He woke up once in the middle of the night to find Scott was in the bed with him and it was very cosy, but he went straight back to sleep almost immediately. He was finally getting the rest he needed and his body was taking full advantage. No dreams, no white wolves, just complete, uninterrupted rest.

When he woke up again, Scott was snoring in his ear and he was feeling so much better his brain decided it was the funniest thing he had ever heard.

That was about how the rest of his day went as well. He ate, he slept thanks to Scott and the hospital finally let him go home that evening. Then he continued to just eat and rest for the next day as well. Since Scott had to go to school he didn't sleep while Scott was away, but he curled up in front of the TV with his dad, who had taken compassionate leave, and did nothing except watch bad TV. Day three after his collapse was a Saturday and he was feeling well enough to want to find out for himself what was going on.

"I want to go back to the white place," he said as he and Scott sat playing video games.

"You still look like a strong wind could blow you over," Scott replied, giving him a very critical look.

"But now I'm having trouble sleeping because I keep wanting to know," he replied. "It's time."

"Are you sure?" Scott asked.

He nodded; he had been thinking about it all day. It was just a fact that he wasn't back to full strength, but he wasn't even sure that was possible in the current situation. He needed to understand and he needed to understand right now.

"Give me an hour," he said, "finally making the whole decision, if I don't wake up after that, call Deaton and get everyone back together to pull me out of it."

The little frown between Scott's eyebrows said his best friend was not overly happy with the plan, but he could also tell Scott was not about to object.

"I'm going to text everyone to be ready, just in case," Scott said and Stiles could live with that, so he agreed.

The fact that he was still tired meant it wouldn't take much for him to fall asleep, so he made himself comfortable on the couch as Scott sent his text. He heard beeps of acknowledgement from Scott's phone only seconds later and knew that the pack was primed. It did make him feel more confident even if he didn't say so out loud.

"Ready?" Scott asked, sitting down in the chair right next to him, but just out of reach.

"As I'll ever be," he replied. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck," Scott said and it was all sincerity.

Wondering how long it would be before he dropped off, Stiles closed his eyes. It would be just like his rebellious brain to refuse to sleep now he needed to. However, when he opened his eyes to see how long it had been, Stiles found himself kneeling next to the white wolf on the dais, almost exactly how he had expected. It probably wasn't good that he couldn't tell the difference between waking and sleeping anymore.

"Um, hi," he said, suddenly feeling awkward, which was totally ridiculous.

The wolf looked at him, those haunting eyes glowing gently.

"Look," he decided to go for it, "I don't want it, okay? I'm not the right person for this sort of power."

The wolf's expression did not change.

"I know it's an honour, but I'm not the right guy," he continued. "I'm just Stiles and I have enough trouble with what goes on in my head without adding a whole other dimension of possible shit. I'm the spaz that has panic attacks in hallways and just does things because for a second they seem like a really cool idea."

His companion yawned.

"Now that's just rude," he said, feeling silly for talking to a wolf for a few seconds. "Why didn't you give it to Allison, she's human and a lot better at this supernatural stuff than I am."

Now he finally got a reaction and he was pretty sure the wolf had just raised its eyebrows at him.

"I mean she can be a little trigger happy, but... oh okay," he admitted when the 'eyebrows' rose higher, "Allison might have been a bad choice. Then how about just not giving it to any of us?" he suggested.

The wolf turned its head on one side as if considering this and then looked to the left. Stiles followed its eye line and frowned at the whiteness for a moment. It took a little while, but his vision adjusted and he could see dark shapes in the far distance. As he looked at them something cold curled in the pit of his stomach and he immediately looked back at the wolf.

"What are they?" he demanded.

For just a moment the wolf bared its teeth and confirmed what Stiles was thinking; the shapes were bad. They were a long way off, but he knew, without any idea how, that they were focused on Beacon Hills.

"It's the nemeton isn't it," he said, putting the facts together; "they're coming because it's awake."

The wolf slowly blinked, which Stiles took as a yes.

"Are they coming together?" he asked, because that thought was terrifying.

The wolf looked away and he took that as a no.

"They're why you came to me," he didn't need to ask that, he already knew the answer.

The wolf stood up and stepped closer to him, pushing its head into his hand. It almost felt like an apology, but Stiles knew there was no choice now. There was no way he could leave Beacon Hills unprotected.

"So I have to find my ground," he said, more to himself than the wolf.

As the white wolf nudged his shoulder, he took the hint and looked up and there was the black wolf. It was still in the distance, but closer than before, maybe because he was beginning to accept the truth. The idea of being bound to someone didn't actually scare him as much as it might have done. He had never been the type to go into something with half his heart and this sounded like a whole heart kind of gig. What had him worried was the fact he did not get to choose. All the mystical crap was choosing for him and he didn't like that.

Deaton had assured him his instincts would help and he had to admit the whole wolf pack stuff was distinctly stronger than anything he had felt as an average human, but that didn't mean he was comfortable with it.

He knew it was going to be hard, but then nothing in his life had been easy for a long time now. Maybe his ground would give him some control, because he dreaded to think what would happen to an ADHD human wolf.