Liam was roaming the halls of the hospital, looking for his stepdad. A nurse finally informed him he was in surgery and would be in for quite some time. This isn't the first time this has happened. His dad, being the hospital's residential on-call surgeon, made his schedule unpredictable. Liam knows every inch of the hospital because of this. Many times, he has spent long hours waiting for his dad. It can get pretty boring in the hospital, so, often Liam had to get creative. His dad's lucky he's the best surgeon this town has to offer, honestly. The amount of times Liam's creativity has gotten him into trouble or the hefty fines for breaking expensive hospital equipment. Just last week, they had to replace a C.A.T. scan because Liam got a tad too curious.
Liam didn't want to wait for his dad, though. He knew Scott was still somewhere in the hospital. Maybe he can convince him to take him with them. He feels safer around his Alpha and would much rather be with the rest of his pack. Scott says being around your pack strengthens you. They're always better together.
He knows he told Scott he wants to be a normal teenager, but he doesn't enjoy being on the sidelines. Nobody ever tells him anything. Not to mention he's practically the puppy of the pack, so everybody pretty much treats him like a baby. He's 16 years old. What's the point of being a werewolf if you can't help protect your town? Scott kind of reminds him of a superhero; like Spiderman. Werewolf by night, a normal teenage boy by day. His best friend, Mason, says he watches too many superhero movies.
Liam catches a whiff of Scott's scent and follows it. He finds him just leaving his mom and Liam hurries to catch up with him, calling his name. Scott seems to be in a hurry, so he doesn't stop his brisk walk as he acknowledges his Beta. Scott knows Liam wants to come with them, but he tells him again that he can't. Liam doesn't seem to agree with this as he tries to change his Alpha's mind. Liam just knows he'll feel better if he's with his pack.
They round a corner as Liam says, "My dad's helping out in surgery. He's not gonna be done for hours. So, I'm either hanging out here," Liam pauses, hoping Scott will take pity on him and let him go with him, "or, I could still go with you guys..."
Liam could've just gone home, but it's late and the full moon is still out. Scott feels comfortable with Liam not being left alone.
Scott pushes the button for the elevator and turns to Liam as he waits. "Show me your hands," Scott says, giving Liam a serious look.
Liam falters and sighs. Of course, nothing gets past his Alpha. He looks around the hallway, making sure no one's paying them any attention before slowly taking his hands out of his pockets, and bowing his head. He leaves his palms up, showing Scott. Scott can clearly see the fresh wounds from his claws in his palms. Liam kept wiping the blood off on the inside of his pockets, so the fresh blood was mixed with the dried. He was keeping it hidden so well, but Scott could probably smell the blood. He can't keep anything from him, especially not this.
Liam peeks up at Scott, mostly annoyed with himself. "Okay, so I'm still having trouble."
"No, you're still learning," Scott says, encouraging him. Liam looks away, still ashamed of himself for lying to Scott. "What do you do to stay focused on not changing?"
Liam shows him his earbuds that are peeking out from the top of his shirt. Liam shakes his head, discouraged. "But it's not working."
"It's working enough. Listen, Derek told me that you were one of the strongest that he'd ever seen at your age," Scott tells him, impressed. "Now, coming from him? That means a lot." Liam nods, realizing the significance of his words. "Maybe means that things are gonna be harder for you for a while." Scott sighs, stepping into the elevator once the doors open. He holds the doors open so he can say something else to Liam. "But it also means something else, doesn't it?"
Liam shrugs, "That I'm really strong?" he guesses.
"Hell yeah!" Scott smiles at him. Liam smiles back at him until the elevator doors close.
Liam's talk with Scott did improve his mood tenfold, but he was still struggling. Being a werewolf was still fairly new to him. The sights, the smells, the sounds — it was all still so overwhelming. Not to mention his constant anger doesn't help. Then there's the guilt on top of the anger. Keeping this huge secret from his parents, his best friend.
It's getting harder to keep his secret from Mason. They've always told each other everything and now he's keeping this huge secret from him. Not to mention he still hasn't told him he's bisexual, or his thing with Brett. It's just one secret on top of each other and it's eating at him. His best friend has always been so good at telling him what to do. He could talk to Brett, but the only thing Liam is good for is getting on top of. Brett would just tell him to stop being stupid, anyway. His I.E.D. makes him a freak enough; now add being bisexual and a werewolf with claws and fangs. He's a monster. And that's just what they'll all think. He's perfectly fine with just being Liam Dunbar — anger issues extraordinaire.
He wasn't always angry. Not until middle school. His dad had just left, which wasn't all too bad. It was just him and his mom for a while until she met his stepdad, David Geyer. Then they moved to Beacon County. It was a big move, but a bigger change for Liam. Being new in a small town like this made it difficult for him to make friends or fit into school. On top of that, his grades started slipping; he was getting into a lot of fights, and arguing with teachers. Liam refused to talk to anybody. Somehow, David was the one to get through to him.
Liam's dad wasn't — what you would say — the fatherly type. He didn't play catch with Liam and didn't take him to no ball games. He definitely didn't come to any of his Little League games. His dad often yelled rather than talked. He was always shouting orders. Do this, do that, go here. It wasn't just Liam. His mom was unhappy, too. Sometimes after a bad night and his dad would leave, Liam would crawl into bed with his mom and tell her everything would be okay.
It wasn't until his mom met Dr. Geyer that Liam saw his mom smile with genuine happiness. That was the first clue he knew she had picked a good one. The second was when David introduced lacrosse to Liam. Nothing was working for Liam. David remembered when he would get angry. Instead of using his fists, he took his aggression out on the field. This is what he told Liam. Liam picked up the stick, and he was a natural. David was impressed. Their bond over lacrosse strengthened their relationship. Liam still had his anger, but at least now he had somewhere to put it.
Liam started wandering the halls again, waiting for his dad to get out of surgery. It was the sound of three familiar voices that made him stop. Even over the loud music playing in his ears, he could still hear them. Liam takes his earbuds out of his ears and slowly walked closer to the Medical Examiner's room, where Deputy Parrish, Melissa McCall, and Sheriff Stilinski were talking in hushed voices. Liam's heart was racing from what he was hearing.
If what they were saying was true, then that meant Scott was in danger. Somebody twice the size of Scott, it sounds like — was looking for the Alpha. Somebody who knew how to draw the life force out of a Hellhound. And now he was looking for Scott to steal the power of a True Alpha.
Liam couldn't let that happen. He was Scott's Beta, his second in command. If he could do something, he could warn Scott of what was coming for him.
After finding out what he's learned, Liam runs out of the hospital. He runs all the way to the high school, not stopping for a breath. There was one thing on his mind. Scott. He had to get to Scott.
Liam was running so fast, he almost knocked over Stiles and Malia. If it weren't for Malia pushing him down before he could, he would've. He was surprised by the hand pinning him to the ground and let out a grunt of pain. He looked down to make sure there weren't any claws in his chest. Thankfully, there wasn't.
"Oh my God," Stiles exclaims at Malia, pinning Liam to the ground.
"Scott's in trouble!" Liam tells them, breathless.
Malia looks back at Stiles like he has a clue where Scott would be. Stiles tells them that Scott and Kira should already be at the high school. That's when Liam hears it. Malia must hear it, too, because she goes completely still. It sounds like a fight has broken out nearby. Malia's nostrils flare as she smells the blood. The blood of their Alpha.
Stiles looks worried and waits for somebody to tell him what's going on. Liam leaps to his feet. Stiles has to keep up with the two were-creatures because they are fast.
They all rushed down the steps. Liam, upon seeing the tall werewolf, his fangs come out with hostility. His claws extended, and he was seconds away from shifting.
They were too late.
A fight had clearly broken out as they see Kira laying, wounded nearby. Scott's fully shifted form was raised off the ground as Balasko's talons were deep in the Alpha's chest, taking his power. They could see their Alpha getting weaker and weaker while his attacker wore a vicious grin. The others could do nothing but watch as their Alpha was drained of his power. But then Scott did something unexpected. He took whatever strength he had left and grabbed a hold of Balasko's arm. Scott's Alpha eyes glowed red, and he snapped the bigger werewolf's arm, the bone ripping through the flesh. Balasko groaned in pain as the True Alpha pulled the talons out of his chest, throwing them to the ground.
"I don't know who you are, or what you thought you were going to do, but I'll give you a choice. You can stay, and I'll break something else... Or you can run," Scott says with a deep, authoritative voice.
Balasko looks at the rest of Scott's pack.
"I'd run," Stiles says, boldly, making it clear the werewolf has lost.
He runs away without looking back, defeated.
