"So, the Walcott's were the first," Stiles said as we stood in Jake's office at the Sheriff's station. "At least the first that we know about. Four murders. Sean, his brother, and their parents. They were killed by a professional assassin called The Mute. Weapon of choice, a military tomahawk. But then The Mute was killed by Peter Hale after he tried to blow up Derek with a Claymore mine. Next was Demarco. He delivered a keg to the party at Lydia's lake house. And got decapitated outside his car. And then last night, twenty-three-year-old Carrie Hudson." Stiles laid out a list of names on it.
"It's a dead pool," Scott said. "A hit list of supernatural creatures. This is only part of it. The rest still has to be decoded."
"Who found this list?" Jake asked, looking at the names.
"Lydia," I answered.
"How?"
"She wrote it," Stiles explained. "Actually, she transcribed it. Without realizing it."
"Banshee?"
"Very good." I praised him. "See? You're learning."
"All right, what are these numbers next to the names?"
"We're getting to that," Stiles said. "First, you need to know that the code was broken with a cipher key."
"Wait. You mean, like a... like a keyword?"
"It's actually a name."
"Allison," Scott whispered heavily.
"Her name broke a third of the list."
"And now we think there are two other cypher keys," I said.
"Which will give us the rest of the names," Jake stated. "Okay. So how do we get the cypher keys?"
"Same way we got the code," Stiles said.
"Lydia," Scott said. "She's been out at the lake house all weekend trying to find the other two keywords."
"You didn't know about Demarco or Carrie," Jake asked. "Hmm? And what about these other two names on the list? Uh, Kayleen Bettcher and Elias Town. They werewolves too?"
"I don't know. But Deaton said that the Nemeton would draw supernatural creatures here."
"Here being Beacon Hills? Or Beacon County? The population of Beacon Hills is just under thirty-thousand."
"And dropping," Stiles muttered.
"But if we're talking Beacon County, then you're looking at close to five-hundred-thousand. Look, how many werewolves, banshees, kitsunes and whatever the hell else is out there are we talking about? And what happens if the next cypher key uncovers not thirteen names but a hundred?"
"We don't think there would be that many. There's a limit."
"Because of the numbers," I added. "We think that once we decode the names, the numbers will add up to one hundred seventeen."
"One hundred seventeen what?" Jake asked.
"Million. One hundred seventeen million dollars, Dad. Stolen from the Hale vault and is being used by someone to finance all these murders."
"Someone who wants every supernatural in Beacon Hills dead," Scott said.
"So, the coded list goes out." Jake tried to process the information he was receiving. "And somehow these professional assassins get that list."
"And a cypher key," Stiles added.
"And then they go after the names on the list. They being killers with no mouths, tomahawks, thermo-cut wires that can take your head off."
"Wow, Dad, you say it so depressed like." I joked, and he looked at me, his eyes narrowed giving me a realistic look.
"Let me see," Stiles said, leaning over the desk to look at the crime photos of Carrie. "Carrie was also stabbed. "What's this mark?"
"We're not sure yet," Jake admitted. "We're waiting on the ME's report. There's one other thing that I don't get. How did this new assassin know that Demarco was going to be at the lake house?"
"Everyone knows he delivers kegs to teenagers for a little extra cash," Scott explained.
"So, whoever ordered that keg killed Demarco."
"Yeah, it was someone at the party," I said.
"A student." Scott clarified.
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I stood with Scott in the boys' locker room as Derek walked over and picked up Liam's lacrosse stick and twirled it in his hands. The door to the locker room opened and Liam's scent clouded the air. Derek took a step to meet him, but I grabbed his arm and he looked down at me.
"Be nice," I said, gently but firmly and he smirked at me, his white teeth gleaming. "I mean it, Derek." His smile only grew as he pulled away from me and turned to go meet Liam. I smelt waves of fear come off Liam when Derek came into his line of sight.
"Is this yours?" I heard Derek ask Liam then a snapping sound of a metal rod breaking sounded and the pieces clattered to the floor. I heard a growl harbouring inside Liam's chest as his heart rate increased. I heard Liam charge at Derek and Derek grabbed him by the throat and slammed him up against the lockers as Liam snapped his jaws at Derek and growled loudly.
"Liam," Scott called to him as we walked out of our hiding spot and into his line of sight. Liam turned to look at his alpha and his eyes and fingers returned to normal in the presence of his alpha.
"You're right. He is angry." I gingerly touched Derek's arm that was holding Liam up against the locker.
"Be nice." I reminded him, and Derek sighed and dropped Liam and took a step back. "This is Derek Hale. He's my alpha male." Scott held up a lacrosse stick for Liam to take.
"This one's yours," Scott said as Liam snatched it from him. The school bell rang, shaking my sensitive eardrums but I was used to the loudness now. "Get to class, Liam." Liam gave Derek one last look like he was intimidated by him.
"Don't worry, Liam, he's not as scary as he looks." I smiled at him and Liam turned to leave. After Liam left, Scott turned to Derek who had a small grin playing across his face. The kind that brought his eyes to life and me to my knees.
"What are you smiling about?" Derek's smile grew.
"You're gonna be good at this," Derek assured him.
"Are you kidding? I am totally unprepared. Remember how you said you could teach me a few things? I think, right now I could use a full-on training manual."
"I'll tell you one thing. That anger he's got? It'll make him strong."
"And dangerous."
"Very." Scott sighed as he sat down on the bench and put his head in his hands.
"This was supposed to be the semester I could focus on school again." Derek walked over and sat down next to him and I stood in front of my boys with my arms crossed over my chest. "But Kate's back." I let out a growl and let my wolf eyes flash. "And I've got a beta. And there's a dead pool."
"If all our names are on that list, then that's what we should be focused on. Do you think Lydia can get that second key?"
"She's working on it."
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I sat in Economics class behind Stiles as he looked through the murder photos he stole from his dad. Scott was sitting next to him trying to listen to Coach's lecture. I had my arms resting on the cold desktop and my back pressed all the way in the back of the seat with my head tilted back.
"God, this is boring." I groaned low enough for Stiles to hear because he was in front of me and for Scott to hear because of his wolf hearing.
"Shut up, Calla," Scott muttered under his breath, his eyes never leaving Coach's face.
"I mean, I'm an alpha female. I shouldn't be in Economics. I should be off. . ."
"Calla, please." Scott groaned, knowing what I'm already going to say.
". . . having wild, crazy sex with my alpha male and building a pack. Have little wolf pups running around." I smiled at my own humor.
"Oh, God, please shut up."
"So rude."
"Economic disparity exists in all forms." Coach lectured, twirling a lacrosse stick in his hand. "Well, take sports, for example. Some teams have better training facilities. Some have better equipment. Unlike Beacon Hills that can barely afford the duct tape to keep our equipment together." Coach walked up and down the desks and stopped by Stiles' desk and stared down at the pictures on his desk. He banged the lacrosse stick on Stiles' desk knocking Stiles out of his trance and causing him to jump. "You know, Stilinski, if I could grade you on how profoundly you disturb me, you'd be an A-plus student."
"Thanks, Coach." That was all Stiles could come up to say.
"Put those pictures away." Stiles began to put the pictures away as Coach began to walk away but Stiles suddenly grabbed Coach's lacrosse stick and pulled him back. Coach tried to pull it away from him, but Stiles held on tight. "Stilinski!" Stiles ripped the bottom off the lacrosse stick and stared at the hexagon shape then looked back at the crime photos and back again. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Coach finally pulled the lacrosse stick from Stiles' grip. "Don't answer that." As Coach walked away, Stiles turned to Scott and me.
"It's a lacrosse player."
"The killer's on the team." Scott breathed.
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I grabbed an armful of lacrosse sticks and laid them out on Coach's desk so that Scott and I could go through them and try to find the malfunctioned stick while Kira and Stiles searched the rest of Coach's office for clues.
"This. . . this is pointless." Scott growled, throwing down his lacrosse stick after we got about halfway through the pile and found nothing. "Most of the team plays with their own gear."
"Maybe instead of trying to find a lacrosse stick with a hidden dagger in it, we should be trying to get the game cancelled," Kira suggested.
"The game's the best way to catch him red-handed."
"But what if he's red-handed cause his hands are covered in the blood of the person that he just stabbed to death?" Stiles inquired. "Which, by the way, could be either of you guys."
"Or Liam." I reminded Scott as a look of exasperation washed over his face. "Well, we don't have the whole list and he could be on it."
"We don't know anything about the list," Stiles said. "How it's made, how it's updated. I mean, who's been out taking a supernatural census anyway?"
"How do they even know about me?" Kira wondered.
"How do they even know about any of us?" I rephrased her question.
"They know about everyone," Scott said.
"I think Kira's right." I sighed. "I think we should stop the game."
"I'm not afraid."
"Neither am I, Scott, but we need to think about what's best for the rest of the team and for your beta."
"Well, I'm terrified," Stiles exclaimed. "And I'm not even on the list. Guys, these are professional killers. It's their profession. One of them's got a thermo-cut wire that cuts heads off. Who knows what else they have?"
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Scott, Stiles and I walked out of the school to the parking lot where the bus full of prep lacrosse students started to unload. We stopped walking when we heard Liam's voice.
"Brett!" Liam yelled as he pushed through the crowd up to a tall male wearing a black muscle short. He had to be at least a foot taller than Liam. "I just wanted to say. . ." Liam continued. "Good luck out there." He held out his hand to for Brett to shake but instead Brett and the entire team started laughing at him. In seconds, I smelled the putrid smell of anger and frustration coming off Liam in waves. He dropped his hand to his side and clenched his fist.
"That's cute, Liam." Brett laughed. "Is that what they told you to say in Anger Management? Apologize and everything's fine? You demolished Coach's car."
"I paid for it."
"You're going to pay for it. We're gonna break you in half out there. And it's gonna be all your fault." The smell of iron and metallic entered the air and I saw drops of blood began to drip from Liam's clenched fist.
"Oh, shit." Scott murmured as he raced forward and pushed Liam back away from Brett. Stiles stepped forward and smiled at Brett.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, let's go." Stiles said to Liam. "Hey, what's going on prep students? Welcome to our little public high school. How you doing?" He held out his hand for Brett to shake and once again, Brett didn't return the gesture. "Stiles. That's a firm handshake you got there. Uh, we're very excited for scrimmage tonight. Uh, but let's keep it clean, all right? No rough stuff out there. All right, see you out on the field."
He turned back to Scott, Liam and me. "Go." We hustled Liam through the crowd and back inside the school and to the boys' locker room. Liam growled at us as his fangs lengthen and we pushed him under the running water of the shower. I flashed my alpha eyes at him and tried to push some power over him but his anger was too strong.
"Liam, you need to calm down." I said, still trying to get some power over him. He roared at me in response. "You are doing the absolute opposite of calm." He roared again. I pushed harder pass his willpower and when I found an opening, I took it and ordered him to calm down.
"Okay!" Liam yelled as his fangs disappeared. "Okay!" He panted as Scott turned off the shower and Liam slid to the floor.
"That car you smashed." Scott said. "I thought you said that was your teacher's."
"He was also my coach. He benched me for the entire season."
"What did you do?"
"I got a couple of red cards."
"Just a couple?" Stiles asked sarcastically and Scott crouched down in front of Liam.
"You gotta be honest with us." Scott said. "What else happened?"
"Nothing. I got kicked out of school. They sent me to a psychologist for evaluation."
"What did they call it?"
"Intermittent Explosive Disorder."
"I.E.D?" Stiles exclaimed. "You're literally an I.E.D? That's great. That's great. You gave superpowers to a walking time bomb."
"Did they give you anything for it?" I inquired.
"Risperdal." Liam answered. "It's an antipsychotic."
"Oh, this just gets better." Stiles muttered.
"But I don't take it."
"Obviously."
"I can't play lacrosse on it. It makes me too tired." Stiles sighed.
"Okay." Scott said. "I think you should bail out of the game. Tell Coach your leg is still hurting.
"No! No!" Liam got to his feet and Scott stood up with him. "I can do this. Especially if you're there." Stiles buried his face into his hands.
"Liam, it's not just about the game. We think whoever killed Demarco might be on our team."
"Who's Demarco?"
"The one who brought the beer to the party." I explained. "The guy who was beheaded. Remember?"
"We think the person who ordered the keg killed Demarco." Scott added and Liam hung his head. "Liam? What, you know something?"
"I don't know who ordered the keg." Liam finally said. "But I know who paid for it."
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"Let's go!" Coach yelled as he walked out onto the field. I grabbed my helmet and stood up with Kira next to me. She looked around at the field nervously.
"I was nervous my first game to." I said as I put on my gloves. "Everyone was so much more taller than me. I thought I was going to be squashed."
"What stopped you from being nervous?" She asked quietly.
"Scott and Stiles. They always had my back when I needed help. Because we're a team and that's what teams do. You got this, Kira. You've practiced for this and like with me, Scott and Stiles will be there for you and so will I. We're not only a team but you, me, Scott and Stiles, we're a pack." She smiled up at me. "Come on. Let's go kick some prep school ass." I slid on my helmet and jogged out onto the field.
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"Why do I feel like this is going to end badly?" Kira muttered next to us as we stood in the middle of the field when the prep team scored the first shot.
"Because it usually does." Stiles answered.
"Thank you for the vote of confidence, Negative Nancy." I snapped, panting for air.
"Kira, Calla, you keep an eye on Garrett." Scott ordered. "I'll watch out for Liam."
"Yeah, I'm just gonna try to play lacrosse." Stiles yelled to us as we took off to our targets. We got into positions and when the referee blew the whistle, Brett scooped up the ball and started running down the field with Liam hot on his trail.
"Liam!" Liam got clotheslined by two other prep players and did a flip before landing on the ground on his stomach. Brett ran up to the goal and successfully made the shot. Growling, I skidded to a stop and glared at Danny.
"You know, you could actually try to stop the balls from entering the goal instead of just standing there, Danny." I snapped before taking off in the other direction. I turned to see Liam getting to his feet and slamming his helmet to the ground. He took a offensive position in front of the two players that knocked him down and growled but before he could charge at them, Scott stopped him. Brett smirked at him before walking away. This is going to be a long game.
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I took my position behind the Stiles as he crouched down in he center of the field in front of a prep player for the playoff.
"You guys know that anabolic steroids are illegal in the United States?" Stiles rambled and the other player just looked at him like he was crazy. "You wear a lot of facial hair for a teenager. What are you on? Seriously? HGH? Gamma radiation?" The whistle blew and without hesitation, Stiles took the ball and raced pass the player with me behind him, making sure the area around him was clear. Stiles passed the ball to Kira who caught but froze like a deer in headlights. "Run, Kira! Run, Kira, run!" I ran up to her side.
"Go!" I urged. "I got you!" She took off towards the goal dodging each play that came after her and when one got to close, I pushed them away until she got close enough to the goal and she launched the ball in and scored. The crowd cheered and the team whooped. "OOOOOOOOO!" I howled and gave her a crisp high five as we raced back down the field.
"Yukimura!" Coach yelled at her. "Get over here!" She jogged off to the sidelines as I walked over to Scott's side. "Take a seat. You're benched for the rest of the game."
"What?" Kira exclaimed. "Why?"
"You didn't pass."
"I had an open shot."
"The play was for you to pass. This is a scrimmage, it's about teamwork, Yukimura. So, you're benched." Kira turned and looked heartbroken at Scott before she took a seat.
"Aw, damn." I breathed. "That's bullshit. She did great and now she's being punished for it."
"It's about teamwork." Scott murmured unconvincingly.
"She had an open shot and she took it and scored. That's one point closer to kicking prep student asses."
"Come on, let's win this game." I took one last look at Kira's sad face before following Scott.
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The game was in chaos. It was hard to try to keep an eye on Garrett while keeping an eye on Liam to make sure that he didn't try to kill Brett. At the same time, I was just trying to win the damn game. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Brett and Liam collide together, both of them rolling across the ground. Liam cried out in pain as well as Brett. I rushed over to Liam's side with Scott. Scott and I picked Liam up off the ground while everyone else crowded around Brett.
"How hard did you hit him?" Scott asked.
"I didn't." Liam grunted. "He hit me." He looked down at his arm to see his ulna pushing up against his skin. Scott took off his gloves and looked around to make sure no one was watching.
"Close your eyes." Liam took a deep breath and closed his eyes as Scott quickly pressed the bone back into place.
"Ow." Liam cried out and groaned. Brett was still screaming in pain behind us.
"All right, Brett, we're gonna pick you up now." A man said and together a couple of men picked him up and carried him off the field with his right leg dragging behind him. Something metallic sounded to our left and we looked to see Garrett staring intently at us. Scott breathing deepened as he began to panic and looked back at Liam.
"Are you cut?" Scott asked. "Did Garrett cut you?"
"No, no. I'm okay." Liam answered.
"Then he missed."
"What do you mean?"
"It's you, Liam. You're the one he's after."
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"I talked to Coach." Liam said as he came up to us on the sidelines. "I'm out for the rest of the game.
"That's just freaking terrific." I growled, throwing my hands up in the air in defeat. "We're down really two good players."
"What are you gonna do?" Kira asked Scott.
"I don't know." He answered. "Something's still not right. We're missing something."
"Guys." Stiles called to us from behind us and we turned to face him. "Lydia just broke another third of the list."
"Am I on it?" Liam asked hastily.
"No. But someone else is."
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Scott and I raced into the school and down to the boys' locker room. We skidded to a halt when we saw an unconscious male in the doorway of the locker room. We looked into the locker room to see some more unconscious bodies. There was one with a green lacrosse jersey. Brett. I ran over to him and picked him up.
"Find Garrett." I said, as I began to drag Brett out of the locker room. "I'm going to take him to the animal clinic."