So Shed Your Skin and Lets Get Started

Fanfiction
Title:	So Shed Your Skin and Lets Get Started
Author(s):	halfhardtorock
Date(s):	March 17 - March 21, 2014
Length:	21,801 words (2 chapters)
Genre(s):	Explicit, Underage, AU - mates, high school, No Hale Fire, Dubious Consent, mating/claiming
Fandom(s):	Teen Wolf
Relationship(s):	Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
External Links:	So Shed Your Skin and Lets Get Started (AO3)
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So Shed Your Skin and Lets Get Started is a Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski fic by halfhardtorock.

Summary

He's sixteen and in the woods on the wrong side of the town-line and he's so fucking fucked.

He knows he's not supposed to run, they teach that to you in preschool (don't run from a Were, back away slowly and walk with care), but they never told you how it would feel, standing alone in the dark with your heart beating in your throat as those glowing eyes tracked you from the shadows.

Author's Notes

Title from the Hunters & Collectors "Throw Your Arms (Around Me)"

Comments & Reactions

As of January 28, 2016: the fic has 226 comments, 8853, kudos, and 2857 bookmarks on AO3.

"Mates being one of my top tropes should come as a surprise to absolutely no one. I mean, we’ve already covered my deep and abiding love for all things omegaverse and the mates trope is usually intrinsically tangled with it. ... I’m a giant sucker for romance with a darker edge, as we all know. While this fic isn’t Omegaverse, it still retains the air of inevitability through the “mates” trope, a more animalistic take on the “soulmates” trope; yes, they ARE different. This trope, by nature of BEING what it is, isn’t specific to the TW fandom or to the Sterek pairing at all. However, it happens to be the strongest here (along with a/b/o) for the obvious reason of taking place in a world where werewolves are totally a thing.

This fic dings twice for me because, not only do we get mates, we also get a High School AU (alternate universe) which…c’mooooooon. GIVE ME ALL THE THINGS! THEN MAKE THEM NUBILE AND CONFUSED! Yeah, yeah, brb building my nest in Hell, whatever. So we start with Derek going a bit feral (grr, baby, very grr) in the woods where Stiles is because Stiles is always everywhere he’s not supposed to be. Derek catches a juicy whiff of his mate and gives him the claiming bite before either of them realize what’s happening, to the mild horror of their families. Non-consensual and all that, you know? Still. I felt free to insert my first fap here. Now Stiles is left with the decision of whether or not he’s ready to commit his human life to a werewolf or sentence said socially awkward werewolf (Derek) to being forever alone. In the midst of this is a sexual tension born of mating instinct so thick the reader is swimming in it. In ways both big and small! I mean, there’s a part where Sterek “talk” on the phone (Derek isn’t a talker) after not having contact for a few days and they’re just breathing together because it takes the edge off which leaves you literally panting in empathy and arousal. And scent!kink. All the scent!kink! MOUNT HIM LIKE THE BEAST YOU ARE! * crymaxing* Goddamn, I love mates! \o/ And at some point you need to stop asking why something is getting you off and just embrace it, savvy? Not that I ever question that sort of thing but I say this for the ones in the back who need an excuse to cut loose. Read this fic, leave your fucks at the door, and join me."

Oh. My. God. This is one of my favorite fics in this fandom. I’m ashamed to say I only got around to reading it fairly recently, but it’s fab. I love the world-building in this. The conflict between the Hales and the Argents. The sheer awkwardness of Derek, his insecurities, the way he can’t ever seem to function around Stiles.. This fic is a must read. (And a must read again, and again.)