winter

The next morning daryl woken up to fine rick asleep and stiles keeping watch, the Omega was better then most and Daryl knew that. Daryl knew that the omega had trust issues because of this ex pack before this and knew that stiles proborly would never take him as a mate, stiles seem to hung up on this derek person...

stiles had hated derek after what the alpha pulled. looking at the sleeping people his eyes landed on the alpha he began to like...

Daryl was watching him too and that made him happy his tail had a mind of its own and started to thump against the ground at the thought of the other alpha liking him...

.....

stiles keep watch until everyone wakes up and makes their way back to the cars, grabbing blankets and can goods for breakfast. Daryl leaves to hunt after they take the gas from the remaining vehicles, including the alpha's bike, and put it into a car along with the gas cans. He sees his Packmates off before he leaves, scenting Glenn and Maggie and nodding at Rick as he fades into the forest.

"When you get back," Rick tells the two Alphas, "we'll Merge the Packs officially."

"We'll be back soon, don't worry." Glenn clasps hands with his Prime before they leave. It takes a few hours for them to get back with enough gas to move all three vehicles, and Rick keeps the Packs busy by searching through what they had managed to throw into the cars before fleeing the farm. Carl and Sophia help Carol with the clothes while Hershel and Beth check the medicine, T-Dog sorts food and when he returns with rabbits and squirrels, Daryl helps him. They find a pack of playing cards that they entertain themselves with while the Theta guts their food and Rick stands watch. Lori was keeping to herself, reading a novel she found from somewhere.

Everyone perks up at the sound of an engine, Daryl and Carol keep the pups back until they see the little coupe Glenn and Maggie were driving pull up close to them. The group starts packing everything up, Daryl putting the furs he managed to save from the farm and the new ones, into his saddlebag. The two Alphas fill everything up and they gather around the small fire Beth was tending, cooking the meat the Alpha had brought the group. Once everyone has had their fill, they give the remaining meat to Lori, and Rick looks at the Greene family.

"Are you sure? Last chance for us to be a Flock instead of a Pack." Maggie smiles at the Prime's concern, glad she had chosen him to lead.

"We're sure." Maggie takes a deep breath, "How are we going to do this?"

"Well that's up to you." Rick says, "Do you want to do it Traditional or New-School?"

"New-School." Hershel says, "You're Pack is a New-School isn't it? We'll follow those customs from now on then."

"Follow whatever ones you want, just know if anyone is harmed in the Pack BECAUSE of them...."

"I understand."

"Alright." Rick motions for the three of them to sit down, "We have to go by ranks when we Merge Packs instead of just adding to it or forming one. So, I go first, then Daryl, then the pups, then the others. We'll start with Maggie, the Hershel, and lastly Beth. Sorry."

The three Greene's get into order and Rick kneels in front of Maggie, "With you we're going to have Glenn go between me and stiles because you two are courting, that ok?"

Once she nods, Rick rubs his glands until his hand is saturated, then offers her both his neck and hand. He was leaving the choice up to her, not wanting to assume her comfort level with him. The female Alpha purrs and reaches forward to rub her glands against Rick's, gasping with each deep breath at his smell. The amount of comfort and easy peace wasn't overwhelming as it coats the steel like strength of the Alpha and was peppered with pleasure and confidence.

The smell reminded her of her family gathered together on the fourth of July when she was young; sitting on her daddy's shoulders while Shawn sat on her pregnant stepmother's lap, Otis running back to them after lighting a light fountain and Patricia hands her a new sparkler while reminding her to keep it away from Hershel's hair. Some of their neighbor's cheer as the colors explode with a sharp whistle. It reminded her of safety and a time of peace and she wanted to bury her face in his neck and just let the world fall away.

It was with a great reluctance she pulls away with a whine and tears in her eyes. Rick smiles and croons softly while wiping away a lone tear as it falls. The thin rope like bond settles in their minds and Rick moves on to Hershel, offering the same choice to him that he had for Maggie. The Elder takes Rick's hand, rubbing his own oils against Rick's glands. Their bond is thinner than even the female Alpha's, but Rick has no doubt it will grow as the others will. Beth shifts nervously as the Prime approaches her but settles a little when he again offers the choice. She grabs her daddy's hand for comfort but allows Rick to rub his hand against her glands, offering him the same.

Glenn scents Maggie first, but stiles's follows Rick's lead in offering the choice. All three of them take the hand, seeing the way the Omega shakes a little as they shift a little closer to him. Carl and Sophia both hug all three and rub their glands together, not really giving them a choice. But as an Omega and a pup, it's well received. Then Glenn returns to scent Hershel and Beth, offering them the choice too, before Carol and T-Dog ,daryl welcome the new Packmates with their own scents. When Lori approaches, like she was also going to scent them Rick flashes his teeth at her. Maggie stands quickly now that the small ceremony was over and pulls her family up as well.

"What? I don't get to participate in group activities now?" She asks.

"You have to be Pack to help Merge it with another." Glenn stares her down, "And you made it clear where you stand in that regard."

"I'm still apart of this group." The Beta argues.

"Only until the cub is born." Stiles says softly.

"If there is one." Maggie scoffs with her arms crossed, "Or did you forget that you sent Glenn and I into town to get you abortion pills?"

"Hershel is there any way you can tell if there's a cub inside her?"

"Rick-!"

"A pregnancy test at this point, until she starts to smell like it at least." The Elder says.

"We'll stop into the next small town and grab as many as we can." Rick ignores the Beta as she keeps attempting to catch Rick's attention. "If she's not, we let her go there. Might give her a chance."

.......

the pack laid on the road taking a break from driving. stiles sat and the edge of the road ready for a fight if needed.

They pack up the cars again and find their way to another town, much like the one close to the farm. They check the closest store, a Walmart, and the pharmacy and come back with at least sixteen tests. Carol takes her in that bathroom after clearing it while Rick shows Carl and Sophia to the small book section to gather as many as they can in a shopping cart. It could be something for everyone to do while driving, or at least give them something to start fires with.

T-Dog and Glenn were outside taking their things and putting them into one of the two Chevy Express vans they found to haul everything in and moving the gas from the jeep to them. The second van had three rows of seats behind the driver and passenger seats and would fit the Pack inside. They park them inside the outdoor garden section, moving all the dead plants away to make room. Hershel was going to drive the supplies van with Lori to keep a medical eye on her if the tests come back positive.

The rest of the Pack was gathering blankets, warm clothes, and anything else that might be of some use. They decide to camp in the garden department and eat whatever they can find that hasn't spoiled yet. They find some kitchen appliances that people had left on the shelves, not thinking they would need them, and bring over the biggest pots they can. Maggie heads over to the food section with Hershel and they bring back carts of canned goods, and non-perishables. Daryl helps Beth gather the metal racks from the gas and charcoal grills and fit them onto the largest fire pit they find. Any wooden shelves they can break go into the pile and Daryl lights it up with lighter fluid and a match.

stiles was still in wolf form before shifting and sitting by the alpha.

They throw some potatoes, onions and peppers that had grown from the remaining mush of other vegetables and the last of the meat into one of the pots with some of their water for a thin soup. Daryl claims two jars of peanut butter and eats with his fingers, sharing a little with Sophia when he catches her staring at it. They eat candy and drink flat soda and beer, and when Carol and Lori come back with sixteen positive test, they share with their Gamma for her cub.

Rick takes watch, making sure the metal gates that sectioned off their part of the store were down completely and latched, killing the few Walkers that managed to get inside and catch on it. Carl and Sophia were playing in one of the other aisles, Carol watching them with an amused and secretive smile. The Alpha almost asks what they were up to when he hears a dragging noise. The others all look up, tense, but laugh when the pups start dragging tents out from their hiding spots; Sophia was trying to keep the tents up with broom sticks inside and Carl's had poles sticking out from where they were put in wrong. Rick walks over to them chuckling at their pouting and scents them thoroughly with purrs. His pup smiles and purrs back, preening in the attention, while Sophia smiles bashfully. The pups go and get more tents until everyone has one and the Pack helps them set them up correctly.

When everyone is settled, and the Pack is curled up in front of the fire, licking the last bits of sugar from their fingers, Carl gets up and moves over to stiles, who was poking the fire and adding little bits of charcoal and wood to it.

"Who's Mingus?" The Omega freezes, yanking his hand back when it heats up and stares at the pup. Everyone is silent, watching as Carl points to the inside of stiles' forearm, "His name's tattooed there. Who is he?"

"My ex pack." Stiles grunts, settling on his heels, "He was the only other Omega in my pack, and when we went hunting he was shot by his father "Carl gasped, as well as a few others, but Stiles just shrugged, "It's how I was raised; Traditional. No bitches but your own."

"No, that's not Traditional, Stiles." Hershel's brow was tense, "That's a Polkrato Pack. I didn't think there was any left in the states; most of them are in small tribes in the middle east, Asia, and Africa."

"I thought you were New-School?" T-Dog asks.

"I am." Stiles clears his throat and looks at the fire, " Mingus was about three years older than me and he presented late. When I presented as an Omega, Mingus father try to kill me. so derek got me into a new- school pack covincing tyson that i would be a breeder"

"That sounds like Derek's a piece of-"

" he did alright by me... save my life... Derek may be an asswhole from time to time but he was an alpha and that cause problem between me and him, i trusted him... and he told me to get lost after thing happen in the pack."Stiles take his hand went to his bag and pulled out pictures of the pack together. he look at the first one before giving then to carl.

" who is the one that is in this one" coral ask as he held up a picture of me and scott in school

"my ex best friend.. Scott MCcall, i know him since i was 4... but last year he started to hate me and then he kick me out of the pack.."stiles said look at the picture" even though i should hate them all i just can't"

once all the picture was pass around Daryl end up being the last one to see them when he got to the picture of derek he frown , but then he got to the last one, i had the baseball bate.

"why do you have a bate." the alpha ask

" stiles explains... i grabbed a baseball bat from his Jeep. When Scott questioned him about it, he responds "you've got claws, I've got a bat." We later learn that it's the McCall's bat but he doesn't say "I've got your mom's bat". He's identifying himself as capable, as armed. I think in that moment the passing of the bat is really the passing of a torch. Stiles until that point had been the brains, the researcher, the planner, the puzzle solver. With the bat, he was now classifying himself as a physical warrior on par with the wolves. The bat is his claws.

Once they enter the hospital we learn this is Melissa McCall's bat from when she asked "Why does Stiles have my bat?" We'd already had that explanation directly from Stiles so why was it necessary to include that line of dialogue? Melissa asking the question was a reminder that the bat did not belong to Stiles. It wasn't his strength or power to yield. This plays into the later scenes in the episode.

The elevator scene in The Overlooked will always be one of my favourites. The placing was significant. Derek was standing to Stiles also has the bat raised and ready to swing whilst in the elevator. Neither of the werewolves have their claws out. To me it was noteworthy that the weakest, most vulnerable of the three was the one most ready to act. "

the group laugh at the story

" what i wasn't able to shift to my wolf yet... I'M 147 Pounds Of Pale Skin And Fragile Bones; Sarcasm Is My Only Defense" Stile said again groan as the group laugh while Lori sneer.

Daryl hand the photo's back and the omega put them in his bag, stiles found his self heading to his tent beside his father's shifting he tuck his noise into his tail and sleep.....

...........

When the light doesn't go off after a minute Rick rumbles. A herd. Then another light comes on, closer and Rick turns to see Daryl already waking people, Glenn and Maggie start putting the equipment up. They take the pots and fire pit to van and pile it in with the other supplies they found in the store they were going to take with them. The tents are taken down and moved into the van as well, everyone piles into the second van just as the herd passes it front of the gate. Loud snarling and growling is almost enough to drown out the sound of the thin metal shaking like a maraca. Rick waits until everyone is in, including Lori before helping Daryl with the last of the supplies, moving it to fit around Daryl's motorcycle which they had stuck in the van as well. Rick would have suggested leaving it, but the bike was Merle's and he still felt to guilty to even suggest it to Daryl. Plus, it could be good for scouting later.

The rattling chains made more Walkers join the party at the outside gate and Stiles ran to van two to make sure everyone was inside while Daryl climbed into the driver's seat of van one. The whole Pack and Lori were seated in the second van except stiles and Daryl. Stiles opens the passenger door and holds on to the outside while Glenn drives to the back gate where less Walkers were gathered. He hops down and slams the door shut, pulling out his gun and shooting the two closest Walkers before shooting the lock. He throws the gate open and Glenn floors it, Daryl pulls up and swings the door open. Stiles climbs onto the driver side and the alpha hits the gas, the door slamming Stiles into the hood with a grunt as it hits a Walker.

"STILES!"

"I'M GOOD! KEEP GOING!" They drive a little longer before Daryl pulls on Stiles's shirt. The omega bends his knees carefully and turns a little to see Daryl almost completely in the passenger side. One hand was on the gas and the other was steering but his bottom half was over the console, he just had to sit up more. Stiles sits on the corner of the seat and moves one leg to the gas petal. His foot brushes Daryl's fingers and the hunter sits up, Stiles's thigh just below his chin as the Alpha keeps his eye on the road. Stiles scoots over and brings his other leg inside as Daryl sits up completely. The Omega takes the wheel with one hand and slams the door closed with the other. Once both were situated and breathing heavy, Daryl snorts and bites the skin at his thumb while leaning against the window, staring at Stiles.

"What?" The Omega asks, a little nervous.

"Adrenaline junkie?" The Alpha smirks, looking down at Stiles's lap. He sits in his seat sideways with one leg crossed over the other, his hands tucked into his armpits now. Stiles's barks out his own snort and looks down too. Yep.

Daryl laughs from his belly, head thrown back and tears in his eyes. Stiles's smirks, preening a bit. He liked the other man's laugh, it was deep and more like a nose breathing crackle. It made him want to laugh too. They follow Glenn as he pulls into a driveway with a fenced in backyard and detached garage. They pull in behind the fence and pile out of the cars, Stiles takes His dad and Carl into his arms to scent him and then they get closer to the house.

"Think there's anything in there?" T-Dog asks, "We can't all barge in, guns blazing, if there's a lot in there. Give 'em time to sneak up on us."

"We'll need to come up with a way to communicate with each other without yelling at each other; hand signals, knocks." Rick says. He bangs his elbow on the door to alert the Walkers inside to move or make some noise. "Some kind of formation for clearing houses, especially if we have to keep jumping from place to place."

"Merle and I would whistle when hunting if we split up; bird calls too." Daryl says, readying his crossbow, "I can teach ya'll later. Right now whistle once, long and high, if there are Walkers you need help with, and two short ones if a room is clear. It'll have to work for now."

The group nods. Glenn, T-Dog, Daryl and Rick head in first. They leave the others outside and try the new formation, checking every room, closet, and behind every door before they go back outside. Maggie and Carol had closed the gate while Hershel checked the garage, and now they were setting up the tents inside it. It would be safer there than in the house. Rick has members go in and grab every blanket they can to cover the windows like Morgan had done before. The Prime often worried about the Alpha and his son who saved him to begin with. The battery in the Walkie had died the day after the CDC, and with everything that had gone on, he forgot. He couldn't charge it even at the farm because the adapter was still at the station and in the police cruiser he'd left on the side of the road.

"So..." Maggie and Glenn came up behind the omega while he was looking through the books. He looks up at them with a raised eyebrow, and they kneel.

"Maggie-" Glenn whispers before she cuts him off, "We were wonderin' how long you were going to hang on the door while drivin' and so we kept checking on you, and we saw Daryl bent over while you were getting in the seat, almost made Glenn swerve off the road. Then we saw ya'll laughing and thought you saw the van dance around... there gonna be two courting' pairs soon?"

Stiles just chuckles at the female Alpha; the sound eases the tension from Glenn. He scents the Alpha with a hand on his shoulder. "No. His hand was still on the gas petal. I don't think I'm ready to court anyone; the timing's wrong."

Stiles shakes his head, "And even if I was, it takes two. Daryl's is an alpha, and I doubt he sees me as Mate material. I mean look at me, I'm pathetic and barely hanging on. The only thing Omega about me is my scent and will to protect my brother and dad. I haven't gave birth. I wouldn't even know what to do."

"Stiles ." Glenn could smell the almost non-existent self-worth Stiles was imitating, as could some of the others if the looks they were getting were anything to go by.

The scent disappears as stiles takes a deep breath and smiles, picking up a book and skimming the summary. "Hershel has first watch, get some sleep."

Stiles scents the two Alphas and nods goodnight to the others, climbing into his tent and laying down next to his dad's and Carl's sleeping form. He scents his brother, and father and purrs, settling in and shielding Carl from the door, closing his eyes until his breathing evens out. For now, this would have to do and in the morning they would train to survive the winter.