**Since the previous chapter was so short, here's another**

SONG: A drop in the ocean…A change in the weather…I was praying that you and me might end up together…It's like wishing for rain as I stand in the desert…But I'm holding you closer than most 'cause you are my heaven ~ A Drop In The Ocean by Ron Pope

Chapter 16:

Scott:

As soon as Dr Geyer came in Friday at about 10 saying that my tests were looking normal, and my EKG came back showing that I was better than fine he said I could check out. Two hours later and I was out the door with mom promising additional bodily harm if I didn't go straight home and rest. She gave the car keys to Isaac and made him drive me. He promised he would keep me home if he had to handcuff me to the radiator. I'm not sure he was kidding.

As soon as I got home, I called Lydia and reassured her that I was fine and that this was in no way her fault. That I knew what to expect and I did it to help her. I would never regret that. She wasn't completely fine with it but it seemed to put her mind at ease and she started to doze off on the phone. I crashed soon after we hung up.

When I woke, the clock read 7:45 pm. I rolled over and saw Isaac pass my room throwing on a jacket.

"Hey, where you headed?" I called and he stopped.

"Damn, I was hoping you would still be sleeping." He sighed.

"Why?" I asked sitting up.

"Stiles texted. He wanted to go into the woods and do some searching tonight."

I picked up my phone but there were no text or missed calls.

"He just texted me." Isaac said.

"Just you?"

"I think he didn't want to bother you since you were in the hospital, or something."

"Yeah, or something. Well I'm up now, I've been laying around for too long. I'll come along."

"Scott, you-."

"I'm coming." I told him, pulling on shoes.

"Okay, but if your mom catches us, I'm throwing you under the bus and telling her you threatened me."

I snorted and followed him out.

I parked right behind the jeep and Stiles threw his hands up when he saw me.

"Scott what are you doing here? You're supposed to be resting. You were in the hospital, remember?"

"If I rest anymore I might as well be in a coma. I need to do something. So where are we starting." I told him.

"Alright. But if your mom-."

"Yeah I already warned him." Isaac chimed in.

"Fine. I was thinking about that doll we found in the car. When I came out here the other day I found it not in the car but in that coyote den we found."

"Wait you came out here, by yourself?" I asked him.

"that's irrelevant." He waved it away.

"Are you still on that word?" Isaac asked.

"No, my new word of the day is engender but I haven't found a way to work it into a conversation yet. My point is this. The doll went from the car to the den and unless some random homeless person is transporting it, which isn't out of the realm of possibility, then it must be the coyote. And why would a coyote care so much about a doll."

"Maybe they just happened to grab it. It's a coyote, I don't think they put much thought into it." I shrugged.

"Yeah and I thought of that. But when we looked at the den there was a jacket, a blanket, and a backpack remember. And when I went back to check out the den-."

"You didn't go in did you?"

"No, I just shined the light in there. Anyway, so the backpack had one name on it, Kylie." Stiles said.

"Malia's sister."

"Right, so I started thinking. What if all those things in the den are from the car and the coyote took it for its den. But why would a coyote care about this, unless its not just a random coyote."

"So you think the coyote is Malia?" Isaac asked.

"A werecoyote. What if the accident was caused because she spontaneously shifted, and the mother got so spooked she crashed. Malia was about 9 years old at the time, and remember the police file she was adopted. So, what if she didn't know she was a coyote and that was her first shift. I'm not claiming to know the mental compacity or physiology of supernatural creatures but your first few shifts you screamed bloody freaking murder, you were in so much pain and even knowing what was happening you were still shocked it actually happened. So if it was like that for you think how it would be for a A 9-year-old girl, in the car with her human mother and human sister and something uncontrollable and scary is happening to her and she has no help with it, add to that causing a crash that killed part of her family. How would she shift back, how would she know to."

"So all this time the police and her father have been searching for the body of a little girl possibly thrown from the car or carried off and eaten by animals but instead she is living in the woods as a coyote." I thought about it, and it made sense, a lot of sense.

"Exactly." Stiles agreed.

"So, we are looking for a coyote. But coyotes are prevalent to California, wouldn't it be like looking for a needle in a haystack?" Isaac asked.

"Wouldn't she still have a distinct scent even as a coyote? I mean if she is human, just shifted?"

"Maybe, we can at least try and see." I said.

"Great, so I figured we would go to the den because that would be the best option since she probably spends a lot of her time there." Stiles seemed to know where he was going so we followed.

Close to the den I caught a scent, it was barely human but still there.

I stopped scenting the air around.

"You got something?" Stiles asked.

"I think so. Isaac?"

"Yeah, I smell it too. Hold on." He moved slowly around where the den was and inhaled deeply. "It's here, the scent. Its stronger here."

I followed him and sniffed, yep but what was that?

"Is that…urine?" I asked in disgust.

"Yeah it is, but its more human then coyote, it's mixed in there but not as much of one." Isaac answered.

"So she pees human… that's weird." Stiles said and it was.

"Doesn't matter. We have the scent, lets see if we can find her."

We trekked through the woods, Isaac and I with our noses leading the way. I should have grabbed Liam; this would have been a good exercise for him. But we also have been out here for about an hour now, and my nose was starting to sting with the scent.

"So, you never did tell us what Derek said on Tuesday." Isaac said and why did that have to be what he brought up.

"Oh, he didn't really have any ideas to help is find the guy and Peter just made pointless comments. So, it didn't help."

"Yeah, but what about what Argent mentioned about your control issues?"

Seriously Isaac. His mouth really has no filter to it.

"It was nothing important." I shrugged.

"What that means, Isaac, is that Scott doesn't want to talk about it around me." Stiles said. I stopped and turned to him.

"No, it means that its nothing important, not right now. Because it doesn't help us find this guy."

"It's not important right now. Which means it actually is important but you're not going to talk about it at least not with me." He said walking past me.

"What does it matter?" I sighed.

"Because Argent wouldn't have brought it up if it wasn't important and if it was so unimportant you wouldn't hesitate to just say it."

"Stiles it doesn't matter. There's nothing anyone can do about it so why bother talking about it. Why bother bringing it up?"

"Because, obviously its about Lydia or else you wouldn't be avoiding talking about it, especially around me."

"I am so regretting bringing this up now." Isaac mumbled. Yeah, I regret it too.

"It's about me, Stiles. Me. Not anyone else. Not everything I do or say, or think is about Lydia." I said exasperatedly.

"That's bull and you know. Everything you do lately is about Lydia. You're practically attached at the hip whenever you are in the same room together. She looks for you first no matter where she is or what's going on. She practically climbs you like a damn tree whenever she's scared or stressed or hurt. You two can barely keep your eyes off each other. You fly off the hinges if she gets something as minimal as a papercut."

"What do you want me to say Stiles? We've talked about this already. Nothing changed. Same rules are applying."

"Yeah, it seems someone is trying to rewrite the rule book then."

"No one is rewriting anything. What is it that you want to hear? Because I'm tired of this back and forth we have over this."

"You know what, forget it. Nothing. I want nothing." He said pushing me aside to continue the search.

"No," I said grabbing him and spinning him to face me. "Just say it, Stiles. Say what you want to say. Maybe then we can go back to how things were before. Without all the tension and strain between us. Just tell me." I demanded.

He pushed me back before stepping into my space.

"Okay. You know what I want, Scott. I want to not hate my best friend, right now. I want to not hate the girl I have been wanting for years. Years Scott. Years of hoping and praying and wishing. Years of just wanting her to see me just a little. But no, it was never me she wanted. She wanted Jackson, she wanted Aiden but not me. And now she wants my best friend and what's worse is my best friend wants her back. I want to hear that you don't have feelings for her, that you're not in love with her and I want it to be the truth. I want you to stay away from her, that's what I want. Can you give me that?"

I huffed a breath and tugged at my hair taking a step back trying to control the urge to punch my best friend.

"You don't think I've tried?" I asked him.

"No I don't. I don't think you tried, or at least not very hard."

"You don't know how hard I have tried to stay away from her. How hard I have to work to not be where she is all the time."

"It's not that hard Scott. You just do it. You don't call her just to chat. You don't spend time with her outside of school or meetings. It's really not that hard, just stay away from her?" he spat.

"I've tried." I roared my eyes flashing red.

"Whoa." Isaac said grabbing Stiles and pulling him back away from me. I was shaking with the need to hit him. I took a minute to calm myself down before facing him. Isaac stayed close by just in case.

"For months I tried to stay away from her. Months, where all my urges and instincts were telling me to go to her but I stayed away. For you." I gritted out clenching my fists.

"You're talking months, it's been years for me."

"Yeah Stiles it's been years for you. Years of you finding ways to BE in her space. Not years of you trying to stay away. There's a differences. But you want some truths Stiles. You want to know it all. Fine. Let's do this."

"Guys." Isaac started. I waved him off.

"You think you are the only one in pain from this? That you are the only one hurting and angry and confused and overwhelmed by this. You're not. I went from not having any feelings at all for her to craving just the sight of her practically overnight."

Isaac took a step towards me but I shook my head at him. I was still shaking but I was still in control, somewhat.

"It's killing me Stiles, not to be with her. I literally feel as if I am slowly shutting down staying away from her as much as I already do. I feel like I can't breathe when I am not near her. Every day I feel this crushing pressure in my chest like I will drown because I can't be with her."

Stiles sighed looking away briefly before looking back at me. I could see he didn't really believe me and I wasn't sure how to get through to him.

"When you see her, how do you feel?" I asked out of the blue.

"What?"

"When you see her, when you look at her, what do you feel?" I asked again.

"What does that have to do with anything? You already know the answer to that."

"Yeah. Want to know what I feel. I see her and my world flips. She smiles and my heart stutters. She laughs and I lose all capacity to function. She cries and it tears me up inside. She gets scared or hurt and I honest to God want to destroy every person, place and thing within my sight, including the people I care about." I told him stepping up to him even though Isaac was trying his hardest to make sure I didn't get to close.

"I need her like I need my next breath. My body aches all the time wanting to just touch her. I physically have to lock down my muscles not to touch her. Just one touch but I fight it. Every day, every hour, every goddamned minute of every goddamned day. For you. Not for me, not for her but for you. Because you matter to me. Because I know how much it hurts you and that is the very last thing I ever wanted to do. You have no idea how much I HATE that this hurts you and nothing is even happening between us." I said waving my arms wild.

"You want me to tell you that there aren't some days I truly wish that my heart will just finally give up and stop beating all together just so I can have some damn peace of mind? that I don't wake up every morning anticipating that I will see her, even if from a distance. Telling myself that it will have to be enough but knowing that as soon as I do, I KNOW it will never be enough, ever? You want me to tell you that I am not so damn much, down to my very bones, in love with her? I can't." I sighed in resignation.

"I probably won't ever be able to tell you that. Because being in love with her and not being able to be with her is slowly driving me insane. I can't help how I feel no more than you." I told him looking him straight in the eyes.

"Well… I guess now I really know." He said looking away.

"Yeah, now you do." Turning away from him and Isaac to control the want and need to just break down. I hate this. I hate having to say this, to him of all people because I know it just hurts him and honestly it hurts me too. Because there is still nothing I can do about any of it. Even after this conversation I will still keep my promise. I scrubbed a hand down my face.

"I don't know what you want from me Stiles. I really don't. I promised you I wouldn't be with her and I'm not. No matter how much it hurts me, and her, we aren't together, and we know we can't be together. That doesn't seem to be enough. But I can't keep doing this. I can't keep tiptoeing around you on this. I'm tired of tiptoeing. I'm tired of feeling guilt for something I can't control. Because I am keeping my promise. I'm sorry that she doesn't feel the same for you as you feel for her. I really am because out of everyone I KNOW how much you care for her. But that's not my fault. Its not either of our faults that things worked out the way they did. But we are trying, Stiles. We really are. I'm sorry that is not enough for you."

Stiles looked away and said nothing.

"Now let's find this girl so we can be done with this." I said, marching forward picking up the scent again.

Another hour of searching and we stopped just short of a large fallen tree trunk. I held up a hand to hold them off and searched the dark using wolf vision. It took only a second to make out the shape of an animal, with glowing eyes.

"Wait guys I think I see her. Stay back, let me try something."

I took slow steady steps forward and she growled.

"Malia." I called gently. Her head snapped back for a second in surprised, but then she growled again. "It's okay. We are not here to hurt you. We just want to help." I spoke calmly, lowering to the ground. My eyes were still switched to wolf glowing bright red and she sensed a predator.

"Scott." Stiles called but I waved him off. I kept eye contact with her as she paced in place snarling and growling, drool dripping from her jowls. She was struggling between fight or flight. I knew the second she decided. She went flying towards me and I caught her and flung her away, not hard enough to crash into anything, only far enough to get her away from the guys.

"Isaac, keep him back." I told him.

Malia and I circled each other, her growling and snarling. She positioned herself for another attack and I drew in a deep breath and roared. From my peripheral I saw Isaac's eyes change but he shook it off and kept Stiles behind him.

Malia's eyes brightened even more before settling back to the original dark color and her body began to shake, fur started to recede, muzzle shrinking and claws retracting. She cried out in pain before falling to the ground. Staring back at me was a girl, my age, covered in leaves and dirt and naked. Very naked. She looked down at herself in shock, seeing not fur but smooth skin. Not used to being on two legs she stumbled as she stood, and Stiles was the one that went to her side.

"Wha-." She rasped, having not used her voice in so long it croaked. "What happened? How am I human?"

Stiles took his button up off, leaving him in a tee shirt, and wrapped it around her.

"I forced your change." I told her.

"Why?" she demanded.

"Malia, you've been a missing persons case for the last eight years. You're father has been wanting to know if you are alive all this time." Stiles explained.

"My dad?" she croaked.

"Yeah. He still searches for you."

She let out a sob and Stiles hugged her.

"You should call your father." I told him. He nodded and pulled out his phone with one hand still holding her with the other.

The cops showed up quickly, Sheriff in the lead. When he found us he froze at the naked girl attached to his son's side. He bypassed them and came over to where Isaac and I were standing.

"Boys." He greeted. "Mind telling me what's going on here?"

"Sheriff, that's Malia Tate." I nodded to Stiles and Malia.

"I'm sorry, what? You found her?" he asked, looking between them and us.

We explained to him how Stiles figured out about the doll and the coyote den we found and how we tracked her and I forced her shift back to human.

"This is going to be a nightmare to explain." He said rubbing his forehead.

"You know," I said. "This girl has been living in the woods for 8 years, she has to be traumatized. So traumatized that she kind of blanks on the why and how long she's been out there. She should really be taken to the hospital and maybe have a psychiatrist sign off on that."

He nodded in contemplation.

"That sounds like a good idea. I'll do just that, after I talk to her. Thank you, boys, for doing this. I really appreciate it."

"Anytime." I told him.

"If you want to hold up I can talk to Stiles real quick and then you boys can go." He said.

"No. I have my bike; he has his jeep. We'll see you later." I told him walking away. Isaac following me.

"Scott, I'm sorry about that. I didn't think it would start a fight." Isaac said when we reached the bike.

"It's fine. The whole situation had been leading to that anyway. It was bound to happen."

We made it home and my mother was on the porch as soon as the bike cut off.

"Uh, oh." Isaac singsong as we dismounted.

"I thought I told you to stay home." She said her hands on her hips and eyes sharp on me as I climbed the porch steps.

"Sorry mom, but we saved a girl tonight." I told her, kissing her cheek.

"You what?" she asked, anger leaving her.

"I'll let Isaac explain it. I'm going to go take a shower and go to bed. Night mom." I moved past her into the house.

Climbing the stairs I heard Isaac tell her, 'mom and dad had a fight'. I rolled my eyes and I shed clothes heading into my bathroom. A quick steaming hot shower later and I was in bed. It was going on 11 but I texted anyway.

SCOTT: YOU AWAKE?

The bubbles started moving immediately.

LYDIA: I'M AWAKE.

SCOTT: SAVED A WERECOYOTE TONIGHT

LYDIA: YOU WHAT?

SCOTT: THE MISSING GIRL WE HAD BEEN HELPING STILES FATHER FIND. WE FOUND HER, SHE'S A WERECOYOTE. HAS BEEN LIVING AS ONE FOR 8 YEARS. WE FOUND HER AND FORCED HER CHANGE BACK TO HUMAN.

The bubbles started and stopped and then started again.

LYDIA: I DON'T KNOW HOW TO RESPOND TO THAT.

SCOTT: ITS NOT SOMETHING YOU HEAR EVERY DAY.

LYDIA: IS SHE ALRIGHT?

SCOTT: I THINK SHE WILL BE. SHE MIGHT HAVE TO GET HELP WITH WHAT SHE SURVIVED.

LYDIA: THAT'S GOOD. BUT WHAT ABOUT BEING A WERECOYOTE, WHICH I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW EXISTED. THOUGH IT SHOULDN'T BE SURPRISING.

SCOTT: WE LEARN NEW THINGS EVERY DAY IN OUR WORLD. IF I THOUGHT SHE WOULD TAKE IT I WOULD OFFER TO HELP HER. BUT THAT'S UP TO HER. I'LL MAKE SURE SHERIFF GIVES HER MY NUMBER JUST IN CASE.

LYDIA: YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW GOOD A PERSON/WOLF/ALPHA YOU ARE.

I chuckled at all the titles.

SCOTT: I JUST TRY TO DO THE RIGHT THING.

LYDIA: YOU ALWAYS DO THE RIGHT THING.

Not always.

SCOTT: IT'S BEEN A LONG NIGHT. I JUST WANTED TO SAY…

What? What did I want to say? I miss you? I need you? What?

SCOTT: I JUST WANTED TO SAY, I HOPE YOU HAD A GOOD DAY. AND SAY GOOD NIGHT.

LYDIA: I DID, NOW THAT I KNOW YOU ARE OKAY, I HAD A GREAT DAY. GOOD NIGHT SCOTT, SWEET DREAMS.

I smiled, placing my phone on the charger and turning over to go to sleep.