Disclaimer: Don't own TW. Only my OC: Zarina.
Stiles yanked open the enormous sliding door to Derek's apartment. I stepped inside and the echo of my shoes reverberated through the empty loft. Lydia walked further into the room, lips pulled tightly together.
"They said they'd meet us here," she sighed, looking around.
Stiles and I walked up to her side and a grunt came from Scott behind us. I whipped around and saw the twins hurtling Scott towards us. I grabbed Lydia and Stiles grabbed me, tugging us out of the way.
The two omegas smirked before going straight for Scott, who didn't even have time to get up before Aiden's fist made contact with his jaw. I flinched for him. Then, the two continued to literally beat the shit out of my best friend with careless abandon.
After a few punches and kicks, Ethan hooked his arms under Scott's armpits from behind while Aiden just threw his fists at him. Scott cried out loudly, but he didn't do anything to fight back. He was too weak. With one final blow to his jaw, Scott fell to his knees.
"I thought you guys were gonna teach me to roar," he grunted.
"We are," Aiden snapped at him.
"You do it by giving in. Giving in and letting go. That's how Deucalion taught us control," Ethan continued, picking Scott up but his shirt and putting him on his feet.
"He, you know, that's funny," Stiles pitched in, gesturing to the two of us. "We've actually tried something like this one time using a heart monitor and lacrosse balls." The twins glowered at him. "But you're right. Beating the living crap out of him is probably a lot better."
"That's your plan? You kick my ass?" Scott asked angrily.
"You're afraid to turn," Aiden told him. "We're gonna make you."
"You turn, then you kick our asses," Ethan added as if this was something we should've already known.
"And then you roar." Aiden let out an earth-shaking roar, his eyes flashing blue.
"You don't think you can let go with us?" Ethan questioned harshly as his twin shoved Scott towards him.
"You think you're going to hurt us?" Aiden continued as his brother caught my friend.
"Come on, McCall." Ethan shoved him between them. "Give it your all. We can always heal."
Scott threw a fist at Ethan, but he intercepted it with ease, pushing him backwards. Aiden threw a punch at Scott.
"You're an Alpha. You want to roar like one, you've got to give in full throttle," Ethan yelled over Scott's grunts. "You've got to be the monster. Become the beast. Become everything you're afraid of."
"That's what gives you power. It gives you strength," Aiden went on.
Scott tried to hit Ethan again, but the omega sidestepped him, instead punching him in the back. Scott fell to the ground, spitting up blood.
"Giving in to it doesn't make you the bad guy!" Aiden shouted. I flinched and Stiles pulled me into him protectively.
"So long as you can control it," Ethan added.
"Sometimes control's a little overrated," Aiden shot at his brother before kicking my friend. Scott groaned in pain and I felt my fists clench.
"Fight back, Scott," I muttered. "You can do this." He looked up at me and I gave him a pleading look, but Aiden's foot made contact with his side.
"And what if I can't control it? What if I can't turn back?" Scott asked weakly, clutching his side.
"Then it takes over. You become Malia. You get further and further away from being human. You turn into an animal, or worse…" Ethan trailed off.
"You turn into Peter," Aiden finished, not hiding his disgust for the old Alpha.
Scott breathed in and I gave him an encouraging nod as he pushed himself to standing. He wiped his mouth and cried out as he shot himself at Aiden. The twin caught him and smashed him onto the desk, climbing on top of him and continually slamming fist after fist into his face.
My jaw clenched as I tried to keep my anger in check. I fought back the urge to tackle Aiden onto the ground, not wanting to anger the wolf. But I couldn't do it. I couldn't let him hurt Scott.
I dodged Stiles as he grabbed for my arm and hurled myself at Aiden with newfound strength, knocking him onto the ground under me. I locked him between my legs and held a knife at his throat threateningly.
"You're done," I growled lowly, pushing the knife harder against his neck. The werewolf struggled under me, but I kept him firmly pinned to the ground.
"That's enough!" Ethan grabbed the back of my shirt and shoved me away from his brother, Stiles catching me in his arms as I stumbled.
"I thought we were helping him!" Aiden snarled, brandishing a finger at me. "If she hadn't interfered, this plan would've worked."
"You help too much," Ethan shot back simply.
The two left the loft soon after we went over to Scott, who was spitting out blood. Stiles and I helped him sit up as Lydia stood off to the side, arms crossed.
"You didn't have to do that," Scott looked up at me seriously. "You could've gotten hurt."
"I can take care of myself," I replied gently. "No one hurts you like that. Unless it's me or Stiles." The two boys chuckled and I grinned.
"Well, thank you anyways," he said genuinely and I patted his head fondly.
Stiles drove at alarming speeds towards the preserve. I was in the front beside him and Lydia sat in the back, all three of us silent as he drove.
The car screeched to a stop just as Scott's bike and Allison's car came up the gravel road. The three of us stepped out of the car, meeting everyone else outside. An awkward silence enveloped the air.
"Anyone else think we might be doing more harm than good?" Lydia glanced at us nervously.
"We're trying to keep a father from killing his own daughter," Scott informed her.
"Actually, we're trying to keep a guy from killing a coyote, who is actually his daughter, who we don't know how to change from a coyote back to his daughter," Isaac corrected unhelpfully.
Stiles narrowed his eyes at him. "And again with the not helping." Isaac shot him a sarcastic smile. I looked up to the sky as if to ask 'why me?'.
Scott rolled his eyes and ignored them. "Did you bring it?"
Allison hesitated before going over to her trunk and pulling out a sniper. I examined the long gun from a distance, slightly impressed, but mostly fearing for her abilities to pull through with this.
"You sure you want to do this?" I asked gently.
"Y-Yeah, I can do this," she replied, trying to sound sure of herself.
Isaac gave her a reassuring smile and she returned it, looking more at ease than before. Then, Isaac and Scott looked off into the distance, hearing something.
"Hey, hey, what's going on? I know that look, and it isn't a good one. That's the look that says something really really bad is happening and I do not like that look," Stiles babbled nervously.
The two werewolves sprang into action. Scott jumped onto his bike, revving the engine as he drove away, Isaac running off after him closely. Allison followed the two, not looking behind her.
"Scott, wait!" Stiles and I yelled after him, but he was already gone.
I groaned inwardly and pulled at my hair in frustration. "Stiles, call your dad. See if he knows anything about what's happening."
He complied, dialing his father's number hurriedly. After a few minutes of arguing back and forth with the sheriff, Stiles hung up and I looked at him expectantly.
"It took the doll again," he informed us. "What the hell is so important about this doll?"
I watched his face go from confusion to realization. "What? Did you figure something out?"
"It's the doll," he repeated. "It's the doll?"
"Okay, we get it. There's a doll. But what's the big deal?" I asked, not liking the way his voice sounded.
"Why would it go all the way to school and all the way back just for a doll?" Stiles continued talking to himself as he knelt. "One that was in the car wreck in the first place. We didn't find it in the den."
"It likes the doll, who care?" Lydia sassed.
"It likes the doll a lot," Stiles sighed.
"What kind of doll was it?"
"I don't know. It's a doll," he shrugged. "It's got little arms, a big baby head, and dead, soulless eyes. Actually, I took a pic. Here." He showed her the picture on his phone.
"That's Malia?"
"Yeah, we found the jacket and scarf in the den," Stiles confirmed.
"Wait, she's not the one holding the doll. That's her sister right?" I glanced up from the picture at them. "It was her doll then and she ket it at the car. Meaning, she didn't want it with her, but at the car wreck. She wanted the doll at the wreck."
"I know what she's doing," Stiles met my eyes, both of us understanding.
But Lydia didn't seem to catch on. "What? What are you guys talking about?"
"I know where she's going," we said simultaneously, walking off into the woods together.
"Call Scott. Try and get him to answer," I instructed.
"Scott, it's me. You've got to call me back as soon as you get this. It wasn't Malia's doll. It was her sister's," Stiles left a voicemail. "Malia left it at the car for her sister. It's like bringing flowers to the grave, okay? And we stole the flowers. So that's all she's trying to do, alright? Bring the doll back to the grave, to the car wreck. That's where she's headed."
I nodded, biting my lip as he explained our theory. It had to be it. There was not other explanation for why the doll was so damn important.
"Guys," Lydia whimpered from behind us. Her left foot was in between two metal clamps. An animal trap. "Guys!"
"Lydia, don't move," I warned her as we inched closer to examine it.
"Look for a warning label," she said through harsh breaths.
"What?" Stiles looked up at her.
"Good idea, Lyd. There's supposed to be instructions on how to disarm it somewhere on the sides," I explained.
"Why the hell would they put instructions on the bottom of a trap?" Stiles sighed out.
"Because animals can't read," I deadpanned. He nodded and started to look for the label.
I found the place where it should've been, but the warning was ripped off. "Uh, oh god," I swallowed thickly. "Some idiot ripped it off."
"What are we going to do?" Lydia's voice cracked and I stood, rubbing her arm gently.
"You'll be okay, I promise," I told her sincerely. "We'll figure this out."
"But will she really?" the voice from my head spoke and I saw it over Lydia's shoulder, sneering at me. "Can you honestly save your friend? Or any of them?"
"I can and I will," I growled at it. "You're not going to stop me. I don't give a shit who you are."
It laughed loudly, evilly and I saw its eyes look down at Stiles. "Hm, this one seems smart, but broken. Such an easy target."
"Leave him alone," I warned dangerously.
"If that's what you want, then just let us in, Zarina," it cooed. "Or else, we might just have to find another host. We already have one in mind."
"Stay away from Stiles!" I shouted, angry. "He doesn't deserve this!"
"Consider this a warning. You can either let us in, or the boy can take this burden from you," it continued, ignoring me. "Your choice."
"No!" Lydia was yelling and my eyes darted around. The thing was gone.
I was standing in the middle of the trap, like Lydia was not two seconds ago, and my foot was about to leave the metal plate. I hurriedly pushed it back down and heaved a sigh of relief.
Stiles was still bent by the trap, looking more frantic than ever as he tried to figure it out. Sweat beaded on his forehead and he licked his lips.
"What happened?" I asked the two, confused and freaked out.
"You mean you don't remember freaking shoving your foot onto the metal plate in place of mine? You didn't even say anything! You moved my foot and you were just about to get your own cut off. Are you stupid?" Lydia exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.
"N-No, I just…" I took slow breaths and spoke with more certainty. "No, I'll be okay. Stiles can do this."
"B-But what if I can't? What are we gonna do then?" Stiles looked up at me pleadingly.
"We're not going to do anything because that's not gonna happen," I assured him. "You'll figure this out. I know you can. You always do."
Stiles gave me a smile and looked down at the trap, concentrating hard. I saw his eyes light up with an idea as he found a valve on the side. "
"Okay, I found something. Ready?" he glanced at me and I nodded, sure that this would work. I trusted him more than anyone else. "Here we go."
He twisted the valve and grabbed me by the waist, lifting me out of the trap just as the jaws clamped together.
My hands clenched on the front of his shirt as he hugged me tightly against him, the both of us breathing heavily as we stared at the trap. We looked at each other and smiled in relief. Stiles pulled me closer to him, kissing my temple as our hearts slowed.
Suddenly, a loud roar rang through the trees, making birds fly and the ground shake violently. Scott. I grinned as the sound continued as strong as ever. He'd finally done it. He found control.
"Now, that's what I'm talking about," Stiles breathed out.
AN: Okay apologies for the short chapter, but I was on such a tight schedule today, I'm sorryyyy! But PLEASE READ THIS BECAUSE IT'S VERY IMPORTANT.
Alright, so, I've been having thoughts about taking a temporary hiatus. I really want to do my best to make sure this story actually makes sense and I still have to find ways to fit in my ideas while at the same time making sure you guys can understand. Because apparently, some of ya'll aren't quite getting what I'm trying to do with the story, so yeah. This is difficult af.
Thoughts on that? Should I take a short break from this and rethink things or should I just keep going at my pace? Idk. Lately I'm really insecure about this story and I just feel like it's not going as well as I'd hoped it would. Feedback is appreciated (:
But on a happier note, thanks for all the support and love. It makes this decision hard to make because I don't wanna disappoint ya'll. Sigh. But please keep that up. Makes me a happy author. Love you guys!
xx.