Two-Pack III: Teen Wolf Season Five

by lordtrayus

The Ghost Pack is defeated, and Scott's pack have emerged stronger than ever. However, an insidious new enemy has come to Beacon Hills, the evil Dread Doctors, who will stop at nothing until they have completely exterminated all supernatural life, and the only thing in their way, is Scott's pack...

7. Episode 2: IED Part 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf

Two-Pack III

The scream echoed across town, terror filling each and every single member of the pack, it was Allison, Mason, Scott, it was everyone they had lost, all over again. With Lydia in the same flat as them, Ethan and Danny hurried through to Aiden's room to find him holding her, trying to calm her as the spectre of death descended upon one of their own once again. Derek and Braeden hurtled through, looking frantic, they all knew what that scream meant, what it signified.
Downstairs, Scott and Isaac jerked up, both of them going white, hurrying from the room to find Camden and Kaisha emerging from their own room, Kaisha already twirling her hands to use her magic to check on the pack, her face anxious as she tried to divine the locations of the rest of the pack.
Stiles had just dropped Neo off when the scream reached him, and he snapped at the driver to stop, his hear hammering in fear, a gulf of terror threatening to encompass him, no, they couldn't lose anyone else!

Malia was negotiating a very drunk Nathan towards his door when the scream rippled through town, and Malia promptly dropped Nathan in horror, him letting out a squeak of pain as he crashed to the ground as she turned around, panicking, feeling cornered and desperate as Nathan moaned on the ground beside her.

Jackson and Melody had been otherwise engaged, but as Lydia's scream echoed through the town, they pulled away from each other, both of them exchanging looks of fear, they knew what that scream meant.

Violet had just been about to send a message to Caitlin to see if she was off work and fancied Facetiming when the scream howled through the house, and Violet started to shake, that scream could only mean one thing.

And inside her house, Kira had just gotten into her pyjamas when the scream rippled through the house, and her stomach knotted in agonised terror, no, not again, it couldn't happen again, but as the scream rippled through the air, her heart started hammering like a train, no, she had to be wrong, please let her be wrong, but the more she thought about it, the more she realised, she knew, in her heart of hearts, she knew who Lydia was screaming for:

She was screaming for Liam.

XX

"Garrett!" Scott called as he and Isaac rushed into the hospital, Rakaisha's magic having divined it was Liam who was in danger, and the two of them had rushed there as fast as they could.

Scott was shaking, this couldn't be happening, why hadn't he just gone with Liam, seen him home, he was the youngest, he was human, he should have looked out for him better.

"Scott, he…" Garrett said, sniffing slightly, and seeing that his boyfriend was too worked up to be able to speak much, Isaac took Garrett by the shoulder, forcing the younger boy to look at him and looked at him expectantly, hoping he would take the hint and explain what the hell had happened.

In fairness, Garrett looked terrible. Blood had soaked a lot of his costume, he was white and shaking, wrapping his arms around himself, and there was tears in his eyes.

"I…I found him in the alley, something had attacked him, this is my fault, I should have gone home with him, or made him wait until I got back." He said desperately, but Scott took a deep breath, calming himself and took Garrett's other shoulder, calming the younger boy as he gently allowed his eyes to glow red, giving Garrett something to focus on.

"No, Garrett, this isn't your fault, this isn't anyone's fault," Scott promised, god he hoped that was true, but if whatever had attacked Liam was that damn flying thing then it was on him, all because he had wanted to keep it quiet just to allow himself and his friends just one night off, was that really too much to ask?

"Scott's right, come on, this way." Isaac ordered, leading him towards the room that the pack had spent too much time in already, the room where Scott had been taken after Isaac had been electrocuted, the room they had all congregated in following Allison's death while they waited for confirmation as to what would happen to Aiden following their final battle with the Oni.

Heading into the room, the two got Garrett sat down, with Isaac firing a text to Stiles and Kira to let them know where they had gone as both had said that they were coming, and Scott crouched down in front of Garrett, who was shaking in fear.

"Tell us everything ok buddy?" Scott asked softly, and Garrett nodded weakly, wiping his eyes with his bloody hand, which didn't help the streaks of blood that he had on his face.

"I had dropped Violet off and was coming home, and I smelled blood, I know! I know it was stupid investigating," he insisted, his voice shaking as Isaac sat down beside him and wrapped an arm around him, drawing the younger boy close while Scott maintained his focus, keeping Garrett from freaking out just by being there, "but I went to find out what had happened, and I found him. He-he's been ripped open Scott, I mean, I screamed for help and called dad, he came running and got an ambulance, got us here…they're with Dr Killian but since-since I'm covered in his blood, I, I couldn't go with them, and I, I knew, knew you'd want to…" he mumbled tearfully, and Isaac squeezed him a little tighter, exchanging a worried look with Scott as Garrett started to cry onto his shoulder, Isaac hushing the younger boy as he started to gently rock him.

"It's ok, Garrett, it's ok, you probably saved him. Did you see anything?" Scott asked softly, maintaining the glow of his eyes, and Garrett shook his head, his body still shaking with terror.

"No, I mean I looked, and there were other footprints, big heavy ones by the looks of them," he said, looking at Isaac as he sat up a little straighter, bringing himself back under control as he remembered the lessons that Argent had been teaching him, "but there was nothing there, nothing that would help. Why would anyone do this, he's just a kid!" he stormed angrily, struggling to get out of Isaac's grip, but Isaac held him firm, and instead Garrett consented to sit there, shaking with fear, stress and grief.

"Have they said anything, about him?" Scott asked softly, getting to his feet, and Garrett shook his head, still looking scared, and most worryingly, lost.

Scott exchanged a desperate look with his boyfriend, Garrett had already been forced to watch one best friend get murdered, hell, he had even tried to get Agravaine to murder him instead, and now here he was again, with the possibility of losing his other best friend, his brother, hanging over him.

Scott knew that if they lost Liam, that if Garrett lost Liam, they would lose Garrett too, god, hadn't they all been through enough, watching people they loved die?

"Ok, Garrett, why not go and get cleaned up a little, the toilet's just across the hall, if we hear anything, we'll come and get you straight away ok?" Scott asked, and reluctantly, mutinously though it might have been, Garrett did relent and headed to go and clean up, leaving Scott and Isaac in the room, the thought of Liam dying hanging over them like a death shroud.

"This isn't your fault." Isaac whispered softly into Scott's ear, and Scott shook his head, turning and looking at Isaac helplessly, tears in his eyes.

"It still feels like it, Liam's just a kid, we should have made sure he was alright, or let him stay or something, and now, if we, if he…" he said, his voice wavering, and Isaac sniffed and brought Scott to him in a hug, holding him and rocking him, hushing him as he did so.

"We had no way of knowing he was going to be attacked Scott, it isn't your fault. We just, we need to hope he's alright." He whispered into his ear, just as the door flew open and a frantic looking Kira rushed in.

"Scott, where's Liam?" she demanded anxiously, her eyes wet with unshed tears, and Scott wrapped her in a hug to calm her down, just as Garrett came back into the room, looking a little less worse for wear than he had.

"He's, he's in with Dr Killian, he's trying to figure out how…how bad it is. He was just, just in the alley up from the house…" he told her, and she sobbed, rushing to Garrett and hugging herself to him.

"This is all my fault! I should have made him take the lift home, this would never have happened!" she cried, her whole body shaking, but Garrett shook his head.

"No, Kira, this isn't your fault, this is nobody's fault. Something, something attacked him, and…" he stuttered, trying not to let his fears overcome him, and she shook, they had all heard Lydia scream, they all knew what came next.

But, they had avoided it before, Lydia had screamed for Scott after he had been attacked by Agravaine, and he was still here, they just had to hope that they could cheat death once again. Over the next little while, the rest of the pack trickled in, all of them looking worried for the fate of their youngest member. Garrett was lost, alternating between sitting staring into space, punching the wall or pacing round the room, and nothing the likes of Violet, Isaac or Jackson did could calm him. Derek and Braeden stood brooding worriedly in the corner, while Lydia sat in her chair, pulling at her hair and twisting her hands frantically, desperate for the sense that Liam was going to die to cease, he had to be alright, he just had to be. Danny was hugging himself self-consciously, shaking, knowing what was going to come. Melody was sitting beside Kira, both of them looking grim, Melody's face a grim picture and Malia's little better. The twins were standing at the window, eager for any noise that would indicate Liam's parents and news. Kira was sitting in the chair on front of Scott, looking terrified, blaming herself while Scott paced, his own stomach churning.

They couldn't lose Liam, they had lost so much already, Erica, Boyd, Allison, Mason. Losing Liam, an innocent kid who hadn't hurt anybody, that was just…no, he wouldn't let it happen, there had to be something, anything he could do to try and save him if the situation demanded it. He knew Kaisha was in the hospital with Camden, likely trying to use her powers to try and save Liam, and would be with Melissa as well, who would try and get them in to save him, but…

Scott wasn't a Banshee, and wasn't connected to the same network of voices and death that Lydia was. But he had some sort of…feeling, and he hated it, it was like, what was it called again, the Sword of Damocles, it was hanging above him, getting ever closer to them. This god awful feeling, he remembered feeling it when Isaac had been electrocuted, when Allison had been stabbed, when Aiden had nearly been killed, when Mason had been murdered, a sense of creeping and overwhelming hopelessness, of powerlessness. He shivered, and Stiles, who was standing behind him, wrapped a consoling arm around his shoulder.

They should have made sure he was safe, that they were all safe, and if it was the bat thing that had attacked Liam, he would never forgive himself!

The door opened, and the entire pack looked to see Camden, Kaisha and Melissa enter, all of them looking grim, and Melissa looked sadly at Garrett, who started to shake in terror, no, he wouldn't let her tell him, he wouldn't listen, he didn't want to hear it!

"Garrett, your parents are asking for you." She said grimly, and he shook his head, tears in his eyes as he faced her, jaw jutting out defiantly, as Jackson laid a hand on his shoulder to steady him.

"No, he isn't going to die, he can't!" Garrett spat furiously, and Violet crossed to him, wrapping him in a hug as he shook in fear, no, he couldn't lose Liam, not on top of Mason too, and Melissa sighed, looking miserable.

"I'm so sorry Garrett, your parents…they wanted to tell you themselves but…I'm so sorry, but he won't last the night," she told him, her voice breaking as she did so, and Garrett felt his world collapse from under him, "they want to see if you want to come and say…say goodbye." She told him sorrowfully, and Garrett wriggled out of Violet's grip, backing away from him, tears falling from his eyes.

"No! No, he isn't going to die, there has to be something, anything, I can't…he CAN'T!" Garrett screamed, his heart breaking, and Kaisha looked at him sadly, shaking her head.

"I'm sorry Garrett, I can't save him, I tried, but my power…it doesn't work like that in this case, I'm so sorry." She told him remorsefully, and Garrett turned away from them shaking, his whole body shuddering in grief, in rage.

"He's my best friend, my brother, I'm meant-I'm meant to look out for him, I-" he tailed off, then let out a scream of savage fury, turning and punching the wall repeatedly, bloodying his knuckles as he did so. The whole pack watched helplessly, and it was only when he took a stumbling step back from the wall that Isaac dared to approach him, tears in his own eyes, and wrapped Garrett in his arms, and Garrett gave in and sobbed into the taller boy's shoulder.

The whole pack was silent, devastated, you could hear a pin drop in the waiting room. What was it about this room that it was always where they received bad news? Kira then let out a terrible scream of her own, electricity sparking from her as she did so, and Malia, after a second's indecision, rushed to her friend as she slid out of her seat, crying into her friend's shoulder.

"No, this is all my fault, I should never have let him go home, we need to save him, it's my fault, he doesn't deserve this!" she wailed, and Malia, despite looking rather out of her comfort zone, hesitated for a second before wrapping Kira in her arms and rocking her, trying to soothe her.

Scott shuddered as he leaned against the wall, tears falling down his face. They were going to lose Liam, Liam was going to die, and there was nothing they could do about it. Someone else they loved was going to die, and once again, they were powerless, he fought back an angry sob, this wasn't fair, how did this keep happening!?

"There has to be something we can do! We saved Scott, we saved Aiden, how can't we save Liam?" Danny demanded angrily, punching his fist for emphasis, and Derek fixed him with a pitying glance.

"We saved Scott because we defeated Agravaine, but what was done to Liam, while supernatural, wasn't magical, it was physical, so even if we could find and stop whoever attacked him, it wouldn't help. And Scott could save Aiden because Aiden is supernatural, Liam…Liam is human." He told him, not unkindly, and Scott closed his eyes, wishing fervently that he could wake up from this nightmare.

This little kid who had come into his life and become like a younger brother figure to him over the last few months, and now he was going to die, yet another victim of the endless parade of hellish monsters that came to this town, condemned, just like Mason, simply because he was human! Because he was human, he was going to die, and once again, they were powerless to save him. All because he was…human…

"He's human!" Scott breathed suddenly, his eyes snapping open, and the whole room looked at him as though he had gone mad.

"Yeah Scott, that's kind of the problem." Stiles said darkly, looking thoroughly miserable, tears in his own eyes, but Scott shook his head, turning his attention solely to Derek, he would know, he had to know, he was the only one who could know, Liam's life depended on it.

"He's human, but what if he wasn't?" Scott asked softly, his heart hammering inside his chest, and the whole room went deathly still as they looked at their Alpha in shock, and Derek's mouth dropped open a little in surprise as he realised exactly what Scott was asking.

His idea was their last, desperate hope, but the more he thought about it, the more obvious it seemed, it was an idea, a good idea in some ways, and if it meant that they didn't have to lose Liam, then…

"You mean give him the bite?" Jackson asked in a shocked murmur, and Scott nodded, fixing his eyes solely on Derek.

"Yeah. The problem is, he's human. So what if we made him not human? What if we made him a werewolf, would that work?" he demanded desperately, it was the last, best hope that they could cling to, and despite the grief that was so pungent in the air, a sudden whiff of hope then emitted form Garrett as he removed himself from Isaac's shoulder to look pleadingly at his Alpha.

"You can change him, turn him? Would it work, would he be alright?" he asked, the hope building inside him, and Derek mulled it over in his head.

Truth be told he was hardly an expert in giving the bite to people, as numerous people (including the ones he had given it to) had pointed out. But, for Scott, who had vowed never to give someone the bite, to take their choice away the way his choice was taken away by Peter, this was huge. And yes, fair enough it was a kneejerk reaction to the prospect of losing Liam, but, well, it felt…right he supposed was the best word, he couldn't explain it, but it was like something had clicked, the idea of Liam being a werewolf, and Scott's actual bitten Beta, that…it made sense in ways he couldn't even begin to describe.

And let's face it, Scott was bound to be a much better Alpha to Liam than he had ever been to any of his Betas.

"Well…I don't know truth be told Scott, but…Liam is already wounded, which in some ways is good, because it means he's less likely to resist the bite. In some ways though, it's bad, because he's now so weak, it'll finish him off if he can't cope with the change of becoming a wolf. But we know Liam, I think he would be strong, very strong if he became a wolf, so it might just be able to save him." Derek theorised as the entire room looked at him, and they all turned to look at Scott.

"Scott, if you can do it, you have to, please!" Garrett begged, hurrying over to his Alpha, but it was his mother's face Scott was looking at, who was wearing a guarded expression as she looked at her son.

"Scott, honey, are you sure about this?" she asked, and he looked her in the eyes and after a second, nodded.

"Yeah, mom. We've lost enough, and if we can save Liam, shouldn't we try? I couldn't save Allison, I couldn't save Mason because he was already dead when I got to him, but what if I can save Liam? I know it's a lot, and a long shot but, if it works, we'd be here to help him, we all would, and if it doesn't…at least we tried to save him." He said softly, and there was a brief flicker of something that passed across his mother's face, and if he was to venture a guess, he thought it would actually be pride.

"Are you sure about this Scott?" Stiles asked uncertainly, it wasn't like he didn't want to save Liam, of course not, but Scott had always been so adamant that he would never bite anyone, and if this worked, or worse, if it didn't, he didn't know how much damage it would inflict on Scott.

Scott nodded, his face resolved as he met his best friend's gaze.

"We've lost enough, if we have a shot to save him, we should take it Stiles." He said, his voice strong, and he felt the hopeful look that Garrett was giving him boring into him, and Stiles hid a small, proud smile of his own.

Well, it wasn't like it was unprecedented, he had promised to bite him had he had frontotemporal dementia after all.

Scott looked across at Isaac, who gave him a small encouraging nod, and Scott felt the frantic beating of his heart still, a burning talisman within him, he might just be able to save Liam, he had to try, he would never forgive himself if he didn't, he might be able to save him, he had to try, he wasn't going to lose Liam if he could help it.

"You really think the bite could save him?" Garrett asked, hastily wiping his face with his sleeve, and Scott laid a hand on both of his shoulders and looked the younger boy in the eye.

"I don't know Garrett, but I swear, if I can, I will. But…," he said, and Garrett's heart plummeted like a stone, and something must have shown on his face because Scott gave his shoulders a reassuring squeeze, "but, I'm not making this decision on my own. Peter decided to make me a werewolf, I had no control, no say, and I always promised that I would never do that to another person. But this is different, but it isn't fair to your mom and dad if we don't speak to them first, especially if it works and he suddenly makes a miraculous recovery. It's not fair to them, or to you, or to Liam. Ok?" he asked, and Garrett nodded urgently, and looked over at Melissa pleadingly.

"Will you help us?" he begged, and she nodded, smiling a little, a little flicker of hope growing within her.

"Ok, ok, we'll go and see them. Come on. You too Derek, if Scott's doing this, he'll need the help of someone who's done this before." She ordered, and they dutifully left the room, leaving the pack behind, all of them hoping against hope that they would actually not be attending the funeral for their youngest member any time soon, and as Kira looked up hopefully, with Malia beside her, she felt a little golden drop of hope fall into her stomach, and she started praying to whatever gods there were in Beacon Hills that Liam would be spared.

XX

"A-a werewolf?" Jenna asked in shock, clutching at her heart as the small delegation informed her and David of their idea of how to save their son.

"Yeah, mom. That's, well that explains every weird thing in this town, how Scott survived, the zombies, and Agravaine murdering Mason. It's the supernatural." Garrett explained softly, and David was looking at Melissa with renewed interest.

"So that was how Scott bounced back when he shouldn't have made it to the end of the day?" he asked slowly, an inkling of something brewing inside him as he looked at them, his mind mulling it over.

He had been in this pitiful room often enough, delivering the terrible news to devastated families, he had never in his wildest nightmares assumed that he would ever be the one sitting by the bedside of someone he loved.

Liam was a mess, and had been brutally savaged, with deep, thick gouges having been ripped out of his body, his arms and his face. He was currently on a respirator, but the damage that had been done, David knew his boy wouldn't see out the night, he was lucky he was still alive when they had brought him in. Liam was now lying in bed, a machine doing most of the work for him due to the trauma that had been inflicted on him, looking like he had been torn asunder by a cheese grater such was the damage of the gouges that had been inflicted on him. He looked so small in the bed, having been brutally attacked, and now his life could be measured in hours, not in decades like it should be. This was his son, he may have married Jenna and adopted Liam, but Liam was his son, always had been, and it was his son who was currently dying in that bed, another victim of the bizarre supernatural problems that plagued this town.

The supernatural part was a problem for future them, once they decided what they were going to do with Scott's offer.

"I could give Liam the bite, but…I can't guarantee that he'll survive, especially," Scott said, his voice hitching slightly as he looked at Liam's ruined form, "especially with the state he's in, but…it might work, and it might let me save him."

The two Dunbars were silent as they looked at each other, before Jenna took a step towards Scott, who admittedly stood his ground, and Melissa laid a hand on Jenna's forearm as the other woman stared at her son.

"It's crazy, a werewolf…" she began, sounding slightly angry as if she didn't believe him, and in response, Scott allowed his eyes to glow red, his fangs and claws to extend as he stood before her in full werewolf form.

"It's real, mom, it's all true. The supernatural, werewolves, all of it. And the fact that Scott is the one who stopped all the murders, each and every time, and stopped Peter and Agravaine who were the ones who murdered Mason, he did it." Garrett said softly, and Jenna reeled backwards, and David and Melissa acted quickly to catch her.

After assuring himself that Jenna was alright, David looked anxiously at his son as the machines beeped dully beside him, counting down the time to when they flatlined, and he and Jenna lost their son, and to when Garrett lost his little brother and best friend.

"If we agree, what happens?" he asked, and Jenna looked at him with an unfathomable expression on her face.

"Well, hopefully, Liam accepts the bite, so he would become a werewolf. He would get stronger, faster, he would probably make a full recovery from the attack, most likely within a couple of days, and it'll only take that long since he would be new." Derek explained, and Melissa looked at them both anxiously.

"Look, I know it sounds like a miracle, and in some ways, it is. I watched Scott get shot in the chest by a maniac and he survived, you know he survived Agravaine's poisoning, Isaac survived electrocution, Aiden survived being run through by a sword…but I'd be lying if I said it was all easy. Scott wants to give you a choice, a chance to save Liam, and I agree. But, I have to warn you, it isn't great at times," she said significantly, her eyes drifting to Scott, and both of them smiled ruefully, "I mean, you stress more about them, you wind up adopting all of their friends," she listed with resignation, and it prompted a weak chuckle from Jenna, "and don't get us wrong, it is dangerous. Hunters are the least of our worries in this town, and it does put them in more danger, and trust me, that is terrifying," she said earnestly, her breath hitching.

Scott went over to his mother as she spoke and wrapped her in a hug, squeezing her tightly, and she squeezed back as Garrett went to the side of his adoptive parents.

"But, there is one thing. Scott is a pretty amazing Alpha, and he will protect and help Liam, like he does with everyone. Scott could save Liam." He said softly, and Jenna looked at him anxiously, before looking back at Scott worriedly.

"You're just a boy." She said softly, to which Melissa nodded, and Scott blushed, and Derek allowed himself a small smile.

"This boy has defeated dangerous, murdering Alphas twice his age, and twice his skill level, and that was even before he became an Alpha. That pack through there," he said, gesturing vaguely to where all the others were waiting for news, "there's a good few people who didn't have the best chances, fell in with dangerous people, and made some pretty poor choices. Scott took them all in, gave them all a pack, a purpose, and a home. That's what he does. If he gives Liam the bite, I think he could save Liam." He explained, and the Dunbars looked at each other worriedly, before looking at Garrett.

"What do you think honey?" Jenna asked anxiously, looking her adoptive son right in the eyes, and Garrett looked over to where his little brother was lying in bed, his life trickling away and shook his head to clear the tears from his eyes.

"I think we should let him try. We don't have anything to lose, right? I mean, if we do nothing, he dies anyway, least this way he might survive. Only thing is, if it works, it might affect his IED." Garrett explained, and David looked over at Scott for an answer.

"Anger, well all emotions really, are affected when you become a werewolf, especially during the full moon. With Liam's IED, it will be worse, stronger." He explained, and Derek then piped up as he looked at the Dunbars.

"But it will make him strong though." He told them, and both Dunbars looked worriedly at their son, his life ebbing away in the bed, their faces clouded as they debated what to do.

Garrett was looking pleadingly at Scott, but Scott shook his head, this had to be their choice. Garrett looked anxious as he looked back at his parents, the two of them having a silent discussion, and their eyes constantly looking back to their son, and Jenna then took a deep breath, received a nod from David, and turned to face Scott and the others.

"Scott, if you can, please, save our son." She asked, her face terrified but her voice strong and resolved, and Scott nodded, approaching Liam's bedside hesitantly, giving them the opportunity to change their mind if they wanted to, and he could feel all of them staring at him, Garrett with more hope than his parents, like they didn't want to let themselves believe he might be able to save Liam in case he failed and it destroyed them even more.

Scott felt his heart hammering inside his chest, this was something he had never done before. He had adopted betas before, hell, he'd adopted all his betas, but creating one was an entirely different matter. What if he failed, what if he had given them all false hope that he could save Liam and he failed to do so? But just as alarming, what if he succeeded, and made Liam a werewolf, how did he know the younger boy wouldn't resent him, hate him? He had certainly resented Derek at first, and he hadn't even bitten Scott, he'd hated Peter too (though that admittedly was more to do with the fact that Peter was a murdering psychopath), how could he look Liam in the eye, knowing it was him who had taken away his choice, his freedom? Especially when they lived here, and the endless parade of supernatural crap that plagued them, could he justify inflicting that on Liam?

But as he looked at the young boy, lying half mauled in the bed, his life hastening to a close when he had barely lived, most likely the fault of some other supernatural freak, and knew he couldn't do it, he couldn't not try. If there was a chance, however small, to save Liam, he had to take it.

"Do I just bite him anywhere?" Scott asked nervously, as Derek appeared behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly.

"Anywhere is fine, just let your power fill you up, the desire to save him, to save a member of your pack, just like how you saved Aiden…and let it flow." He advised, and with a last look back at the Dunbars, he received a confirming nod.

And with a deep breath, his eyes turned red, his fangs sprouted, and he lifted Liam's, limp, lifeless hand to his mouth, and musing for a moment about how utterly disgusting this was, biting someone, he bit down into Liam's wrist, praying that this would work.

XX

Brooke was a natural born swimmer, and not just the sort of natural born swimmer that parents would boast about. No, her species were actually aquatic, and as such she was a natural. However, that was under normal circumstances, not when you had been shot three times in the chest, knocked off a cliff, and banged about by the tempestuous current, slamming into rocks, branches and the other debris consistent with being swept down a river, higher than usual due to the recent rainfall. Indeed, a duck had also been rather unceremoniously knocked off course when Brooke, attempting to stabilise herself, had crashed into him, leading to a quack of disapproval. Brooke tried to drive through the pain as she plunged down another small waterfall, leading into the river that led through the preserve proper, and the rapids finally started to ease off, to her great relief. But she was still bleeding, still weak and still trying very hard to get herself up and above the fast-flowing current.

She had to let the local Alpha know, about the poachers, about Savannah and the others, she had to let someone know, but the water was relentless, her mother had always told her to stay away from the rapids and not to fight them, but she was wounded, and had been trying to get her bearings, she had fought and now she was so very exhausted, but she had to fight, had to stay awake…

She grunted as she was tossed along by the current, plunging into another deep section of the river, her eyes adjusting to the darkness underneath the water. Her village elder had told her she shouldn't leave the encampment, the town, but she had wanted to explore, maybe she should have listened. Damn, she had hoped the wounds would have stopped bleeding by now, she had been in the water for ages, but no such luck, she was bleeding again, and if she let herself pass out, she would drown despite being aquatic, no, she had to push on, she had to stray awake, to warn the local Alpha, to get her friends help!

Shaking herself, struggling to stay awake, pain ripping through her body from where Crockett had repeatedly shot her, her various bruises and bashes making her ache, her eyes opened, in time to see glowing, malicious reptilian eyes below her in the murky waters, and they had spotted her. Her heart caught in her mouth, as she looked through the murky waters, going cold with terror as she saw that this dangerous reptile had spotted her, and was now swimming towards her, its eyes narrowed with malicious intent.

Quick as she could, Brooke used what strength she had left, propelling herself through the water. The reptile, whatever it was, the churning waters were making it too difficult to make out, darted after her, and Brooke swam with the current as much as she could, using its natural eddies to boost her speed, she had to get away from it!

The blood coming from her wounds must have alerted it to her presence, and now it was right behind her, she knew how to detect predators, but she didn't know what the hell it was, or if she could escape it in her current situation. She flowed gracefully through the water, chancing a look back to see the glowing eyes right behind her, and now, it had savage white teeth glinting in the half light of the water. Desperate to escape, she kicked her legs, propelling herself further away from it as the beast moved more into the light and she shook in fear as the gargantuan crocodile bore down upon her, its teeth snarling, jaws opening preparing to tear her in two.

Kicking her legs frantically, she saw a large net just up ahead, if she could reach it, she could hopefully trap the crocodile in it! She twisted gracefully through the water, skimming the top of the net, disturbing the water of the surface as she edged over the top of it. She then dove right down, deeper into the murky depths, and chanced a look back.

The crocodile was ensnared in the net, thrashing furiously, its momentum having carried it right into her trap. Confident that she had given it the slip, she broke for air, gasping in desperately, and breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the thrashing in the water behind her. However as she turned to look at the crocodile thrashing in the net, she failed to notice the damp rock edging out of the water, and guided by the current and her own momentum, she crashed into it headfirst and passed out.

Behind her, the crocodile thrashed in the net only for two water workers to come rushing towards the shore to find out what had become entangled in the net. Giving screams of terror, they promptly turned to flee, only for the monster, furious at missing its prey, lunged out of the water, their cries giving way to screams of terror and agony as the water filled with their blood.

XX

Crockett checked the old-style computer that he had gotten from the Directive for their communications, and nodded once he saw the message. Good, more money to be made.

"Boss?" one of his companions called, topping up the Nunda's supply of drugs.

"Keep the assets under control." Crockett ordered, and one of his other companions looked at him, her eyes dancing with greed.

"Are we going after the local pack?" she asked hopefully, but he shook his head.

"No, our employers are launching their own mission and have invited me to help advise their commander. It won't take long, and after that, I expect they'll update the Deadpool. Keep them all under control till I get back." He ordered, and the woman who had asked looked at him churlishly.

"Oh, so you get another payday while we're still waiting for our first one for capturing them?" she demanded, indicating the African pack, and Crockett nodded, glowering at her.

"Yeah, because this is my operation. You lot are my employees, I hired you. You get a more than adequate payout." He told her warningly, and she snorted.

"A payout we still haven't seen any of! And here you go running off to get another one! Want to explain how that's fair? I say you're screwing us!" she spat, and Crockett nodded, taking her views into account.

And then he withdrew his gun from his holster and moved like a viper, before she could even react, and put a bullet right between her eyes, dropping her dead body to the ground, and he looked down at her dead body in distaste.

"Anybody else got a problem with our arrangement?" he sneered, and the others, all suitably shocked and cowed, shook their heads, and he nodded, satisfied.

"Good. Now, as I said, I have a job to go to. You," he said, indicating one of them, "you're in charge, keep the assets contained. Oh, and get rid of that." He ordered, pointing at his dead former employee, and the guy he had put in charge nodded frantically, hastening to get it done while assigning the others their new tasks.

He sighed as he headed away from the encampment, glowering at Savannah as she glowered at him, half conscious, and shook his head. That was why he hated subcontracting, they were all well and good…until they got greedy.

Muttering irritably to himself, he stomped towards where he had left his car, with the thrill of the oncoming hunt settling in, and by the time he got to it, he was smiling with the dark, predatory grin of his that pre-empted a hunt. And after all, he might not be going after the True Alpha's pack yet, but the biggest pack in the world…that had to be worthy of a good fight surely.

XX

The hospital room that had Liam in it was quiet. After a very long night in which they had all waited with bated breath, Garrett had noticed that Liam's wounds seemed to be healing, to their immense relief. With it now looking as though he was going to last out the night, and would in fact be a werewolf when he woke up, David had pulled rank and sent Jenna and Garrett home for some rest, figuring there was nothing else they could do until Liam woke up, and he would be on duty to check on him in the morning.

The pack had also elected to stay but Scott had rightly theorised that there was nothing more they could do, and his pack had reluctantly acquiesced to going home, leaving only Scott and Isaac at the hospital, as Isaac had stayed with his boyfriend a while later. However, when Charles and Opal, who owned the café Isaac worked at, had sent a last minute text asking him if he was possibly able to come in for a little shift in the morning, he had admitted defeat and left Scott waiting at the hospital with David, waiting for Liam to wake up, with Melissa keeping an eye on the two of them.

Scott was asleep in the chair beside Liam's bed, having kept himself awake as long as he could the night before, at least until the adrenaline, the fear and everything else had all started to wear off. Liam was still lying in the hospital bed, however many of his wounds had indeed begun to heal overnight, as they had precited when Scott had bitten him. Thankfully, Liam's father and Dr Killian (they still didn't know what the situation was with him) had been the doctors on duty and as such nothing had been said by anyone as the kid who shouldn't have lasted the night seemed to be healing at an accelerated rate.

Scott suddenly jerked awake, fear rushing through him, and on instinct he started to extend his claws and fangs, alert for anything, perhaps whoever or whatever had attacked Liam coming back to finish the job. However, using his hearing, he heard a nurse further down the corridor who'd dropped a sample bottle by accident, it must have been that he had heard when it smashed. Trying to take a deep breath to get his breathing back under control after the fright he had got, he looked over at Liam in the bed, his stomach churning as he looked at him, his friend, the kid who had become like his little brother, the kid who was now…

His Beta.

Not a Beta like Isaac, Derek and the others were, no, Liam was an actual bitten Beta. Scott looked at Liam, shivering slightly, feeling revolted with himself. He had wanted to save Liam's life, which he seemed to have done at least, Liam was healing in record time, and it looked as though Derek was right about him being strong, but now, Liam was a werewolf, Scott had played God essentially, biting Liam and taking away any choice he had in the matter. When he had become the Alpha, Scott had vowed to himself that he would never, ever bite someone against their will, but he had to save Liam, he didn't deserve to die!

But what if…Scott had been enough of a nightmare himself when he had become a werewolf, resulting in a few battles with Derek at the time, and Derek hadn't even been the Alpha who had bitten him. What if Liam hated him, resented him for turning him into a werewolf? What if Liam hated his parents and Garrett for agreeing to go along with it? However you span it, Liam's life had just changed forever, and it was him, it was Scott, who was to blame, what if…

And that was just looking at it from Liam's perspective. It might seem selfish, but Scott looked worriedly over at the kid, no, at his young Beta. If Liam hated him or anything, that would be bad enough, but due to him being uncomfortable with the whole idea, in fact only doing it out of sheer desperation, what if he turned on Liam, pulled away from him when he needed him most, abandoned him? What if, when it came to being an Alpha to his own Alpha, he screwed it up, and got it even more wrong than Derek had? What if he had some form of werewolf postpartum depression?

Oh god what had he done?

"Scott?" a weak and tired voice croaked from the bed, and Scott started in alarm, he had had his head in his hands as the enormity of what he had done was crushing him and hadn't noticed that Liam was actually awake.

"Hey, buddy, how do you feel?" he asked anxiously, getting up and rushing to his side, and his new Beta looked at him blearily, wiping his eyes, then finding the monitor attached to his finger, frowning as he did so.

"I-I don't know, what happened? Last thing I remember was, this big dude…" he whimpered, and Scott could hear his heartbeat pick up in terror, and Scott took Liam's cheek in his hand and looked into his eyes, as Liam shook in fright.

"You were attacked last night, we don't know who did it, but the others are investigating now ok? You're safe, we got to you in time, Garrett brought you in." he told him softly, and Liam fidgeted frantically as he started to realise exactly where he was.

"I'm in the hospital, what happened? He chased me, he attacked me, he…" Liam began, growing more and more agitated as he did so, and Scott looked at him pleadingly, he didn't want Liam to get so wound up yet, he wanted, needed to calm him down so he could tell him what had happened, what had, what he'd done to him.

"Liam, it's ok, you're safe, we saved you. You're ok. You're alright." He intoned, and to his great relief, Liam did calm down a little, looking at Scott worriedly.

"What the hell was he, have you found him yet? I remember, he…" Liam began in a terrified voice, and once more started to spiral, and Scott hid a grimace, he needed to calm Liam down, he didn't want to have to shatter his entire world when he was this wound up, but if he didn't, then who knew what would happen?

He certainly didn't want to Alpha him when the kid had only just become a werewolf for god sake!

"Ok, just calm down ok dude? You're alright, we saved you. We don't know who, or what attacked you, ok? We're trying to find some clue as to what the hell it was, but we haven't managed yet ok? But Garrett found you, and got you here. You're alive, you're going to be alright." Scott soothed, and Liam, while still quivering in fear, tears in his eyes.

"I-I thought I was going to die Scott, he…he didn't stop, I-" he began anxiously, and Scott gently sat on the bed beside him and wrapped him in a hug, his own heart hammering in fear, knowing just how close they had come to losing the kid.

"It's ok, you're ok Liam." He whispered, rocking him a little and Liam, still quivering, stiffened a little and pulled away from Scott, looking down at himself.

"Scott…that monster ripped me apart, how the hell am I still alive? I felt it, he ripped into me, I could my blood soaking me…how am I not dead?" he demanded, and Scott felt the bottom drop out of his stomach.

"Liam, it's ok, just calm down! I'll explain, I know it's a lot, but…you were going to die," he whispered softly, as Liam looked at him frantically, his heart hammering against his ribcage, Scott could hear it, and upon hearing that awful confirmation Liam's breath hitched inside him, and Scott hated how terrified his Beta felt, the kid hadn't deserved any of this, and now he was going to have to tell him, maybe he should have called Liam's dad, but the poor kid was traumatised and terrified, and he knew Scott had answers, and delaying would just make matters worse if he did.

"So why didn't I?" Liam asked imploringly, looking beseechingly at Scott, who felt his stomach knot in on itself as he looked back at his young Beta, who looked simultaneously terrified and also as though his brain was filling in the blanks and was growing more and more agitated as the thought started to dawn upon him, on what they'd done, on what they'd all done, on what, on what Scott had done to him.

Scott got to his feet, looking anywhere but at Liam, who he could feel getting increasingly scared and angry as Scott avoided looking at him. Shaking in fear, fearful of what was about to happen, he turned to face the intense, beseeching look Liam directed at him, demanding answers.

"We-we didn't have a choice Liam, I didn't have a choice! You were such a state, you would never have lasted the night! So, I, so I asked your parents if I-if I should give you the bite. And, and they agreed, so I gave you the bite to save you." He explained, his heart breaking as he turned to look at the kid, at his, at his Beta.

"I'm, I'm a werewolf?" Liam demanded in shock, his whole body shaking as he did so, and Scott could tell that there was no way of calming him down this time.

"Liam, we didn't have a choice! I didn't have a choice, it was either that or you'd be dead by now, I'm sorry, I never ever wanted to inflict something like this on anyone, least of all you, but it was either that or you'd be dead! I couldn't, we couldn't lose anyone else, and I thought, I thought I could save you, and it did, it's just you're now, you know, a werewolf, like me!" he insisted, as Liam looked at Scott, his eyes drilling into him.

"I'm a werewolf?" he demanded incredulously, and to Scott's great alarm, he spotted Liam's claws, growing out from his nails, and fangs were developing inside his mouth, and for the first time, Liam's eyes turned from their usual blue to the golden eyes of a Beta.

And as they did, Scott felt something blossom inside him. Liam…Liam was his Beta, he had made Liam into a werewolf, and he was still here, still alive, thanks to what Scott had done. He was his Beta, and Scott resolved in that moment, that whatever happened, he would always be there to protect this kid, this kid who he had turned into a werewolf. Liam was his, in a completely different way than Isaac was his obviously, no this was more, fraternal, paternal perhaps, but Liam was his. This little kid, who had stumbled into his life and had become like a little brother in the last few months, he was now more a part of Scott's pack than he had ever been before, and he was part of Scott, in a new, bizarre, in-depth way that he had never, ever considered before.

Liam was his, was his Beta, and in some ways, it was like everything yet nothing made sense all at the same time.

But first, he had to calm him down, and he really, really didn't want to exert his Alpha power when the kid was just wolfing out for the first time.

"Liam, please, ok, I know it's a lot to take in, but please, you have to calm down!" he begged, and Liam gave a guttural, angry growl.

"Calm down? I was nearly murdered, and you kept it from me that I'm now a werewolf! You turned me into a werewolf!" he roared, his wolf clearly taking over, and Scott realised that there was absolutely no way he was going to be able to calm him down now.

"Liam, please, calm down! Don't make me…!"

Liam gave a roar of challenge, and despite himself, Scott's eyes flashed red to defend himself, and a second later, the room went quiet as there was a dull thud from inside.

XX

"Should we ask Garrett for help?" Melody asked as they stood in the alley where Liam had been attacked the night before, but Jackson shook his head, Melody's hand in his own.

"Nah, he's been through enough, finding Liam and nearly losing him, let him rest. Anything Malia?" he asked curiously, as Malia crouched down in the unseasonal, blood-stained snow which had attracted quite a lot of local interest from the neighbours.

The three of them had volunteered to try and locate the monster that had nearly killed Liam the night before, and now the three of them had been restored to normal following the party the night before. Malia was clad in a warm brown suede jacket with jeans, Melody was clad in the winter outfit she had been forced to buy herself when this weird weather had started, while Jackson was dressed in his fashionable mottled jacket and dark jeans.

Malia frowned as she sniffed through what was the crime scene. Parrish had come earlier that morning, but had been unable to find anything that hadn't been washed away due to the snow, and so had okayed for the pack to try and find any information that could help discover what ever happened to Liam the night before.

"Not really, too long has passed, and this weather has made it worse, the snow's washed most of it away I think, and besides, I can't really differentiate from Liam's blood, which sucks. We need to find out what the hell attacked him, before it comes back for round two, or worse tries to find him and finish him off. And obviously, if something new attacked him, it'll be coming after the rest of us too, so it would be nice if we could take it out before it starts working up steam." She complained, sniffing along the alley, trying desperately to discern anything that might let them track Liam's mysterious attacker.

Melody frowned as they followed her up the bloody alley, avoiding getting any blood, any of Liam's blood, on her white wellies. This whole thing was, well, creepy was the word she had to use to describe it. The fact that their youngest member was nearly murdered by some unknown assailant was bad enough, and Melody herself was very fond of the kid, but she couldn't help an ominous feeling that there was more to the attack on him than met the eye, but what that could mean she couldn't say.

"Has there been any word yet?" she asked Jackson, who shook his head, looking slightly anxious as he checked his phone.

"Not yet, but he was healing overnight, so he should be out of the woods, hopefully." He said, and Melody and Malia exchanged an amused smirk, there was a tiny hint of compassion in Jackson's voice, he really was developing as a person.

Fair enough he was closer to Garrett, but the attack on Liam, the sweet, adorable youngest member of the pack had galvanised all of them, along with shaking them all to their core. They had nearly lost Liam last night, and frankly, they'd had enough loss to last them a lifetime.

However, Melody, being who and what she was, had had to report in this morning at the crack of dawn to her mothers, who were less than impressed at being woken up so early, though they had soon become much more alert upon discovering what had transpired the night before.

"Wait, Scott gave Liam the bite?" the queen has asked in shock, and Melody nodded, knowing what this meant for the wider implications of the True Alpha.

True Alphas came along very rarely, and when they did, they were usually assassinated by one of the three factions due to their propensity for rocking the boat and disturbing the status quo simply by existing. However, a bitten Beta, belonging to a True Alpha, was even more of a unique beast.

As True Alphas were usually dead before they could bite anyone, there was little to go on, however, all the sources agreed on one thing: a Beta bitten by a True Alpha could in fact inherit the spark of the True Alpha, without killing for it. Which meant, that unique as Scott was as a True Alpha, Liam was essentially a True Alpha in waiting, an heir for want of a better word, so if something actually happened to Scott, Liam could theoretically step up and become the True Alpha himself.

"Fascinating, the boy has created an heir! This, this is momentous!" her other mother had said in excitement, and the queen had nodded, looking pensive as she mulled it over in her head.

"Quite. But now even more eyes are going to turn towards Beacon Hills, with not just a True Alpha, but an heir there too. Any ideas of what attacked the boy?" she asked, and Melody shook her head grimly.

"None. I'm going to the alley in a bit with Malia and Jackson to see if we can find anything that might help, but, I don't know, I have a bad feeling about this." She explained, and both mothers exchanged significant looks before staring back at Melody.

"It does seem odd I must admit. Random attack possibly, but to get the youngest member of Scott's pack, the odds are hardly in their favour. Perhaps someone is trying to orchestrate an attack on the pack, keep a weather eye on events honey." Her mother ordered, and Melody nodded, before looking towards her other mother.

"What about the king?" she asked, and the queen mused for a second, extending a claw and tapping her teeth as she mulled it over.

"I need to inform him, if nothing else, he'll get suspicious if he hears about this from someone other than us. But that means that you'll now need to watch things all the more closely, the Artemisia will have many more people trying to take a potshot at him now too. Becoming the True Alpha is all well and good, but biting someone else is usually a trigger to less enlightened hunters, they might come after him and the rest of you. Be careful." She told her daughter fondly, and Melody was about to respond when there was a scream from just outside her mothers' window, and collectively the three women sighed.

"Really?" the queen groaned, and gestured to her wife to go and deal with her son.

"He's your son too you know." She grumbled, getting to her feet regardless, and the queen sent her a coy smile.

"Yeah, but this early in the morning he isn't, besides, you gave birth to him." She taunted, and her wife scowled.

"No fair, you always use that excuse! Bye darling, I need to go yell at your brother…again, the royal gardener is getting fed up of him throwing his spent dates out of the window into the cacti when he can't be bothered disposing of them properly, there's only so much topiary you can do to a cactus you know." She complained, sweeping from the room to go and yell at Melody's brother, who rolled her eyes at her mother, who shook her head, kneading her temples as she did so.

"That boy is the limit, thank god you're well adjusted. And how are things going with Jackson?" she teased, and her daughter glowered at her.

"Well enough thank you. I'll keep you updated." She promised, and the queen smiled in proud satisfaction.

"Good girl, but, make sure that both Scott and Liam receive extra attention, we can't afford something to happen to either of them. And let me know how Liam develops, I'm intrigued as to what sort of werewolf he'll be." She told her, and Melody grinned.

"Oh, don't worry mom. If I know that kid, I think he'll adjust to being a werewolf rather well, and what's more, he'll be strong!" she purred, and the queen gave her an indulgent smile as they signed off.

An heir to the True Alpha, fascinating. But there were still a great many questions that needed to be answered about what the hell had happened last night, and like she had said, she had a bad feeling about it.

Plus side, at least Jackson was developing more as a person.

"I take it your nose is so good due to your time as a coyote?" Melody asked conversationally, and Malia nodded as they advanced along the alley.

"Yeah, that and being born this way and not bitten like Scott and the others all are." She explained, and Jackson looked at her curiously.

"Something?" he asked, his own eyes glowing blue as he joined her in sniffing.

Melody briefly pondered if she could get away with using her tongue, but decided against it, and her magic was a little too risky to use at the moment too. Perhaps she would come back later with Luana when the others had gone home, try and find something out that way.

"Maybe, smells like antiseptic, you know, like hospitals, but not much more than that, and not enough to track anything with either. Hmm…" she murmured, sniffing high into the air, Jackson doing the same, and it briefly occurred to Melody how daft they would look to the common passer-by.

"Yeah, a little, maybe it was the stuff Parrish was using, after all, it is a crime scene." Jackson pointed out, and Malia scowled, this was getting them nowhere.

"Something isn't right here." She said certainly, and Melody arced a pencilled eyebrow at her best friend.

"Sweetie, I thought we decided that last night when poor Liam was almost murdered." She pointed out, but the coyote shook her head.

"Not what I mean, there's something not quite right around here, and I'm beginning to think it's been like that for a while, I don't know what it is, but the fact I can't smell much, I don't know, it's just a feeling." She complained, glaring at the alley where poor Liam had almost lost his life.

"Ok, we're not getting anywhere, why don't we go get a coffee somewhere, see if we can maybe try and figure out where the hell whoever attacked Liam could have came from, and try and figure out if it was random, or worse?" Jackson asked, and Malia sighed, she hated this, it was like they had failed, like she had failed, both Scott and Liam, but if there was no trail, there was no trail.

"Alright. You paying?" she asked hopefully, and Jackson spluttered indignantly as Melody grinned and escorted her friend back towards the car.

XX

Despite the fact that Dr Killian had said he could take as much time off as he needed, David had refused, opting instead to work, to take his mind off the fact that his son was fighting for his life. However, their bizarre crash course into the supernatural aside, David was relieved to see that Liam was actually healing, which Scott and Derek had assured him and Jenna that meant he had responded to the bite, and was now in the process of becoming a werewolf, a process that was saving his life.

The whole thing was just so, surreal he supposed. He had often wondered, especially recently, what the hell Melissa's son was wrapped up in, and he had suspected at the time that there was more to Mason's death than they had known at the time. Dr Killian seemed to have a little bit of insider knowledge, yet played the cards close to the chest, and as such nobody had gotten any further finding out just what he knew.

But now, he was the father of a werewolf pup he presumed was the right name, and the father of a neophyte hunter. The very thing that would make one son now hunt his brother was the very thing that was actually saving Liam, not that he could see that happening, but the whole thing was just so much to get his head round, for both him and Jenna, and even for Liam when we woke up.

Not that they regretted their decision, far from it, their son was healing, he would live. He just prayed that he wouldn't hate them for turning him into a werewolf when he woke up.

He smiled softly, as he considered the fact that Scott had sent everyone else home, and had insisted on being there when Liam woke up, so that he could personally explain things to his new Beta. He was a good lad, and David was profoundly glad that he was the one who was biting Liam, he could feel it in his gut that Scott would look out for him.

Hmm, perhaps he'd stick his head in, he should probably check on Liam anyway.

He walked down the corridor, where the duty nurse was just taking over for the day, and he edged into his son's room. A second later, heart hammering in alarm, but determined to maintain his composure, he stuck his head out of the room.

"Could you page Melissa McCall to come and see me please?" he asked the duty nurse kindly, who nodded and did so as he went back into his son's room to wait.

"Dr Dunbar, you called?" Melissa asked as she entered Liam's room, closing the door behind her.

"Yes…Melissa…where's my son?" he asked in a voice of determined calm, as he looked at the alarmingly empty bed, and Melissa, who had been facing him, whipped around frantically to see the empty bed and the empty chair that had been occupied by her son last time she had looked in.

Thoughts of whoever had attacked Liam last night coming back to finish the job dashed through her mind at a mile a minute, but, then, no, if it was, there'd be some sign of struggle, Scott would have raised the alarm, so she figured it was a very remote possibility, but that meant…

Oh no.

No.

He wouldn't.

Not again.

Oh god he was so his father's son at times it terrified her, and she let out a groan and rubbed her forehead with her fingers in despair before summing it up quite succinctly:

"Aw crap."

XX

She stretched luxuriously as she emerged from her bedroom, a naked and highly satisfied Ash smirking smugly as he kissed her cheek adoringly before heading to the bathroom. She swept across the room, the Mute bowing to her in deference as the Kishi flanking the door inclined their heads respectfully as she swept over to the couch, clad in a deep red gown adorned with black floral designs, and she fell gracefully into the seat, clicking her fingers at one of the Kishi, who immediately hurried over and began to rub her bare feet as she twirled her fingers through her long, luxurious blonde hair.

"We have work to do my darlings. Ash, my sweet, any ideas where we should look for my first worshipper?" she purred, as he poked his head out of the bathroom, steam billowing round him, running a hand through his hair, slicking it back as she had clearly disturbed him about to go into the shower.

"I've got some ideas my lady." He replied cheerfully, and she flashed him an indulgent smile and a teasing wink which made him grin, and he let her see all of him quite substantially before he headed back into the shower.

The Mute used his telepathy, and she smiled at him favouringly.

"I knew I could rely on you my old friend. You have your briefing ready?" she asked excitedly, and he nodded, passing her a file which she opened before affecting a pout, and looked back at the Mute.

"I know I enjoy my work my darling, but I still need some food, I'm starving." She complained, and the Mute's eyes lit up with amusement, and the Kishi remaining at the door headed to the closet, extracting her breakfast from it, who moaned in terror as he was thrown before her, and continued to moan in terror until he looked at her, and then his eyes glazed over, and he let out a sort of pleasured groan.

Smiling, she extracted her hand from her hair, removing three from her head. She kissed each of them in turn, then flicked them through the air, the three hairs melting into pools of molten gold which proceeded to form three brand new Kishi.

Her breakfast, distracted by the show of the three new Kishi coming into being, was whimpering in terror again, and the Mute rolled his eyes before yanking her breakfast up by the hair, and throwing him towards his mistress.

And mere seconds later, her hunger was sated, her feet were getting rubbed, Ash was getting dressed, and she opened the file like she would a morning paper, and got her first real look at the attractive boys in the file, all part of a group that was bound to get in her way: the local werewolf pack of Beacon Hills.

XX

The young man on the operating theatre gave a tortured groan, and Valack rolled his eyes, actually rolled all three such was his irritation with the whole affair.

"Oh do be quiet my dear Donovan. After all, you wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't been having a little tantrum at the sheriff." Valack chided, consulting his various medical instruments, pondering which one to use on the young man.

They had picked up Donovan up after he had been seen causing quite the scene, blaming the sheriff for his father's paralysis and later death in the middle of the street, while also leering at Stiles as well. The sheriff, to his credit, had tried to defuse the situation, but Donovan had gone off on one, criticising the sheriff for leaving his father to die, and shouting abuse at Stiles. After Donovan had stormed away, Valack had intercepted him, inviting him to calm down, offering him a drink, and had made it seem just innocent enough that it seemed as though he wanted to help him get back at the sheriff and Stiles. Donovan had naturally jumped at the chance, and he had tragically conked out over his coffee, and a rather smug Valack had whisked him back to the base in order to experiment on him, and this was where the lad had been ever since.

Donovan was currently clad in only his black boxers, and was being held immobile by the table, his wrists level with the top of his head. He had become slightly emaciated under their tender care, but that didn't matter all that much. His black hair had become rather unkempt in their company, but otherwise, he had been a very helpful specimen, as he had been the testbed for several of their poisons, among other concoctions.

"Look you freak," Donovan grumbled exhaustedly, only to be slapped across the face by Valack, making him spit out some blood onto the floor (he had learned the hard way last time not to spit at whichever doctor was working with him that day), "just let me go! You said yourself that there wasn't much else you could do with me! I won't tell anyone, I swear, it's not like I'll tell Stilinski!" he protested, and Valack clucked his tongue in disappointment.

"Dear dear Donovan, and here I thought we were such good chums! But you do raise a good point," he mused, consulting his instruments and shaking his head, "there isn't much more I can do with you."

Therein was the problem. All of their other guests, they had plans for, but Donovan had been selected more as a human test bed to ensure that everything for Operation Fallout was in readiness, and now that it was all but ready to go, Dr Urbaniak just had to do a last bit of editing and distribution and then they could act whenever it was most convenient to them, they had little use for Donovan.

But then again, he was a fascinating specimen, and it would be a shame to waste a young, fit lad, but what to do, he could turn him into something but they had already studied the contagion effects of the various creatures in their care. But then, Valack thought with a slight smile, they had just accounted for the humanoid creatures, and not the actual creatures that they had in their custody. Yes, how exciting, that was a good idea, either way they would find out some new information, if it worked, they would be creating a new creature all together, if it didn't, well, it was an interesting experiment, and a hypothesis proven.

"Tell me Donovan, what do you know of Project Typhon?" Valack asked excitedly, as he requisitioned the creature from downstairs, and Donovan shot him a mistrusting look, not at all liking the excited fervour that had suddenly appeared on the Surgeon's face.

"Not much," he admitted, shivering, he didn't know much but the way the three Dread Doctors talked about it, it didn't sound good, "Turnbull doesn't talk about it much."

Valack nodded, smiling proudly, yes, Penelope was rather quiet about their ultimate project, they had to be after all. But in the nature of her investigations into the whole thing, into perfecting Project Typhon, they had encountered far more than the humanoid creatures that made up the vast majority of the Directive's specimen population.

"You see, there are many more creatures that make up the supernatural world than you can possibly imagine, you can find all sorts of bizarre creatures if you know where to find them. As you can imagine this endemic spread of such beasts is the reason for our entire existence," he told him, and Donovan shivered, he had seen enough body bags come out of their operating theatres to know exactly what their existence entailed, "but occasionally we find the most fascinating creatures! A few years back we were stationed in Britain, not far from Newcastle, nice place, very friendly locals, but you see, there's this curious little place called Lambton. It has an interesting piece of folklore, called a Lambton worm. Naturally, we dismissed it as mere folk tales, however, the old eye," he said, tapping his forehead just beside his third, supernaturally augmented eye which made Donovan feel queasy to even look at, "instructed me otherwise. So I sent the troops into the rivers, and we found…this." He purred as the door opened as one of his interns came, inclining their head respectfully, and Valack looked excitedly at the creature he had brought in while Donovan strained in fright, as if to back away from it.

The creature the intern had brought in was about the length of a bed, and as thick as a traffic bollard. It was a black, thick bodied creature, coiled like a boa around the arm of the intern. However, other than its length and sheer demeanour, its similarities to a snake ended there. Rather than scales it had smooth, black skin, similar to that of a leech. It's thick body tapered off into a slight tail at the end, however it was rather unremarkable other than that. It's front end however was what fascinated Valack the most. While it didn't have a head per se, at the end of its body was a slight crest of skin which had a slightly green tinge to it, but the rest of the head was indistinguishable, other than it's mouth.

It's mouth was a circular maw, with numerous interlocking circles of vicious looking, jagged and pointed teeth, and was it's only real distinguishing feature.

"What the hell is that?" Donovan demanded anxiously as Valack accepted the creature from his intern who scurried away, the door closing behind him, and Valack turned towards his companion as he stroked the creature affectionately.

"This my lad is the Lambton Worm, a most fascinating creature. You see I had it brought to me so I could study it, and have made great progress over the years in terms of my investigations, which has also been a great help to Dr Turnbull. But I've wondered what to do with the poor creature, and you've got me thinking Donovan, we know much of how creatures like werewolves transmit their disease to others, but I wonder if new creatures can be created, creatures hitherto unknown…don't you?" he purred as he started to stalk towards Donovan, who realised with horror exactly what the maniac doctor was actually planning to do with the worm, which was letting out a guttural sucking and wheezing noise as Valack approached.

"What, hell no, get that thing away from me!" he spat, straining against his restraints, trying to break away from the table as Valack chuckled, approaching with increasing menace as the worm made a wet blubbing sound, Valack stroking it lovingly as he got closer to his prisoner.

"Think of it Donovan, if it works, you will be unique among all creatures! An innovation, a marvel! If it doesn't, well, I'll know it doesn't work! But imagine, if it works, imagine what you could do to the good sheriff, and his boy, after that they did to your dear old dad." He teased, and Donovan snarled, glowering at him as he struggled angrily against the table restraints.

"Go to hell, I don't need your help to get back at them, now let me go you sick monster, and get that fucking thing away from me before I throttle you with it!" he spat, and Valack, still petting the worm, chuckled, as he was human, the chances of him doing anything to him were slim and none.

"Now Donovan, don't be nasty. What's the old war cry that you can use to explain anything? Oh, yes, 'for science!' By the way, ever seen the film Alien?" he asked with a sadistic smile and Donovan's eyes bulged in terror as Valack threw the worm towards his victim, and Donovan's scream of terror was cut short as the worm flew at his face, sucking onto it, Donovan struggling and writhing his body to try and dislodge the worm to no avail as with a wet slurp it fastened its numerous teeth around his face, Donovan's groans and moans becoming increasingly indistinguishable from the noise being made by the worm.

Donovan's body continued to writhe and twitch as he laid on the table, the worm hanging off his face, a wet sucking sound coming from it as it did so, and eventually Donovan's moans faded as the worm got itself comfy, Donovan going limp as it worked, Valack watching his experiment in utter fascination as a new life was created before his very eyes.

XX

Satomi roared, her crimson eyes aglow as her pack fell about her. She had to find a way to get them out, to let them all break free, if she didn't, if they all fell…

The flying thing swooped down at her, directing a challenging screech in her direction, it's one glowing eye in the centre of its head making it a horrible facsimile of those Minions in that movie, but thoughts of the film were driven from her mind as the bat like monster lunged at her, Satomi snarling, her claws ripping into the beast as it made a move to take her down.

Satomi smirked slightly to herself as the beast reeled back in fury, blood splattering from it as it staggered back, shrieking in pain, and allowing the Alpha to break away, to make some effort to try and rally what was left of her pack.

They had come out of nowhere, these soldiers, armed to the teeth, that wretched creature of theirs, the bat thing striking out of the night as the pack gathered, the pack was thrown into disarray, all of them disjointed, all of them caught off-guard and unable to focus as wolfsbane bullets, gas and other specialised weapons were turned against Satomi and her pack.

"Reed, to me!" she roared furiously, moving like a torrent of water, her claws flashing like lightning as she tore through several soldiers as they pushed against her, trying to corral her.

Reed gave an answering roar, trying to push towards his Alpha but the soldiers were everywhere, and the purple haze caused by the wolfsbane gas was spreading throughout the room, Satomi being the strongest was still fighting, but the others, the others weren't doing so well.

Where had this attack come from? It didn't make any sense, the pack had all met because there had been signs that something had been, well, off, for want of a better term. In fact ever since they had come back from meeting Scott's pack in Beacon Hills, all of them had been unable to shift the feeling that they were being watched. Tierny and Carrie had both noted that someone had followed them, prompting Satomi to command that the youngest girls in the pack have escorts of some sort, preferably of the older males of the pack, but in case whoever or whatever was behind the disappearances in Beacon Hills was suddenly making inroads here. However, then others had started to notice strange goings on, people paying more attention to them than usual, just odd things, people in their streets that didn't belong there, people at work.

Rattled, Satomi had summoned her pack, eager to get to the bottom of the whole thing and make sure everyone was safe, figuring that the better part of forty werewolves would be perfectly safe.

Only to be proven very, very wrong as this band of soldiers had launched their attack.

Satomi roared in fury as she watched Kayleen get peppered with bullets, and her Beta dropped to the floor, unmoving. Her fury flooded through her, alive or dead, this was her pack, her Betas these soldiers were attacking! With an enraged howl, Satomi cleared the room, cleaving the soldier that had shot Kayleen in two with a savage swing of her claws.

Reed watched as Satomi sprang across the room, she was closer to the door, if they all formed up, they could maybe escape!

"Rally to Satomi!" he thundered, only to hesitate as to his alarm, there were very few wolves heading towards their Alpha, in fact, in a pack of over thirty werewolves, there seemed to be less than a third heading towards them.

This was, this was awful. The rest of the pack, where were they? Were they alive, wounded, dead? Satomi had lost all control, her non-violent practices flying out the window due to the wanton nature of this attack against her peaceful pack. But this, this didn't feel like a hunters attack, no this was too methodical, too precise, too clinical, no, this seemed more than the work of mere hunters, even the best of hunters left things to chance. No, this operation stank of military precision, but why would the military be attacking a werewolf pack?

However, this line of thought was jarred out of his head as an ear-splitting whine tore through the room, the noise becoming more and more high pitched. Satomi howled in agony, the sound tearing through her, and the Alpha stumbled towards the door, the shrieking noise igniting every synapse in her brain.

Dimly, she watched as Genevieve fell, clamping her ears she had no chance as a large round went off, blasting her in the chest and knocking her to the floor. The flying thing swooped at Elias, tackling him to the ground and puncturing his body with its claws.

"Satomi!" Reed cried, trying to get to her, but his Alpha, her ears still ringing, wasn't focused on him.

Instead, she was focused on Lori, one of the youngest members of the pack, and Satomi's glowing red eyes widened in delight as she registered that Lori was still wearing her headphones, a gift for Christmas from Satomi herself. Never before had she been so delighted that Lori was so aloof and that she kept to herself in all pack matters, as she hadn't been caught with the sound wave.

Seeing what Satomi was trying to do, Reed gestured to the remaining pack members, and a frantic Lyn slashed open the door, breaking the lock and letting the cool air seep through before more bullets felled her. Satomi mouthed something to Lori, who nodded anxiously, and still wearing her headphones tore for the open door, as bullets peppered all around them, the soldiers moving in against them.

Reed pushed towards Satomi, wincing as Angelique also fell, there couldn't be many of them left, just him and Satomi possibly, but no, they had to do this, had to buy time for Lori to flee. Outside he could see the soldiers pursuing Lori, and he prayed that the girl would be alright, that she would get to safety, to raise the alarm.

The bat monster landed in front of him, its glowing red eye fixating him with a baleful look. Reed roared in challenge, the bat creature dancing towards him with a loping gait, before it was distracted as Demarco suddenly appeared from nowhere, ripping into it with his claws. Reed sprung, perhaps they could kill this monstrosity, end it together!

Reed and Demarco both screamed in unison as two harpoons punctured into their bodies, none of them in any place to kill them, but the pain was more than enough. And then the two people wielding the weapons appeared from the shadows and activated the hidden feature of the harpoons, and electricity coursed through them, both wolves howling in agony before dropping to the floor and moving no more.

Satomi was now alone, and what was more, the soldiers had exited the building and were coming around to surround her, as the other soldiers advanced towards her. Her whole pack, taken down, she didn't know if they were alive or dead. She just had to hope, to pray, that Lori got to Scott, warned him, before this happened to him too.

She gave a roar of challenge, throwing herself through the air at the two who had brought down the last of her Betas, only for one, dressed in plaid and not in a military costume, who also happened to be wearing sunglasses, threw something towards her. Carried by her momentum and blinded by fury as she was, it took Satomi a split second too long to realise what he was doing, as the flashbang went off.

Satomi screamed in pain as the light whited out her vision, forcing her to stumble back. She heard a slight whine over the din and howled in pain as the man dug a cattle prodder into her stomach, the Alpha reeling back. Snarling in contempt, she swung, still determined to take this man, this mere man! To take him down, to make him pay, she had to!

And then several bullets were pumped into her, Satomi roaring in pain as the bullets burst through skin, muscle and bone. Satomi let out a whimpering growl, before snarling and lunging forward, she couldn't see, but she could smell, she knew vaguely where he was, she would make him pay, she would rip his throat out with her teeth!

Satomi lunged, fangs flashing in the half light, going right for where she estimated his neck to be, only to gag as the man raised a cattle prod which he had managed to slip into her open mouth. Panicking, she tried to back off it, only for electricity to arc through her skull, and the Alpha dropped to the floor, her pack finally defeated.

Sinner looked on in satisfied amusement, it was nice working with such a consummate professional.

"You have my thanks Crockett, you do damn good work." He complimented, shaking the poacher's hand, and Crockett gave him a tight grin.

"Pleasure to be of service. And thanks for the payment for the pack to the south, the one with the leggy blonde for the Alpha." He replied as Sinner's minions started rounding up the defeated werewolves to transport them back to the base, back to the Dread Doctors.

"No trouble, knew you were the right man for the job. Frost, don't dawdle!" he snapped, and his newest recruit jumped, still looking slightly nauseous, and started helping cart the werewolves into a truck to transport to the docs.

"Speaking of dawdling," Crockett commented, sneering down at the beaten wolves, "I have the African pack in my custody, but if you don't hurry up and shift them soon, there might be nobody left to collect from, I've already lost two hirelings." He told him irritably, and Sinner shook his head, a commiserating look on his face.

"I know buddy, good help is so hard to find these days isn't it? But you know what the docs are like, Valack sees something and wants it, no ifs, ands or buts. Can you hold them a day or so more though? I'm not trying to stiff you!" he protested, correctly deducing the furious look on Crockett's face, "but this is rather a large haul. It'll take a while for them to be processed, and if the docs want to experiment on the beasts…" he explained, and Crockett growled, but nodded irritably.

"Fine, I don't like it, but fine. What you going to do about your losses?" he asked, unconcerned as one of the soldiers who had been killed were carted away, and Sinner shrugged.

"They get a last severance payment, money towards the funeral, our condolences, that's the end of that. Hey, what do you say to a drink?" he asked, clapping Crockett on the shoulder happily, "I've not had anyone who truly gets how deadly a fight I had with a Chupacabra." He boasted, and Crockett grinned, and nodded.

"Only if you want me to tell how I took down two." He replied, and both men laughed as the Directive's forces hid all evidence of their presence in the warehouse that Satomi had assembled her pack in, leaving nobody any the wiser to the mass kidnap that had happened as the pack was carted off to the Directive's base.

Nobody that was but for a now packless Beta, with numerous bullet wounds punched through her, scraping her way through the woods, determined to reach Beacon Hills the next town over, and alert Scott McCall.

Hello to you all!

Now I'd like to start by apologising for the length of time this update took, I didnt intend for it to take nearly so long, but since last time we had Christmas, then I was on holiday, came back and got Covid, the second Horizon game came out, then got made redundant, Putin's war kind of killed any joy I had for anything, was looking for jobs, starting a new job which is also an extra day on top of what I worked before, so it's been a hectic few months, but here we are, with the next episode at long last

I'm going to take a little break from Teen Wolf, I plan a rewatch to get me back in the mood, and hopefully I'll be able to come back fresh soon, but until then, please enjoy!