Beacon Hills, sometime in 2014
Marlow sat down on one of the benches by the lacrosse field next to her best friend Mason. She was never quite a fan of sports. The only reason she attended games, tryouts, and practices was for Stiles and Scott. And so Mason could stare at the hot guys on the team, of course.
The young werecoyote saw her brother by the entrance to the field, talking to Scott. They seemed to be having a heated conversation. Marlow knew why.
Just a few days prior, the rest of the pack had rescued Derek from Mexico. Kate Argent, now a werejaguar, had briefly used an old ritualistic site to turn Derek back into a sixteen-year-old. Marlow, already having been excluded from going to Mexico with her friends, demanded to be included in the next steps. Stiles obliged by letting her babysit Derek. That quickly went south.
When the Berserkers came to attack, Marlow had been too weak to help her friends, something she still hated herself for.
Back in the day, Derek skipped town before he could ever show her how to truly harness her powers, and Scott only ever kept her on the sidelines when she should have been learning how to defend herself.
Of course, Derek was turned back to his adult self in no time, but other problems were still looming, and Marlow had no idea how they would be handling them.
Stiles turned his head to the field, and Marlow followed his gaze. He and Scott were staring at a kid in the goal. Garrett, a freshman that Marlow knew from class, was hurling balls at him and he caught each and every one perfectly. That had to sting for Scott and Stiles, both of whom were never that good at the game in the first place. Now with Scott having given up on using his powers to cheat, and Stiles sucking at lacrosse in general, they must have felt threatened by this new kid.
The new guy took off his helmet and Garrett walked up to congratulate him. He looked over at Marlow and smiled at her. Out of courtesy, she smiled back. She had no idea who the goalie was. He was for sure a freshman, she had heard Garrett say it, but he must have transferred to Beacon High recently as Marlow hadn't seen him in the previous semester. Stiles and Scott ran out onto the field and Marlow focused on them instead of the new guy.
"I see you eyeing him, Marlow," Mason told her.
Marlow jumped a bit in her seat. "What?" she asked, trying to keep up her stoic face. Marlow Stilinski had never been thirsting after boys and she wouldn't start now.
"Mmmh," Mason hummed, smirking to himself.
"Shut up, dude!" Marlow demanded, lightly pushing him. "The only reason I come to these practices is for you," she reminded him.
"All I'm saying is, you're staring at him. And Marlow, I've known you your entire life. You like him. His name is Liam, by the way. Liam Dunbar. I've known him for ages too. He's a good dude."
Marlow rolled her eyes and looked back onto the field. She knew Mason was trying to be nice, and that he didn't know that she had more pressing issues to worry about than trying to find love, but she couldn't tell him about it. She had wanted to when she was young, but since then so much had happened. Her life was one dangerous situation after another. She would rather keep him safe and in the dark than lose her best friend.
She sighed, looking out on the field as Coach Finstock blew his whistle. This would be a long day.
"You should have seen him, Marls. Nothing went past him - it was insane!" Stiles repeated as they all walked down the hallway to head home.
Marlow took a deep breath, fighting the urge to roll her eyes. She loved her brother but, boy, could he get on her nerves. "I know, Stiles, I know. I was there and saw everything."
"Well don't you find that a bit weird? You know, from a werecoyote standpoint?" he asked. Marlow stopped in her tracks. Scott mouthed a quick 'sorry' to her.
"You do not seriously think that Liam is a werewolf?"
Stiles gave her a questioning stare. "You don't seriously think he couldn't be, do you?" he asked. Marlow sighed and resumed her walk to the Jeep. "Marlow, you've been a werecoyote for five years. You've pretty much seen it all at this point. You don't think his little display out there was weird? You think he's just that good at the game?"
"Stiles, I believe that he is just that good at the game and that you're jealous because you never truly mastered it," Marlow told him matter-of-factly.
"That hurts. You hurt me, little sister," Stiles told her.
"I'm sorry, but it's the truth. You have never handled it well when someone did something better than you and that will never change."
"Point taken. But I still think there is something off about the kid," Stiles told both Marlow and Scott.
"And you're in on this?" Marlow asked Scott.
He raised his hands defensively. "All I know is that he's really good. A little too good. And I would know, I've been there."
Marlow stopped and turned back to them once more. She was already marked as one of the outcasts because she only ever hung out with Stiles, Scott, and their friends, and none of them were exactly perceived as quite normal. She knew that if they were to pester Liam with all of their odd questions, and he was to tell everyone else that, it would make its rounds and everyone would steer clear of her.
She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "So what do you plan on doing?"
Stiles gave her a weirded-out look. "Marlow, hello, we're gonna ask him of course."
Marlow shifted her weight to one leg, trying to exhume some more authoritative energy. "You're gonna ask Liam if he's a werewolf?" she asked exasperated.
Stiles threw his hands up in defeat. "Of course not! We're just gonna ask some questions of that nature and see if he comes out with it."
Marlow let out a defeated sigh. "Please don't."
"Why not?" Stiles asked.
"You have already made a reputation for yourselves at this school and it isn't a shiny one. I just don't want to be seen as the crazy guy's sister by my entire freshman class," she explained.
"Just accept the fact that Liam is better at lacrosse than you too and leave him be," she told them, halfway knowing they would never listen.
The next day, Marlow settled in on the benches of the lacrosse field again to watch the tryouts and try and make sure that Stiles and Scott wouldn't do anything stupid to Liam.
Malia and Kira were already seated and waiting for the tryouts to start. Malia's nose was buried in her algebra textbook and Kira was nervously fiddling with a lacrosse stick.
"Are you alright?" Marlow asked as she sat down.
"Yeah, just waiting for the game to start," Kira said, clearly lying through her teeth.
"Kira," Marlow said, giving her a knowing look.
"Well," the young kitsune started as Coach Finstock blew his whistle and started the warm-up.
Kira grew silent and Marlow didn't want to force her to say anything. She knew Malia was fairly unsituated with everything that had happened the past semester but Marlow and Kira were right there when the Nogitsune wreaked havoc in Stiles' body, leaving Allison and Aiden dead and the pack nearly in shambles.
Marlow herself was still dealing with it all and wanted to give Kira her space if that was truly what this was about. She focused her attention back on the field. The boys were doing their warm-ups. Stiles nearly collapsed in a heap of breathlessness and Marlow was getting more and more worried about what her idiot brother and his slightly less idiotic best friend were gonna do to that poor freshman who was about to outdo them.
Malia looked up from her book, sniffing the air around her. "What's wrong with you?" she suddenly asked Kira.
Kira gave her a startled look. "Me? Nothing," she quickly replied.
"You reek of anxiety. And it's distracting. What's going on?" Malia asked her again, getting annoyed.
Kira gave the girls a pained look. Marlow was beginning to think this wasn't actually about previous events and that Kira was conflicted about something else entirely. "Scott and I sort of had this thing happen. But it wasn't much of a thing. And I'm starting to think it never was anything at all."
"What do you want it to be?" Malia asked. She was always down to business. There was no beating around the bush with her.
"More," Kira admitted, sighing as she rested her chin atop the lacrosse stick.
"Well then talk to him," Marlow told Kira as Malia focused back on her textbook.
"But how? Do I just walk up to him and tell him: 'Thanks for the surprise kiss, wanna date?'" she asked. Marlow scrunched up her face - she understood her friend's point. "He just lost Allison and I'm not even sure if he wants a new girlfriend."
"Kira, he kissed you. I know I'm merely a fifteen-year-old freshman with no boyfriend experience, but that to me seems like a clear-cut case of 'he wants you' - so go for it."
Kira sighed again but nodded.
"Just tell him what's up. Guys aren't that bright, they need to be hit in the face with the information, or else they won't get it."
"You're right. I'll talk to him later."
Marlow gave her friend a thumbs up. She looked back out onto the field. Coach blew his whistle once more and the boys lined up to take their shots at the goal. Stiles fidgeted with his net, trying to get the ball in and Marlow braced herself for the surely impending doom.
He lined up the shot and took it. The ball landed in the goalie's net and Marlow cringed. "God!" she cursed under her breath.
Stiles stalked back to Scott like a wounded gazelle, giving Liam an annoyed look as he passed. Marlow shook her head. Liam lined up to take the shot and of course, it landed perfectly in the net.
"Yes!" Coach yelled, clearly ready for some actual talent on his team.
Marlow turned to Kira. "Is it just me or do you think they're about to do something really bad to Liam?"
Kira looked out onto the field, narrowing her eyes. "Unclear. But with them anything is possible," she answered. Marlow sighed, dropping her hand in her palms. Kira reached over Malia's body and patted Marlow's lap.
The line of boys went on to shoot their shot until Scott got ready to do it. Marlow crossed her fingers. Maybe if Scott landed this one the boys would lay off of Liam and take the win. But of course, her hopes of that were shattered when Scott hit the goal post. "So close!" she mumbled.
"Isn't the captain supposed to be one of the best players on the team? Or good?" Kira asked Malia and Marlow.
"Kira, please! You are not helping my anxiety right now!" Marlow complained.
Stiles and Scott argued off to the side while Liam made another shot. "Oh God, is it possible for a fifteen-year-old to have a stroke?" Marlow asked.
"Not a fifteen-year-old werecoyote." Malia bluntly answered.
Marlow sighed as Coach blew the whistle, signaling for the boys to huddle up. "Hustle!" he yelled. "McCall and Stilinski, grab the long sticks. You're covering goal for two-on-ones. Let's go! Line it up!" he ordered. The boys dispersed and Stiles and Scott did as they were told.
Coach blew the whistle and Scott ran at Liam. Marlow bit down on her lower lip. Miraculously, Scott was able to push the stick out of another player's hand. Stiles rejoiced and Coach was just as enthusiastic. "That's my boys!"
"Yes!" Kira exclaimed under her breath.
"They haven't won the war yet," Marlow reminded her.
"Marlow, remember, optimism," Kira countered.
If only she could feel any sort of optimism. Even Marlow knew a broken clock can be right twice a day. Scott tackled another player to the ground. Kira rejoiced again. Malia looked up from her book and smiled at the scene, despite her confusion about the sport in general. Even Marlow felt a surge of excitement as her heart skipped a beat. Now all they needed to do was keep this going. Another player went down. Marlow jumped up from her seat in a spur-of-the-moment decision to holler at the boys' success.
"That's how you do it! That's how it's done!" Coach yelled.
Next in line was Liam and Marlow sat back down as she feared the worst. She could feel the intensity radiating off of Liam as he prepared for the shot. Of course, he managed to outmaneuver both Stiles and Scott and made the shot into the goal. "Ugh!" Marlow and Kira complained simultaneously. Malia dumped her textbook in Marlow's lap and got off her seat. "Oh no," Marlow mumbled.
"That was luck! Do-over!" Malia yelled out. Marlow tried pulling her back down but Malia simply shook off her hand.
"Sweetheart, there are no do-overs. This is a practice," Coach told her.
"Ten bucks on Scott and Stiles," Malia said, upping the ante.
"Malia!" Marlow said under her breath, trying to prevent things from turning into a disaster.
"I'll take that action," Coach told her. Damn Bobby Finstock and his inability to be a normal teacher. Malia sat back down with a self-satisfied smile.
"Why would you do that?" Marlow asked. Malia shrugged nonchalantly.
"Hey! Get back in there, Liam," Coach demanded.
"Oh God," Marlow said.
"Calm down, they'll be fine," Malia assured her. She did not know Stiles and Scott like Marlow did. Liam lined up for another shot and now Marlow could feel the intensity radiating off of both him and Scott. He ran at them at full speed, once more outmaneuvering Stiles. When he got to Scott, the Alpha practically hurled him over his shoulder and Liam landed on the ground with a thud.
Marlow cringed. "Oh Jesus, I heard the bone crack."
There was a stunned silence on the field. "Don't move! Don't touch him!" Coach demanded loudly as he rushed to Liam's side.
"Ahhh!" Liam yelped out. Marlow concentrated her hearing on the conversation. "I think it's my leg," Liam said. She sighed. She would kill those two.
"I think we better get him to the nurse," Stiles told Coach.
Coach nodded and motioned for them to go. "You guys take a lap. Run around- Start running around the field!" Coach demanded, still dumbfounded over what had just happened. "Stupid!" he complained. Screaming, he picked up a ball and threw it unaware of where it would land.
It nearly got Malia in the face when Kira suddenly caught it with the long stick. "Oh! Wow! Nice catch," Coach said, giving the girl an impressed look. "Throw it back," he demanded. Kira stood up and swung her arm. The ball hit Coach Finstock square in the chest. He fell to his knees. "Oh, my God," he complained. "Someone ask her if she's ever played lacrosse," he said, trying to catch his breath.
"Okay, Kira. You go tell him you haven't and I'll go inside to nurses' office," Marlow told her. She grabbed her bag and ran off to school. There was no way in hell she would let Scott and Stiles take Liam to the hospital alone. It was time for some damage control.
Marlow wrung her hands as she waited for the boys to come out of the nurse's office. She didn't care if Stiles would object or not - she was coming with them. They had done enough damage for one afternoon. A few minutes later they finally stumbled out of the office. "What are you doing here?" Stiles asked as he was met with his sister.
"What happened?" she asked, ignoring his question.
"We're taking him to the hospital. They have to further examine it," Scott informed her.
Marlow stifled a sigh. "I'm coming with you," she said.
"I don't think that's necessary," Stiles told her.
"Yeah? Well, I think you've done enough thinking for today. Let's go."
"Get him to the Jeep okay? I'll be there in a bit," Scott told them. Marlow took over supporting Liam.
"Don't take too long, alright?" Stiles told Scott.
"Five minutes," Scott assured them as she rushed off. Marlow and Stiles supported Liam as they walked outside and to the car. Stiles didn't need werewolf supersense to know that his sister was pissed. The two helped Liam climb into the back seat of the Jeep and Marlow closed the door.
Swiftly, she hit Stiles' arm. "Ow!" he complained.
"What was that?!" she whispered to him.
"You saw him, he challenged us!" Stiles whispered back.
"And that gives you the right to pummel him?"
"Okay, we didn't pummel him. Scott tackled him. It happens in contact sports."
Marlow flicked her fingers against his forehead. She didn't need to be reminded of the rules of contact sports. "Scott still used his werewolf powers to do it and that is so out of line," Marlow reminded him.
"We will apologize to him, alright?" Stiles assured Marlow.
"Today. Or I swear, I will destroy your murder board and maybe Roscoe. And after that, you leave him the hell alone. Do you hear me, Stiles?"
Stiles nodded. He knew his sister would get bolder one day but didn't expect it this soon. "You know, with how much you seem to care about him one might assume you got a thing for Liam," Stiles said to Marlow.
Marlow narrowed her eyes at him, before kicking him in the shin.
"Ow!" Stiles complained again, hopping on one leg as he tried to nurse the pain in the other.
"You need to shut your mouth. I'm serious," Marlow said as she opened the door to the backseat and sat next to Liam. She gave him a nervous smile. It wasn't reassuring whatsoever and only made her more self-conscious. "How are you doing?"
"Not so good," Liam told her bluntly.
Marlow bit her lip, smacking herself on the inside. What a stupid question. "I'm sure it's all gonna be fine," she said, this time calmer.
He gave her a small smile back before the two front doors of the Jeep were pulled open and Stiles and Scott climbed in. The entire ride to the hospital was silent and awkward, and Marlow couldn't wait until they were finally out of the car.
At the hospital, Scott and Stiles led Liam inside. Marlow was hot on their heels. Melissa turned a corner and saw the four teenagers at the front desk. "Uh. Hi, Mom," Scott greeted. Melissa let out a sigh and got a wheelchair for Liam. The boys slowly lowered him into it then backed off.
"Don't worry, Liam. We'll take good care of you," Melissa assured him as she wheeled him off.
Stiles sighed, fumbling around with his keys. "I got to get going. I promised Malia I'd help her study."
Marlow didn't want him to leave. She wanted them both to apologize as soon as possible. But she couldn't exactly tell her older brother to stay put. "Sure. I want to check on him anyway," Scott said. Good. At least one of them was able to feel some remorse for their actions.
"Hey, I don't need to say that wasn't your fault, right?" Stiles told Scott. Marlow shook her head.
"I don't know."
"Scott, if you had used any wolf power that kid wouldn't be limping, he'd be crawling, back to the other half of his body," Stiles said.
"Okay," Marlow said, raising her hand to calm him down.
"If I hadn't been so worried about being a captain he wouldn't be hurt either," Scott told Stiles.
"It's okay to want something for yourself once in a while. Team captain, Alpha werewolf. You're still only human," Stiles assured Scott. He walked out and Scott turned to Marlow.
"What do you think?"
Marlow rubbed the sides of her jeans. "I don't know," she answered honestly. "I know you would have never hurt him deliberately but you still used your super strength, no matter how much Stiles excuses that away."
"I know and I want to apologize to him," Scott told her.
"That's good. I know you, Scott. You're a great guy. Just don't let the success of a freshman bring you down. There are so many things you're great at," Marlow assured him.
"Thanks, Mar."
Marlow patted his shoulders. "Everything is going to be just fine."
He nodded. "I think I should go look for him. Are you gonna wait here or go home too?" Scott asked.
"Uhh, I'll wait. I might want to talk to him as well," she said. Scott nodded and walked away.
Marlow sighed as she strolled to the waiting area. She started doing anything to distract herself. She was texting Mason when she got an alarming call from Lydia. "What's wrong? Lyds, slow down," she said as quietly as possible.
"Marlow, you know that family murder that just happened?" Lydia asked in a panicked voice.
"Yes, of course," Marlow told her.
"The survivor, the son, Sean Walcott, you have to find him. Find Scott and then him. His family had a hidden basement full of corpses."
Marlow got off the chair and started running to find Scott. "I'm on my way," she told Lydia before hanging up the phone.
The hospital was a maze and she had no idea where Sean Walcott's room was located. Then suddenly she came to a dead stop when she heard Scott roaring. He must have already found the culprit.
Marlow followed the sound. She ran, turn after turn. She had to find Scott and help him. She finally arrived in a hallway that looked like it had just been under attack. In it, Melissa was standing with blood all over her scrubs.
"Are you okay?" Marlow asked, more concerned than ever.
Melissa nodded. "That way," she said, pointing behind her. Marlow nodded and followed the commotion of the struggle.
She could smell the blood from a mile away. Something had gone wrong. She ran up staircase after staircase until she got to the roof. There, Sean Walcott was holding a struggling Liam close to the roof's edge. Scott, as always, was busy talking him down. Marlow could feel herself turn at the sight of danger. She growled. Scott turned back to her and held up his arm.
"It's fine. I got this. Stay back," he warned. Marlow wasn't okay with that but obeyed his command anyway.
"Whatever you are, we can help you," Scott said to Sean.
"No, you can't," Sean told him.
"Let me help you."
"Wendigos don't need help. We need food!" Sean yelled as he let go of Liam. The boy stumbled forward and went over the edge.
"No!" Marlow yelled as she lunged forward with a roar. Scott had already grabbed ahold of Liam but now Sean was trying to pull him away.
Marlow jumped on his back with a roar and pulled him off of Scott. She threw him to the floor. He jumped at her, tackling her to the floor. She screamed, trying to push him off. He got up, holding back Scott's arms.
"I can't hold on!" Marlow heard Liam yell as she jumped up. Suddenly, she heard him screaming out in pain. She stopped dead in her tracks as an ax landed in Sean's back and he fell to the floor, spurting out blood.
Scott pulled Liam on top of the roof and Marlow watched a man dressed in all black pull his ax out of Sean's body and walk off. Before he disappeared he turned back to the two teenagers and held a finger over his nonexistent mouth. And just like that, he was gone.
Marlow was pulled back into reality by Liam's screams of pain. She saw a gaping bite wound on his arm.
"Oh my God, Scott. What did you do?" she asked.
"I don't know. It happened so fast. I didn't want him to fall," Scott explained.
Marlow was at a loss for words. In two minutes, Scott had bitten an innocent, and another attacker killed his attacker with no mouth. She looked up at him. "What now?"
Scott looked back over to Liam.
"We take him to my house."