Sterek
Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
The brooding werewolf and the sarcastic human forming an unexpected bond.
What is Sterek?
Sterek is the fandom that outlived its show. The ship peaked while Teen Wolf was airing and then simply refused to stop — the archive still grows because Sterek became a house style: banter-forward, pack-dynamics-heavy, hurt/comfort with werewolf healing as an excuse for tactile intimacy. Sheriff Stilinski is fandom's favorite dad, the loft is load-bearing architecture, and 'pack mom Stiles' is a genre unto itself. If you like found family with your romance, this corpus is the deepest vein on the archive.
Sterek is the fan-given name for the romantic pairing of Derek Hale and Stiles Stilinski from Teen Wolf. With over 120,000 works on Archive of Our Own, it's one of the most popular ships in the fandom.
Why fans love Sterek
The slow build from antagonism to partnership to love, and their complementary personalities.
Most Popular Sterek Fanfics
The highest-rated Sterek stories on AO3, ranked by kudos.
Lock All The Doors Behind You
Completeby entanglednow
He has no idea what you're supposed to say when you find one of your...werewolf acquaintances, completely out of their mind, growling like they're about to see what your insides taste like. There's no handbook for this. Stiles is thinking that if he survives he might write one.
Stilinski's Home for Wayward Wolves
Completeby owlpostagain
“At least your puppies knock first,” Stiles snorts. “Here I thought their alpha raised them to be well-mannered.” “There’s a sign,” Derek responds stiffly. Stiles, whose curiosity outweighs even his hardest of grudges, abandons his chilly façade of nonchalance in a heartbeat. He jumps right up a
Every Step You Take
Completeby Nokomis
Stiles accidentally ends up magically bound to Derek. It’s super.
all you're giving me is friction
Completeby drunktuesdays
Stiles is Alpha bait.
Gravity's Got Nothing on You
Completeby zosofi
“Three weeks,” Derek says. “Still don’t want to,” Stiles says.“I’ll pay you,” Derek says, and that… that has Stiles interested. Alf’s Antique’s may be a great job, but it’s not a high-paying job, and half of Stiles’s tuition is coming from financial aid, so…“How much,” Stiles asks, “are we talking h
Darling It Is No Joke
Completeby thehoyden
The first thing Stiles thinks when he opens the door is that it’s not his birthday, but someone has sent him some kind of cop stripper.
Play It Again
Completeby metisket
In which Stiles goes along with one of Derek’s plans and ends up in an alternate universe as a result. He should’ve known better. He did know better, actually, and that means he has no one to blame but himself.“Laura wants to lure the kid in with food and kindness and make a pet of him, like a feral
Fly a Little Faster
Completeby mirrorkill
Everyone knows when you go back in time, you shouldn't step on an ant, just in case you accidentally kill your own grandparent or something. But what happens when you go back in time and, uh, accidentally interrupt the one event that apparently made the Grumpiest Alpha in Town into a ball of mindles
Hide Of A Life War
Completeby Etharei
“We have received confirmation that there is a hostage situation in progress at a warehouse compound two hours out of Los Angeles, following a multiple-vehicle pileup on Highway 101 this morning...” The one in which Stiles has lived to (legal) adulthood and, along the way, become a bit of a badass h
Electricity In the Contact
Completeby ladyblahblah
In which Derek has been invited to the Greater Pacific Northwest Alpha Symposium (that's not what it's called, Stiles, stop saying that), and showing up unattached would mean an arranged marriage. When the rest of the pack objects, he agrees to let Stiles come along to pose as his mate. Derek is r
Don't Worry Baby
Completeby kalpurna
"You know you're allowed to ask for vanilla sex, right?" he says, afterwards. "We can do whatever you want. That's kind of the point."Derek doesn't respond.
Fireman Derek's Crazy Pie [Cheeseburger Baby]
Completeby owlpostagain
“He can't blame me for the fact that I live in a building full of people united in the singular effort to ogle Hot Fireman as often as humanly possible." Laura laughs, loud and echoing in the empty restaurant. "Hot firemen can make a girl do crazy things," she agrees, nodding towards her brother's n
Home
Completeby TheTypewriterGirl
January seventh. Seven days since the start of 2015, and seven days since his father’s death.The bastard, he thinks bitterly. The past year Derek Hale had made it blatantly obvious that he hated his scrawny guts, taking every given opportunity to shove him up against a wall, growl threats in his ear
Windows
Completeby dr_girlfriend
Derek has a new neighbor who won't stop looking.Excerpt:“You’re blind,” Derek said flatly, the anger draining from him so suddenly he felt almost woozy. His vision cleared, his claws sliding back into blunt fingernails.“Thanks for the memo, genius,” the kid said acidly. “I can still fucking defend
Prince Among Wolves
Completeby Wrennefer (Wrenegadeone)
Looking for full day/evening sitter. 2 twin boys age 4. Must have exp. w/werewolves. Must be human. No pedophiles. No teenage girls. Pay negotiable.
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
Completeby owlpostagain
“Derek,” Stiles groans. “You have me. You’ve always had me, you absolute moron, how many physically impossible feats of life-saving heroics do I have to perform before you get it?”
Sideways and Slantways and Longways and Backways
Completeby hologramophone
“I called you a slave-driver!” Stiles cried hysterically. “I called you an ogre! I stole all the blue paperclips!”Derek raised an eyebrow at him.“That’s company property!” he shouted, waving his arms madly in distress.Derek ran a hand over his face. “It’s not theft if the vice president of the compa
hope is the thing with feathers
Completeby ShanaStoryteller
Stiles is ten when he saves the Hales from their burning home and Derek from a wolfsbane bullet, and this establishes a pattern that seem to continue indefinitely. "Then he's facing a burning home, and he wraps the hood of his sweatshirt around his mouth before he pushes the door open and steps insi
Patterns of Intention
Completeby drunktuesdays
Derek looked like the stuff of his deepest fantasies. His shirt was rumpled where Stiles had his hands in it, and he was breathing hard as well, chest heaving. His eyes—his eyes were glazed over and he looked stunned, like he’d been—like Stiles had—“No,” Stiles said, blood draining from his face.
What I Did On My Summer Vacation
Completeby grimm
There's something weird about Beacon Hills that Stiles can't quite put his finger on. The way everyone in town knows his name the day he arrives. The way they insist the melancholic howling that echoes through the forest every night is just a dog. The way his dad denies getting a dog, even though St
Best Sterek Fanfic Rec Lists
Sterek Fanfics by Length
Pick a reading commitment — from one-sitting one-shots to 100k+ epics:
Characters
Common Sterek Tropes
Browse curated Sterek fic recs by trope:
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Sterek mean?
Sterek is the ship name (portmanteau or nickname) for the pairing of Derek Hale and Stiles Stilinski. It's used by fans to tag and search for fanfiction featuring this relationship.
How many Sterek fics are on AO3?
There are over 120,000 Sterek fanfiction works on Archive of Our Own.
How can I read Sterek fanfiction on my phone?
Download Fanfict Reader for iOS to browse and read Sterek fanfiction with a beautiful mobile interface, offline reading, and custom themes.
More Teen Wolf Ships
Read Sterek on the go
Fanfict Reader is the best way to browse, search, and read AO3 fanfiction on your iPhone. Download for free and start reading your favorite Sterek fics today.