"Well, that was not helpful at all," Peter said when they left the school building. The lot had cleared, the deputies had allowed everybody to go home, but there were still people lingering around. Cora and Isaac for example who were standing together and talking quietly to each other. Peter should go over to them.
"And now they know that you know," Peter added after a second.
"Might scare them a bit," John said grimly. "If we don't find them before Derek comes to get Stiles, they're in for quite a surprise. Derek is going to kill whoever is holding Stiles."
"You sure you want to find them before that?"
"I don't want Stiles to be at their mercy for longer than necessary," John said, a dark shadow clouding his eyes. Even if Stiles only was collateral damage, they didn't know what the hunters were doing to him. He wasn't a werewolf, he should be safe but Peter didn't want to bet money on that.
And since they were werewolves, Boyd and Erica most certainly were not safe. The hunters hadn't killed them immediately so there was hope that they were still alive but Peter had no illusions about how the hunters were treating them. The electrical wiring came to mind.
"Officially I have no reason to suspect Kate," John said after a long moment. "I take you have eyes on her?"
"On her and her brother," Peter confirmed. "And I'll get everybody on high alert for those other hunters."
"I have to go back to the station, see if Parrish has anything on the van yet," John said. "And I'm going to send somebody over to your house. Talk to your family, set up everything in case the kidnappers call, you know the drill." John rubbed a hand over his mouth. He was trying to stay professional but this was getting to him. Not that Peter felt any different, Boyd and Erica were pack. And Stiles was … his boyfriend? Peter didn't know if that was the right term but Stiles was important to him.
"Keep me updated." John was already heading over to his cruiser.
"Same to you," Peter called after him.
"I'm waiting for that call." With that, John got into his car and Peter turned to his two pack members now coming over to him.
"You're working with the sheriff?" Isaac asked. There was no way that he hadn't heard their conversation.
"Yes," Peter confirmed the obvious. "This is not just about us, his nephew got abducted as well."
"And you told him …" Isaac made a vague gesture, they were in public after all and even if the parking lot was not crowded any longer it was still far from being empty.
"He already knew." Peter threw a glance at Cora. She knew that Stiles was not quite human either, it shouldn't come as a surprise to her that the sheriff was in the know about the supernatural but she was lost in thoughts with her thumb between her lips, nibbling at the skin.
"What are we going to do now?" Isaac asked, bouncing with restless energy.
"You two are going home," Peter said firmly. "I know you want to help but I don't want anybody wandering off. I already have people out there and the deputies are also looking for them. We will find them." He fixed Isaac with a stern look. "But I can't do that if I have to worry about the rest of you. So go home."
They didn't like it but eventually, Cora got into the car with Isaac and together they drove off. Peter got in his car as well to give Talia a call. She didn't know yet.
She took it as well as expected. It took Peter a few moments to talk her out of alpha mode. She'd been about to just go and rip the Argents apart but once she had herself under control again, they agreed that Talia would go home to inform the pack while Peter would keep looking for their missing pack members.
"Even if neither I or the sheriff find them, Derek will," Peter reminded her.
They ended the call and Peter immediately dialed another number. He had to get some things in motion.
Twenty minutes later all his contacts were informed and were actively looking for the van, the hunters, and the missing teenagers. If one of those showed up anywhere in town, Peter would know.
With that taken care of, Peter was pondering what to do next. It was tempting to pay Chris Argent a visit but he doubted that he would give him more information than his sister. The Argents' house might even be a trap, he better left it to John to question Chris.
So Peter got out of the car and walked back to the bleachers. There had been a lot of people here by now but Peter was still able to catch a hint of pack. Boyd and Erica had been out here quite often, their scent still lingered.
Keeping his senses open, Peter walked over to the tree line. According to Scott, one of the attackers had come running from here. John and at least two of his deputies had been out here as well but there weren't that many scents interfering. Peter closed his eyes and focused on the scent. He followed the trail back to where the men had been waiting for their victims. If they had left any physical evidence like the proverbial cigarette butt it was already in evidence bags at the station but that was not what Peter was interested in anyway.
There had been two men, they had been waiting here for quite a while. Most likely not for the first time.
Peter couldn't follow the van but when he went back to his car, he had the scents of the two men memorized. Not that that did him any good since he had no idea where to look for them.
There was not much Peter could do so he drove home. By now everybody was there and when he entered the living room, all eyes were on him.
"Anything?" Walter asked in the name of everyone.
Talia had already told them the basics but Peter gave them all a short recap of what had happened and that he and the sheriff were both working on finding the missing teenagers. That the sheriff's nephew had been abducted as well was a fact they hadn't known before, Talia had left that little detail for Peter to tell, and it raised the question why hunters would take a random teenager as well. Maybe it wasn't the hunters after all? But who else would just kidnap three teenagers?
"They used tranq darts to knock out Boyd and Erica but Stiles got hit over the head," Peter pointed out. "They knew what they were doing. Most likely Stiles was just in the way."
"Why didn't they just leave him, then?" Deborah asked which led to a heated discussion about the reason behind that decision.
Peter and Talia used the chance to excuse themselves to the library, they had to discuss what to do next. Peter's phone had stayed stubbornly silent and he was out of leads. The only thing he could do was to go out to the lake and wait for Stiles to show up. Maybe he could get Derek's attention so that he would go after Stiles earlier.
In the meantime Talia would keep the pack together, nobody was allowed to go anywhere alone.
"I hate it when the only thing I can do is wait." Talia was pacing up and down the room. "You think they'll call? Asking for a ransom?"
"I doubt it but John wanted to send somebody over, just in case." A stranger in the den during times of stress was not a good idea but Peter understood that it was necessary.
When they came back downstairs two deputies had already arrived. One was talking to Anthony, the other one was collecting all the phones. Peter ducked out through the back door before they spotted him, he did not have the time to play twenty questions with them. Talia would handle the situation just fine without him, she was the diplomatic one after all.
With all the deputies busy nobody was patrolling the road leading to the lake. At least that.
Peter checked the cabin but Stiles wasn't there and it didn't look as if anybody had been here since they had left in the morning. Which felt like it had been ages ago.
"Derek!" Peter yelled over the lake but except for a startled bird, he got no response. He called out for him a few more times but the lake stayed silent with only a few ripples on the surface. It looked peaceful but Peter was not in the mood for peaceful.
He knew it was dangerous, the pier looked as if it was just waiting for a stiff breeze to fall apart, but Peter carefully walked out to the end.
"Derek!" He yelled again but still didn't get an answer. He waited for another minute before he made his way over the rotten planks back to dry land. Falling into the lake would get him Derek's attention, that was for sure, but he was not suicidal.
Peter checked the time. Still at least an hour before Stiles' time was up. He didn't like it but the only thing he could do now was to wait.
He went back to the cabin, dragged s chair outside so that he had the lake in good view, and then he settled in for a long wait. He spent most of the time on his phone, asking for updates and coordinating the search, but there was still no news.
Peter sensed that something was happening seconds before the first bubbles disturbed the calm surface. He was on his feet and at the waterline by the time a head broke through.
Boyd. A second later Erica surfaced right next to him.
That was not what he'd expected but Peter took it.
"Over here," he called out and waved his arm when they just had a disorientated look around.
"Stiles!" Erica yelled, frantically looking around. When she didn't find him, she took a deep breath and went under again.
"Boyd!" Peter yelled again. "Get out of the water."
"Stiles, he was with us." At least Boyd acknowledged him but he too made no attempt to get closer to the shore. He was looking around and then he dove in again.
"I can't find him!" Erica was back up to catch a breath but was about to go under again.
"Erica!" Peter bellowed with his eyes flashing. "Get out of the water. Now!"
"I have to find him." She made a few strokes towards him out of reflex alone but she was still searching for Stiles.
"He's fine!" Peter told her even if he didn't have a clue if it was true. "Come here!"
Reluctantly she came closer, still not convinced, but at least she was able to stand now, the waterline just above her navel.
Boyd hadn't surfaced yet and Peter was about to dive in himself to search for the beta when he came back up.
"Where the hell is he?" He muttered to himself.
"Boyd!" Peter shifted to roar the beta into submission if necessary. "Get out of the water!"
Behind Boyd a third person surfaced but it was not Stiles.
"Where's Stiles?" Boyd asked Derek, completely oblivious to the danger he was in. "What did you do to him?"
"Boyd, get away from him." Peter could tell that Derek was trying to hold back but it was more than obvious that he wouldn't be able to restrain himself for long.
Finally, it seemed to sink in that they were in real danger and both Boyd and Erica hurried to get on dry land. Derek stayed back, still hip-deep in the water, but he visibly relaxed once the others were out of his reach.
"Thank you for getting them out." Peter breathed out in relief. "Stiles is under?"
"He's hurt badly." Derek nodded.
Peter had expected that much but hearing it still hurt.
"I'll leave his phone in his cabin, John is waiting for a call from him." Peter paused, feeling Boyd's and Erica's eyes on him. He had some explaining to do in a second here. "And so do I."
Derek gave him another nod.
"Can you tell me where they've been?" Peter asked because he doubted that the betas would be able to give him an answer to that.
"Not in terms you can understand." Derek shook his head. "Stiles needs me." With that, he stepped back until the water closed over his head.
"What the hell is going on?" Erica asked. "Where's Stiles? And who the fuck was that? How did he bring us here? Wherever here is." She had a look around.
"Let's go inside, you can warm up and tell me exactly what happened." Peter ushered them over to the cabin.
"We want some answers as well." Boyd looked over the now calm lake but reluctantly followed them to the cabin.
