The Wild Hunt had changed everything. Although long gone, the effects continued to bleed into Liam's everyday life. First, there was the building fear that once Scott and the others left, if anything like this happened, and come on, it was Beacon Hills, so it was only a matter of time, Liam would be the one in charge. Stiles had started calling him 'Baby Alpha' and no matter how many times he had complained that he was not an alpha, the nickname seemed to have stuck. Scott was treating him like glass, tip toeing around him like he was about to break at any time, always careful not to show any preference to his new beta and over-compensating by smothering Liam with affection he did not want, but his wolf needed, thrived on even.

Then there was the new beta himself. Theo, who always seemed to just be around. His scent was all over Scott, a side effect of his new living situation. The former chimera was everywhere, at Scott's house, running through the preserve, at the school gym. Liam could not remember the last time he had left his house without seeing Theo's stupid, pretty face.

Finally, there was the issue of the red string looped around his wrist. He found that he could not always see it. Not with his human eyes anyway. Since coming back from the Hunt, Liam had begun to notice it with his Wolf's eyes, sometimes catching the after image of it when they flashed back to blue. It seemed to be endless, coiling around him and away. Liam had no idea what it was tying him to.

Liam was able to push the curiosity down until his world was once again flipped upside down.

Hayden. Was. Gone.

They had been in the middle of the woods when she had given him some half-hearted excuse about how her sister needed her protection, and that she was not safe in Beacon Hills any more and that she was sorry.

Apparently she had waited to tell him until the day she was leaving, because then she was gone, with Liam sitting stunned under a tree, his heart breaking like the leaves underfoot as she walked out of the preserve.

That was when stupid Theo had found him, with his stupid perfect face and stupid perfect hair. He had hauled Liam to his feet and dusted him off roughly, shoving him in the direction of his truck. He had taken him to Scott, who had looked at him with soft eyes and let him lie, wrapped up like a burrito and surrounded by Scott's scent, while life went on around him.

It was during those catatonic first days after The Leaving, as Stiles had put it, that Liam had begun to allow himself to get to know Theo.


Theo was a goddamn mess. He was not meant for domesticity, so living in Scott's house, with Melissa's begrudging care, put him on constant edge. It was not going to be a permanent solution. Theo was sure the minute Scott set off for college, his mum would be showing him the door, so he forced himself to appreciate the little things while he had them.

Things like hot water, food, and clean clothes.

And easy access to Liam.

Theo made every effort to be near Liam, which living in Scott's house made easy. McCall's pack seemed hell bent on spending every available moment of summer vacation together. Theo hung back, sorting through the various scents to hone in on Liam's, reading his emotions and filling them away. It was a comfort, being able to be this close, the string slack around his wrist and the apparent miles of it tangling around his feet and being trodden on by everyone.

Theo was getting sick and tired of never knowing when the red string would pull tight, constricting his breathing, or whip him around violently until the only thing to do is go find the young Beta and listen to his heartbeat until his own calmed in his chest and he could breathe easy again.

Fate was turning Theo into a creeper.

He had spent way too many nights sitting outside of Liam's house, hidden in the bushes, enhanced hearing focussing in on Liam's steady heartbeat, ignoring the disgust his wolf feels when it is joined by Hayden's.

The Wolf inside Theo is a possessive son of a bitch and he cannot help himself when Hayden steps outside of Liam's house, pulling the string so it pulls tight about a foot off the ground, shoving his hand into his mouth to stifle his laugh when Hayden trips and face plants down the steps. His plan backfires when Liam follows her out to investigate the noise, scooping her in his arms and taking her to the swing seat under the front porch. Her healing has kicked in by the time he has her there, and so he sits there while they kiss, scowling and twisting the red string around his hands plotting his next move.

Surprisingly, Hayden is the first one to call him on it.

"Why do you keep looking at him like that?" She hissed. Theo was at the school to submit a summer school project, the whiff of Liam's scent in the air drawing him out towards the lacrosse pitch. Standing at the corner of the stands, he was struck by the sight of Liam, shirtless, pitching ball after ball at Corey.

"Like what?" He drawled back, looking up at her over the top of his sunglasses.

"Like you like him, which we both know can't be true, because that would mean you'd have to have feelings." Smiling at her, Theo moved up into the stands.

"Well, I am a changed man." He said, stretching out next to her. There was silence for a few minutes, with her glaring at him while he watched Liam. "How is your sister?" He asked eventually, sounding bored. Idly, his eyes tracked the twists and turns of the string as it zig-zagged across the pitch, trailing after Liam as he flew across the grass, mouth twisted in a grin as he flipped and turned before crouching and letting the ball arc past Corey's blind spot and into the goal.

"Was that a threat, Theo? Because I swear to God-"

"I'm an atheist," he grinned, finally turning to look at her, "and I'm the least of your worries, living in this town, what with Scott about to leave." Hayden looked panicked.

"It's going to be fine. Liam-" she rushed.

"Is not going to have Scott, Stiles, Lydia, or Malia around to help him," again he smirked. Hayden's buttons had always been easy to push. "The Hales are all MIA, apparently there are some old pack-mates in London and Paris. Maybe we can start a group chat. Get their input when Liam's control slips."

"Liam's control has been fine," Hayden huffed, eyes darting as she processed Theo's words.

"Until he loses it. If it were up to me, I'd get the hell out of this town. Take all that's dear to me and run."

Suddenly Hayden stood, flicking her hair as she stormed out of the stands and in the direction of the car park. Pushing his sunglasses up his nose, he tugged gently on the string, and was rewarded when Liam looked up and waved.

Turned out it was as easy as that, and soon, too soon, Theo was following the tug of the string into the forest, finding Liam sitting in the dirt with tears running down his face. Theo had been on the edge of town in his wolf form, once again overcome with the need to escape and determined that today would be the day that the damn red string snapped. He had felt the now familiar pull, gentler than normal, but still firm in its insistence as it pulled him back through town and into the preserve, straight to Liam.

Getting rid of Hayden had been in the back of his mind since his return from hell, but seeing the wreck before him on the forest floor, a flash of regret shot through him, making him wonder if maybe it had been the right thing to do after all. Liam looked broken. Theo cocked his head to the side in question, as Liam raised one tired arm to bury his hand into the soft fur of Theo's neck.

"She's gone." Liam said in a small, strained voice. "Hayden left me." Theo let out a soft whine in response, noting the way the miles of red string seemed to pull around them, tangled in the trees and bushes of the forest. Theo sat quietly with Liam until the stars began to show above them, the Three Quarter moon above shining on Liam's pale skin and Theo's black fur. When Liam's body began to shake with sobs again, Theo made the decision to get Liam out of there.

When pulling at Liam's pants leg got no response, he shifted. Unashamed of his nudity, but gaining enough of a reaction from the other boy to be able to pull him to his feet, Theo roughly patted him down to dust the dirt and leaves off his clothes. Liam's eyes failed to focus as Theo man-handled him forward, pushing between his shoulder blades as he led them out of the forest and towards where the truck was parked.

Once Liam was safely buckled in the front seat (and Theo swore to all that he held sacred that he would never tell another soul he had needed to buckle Liam's seatbelt like a toddler while the other boy's body was wracked with silent sobs) Theo pulled some sports shorts from the back seat and pulled them on. He hopped barefoot and shirtless to the front seat, firing up the engine and allowing the wolf inside him to steer the truck towards Home, Den, Alpha, Scott.


Liam laid on the bed, catatonic, swaddled like a baby in Scott's duvet and sandwiched between his Alpha and whatever member of the pack was there at the time.

Scott had a mountain of pre-reading from UC Davis on the night stand he was steadily working through.

Lydia had cooed softly and ran her fingers through Liam's hair, promising that it would be ok.

Stiles had flopped down, telling Liam he was 'a strong, independent young man, who didn't need no girl,' before spending the next four hours swearing at Super Mario on Scott's Nintendo DS.

Malia had wrapped Liam in her arms, spooning him and making ridiculous threats against Hayden until Scott had warned her that murder should not always be her go-to.

Mason and Corey had lay on either side of him while Scott was at work at the animal clinic, talking over the top of him in soft tones about everything and anything, filling the silence with meaningless conversation.

And Theo, paced around the house, waiting patiently for them to all leave, conscious of every muffled sob and sniffle that came from Scott's room, his heart flipping in his chest as he ached to fix it.

Theo laid down gingerly next to Liam the first night, red string wound tight around his fingers, and listened as Liam's breathing soon evened out.

"It's the first time he's slept all day," Scott said, sitting up and stretching. Theo felt guilty, eyeing the tangles of string laying on Scott's bedroom floor. His own heart and mind were calm as he focussed on the warm weight of the Liam burrito next to him.

"Go take a shower dude." Theo said, not ready to acknowledge what he felt to his alpha, "I'll watch him for a bit." Scott looked skeptical for a moment, before glancing wistfully at the bathroom door.

"You know, I'm going to take you up on that." Scott's eyes were kind as he moved from the bed, the bones of his neck and back popping after a day laying down. Moving across the room, he quietly gathered his clothes and towel. Theo stretched out, letting his head sink into the pillow and breathing in the reassuring smell of the pack, now embedded in Scott's sheets. Theo was surprised as the lull of sleep began to grab him, his eyes drifting shut.

Jerking upright as a loud bang and Scott's swearing filled the room, Theo blinked as he looked at the ridiculous sight of his alpha, eyes glowing red and legs completely tangled in red string. Before Theo could consider coming up with an excuse Scott was using his extended claws to cut his way out of the tangled mess.

All at once Theo felt like he was back in the hospital, Tara ripping his heart from his chest. Before Scott could ask the question already forming on his lips, Liam clutched his own chest and taking in a shuddering breath, his whole body began to shake. Scott was up out of the tattered remains of the red string and at Liam's side before Theo could pull himself out of the nightmare that was engulfing him.

Liam's whimper promptly dragged Theo back to reality and straight into action. Pushing Scott's hands off of Liam's body, he slipped one into Liam's hair, the other gripping his wrist where the remaining string hung loosely.

"Theo? What's wrong with him?" Scott asked in a panicked voice. Theo looked around frantically, his own panic rising with his heart rate.

"Scott- I- oh." Theo grasped his own end of tattered string, pulling the two frayed ends together and tying a rough knot. It healed seamlessly, like it had never been broken. All at once, Liam stopped shaking, though he mumbled under his breath, frowning in his sleep. Theo's heart eventually stopped racing and Scott stared down at Liam, looking as though someone had just kicked his puppy.

Only after Theo had reassured himself, and his wolf, that Liam was fine, did he stop looking at Liam's face and down to where only about three meters of string remained coiled on the bed. The rest was slowly disappearing. He sighed, realising immediately that he would be spending even more time with the beta while he worked on stretching out their connection again.

"Theo, do you want to tell me what the hell is going on?" Scott was looking between them with his human eyes, not taking in the vanishing lengths of string still on the bedroom floor. Theo frowned again. Where do you even start explaining that since you had been brought back from hell you'd been tied to a sixteen year old boy by a freaking red string of fate?

Theo gaped at him, and Scott flashed his eyes, taking in the red loops around their wrists and the last of the vanishing string.

"Kitchen, now." Scott growled, Theo felt his body responding to his Alpha as Scott stood and moved across the room towards the door. Theo moved to follow him, getting as far as the doorway before he was jerked back, reaching the limit of the string. "Theo?" Scott snarled from the landing of the stairs.

"I can't," Theo said in a small voice, before Liam rolled over in the bed, tucking his arms under himself and pulling Theo back into the room. Suddenly, Scott was behind Theo, having lept back up the stairs. With glowing Alpha eyes, Scott glared at him, making Theo shrink back from him.

"What have you done, Theo?" He demanded.

And just like that, Theo told Scott everything he knew. Gradually, Scott's eyes stopped glowing and turned back to chocolate brown, his face going soft as he listened to Theo's heart, clearly taking in the chemosignals coming from his beta before deciding that Theo had about as much control of the situation as he did.

"I've got to go meet Stiles, will you be ok?" Scott asked, glancing down at where Liam seemed to be sleeping peacefully between his Alpha and his apparent soul mate.

"Yeah, I got this." Theo said, then added as an afterthought when Scott moved across the room to grab his hoodie, "so you're cool on the werewolf code, yeah?" Scott just cocked his head and looked puzzled. "God, just don't tell Stiles, ok?"

Scott rolled his eyes but nodded, shutting the door behind him softly.

After Scott left, Theo lay down next to Liam, wrapping what was left of the red string around his hand. Focusing on the sound of Liam's heart, Theo drifted to sleep.


Someone was watching him. Theo did not even need to open his eyes, he felt someone's gaze on him, watching him sleep.

Now who was the creep?

"Go back to sleep Liam," Theo said softly, still not opening his eyes, but letting the corners of his mouth turn up as Liam's heart jumped.

"Can't," Liam sighed. "Finally slept too much." At this Theo turned his head and opened his eyes, focussing on the younger wolf lying next to him, hair messy from where it poked out of the cocoon he had created for himself.

"So you're just going to watch me sleep?'' Theo asked, not really fancying the idea of sleeping in the hall because Liam was a creeper and he could not get back to his own room because he could not be more than three meters away.

"Scott's on the couch down stairs," Liam said, cocking his head, clearly listening for the Alpha's heartbeat.

"So what? You want to have your way with me in the boss's bed?" Theo said darkly, enjoying the way Liam blushed and rolled onto his back.

"God! Nothing like that, you dick!" Liam sighed, voice full of mirth for the first time in days.

"Ok, So talk then?" Theo said, rolling on his side towards the other beta.

"I don't know what I did," Liam said in a small voice, shattering what remained of Theo's heart and causing him to grip tightly on the string.

As if sensing the pull, Liam rolled towards Theo, face earnest and waiting for Theo's response.

Now face to face, Theo was overwhelmed by how close Liam was.

"It wasn't you, Liam," Theo said, voice low.

"My anger though, it was too much for my dad. He left too."

"It wasn't that, Liam, that wasn't your fault and Hayden leaving wasn't your fault." It was mine, Theo thought, I caused this pain.

Liam made a noise in the back of his throat, not sounding convinced.

"Another subject, I think," Theo said, trying to sound upbeat to hide his breaking heart for the boy on the other end of the string. "All time favourite movie? Like, it's on TV, you have to sit down and watch. No judgment.' Theo smiled as Liam scrunched up his face in concentration.

"Rocky, hands down." Theo could not help but raise his eyebrows at Liam's answer. "What? Sylvester Stallone in his prime was majestic!" Theo, despite himself, snorted.

"I expected you to say something like Home Alone, would have thought you could relate?" Theo smirked. Liam threw himself backwards with a dramatic huff.

"Well first of all, I don't know what you're trying to insinuate."

Theo could not help the laugh that bubbled from his chest, settling further into the pillows as he racked his brain for more questions to distract the distraught werewolf.