[ contrary to popular belief, cora hale is not a robot. she is not cold, she is not unfeeling. she is not peter.
but she is selfish, and she always will be. and she knows, she knows stiles is in pain, that there’s nothing anyone can do for him now, not when — fuck, there’s so much blood — one of his kidneys is lying on the other side of the room and those eyes she knows better than she knows her own are dimming, going dark. but she doesn’t want to help him, because either way she helps, he’s— he’s gone.
the bite has a 50% success rate, after all, and the beta’s not so willing to gamble his life away like that. besides, there are some things the bite can’t heal. she thinks this is one of them.
he’s lying in her arms, and all she can think is it shouldn’t be her. she shouldn’t be here, he shouldn’t be clinging to her shirt, he shouldn’t be— fuck, he shouldn’t be bleeding out all over her favourite jeans.
a sob tears itself from her throat, and it sounds more wolfish than human. it’s a howl, at the end of the day, and howls are the noises of predators.
and oh god, she’s a predator now, isn’t she? the moment she— the moment she does it, she’s a killer.
she swallows, knotting her fingers in his hair, and what— what can she say? how can she make this better? ]
“I— fuck, Stiles, I’m so— I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry for getting you into this. — We were— fuck. We were s’posed to have a kid, Stiles. You can’t—”
[ you can’t what? leave? die?
honey, everyone else already has.
another sob, the sound of blood gurgling in his mouth, and then a crack. it’s done. ]
[ he's always thought that if he was going to die -- well not if, he was going to die eventually, everyone did -- it would be some sort of ironic accident and not supernatural related. but once again the universe has proved him wrong and here he is, still in his twenties and bleeding out on his girlfriend's lap.
he was going to propose. the only reason he's been putting it off is because he didn't want cora to think it was just because they were going to have a family. the ring is stashed in his desk -- cora doesn't poke around in there. but she'll find it eventually, or scott or allison will when they're helping her, and it's going to make everything so much worse.
stiles almost wishes that he never bought the ring, now.
and what the hell was he thinking, going around without backup? just his bat. because he didn't think he'd actually find their bad guy. (stiles always found the bad guy) ]
[ has his voice always rattled like that? ]
"I'm so-sorry, I didn't mean to leave you alone. You didn't -- get me into anything. Wouldn't have changed it. For anything."
[ he coughs, feeling the fluid build up in his throat. her hand is tight in his hair and it's the only thing he can feel anymore. his anchor to the world. stiles clings to it even as he feels himself drifting. he should be freaked out. he was disemboweled, after all. but he's not. ]
"You're gonna -- be such a great mom, Cor. Dad and S-- cott will help. Everyone will."
[ he swallows, trying to clear his throat because this part is the most important, he needs to get it out before he doesn't have a chance anymore. stiles squeezes her hand tight, so hard that if she wasn't a werewolf he might break something. ]
"It's okay, I promise. I promise, Cora. None of this is your fault. None."
"Love you -- so much. Always will."
