Howling ghosts – they reappear
In mountains that are stacked with fear
But you're a king and I'm a lionheart.
And in the sea that's painted black,
Creatures lurk below the deck
But you're a king and I'm a lionheart.

Chapter 14: Belligerent

"How can we attack them if we don't have Scott?" Liam wondered, a timorous look on his face.

Deaton set his mouth into a grim line. "I'm having someone work on getting him out, but I don't know when or if he's going to be released. Remember," he said sagely, "What matters is not who you have on your team, but how you work together. You have to exploit the pack's weaknesses. Play to your strengths."

"Our strength is Scott," Malia pointed out. "He's a true alpha."

Deaton frowned. "There is always a way to win. If the pack doesn't know you're coming, you have the element of surprise. And while they have all werewolves, you have a kitsune, a banshee, and a werecoyote."

"But no alpha," Liam said.

"Find the other pack's weaknesses," Deaton repeated. "Will their alpha do anything to hurt Scott? Will he try to protect his pack or will he put himself above everyone else?"

"We literally know nothing about this alpha," Stiles commented bitterly. "No member of the pack has shown their face except that one time to Scott."

"But we have to fight them anyway," Malia added. "Before they kill anyone else. Like one of us." She looked around for approval.

Stiles nodded. "They're attacking people close to Scott."

"We can handle them, though," Kira said. "They tried to attack Parrish and he came out mostly unharmed. The shapeshifter attacked me and he was almost surprised that I fought back."

"So they've completely underestimated us," Malia concluded positively. "They don't think we can fight back. We'll show them who's in charge."

Deaton set his hands on the metal operating table. "What's the plan, then?"

"Ms. Ming!" Mr. Lewis's disparaging voice cut across the classroom. "This is A.P. Chemistry, not C.P. Dream Psychology." He shook his head. "I had such high expectations for you. Moving on." He began to sketch a questionable-looking VSEPR diagram on the whiteboard.

Sherry reddened, sitting straight up in her desk and rubbing her eyes drowsily. At the desk next to her, Stiles snored loudly, his face pressed against his notebook and drool pooling on the lined paper. Clearly, Mr. Lewis had given up even trying to reprimand Stiles for his slacking behavior.

When the bell rang, Sherry poked Stiles. "Hey. Lunch time."

"Mhr," he murmured unintelligibly.

She rolled her eyes and, with a swift tug, jerked his notebook out from under his cheek. Stiles' head slammed onto the wooden desk, effectively waking him up.

He bolted up. "What's going on?"

Sherry handed him back his notebook, holding the slobber-sodden part away from her. "It's lunch time, doofus."

Stiles melted back into his desk. "I'm fine, thanks."

She shrugged. "Fine." She headed out the door, making it about four steps down the hall when Stiles skidded into the hall, looking wild and disoriented.

"I didn't mean literally!"

She laughed at the sight. His dark hair stuck out at odd angles and blue ink stained his cheek from his open notebook. "Everyone's staring," she guffawed.

Stiles spun around in a circle, glaring at everyone. He stalked down the hall, dragging Sherry after him grouchily. "I am so not in the mood."

"I'm not sitting with you during lunch," she reminded him.

He gawked at her. "Why not? We have to talk battle strategy."

"First of all, do you really want me helping you? I don't know the first thing about this stuff. Second of all, I have a social life."

They arrived at the cafeteria, surveying the swarming room. "You mean Liam."

"Actually, I meant to say Mason. But you can keep living your delusion if you want."

Stiles huffed. "Fine, don't help us defeat the supervillain. You're not ending up on the cover of our comic book."

She rolled her eyes. "Nerd." She walked away and settled into the seat next to Mason, pulling out a Thermos from her backpack.

Mason grinned. "Hey! Have you seen Liam?"

She nodded over to Stiles' table. "He's over there."

Liam leaned with his elbows on the other lunch table, speaking intently with the girls.

"If I didn't know him, I'd think he's flirting," Mason joked.

"They're definitely out of his league."

"Oh, he's not interested in them," Mason cackled. He shook with silent laughter, watching Liam in amusement.

"What is so funny?" Sherry whined. That just made him laugh harder. Sherry smacked his arm, ruffled.

Liam looked up from his conversation then, a confused look evident on his face as he assessed the situation with Sherry and Mason. He excused himself from the juniors and approached their table. "What's going on?"

At this point, Mason was laughing so hard he nearly fell out of his chair. He clutched his chest, struggling to catch a breath amid his spasming.

Sherry inched away from the boy. "I have no clue." The laughter was contagious, making Sherry start to suppress her own giggles.

Mason's hand swung over the table, knocking over Sherry's open Thermos. "My food!" she yelped, reaching out to grab it before it rolled off the table.

Liam grabbed the metal cylinder the same time she did, his fingers pressing on Sherry's. She pulled back immediately, feeling something like electricity running up her arm. Yet she knew that the feeling was all in her mind.

Liam set the Thermos back on the table, blinking at Sherry. "What happened?"

"I think I hit my funny bone," she lied, rubbing her arm. "Sorry."

Mason heaved in and out, fanning himself to stabilize his breathing. "Anyway. Who's up for bowling?"

"Tonight?" Sherry asked, glancing nervously at Liam.

Liam's eyes widened. He looked at the juniors' table and then back at Mason. "I guess."

"Great!" Mason cheered. "Meet at four at the bowling alley." He pushed off his chair, going to throw some trash away.

"What about the battle plans?" Sherry hissed. "Aren't you guys going tonight?"

"Yeah, at midnight," Liam replied. "We have time."

"And you don't want Mason to think that there's anything going on, huh?"

He paled. "That too."

Sherry showed up at Beacon Bowl at four o'clock sharp. Liam arrived shortly after.

"Where's Mason?" Sherry asked.

Liam shrugged. "He's late."

"We should go reserve a lane, then." Sherry entered the building, making a beeline toward the front desk. She paid for one game for two people, figuring that Mason would have to sit out for the first one to make up for his tardiness.

She and Liam headed down to their lane, selecting rental shoes and bowling balls. Liam fiddled with the keyboard that connected to the electronic scoring system. "What do you want to set your name as?" he called. "Four letters."

"S-H-E-R," she answered. "Like Sherlock. Or sheriff. Or sherbet."

"Or Cher."

She dropped two heavy balls into the open ball return. "That works, too."

He pressed the enter button and the TV screen in front of them showed their empty scoresheet. He had entered "CHER" for Sherry's name. "Ladies first."

"I just put the balls down," she whined. "Alright."

Her first try landed her with a final score of seven, not bad for the first time she'd bowled in years.

"Don't laugh at me," she warned. "You don't get to. You misspelled my name."

Liam only grinned, snatching up the other ball and racing out to toss the ball. A strike.

"I blame the fact that you're a werewolf," Sherry muttered, crossing her arms. "This is an unfair game."

"Or I could be just that good."

"Eh."

"I should call Mason," Liam realized, pulling out his phone. He tapped Mason's name in his contacts and placed the phone on a table, speakers on.

"Hey, Liam!" Mason greeted. "What's up?"

"You're late."

"I'm absent, actually," Mason replied cheekily.

"When are you getting here?"

"I'm not. Duh."

Sherry leaned on the table. "What do you mean, you're not coming? You set this up!"

"Exactly! I set you two up. So have fun on your date!" Mason hung up on them. Sherry and Liam stared at each other, horrified.

"This is not a date," Sherry stated.

"Of course not!" Liam blurted quickly.

"We are going to pretend Mason never said that."

"Right."

"Then we'll kill him tomorrow."

"Totally."

"And I will beat you at this game."

Liam smirked. "Well, I'm not going to agree with everything you say."

"So close," she muttered.

"Everyone understands the plan?" Stiles checked.

Everyone nodded. Lydia held up a hand. "Wait. What exactly do I do again?"

"You scream at the bad guys," Stiles responded, dumbfounded that she would even ask that. "And you destroy their delicate wolf ears."

Lydia crossed her arms disapprovingly. "Uh huh. What about when the bad guys want to destroy my delicate banshee body?!"

Stiles blinked. "That's what the screaming's for. To drive away the bad guys."

Lydia was still unimpressed.

"Okay!" Stiles clapped his hands together. "Ready to destroy some alpha's psychopathic butt?"

Everyone stared at him.

"Me too! Alright, break!" No one moved. "That means go," he prodded. "Go attack... I am never giving a pep talk again. Ever." He backed up against his Jeep. "I'm done."

Lydia, Malia, Kira, and Liam ran up the trail leading to the cabin, moving furtively under the shadows of the trees.

Stiles beckoned to Sherry, sneaking behind the four of them. Sherry tiptoed with him, following in the barely moonlit darkness. Up ahead, the cabin became clearer in detail, showing the closed front door and curtained windows. In front of the doors and around the perimeter, sentinels stood stiffly, scanning the woods for any intruders. Immediately, Sherry could see action beginning to unfold.

Kira swung the flat side of her katana against one werewolf's head, making him collapse onto the ground. Malia attacked another guard, a hard clubbing to the cranium also making him fall. One by one, the sentinels all were knocked out, leaving the entrance to the cabin unprotected.

"Why don't they kill the guards?" Sherry hissed. "They might wake up!"

"We don't kill," Stiles answered. "Reason number 4395329 of why I hate being one of the good guys."

Liam burst through the front door, all claws and teeth and hair. Kira and Malia followed him, swinging at quickly shifting werewolves.

Stiles and Sherry ducked behind a bush, watching the scene unfold through binoculars.

Lydia stood in the doorway and shrieked, the piercing scream or her voice tearing through the woods. Sherry clamped her hands over her ears. When Lydia stopped, Sherry looked again. The screams hadn't made a difference at all.

The strawberry blonde backed up from the door, shaken, and fled. She raced to Stiles, crouching behind the bush, and fell to her knees, panicked.

Inside, Liam and Malia were flying from wall to wall, easily picked up and attacked by werewolves as if they were chew toys. Kira was only faring slightly better. Sherry could see, despite the distance, streaks of blood running down the girl's back and legs. Kira sliced at a burly werewolf, but was stopped mid-swing. Then, like her two companions, she was slammed against a cabin wall.

Sherry gasped. "They're going to get killed."

"Wait," Stiles whispered.

An ear-splitting roar cut across the commotion inside the cabin, truncating it. The sea of belligerent werewolves parted down the middle, the betas all flattening against the walls. Their Moses, a flame-haired woman, strutted into view.

"The alpha's a woman?" Stiles gasped.

"Welcome to my house!" she barked. "You were foolish to think the six of you could take me on!" She moved closer to Liam. "Be grateful that I have let you live today. Next time, bring Scott McCall." Her evil snarl could be seen from miles away. "Then I will kill you all."

She made a sweeping gesture, roaring again, and Liam, Malia, and Kira scurried from the cabin, clutching at their wounds. The door slammed shut behind them.

A/N: I probably won't be able to update the next three or four days because I'm going to be at a sleepaway cheer camp. Sorry, guys :( I'm excited for the stunting and activities and stuff but I am not excited for working out all day in the burning sun. Sigh. The weather report says it's going to be over 90 F.

ALSO I'm a beta reader so if any of you need help with spelling, grammar, or punctuation, just PM me!

What are your thoughts on Stiles' failed plan? They should know by now that they can't win without Scott haha :) AND OMG THE DATE

Please remember to review, favorite, and follow!