Chapter Twelve: The Threat Eternal
Against Scott's wishes, Liam followed him after their meeting with Danny. The beta trailed along, asking questions, ignoring Scott's silence. "Come on, talk to me about this!" He finally shouted, with enough force to make the alpha stop.
"Liam, please leave me alone. I need some time to think, and it's hard to do that with you here."
"I need you to talk to me about this."
"Not tonight, not now."
Scott began running, much faster than Liam had any hope to keep up with. Ditching the sidewalk, he tore through someone's yard and into the woods behind their house. Liam tried to chase after him at first, but even though he knew he could always find him by scent, it was more than obvious that he didn't want to be found.
Liam wandered almost aimlessly. He headed in the general direction of his parent's house, but took a twisting way there. Thinking about Scott, and the way Scott had reacted to Danny's closing remark, made him nervous. If Matt was planning on bringing Allison back from the dead, and if he was actually capable of making it happen, he couldn't help but think that Scott would run back into her arms.
It was an immature thought, to be sure, but he still worried about it.
The feelings he developed towards the older teen hit him hard. He couldn't bring himself to really process them, and hadn't even mentioned it to Mason. It was obvious that Lydia and Malia knew about them, but other than that, what they had was just between them. No one else knew, and they could continue in their little affair unmolested by outside influences.
That brought him to thinking on Malia and Lydia, and their connection during the meeting. Something was going on there, but he had the feeling that they weren't sure of what it was yet. He couldn't imagine being close to someone with Lydia's unique abilities, and knew he would be walking on eggshells the whole time, wondering when the next time she screamed would be.
On top of all the hormonal emotions and problems, there were also the much more threatening matters to attend to. Derek was still missing, and an alpha kanima ran rampant. He didn't know Derek all that well, but Scott respected him, so he guessed he did too.
He knew even less about Matt. The only two real things he had were: Matt was an alpha kanima, a creature super powerful that none of them had dealt with in the past, and that Matt had an unhealthy obsession with Allison. The shock and horror on Scott's face that night at the high school wouldn't entirely leave Liam's mind. The whole time Liam had known him, Scott had been rock solid, a natural leader. Seeing him crumble, even slightly, threw doubt into Liam.
So now, alone and confused about basically everything, Liam wanted nothing more than the touch of his alpha. They had been teetering towards sex, if that day in the woods gave any indication, but that wasn't even what he thought of now. There was something about the super-heated body of another werewolf that was so comforting to him. Being wrapped up in a nice embrace would do a world of good to calm him down. This solitude only made him anxious, and part of him wanted to find anything to fight, if only to take his mind off things.
Trying to keep his rage in check – his heartbeat rising – he tried some of the methods Scott and the others taught him. Deep breaths, counting to ten, et cetera, et cetera… only none of them worked.
His temper flared, and Scott was the only person able to calm him down. Scott abandoned him when he should have known better.
Claws came out of his hands, and although he couldn't see them, he knew his eyes glowed. Standing on the sidewalk of a subdivision was not a good idea at the moment.
He took off running in the direction he hoped would allow him to catch Scott's scent. If he didn't want to be intimate that was fine, but he had to step up as an alpha and help contain his anger. If the full moon had been that night Liam was positive that someone would turn up dead in the morning. As it was, he figured no one would die, but that didn't mean no one was going to get hurt.
The woods grew darker the further he ran into them. Several animal scents caught his attention, called to him, beckoned him to follow, but in his frenzy he pushed those urges aside.
Finally, several minutes later, he picked up the familiar aroma of his alpha, and turned to follow it. Scott was somewhere deep in the forest, maybe somewhere near the site of the car crash where they found Malia.
Not too far away from that spot the trail shifted, leading Liam to a small cave opening. Liam stood at the mouth of the cave, catching his breath and listening. Scott was in there, alright, and he was crying softly.
Somehow this calmed him down, knowing that Scott was being as affected by this as he was, if only in a different way. He felt his claws retracting, the hair on his face melting back into his skin. Sweat beaded along his brow, and he swiped at it haphazardly with the back of his right hand.
The crying abated somewhat, and Liam heard, "Liam, its fine, come in."
He paused before moving aside the few strands of ivy covering the darkness and taking a few steps inside. The cave was shallow, only going back about twenty feet. Scott stood near the end, although Liam almost couldn't make out his silhouette. "Scott," he said, "I'm sorry I followed you but…"
"Don't worry about it. I'm just trying to work though everything. I was distracted," Scott said, "I didn't stop to think about how you felt about everything Danny said to us."
"But I am worried. Worried about you, worried about… us." Liam began picking his way through the darkness towards him.
Scott's head jerked towards him. "Liam!" he exclaimed, meeting him in the middle of the small cave. "I don't want you to think like that."
"But everyone's told me about how much you loved her. You've known me for a couple months, how could I possibly measure up to that?"
"No one's asking you to."
"But you loved her, in that all-consuming way that takes over your life. You can't tell me that isn't true. And now, there's a chance she could come back, no matter how much of a long shot it may seem, and I can't help but think that the minute she returns, I'm going to be left out."
Scott took Liam's jaw line in his hands, and kissed him. Part of Liam wanted to keep going, to get all his insecurities on the table, but a larger part of him was just happy Scott still wanted him. This wasn't the contact he needed, but it was something he craved.
Pushing Liam back against the wall, Scott's mouth started to roam beyond Liam's lips, down to his chin, throat, collarbone. Liam fell back to the wall, letting Scott take over. Scott took Liam's hand and pinned them to the wall, tugging at his shirt with his teeth. Letting out a low growl, his fangs slid out and he bit into the shirt, tearing it free from Liam's body.
"I love you too, Liam. And I'm not going to let anything hurt you."
Liam struggled against Scott's hands, and Scott gave in, letting one hand free. They both started groping around each other's waists, trying to undo the buttons on their jeans. Liam succeeded first, which prompted Scott to lay Liam on the cool stone floor, before removing the beta's denim.
Just registering Scott's words, Liam wanted to reciprocate, to let Scott know he felt the same way, but the alpha's lips mashing against his made it temporarily impossible.
Then Scott flipped Liam on his side, and spooned him.
"Scott-"
"Shh," Scott said, running a hand along Liam's ribs, "I'll be gentle, I promise."
For a long while, there was just darkness. He didn't know how long that lasted. Then, for awhile after that, all he could see what the searing red of his anger bubbling in his vision. He had the sense that something was broken inside of himself, but couldn't place exactly what that was, yet he didn't put too much thought into it because he didn't fucking care.
That was the best part, really – not giving a flying fuck. There was pain, and fury, and a whole mess of other negative emotions and physical sensations, and none of them mattered to him in the slightest.
This felt real, for the first time in a long time he felt alive. Alive in a void of meaningless color, sure, but alive nonetheless.
Out of the void came a voice. Someone sang to him in this wasteland, someone calling out for him, to bring him out of it. He tried to resist it, to stay here for as long as he could, but eventually it became too strong. His body tugged towards its pull, but he didn't feel like he actually moved – more of like something shifted in his mind, or gut, sending him in a new direction.
Then the light peeked through the swirling red, and it started to fade away.
Jackson came to, and found himself no longer chained to the wall of the basement in Parrish's cabin. They were out in the woods, presumably near the cabin, and he jerked up on his elbows.
"That's a good pet," Parrish cooed, kissing him on the forehead.
He looked around him and saw Derek standing against a tree not too far off, his eyes glowing violet. Something about the way he stood there, perfectly still, seemed incredibly disconcerting to Jackson. His eyes darted back to Parrish.
"It's alright, you can speak now."
"What's going on?" He didn't expect his voice to come off dripping with the fury he had experienced in that milky space, but his whole body shook with it.
"I've succeeded in both of my projects." Parrish rose and walked over to Derek. He grabbed the wolf by the back of the neck and kissed him as well. Derek returned, but stayed relatively quiet.
Jackson pushed the image to the side, although he did feel a twinge of jealousy. Parrish had been habitually raping him for over a year now, and while he grew to bear it, he hadn't thought he was beginning to like it. It wasn't until that moment that Jackson realized he might have developed some feelings for the demented psychopathic kidnapper. Then that anger kicked in again and he shot to his feet.
"Why do I feel like this? Why am I so pissed off? What did you do to me?"
The questions came out rapid fire, but Parrish stood by idly until he finished his little tirade. "I told you that I need you to fight off a kanima, if you remember. That you had a special connection with this particular creature, since it once resided in your body. And you know that kanimas are a weapon of pure vengeance."
"Yeah, so what?"
"Jackson, you need to be thinking a little bit harder about this. You're smarter than this, but you're not putting your brain into it."
Parrish still seemed occupied with Derek, and Jackson decided to test the limits of his newfound temper. He could sense how strong it made him, how much stronger he was than ever before. He rushed towards the woods, trying to flee, not wanting any part of this sick game any longer.
Not ten steps later, Derek pushed him, using his momentum to fling him off balance, and he tripped over a rock.
"And that's partly why Derek's here with us now. He has other uses in the future, for sure, but he's your new babysitter." Parrish strolled up beside them.
"Okay, so keep talking," Jackson said, checking his body. He should have cuts, bruises, but found none. "But know – if I want to get out of this, you've just supercharged my abilities. I will stop at nothing to tear myself free from you."
"Poor, poor Jackson. There are so many fail-safes in place with you. I've been hunting this particular monster for so long, I've had time to work on every angle." Parrish helped Jackson to his feet, and then moved him into Derek. "Some of those songs I've been singing to you haven't been about control and submission."
The second they touched, Jackson was overwhelmed with lust. It was as if he had taken another one of Parrish's cocktails, but he knew he hadn't. Derek's violet eyes were hard to read, but his body language was another matter. They both wanted each other's bodies terribly, and would have fucked right there if Parrish hadn't whistled a little something, like a command to a dog. They jumped apart like they were electrocuted.
"There are so many things you don't know Jackson. If you've seen half the horrors of this world, because of those things, that I have, you'd be begging to help me. Once the kanima collects and figures out how to control himself, there will be chaos in Beacon Hills like you've never seen. This creature will put the nogitsune to shame."
"And what do you need with me?"
"That connection you have – it's important. At the very least it will provide a distraction, maybe a crucial one. But combine that with your now shared anger, it will be a deeper connection. One that might be able to twist inside the kanima, undo its connection to the host."
Jackson walked up, pressing his chest against Parrish's. "I really hate you. You force all this shit on me, for what? One fight?" The wall had vanished, the one that separated him from all his baser instincts, and it took all his control to not attempt to rip the deputy's heart out. "I'll help you, on one condition."
Smiling, Parrish draped his arms around Jackson's shoulders, like they were about to dance. "And what would that be, sweetheart?"
"Once this is done," Jackson said, staring deep into his eyes, "this, all of this," he waved his hands around, "is done. You get the fuck out of Beacon Hills, and never look back. You leave this town to the people in it."
"Oh, dear boy… The only way you'd be rid of me is to kill me. I'm in your brain now, your blood." He gestured Derek to join them. "And soon, the three of us, we'll be unstoppable."
