more than willing to thaw one out. Stiles took greatpride in his ability to meet almost any set of dietaryre2uirements with delicious food.

" will take one raw cow heart and an order of fries to go," thewerewolf looked slightly disgusted at his own order. Stilessmiled warmly to indicate that he shouldn5t be ashamed ofhis taste. 'e served odder combinations on a daily basis.

"oming right up," he punched the order into the computersystem that informed the kitchen and keep track of tabs. "fyou en)oy fresh organ meat, you may be interested in ourfresh game 9ednesdays. t is the (rst week of deer seasonso there should be a great crowd."



/he werewolf grunted and looked uncomfortable. Stilesmade a mental note to mention him to Scott. t wasn5thealthy for werewolves to be socially isolated. /here hadn5tbeen real pack in 3eacon 'ills since the surviving 'ales left.

Scott ;call was the de facto leader of the local werepopulation because 0r. 0eaton had identi(ed him as apotential /rue lpha. 6ortunately or unfortunately, dependingon how you wanted to look at it, he had not achieved alphastatus because nothing bad enough had happened to triggerthe change.

"9hy don5t you have a seat. 9e will bring it out to you whenit is ready," Stiles continued. /he man gave Stiles a hard look

and stalked o1 to seat himself at a table far from the bar.

Stiles intended to take the meal out to the new customerhimself, but he ended up spending the next ten minutesmixing drinks for a group of regulars and catching up on allthe gossip. pparently, the werewolves were worked upabout something, but the vampires didn5t know what becausethe two species rarely got along. 9hen he looked up, hiswaitress, <rica, was handing the man his food. Stiles paused

to watch their interactions. <rica liked to 8irt. /he regularsknew she was happily married to 3oyd the chef, butoccasionally newcomers got the wrong impression. 'owever,to Stiles surprise, the stranger was comfortably chatting with<rica. 'e smiled, exposing unfairly adorable bunny teeth.Stiles wondered why the people he found attractive inevitablyhated him on sight.

#f course he knew this was only half his problem. Sparks

were in the odd situation that they were not on the legal listof supernatural beings. /his was largely because they couldeasily pass as fully human and most chose to do so. /heunfortunate side e1ect of this was that if sparks choose to behonest about their abilities they received all thediscrimination, but none of the explicit legal protections



granted to listed supernatural beings. Stiles knew it wasgoing to take a special person to want to date a bisexualspark. n the mean time, he could sell virgin blood cocktails.

/he rest of the night passed 2uickly. Stiles was distractedfrom his contemplative mood by serving a string of familiarcustomers. 'e sternly reminded himself that even though hedidn5t have a sweetie, he had a ton of friends and a valuedplace in his community. 9hen he had opened his restaurant,Stiles had promised himself that he would (nd a way to feedevery population that was unserved by the meagerrestaurant options of 3eacon 'ills. #n the wall next to theentrance, he proudly displayed a large calendar detailing a

schedule of specials customized to appeal to everyone fromselkies to vegan localvores. /he calendar was held to the wallby stickers from over a dozen social )ustice organizations. 3ycreating a place everyone could eat he had also created asafe place for everyone to gather.

s he closed out the register, he wondered if perhaps heshould make vampire night twice a month after all. /heywere annoying but always highly pro(table. ;aybe he could

(nance a special night for one of the lower income speciesusing the extra money. 'e casually bickered with <rica aboutif he was running a business or a charity as they wipedtables, stacked chairs, and got ready for the next day.

Chapter 2: Mixed seafood specialIngredients:• -i!ed resh seaood

Instructions:For selkies: .emo,e large bones rom "sh (lea,e skin and pin bones)# /ut all seaood into matchbook sized pieces# %rrange a selection o resh raw seaood attracti,el' on a plate#

For omnivores (human or supernatural): See recipes or



"sh boil0 grilled "sh0 and1or mi!ed seaood chowder# %ll mealse!cept "sh boil include a starch and ,egetable choice#

For observant Jews: -ost whole "sh with scales and "ns

are automaticall' kosher0 but double check unamiliar "shagainst the rthodo! 3nion list# /ut "sh onl' using the kniewith blue paint on the handle on one o the blue cuttingboards# /ook outside on blue grill using utensils with blue paint on the handles# Ser,e on paper plates withcompostable utensils#-eal includes challah and grilled,egetables# ote: customers ma' substitute an' two sidesrom the ,egan menu0 but preparation is not super,ised#

********************

#n 6riday mornings, Stiles used the ringing phone as hisalarm clock. 'e wanted to sleep until the last possiblesecond to prepare for the beginning of the weekend. 6ridayswere not his busiest days, but they were the mostcomplicated.

t all started when Scott came into the restaurant upset

because half the selkie population of 3eacon 'ills was beingtreated for food poisoning. Selkies needed to eat a sizeableportion of fresh raw seafood every week to stay healthy andthe local grocery store was not providing safe or sustainableoptions. Stiles had opened his restaurant to solve exactlythis type of problem. 'e started research immediately intothe optimal foods to serve the selkies and how to obtainthem. saac drove into San 6rancisco every 6riday to drop hisson o1 at his mom=s for the weekend so Stiles hired him to

make an additional stop at the (sh market.

/he weekly seafood special was an immediate hit with theselkies and humans. n fact it was so popular that Stilesstarted running out of side dishes. saac o1ered to make anadditional stop at a bakery to pick up fresh bread. 'e boughtchallah because the braiding reminded him of his favorite



knitted scarf. /his choice turned out to be unexpectedly goodfor business, but bad for Stiles sanity.

/he same grocer that was inexplicably unable to stock fresh

(sh also refused to sell kosher challah. 9hen the local :abbiheard that Stiles was bringing in whole (sh and challahweekly, he scheduled a meeting. /he :abbi came preparedwith many compelling arguments as to why it would be easyand pro(table for Stiles to add a kosher option to the fridaynight menu. 'e even o1ered supervision for the heckscherfree of charge. Stiles thought the :abbi had a uni2uede(nition of easy, but he agreed to try it for a month. ftertwo weeks, he started a program where families that didn=t

want to eat at the restaurant could order kosher challah forpick up.

ll of this led to Stiles being woken up by saac=s phone call. 'alf awake, Stiles 8ailed for his phone on his bedside tableand managed to seize it )ust before the call went tovoicemail.

";mbla," he said.

"4ood morning," saac greeted without a hint of sympathy.Stiles supposed that was fair as it was >?@ ; and saac hadalready been awake for hours. "/oday it looks like you aregetting alifornia Aing salmon, soft shelled crabs, and mixedshell(sh."

"ool, do you have enough fresh corn ready for a (sh boil!" f he was going to be out in the ugust heat to use the koshergrill, Stiles (gured he might as well (re up the turkey fryer fora (sh boil. 3ecause preparing two separate dishes outsidethat couldn5t touch or use any shared e2uipment only addedto the fun.

"Bep, and have a bunch of new potatoes too if you arerunning low,C saac o1ered. 0uring high school, saac=s



therapist had suggested that he care for a plant so that hecould experience his nurturing instincts or something. Stilesdoubted she intended him to plant an entire vegetablegarden. 3ut saac said growing things made him feel like his

mother5s son instead of the spawn of his abusive asshole of afather. 9hen his father died, saac had inherited a large plotof land behind the graveyard which he used to cultivate anever increasing variety of organic vegetables. saac said hewould rather dig in the dirt to feed living instead of bury thedead. 3esides, owning his own produce business gave himthe 8exibility to take care of his son during the days he hadcustody and protected him for some of the more ridiculoussupernatural employment laws.

"&erfect, see you when you get back," Stiles said and endedthe call. 'e made a mental list of everything he had to dobefore the restaurant opened for lunch while he took ashower and got dressed. t always seemed a bitoverwhelming until he started working and checking thingso1. 6ortunately, he didn5t have far too go. 'e walked the-@@ feet from the front door of his trailer to the back door ofhis restaurant in under a minute.

ll the kitchen prep for lunch service had been completed thenight before, so Stiles started chopping the vegetables for therecently decided dinner specials. 'e was cutting up the lastof the onions when the rest of his sta1 entered in a clump.<rica got the door while 3oyd and saac walked in carrying ahuge ice chest full of seafood. ;alia pushed in a hand truckloaded with the boxes of fresh bread.

D'ey 3oss,C <rica greeted him cheerfully. She started settingup the customer area for lunch while Stiles briefed 3oyd onthe dinner menu and con(rmed the fresh produce order withsaac. /hen Stiles started organizing the weekly challahorders.

" heard the werewolves were excited about something,"



Stiles prompted <rica. She had become a werewolf to cureher epilepsy. <lective bites weren5t legal until sixteen. <ricaand her parents did all the paperwork early so she couldreceive the bite on her birthday.

"n unknown pack came into town yesterday," <ricaanswered.

" fully bonded pack, like with an alpha!" 2uestioned Stiles.

"Bep, an alpha and four betas," said <rica./hat was small for awerewolf pack, but if the alpha decided to challenge Scottthey would still be in trouble.

"nd it gets even better," continued <rica. She alwaysen)oyed sharing news. "/he alpha is pregnant."

":eally!" 9erewolf packs were extremely protective ofpregnant females. Stiles could only imagine how they wouldreact to a perceived threat to their pregnant alpha.

"Bou meet one of the betas last night."

D/he grumpy man who ordered the raw heart," guessedStiles.

"Sure thing," said <rica. "'e told me that his sister has beenhaving really intense cravings." 9ell that explained hisdisgust. Stiles was relieved to hear it was a sibling thing not acase of supernatural shame. 'e had dealt with enough ofthat for one lifetime when Scott was involuntarily bit in highschool.

"f you see him again make sure to mention we can specialorder anything she needs.C Stiles meat=s supplier was oftenmysti(ed by the restaurant5s orders, but he was always camethrough.

/his conversation was interrupted by the (rst customers



coming in to pick up their challah. <verything ran smoothlyas the day went on. Eunch was busy, but well organized andStiles passed the :abbi5s "surprise" inspection with 8yingcolors. Stiles was never sure if he stopped by every week in

an oFcial capacity or if he )ust liked to chat. 'e bought threeloaves of challah and promised to bring his family by fordinner so Stiles wasn5t going to complain.

ooking diner outside was exactly as unpleasant as Stiles hadexpected. 'e was very grateful when he was able to turn o1the kosher grill at %>?@. /he selkie and omnivore specialswould be available until they switched over to the late nightmenu at G but he (gured anyone who cared about kosher (sh

would be at services which started at H. Stiles took over for;alia behind the bar.

bout half an hour later, an unfamiliar dark haired womanwalked into the restaurant, took one sni1, and immediatelywalked right back out. Stiles would have been insulted if hehasn5t seen her enlarged waistline. She wasn5t the (rstpregnant woman to have issues with (shy 6ridays. 'e ranafter her and managed to catch up in the parking lot.

She turned with a snarl and 8ash of red eyes. "9hy are youfollowing me!" she demanded.

Stiles knew she could hear his heart speed up in his chest. 'e held up his hands and tilted his head to the side to bearhis neck. "6orgive me alpha," he said placatingly. " know thesmell in there can be a bit much even for human noses. was )ust going to o1er to bring you whatever you wanted."

She looked at him in cold assessment. " also smelledwolfsbane." /his was good she was asking 2uestions andseemed willing to listen to the answers. Stiles took a calmingbreath and held his submissive posture.

" make a wolfsbane tincture to add to drinks for werewolves



who want to get drunk," Stiles explained. " also have a can of wolf mace behind the bar." 3ecause it would be stupid to getweres drunk without one, but he (gured it would be impoliticto add that part. 'is father would be proud of him for

thinking before he spoke.

"'ow often do you use the mace!" she asked sharply, but herposture was starting to relax. t was a reasonable 2uestion. Some humans tended to mace any werewolf that looked atthem and their right to do so was actually protected by law.

"5ve only used it twice in the almost (ve years we5ve beenopen," Stiles replied honestly. ";y waitress and chef are

omegas so they can step in if someone gets rowdy." Not thatit happened very often. nyone who caused trouble wasbanned from the restaurant for at least a month.

/he woman listened carefully to his words and his heartbeat.9hen he stopped talking she smiled broadly. "&erhaps weshould start over," she said. "5m lpha Eaura 'ale. ;y familyand are here to reclaim our territory." 9ell fuck.

Chapter 3: Aconite Absinthe

Ingredients• oz %bsinthe• 5 oz ice cold water • sugar cube• Stiles wolsbane tincture (2 drops or omega0 5 drops or a

beta0 4 drops or an alpha)

Instructions:

&our one ounce o absinthe into special glass# %dd theappropriate number o tincture drops# 6a' absinthe spoonacross the glass and put sugar cube on top o spoon# Ser,ewith a small pitcher o water#

otes:



• %conite tincture is or weres onl'7 Warn weres in mi!ed parties that wolsbane is poisonous to humans and mostsupernaturals#

• 8ard limit o 5 laced drinks per were per night

******************

Saturdays were Stiles longest day and his favorite. /herestaurant opened for brunch at nine and didn5t close untileleven at night, but it didn5t matter because it was werewolfday and he could count on spending most of it with friends.#f course, on this particular Saturday the sole topic ofconversation was the new pack. /o say opinions were divided

was an understatement. /he 'ales had been controversial (gures in 3eacon 'ills. /alia 'ale had come from a long line of strong alphas. Shehad helped maintain the stability of the supernaturalcommunity while leading a growing movement for expandtheir rights. Insurprisingly, her e1orts were not alwayspopular with the town5s human inhabitants.

Stiles had grown up to his father5s stories of his time as ayoung deputy trying not to betray his principles whileupholding the law enough so that he didn5t get (red. /alia hadmade him promise not to sacri(ce his )ob unless it was reallyworth it. John Stilinski told his son he suspected she knewthat she was likely to become a martyr.

No one could have anticipated how it ended up happening. group of 5human rights5 activists trapped most of the 'alepack inside their house with mountain ash and set it ablaze. /he arson killed sixteen people including four human childrenand two human mates. /he horri(c tragedy sparked anational debate on the treatment of supernaturals.

John worked tirelessly to ensure the (re was properlyinvestigated and the guilty parties were arrested. rrests in



human against supernatural violence were rare and fair trialseven rarer, but the young human victims helped swaypreviously indi1erent people to the cause. /he trial of Aatergent and her (ve accomplices was a turning point in the

(ght for supernatural rights.

Stiles knew that three of /alia5s elementary school agedchildren and her youngest brother had survived the (re. /heiridentities had been hidden to protect them from groups thathad sworn revenge after rgent and her accomplices weresentenced to life in prison. pparently, this was utterly unfairwhen all they had done was euthanize some animals. Johnhad con(ded in his son that the surviving 'ales had been

taken in by a pack in upstate New Bork.

nd now they were back. f Eaura was the same type ofalpha as her mother, their return would be good for the town. 3ut it was going to be complicated. 3eacon 'ills had grownsigni(cantly since the 'ales left. ;ost of the town humanswere ashamed of the fact that three of gents accompliceswere local. /he county council had passed some of the mostliberal laws in the nation. /hings were far from perfect, but

3eacon 'ills was an oasis of tolerance compared to the restof the country. ;any supernatural groups were interactingmore with humans and each other. t the moment,everything was carefully balanced and peaceful. f Eauraplanned to take up the role of lpha 'ale of 3eacon 'ills as ithad existed twenty year ago it was going to be a disaster.

Stiles didn=t think trying to explain all this to a hungrypregnant woman in a parking lot was a good idea. nstead,

he brought her free take out and invited the entire pack towerewolf night at the restaurant. 'e told <rica about theconfrontation and assumed that the news would spread tothe entire community by Saturday evening.

Judging by the familiar faces at every table it had. Someonehad even convinced Eydia drive down from Stanford for the



weekend. She sat with lison sipping a fruity cocktail anddiscussing Scott and lison=s wedding plans. Stiles tookcomfort in the fact that she was relaxed and not screaming. Scott was wandering around the room in a seemingly

random pattern stopping fre2uently to talk with people. 'esaw Stiles watching him and made his way up to the bar.

"9hy does everyone expect me to be upset about the newpack," asked Scott, but Stiles (gured it was a mostlyrhetorical 2uestion.

"t5s kind of your territory man!" answered Stiles.

" guess, but 5ve never really cared about that kind of thing."Scott ran a very freeform pack that more closely resembled agroup of friends that liked to hang out and solve problemstogether than a traditional hierarchy. "an=t )ust o1er them abunch of territory that the pack doesn5t use and some kind ofalliance."

Eike most of Scott5s plans, it was a basically good idea thatneeded a bit of polish. " wouldn5t suggest phrasing it thatway. Eaura 'ale is the hereditary alpha of most of 3eacon'ills."

"nd she has no need to accept your cast o1s," drawled alyconic man as he strode up to the bar. <arly in the evening,Stiles had noticed the beta sitting at a table near the middleof the room pretending to read a book. /he fre2uency of hispage turns indicated he was more interested in observing theother patrons than reading. 3ut he was invited and keptordering food so Stiles had seen no reason to interfere.

"9elcome to Stiles :estaurant," he said trying to turn theconversation in a positive direction. " am Stiles Stilinski, theowner, and this is Scott ;call, the leader of the localomegas."



"&eter 'ale," the man introduced himself as if sharing hisname was a ma)or favor. " knew you father." 'e said toStiles. "3oth of you father5s actually." 'e added darkly. Stilesdidn5t blame him for his disgust. Scott5s father had abused

63 resources to try to impede the 'ale house arsoninvestigation. Eater, he had abandoned his family when Scottgot bitten. Stiles supposes this was a better reaction thansaac5s dad who had repeatedly tried to beat the wolf out ofhis son.

"t=s great you5re back," Scott said enthusiastically. "t5ll benice to have an lpha and pups around."

"re you interested in )oining the pack!" &eter asked."Nah, 5m happy as an omega, but anyone who wants to )oinEaura5s pack is welcome to do so." Scott seemed completelyoblivious to the serious nature of these negotiations.

"/hat is acceptable. 9hat are you thoughts on territory!"&eter prompted.

"9ell we need access to the restaurant, the hospital where

work, the gym where my (ancK works, and saac5s farm,"began Scott. "#h and the Sheri15s department." 'e paused tothink for a second. "/he schools should be neutral becauseboth packs will have pups."

"5m going to need a few minor details like the locations ofthese places," responded &eter with the careful speech of aman who believes he is dealing with a powerful idiot.

"'ow about you sit down and en)oy a complimentaryappetizer while (nd us a map!" suggested Stiles. 'e knewthat the listed locations were spread across most of the town.'opefully Scott accidentally conceding any omega who choseEaura5s pack had earned them goodwill.

"'mm, more food would be appreciated. /he cow tartar was



excellent," mussed &eter. "/he rest of the pack should bearriving soon."

"/hen will bring out enough for everyone," o1ered Stiles. 'e

was grateful when &eter smiled toothily and returned to histable.

Stiles relayed the appetizer order to 3oyd then ran to histrailer to print out a map. 'e highlighted the locations Scotthad mentioned and drew a couple of lines delineatingsuFcient territory for both packs and a generous neutralzone between them that included all essential services. Stilesexpected some push back from &eter but it seemed a fair

starting place. Stiles handed management of the restaurantover to <rica so that he could focus on helping Scott.

9hen he returned to the dining room, Stiles saw that the restof the 'ale pack had arrived and )ointed &eter at the largesttable in the restaurant. Eaura sat comfortably at the headwith &eter at her left hand and an unfamiliar man at her right. Several local omegas had approached to pay their respects. Scott was introducing everyone in his usual casual manner.

Eaura listened politely and chatted brie8y with each newac2uaintance. &eter watched every exchange closely. /hegrumpy man and a younger woman sat on &eter5s side of thetable. s Stiles approached, Eaura turned from herconversation and smiled.

D'ello Stiles, would like to introduce you to the rest of myfamily. /his is my husband #wen, my Incle &eter, sisterora, and brother 0erek.C she said indicated each member of

the pack in turn. #wen smiled politely, ora grinned, and0erek mostly looked uncomfortable.

D'i,C Stiles said awkwardly. D=m the owner of the restaurant. Scott and &eter had a preliminary conversation earlier thisevening. 'ere is a map that outlines what was discussed.C



Eaura accepted the map, but put it into her purse after a brief glance. D/here will be plenty of time to worry about detailslater. think tonight would be better spent getting to knoweach other.C

D4reat idea,C agreed Stiles. t Eaura=s invitation, he sat downnext to 0erek. /he man )ust looked at him with a sourexpression so Stiles (gured it was probably his )ob to start aconversation.

D9hat are your plans in 3eacon 'ills!C he asked.

D ghostwrite middle school science and math textbooks,Canswered 0erek shortly.

D/hat sounds fun. loved math and science in school,Cbabbled Stiles. D didn=t always love the teachers, but usedto en)oy reading the textbooks.C ora gave him a disbelievinglook, but 0erek seemed to relax slightly.

D;y current pro)ect is updating an <nvironmental Sciencetextbook to include the more accurate information of globalwarming,C said 0erek. /his was a topic Stiles could embrace

with enthusiasm. Stiles thoroughly en)oyed discussing thelatest data and politics surrounding climate change. #ver thecourse of the conversation, 0erek slowly warmed up until hewas debating ways to combat antiLscience attitudes with2uiet, but obvious passion. 'owever, he never reached thecharming ease with which he had conversed with <rica the(rst night.

Stiles hoped that he was reversing 0erek=s initial unfavorable

impression until he saw 0erek grin at <rica as sheapproached to take their order. Stiles knew he should be gladthat everyone seemed to be getting along, but attractivepeople inspired him to occasional moments of sel(shness.

ora ordering a salmon burger with curly fries gave his ego a



needed boost. "/he fries were even awesome cold, but didn5t manage to get very many," ora enthused.

"Bou stole curly fries from a pregnant alpha," said Stiles with

a grin. " can tell we are going to be friends." 9hen Stiles (rstopened the restaurant he had spent months tweaking therecipe to get the fries absolutely perfect.

" will have the s2uash, mushroom risotto and a side of lentilsalad," ordered 0erek. Stiles noticed he hadn=t eaten any ofthe cow tartar.

Dre you vegan!C Stiles asked. 'e carefully memorized thedietary preferences of all his regular customers to ensurethey always got the correct food and menus.

" am trying it out," 0erek answered. " would like to be veganfor environmental reasons but 5m not sure how well it willwork for me long term."

" need to introduce you to saac," exclaimed Stiles and2uickly crossed the room to pull saac away from a discussionwith 0anny. "saac is vegan on the days when he has custody

of his son."

saac and his ex had only been together for a couple monthswhen Jen found out she had experienced a birth controlfailure. She decided she wanted a baby but not a boyfriend. <veryone had worried that saac would have a limitedrelationship with his son. t would have been trivially easy for Jen to get full custody. 3ut Jen and saac had worked out a fairand 8exible coLparenting arrangement that appeared

e1ortless from the outside. Stiles had no idea how theymanaged to make raising a kid with two working parents intwo di1erent cities look easy. Jen5s one demand was that shewanted am to be raised vegan. saac loved his son far morethan he loved eating meat on weekdays.



"So you are raising a vegan pup!" asked ora with interest.

"No am is human, but think it would be possible to raise ahealthy vegan pup," answered saac. /his comment launched

a discussion on how to meet the needs of species with highprotein re2uirements on a plant based diet.

ora took the position that you could satisfy mostenvironmental and cruelty concerns by restricting yourself tosustainable wild (sh and game.

&eter thought the whole thing was pointless. "Bes meat ismurder," he drawled. "3ut i have no problem with that."Eaura made a scolding noise and Stiles decided to order o1the vegan menu in solidarity.

#verall the evening was a great success. Nothing wasresolved, but Stiles was optimistic that future meetings wouldgo well. Eaura seems charmed by Scott5s unorthodox methodof politics, ora was awesome, &eter was creepy, and 0erekwas perfect.

Chapter 4: Oatmeal Pancakes

Ingredients:• *+ g sot white wheat berries• 9+ g steel cut oats• 2 T sugar • 2 t baking powder • 12 t baking soda• t salt • 514 / buttermilk • egg beaten• 14 / ,egetable oil

InstructionsWeigh out whole grains on a kitchen scale them put themthrough a our mill# &our the resulting oor in a large bowl



and combine with the rest o the dr' ingredients# In a smallbowl0 combine wet ingredients0 then pour into dr'ingredients# -i! until ;ust smooth# /ook on greased griddle#(-odi"ed rom <ob=s .ed -ill <aking <ook p# 9+)

otes on ser,ing Sheri> Stilinski:

The Sheri> is welcome to order an'thing o> the ,egan orhealth conscious omni,ore menus# 3nder no circumstancescan bacon be added to an' entr?e# Ignore an' threats oarrest due to this restriction# %ll <eacon 8ills deputies recei,ea 2*@ discount at the restaurant or helping Stiles monitorhis ather=s diet#

***********

s a child, Stiles had a profoundly religious experience everySunday morning. t was his mother5s homemade brunch. /hey would wake up early and spend the morning makingdecadent muFns, savory fritatas, and crispy bacon. laudialoved experimenting so they rarely made the same recipetwice. #n days when Stiles father was home, they wouldwake him by waving a plate of food under his nose. #r moreaccurately, laudia would wave a plate of food under his nosewhile Stiles bounced onto the bed and giggled. /hen theywould all sit around the kitchen table and eat themselvessilly. #n Sundays when John had to work, they wouldcarefully pack up the leftovers to deliver to the station.

bout a month after his mother died, Stiles almost burneddown the house trying to keep the tradition. John had comedown the stairs to the blaring (re alarm and helped his sonclean up. /hen he had sat at the kitchen table and patientlyread aloud instructions from the last cookbook laudia5s hadpurchased. s the two remaining members of the Stilinskifamily ate the almost inedible result, Stiles realized for the(rst time that there would be moments of happiness in aworld without his mother. Stiles had made his father brunch



every Sunday morning since.

9hen Stiles had announced he wanted to go to culinaryschool instead of college, his father was his strongest

supporter and two years later the (rst investor in Stilesrestaurant. 'e came in every Sunday for the all day brunchmenu. /he day after Stiles meet the entire 'ale pack he wasthere for both business and pleasure.

" see you got vandalized again last night," John began as hisson set a large plate of containing whole grain pancakes anda mixed berry parfait in front of him.

"Bep." /he restaurant got hate speech spray painted on wallsevery couple months. bout once a year someone threwrocks through the windows. 0anny had helped Stiles install atop of the line surveillance system for the outside of therestaurant, but it didn5t really help. /he perpetrators alreadywore generic clothing and full black ski masks. /he footagehad allowed the sheri15s department to determine that theywere looking for men of average height and build with lightskin. /his wasn5t likely to generate arrests anytime soon.

"3oyd and came in through the back so we didn=t even knowabout it until the (rst customers clued us in,C added Stiles. /he spray paint featured a crudely drawn wolf and the wordsMwhorewolf bitch die and burn=. Stiles knew that most of3eacon 'ills was very supportive of the restaurant andincreasing diversity of the population. #ften he forgot aboutthe attitudes prevalent outside his little bubble for days. /hensomething would remind him of how lucky he was. t only

took one or two bad apples to make everyone feel unsafe.#f course, another thing that could make him feel unsafe wasan enraged werewolf. 0erek violently 8ung open the door tothe restaurant and strode right up to Stiles. "/here is paint onthe front of your building."



Stiles had a hysterical moment where he was tempted topoint out that the front of the restaurant was always paintedthe same color blue as his beloved )eep, but then reasonreasserted itself. "9e had some unauthorized artists last

night. 3ut don5t worry still have some exterior paint. cancover it up as soon as the sheri1 has all the pictures heneeds," he said placatingly. Stiles was unsurprised that thegraFti angered 0erek. 'e could only hope that it didn=tderail the territory negotiations.

0erek gave Sheri1 Stilinski a brief glance and took a smallstep back from his son."4ive me the paint," he demanded.

"Ihm," Stiles began."Bou5d better give him the paint, son," his father interrupted.

rguing seemed unwise so Stiles went to retrieve the paintand painting supplies from the storage shed next to histrailer. 9hen he turned back towards the restaurant, he found0erek less than a foot behind him.

"Jeez, you really don5t believe in personal space do you,5 he

exclaimed. 0erek took the supplies without a word andstalked o1 to the scene of the crime.

Stiles returned to his )ob. n hour later, his heart was againbeating at a normal rate and he realized he should probablygo check on 0erek. 'e made a fresh )uice vegan proteinsmoothie as a peace o1ering and reluctantly went out thefront door. 'e found a shirtless 0erek carefully washing thefront of his restaurant with a scrub brush. Near by, ora

lounged on a lawn chair playing with her phone. /he graFtihad been disguised with a spray painted unicorn 8ying over arainbow.

"4ood morning, Stiles." ora greeted him cheerfully as sherelieved him of the smoothie. She took a big sip. "/his is



great. 0erek would probably like one too."

"'i ora," answered Stiles. 'e wasn5t sure what to make ofthe situation, but he wasn5t about to complain. 'alf naked

0erek looked even better than he had furtively imagined theprevious night.

"0erek called me to say he didn5t have everything he neededto repaint your restaurant," continued ora matter a factly.

" need to wash the exterior or the paint won5t stick properly,"explained 0erek.

"4ood to know," answered Stiles. t a loss of what to say next

he went with his default of o1ering more food. "9ell, therewill be a free brunch waiting for you when you decide youwant a break."

0erek smiled gratefully as if Stiles was the one doing him ama)or favor. " should be done for today in about an hour, but will need to come back tomorrow to paint."

"/he restaurant is closed on ;ondays," said Stiles.

"&erfect, then wont be in anyone5s way." 0erek returned towork, but ora abandoned her chair and started walkingtowards the entrance of the restaurant.

"t5s getting too hot out here. 5m going inside to circle all0erek5s favorite items on the menu."

"/hat will be convenient," said Stiles for lack of anythingbetter to say.

ora grinned, "5m glad you think so." She pulled a slightlycrumpled envelope out of her back pocket. "3efore forget,Eaura wanted me to give you her notes on the map." oraheld open the door for Stiles to precede her inside. /hen sheinvited herself to )oin the Sheri1 at the table where he was



reading the news while nursing a cup of co1ee.

Stiles considered trying to rescue his father, but then decidedthe seasoned law professional could handle one young adult

werewolf. 'e assigned <rica to wait on their table.Stiles sought the relative privacy of the kitchen beforeopening the envelope. Someone had redrawn the boundarylines and included arrows to indicate the shifts. /he changeswere puzzling. /he new proposed ;call territory was largerthan before. t included the gym where lison worked,saac=s farm, and a large portion of the north end of the&reserve. /he neutral zone encompassed the hospital,

schools, and most of the downtown shopping area. /heprevious site of the 'ale house and the east side of the&reserve made up the bulk of the new 'ale territory. Stileswould suspect that &eter had moved the lines in neutral ways )ust to be contrary except for one change. /he new linesremoved his restaurant from ;call territory and assigned itto a portion of the neutral zone which was actually closer to'ale territory. /his wasn=t necessarily a problem as thealliance would give both packs access in either case, but it

was a bit odd. 'e wanted to be in ;call territory forsentimental reasons.

n attached paper outlined a fairly standard pack alliancewith free movement through each others territories andmutual protection against opposing forces. t the end of thedocument were two notable additions. /he (rst was a sectiongiving explicit rights and protections to the human membersof both packs. Stiles considered this to be a good idea and

logical given the 'ales= history. /he second addition was acouple of paragraphs that provided a framework for changingterritory and pack membership in the case of marriagesbetween packs.

9hen he (nished reading, Stiles scanned the documents andemailed copies to both Scott and Jackson. Jackson may be an



ass, but he was excellent lawyer and advocate for the pack. Stiles expected that he would advise them to take the deal.

&ack buisness (nished, the familiar routine of running his

restaurant distracted Stiles until a slightly disheveled 0erekintercepted him on his way to grab plates of food from thekitchen. 'e was streaked with dirt and had a gym bag slungover one arm.

"'ey, put everything back in the shed," 0erek began. "sthere somewhere could wash up before brunch!"

"/he only shower is in my trailer," said Stiles apologetically.0erek grunted and walked toward the back of the restaurant. Stiles had an uneasy feeling that he knew where this wasgoing. 'e hurried after 0erek only to stop awkwardly at thedoor of his own home.

"0o you have everything you need!" he called in to thetrailer.

"Bes," 0erek shouted back. "ould you order brunch for me! should be ready in about twenty minutes!" t was oFcial. /he

'ale pack had moved to 3eacon 'ills for the sole purposedriving Stiles crazy, but he was kind of en)oying the process. Stiles promised himself that he would further explore hismental images of 0erek in his shower after the restaurantclosed. 6or now, he ordered 0erek a generous vegan brunchfeaturing items circled by ora and returned to work.

<rica stopped him on his way into the dining room. DBoumight want to intervene between your father and ora.C

D/hey aren=t getting along!C Stiles asked with concern. 'isfather could generally be trusted to be politely social withanyone who wasn=t a criminal. /he position of Sheri1 was byno means a popularity contest, but John Stilinski wouldn=tkeep getting reLelected every four years if he wasn5t well



liked.

<rica smirked. D/hats not the problem. /he last time re(lledtheir water glasses, ora was in the middle of asking your

father for more details about your (nal pro)ect for Gth gradehome ec.C

D/he one about designing a diet to support milk production inpostLpartum werewolves,C asked Stiles with dread.

D<xactly,C answered <rica. Dora looked fascinated.C

D=m sure she was asking for her sister,C said Stiles.

D&ossibly,C said <rica gleefully. D3ut 0erek was pumping mefor information about you the (rst evening he came in fortake out. t is almost as if the 'ales have taken an interest inyouC Stiles decided that he was done with this conversation. <rica was )ust trying to work him up. 'e refused to hopethere could be any other explanation.

Stiles went to check on his father and ora as a precaution. /hey fell silent as he approached. D9hat=s up guys!C he

asked awkwardly.

'is father send him a compassionate look as ora stood up. D was )ust leaving. See you tomorrow.C s soon as she wasout of earshot, Stiles tried to ask his father for details, but hepled the (fth. 9hich was not fair.

Chapter 5: Menu Planing notes

otes on gluten ree options:

The sta> gets a lot o $uestions about this# Stiles did a buncho research and determined it wasn=t possible to meet theederal standard or gluten ree in the current kitchen# 8owe,er0 all menus ha,e options that are prepared withoutgluten ingredients on shared e$uipment# This is likel'



suAcient or most nonBceliac customers# Stiles is open todiscussing e!panding options i there is suAcient interest#

ote to Stiles rom %lison:

Se,eral women wanted to know i 'ou would consider notswitching to the late night menu during .amadan#

ote to %lison rom Stiles:

&lease inorm 'our classes that the ull menu will be a,ailableuntil closing during .amadan# I recei,ed a call rom a localarmer raising ree range0 ,egetarian ed chickens that arecerti"ed organic0 kosher0 and halal# /ould 'ou take an

inormal poll to see i there is interest or a Thursda' nightspecialC

ote to %lison rom Stiles:

&lease inorm 'our classes that the second Thursda' o e,er' month is now happ'0 local0 organic0 kosher0 halal chickennight#

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDlison started teaching yoga in college to earn money for anew crossbow. She found that she loved helping people (ndinner peace through stretching and movement. She changedher degree to psychology, but took all the preLmed sciencescourses with Scott because they were )ust that codependent. 9hen they moved back to 3eacon 'ills, lison got a )ob atthe local gym doing personal training as well as teaching

group (tness classes and archery. She supplemented herincome by hunting fresh game for the restaurant. t was astrange combination that got even stranger when she startedteaching womens only yoga out of the restaurant.

/he gym where lison worked had a group (tness room atthe back with large windows so people using the weight



machines had a perfect view of everyone taking a class.9hen several of the women complained that being watchedmade them uncomfortable, lison asked for permission to putup curtains. /he gym owner not only refused permission to

shield the women from unwanted stares, but he seemed tobe of the opinion that the mostly male observers should beseen as a motivational tool.

/he next ;onday, Stiles helped lison install blackoutcurtains for her (rst women5s only yoga class. 'e (guredthat since the restaurant was closed that day anywaysomeone might as well use the building. /he class proved tobe very popular. urrently, lison taught three classes on

;onday and an additional class early 9ednesday morningbefore the restaurant opened.

Stiles liked the fact that he was unwelcome in his ownbusiness on ;ondays because it gave him an excuse to sleepin and relax. 9hich made the pounding on his door anunpleasant surprise. 'e hollered for the disturbance to goaway so he could sleep.

"4et your ass out of bed Stilinski," ora 'ale yelled back. 'estumbled out of bed and found the three 'ale siblings waiting )ust outside his trailer. Eaura and ora were dressed for yogaand 0erek was wearing threadbare old workout clothes thatwere splattered with paint. Stiles starred as he tried to wakeup his brain.

"0erek only (nished painting half your wall," announcedora. "So we5re dropping him o1 here while we do class."

0erek looked irritated. " would have had time to do thewhole thing before class started if you hadn5t insisted oncarpooling," he muttered.

"t=s a waste to drive two cars to the same place," said ora,obviously repeating an old argument. "Bou were telling me



)ust yesterday about all ways ways the pack can help to saveour planet." 0erek gave her a nasty look which shecompletely ignored. ora waved cheerfully and startedwalking back towards the restaurant.

Eaura paused before following. "'as Scott had a chance tolook over the treaty proposal!"

Jackson had given the documents preliminary approval withinan hour of it being sent out, but Scott had forwarded Stilesemail to the entire pack and told people to email Stiles within$ hours if they had issues. "/he pack is still looking thingsover, but so far there are no ob)ections." /he only people

who seemed to take the re2uest for comments seriously wereEydia and saac. <rica had sent him a note about all thereasons he should volunteer to be a treaty bride. lison and3oyd hadn5t responded at all. Dsaac wanted to verify that hisson, am, was included in the pack human protections.C

"#f course, we will add him by name." Eaura o1ered."Someone will check in this evening about any additionalchanges." Eaura abandoned him with 0erek.

Stiles and 0erek stared at each other for a couple seconds. Stiles was starting to feel more awake but it was unclear whythe 'ales had woken him up.

" heard you knew the trails in the &reserve really wellbecause you en)oy running cross country," 0erek began. "5mgoing to take a run to make sure we understand the divisionof territory."

"Sounds fun," said Stiles vaguely. 'e hadn5t done muchrunning since high school.

"Bou can come with me," said 0erek. t was probably intendedto be an invitation, but it came out more like a demand. Stilesgave an entirely internal sigh. 'e was probably too awake to



get back to sleep anyway. 'is duty to his pack was clear. /hatwas de(nitely the only reason he was agreeing.

"Just let me change." :ummaging through his closet, Stiles

managed to locate a set of old 3eacon 'ills 'igh Eacrossegym cloths. 'e was proud of the fact they still (t. 'isrunning shoes were a bit worse for wear, but 0erek wascovered in paint so it hardly mattered.

Stiles lead them straight back from the restaurant into the&reserve. /hey ran vaguely east until they intercepted a pathworn into the dirt by decades of student athletes. Stiles wassurprised to (nd that running with 0erek was kind of fun. /he

werewolf stuck by Stiles side and slowed down wheneverStiles breathing got too heavy. /hey ran mostly in silenceexpect when Stiles pointed out a landmark or the proposedboundary. #ccasionally Stiles caught 0erek looking over athim.

3y the time the trail let out behind a shopping center, Stileswas tired and very hungry. DEets take a break,C he suggested. D=ll buy you substandard co1ee from the cart in the grocery

store.CDNo,C 0erek said brus2uely and walked over to the cart. Stiles was about to take o1ense at the rudeness when herealized that 0erek was ordering food and drinks for two. /here were no vegan pastry options so he bought a roll andsad looking banana.

DBou have given me too much food,C announced 0erek as hedeposited the meager o1erings on the one rickety table thestood next to the cart. Dts my turn to feed you.C

D/hanks,C Stiles said. /he roll was dry and the banana wasbadly bruised, but it didn=t matter. /he old adage abouthearts and stomachs was painfully true for him. D9hat madeyou guys decide to leave New Bork!C



"9e were living with 0eucalion5s pack, but some of hisopinions were making Eaura uncomfortable.C Stiles made amental note to research 0eucalion as 0erek continued. D/henEaura found out she was pregnant and the nesting instinct hit

her hard. She wanted to bear her pups in her own territory,not a place borrowed from another pack.C

D/here were rumors that 3eacon 'ills was turning into a safeplace and Eaura wanted to support the e1ort.C 0erek lookeduncomfortable, but Stiles didn=t understand why. Eaura=sdecisions seemed reasonable. Stiles looked back towards theco1ee cart to check if their order was ready. &erhapsrefreshment would help ease conversation. 'e saw the

barista receiving a stern lecture from the owner of thegrocery store. /hey were too far away for Stiles to hear theirwords, but the barista looked upset. 9hen the grocer sawStiles watching, he said a few (nal words then walked awaytowards the back of the store. /he woman 2uickly attemptedto make their drinks, but the beverages she delivered werelukewarm and disgustingly sweet. /he co1ee cart had neverbeen stellar but this was a new low.

Dre you guys liking it so far!C asked Stiles.

DBes.C 0erek punctuated his one word answer by making aperfect basket with his empty co1ee cup into the trash canten feet away. Stiles was tempted to try to copy him, butdecided that walking the short distance was better thanembarrassment.

/hey agreed to )og through the town on the way back to the

restaurant and Stiles played tour guide pointing out all thesupernatural friendly businesses. /he pace back was slowerthan the run out so Stiles was able to keep up his monologuewithout stopping to pant. 0erek asked few 2uestions, butseemed to be listening. /hey ran the last block past a coupleof deserted properties and arrived in Stiles parking lot )ust asthe yoga class was getting out. 0erek thanked him for the run



and said he was ready to (nish painting.

Stiles (xed himself a slightly more satisfying breakfast in histrailer and was messing around on the internet when 0erek

interrupted him to use his shower. Stiles was willing toexcuse a lot of odd behavior in his friend and allies, but 0erekwalking out in )ust a towel asking to borrow clothes wastaking things too far to be plausible without an ulteriormotive.

"9hy!" Stiles asked simply.

";y clothes are sweaty and covered in paint," answered0erek. t seemed reasonable except that he had brought abag of painting supplies and could have easily included achange of clothes. #r he could have )ust gone home toshower.

"No, why are you trying to seduce me!" he wished he couldbelieve it was because 0erek found him unbearably hot, butthat seemed unlikely.

D3ecause like you.C 0erek was trying to look earnest but

mostly )ust looked miserable.

Stiles snorted. <rica5s )okes about becoming a treaty brideechoed unpleasantly in his head. "9ere you ordered toseduce me!"

"No," 0erek denied the accusation, but Stiles thought that ifhe was entirely o1 base 0erek would probably be angry.9hen Stiles didn5t respond 0erek continued. "Eaura wanted

the treaty in place as soon as possible. &eter told ora and to make friends with you to ease negotiations, but werealized almost immediately that ;call would to agree anyreasonable o1er. continued because honestly like you."

"9hy!" Stiles knew he was starting to sound like a brokenrecord or a three year old, but it )ust wasn5t computing. Stiles



was well aware of the fact that the beautiful people toleratedhim because he was useful and loyal. /he only people that )ust en)oyed his company were his father, <rica, and Scott.

"Bou are kind and thoughtful and care so much abouteverything." 0erek was starting to look annoyed. "lso youhave a mouth that looks made to suck cock."

9eirdly, the crude statement was the (rst thing Stiles reallybelieved. "Bou really want me to such your cock!"

"Bes," 0erek con(rmed.

"#kay." &hysical intimacy was easier to agree to than

emotional things. "fter the treaty is signed, if you are stillinterested, we will have some dinner then will suck yourcock."

0erek gave Stiles a toothy grin. "Sounds great." 'e duckedback into the bathroom and emerged a minute later in cleanclothes.

"Bou lied to me," Stiles accused with obviously false

indignation.

"Bep," said 0erek with a unrepentant smirk. 'e kissed Stileson the cheek and walked out the door.

Stiles stood in his trailer with red cheeks reminding himselfhe was a grown man. /hen he packed up his laundry as anexcuse to visit his dad and crow about (nally getting the boy.

Chapter : Placenta smoothiesIngredients:• 2 oz bag o mi!ed rozen berries• large ripe banana• cup cranberr' ;uice• placenta



Instruction:/ut membranes and cord rom the placenta# /ut raw meatinto small cubes# <lend all ingredients in blender# Erink inFoz ser,ings# .emainder can be rozen in popsicle molds or

later consumption#

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD /here were many things in life Stiles didn5t understand likepre)udice, multivariable calculus, and why a woman wouldwant to eat her own placenta. 3ut )ust because Stiles couldn=twrap his head around something didn=t make it stop existing. 9hen the (rst pregnant woman asked for his options andfees for preparing her placenta, he thought it was a )oke.

couple of hours on the internet persuaded Stiles that this wasa thing people actually did. nd it kind of freaked him out. twas the (rst time he seriously considered refusing a specialre2uest, but that would make him a hypocrite. So he boughta single purpose blender and got over it. t actually wouldseem less odd to him if he was preparing placental smoothiesfor supernaturals, but he acknowledged this as his ownpre)udice and worked to get over it. 3ecause people canchange with time and education.

Stiles was feeling optimistic about life when /ed Anowley, theowner of the grocery store, came into his restaurant on themorning of the treaty signing. t was the (rst time /ed hadever set foot in the building. /ed=s brother was in )ail for beingone of Aate rgents accomplices. 9hile he had publiclydenounced the violence, it was well known that /ed wasdispleased with the changes to the town. 3ut today was a dayfor new beginnings and alliances.

D9elcome to Stiles :estaurant. an show you to a table!C

D saw you had a unpleasant experience yesterday and waswondering if could buy you a better cup of co1ee,C o1ered /ed.



Dt my own restaurant!C asked Stiles bemused. t saidsomething about his week that this seem like a perfectlyreasonable o1er.

D (gured you like it here,C answered /ed. /he lunch rushwouldn=t hit for another thirty minutes so Stiles grabbed twocups of co1ee and followed /ed to a table. /hey chatted idlyabout increasing food prices for a couple of minutes before /ed introduced the real topic of conversation.

D;y daughter is engaged to a witch and came to talk to youabout catering the wedding.C Stiles had en)oyed a bit ofschadenfreude when he heard the rumor of the upcoming

nuptials, but it was nothing compared to his genuinehappiness at this evidence of his neighbor=s growingacceptance.

Dbsolutely, don=t do a ton of catering, but let me grab somemenus. =m sure we can work something out.C 'e returnedwith the human omnivore and vegan menus. /he couplewas planning to be married on the second Saturday in0ecember and wanted a turkey dinner with holiday themed

vegetarian sides. Stiles was con(dent he could prepareappropriately festive o1erings well within /ed=s budget.

DEet me take a day to price out some options and will emailyou a couple of sample menus for the brides look over.C

D/hat sounds great,C /ed agreed and pulled out his wallet topay for the co1ee.

DNonsense.C Stiles refused the money with a smile. D/his was

a business meeting.C 'e stood up to shake /ed=s hand andescort him to the door.

Eunch went smoothly which was fortunate because as theday progressed Stiles started to feel tired. nitially, hethought he was )ust recovering for the unaccustomed



exercise the day before. /hen his nose started to clog and hedeveloped a headache. Summer colds were the worst, but allStiles could really do was wash his hands and limit himself totaking orders. s Scott5s second, he had to be there for the

treaty signing.

s the lunch rush began to wane, the 'ales and most of the;call pack gathered at the back of the restaurant. Jacksonand &eter took turns rereading the (nal document while <rica(nished helping the last customers settle their checks. Stilesswitched the sign in the front window to closed with a sigh ofrelief. /he signing should go 2uickly and then he could turnthe restaurant over to <rica and take a nap before dinner.

9hen both &eter and Jackson were (nished Eaura stood.

D, Eaura 'ale of the 'ale pack, thank the ;call pack forwelcoming us to 3each 'ills. /oday we... "

Eaura=s speech cut o1 abruptly and all the werewolves in theroom tensed. Stiles looked around but didn=t see anythingamiss. 3oyd ran back toward the kitchen with <rica and saacat his heels.

DSomething is on (re,C saac yelled back towards the group. Stiles grabbed the (re extinguisher from behind the bar andhurried after them. f he couldn5t smell the smoke, he mustbe more congested than he realized. 'e hoped it wasn5t toobad. <ven minor kitchen (res could cause costly damages.

9hen he entered the kitchen, the entire back wall was ablazeand the 8ames were starting to creep across the ceiling. "/oolate, everybody out," he cried and waited for his employeesto precede him back to the dining room.

ora opened the front door and tried to exit, but she couldn=tpass the threshold. Symbols glowed to life at regularintervals through the walls. /he logical section of his braininformed him that the spells were at all the locations where



the walls had been sprayed with graFti. 'e stared at themfor several seconds in denial and shock. 3ecause the graFtihad been happening for years and he had honestly believedthings were getting better. /his couldn=t be happening again

in his hometown where he knew almost everyone. /herecould not possibly to a long term plan to kill his pack.

/o stave o1 panic, Stiles tried to remember every spell he hadever read to break wards. 'e reached for his spark and failed. t felt like a slimy mucus separated him from his power. 9esummoned all his will and denial to clear the blockage, but itstubbornly remained.

D can=t break the barrier from the inside,C he told Scottapologetically. D=m going to try from outside.C Stilesattempted to step con(dently through the door and wasrepelled by the same force that trapped ora.

D;y phone isn=t working,C said saac at the same time asScott and <rica started coughing.

D/here is something in the smoke,C said Scott between gasps.

D=ll try the landline,C o1ered 3yod. 3ut a second later, heshook his head. Stiles wondered if his spark was keeping himfrom passing the barrier. &erhaps one of the normal humanswould have more luck. /hen he realized he was the closestthing to human in the restaurant. Eydia was at Stanford, amhad been invited on a playdate, and lison had been unableto reschedule one of her personal training sessions. 9hichcould be coincidence, but Stiles wasn=t willing to bet on it. 'ewas starting to suspect the arson had been carefully planned. 4od, how many of the people he passed every day on thestreet had been plotting to kill him! 'alf of the outrage forthe 'ale house (re had been over the human victims. /his(re would kill only werewolves and one spark.

9ith renewed determination, he threw himself at the barrier



believing with all his heart that this was not supposed tohappen. 'is pack and business were his life and heabsolutely refused to see them burn. /he headache he hadmanaged to ignore for the last several minutes 8ared and he

found himself on the 8oor screaming. /his horrible feelingmust be what the 'ales felt as their beloved home turnedinto a trap.

saac threw a chair through the front window. /he openingbrought in a breath of fresh air and a moment of optimismuntil saac realized he couldn5t move his head through theopening. Still the in8ux of untainted air should buy thewerewolves more time. /he restaurant was isolated at the

end of a dead end road but someone might smell the smokeor see the (re as it burned higher.

/he 'ales were less a1ected by the smoke, but no more ableto escape. &eter prowled the perimeter of the roomsystematically checking the wards for any weakness. Eaurawas trying to comfort ora while 0erek stood frozen in thecenter of the room. Stiles looked up at the man who mighthave become his lover and wished he had not come to

3eacon 'ills. 0erek could have lived out his life peacefullywith his pack. &erhaps he could have found a fun, sociallyconscious woman to be his wife and give him a litter of pups. 0erek would have been happy. nstead, he had come towhat should have been a safe place and got trapped in a (re.

Scott was starting to lose control of his shift. 'is side burnswere lengthening and his (ngernails were turning into clawsas he threw himself against the barrier on the front door.

"9e will not burn," Scott cried as he pushed with all hisstrength and will. t (rst, his e1orts seemed as ine1ective asStiles. /hen his eyes started to 8ash red.

"Aeep going ;call," Jackson yelled in encouragement. Scotttook a few seconds to breathed then pushed again with



renewed determination. 'is eyes 8ickered then glowed asteady scarlet as he broke the spell. Scott stumbled forwardwith the force of momentum and took big gulps of fresh air.saac and Jackson helped <rica outside. 0erek bent down to

lift Stiles and 2uickly carried him outside. Stiles would haveprotested that he could walk, but his headache and reliefwere making him dizzy.

s soon as everyone was outside, Scott called . Stilesrelaxed into 0erek5s strong arms and watched his dreamburn.

Chapter !: "resh game #ednesda$

Gmail to customer mailing list Eear riends0

It is a ,er' special resh game Wednesda'# We ha,e reshdeer and pheasants# 3nortunatel' we do not ha,e a kitchen# %s man' o 'ou ha,e probabl' heard0 the restaurant was liton "re b' an arsonist 'esterda' aternoon# The in,estigationis barel' begun0 but we belie,e it to be an act o terrorismagainst the supernatural communit'# 6uckil'0 there were no

serious in;uries but the restaurant will need to be rebuilt# %nd make no mistake we are rebuilding# With Scott -c/allHsascension to True %lpha and the addition o the 8ale &ack0the <eacon 8ills supernatural communit' is stronger thane,er#

We reuse to be dri,en apart b' ear# ur restaurant will beopen toda' during our normal business hours or a new alresco dining e!perience# 6et us come together to honor our

communit'#

-enu:• resh deer and organic ,egetable stew• %ssorted grilled organic ,egetables (,egan on shared

e$uipment)• Jrilled pheasant wrapped in bacon



• resh deer meat cut and grilled to order

&rice: ree0 but we will be accepting donations or ourrebuilding und#

Sincerel'0Stiles Stilinski

&S: Eoes an'one ha,e an' outdoor urniture or picnicblankets the' would like to donate the restaurantC

*********************

Othis is outlineP

Stiles woke up the morning in the hospital. 'is dad is there.'e recused himself from the investigation but heard thegrocer was arrested for arson, vandalism and poisoning Stilesco1ee.

Eaura and 0erek come to visit Stiles. 6ind out why 'alescame to beacon hills. /hey had heard rumors about plannedterrorism. 0ec wanted to do nothing, but Eaura said never

again and wanted to go home. 'ales always there to protect3eacon 'ills.

0erek really likes Stiles and feel guilty for not warning him.Stiles wouldn=t have believed him or changed behavioranyway

Stiles is determined to open the restaurant as soon as he isreleased. <veryone pitches in so he doesn=t do to much.

ora lets him borrow her her folding chair then threatens totie him too it when he insists on doing too much.

;ost of the community turns out to support Stiles and theyearn a ton of money to rebuild.

Sexy times with 0erek but probably only &4L?.



Chapter %: &pilogueK%nnouncement o grand openingLDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Othis is an outlineP /wo years later Stiles opens the rebuilt restaurant. t has amain dinning room and extra community room for lison=syoga and whatever else. 3igger kitchen and more sta1.<veryone really came together to make it happen. nternetfundraising.

/ed and accomplices are in prison and the debate continues.t is a slow process but getting better

0erek and Stiles are engaged and will get married in thecommunity room. /he packs are pretty much mergedbecause Scott likes being a oLalpha and Eaura likes beingable to have down time with family. Eife is good but they cannever stop working towards e2uality and acceptance.

you can get anything you want (at stiles resturant)

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