| CHAPTER ONE, And So It Begins |
"Are you almost packed?" Scott said first as he entered his mother's house, Isaac right behind him. The beta quickly closed the front door and peaked out the window in the living room, watching for any irregular movement.
"Almost. Scott, what's going on?" Melissa said, walking down the stairs, two carry-bags in her hands.
"No time to explain. Stiles' dad is on his way over; he's gonna' take you somewhere safe."
"Safe? Scott talk to me."
"They killed her," he said, sitting down, his eyes a little glazed over from shock. "They killed Allison."
…one day earlier: November 22, 2017.
"You're gonna' help me cook tomorrow, right?" Melissa asked Scott as he bit into his grilled cheese.
"Uh—" Scott began.
"Listen here, if your entire pack is coming over and Stiles and his dad and the Argents, I sure as hell am not cooking without help."
"I'll help you, mom," Isaac said with a mouthful. "Even on his own Scott still needs to stay away from the kitchen." Isaac smirked at Scott's frown, looking over at Melissa who also smiled.
"It's because you do everything for him," she replied, looking at Scott as if waiting for whatever excuse he'd throw out next."
"He offers!" Scott tried but they only grinned even more. "I hate you both," he said before taking another large bite out of his sandwich.
Bang, bang, bang.
"I'll get it," Isaac said, walking to the front door. "Hello?" There stood a kid. A teenager. A nervous wreck that looked frightened out of his mind.
"I heard the alpha was here."
…
Knock, knock, knock.
"Coming!" came Allison Argent's voice from the kitchen of her and her father's apartment. Allison opened the front door to see two men standing there, the forward-most-one with a cheery smile on his face. "Hello?" she said curiously, both looking vaguely familiar.
"How's my favorite niece," the first one said.
"Uncle…Uncle Clark?" she said. The man smiled wider. "What're you doing here?" Allison said as she stepped forward, taking her dad's younger brother into a hug.
"It's good to see you, too, Ali," her uncle said. "Do you remember this guy?" he continued, pointing at the younger man behind him. When Allison looked a little lost, he filled in the gap. "You probably don't remember him; I think you only met him once or twice as a kid. This is your Uncle Courtney—the baby of the family."
Allison smiled and they only shook hands. "I remember when you were only this big," the younger man said, holding hand to about a toddler's height.
"Allison, who was at the…door…" Chris said as he rounded the corner. The oldest of the four Argent siblings quickly looked unhappy, but walked up to them regardless. "Clarence, Courtney," he said rather stiffly, only barely acknowledging his brothers.
"Chris, it's good to see you," Clarence said, smiling at his brother, though certainly not as warmly as he had at Allison.
"Is it just the two of you?"
"Louise and Neil will be here tomorrow morning." Chris only nodded once, and slowly. "Can we come in?"
"By all means," Chris Argent said, his tone clearly skeptical and hesitant.
As they walked in, Allison tried to break the brick-thick sheet of ice. "I thought you were in Afghanistan?" she said, directed at Clark.
"I got back last month; company didn't need me there anymore."
"Allison," Chris interrupted, "would you mind giving us some time to…catch up?" Allison looked at him strangely, weirded out by her father's behavior. But she only nodded and walked into her room as the three men walked into the office. Allison sat at her desk, clearly trying to process what had just happened when her father switched on the one way speaker in her room (as Allison was now a full employee of Argent Arms International and her father's number-two, Chris enabled all so-called private meetings to be listened in on from Allison's room):
"What're you doing here?" Chris said accusingly.
"She could have joined us, Chris," Clarence replied. "We know she knows about our family business. She dated the alpha, right?"
"I won't ask a second time," Chris pushed, not impressed.
"Look, Chris," Courtney began, his tone clearly more of a plea and loaded with no sense of amusement like Clarence, "you and I both know Gerard…well I was never a fan of his." There was a pause. "But what happened here, with him. With Kate. Christ, with your wife…"
"What Courtney's getting at," Clarence picked up, "is that we're back to finish the job. Once and for all."
"So, to hell with the code?" Chris replied. "You wanna' come here and murder some college kids?" When Clarence seemed to not be impacted by that, Chris continued. "Look, I've put the Hales behind me and the pack here is different, Clarence. If you knew anything about your targets, you'd know that."
"The world is changing, Chris. These beasts are only getting more and more hostile. And others, well others think it's time to retire the code."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"We're not the only ones who've lost family to these creatures," Clarence stated matter-of-factly. "Michael Ostravos is dead."
Chris was silent for a moment, processing what his estranged brother just told him. "You're sure it was a werewolf?" Courtney nodded.
"We've tracked the killer here," Clarence said.
"Wait, why're you tracking him?" Chris asked. "What's going on?"
"The families have abolished the code."
"They can't abolish the code, not without the consent of all three."
"They don't recognize you as the head," Clarence said.
"Excuse me?"
…
"I'm Scott," the brunette said, getting up from the table and walking over to the door.
"Max…I'm Max," the kid said nervously.
"Max, why don't you come in and sit down." Max looked at Scott and hurried in, Scott and Isaac both checking the outside for anyone who could be of alarm. "Mom, can you get him something hot to drink?" Melissa nodded and went back into the kitchen as the three werewolves walked over to the kitchen table and sat down. "This is my beta, Isaac, and this is my mom, Melissa," he said as she returned with a cup of tea. "You can speak freely in front of them."
Max only continued to shiver, his face pale—due to the cold or something else had yet to be determined. He stared at the cup of tea his hands wrapped around, his gaze seemed to be looking far beyond the brown liquid. "Max, can you tell us how you knew to find us here?" Isaac asked calmly. Max looked up at Isaac, his eyes flashing yellow before looking back down at the tea. "Do you have a pack?" The boy's head shook. "So, you're an omega?" Max flinched a little at the word before looking up at Scott.
"I…" Max tried, but stopped and looked back down again.
"Sweetheart," Melissa tried, placing her hand on Max's wrist, "are you from around here?" Max shook his head again. "Can you tell us where you're from?"
"Wah…Wash-Washington…" He quickly lifted the tea and took a sip, almost slamming it back down when he removed the ceramic from his lips.
"Max," Scott began again, speaking more firmly yet equally welcoming. Max looked up at him, directly into his eyes. "Can you tell us why you're scared?"
"H-Hunters. Lots of them."
"Did they follow you here?" Scott asked, not breaking eye contact. But Max did, looking down at his cup again. Scott looked at Isaac and the blonde nodded, standing to check the perimeter. "Max, were you followed?"
"I…I-I don't think s-so."
"Where did they find you?"
"The woods." He took another sip.
"What woods?" Max shrugged. "Were they here in Beacon Hills?" Max shook his head, causing the other three to breathe a little easier. "Max…what happened to your alpha?" Max began to twitch again, but this time a little more profusely, his eyes and head shaking as if he were recalling a horrible memory. "Hey, hey, hey, it's okay, it's okay," Scott said, reaching across the table and grabbing Max's hand. Immediately, Scott's veins began to fills with black pain and Scott's brows furrowed. "Max, are you hurt anywhere?" Max didn't move and nor did his eyes open. Scott looked at his mother and she stood. "Max, my mom is a nurse. Can she take a look at you? Maybe in the other room?" Max looked up at Scott, and then to Melissa. She took his hand and he followed her into the kitchen. Isaac came back from the living room and Scott stood.
"Any guesses?" Isaac said, looking to his boyfriend.
"It's not the hunters he's afraid of," Scott answered. "When he mentioned them—"
"His heart skipped."
Scott nodded. "He's afraid of his alpha."
…
"With Gerard's death," Clarence continued, "and your lack of will to deal with the killers appropriately, they turned to me. After all, I've been picking up this family's slack for years anyways."
"Just because you're good at killing doesn't make you a leader," Chris retorted.
"They think otherwise. It doesn't matter, it's done now. And they're coming for him. For them all."
"They?"
"The Ostravosi and the Silbers. They'll be here Friday."
Allison could hear the leather of her father's chair squeak and she imagined him sitting back and looking up at the ceiling, exacerbated. "So they're…you're declaring all-out war then?" There was a brief pause and Chris continued. "Great…."
"We're pulling out all the stops."
"They're bringing Lawton," Courtney said.
When Chris didn't answer, Clarence continued. "So, the question is, are you with us?"
…
Melissa walked up to her boys and sighed. "He's got a stab wound on his side. It's missed anything vital but it's…well it's not healing. You said wounds from an alpha take longer to heal right?"
Scott nodded. "We were thinking the same thing."
"Well I can patch him up," Melissa said, "but, Scott, you need to look at him. If it was his alpha…"
"I know, we'll take care of it," Scott answered. They went into the kitchen to find Max sitting in the corner against the rotating cabinet, the stab wound visible. Scott walked up to him and held his hand out, smiling down at the boy. Max took it and stood, looking right at Scott. "Did your alpha do this to you?" he said, pointing at it. Max didn't answer but looked away, his heart noticeably skipping to Scott and Isaac. "Can I look at it?" Scott crouched down and peered at the wound with glowing red eyes. He looked back at Isaac and Melissa and nodded. Melissa handed Max his shirt and the boy slipped it back on as Scott walked back over to Isaac.
"What do you wanna' do?" Isaac asked, looking at Max with sympathy.
"Let's take him back to ours. With the others in the building, he might feel safer there. We can loan him the guest room." Isaac nodded and left to go start up the car. "Max, c'mon, buddy. My mom's gonna' patch you up and you can come with us." Max looked up at Scott and nodded, a subtle glint of gratitude in his stare. Isaac came back into the house, all coated and scarfed up to go when Scott's phone rang. "Hello?"
"Scott, we need to talk." It was Allison Argent.
Author's Note: OC Visualizers:
Clarence "Clark" Argent: Chris Diamantopoulos
Courtney Argent: Brian Geraghty
Max Guyton: Connor Jessup