The song for this chapter is Miley Cyrus - Giving You Up

MALIA'S POV:

The next morning I was woken up the banging on my front door. If it was the Desert Wolf than I was seriously considering moving.

I pulled the covers over my head to block out the noise, but the banging continued. A groan left me. "Go away!"

My phone buzzed on the bedside table.

Irritated, I answered with a growl. "What?"

"Good morning to you, sunshine. Open your door." Stiles said, then hung up.

I rolled off the bed, stomped to the door, then yanked it open.

"You look ready to tackle the day." He came inside.

Ignoring him, I jumped back into bed with the pillow over my head.

He fell onto the foot of my bed. "I forgot you're not a morning person."

"Are you here for a reason, Stiles?"

He pulled the covers down. "I'm leaving tomorrow,"

I looked at him. "So this is your goodbye day. Great." I groaned, then pulled the covers back over my head and turned onto my stomach. As if the week could get any worse.

"What's wrong with you now?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

He came to the top of the bed and laid beside me. "Too bad, start talking."

My head shook.

"Do I have to get Scott?"

The covers flew off of me as I glared at him. "No!"

He looked shocked. "Why not? A lover's quarrel?" He teased.

I shoved him off the bed. "You can leave now, Stiles."

He got back on the bed with a laugh. "Come on, tell me what happened."

"Do I have to?" My eyes went to the ceiling.

"Who else knows Scott better than I do?"

I did, but I didn't say that.

Well, it was going to come out soon. I was actually shocked Stiles didn't know what went down. Had Scott really not told anybody? That did mean he might change his mind?

"Scott kicked me out the pack. It's not a big deal before you freak out." I tried to calm him down before he overreacted, but it was too late for that.

He sat up quickly. "He what? When?"

"Yesterday." I glanced at him. "I thought he would've told you all by now."

He pulled out his phone.

I knocked it out of his hand. "Don't call him now."

His brow rose. "Why not? We need to talk about this. All of us."

My head shook. "Please don't. Just wait until he tells you."

"Malia," He complained.

"I don't want to see him, Stiles. Just let it be. Please."

He gave a reluctant nod. "For now. I'll make you breakfast," He patted my leg. "Let's go."

I made a sheepish face. "Uh, I don't have any groceries."

"Let's hit Foodsco then." He pulled the rest of the covers off the bed. "Come on."

"Fine, but I'm driving. I don't trust your jeep, no offense." I reluctantly put on decent clothes, then we headed out to my car.

Once at the grocery store, we aimlessly walked around. I looked to Stiles and admitted, "I've never been grocery shopping. I don't know what to get, my dad always did it."

He gave off sad pheromones. His honey eyes stared back with sorrow. "Well, we'll just have to change that. So what do you like to eat? And don't say squirrel."

I snorted a laugh. "Why, do they not have that here?" I joked.

He gave me a look, then pushed the car forward.

"Cereal, I guess."

He looked over at me. "You do want to survive, don't you?"

"What's wrong with cereal? You said they don't have squirrel." I pointed out.

He sighed.

"You know what, I'll just get Lydia to help me. You never did have much patience when it came to me."

He looked offended. "That's so not true." He paused and got his thoughts together. "Anyway, Lydia's not here. She left last night."

I stopped in the middle of the isle. "Seriously?"

He wouldn't look at me. "Yeah."

My hand landed on his shoulder. "Stiles, I'm sorry."

"It was going to happen sooner or later," He reasoned. "Besides, today's my last day here. It wasn't like she was going to come with me."

Still though, he had to be hurt by her abrupt leaving.

"Well, if you ever want to talk about it I'm here." I offered. "Even though, I don't understand you guys. You're both being really stupid."

He gave a wry laugh. "Thanks for that. It's a bit more complicated than you think."

I shrugged. "Maybe so, but you guys are treating this like geometry. If you love each other just be together."

He pushed the car forward. "You know, we never talked about us. When we broke up, I mean. And I never asked you if you were okay with my dating her."

I blew out a heavy breath as we turned a corner. "Are we really getting into this now?"

He nodded. "We're friends. Why not?"

My eyes slide to the products on the isle. I reached out for something random to have something to do. "I don't have a problem with it now if that's what you're asking."

He put back the can of whatever I placed in the basket. "That's not what I'm asking. How did you feel about it after we broke up?"

How did I feel?

"If you want me to say that I was mad at you, then you won't get it. I wasn't. I mean, I was hurt, but not mad."

"How is that?"

I looked at him. "You wanting to be with Lydia didn't blindside me. I wasn't as dense as you thought I was. I saw things."

He stopped me, his hand on my arm. "You keep saying things like that. Why do you think I looked down on you? I helped you because I wanted to. I'm your anchor."

"Not anymore," I averted my gaze to the floor.

His hand fell. "Let me guess, Scott is now?" Sadness filled his voice. When I didn't answer he sighed. "Malia, I never wanted you to feel like you weren't good enough. I'm sorry that I did." His eyes tried their best to read mine.

I gave a tiny half smile. "It wasn't your fault. You had a lot to work with."

He chuckled. "So Scott, huh?" His tone remained light.

I groaned. "I knew this was coming."

"You're damn right it was." He picked up a few cans of soup and put them in the basket. "I was waiting for you to tell me about it, but you haven't. So here's my asking." He glanced at the cans, then back at me. "What happened? Why'd you fall for him?"

My eyes narrowed. "I don't think that's any of your business."

"It is so my business," He teased. "Now spill the beans." He pushed forward.

I rubbed my lips together in thought.

What happened to make me like Scott? A lot of things.

Scott's a kind person. He helps everyone. He helped me, took me in. He saved me. For that, I was eternally grateful. He was the one stable thing that's been there for me since turning me back human. When I became lost I'd look to him. I believed in him, in his leadership. I'd follow him through war, protect him like he's protected me. That's who Scott was to me. Then he kissed me and everything changed. He wasn't just Scott, he was Scott. He made me feel things I didn't know were possible. Like I didn't know it was possible to trust someone so much and be afraid of them at the same time because you're afraid of what they made you feel. I didn't know it was possible to know everything about a person and still want to know more. I didn't know it was possible to be with someone all day and miss them as soon as they walked out the door.

And until Scott, I didn't know that it was possible to love someone so much that you have to let them go.

"Wow," Stiles exhaled. "Scott really did a number on you."

I looked to him. "Huh?"

"What you said. It was beautiful. I'm sure Scott would love to hear it."

My eyes widened. "I said that out loud?"

He nodded with a laugh. "Yeah. Did you not mean to?"

Panic set in. "No!"

What if one the Desert Wolf's minions were following us now and listening? What if Stiles told Scott and last night was for nothing?

"You can't tell Scott I said any of that. Promise me."

He stared, clearly confused. "What was your fight about?"

"Stiles, promise me."

He looked away. "Wow, you're a hypocrite."

"Excuse me?"

He stared at me. "You're a hypocrite. You preach to Lydia and me about being together if we're in love and when it's you and Scott then it doesn't apply."

Taken aback, I cleared my throat.

"I never said I was in love with Scott."

I mean, I wasn't. I loved him and I liked him very much...this is where the lines blurred when people try to date that has been friends for a while. I didn't know what I felt for Scott because I was confused. Obviously not about how I felt about him, but the magnitude of those feelings. Platonically, I've loved him for a while. But romantically, that was a harder question. Where did the lines of friendship, love, like, and being in love blur?

"You didn't have to." Stiles insisted. "Besides, I think I'm a good judge of character when it comes to seeing you like someone. I didn't want to see it before, but when I did it was hard to not see it."

I looked at him with fearful eyes. "Are you mad?" It would really be crappy if Stiles decided what I did wasn't okay and didn't want to be in my life anymore. I couldn't loose everybody I loved.

"Not anymore," He drapped his arm around my shoulders. "As long as you're happy. And I actually don't think you and Scott are the worst thing ever."

I laughed. "Gee, thanks."

He grinned as he looked at me as if he wanted to say something, but was afraid.

"What?"

We turned down the frozen food isle.

"Scott didn't make you feel like you had to change. That was it, wasn't it? The real reason you fell for him?"

I really wished he'd stop saying I was in love with Scott because I didn't know myself. For sake of not having an argument in a grocery store, I nodded in agreement. Stiles was right about Scott not trying to change me. I thought back to when I first started my period the day of Graduation, which felt like so long ago now, and he said I didn't need fixing. Even if I did, he didn't seem to think so.

"That's pretty beautiful."

This was weird. How were we this comfortable dating each other in the pack? We were exactly like those sexy teens in the tv shows. While I didn't entirely think this was a Serena and Blair fiasco over Dan and Nate, it still felt like we shouldn't be okay with this. But we were because we were pack. We kind of had to be.

"Okay, let's do some grocery shopping." He perked up. "What are were looking for?"

I grabbed a jar of mayo.

His brow lifted. "Seriously? We're shopping for food and that's your first choice?"

We looked at each other.

Having Stiles spend a few hours with me on his last day in town meant a lot to me. Granted, Lydia wasn't around. But I believed him when he said he'd make more of an effort to be there for me. He was my first love and a part of me would always love him, but that part wasn't in love with him. That part was reserved for someone else. Someone who didn't want me to be anybody but me.

When he got ready to leave he gave me a long hug. "Come to my house in the morning? I'm leaving around seven."

I nodded.

"Promise?" He held out his pinky.

I hooked my pinky around his. "Promise."

He kissed my cheek. "Alright, love you. See you tomorrow." He started for his jeep. "Gotta make my rounds."

My eyes rolled, but I was happy for him.

With the rest of the day ahead of me and way too much to think about, I pulled up Netflix on my smart tv. When nothing jumped out at me I resolved to have a Star Wars marathon. Star Wars fixed everything. Only when I repeatedly tried to get into it my mind kept wondering. When I did focus on the movie it didn't work its usual magic.

I clicked the tv off.

Star Wars didn't fix everything after all. Something was missing. Or rather someone.

Fed up with the room, I went to my bedroom to get my guitar out of my closet. Why hadn't I bought a stand?

With my new guitar in hand, I traveled to the empty room next to my bedroom and sat on the floor. After tuning it, I recalled everything I was taught and worked on that for a while. Once I felt I mastered those notes I grabbed my laptop to learn more. Learning these new notes weren't as much fun as when Scott taught me. Of course, when he taught me he placed his strong, warm hands on mine and guide me with the confidence that I'd catch on. I yearned for his presence in this big strange world.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Things were supposed to have run a smoother course. I was going to hang with my dad for a while, figure out what I wanted to do with the start of my young adult life, and then maybe I'd move out. All of my friends were supposed to be here. Lydia was supposed to be here. Scott was supposed to be here. My dad was supposed to be here.

I had never felt so alone.

Not even when I was a coyote.

Melancholy filled the air while it dawned on me that the Desert Wolf could literally keep me captive as a slave for the rest of her life with this lie. If she decided to torture me by not choosing a day, then what real chance did I have at being happy? Because let's face it, since Scott left I haven't been. Since she had my dad killed I haven't been. Not in the way it matters.

So I put that into the music. I was determined to know how to play better, there was no other way to get all of my feelings out without saying them. At least, no safe way. I did that until my fingers started to ache.

My phone vibrated on the floor, making me jump a little.

"Kira?" I answered. "Hey, everything okay?"

"No, not really. We're outside."

My lips pursed. "Define we."

"Isaac and I. Relax, I wouldn't bring Scott."

My eyes widened.

Stiles!

Well, it was going to come out sooner or later.

"Is she going to open the door or not?" Isaac asked in the background.

With a huff, I placed my guitar in the corner and closed the door. I let them in with reluctant patience. If everyone was going to come over here and bitch at me about not being in the pack anymore then why couldn't they all do it at once?

They stepped inside, their eyes roamed around in appreciation.

Kira attacked me with a hug.

Isaac and I moved for a hug but collectively decided against it. We didn't know each other like that.

I took in his scarf and gave him a curious stare. "It's like eighty degrees out. What's with the scarf?"

"What's with your face, coyote?"

A low growl came from me.

His eyes burned yellowish gold.

Kira stood between us. "Play nice." She looked at me. "You need to tell me what happened like now." She pulled away, expectant for an answer.

Isaac seemed just as curious. With him knowing Scott longer than both of us, I'm sure he was curious as to why someone like Scott would take measures to kick someone out of the pack. Least of all someone he supposedly liked.

I headed to my couch with a sigh. "Well, come on then," I flopped down on the cushions.

SCOTT'S POV:

The sound of a machine working woke me.

What the hell was my mom doing?

My eyes creaked open for a second before I closed them again. I rolled over to put one of my pillows over my head but found a fabric instead. I felt it in interest. It felt like woman's underwear.

I turned to look at it.

Yup. Definitely a thong.

My eyes scanned around to find I wasn't in my room, then I spotted the girl from last night. Kenzie. She was in the kitchen in her cozy apartment.

She turned the high-speed blender off a few seconds later, then poured the contents into a cup. She wore exercise clothes, her blonde hair was back into a ponytail, a few strands plastered to her face and neck in sweat.

When she spotted me she grinned. "I was beginning to think you'd never wake up."

I searched for my phone.

"Don't worry, it's only nine. I'm an early riser." She drank from the cup.

I wasn't sure if she felt the awkwardness like I did, but I definitely felt weird. I wasn't one for one night stands. That's what this was. A temporary distraction from Hell Malia sent me to last night.

Shame washed over me. I rose to get dressed, but I couldn't find my pants.

She laughed as she neared me. "Try the balcony."

Crap. They were out there. Why had I felt like it was okay to undress on her open balcony for anyone to see? Well, I wasn't thinking with my head last night.

I slid them on in silence.

"You were really great last night." She slid her hand down my back. "You definitely made me scream."

Surprised, a chuckle slipped out. I turned to her shirtless. "I'm glad you liked it." I smirked.

Her hand traced patterns on my abs. "I haven't had someone scratch my itch like that in a while," Her gray eyes burned into mine. "I'd be more than willing to make this a regular thing if you ever need someone to scratch your itch."

What a nice offer.

"I needed last night, thank you."

Her eyes saddened. "But it was only one night. I get it." She turned away.

I smelled regret from her end.

I stepped toward her. "Were you looking for a relationship?"

"No. I don't have time for one nor am I in a place to be in one." She sat down the smoothie and stretched. Her head turned my way. "Were you...I'm sorry. Your name again?"

My brow rose. She sure said it enough last night.

"Scott."

She nodded. "Right. You were running from something last night. Is that why you came to see me?"

I pulled on my shirt. "You could say that."

Interest piqued in her eyes. "A girl perhaps?"

My throat cleared. "I'd rather not talk about it if that's okay."

She seemed to grasp the seriousness of the situation. "Yeah, okay." She smoothed her hair back. "If you don't want to it's fine, but if you decide you'd like to do this again give me a call. I know you're not shy." Her eyes ran down my body.

I blushed as I chuckled. "Thanks, Kenzie."

I left soon after that.

After I explained things to Braeden with much disappointment on her end, I got a text from Stiles saying we were going to play a game of Lacrosse at the school for old times sake.

When I showed up everyone was there besides Malia, which I found slightly odd, but wasn't about to cry over it.

This was a full on body contact game. The only ones that didn't play were Corey, Hayden, Mason. Namely because they didn't know how to play. Liam, Kira, Isaac, Stiles, and I obviously were all on the same team. Not all of us at once, but we were still a team. It was nostalgic for sure.

Every time I neared Stiles he'd body check me. We were on different teams in the game, but damn.

I looked to Isaac as if he knew what was up.

He shrugged.

Once we called the game I took a drink of water from my bottle, then wiped my sweaty forehead.

My brow furrowed. "Stiles," I neared him. "Is there something you want to say to me? You seem pretty out of it."

He breathed in and out hard. "Not if there's something you want to tell us?" He looked at me with hard expectant eyes.

"No, not really."

That seemed to snap something inside him because he charged me. He shoved me back hard. "Really, Scott?"

He knew.

Liam pulled Stiles away. "Woah, what is going on?"

Stiles threw a nasty look at me. I hadn't seen him look at me like that since his dad was hospitalized because of Theo.

"Why don't you ask, Scott." He tried to wrangle himself free from Liam, but couldn't.

They all looked at me.

Kira stepped forward. "Scott, what is he talking about?"

I would have to tell them sooner or later. Would they look at me differently? Take her side? Would they still want to be in a pack without Malia?

"Scott?" Liam asked.

I looked at each of them, then said, "I kicked Malia out of the pack."

For a few seconds no one said anything, then realization dawned on them.

Liam let Stiles go. "Why would you do that?"

"Because he's a dick." Stiles supplied, he came at me again.

Kira shoved him back with one hand, then turned her disapproving eyes on me. "Tell us what happened."

I wasn't going to tell them everything, I had some pride left. Not much, but some.

A huff left me. "She chose who she wanted to side with. I just made it easier for her." I looked down so I wouldn't have to see their accusatory faces.

Hayden pushed forward, her hand slapped me across the face. For one second she felt bad about it, then relaxed.

Liam pulled her back. "Stop. He doesn't deserve that."

"You're defending him?" She questioned. "Seriously?"

He dragged her away so they could argue in peace.

"That's not all of it." Stiles insisted. "What really happened, Scott?"

"She didn't tell you?"

He clenched his jaw. "Just answer the question."

"She said it was all a mistake, okay?" I looked between Kira and Stiles. "You guys happy now?"

Kira stepped forward. "She broke up with you?"

Technically, we were never together, but it sure felt like to me. I thought it had to her, too. Obviously, I was wrong.

I nodded.

Stiles seemed more than confused. "Wait, what?"

"She didn't tell you that?"

He was at a loss for words. That was a first.

"I'm sorry," Kira placed her hand on my forearm.

"No," Stiles shook his head in objection. "Something else happened. It had to. She wasn't upset because she "broke up with you"."

I shrugged. "That's all I've got."

Whatever she was upset about couldn't have been about me. She made it plain and clear she didn't feel that way about me. We took things too far.

"So now I'm sure the both of you can relax." I backed away. "She's out. Don't try and fix it. We don't need fixing."

They looked down in guilt.

Corey stepped forward. "You can't do this."

My brow rose. "Excuse me?"

He hesitated as he looked around. He stepped closer. "I said you can't do this. You can't kick someone out of the pack without our consent. That's not fair."

I moved toward him. "I'm the Alpha, I can do whatever I want. And if you don't like it then you can leave, too."

Mason gave me an incredulous glare. "Do you hear yourself right now? This isn't you, Scott."

I shrugged. "I'm done letting people walk all over me. I tried to be the good guy and it backfired. This is what I'm left with." I looked at each of them. "Malia made her choice. Now you don't have to like my decision, but you have to respect it." Authority rang in my voice.

Even if they didn't want to listen to me they still felt the pull to obey their Alpha.

Corey walked off with Mason in tow.

Kira pushed past me, her shoulder purposefully bumped into mine. "We're not done talking about this." She marched off.

Isaac followed her, trying to calm her down.

Stiles stood there with an unrecognizable gleam in his eyes.

I sighed. "What, Stiles?"

"Besides the fact that you're acting like a giant douche right now, something's not adding up. What did she say to you?"

Her words were burned into my brain. You have to stop looking for the Desert Wolf. I'm not your girlfriend, you gotta stop treating me like I am. This was a mistake. We took things too far. A part of me has always hated you for turning me back. I blame you, Scott.

"She told me to give up trying to help her with her mom. She said everything that happened between us was a mistake." I bit back the raw emotions that brewed in me with a sour laugh. "She said she hated me, she blamed me for everything gone wrong in her life."

His head shook. "She lied."

"She didn't. She hates me." I nodded.

He stepped closer, his eyes scanned mine. "She doesn't hate you, Scott. You can't hate someone you love at the same time."

Well, that was simple.

"She doesn't love me, Stiles." Hot bitterness filled me. "So just let it go. It's done. We're done."

His head shook. "I don't accept that."

"Why?" I asked, angry at him for trying to give me hope.

"Because you two wouldn't keep your noses out of mine and Lydia's business. You tried, so I'm going to do the same."

But Malia and I weren't Stiles and Lydia. We didn't have this epic love story. We weren't each other's emotional tethers. We weren't unconditionally in love with each other. Going to her place last night, I thought I was. And I thought she sort of was, too. But I was so wrong.

I looked at him. "Malia and I don't have any business anymore. You need to accept it and move on. Enjoy your life outside of Beacon Hills. You deserve it." I hoped I sounded earnest.

He stared at me as if he contemplated something heavy, but he only said, "I'm leaving in the morning. You're going to see me off, right?"

Sadness washed over me. "I wouldn't miss it."

After my shower, I flopped onto my bed. I layed on the right side, something I'd gotten used to only to accommodate Malia. I looked over to the left side of the bed. If I concentrated I could still make out her indentation. My mind recalled the nights I woke in the middle of the night to find her beside me.

I startled awake from a bad dream. My heart raced.

Malia's hand rested on my chest.

I looked over at her asleep. When she was awake she was fierce, tough, and guarded. Asleep she was vulnerable. I could see the things she didn't want me to see.

She twitched her nose as she gave a sleepy sigh. Her hand moved on my chest as if she sensed I was in distress while asleep.

My hand wrapped around hers. I relaxed as I watched her.

No one would ever hurt her again, not if I had any say in the matter.

I peeled my eyes away from the spot, then drifted to the ceiling. Love didn't seem to agree with me. Nothing ever worked out for me. Maybe I was destined to be unhappy and alone forever because of the blood I spilled throughout the years.

Needing an outlet for this pain I couldn't ignore, I grabbed my guitar from the corner and sat in the middle of my bed. I strummed melodies for a while, then came across a string of notes that tied together how I felt perfectly. Before I forgot them I wrote them down in a journal. No words came to me, only the chords. I wasn't much of a songwriter.

MALIA'S POV:

After Kira and Isaac left I decided to go for a run to clear my head.

I felt like I knew Beacon Hills pretty well, but once I started running in circles I had no idea where I was. Turns out there were a ton of back roads I'd never been down or neighborhoods I've never visited, stores and restaurants I didn't even know we had.

I figured I'd find my way back eventually, but for the moment I'd just run. Running had to be my favorite past time when I was a coyote. It wasn't like there were coyote Netflix and Chill or coyote Instagram. I was left to my own devices and that was all I had for years. Running was the only thing that seemed appropriate then. Now that I was human I knew it wouldn't help me with my problems. Now that I was human I knew I had to work through those problems in real life. But now that I had no one to talk about this huge problem with I was left alone to figure things out and deal with them in solidarity. Who was I going to talk to? Theo? He wouldn't understand, he didn't care about anybody but himself. But he was all I had at the moment in terms of a friend lending an ear.

By the time I felt like quitting I noticed the storm clouds on my trail. I slumped against a tree to catch my breath.

How much longer would I have to endure this? It had only been not even a full day and already I was begging for it to be over. The crushing stress made me feel claustrophobic, which is another reason I wanted to run in the first place.

A trickle of rain fell on me.

Despite my hellish predicament, I laughed. This was fitting. So I sat there for a few more moments as thunder clapped from above followed by strikes of lightning.

There was no point in running, I was already soaked to the bone and it wasn't like I'd catch a cold. Besides, there was something peaceful about a thunderstorm.

As I walked down the sidewalk an ominous cloud followed me. There were hardly any cars out. Apparently, others had the sense to be inside when they know it's going to storm out. Why hadn't I checked the weather before I left? Realistically, when did I ever check the weather?

My arms folded across my chest to shield from the slight breeze.

A motor ascended as the seconds ticked down. Not even having to look, I could tell it wasn't a car because of how minimal the ruckus was.

I glanced back to check out the bike, then stilled on the spot.

His eyes locked with mine as he neared. Like he too was caught off guard, he seemed frozen on his moving bike. When he finally passed me I blew out a breath of relief, but I was anything but relieved. What I did to him served its purpose it seemed. It better have. I wasn't going to feel like this for nothing, I wasn't doing all of this for nothing. He was going to live because I let him go. Just yet another case in which Lydia's speech rang true. But now the reminder that he would've done anything for me and I mean anything crashed down on me like the rain.

I watched him become smaller and smaller. Much like our chances of ever being together. I gave a wry smile and it never felt more appropriate.

The bike suddenly stopped.

My heart stilled in my chest.

Did he stop for me?

As if to answer my question, he glanced to the side.

While I should've ignored it, I wasn't about to shove his olive branch away. I needed it for dear life.

I ran to him with a feeling like I was going to vomit in my stomach. When I neared him then came the issue of getting on the bike. I've been on his bike before. We've taken plenty of joyrides, but this was different. Nonetheless, I slid on behind him. My hands hovered over him. I was afraid to touch him. I was afraid that I'd touch him and I wouldn't let go. I was afraid that I'd touch him and he'd push me away.

Probably fed up, he reached behind and grabbed my hands, then wrapped them around his waist.

All the air left me as if he stole my ability to breath from his touch. Now his hand over mine didn't tingle. It burned. Did he feel it, too?

He removed his hands and drove forward.

This was him offering the most basic human decency a person could have towards someone they didn't like. I was that person. He didn't like me anymore. In fact, he hated me. I could smell it on him. My nose picked up another scent that wasn't his own. It wasn't Lydia's or Hayden's or Kira's. It was definitely feminine though. Melissa didn't smell like that or Lydia's mom. So who had he been around long enough to catch their scent?

I didn't want to jump to conclusions. Maybe he went to see his mom at work or maybe he worked with a customer at the Vet. Or maybe he already forgot about you. Immense sadness washed over me and I didn't want to touch him anymore. I felt even stiffer than I already had.

When he pulled up to my apartment complex I hesitated when I got off. I stood beside him with a formal thank you on the tip of my tongue.

He slid me a blank stare that told me not to dare say it.

It was still raining, so I asked, "Do you want to come in and dry off?" Even as I asked it I had no hope.

He looked away without a word.

I took that as my answer. Without saying goodbye, I headed for my door with what felt like a knife in my stomach. My hand spread across it to support myself. I felt the onslaught of heavy tears coming, but I shoved it down. He couldn't see me cry.

With my key in the lock, I unlocked the door. My eyes drifted to the spot where he should've left, but he was still there. He looked at me to my soul, I was sure of it. When he saw what he needed to see, he pulled off.

Refusing to cry over this any longer, I jumped into a hot shower. With the need to scream at the top of my lungs, I settled down on the floor in my creative room with my guitar. Darkness filled the room. I found it fitting with my mood.

Muscle memory kicked in and I played what I learned earlier. There was a great deal of mistakes, but I could only get better with time. When I figured I could get away with repeating five chords over to make a song I started to hum. The playing wasn't my strong suit yet, but I was good with words on paper.

Soon words filled my head, words that meant something to me. Words that I couldn't admit to anybody. Before I forgot, I wrote them down. The melody was all off, but that could be fixed. I hoped.

I didn't go to sleep until I finished writing an entire song, it the first one I've ever written, so I was proud of it. As I laid in bed I looked to the right side and felt a piece missing. Not just something. Someone. I sang my song under my breath until I drifted off.

The next morning I woke with my arm stretched out across the bed. My mind went to when I stayed at Scott's. We slept in the same bed, which Melissa seemed to be kosher with. I grew accustomed to him beside me, awake or asleep. When I woke up those mornings with him my arm was always rested on his broad chest. His hand was always cupped over mine.

I pulled the covers over my head as I curled into a ball. I absently wished I felt this for Stiles when we broke up so I'd know how to deal with it better. Was this what heartbreak felt like? Was I heartbroken? That implied an immense love with the person you could no longer have. Well, I wasn't going to say it.

My phone rang from underneath my pillow.

Stiles' goofy face popped up on my screen.

"Hello?" I answered groggily.

"Where are you?" He inquired. "I'm leaving in like twenty minutes."

I shot up. Crap.

"Yeah, yeah. I know that." I rushed to the bathroom. "I'm on my way out the door now. See you in a few." I hung up on him.

As fast as I could I showered and dressed. My hair would have to take one for the team today, so I put it in a nonsensical high bun. Whatever.

I had like five minutes to get Stiles' before he left, so I obviously drove a little faster than normal. A speeding ticket was the least of my worries. Even if I got one the Sheriff would take care of it for me.

He placed his last bag into the trunk just as I pulled up. He gave Mason a hug.

I jumped out of the car. "Thank God," I ran to him for a hug. "You haven't left yet."

He hugged me back tightly. "I'd never leave without saying goodbye to you."

My mind went back to the beginning of our relationship. How far we've come. Stiles had been the most important person in my life for a long time, despite what I felt, he did take his time with me. He cared about me and listened when I needed it. We just knew we weren't meant to be anything other than friends.

He pulled away, planted a kiss on my cheek. "We're going to talk like every day." He insisted.

I nodded on the verge of tears. I didn't want him to leave me. I was clingy that way.

Scott appeared from the jeep. He stared at me and looked away.

Stiles took my hands in his, drawing my attention back to him. "Take care of yourself. Call me whenever you want to talk, I'll be there." He nodded in assurance. He gestured towards Scott. "Take care of him, too." He whispered even though we all could hear him. He held out his pinky. "Promise?"

My pinky wrapped around his. "Promise."

He gave a boyish grin. "And if you want to eat squirrel then who am I to tell you not to?"

A sad laugh escaped me. My hand caressed his face. "Thank you."

He hugged everyone else before he went to Scott.

The others turned away for their privacy, but I couldn't look away.

They pulled each other closer in an attempt to say I love you the most.

"My brother," Scott said.

"My brother," Stiles repeated.

They pulled away.

"So this is it, huh?" Scott asked.

Stiles nodded. "I guess so. Now we're adults, Scotty."

Scott gave a sad grin. "Yeah, that's what they keep telling us."

They stared at each in solemn silence.

They hugged once more before Stiles got into his jeep. He smiled at us all with a small wave.

We all watched him drive off.

Sadness filled the air.

I looked over at Scott. He gave off the worst pheromones. I wanted nothing more to reach out and touch him, I wanted to make him feel better, but he wouldn't like that. He'd shove me away in disgust.

Whatever the case may be. If he could just know that I still cared about him maybe things would be okay.

He leaned against the Stilinski old school mailbox and watched as his best friend left him.

Some blond girl ran up as soon as I drew the courage to talk to him. "Scott," She panted as she took out her neon pink earbuds.

He looked up at her and stilled. "Kenzie, hey."

She grinned at him. "What are you doing here?" She looked around at us, then back at him.

He pushed off the mailbox to near her. "We just saw my best friend off. He's going to be a cop."

"Nice," She seemed genuinely impressed. "Well, I'll be at my apartment if you want to stop by soon?" She flirted.

He laughed. "Maybe I will." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone. "You know, I didn't get your number the other night." He handed it to her.

Hayden tried to pull me along, but I was firmly planted in place while I watched the scene unfold in front of me. My suspicions were confirmed when I picked up her scent. She had been the girl he'd been with, the scent I hadn't recognized. He'd been with her. For a long period of time.

She handed the phone back to him with a flirtatious grin. "Call me."

His hand grasped hers as he took his phone back.

"Malia," Kira urged me to follow her. "Let's go do something else, anywhere but here."

My hand raised to stop her so I could witness this.

"I'll come by later, how's that?" He grinned down at her.

"Perfect." She basically eye fucked him.

A low growl sat in my throat.

She leaned forward to smash her lips to his.

My claws extended.

Then he leaned into the kiss. He kissed her back.

My heart sank.

Kira yanked me away.

I looked to her in hopes she'd know what to do.

She gave me a sad knowing look. "Come on." She held her hand out to me.

I took it and let her drag me away. Momentarily, I cast a glance back.

He must've felt my stare and turned to look at me with confusion written across his face.

How could you do this, I wanted to say, but didn't. How could you do this with her?

My eyes went to the blonde girl.

She looked between Scott and I with curiosity.

I shouldn't judge her, she could be a really nice person. But she was with Scott. She wasn't good enough for him. I entertained the thought of killing her as a joke, it wouldn't matter. He couldn't hate me even more. Scott already gave up on me, on us. I couldn't blame him.

My eyes slid to his to find him still watching me. Under the scrutiny, I cracked. I looked away with a cowardice frown and followed Kira.

"Malia, wait." He called.

My heart froze in my chest. Hope filled me despite what I just saw. I turned back to him.

He stepped forward. "We need to talk. Your place."

I nodded, afraid to say anything.

"All of us." He clarified.

My hope fell apart. He didn't want to talk about us, he wanted to talk about the pack.

I nodded again, then practically rushed to catch up with Kira.

She rode shotgun while Isaac slid into the back. "Are you ok-"

"Please, don't."

I started the car.

What could we possibly have to talk about as a pack? I mean, I wasn't even pack anymore. So why meet at my place? Was he thinking about letting me back in? I wasn't sure if that was bad or good. If I had any chance at keeping my friends alive I'd have to stick to Corinne's plan. So maybe I should be grateful for that blonde Kenzie girl. If she kept Scott occupied then he wouldn't have time to try and figure me out. He would eventually. I was sure I wasn't great at hiding my feelings for him anymore, despite what I told him.

"Are we going to go?" Isaac asked.

Kira and I turned to look at him.

"What?" He asked innocently.

We all arrived at my apartment. It was thick with tension, to say the least. So many emotions swirled in the air that didn't belong to Scott and I. We rarely had pack meetings, namely because we were all together all the time.

Kira and Isaac sat on the couch. Hayden and Liam leaned against the wall by the door. Mason and Corey sat in the chairs by the bar.

Scott stood in the middle of the room, his arms in front of him. He looked so in charge, so sure of himself, so Scott that I couldn't help but be drawn to him. He was the Alpha after all. Well, he wasn't my Alpha technically anymore, but I would never look to anyone the same way I looked to him.

I perched on a window sill adjacent to him.

"By now everyone knows that Malia isn't with us anymore." He said without looking at me.

Hayden's hand shot up. "Objection because I agree with Corey. I think we should put it to a vote."

My heart grew for her. I didn't think we ever shared a personal moment besides when she helped me move in.

"I second that," Mason agreed.

Pride filled up my chest as I stared at the three of them, they were willing to fight for me. I liked them a little bit more.

They looked to Liam.

He shook his head, not wanting to fight with his Alpha.

I didn't blame him really. He was essentially Scott's second and the only one of us Scott turned into a supernatural creature. He made Hayden a werewolf, but she'd already been a chimera. Liam's life was the only life here directly affected by Scott being an Alpha.

Everyone looked to Scott.

"She doesn't want our help. We don't have to force her to stick around if she doesn't want to." He supplied.

Everyone looked to me for a rebuttal, but I didn't have one.

"Lydia and Stiles would never agree to this and you know it." Hayden stepped forward.

Liam pulled her back.

She ripped her arm away. "You know I'm right. We can't make decisions together as a pack then Alpha rule when it's convenient."

"She has a point." Isaac spoke.

Scott looked at him in question, probably due to the fact that Isaac didn't even know Hayden. Isaac had been gone for so long that everything was different. The pack he left behind was different.

"Why can't we just talk this through?" Kira offered.

"Any one of us would want the same thing. We don't even know what happened between you two." Corey added.

I could see that Scott was going to lose it, maybe his mind and this argument, so I stepped in.

"Guys," I pushed off the window. "It's over. I'm out of the pack. Let it go. I have." I lied. I felt Scott's gaze on me, but I was afraid to look him in the eye for fear he'd sniff out my apparent lie.

Hayden moved toward me until she stood by my side. "I'm on your side." She glared at Scott.

Liam gaped after her, then went to stand by Scott's side.

"Oh my God, are we really doing this?" Mason demanded. "Because this doesn't feel like someone got kicked out of the pack. It feels like you guys got divorced and now we're left to choose who we want to live with."

"We're not going to make you choose." I told them. "I'll still be here, just not with all of you all of the time." I snuck a glance at Scott.

He clenched his jaw.

"What if we want to pick sides?" Kira posed.

Scott rose his brow at her. "Really, Kira?"

Kira nodded. "Yeah, if you're going to act like a child then so will I." She planted herself by my other side.

Isaac groaned, then followed. He gave me a narrow-eyed glare. "You owe me."

I was clear that his bromance with Scott predated me. Hell, Isaac had been there when Scott turned me back. So why had he choose to side with me?

Kira gave him an appreciative nod.

He looked down at her and gave a nonchalant eye roll.

Oh. So I was right after Graduation. There was something there?

Mason and Corey reluctantly went to stand by Liam and Scott. They both begged me to understand with their eyes. And I did. Mason didn't want to side against Liam and Corey didn't want to side against Mason. That would cause a lot of problems that I didn't want to be the cause of. But I was still the cause of any future issues between Liam and Hayden.

Scott cleared his throat. "That's all we needed to talk about."

Just like that, we were split as a pack. Well, they were split. Because of me. I didn't want the whole pack to fall apart because of this thing going on between Scott and I. I just wish I could tell them about the Desert Wolf.

A knocking came from the other side of the door.

What now?

I moved for the door.

Everyone went back to arguing.

"What?" I pulled the door open.

My neighbor held the phone in her hand out to me. "Here, they won't stop calling until I give you the phone."

Curious, I took the phone and pressed it against my ear. "Hello?"

"We had a deal." The Desert Wolf spoke. "Honor it or I'll make sure to start ticking them off one by one." Her voice held promise before she hung up.

My teeth gritted. The dial tone rang in my ear.

They had to leave. Scott had to leave. I didn't think she was as much worried about my friendships with them as she was about my not being happy with Scott.

I handed the girl back the phone. "Thanks." I slammed the door in her face. I pulled out my phone and texted Theo.

Me: I need you over here.

Theo: Almost there

If there was one person that clear a room it was Theo. If everyone else didn't leave, I was sure Scott would. His hate for Theo maybe overshadowed how much he hated me. Maybe.

Whatever they said came to a halt. When I put my phone away Scott headed for me. I stood there frozen.

He stood in front of me. "Can you move?" His voice strained.

I dared look up at him.

His gaze lowered to mine. He searched my face.

I shouldn't have stepped closer but I did. I wanted to scream at him 'This isn't real, you idiot. Can't you see I'm faking it? Can't you see how I feel about you?' but I didn't.

His closeness brought out my blue eyes as I took him in. He seemed more manly now, more Alpha if possible. I liked it. I liked it a lot.

His eyes burned red as he smelled my arousal.

My eyes searched his. I wanted to apologize, but what good would it do? I had hurt him, I knew I had. Now he found someone else that would take care of his needs. I wanted to be that person for him. I wanted to be that close to him again. As pathetic as it sounded, not having him around felt like having a piece missing. We'd grown so close, so used to each other, so integrated into each other's lives that normal basic things now felt hollow without the other. At least, that's how it was on my end.

"You made your choice, let me make mine."

I nodded in surrender. Finally, I stepped aside. He was now free to go.

He looked down at me and hesitated. He just stood there.

We stared at each other.

Someone cleared their throat behind us.

Scott looked away. He reached for the door and I let him.

Once he left I blew out a heavy breath. I ignored their heavy stares.

SCOTT'S POV:

I stormed out of Malia's apartment, I couldn't be in there a second longer.

There were so many confusing mixed signals with us. When I kissed Kenzie I felt her anger, her bitterness. She didn't have a right to be. She dumped me. Last night when I rode her home she clung to me like she didn't want to let go, then she invited me in. And inside her apartment, she looked at me like she wanted me. She smelled like she wanted me. But I wasn't down for just sex with her. Not that I didn't want to have it with her. It's just that it would never be just sex with her. You can't have just sex with someone you love...with someone you care about and have it just be sex. It didn't work like that.

Then I saw Theo headed my way.

He wore a permanent smirk on his face. It widened as he spotted me.

This was the guy Malia chose over me. She slept with him. She liked him. She trusted him. Over me.

I wanted nothing more than to pummel him into the ground, but this was her business. And she apparently needed him to help with her mom.

"Did you leave some for me?" He challenged cockily with a laugh.

On instinct, I attacked him. My fists flew into his face over and over again until blood appeared. We ended up in the nearby woods. He only laughed through the pain. With him shoved against a tree my hand gripped his neck and raised him in the air, my breathing labored.

"You help her then you leave. Got it?" I demanded.

His hands twisted my wrist until it fractured.

I let him go.

He fell to his knees.

I grabbed his shoulder and pushed down until I heard the crunch of bones.

He screamed.

My hand snatched his face to look up at me. "If you hurt her I'll kill you. Go ahead and test me."

"Why do you still care? She dumped your ass." He pointed out.

It was true. He was her choice. Try as I might I couldn't turn off my feelings for her. They were there no matter how hard I tried to shove them down deep. You couldn't stop caring about someone suddenly. Those feelings always found a way to resurface at the most inconvenient times.

"If you hurt her," I repeated. "It'll be the last thing you do." I let him go.

He held onto his shoulder. "If you care about Malia you'll stay away from her." He watched me. "For now." He said as if it were supposed to mean something to me.

Fed up with him and all of this, I stalked away.

I visited Kenzie for a while. Given my opposition to having just sex with Malia, one would think I wouldn't do it with someone I barely knew, but that was the point. I didn't know Kenzie. She couldn't hurt me.

When I got home there was a strange car on the street. I sniffed the air but couldn't make out the scent, although it was familiar. My mom's car was in the garage.

I rushed into the house to find chatter and laughing. I knew that laugh.

"Scott," My mom greeted cheerfully as I rounded the corner to the kitchen. "You didn't tell me Derek's aunt was in town."

The Desert Wolf sat in my kitchen. With my mom.

She grinned at me, her hand on the trigger of her gun underneath the table. "Scott, are you okay?" She asked.

Red hot rage filled me. An Alpha's roar loudly ripped from my throat at her.

She moved quicker than most humans. She held my mom in a chokehold with a gun pointed at her. "Easy there Cujo."

My claws grew, my alpha wanted to take over, but I wouldn't let it. I had to learn to control it or it would ruin me.

"Let her go." I demanded.

She laughed. "No, I don't think so."

I stepped forward.

She backed away with my mom. "Ah ah ah."

My mom silently cried. "We'll do what you want."

"What do you want?!"

"I told Malia my terms. Braeden is still coming after me, so I need to prove a point, Scott."

What was she talking about?

"I told Braeden to give it up. We stopped looking for you."

Her head shook. "So why did she come this close to killing me? I had to shoot the poor thing to put her down."

"Where is she?"

She waved the gun at my mom. "The point is if I don't get what I want then I'll be back. You won't know when or how, but I'll be back to finish the job." She lowered the gun and shot my mom, then shoved her to the floor.

I rushed to her side. "Mom!"

Her arm was bleeding.

"It's not that bad, I'll be okay." She promised. "Get Argent."

I dialed his number and handed the phone to my mom. I ran through the house to make sure everything was as is. Nothing seemed tampered with.

"Scott," My mom called.

I went back to the kitchen.

"Who was that?"

"Malia's birth mom. The Desert Wolf. When did she get here? Why'd you let her in the house?"

She looked shocked. "I didn't know that was her!"

"What did she say to you?"

"Just that she was related to Derek, she didn't even mention Malia. I just assumed you knew her and she was nice enough so I let her in."

I groaned. "Mom, you can't just let anybody into the house."

She gave me a disapproving look. "Don't you think I know that. Any friend of the pack is a friend of mine. I'm sorry, I should've called."

I waved it off. "No, I'm sorry. You didn't know." I hugged her to me. I kissed her forehead.

I helped her sterilize her tools so she could take the bullet out and sew herself up.

Argent showed up, clearly worried about my mom more than I thought possible. He made sure she was okay, then greeted me.

"Are you going to go after her?" He asked.

"No, I'm going to get answers though." I gestured to my mom. "Take care of her."

He nodded.

I looked at my mom before I raced out of the house and to my bike, this needed to stop.

MALIA'S POV:

Someone knocked on my door, interrupting my guitar practice.

I placed the guitar in the far corner on the stand I bought, then went to answer the door.

Scott stood on the other side.

He looked at me with fury in his brown eyes. "What did you do?" He moved forward, slammed the door behind him.

My forehead creased. "What do you mean?" I backed away to let him in. Only he didn't stop coming for me.

His rage filled the air.

"You did something. Your mother was at my house, she hurt my mom."

I had never been on the receiving end of this anger, nor did I ever want to be again. "I didn't do anything," I defended as I continued to move away from him until my back hit the wall. "I'm sorry."

"Your sorry isn't good enough," He fumed as he nearly pressed me against the wall.

I could practically feel my vagina pulsing in excitement. Bad vagina. Now was not the time.

"You said you had this handled," His eyes burned red. He noticed the guitar to my right, then looked back at me with heavy eyes.

"I do." I threw back at him.

"So handle it. Or I will."

I pushed off the wall to get into his face. "No, you won't."

His brow arched, he wore an admittedly sexy smirk. "How are you going to stop me?"

"You're not getting involved with her. This is my business."

His hand slammed into the wall by my head. "And your business almost got my mom killed. If you would've let me help you none of this would've happened." He lowered his face to mine. "Either you kill your mom or I'm going to do it and if Theo gets in my way then I'll kill him, too." His eyes scanned mine.

I wanted to beg him yes, just get this over with, but I couldn't speak. My arousal was getting the better of me, his dominance peaked my temptation to reach out and please him. I bit into my bottom lip as my eyes danced over his well-defined body.

His red eyes went to my mouth. He lowered his head so that his mouth hovered not even an inch from mine. All it took was a small movement for us to kiss, but he wouldn't move closer. His breath tickled my mouth. Why wouldn't he just kiss me?

"Is this what you want, Malia?" He moved his hips into mine.

I moaned. "Yes," My eyes closed at the pleasure. "Please," I pathetically begged.

He chuckled. "Are you sure?"

My leg wrapped around his hips, pulling him closer. "God, yes." I bit into my lip again.

He finally lowered his lips to mine, but not to kiss me. Instead, he said, "Well, if you want me then you're going to have to buy me dinner first." He pulled away from me.

I stared after him with my blue eyes as he gave me a pointed stare while he backed away. What a cock tease. Literally.

He shut the door behind him on his way out.

Touche.

A/N: So what did you guys think? Are you on board or are you not feeling it? I'm having trouble trying to find the balance between Scott being distant and upset at Malia vs him being a dick and still caring about her. If you're not feeling how things are progressing please let me know why and don't just give up on me :) Thanks for reading!

P. FUCKING. S. The midseason finale...yall I'm dead af! Just so many feels and I liked that Scalia wasn't a main focus of the episode, it would be weird if it was. It was fucked up that the writers didn't give Stalia a goodbye cuz let's face it, that was Stiles' goodbye to Teen Wolf. The show proved that it can stand on its legs without Dylan O'Brien, but that doesn't mean any of us are happy about it. Back to Scalia, I liked that Scalia was an undertone. When Malia threw the whip at Scott and they saved the town together I was like slay King and Queen lol.

P.S.S If anyone is a teenwolf beta reader that wants to be one of my betas I'd be down with that. :D