Chapter 10:
Scott loved his mom. When he told her about the sudden change of plans, that the pack was on there way over, she just smiled and asked him if he wanted to order pizza or burgers. Now she was in ordering a massive amount of food while him and Argent started rearranging the furniture in the living room to fit the pack.
Their small living room would be crowded, it was one of the main reasons they often held pack gatherings like this at Stiles.
"So who this friend?" Argent asked as they pushed the couch against the wall.
"Huh?" He asked confused for a second before he remembered Jeremy. "Oh, a friend Stiles met online." He said with a shrug. Argent's eyes narrowed and Scott could feel a lecture coming, he held up a hand to cut the man off before he got started. "They met years ago. And the sheriff and Lydia have already done a background check on him."
Argent smiled. "Well if Lydia says he is okay." the man joked. Scott rolled his eyes and dropped down on the couch.
"You will tell him to be careful anyways?" Argent asked looking down at him. Scott almost signed, "He knows." he replied, but Argent didn't seem convinced because he raised a brow and waited.
"Fine." He sighed, "I'll make sure to remind him to be careful tomorrow." Argent stance relaxed and he nodded before walked away. Scott watched the man leave the room. He often wondered just how the man had become a father figure to him and his pack.
The hunter always acted like he wasn't part of the pack. Like he was just a friend, someone here to help before he left again. But Scott knew that wasn't right. He could feel it in the way Argent worried and cared for the pack. Argent probably gave more lectures then Scott's mother, always making sure they pack knew to look after themselves and each other. To be careful of who they trusted. He was also famous for dragging pack members out to the preserve, where he taught them how to track and how to avoid being tracked. He made sure to teach them all basic self defense moves, stating that they couldn't always rely on their supernatural abilities. So, no, Scott wasn't fooled. Argent was pack. And a father. He just wasn't sure Argent realized it yet.
He sighed and pushed himself off the couch.
He didn't know what to do about his pack. He knew something was missing and it wasn't just the hunters refusal to admit he was pack. It was Perrish, Theo, and Peter, the three were pack but not at the same time. Scott's wolf knew it. Not matter what the human part thought. He tried to reason with the wolf part of him, Peter and Theo were dangerous. He didn't want them in his pack, he couldn't trust them. But it didn't matter. He could smell pack on them whenever he was around them. Not to mention the nagging feeling in the back of his mind, that told him to treat them like pack. No matter if it was comforting Theo when he reeked of self loathing and insomnia or berating Peter when he stepped out of line. So far he had been able to suppress the desire, but it was getting harder.
As much as he didn't want to, he knew that soon he would have to talk to them. See if they wanted to join his pack. He was sure they both would deny it, both wanted to be their own Alpha to much to bow down to him. But he was almost positive that they wanted it. Otherwise they both would have disappeared from town or at least not hang around all the time.
As for Perrish, Scott sighed. His wolf told him the hellhound was pack. But the deputy didn't seem to want to be. The sheriff and Lydia had dragged him to more than one pack dinner and the hellhound always seemed to pull into himself. Sitting quietly next to Lydia, watching but never joining in. And it left Scott feeling lost. Because how was he supposed to treat Perrish like pack when it was clear the man didn't want to be.
Scott walked towards the kitchen and grabbed a drink, trying to clear his head. He had other problems right now to think about. When he was searching through his fridge he heard Argent open the front door and could hear voices as people came in. Grabbing a coke he closed the fridge and head back to the living room. When he was greeting with the sight of Mason dragging Corey towards the coach, he sighed. Another person he didn't know what to do with. Corey didn't smell like pack, though he smelled like Mason and Liam. The shy chimera like Perrish didn't seem to want to be pack. Even if his boyfriend and friend were. Scott felt bad for him. He knew Corey didn't want to be pack, yet he always seemed to be around. He knew it was because Mason and Liam kept trying to show him that Scott wasn't like Theo. But Corey just seemed to find a spot between the two and he would curl into a small bundle, most often his knees pulled against his chest, arms resting on top and he head laying on top. More than once he had actually faded away, becoming invisible during the meeting. Until Mason noticed and pulled him out of it.
Scott hated the idea that Corey was scared of them, but just like with the others he didn't know what to do.
"Scott."
His eyes snapped away from Corey and Mason towards Argent who was giving him a questioning look.
"What?" He asked. The man tilted his head to the side and then looked across the room. It didn't take more than a second before his eyes returned to Scott, and Scott knew the hunter had figured out what he had been thinking about. Argent sighed, and reached out giving his shoulder a quick squeeze.
The doorbell rang. Scott gave the man a smile then shrugged off the hand and went to open the door. Malia and Lydia grinned at him when they saw him and poor Perrish gave him a small smile and followed the women inside.
He looked back at the living room, the Sheriff and Liam were still not here. Neither were Peter or Theo but he wasn't sure if they were coming. Knowing he had a few minutes, he snuck away from the living room and went to his room. He left the door open so he could hear when the others arrived and dropped down on his bed.
Laying back he closed his eyes.
He thought about the bus and the poor kids that were dead or missing. He thought about the blood and the smell of the other wolves. He was sick of fighting. Sick of watching his friends being thrown into danger and sick of losing people. How long would the rest stay with him if they kept almost dying. He had lost to many and the thought of losing anymore had his wolf whimper in his mind.
"You okay?" Lydia asked from his doorway.
He didn't sit up to greet her, Nor did he open his eyes.
"Just thinking." He muttered.
He heard her walk across his hardwood floor and then felt the bed dip as she dropped down next to him.
"What about?" She asked.
"The pack." He said.
The fiery redhead didn't say anything and Scott got the impression she was waiting for him to go on.
He sighed.
"I...it...I don't know. It feels off, incomplete. Not to mention I'm afraid of what these new attacks mean for us. Lydia…" He took a deep breath, "What if more leave?" He asked.
Whatever he was expecting her to say, he wasn't expecting the hard hit to his stomach when she smacked him.
"Scott McCall. You are not that stupid." She scolded him. "We are a family. No one is going to leave."
"Isaac did." He mumbled, reaching down to rub the spot on his stomach she had hit. He heard her exhale.
"He was hurting, he'll be back." She sounded so sure that Scott opened his eyes and sat up.
"You can know that."
She turned and glared at him. "I can feel it."
He narrowed his eyes, "Lydia you feel death."
She rolled her eyes. "It's not that kind of feeling McCall." He sighed.
"We will figure it out." She said, " We always do." She stood up and grabbed his arm pulling him off his bed and on to his feet. "Now we have an actual problem to deal with."
By the time they made it back down stairs Liam was sitting next to Corey on the floor and the Sheriff was standing in the corner talking to Argent.
"You guys find anything new?" Scott asked his best friend's dad.
The Sheriff spoke up, "One of the missing kids was ditching school. So that drops us down to 5 missing. Other than that nothing new. You find anything?" Scott shook his head.
"I went back to the bus to see if I could pick up anything else, " He left out what exactly and Deucalion because he wasn't in the mood for another argument about the Alpha. "But there wasn't anything. I think we are going to have to search the preserve. Can you get anything that belonged to the missing kids?" He asked the Sheriff, "If we have their scents they might be easier to find."
"I can try." The man said, "I can tell their parents its for search dogs." Liam snorted from his spot on the floor. Scott tried not to smile when he sent his beta a glare. Liam just rolled his eyes at him.
"Do we go in the morning?" Perrish asked from where he stood behind Lydia.
"Night would be better." Said Malia, "Less likely others will but out there."
"We might have a problem with concerned parents," Argent said, "They may start searching the woods if they don't think the cops are doing it fast enough."
"We also don't want to leave them only with the wolves that attacked them." Mason added.
"What if they aren't?" His mom said coming in from the kitchen.
"Aren't what?" Stiles dad and Argent said together. There was a snicker from someone in the room but Scott couldn't pinpoint who it was.
"In the preserve" She said, "There are plenty of places to hide in Beacon Hills that aren't those damn woods."
Scott actually felt it when all the eye turned to him. He sighed, sometimes being the Alpha sucked. "We can search the city tonight." He said, "We will have to track the wolves because we don't have the kids scents. But it's not a bad idea to try and narrow down the search area while we wait for the Sheriff to get their stuff."
He took a quick look around at his pack, "Lydia, you and Perrish can take area around the school. See if you can find anything about which way they might have headed. Liam, you, Corey, and Mason," He hesitated at adding the human, but knew from experience i.e. Stiles, that humans did not like being sidelined, "you guys take the warehouses by Derek's loft. Those tend to be left empty not a bad place to hide out."
He looked at Argent, "Do you have somewhere you would prefer to check?" He asked, because he didn't feel right ordering the man around, Argent gave him a smile, "I'll take this area, make sure there aren't any empty houses in the neighbor they could be using." Plus it left the man close to Mom, Scott thought. "Malia, do you need help checking out around the hospital?" She snorted at him but gave no other responds.
"Okay fine, I'll check by the Clinic." he said.
They ate after that at the insistence of his mom. Who told them it was dumb to go out on an empty stomach. While the others seemed genuinely happy to dive into the food, Scott wasn't feeling hungry. So he was the first to wander off. Telling his mom he would be back soon.
He rode his bike to the clinic and left it parked in the parking lot as he wandered around the building and then slowly spread out to check the surrounding area and buildings. He had only been there about five minutes when he heard a deep growl behind him. He hadn't heard or smelled anyone getting close but he knew the sound of a wolf when it growled, so he quickly spun around and tried to locate the threat.
He was not expecting it to be an emaciated wolf covered in dirt and blood. It was in it's true wolf form like he had only seen Derek and Maila do but the electric blue of its eyes told him it was a werewolf.
His first instinct was to help. It looked so hurt that it pulled at the part of him that always wanted to take care of and protect others. "Are you okay?" He asked. The wolf huffed and growled. Then before he could react it lunged at him. Scott put his arm up and let the wolf's teeth sink into that instead of his throat. He bit back a pained cry when it bite down hard, then he swung his arm hard towards the ground. The wolf yelped and let go. Not that it stopped it's attack, the wolf just lunged for him again this time swiping at him with its paw. He crawled back on the ground, letting out a growl of his own. A warning, because he still didn't want to hurt the smaller wolf. There was hesitation from it but another growl, this time from behind him had the wolf lowering its head and snarling at him.
Scott kept his eyes on this wolf and tried to listen for the other. Not liking the idea of being on the ground between two attacking wolves. When he heard paws on cement rushing towards him, he threw himself to the right and felt the air move around him as the wolf narrowly missed him.
He rushed to his feet and found himself faced with two wolves. The newer one was a little bigger than the first but just as skinny and dirty. They both stepped towards him.
"You don't want to do this." He said. His eyes flashing red. Both wolves stopped. Like they were thinking about not attacking. He had a second to hope before they both charged. He growled and caught the first by it's throat. He tried not to feel guilty as he slammed it into the wall and heard it cry out. He heard another cry of pain, and turned to see the second wolf pinned under a third solid black wolf. When it's blue eyes locked on to him, Scott recognized him.
"Theo." He greeted his not so unwelcome help. "Don't kill him" He ordered the chimera. Could wolves roll their eyes, because he was sure that's what Theo did in responds to his order. Though he did obey.
Scott turned back to the one in his hand, "Can you shift human?" It growled and snapped at him.
Frustrated Scott let his wolf out,, "Turn human!," he ordered. He felt the power of his order wrap around the wolf in front of him, it whined and slowly the wolf fell away to relieve a skinny blonde man a little older than Scott. The man's eyes were still wolf blue, but at least he was human.
"Fucking hell, McCall, be more specific next time!" Theo shouted behind him.
Scott winced. "Sorry." He muttered, not turning to look at the chimera.
"What's your name?" He asked the naked man. He still had the man by the throat, and was thinking about moving to hold him but his arm, something a little less hostile but the man kept growling at him and when Scott moved, the man raised his hand and tried to claw at Scott's face with his hand. Scott cursed and caught the hand in his. He growled at the man. "Why are you attacking me?" He asked.
"I don't think talking is going to work." Theo said, "The mutt smells feral."
"Like Malia?" Scott asked, not taking his eyes off this wolf.
"Yep." Theo said, sounding amused, and that worried Scott. He turned around forcing the man in his hand to move with him. Theo was standing over an olive skinned man, who was laying on his back, Theo's foot on his throat. Theo had his claws out and was making dramatic show picking at them. The poor man on his back looked terrified.
"Theo." Scott warned. Theo just looked at him and sighed, "Whatever." The claws disappeared. Not that it seemed to help the man relax.
"Sit." Scott ordered the man pushing him onto the ground next to his friend. "Watch them." He told Theo, who fucking sluted him.
Scott walked a couple feet away and pulled out his phone. He called Argent.
"Scott." The man answered.
"Can you swing by the clinic? He asked.
"I'm on my way." Argent replied, and Scott knew he was about to hang out.
"Wait!" He called out, " can you bring some clothes?"
"Do I want to ask?" Argent replied, a little amused sounding. Scott make a choked off sound.
"I ordered a couple wolves to be human." he felt the need to explain himself.
Argent chuckled, "Be there in 5." then the hunter hung up.
"Did the hunter, just imply that you were doing something naughty?" Theo snickered. Scott lowered his head and tried to remind himself that Theo had just helped him.
Speaking of, "What are you doing here?" He turned and asked.
"Liam called." He shrugged, "Said you went off alone to search for the wolves that attacked the school." Scott wondered if Liam had done it on purpose, which was dumb, because of course he did. Scott knew Liam had developed a friendship with Theo and wanted him in the pack. So manipulating Theo into helping Scott wasn't a bad idea.
"Thank you." He said. Theo just shrugged again.
He walked over to the two men, who were huddled together. "Can either of you talk?" He asked, kneeling down not far from them. Not that it got him more than a snarl from both.
"Great." He muttered standing back up. He slipped his jacket off and handed it to Theo. The chimera gave it and him a strange look than took it and slipped it on.
True to his word Argent showed up five minutes later. His mom coming along with him. She gave him a quick check up, noticing his already healing arm. Then she walked over to Theo and checked him out as well. She didn't go to to the two other wolves, probably only because Argent and Scott stopped her.
"Theo says they are feral." Scott told the hunter, "And I can't get them to talk." Argent looked at Theo who nodded and cursed. Scott feeling a little out of the loop looked at the older man.
"What?" He asked, "Malia was feral and she's okay now."
"That's different." Argent said, "Malia was traumatized and turned to protect herself. She stayed close to home often checking out the car and her father's home. She even kept things in her den that were linked to her past. A part of her remembered being human. If these two are part of a feral pack that just moved into Beacon Hill, I doubt any of them have hung on to their humanity."
"What do we do?" He asked. The resigned look in the hunters eyes told Scott enough.
"We can't just kill them." He said. Killing was always a lost resort, something he had spent years doing everything he could not to do.
"Scott," Argent said moving towards him, "They are attacking kids, probably in hopes of expanding their pack. They aren't human anymore. You can't let feral wolves run around, they will hunt and kill, it's how they live." At a loss he turned to his mom. She didn't look any more sure than he did.
"No." He said, looking back at Argent, "We lock them up. We try to get through to them."
"And if you fail?" Theo asked moving to stand next to him. He looked at the chimera,
"I don't know." He answered honestly.