Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf
Two-Pack III
"Garrett, you promised!" Liam complained as they walked through the preserve at the back of the house, and his adoptive brother, thrilled to be freed from his enforced incarceration, turned back and smirked at him.
"Oh come on dude, you can still see me, it's not like I'm doing anything too strenuous, I'm just having a bit of a run! I've been cooped up all day with nobody to talk to, give me a little slack!" he whined, and Liam sighed, vexed but did nod reluctantly.
Besides, Garrett had been checked over at lunchtime by their dad, who had confirmed that Garrett was on the mend, he just had to take it easy. But his brother, who was a rather active person, and didn't like the fact that he'd been locked up inside all day without so much as the TV to watch (their mum was happy though, he'd cleaned the bathroom such was his boredom) had basically begged Liam to escort him out once he had come out, and despite the fact that he wanted to make a start on his homework, Liam had reluctantly acquiesced.
But with how creepy things had gotten in such a short space of time, not to mention the fact that it was still cold and you know, the price on his head, he wasn't entirely thrilled with their little adventure.
Especially when he could hear footsteps quite nearby, and after being attacked by some big dude with glowing claws, didn't want to take any chances.
Liam let his eyes glow as Garrett taunted him, and Garrett stopped, frowning as he carefully slid his gun from his ankle holster while Liam could feel his claws growing, if there was something here stalking them, there likely wasn't much they could do, but they could at least try. Something moved and Liam turned, growling in warning as Garrett levelled his gun…right into the face of Brooke, while Lori squealed and Malia rolled her eyes.
"Hi, um, any reason you're pointing a gun at my face?" Brooke asked hesitantly, and Garrett went red and holstered his gun again.
"Sorry, we're a bit, you know…" he muttered, and Malia raised an amused eyebrow.
"Paranoid?"
"Well, yeah, we've got prices on our heads, Garrett got blown up, and there's a flying rape monster and a guy with glowing claws all running amok, we're allowed to be on edge. What are you guys doing out here?" Liam asked, smirking at Garrett who was still blushing furiously as Brooke smiled at him playfully.
Malia shrugged.
"I need to get into Derek's, I left some of my notes there the other night and I actually need them," she admitted bitterly, making the others grin, "so I was hoping to find him. I asked them if they wanted to come along to get a better view of the place."
Brooke smiled happily.
"Yeah, the preserve is quite nice when you don't have poachers shooting at you, or a crocodile trying to eat you. Besides, Savannah is trying to pack us all up to move us on." She told them, and Lori looked at her in slight panic.
"Wait, you guys are leaving? I thought your pack was sticking around in town until we sorted all this out?" she asked frantically, not to be selfish, but if Savannah's pack left what would happen to her?
Brooke sighed.
"Well that was the plan until another poacher barged into the place and shot everything up, he got Mali and Nile, they're both alright, but Savannah's worried. I know Scott's trying to talk her out of it but she's still making plans," she lamented, and Garrett looked at her pityingly.
Liam however was frowning at Malia.
"Why are you looking for Derek to get into his apartment? The twins are in, they've been in all day." He pointed out, and Malia looked at him for a second, then her mouth fell open in slight realisation.
"Oh god so they are! I'm an idiot. Come on, let's head over that way."
They headed through the preserve, Garrett delighted to have someone to talk to (apparently even more delighted that it was Brooke) as Liam fell into step beside Malia and Lori.
"Are you alright?" Liam asked their new friend, and she shrugged, though her eyes did flick in amusement towards Garrett and Brooke who were both happily chatting to each other, apparently having someone new to talk to was good for his slump, and him having helped save her seemed to have made an impact on Brooke too.
"Mostly, kind of worried what I'll do if Savannah leaves, and about my pack, but you know, I've got you guys, which is nice, I owe you guys a lot. How are you finding being a werewolf?" she asked curiously, and Liam shrugged.
"I don't actually know, it's like, since it started, I've not really had a chance to think, know what I mean? We've hardly stopped, and it's getting worse but I'm alright kind of, at least so far." He said, and Malia smiled before coming to a stop.
"You know, Scott might be training you, but I've got the best nose in the pack. Derek taught me about chemosignals, specific scents. Garrett said you smelled things a little, but this is good for helping smell strong emotion. I can smell something, can you?" she asked curiously, and Liam stopped, sniffing hesitantly at the air while Brooke and Garrett stopped chatting and watching with interest.
Liam concentrated, trying hard to ignore that the others were all watching him intently. He tried to ignore it, it was hard enough to concentrate on everything that he could smell nowadays without all of them watching it. He focused, and as he did so, trying to concentrate on the various smells that made up the preserve, he got a whiff of something.
"Blood, again." He told her unhappily, and she nodded, while the others all looked at Malia worriedly, however the coyote seemed unconcerned.
"Yeah, don't worry," she assured the others, who looked vaguely alarmed, "it's been there a while. Come on, let's see what it is." She told them, leading them the way her nose was following her, and Brooke sighed.
"You know, when I go home Savannah is going to ask me what I did today. I don't think she's going to be happy when I tell her I was out looking for dead bodies in the woods." She sighed, and Malia and Liam both grinned.
"Well, all great stories start the same way," Malia assured them, making both Brooke and Lori look at her curiously, "but I'm sure if you asked Garrett, he would give you an alternative for what you did this afternoon."
Both Brooke and Garrett spluttered, going scarlet as Malia (grinning all the while) led them through the woods, both of them protesting her comment as they went through the woods, the scent becoming stronger as she led them towards the source. Emerging into a clearing, they found a deep pool of water, and as they approached, Liam felt an assault on his senses. There were so many different scents mingling around, it was hard to differentiate anything in particular, but what he did get, seemed to be, as was usual for Beacon Hills, he was quickly learning, blood.
"Something happened here." He told her, and Malia nodded, who froze slightly, she'd heard something…ah, that was it. Rolling her eyes, and trying hard not to blush, she turned to Liam.
"Yeah, you can smell the blood. What else can you smell?" she asked curiously, and Liam frowned, sniffing the air hesitantly.
Well, there was the blood, that much was obvious. But as he edged closer to the pool, he began to get a myriad of other smells, hard to differentiate, but they were certainly there, but what exactly were they? He tried to link the smells up in his head with how he felt when he felt them himself, and he realised that one was…
"Fear." He concluded, and Lori nodded encouragingly.
"Yeah, but wherever the fear came from, I get the feeling it wasn't from the same ones as did the bleeding, there isn't as much fear, it's there, and it's potent, sure, but there's not much if you know what I mean?" she asked, taking her lead from Malia, and the coyote nodded.
"Yeah, but there were lots of people, and that's when the rage started. I smell rage, and a lot of it, but there's something else." She told them, walking down towards the pool, and Liam sniffed again, and realised what it was, something he himself was intimately familiar with.
"Anger. Not like the rage, that's just like a sort of burst I suppose, the anger, it's there, and it's scary, dark, like whoever was feeling it despises, you know, everything." He told them all, and Garrett winked at him.
"You're getting pretty good at this bro." he complimented, and Liam went pink and smiled ruefully.
Malia nodded proudly, Scott would be pleased, hew as certainly catching on quick, they couldn't deny that, and he had done very well. But what her little lesson had served for, at least in her mind, was backup for her opinion. There was fear here, that much was obvious, while there was some other fear, the fear itself was a particularly putrid scent, like someone was terrified. Perhaps someone being chased? She mused on that, as she mulled the other scents she had picked up on in her head. Rage, pain, all of them mixing together, something horrible had happened here, that much was obvious. But it was the anger, it was coming from the depths of the pool, and it was so strong, so putrid, it was like a poison. And for one thing, it made her uneasy, she had smelled that sort of anger only once before: from Stiles, in Eichen, when Morrell had immobilised the Nogitsune possessing him, she could smell, even then, the deep-seated rage of the Nogitsune under the surface of its unwitting victim.
Brooke had edged down the slope to the deep pool, and she shuddered as she ran her fingers gently through the water while she crouched on the shore.
"Malia, that thing that chased me, the croc, it was here. It sort of taints the water, I can tell. It was here. Whatever happened here, it likely had something to do with it." She told her significantly, looking back at the coyote, who bit the inside of her cheek, mulling it over in her head.
So, the raging anger she had smelled came from the croc, provided Brooke was right about it being inside the pool, so that had likely caused all the blood, but what had it killed? And if it had killed someone, or several someones, where was the evidence?
"The crocodile? It was here? See, I don't like reptiles, not a fan!" Lori squeaked, but Brooke sent her a reassuring look.
"Don't worry, it isn't here anymore. Like I said, it taints the water, wherever it is, it kind of poisons whatever water it's in, just by being there. But it's gone, otherwise the taint would be more potent. Water holds memories, at least for Antukai. This water remembers, the anger, the evil of this thing…and the fact that it killed people here." She told them, and Garrett, who had drawn his gun worriedly and was covering the area anxiously, looked at her curiously.
"It killed people here? How can you tell?" he asked, and she shot him a grim smile.
"Like I say, Antukai can kind of tell what's happened in water, it's why we as a species stay out of everyone's way, too many people putting shit into the ocean, we have a folk tale that one of us was on the Titanic and the pain it felt in the water drove them mad when it sank. I can tell, the water isn't actually poisoned, and not in the way you lot would think after fighting the Corrupter," she told them, having been caught up on the pack's most recent adventures during the school day, "but you can tell something has been in it, like say, hot dog water that you then freeze and turn into ice cubes to give to a visitor you don't like."
Liam looked at her in vague alarm.
"Wait, you actually do that?" he asked, and she smiled, winking.
"Don't piss me off and you won't have to find out. Hey, I'm an Antukai, it's not like I've got as much going for me, my claws and teeth are for breaking open clams and stuff, not kicking ass like you guys, I have to get creative!" she insisted, and Garrett grinned, and she caught his eye, both of them smiling at each other.
"Either way, she's right." A voice said, and Liam, and Lori too, to be fair, shrieked in alarm, while Garrett leapt in fright, Brooke topped into the pool in fright, while Malia, who had smelled them both, rolled her eyes in bemusement as the two of them joined them, both of them grinning.
Derek and Braeden, who had been watching from the shadow of the trees, looked down in amusement as Brooke scowled at them, Garrett shot them a glare as he helped her out, and Liam and Lori both glowered at them furiously.
"What is it with you? Why do keep trying to traumatise me?" Liam demanded churlishly, and Derek grinned, shrugging.
"What can I say, it's fun! Sorry, couldn't resist," he admitted, and Braeden also grinned as she joined them rifle in hand, "but they're right. Something happened here, there's tracks leading to this pool, but not much that we can follow leading away from here."
Brooke, her heart rate now returned to normal and her bottom rather wet, to her disgust, looked at them with interest, despite her soggy bottom.
"What happens to the tracks leading away from here?" she asked curiously, and Braeden sent her a humourless smile.
"That's the thing. The tracks have all been destroyed, covered up or just wiped away. It's like someone was willingly hiding exactly what happened here, even the blood that Derek could smell in the area, that's all been cleaned away too. Someone did a very thorough cleanup job of this pool, of this whole area, likely to hide whatever actually happened here. Someone doesn't want us knowing exactly what happened here…or who it happened to."
Liam looked worriedly at Garrett, whose own face was a mask of concern. Who, or what, were the pack dealing with? This Directive, who, or what, exactly were they? Where did the crocodile fit into it all? And the guy who had attacked Liam, and the Popobawa, how did it all connect together? And how much resources did the Directive have if they were able to offer the bast sums of the Deadpool, and were able to blitz an area clean after something had killed someone here and not leave so much as a trace?
"Maybe we shouldn't stay out here, especially as it's going to start getting dark soon?" Lori ventured nervously, and Derek nodded, the whole preserve felt…creepy, as though they were being watched.
"Good idea, come on, we'll take you back to Savannah, and you guys better get home too. Scott would kill us if anything happened to his puppy." He told them, grinning a little, and they all nodded, while Liam, who had noticed the massive grin on the face of his friends, Garrett in particular, went beetroot.
"Puppy!?"
XX
All in all, it hadn't been a bad afternoon, Turnbull mused as she swept back into the base. The members of Ouroboros on guard saluted here as she entered, hobbling past them, her stick clacking on the floor as she headed for the elevator to take her up to her quarters on the level above the command walkway. While she had no romantic interest in McCall at all, she suspected that with a bit of…guidance, he would be very useful to the Dread Doctors and their operation, particularly once they came into conflict with the local pack.
Oh she longed to encounter them, after all these years, she would finally finish what she had started, she would dissect them all, and use their hides as a rug for her quarters, and then once Project Typhon was completed, she would be able to sit back, relax, while standing on those who had defiled her the way they had…
"How was your date?" Valack asked as she left the elevator, and she clutched at her chest in fright, the leader of the Dread Doctors smirking as she gasped in shock.
"Gabriel! How many times have I told you, stop ambushing me on the way out of the elevator!" she snapped, however Valack merely chuckled, and for good measure, she whacked him round the shins with her stick.
Not that it did much, as he was currently clad in his boiler suit (the blood, or at least some other bodily fluid, of one of his test subjects had sprayed up his chest) but it did make her feel slightly better, even when they had first met, when she was fresh out of university, and he was convincing her of the importance of their mission to get her to join him and Simon (the former Geneticist had died when their ultimate creation had been defeated, the horror that her predecessor had felt, that their ultimate weapon, their creation, in some way their child, had been defeated, it had finished him off), even then he had enjoyed sneaking up on her.
"Apologies my dear," he told her, hardly contrite, "I was merely wondering how your date was. After all, Agent McCall will be useful to us going forward, and it wouldn't do for his superiors to pay any closer attention to our aims here, not when we are so close, not this close to the completion of Project Typhon," he told her, falling into step beside her as she shuffled towards her quarters, eager to get into her boiler suit herself.
One, it simply wasn't good medical practice not to wear it when one was experimenting on the filthy animals in their custody, and two, it helped with her injuries, being out of it was manageable yes, but only with a good few shots of pain killers if she was to be out of it for an extended period, as she had been this afternoon for her date with McCall. But it was all for the Directive, all with the ultimate goal in mind: the eradication of the supernatural and the completion of Project Typhon. She would have no use for McCall at all otherwise, he was hardly her type.
"It went fine," she told him, the retina scanner that functioned as her door's lock scanning her eye and admitting the two of them into her quarters.
As one of the vaunted three Dread Doctors, she had one of the three large sets of quarters on the top level of their facility. A handsome queen-sized bed was in the corner of the room, flanked by a bedside table, facing the ensuite bathroom. Her living area was decorated with dark oak bookcases, filled with her university books, along with other books on her chosen profession. Other books, detailing myths, monsters and other aspects of the supernatural filled out her collection. Various pieces of art marked her walls, taken from the various places they had visited during their travels to their satellite facilities across the globe, including many pieces of African art, one of her favourite places to visit, thoroughly fascinating stuff, not to mention where she had discovered the key to Project Typhon. Her small kitchenette was kept clean and orderly, and her coffee pot was still blinking, as she had forgotten to empty it before she had left. At her desk were numerous other books, and her laptop where she wrote various articles for publication, along with writing her reports for the Directive (an irritating form of oversight that the Benefactor insisted on, it was very tedious). Next to her desk was a further small bookcase, this time filled with her little guilty pleasures: romance novels, her record player and her various records, and her DVD collection (Frasier was her favourite show, and was currently on season eight of her most recent rewatch) but she did have other shows as well.
"Good, it would not do for him to meddle." Valack pointed out, tutting in disappointment as he emptied the old coffee pot, and she felt herself going a little red.
She had encountered him when she was at university, first. There, he had revealed to her the truth. There, he had recruited her for the Directive, with Turnbull joining him and Urbaniak, one of the three Dread Doctors, all of them united by their shared mission: the extermination of every foul thing in this world that went bump in the night, to wipe out these beasts that dared lay claim to a world meant for humans. The first year…it wasn't easy. Urbaniak had assured her it had happened to him too, but it hadn't been pleasant. Her stomach still churned every time she thought back to the procedures she had had to endure. Trepanation, to increase her capabilities, to transcend the bounds of mortal imagination and to become more than a mere human, to become…more. But the procedure had been unpleasant, as had the others, the others that had solidified her place as one of the Dread Doctors, giving her the same electrokinetic abilities as the other two, and so, Penelope Turnbull, not long out of university, on a mission to repair the world, to eradicate the supernatural, had cast off the shackles of her previous life, and had truly become the Geneticist.
And now, the three of them were so close, they could almost taste it!
Ignoring Valack as he busied himself tidying her kitchenette, she donned her boiler suit, breathing a sigh of relief as she did so, she could feel the pain alleviating as the suit took some of the pressure off of her wounds, greatly reducing the pain she was always in. Sighing in relief as the little acupuncture like needles entered her body, she could feel the diluted Elysium (she alone had discovered its pain management properties, before now Valack had used it primarily to enhance his own lifespan) flowing round her body, returning her to as close to normal as she got.
"He won't meddle," she promised as she donned her facemask, breathing around the apparatus, the Elysium gas starting to circulate inside her boiler suit.
That was better, much better, the pain had faded to a slight niggle now, like when one had a corn on their toe, instead of feeling like one was bathing in fire. And the fact that the Elysium gas helped keep her young (she was the youngest of the Dread Doctors by a considerable amount, being in her thirties, nearly half of the age of Urbaniak, and he was but a fraction of the age of Valack, roughly about a fifth of his age) was an added bonus.
However, he seemed uninterested in her response. Valack was looking at her, a slight smile on his face as he did so, an eerie blue glow coming from his third eye in the centre of his head, his prescience clearly having afforded him some glimpse into what was to come.
"I would have thought you would dress up my dear, after all, you've been looking forward to this meeting for so long, you might at least wear a nice frock." He chided, and she rolled her eyes, like they wore much else.
Wait, what!?
"Them?" she hissed with cold excitement, as what he had said sunk in, and he nodded.
"Yes. Tonight is date night after all. And it's been so long. I'll leave you to prepare the welcoming committee shall I?" he asked graciously, his mask sliding into place as he gave a dark chuckle and swept out of her quarters, while Turnbull licked her lips in excitement.
Tonight, after all these years, she was going to see them, and then she would settle this: once and for all.
XX
"-and now Savannah's trying to take her pack out of town, but I can't help but think that that's a bad idea." Scott told Dr Finch as the two of them worked on a rather subdued husky to get some tics out of him, poor Balto wasn't enjoying his visit.
Finch frowned as she pried another tic out of Balto's body, trusting Scott to keep the dog calm (there were some benefits to having an Alpha as an assistant) while worked on poor Balto, scratching the poor dog behind his ears.
"You can't keep them here Scott." She chided, wincing as she pulled out another, patting Balto, who gave a sorrowful howl as she did so, behind the ears.
Scott nodded, rubbing the poor dog's ears to calm him down.
"I know that, and I get that the Deadpool and all is a pretty good reason to want to leave town, especially after another poacher nearly got them all, but it seems risky to me, at least here they've got a better chance of working with us, save them getting picked off while they've got their back turned." He reasoned, and she had to admit, he had a point about that.
"I've heard of Savannah's pack Scott, and she isn't a pushover." She told him, wincing as poor Balto whined a little as she removed a particularly stubborn tic from his coat, and he nodded.
"I'm not saying she is. But something took down Satomi's pack, looks like something has taken out Jacqui's too, and it all points to this Directive with their poachers, picking packs off. And if Savannah leaves, we won't be able to keep as easy an eye on them, and we know they're targeting us, how do we know they aren't targeting your pack as well? The same thing applies, we don't know enough about this Directive, or what they want, and if Savannah suddenly leaves town where we can't keep an eye on things, the Directive might be able to finish what they started."
Finch frowned, removing what she hoped was the final tic from the aggrieved dog. He did have a point. After all, Satomi had the largest pack in the world, Jacqui herself was no pushover, yet the Directive, whoever or whatever they were, had targeted them and had taken them down. Furthermore, Scott was just starting out, at least in the general scheme of things. Finch however had contact with other packs, and to her consternation, other packs had also vanished, including Alistair and his whole family. Talon and his pack had also gone to ground, however, she had a suspicion that that was more to do with Talon and his heritage than anything else, but perhaps she was just being optimistic.
But the thing was, were all the disappearances the work of this Directive? Was there a Deadpool on all the werewolf packs? Was the Directive the hidden puppeteer behind all this, orchestrating these events, picking off packs?
Or, more alarmingly, were the disappearances just symptoms of a larger problem: the fact that the three sleeping leviathans of the supernatural world were now starting to wake up, and to those who could listen, the drums of war were just beginning to beat on the horizon?
"You might be right. I've tried to curtail Quinn's socialising, but she's being a bit stubborn about it." She admitted ruefully, and Scott grinned as they started to hose a now much happier Balto down, who was giving a howl of victory now that the horrid tics were all out of his fur and body.
"Well think of it from her point of view, you've dragged her across the country to the supernatural murder capital of the US, which routinely has psychos running amok, all for some debt you owed Deaton. I can see why she'd be a bit restive." He pointed out, grinning, and she chuckled as they washed Balto, who was now happily trying to give them both kisses.
"You do raise a good point. Yes, thank you Balto, you're very kind," she told the husky, who was now wagging his tail happily, proceeding to soak the place as he did so, "but if you'd like to wait a little we can get you washed off, dried off and off to bed and then you can go home in the morning."
As the two of them joined forces to finish washing off Balto, then proceeding to dry him, Finch watched Scott curiously. From the point of view as his boss, she couldn't be happier. He was very dedicated, keen to learn, experienced, and had a wonderful manner that put both the animals and their owners at ease. He would be a wonderful vet one day (provided his school work didn't penalise him, what with nearly dying every other week having an impact on his education). But it was his role as the True Alpha that greatly intrigued her. He had clearly overcome many obstacles in his short time as a werewolf, and an Alpha. This young man had become the champion defender of Beacon Hills, determined to protect everyone that he could, dedicated to saving lives. What was more, his pack followed his lead, working tirelessly to protect the people of Beacon Hills from the various monstrosities that seemed determined to use the place as their killing grounds. And here he was, yet again being called on to defend his town, and he was once more ensuring that everyone else was safe, trying to protect everyone he could against the forces that are out there.
She prayed he never lost that spark that made him him.
With Balto now dried off, chomping on a treat in his cage where he would spend the night, Scott and Finch talked about his biology lessons, his other school work, and Finch did enjoy speaking with him, he was a very engaging young man. Since he had learned who she truly was, the two had become closer, with Finch learning a great deal about the local pack and all that it entailed, and all of their former battles. She did enjoy working with him, and looked forward to their shifts together. The door buzzed as someone else entered the clinic, disturbing her from her thoughts.
Scott headed into the reception area, and stopped as he saw the man who had entered. He was taller than Scott, taller than Isaac even, and was well but not powerfully built. Despite that however there was something about him as he strolled leisurely towards the service desk that set Scott's teeth on edge. He had close cut brown hair, a little stubble about his face and blue eyes which seemed as though they were, distant, Scott supposed, but he got the impression that there was also little empathy inside them, as unlike the nice, ocean blue that Isaac's were, with their hidden depths (that belonged solely to him of course) this shade of blue seemed more menacing somehow.
"Hello there. Wonder if you can help me," the man said, leaning on the desk while Finch peered round the doorway curiously while she cleaned her instruments, and Scott got a whiff of his breath, smelling of stale smoke and whisky, and struggled to remain in control of his facial expression, "see there was an incident the other day. A little puppy, cute little thing, got away from me. Horribly wounded it was, but I think it will come back stronger, but need to make sure it's alright, see what I'm saying? Have you seen any wounded puppies by any chance?" he asked, his voice light, but Scott didn't have to be the True Alpha to figure out there was more to his request, an undercurrent of menace, of warning, and Scott could smell the chemosignals coming off him, deep-seated rage, anger, bitterness…
And as he waited for Scott to answer, the man moved his right hand into view, and Scott felt terror clutch his heart. The man's right hand itself seemed normal enough, in and of itself. However on his fingers weren't nails, or even the usual werewolf claws. Instead he had massive, thick talons that seemed to glow slightly under the clinic's lights, shining an eerie, subdued blue. Twice the length of Scott's own claws, with serrated insides, they looked extremely lethal, and far more intimidating than the claws of a werewolf. Scott could feel his heart hammering in his chest as he struggled to maintain control, and coolly looked at the man, who had a sinister, predatory smile on his face.
"No, we haven't had any puppies brought in," he replied in an even tone, and the man sighed, smiling as though unbothered, and stood upright again.
"Ah well, didn't hurt to check. I'd best keep looking." He concluded, and Scott narrowed his eyes.
"I'm sure the puppy will be fine. They're likely safe by now, with people who'll look after it." He commented, trying to keep the rage from his voice, and behind the counter, his hands were shaking as the man affected an innocent smile.
"I'm glad to hear it! I hope to meet these good Samaritans in the near future." He replied, voice full of hidden meaning, before giving Scott a cheerful wave and leaving the clinic.
Scott growled angrily, as Finch came up behind him, her own face a mask of concern.
"What was that about?" she asked darkly, looking at the door where the man had left, a sense of unease in her stomach.
Scott fought down the wave of revulsion he felt as he considered the man, the blood that had been covering Liam, the terror that had been inflicted on his Beta, and he took a deep breath, wincing as his claws, which had grown inadvertently, were extracted from his palms, the blood he had elicited from them dribbling down his palms and round his fingers.
"That was the guy who attacked Liam." He told her darkly, and her eyes flashed in shock.
"You're sure?" she asked breathlessly, and he nodded.
"Definitely, it had to be him. He had the glowing talons but it's like they weren't activated or something, they weren't glowing that much, but maybe it's different at night? He's looking for Liam." He growled with certainty, and Finch laid a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm the younger Alpha.
"Breathe Scott. This man hunted you here, he's doing this to get under your skin. He's looking for Liam, perhaps to finish the job, or perhaps just to taunt you, but either way, he tracked you here. He is trying to goad you into something stupid. Go home, see to your pack. I'll do the same," she admitted, and he looked at her in slight surprise, "he came here after all, he might have twigged that I'm also an Alpha. We'll shut early, we only have another two patients anyway, we can blame power issues. Go and see to your pack, make sure they're safe. And don't do anything stupid. I feel that that might be exactly what that guy was wanting," she told him darky, as she started to close up the clinic, and Scott could feel his stomach churning in alarm as he considered the man who had mauled Liam.
He had hunted down the youngest member of the pack, tore him apart, and was now hunting for him again. The guy had tracked Scott to the clinic, and like Dr Finch had said, might also have realised that she was also present. They had to move fast.
But, Scott wondered darkly, where the hell did he move to best protect his pack, the people he cared about the most when an unseen, insidious enemy was trying to wipe them out, and making people disappear?
XX
Stiles had erected his crime board in the living room of the McCall house, and now he and Allegra were examining the board while Isaac scrutinised the pictures that they had taken of the soldiers, now printed off to add to Stiles' crime board.
"I have to say dear, I'm very impressed. With the idea, the thought process, not the pilfered police property." Allegra commented idly, sipping the cup of tea in her hand, and Stiles went a little red while Isaac sniggered behind them.
"Well, in my defence, we deal with just as much crap as the cops, so why not? And aren't I the most important member of the pack?" he asked Isaac with a grin, wondering just how he would respond, and Isaac shot him a bemused look.
Obviously, Isaac considered Scott the most important member of the pack, one he was the Alpha, two, he was his boyfriend, but that aside, while Stiles and Lydia were indeed the brains of the outfit, as far as he was concerned, there were a couple of people even more important to the pack than even them, one was Melissa as she looked after them all, and the other was…
"No, Kira is." He replied, and both Allegra and Stiles looked at him, Stiles a little lost.
"How's Kira the important one?" he asked, completely at sea, and Isaac smirked.
"She makes good life decisions." He replied, and there was a dawning look of comprehension on his face as he nodded.
"No, he's right, that does make her our most vital member." He told Allegra fairly, who looked vaguely alarmed, but decided to overlook the implications of the rest of the pack's life decisions if Kira, a thunder wielding kitsune, was their most vital member.
Deciding that she didn't want to delve too deeply down that rabbit hole, she looked at the crime board, and the various pieces of evidence that they had accumulated, between her own suspicions, Stiles' paranoia and the general unease about everything going wrong in town. She took another sip of tea, thankful that it was helping to soothe her nerves after their rather exciting afternoon, her head buzzing with the various strands of the case. And as she quietly surveyed the board, she couldn't help but feel proud of Stiles, and the way he pieced all the information together. He would be a damn fine cop one day, she was certain of it, in fact, despite the infancy of their investigation, he seemed to have made considerable progress on his own, with little input from the rest of the pack.
"Grams! Isaac, Stiles!" Scott called as he entered the house, and the three of them exchanged a briefly alarmed look, wondering if they had enough time to hide the soldier photos, after all, he was home far earlier than he was meant to be.
"Hello darling," Allegra said, taking the lead as Stiles and Isaac frantically tried to hide the evidence of their field trip behind her, "you're home early."
Scott entered the living room, to see his best friend and his boyfriend frantically hiding stuff under some of the papers on the coffee table. He raised an eyebrow at them expectantly, and both desisted, Isaac looking vaguely shamefaced as he looked at his grandmother.
"The guy who attacked Liam came into the clinic," he told them darkly, and the three of them looked alarmed as Isaac got up from the couch, coming to Scott's side and kissing his cheek in greeting.
"You sure it was him?" Stiles asked anxiously, and Scott nodded, looking worried.
"Yeah, he's searching for Liam. Dr Finch shut the clinic early, since he tracked me there, he might be able to track her too, so she let me go so we can deal with stuff, and she can check on her pack. What's going on here?" he asked suspiciously, and both Stiles and Isaac avoided his gaze, Stiles looking mildly terrified, and Isaac looking shyly away from him, and Scott felt his irritation flare, while Allegra looked at them both in disbelief, throwing her free hand into the air in exasperation.
"Seriously? You deal with supernatural monstrosities on a daily basis, you just dealt with a madman, and you cower when he comes in? Honestly! The two of you would not hold up well under torture!" she sniped, and Isaac looked at her in protest.
"Well, I've already been tortured this week already!" he exclaimed petulantly, and she had to admit, that was a good excuse.
Stiles didn't share this view however.
"And I was tortured by something possessing my own body! So no, we wouldn't!" he admitted, and she rolled her eyes, honestly.
Scott glared at the two of them, and sent a reproachful look at Isaac.
"You were meant to be laying low and staying in all day, and you were meant to be watching him! Isaac you nearly died yesterday!" he insisted, trying not to sound angry, he wasn't really, he was worried more than anything else, and Allegra laid a hand on his chest, electing to come to their rescue.
"And from what you've said, it wasn't the first time, horrible though it is, if you want to blame anyone, blame me." She told him tartly, and he shot her a menacing grin.
"I'll find a horrible care home for you," he promised her, and she shot him a vaguely unsettled look, that was a tad below the belt, "alright, let's hear it."
"We went to the preserve." Stiles told him, crossing to his crime board, while Isaac hesitantly held his hand out for Scott to take, and after giving him an admonishing look, he did take his hand, raised it to kiss, which made Isaac smile, before they all stood looking at the crime board.
"Any reason?" he asked, frowning as he looked at the crime board.
"My gut. Whatever is going on in this town, it all stems back to the preserve, which also means, if I'm right, it links back to the death of both Jackson's birth parents, and Garrett's too. I think, whatever is happening in this town, and whatever happened here seventeen years ago, it all stems back to the preserve, so we went to satisfy my curiosity," Allegra explained, finishing off her tea.
"Did you find anything?" he asked, and Isaac took the photos they had printed off from the table and passed them to Scott.
"Soldiers. Lots of them," he said darkly, and Scott's eyes widened in shock as he looked at the photos, "and I sent the pictures to both Argent and Camden. Those weapons aren't in use by the US military, or even any other one so far as they know. And the uniforms, from what Camden seems to think, he reckons they're some sort of private army, judging from the insignia on their uniforms and visors," he explained, pointing at the snake eating its own tail that they could just make out, and a further sketch that he had done to reinforce the point.
"Ouroboros." Stiles interjected helpfully, hanging the sketch of Ouroboros on the crime board.
"Yeah, that. And from what he said, the fact that there was eight of them, it seems weird. And from what they were saying, they were hunting something, or someone, and Cam reckons that eight soldiers might be a search and detain team. And they were happily strolling through the preserve, looking for something, or someone, and also looking for the crocodile."
Scott frowned as he surveyed the entire crime board. Soldiers moving through the preserve with an Ouroboros symbol on their uniforms. The Popobawa. The guy with the glowing claws attacking Liam and almost killing him. The disappearances of numerous kids both now and seventeen years ago, including the ones who had vanished the same time as Clive Mariner, who seemed to be the Popobawa. The mass grave with numerous bodies including both new and old victims of the disappearances. The eclectic weather. The bizarre and inexplicable return of William Barrow who had become a very powerful supernatural since their last encounter. The poachers, Crockett, the Deadpool with all their names on it. The attacks on Satomi and Savannah's pack, and the high likelihood that Jacqui had also been taken, which meant that Scott's pack was now isolated from the rest of the supernatural world. The man-eating crocodile going around killing people. The kids in the hospital with their brain and testosterone all drained. The deaths of Jackson and Garrett's birth parents.
None of it added up, and if his grandmother was right, it all stemmed back to the same place: Devil's Corner, and the expanse of the preserve that it encompassed. His mind was buzzing as he considered things, considered his options.
During their fight with Agravaine, he had been hesitant. Having lost Allison so soon before they fought him, on top of nearly losing Stiles, Isaac and Aiden, not to mention his own resistance of his position as Alpha (not to mention being helped along by Agravaine and his corruption of the Nemeton and Peter's machinations), he hadn't been a particularly good leader during that crisis, at least not until he owned his role as the Alpha. The mutiny that had ripped the pack asunder had been his fault too (not as much as he had believed at the time, that was mainly too many egos and Agravaine's baleful influence) and he wasn't going to let that happen again.
Beacon Hills was under attack.
His pack was under attack.
And as the True Alpha of Beacon Hills, the Guardian of the Nemeton, he had a job to do.
"Summon the others," he ordered, he was sick of waiting around to be attacked, and he wanted answers, "all of them. Something is happening in the preserve. We're going to find out what."
Isaac smiled proudly, as Stiles grinned, and Allegra sent him a proud look, as Isaac went into the group chat, and put out an all points alert to the others:
'S.O.S, everyone come to Scott's house ASAP'.
Across town, the pack, older generation and younger, old pack members and new, all received the message, all of them summoned by their Alpha to answer this newest threat to Beacon Hills, the town he, and by extension they, were sworn to defend.
XX
The living room was full of the various pack members chatting as they waited for their briefing/meeting whatever you wanted to call it, to start. Melissa stood in the doorway as the pack all chatted and talked while Scott, Stiles and Isaac stood in the kitchen, writing on bits of paper, their heads all bowed as they discussed their plans, and she couldn't help but feel a wave of terrified pride as she surveyed her three boys. They had certainly grown into their roles as the leaders of the pack, and while she was less than happy that the three of them, hell she wasn't happy that any of them were involved in all this, she couldn't help but feel proud of how far they had all come in such a short space of time. A few months ago, she, like Isaac, would gladly have never seen most of the pack again after what they had done to Scott, but now, it was like they were all family. She smiled ruefully, at one point, she and Rafe had discussed the idea of having more than one child, but what with one thing and another, it had never happened. But now, here she was, probably the woman in town with the most kids: twenty-one at last count.
And she wouldn't swap them for the world, even Jackson, much as she complained about him, she thought with a slight smile.
Her three boys had clearly decided on something, and they headed into the living room, and Melissa followed them to see the whole pack assembled before her eyes, including various adult members/allies: Scott, Stiles and Isaac were standing at the crime board; Jackson, Danny, Melody and Malia were all sitting on the couch; Liam, Kira, Garrett, Neo and Brooke were all sitting on the floor next to the crime board, giving Liam in particular the illusion of looking up at Scott as though he were at preschool looking up at his teacher; Derek and Braeden were leaning by the window; Aiden was sitting on the remaining chair with Lydia on his lap while Ethan sat on one of the arms and Violet sat on the other; Camden, Kaisha and Parrish were hanging back from the rest of the crowd with an uncomfortable looking Lori; Allegra was at the far end of the room with John and Argent, and they had also been joined by Gareth and Natasha to round out the meeting, having been brought by Argent for the meeting.
She could feel the anticipation, excitement and respect in the room, as they all waited for two important things: Scott to start talking, and for the arrival of the pizza guy. She was insanely grateful that this had happened on a Tuesday, god bless Dominos and their Two for Tuesday deal. The bell rang, and she headed to answer it, her mother, John and Argent all following her through.
"Thank god we don't have too many pack meetings." Allegra commented as she opened the door, revealing the poor driver currently balancing eight large pizzas, a number of sides, and numerous bottles of juice.
"I'll get it Melissa, as thanks for you letting me store my surplus Glocks in your garage," Argent told her, and she rolled her eyes in amusement, bless him, he was determined to try and shift them but John had refused to take any off his hands and now he was trying to find homes for them all.
Argent liberated the pizzas from the poor driver, passing him a generous tip as he shut the door.
"I'll take some." John offered, but Argent shook his head.
"Don't be silly, I've got them." He told him, heading through to deliver the pizzas to the coffee table.
"He wasn't here last time was he?" Allegra asked in amusement as Melissa held a very confused John back, and she shook her head, grinning.
"No. He's about to learn though."
A split second later, an ashen-faced Chris ran out the door, slamming his back into the wall as he looked at the others in disbelief, panting in panic.
"My god, it's like feeding a tank of piranhas! My whole life flashed before my eyes…it was really boring," he mused, as the other three laughed, and Argent weakly checked to make sure he had the same number of fingers as he had come in with before following them through.
With the pack all now contentedly munching on pizza (thank god for paper plates) they all looked at Scott, who pinched a doughball off Stiles plate when his best friend wasn't looking (Stiles looked at his plate in confusion once he looked back, and then looked on the floor in case it had fallen) before looking at his pack assembled before him, including the new additions.
"Ok guys, I called you all here tonight because something weird is going on." Scott began, and Stiles nodded fervently.
"Too true, where's the damn doughball?" he demanded grumpily, and Scott supressed a smirk before he continued.
"The disappearances that have been happening the last few months, Liam almost getting killed, the Popobawa, the Deadpool, the poachers, all of it. It's been happening for months now. Earlier, grams went into the preserve with Stiles and Isaac," he explained, throwing the three in question a dirty look, only for all three of them to roll their eyes, "and they saw a group of soldiers patrolling the preserve. We've checked, whoever these soldiers are, they aren't part of the army, and we're pretty confident that they're not meant to be there. We think these soldier guys are linked to whatever is going on, I think all of it is connected, the soldiers, the Deadpool, the disappearances, the Popobawa, even the crocodile, maybe even the kids getting brain drained. Something is going on inside the preserve. Something in there isn't right, and it's getting worse. It's creepy, and now all our names, even the newcomers," he said, indicating Brooke, Lori and Neo, "are all on this Deadpool. Someone is hunting us, sending poachers like Crockett and madmen like Barrow after us, and if we're right, whatever is going on around here, it's all linked to the preserve, all of it. Especially after Braeden found weird tracks inside the preserve, and that creepy jeep was watching the patrol last night. We're under attack, something is going on, and I'm sick of it. So, I want to take the pack into the preserve, and see if we can find out what the hell's going on. What do you all think?" he asked, showing a hint of nervousness for the first time as he looked to his pack for their opinions, and he looked at them all, waiting on their input.
For a second none of them talked at all, and then, predictably, they all started talking at once. Rolling his eyes, Isaac gave a sharp whistle, shutting them all up instantly, and Scott, throwing a thankful look to his boyfriend, looked at Jackson, who, rather politely, had raised his hand, and nodded at him.
"So, last time you didn't want to do anything, and now you want all of us to go strolling into the preserve, where we could find god knows what, and hope we find something?" he asked, ignoring the slight growl from Isaac, and Scott sighed, looking at him helplessly.
"Jackson, what do you want from me? When it was Agravaine, you and several others," he griped, and the mutineers all went very red and suddenly became very interested in their pizza, avoiding their Alpha's gaze, "were all constantly bitching that I wasn't doing enough, and now I'm being proactive and you still aren't satisfied! Or would you rather we all just sat around waiting to be attacked again, which you all were quite happy to accuse me of last time?" Scott asked.
He didn't sound angry, or bitter. He didn't even sound upset. But Jackson, and the other mutineers, who had very nearly gotten Scott killed due to their little rebellion, felt a wave of guilt wash through them. They had nearly destroyed Scott back then, and while Scott seemed to have moved past it, there was still the sight of his rather menacing and volatile Prime Beta standing protectively behind him, his eyes glowing gold as he glowered at everyone who had nearly gotten Scott killed, nearly taken him from him.
And besides, just because he didn't sound angry or upset, didn't mean he wasn't. They all knew that he kept coming back to that point, and that while Scott had forgiven them, there was a vast difference between forgiving them, and forgetting it had ever happened…and forgetting what his so-called friends had helped do to him.
Jackson raised his hands placatingly, throwing an anxious look at Isaac (not that he believed Isaac's claims that he could take him, but yeah, if he was honest, Isaac would rip him in two) and looked at his Alpha.
"Look, I'm not having a go, I swear! I'm just a bit worried about the idea of walking into the preserve when we don't know what we might be walking in to, that's all. I mean, these guys have soldiers, this Directive, if you're right and they're all connected. Soldiers with guns, and not to mention the thing that attacked Liam, the Popobawa, and a crocodile too!" he explained, and Scott had to admit, he did have a point about that at least.
And truth be told, he knew that it was a lot to ask, and risky. Isaac had objected primarily to the fact that they might run into the crocodile (he wasn't a fan of reptiles, which Scott mused, might have had something to do with Jackson being the kanima and killing his dad) but he did support the rest of it.
Aiden looked nervously at Scott, then shrugged.
"Yeah, but Jackson, Scott has a point. If it is all happening inside the preserve, whatever it is, maybe if we go in, we might at least get some idea. Yeah, we might be walking into a trap, like with the prison break…but look around. There's loads of us now, and we're a lot stronger and better than we were back then. And it's not like Scott would want us to put ourselves in danger if we had any other choice."
Jackson nodded, conceding the point, and Stiles then chimed in.
"And he's right, the longer we wait, the more chance this Directive has to attack us…and it wasn't exactly fun when Agravaine was sending revenants after us. It all comes back to something happening inside the preserve, and whoever is behind all this has already sent Barrow and Crockett after us. What else do we risk coming after us if we don't go in?" he asked, and Scott shrugged, and it killed Melissa to see her son look so uncertain all of a sudden as he looked at Jackson.
"I don't like it either Jackson, do you think I want us to go traipsing through the preserve and potentially walking into a trap? But something is going on, and the sooner we find out what it is, the safer we'll be. But whatever you guys decide, I'll go along with." He told them, and Lydia felt her heart pang with remorse.
Scott, when everything was going well, was a brilliant Alpha. When everything was going to shit, he was also an amazing Alpha, as when forced into a corner, he rallied his pack behind him, united them all and led them to victory. It was these moments, when things were potentially about to go to shit, that was when it became obvious, and usually at Jackson's hands, as Jackson lived to be contrary and to play devil's advocate (which would be alright if he didn't do it in such a way that it almost destroyed Scott in the process), when it became obvious. Scott had chosen a path, and genuinely believed it was the right course of action, and had Stiles and Isaac behind him (during the whole Agravaine thing, he hadn't had Stiles, which hadn't helped), but now that Jackson was second guessing him, Scott was becoming unsure, and however they span it, there was one sole reason for that indecision: his friends that had called him useless, that had blamed him for everything going wrong, that had ripped him apart and nearly gotten him killed during their war with the dogs.
She opened her mouth to speak, but to her surprise, Jackson got to his feet and hesitantly approached Scott (keeping just outside Isaac's immediate reach as the Prime Beta, eyes glowing, was growling warningly, and Jackson had to know the wrong move now would likely result in getting one of his knives embedded in his eye), and laid a hand on Scott's wrist.
"Scott, I swear, I'm not trying to be a dick, I promise. I just don't like the idea of stumbling blindly into the preserve without a plan." He told him softly, looking at Scott earnestly, and Scott allowed himself a small smile.
"I do have a plan you idiot," he told him, and the tension seemed to start to dissipate, as Jackson grinned ruefully, "I don't want us stumbling around in the dark either. And besides, they," he told him, indicating Stiles and Isaac, who were glaring at Jackson, "wanted to just send you in as bait, but I talked them out of it," he said with a grin, and Jackson smiled.
"Well, thanks. So what is the plan?" he asked, sitting back down, and Scott pointed to the map that Stiles had put on the board.
"We split into four different groups of six. A heavy hitter in each group, and a trained gunman," he explained, gesturing widely at the room, "to make sure everyone is covered. We then all split up, following the tracks of the soldiers, or the tracks Braeden found, and if we find anything, we all converge on the same place. I'm hoping surrounding whatever we find with twenty odd people will hopefully put paid to anything we might run into, and even if not, we should still have enough firepower to hopefully deal with it. We go, we look, we might not find anything and can come back and do homework. But better to be prepared."
Scott then detailed where each group, led by a heavy hitter (so the Alpha, the kitsune, the Banshee or the Djinn) and backed up by a trained gunman (in other words one of the hunters or Parrish) would lead their group. Melissa and John exchanged significant looks, they didn't like it, but Scott was doing everything he could to make sure they would all be safe. Sadly, or perhaps better in some ways, the two of them wouldn't be joining the excursion, with Melissa staying behind with Allegra to help oversee the operation, and John had to go back to the office since Parrish was joining the pack.
"And the new communication sets I acquired do work, which will help us all coordinate, each leader will have a radio, and Allegra and Melissa will help coordinate from here too." Argent explained.
He had spotted the comm sets and had elected to purchase a couple, figuring it would help in regards to his efforts to protect the pack as they sought to protect Beacon Hills. Scott had been shocked and had insisted it was too much, and they weren't cheap, but Argent had assured him it didn't matter, and he had meant it. He'd rather know all the kids were safe, he was very fond of them, even Scott, and especially Isaac, and he wanted to make sure they were all safe. And if it meant that Melissa or any of the others didn't have to go through what he had gone through, so much the better.
"It's not a bad plan," Natasha commented from the back of the room, and Scott looked at the huntress, he still wasn't sure he liked the woman, she was rather scary, but he couldn't deny she was good at what she did, "only thing is we might not find anything, but at least it's a start."
"So, everyone goes, everyone is in constant communication, and if we find anything, we holler alright?" Stiles asked the room at large, to a chorus of agreement, and Scott smiled, relieved they'd sorted that out.
"Who's in each group?" Garrett asked with interest, and the three pack leaders winced, and Scott looked at him apologetically.
"I'm sorry Garrett, but you're staying here."
"WHAT?"
"I'm sorry buddy, but you got blown up yesterday! If you hadn't been, I'd love to have you along, but you're still too wounded, even if Neo has now healed you," Scott explained, and hated himself as Garrett glowered petulantly at him, "hey, you're one of our best shooters, I'd love to have you in the group, but until you get the official all clear tomorrow, you're staying put. I'm sorry."
Garrett opened his mouth to argue, but could see that it was pointless, and reluctantly sighed. During the war with the dogs, many of them (not that he had been one) had forgotten what Scott was all about: saving his friends. And Scott would do anything to protect his friends, and wanted to make sure Garrett was safe. But it didn't mean he had to like it, or the fact that his brother would be out there without him.
"Scott…" he whined, and Scott crouched down to look him in the eye, and he patted his shoulder.
"I know buddy, you're our best trainee hunter," he said with a grin, as he could practically feel the outraged look Violet was currently throwing at his back, "and I'd rather you were there with us. But this time dude, you need to sit it out, I'm sorry. You can defend home base, and mom and grams. Please?" he asked, begging Garrett not to be too difficult, and the trainee hunter sighed, but did nod bitterly, and Scott let out a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding.
"I'm the best trainee hunter," Violet grumbled to herself, making the others grin.
Scott was about to inform everyone of the groups when the doorbell rang. Briefly shocked as virtually everyone Scott knew was actually in the house (he even did a quick headcount to confirm it) he gently picked his way through the living room to the door, and opened it to find his dad on the other side.
Oh dear, if he wanted to come in, that would lead to a very difficult conversation….
"Hi Scott, I just wondered, would you and Isaac like to go get something to eat?" he asked hopefully.
To make up for his behaviour the night before, McCall had sent flowers to both Allegra and Melissa as way of apology, and had also gifted a bottle of scotch to John to help smooth things over. After his pleasant coffee date with Penelope earlier, he had hoped to catch Scott and hopefully get some dinner, and Scott could tell that he was earnest in his desire to go to dinner with them.
"Oh, sorry dad, we've already ate, and we're kind of in the middle of something," Scott replied apologetically, but his dad was actually making an effort and he felt a little bad, "but we could maybe do tomorrow?" he offered, and Rafe shrugged.
"It's not your fault, it was just on the off chance. But yeah, another time sounds good. How about Thursday? I can't do tomorrow night, I've…I've got a date." He admitted, and immediately regretted it as Scott grinned teasingly.
"You have a date?" he taunted in delighted disbelief, and Rafe chuckled, raising a finger to wag at Scott's face.
"Yes, I do, the old man does have a life you know. I see how it is, your mom can date but I can't, is that it?" he asked, and inside, Melissa and John exchanged panicked looks.
"Thanks Rafe!" Melissa yelled waspishly from inside, and Scott looked at his dad, and back towards the living room, then back to his dad.
"Mom's dating?" Scott demanded incredulously, and Rafe groaned, well how was he to know she hadn't told him she was dating John?
"Heh, sorry Melissa! Um, ok, so, Thursday then?" he asked, and Scott briefly confirmed it before bidding his dad goodbye and heading back into the living room, fixing his mother with a disbelieving look.
"You're dating?" he demanded in shock, and Melissa groaned, kneading her forehead with her knuckles.
"See, this is exactly why you shouldn't lie!" she complained, while Allegra giggled.
"How long has this been going on? Why didn't you tell me? Who is it?" Scott persisted, and Melissa shrugged.
"Well, the last man I dated you were a brat to!" she told him childishly, and he raised his eyebrow.
"Mom, the last guy you dated was Peter, who bit me, wanted to tear your skin off, murdered dozens of people and has tried to kill me repeatedly! Why didn't you tell me you were dating?" he whined, and Stiles sniggered.
"Great Alpha observation skills buddy," he teased, however as he did so, he noticed that the rest of the pack were sending him odd looks, and also that they all seemed rather…disinterested in this fairly earthshattering revelation.
"Like you're any better, I've been dating too, and you haven't even noticed." John told him idly, and Stiles twisted his head around so quickly he was lucky it didn't become disconnected from his spine.
"What? You're dating? Who? For how long?" he demanded incredulously, and John, a slight smile on his face, shrugged.
"About six months or so." He replied easily, and Lydia leaned in close to Aiden, whispering into his ear.
"Any second now…" she told him, and he snorted with amusement, trying hard not to laugh.
"How long have you been dating this guy of yours?" Scott asked his mother, and deciding she might as well enjoy herself, smiled and shrugged.
"About six months or so." She answered easily, and Scott's mouth dropped open.
"Six months? Why didn't you say something?" he demanded, still not putting the dots together, and Allegra shook her head as she looked at Camden in dismay, who was struggling not to laugh.
"It pains me, it physically pains me." She lamented, and Camden burst out laughing, she knew Scott wasn't all there with the brains at times, but come on, Stiles should have put two and two together by now.
"Well, we wanted to see how long it would take you boys to notice, you happy now?" she asked, as John took her hand, and at long last, the penny dropped.
"Wait a minute…you…and you?" Scott demanded with an excited grin, and Stiles also looked at them excitedly, looking between their two parents, and Melissa and John smiled before they nodded, smiling as they did so.
"Yes, us."
The two boys looked delighted with this revelation at least.
"That's so awesome, I can't believe you didn't tell us! Why didn't you tell us?" Scott demanded, and John shrugged.
"Well, at first it was too new, and we didn't want to get hopes up, yours or ours." He reasoned, and Stiles fixed him with a nettled look.
"Yeah, but that was six months ago, why not tell us after?" he complained, and Melissa shrugged.
"Well, truthfully we kind of liked sneaking around, it was fun!" she told him, and both boys rolled their eyes, now if they could just turn their attention back to the mission before anyone let the cat out of the bag…
"Hang on, you guys have been dating for six months, and you're only figuring out now that it's fun…why aren't any of the rest of you as surprised as we are?" Scott asked, and the rest of the pack urgently looked away from their Alpha, determined not to meet his gaze, and so Scott looked at Liam, sitting on the floor in front of him, and Liam let out a small 'eep' sound.
"Wait a minute, you guys all knew?" Stiles demanded incredulously, and Malia nodded eagerly.
"Yeah, we didn't tell you because we all had money riding on it…they didn't need to know that!" she exclaimed, facepalming as both Scott and Stiles looked around in disbelief.
"You all knew they were dating and nobody thought to tell us?" Scott raged, and Isaac shrugged.
"Well, at first, it started as a mutually beneficial relationship, I kept quiet about them, your mom kept quiet about me sleeping with you, it was in our best interests!" he assured Scott, who made a grumpy noise, while Stiles looked at him, unimpressed.
"And when did money become involved?" he asked, and Isaac shrugged, trying not to smile as he avoided Stiles' gaze.
"About a week later. We were all curious to see how long it would take Scott to figure out what was happening on his own, and figured we might as well make some money while we were at it. You would have told Scott, so we didn't tell you." Camden explained, and both boys looked outraged.
"So you didn't tell us as part of some experiment? Are you kidding me? How long have you all known?" Scott cried, and Jackson, trying hard not to smirk, shrugged.
"Dude, it was pretty obvious even when I came back to town, I figured it out in a couple of days, and that was with me being preoccupied with being kidnapped and dying." He told his Alpha, who blew his breath through his teeth in annoyance.
"You were all betting against us?" Stiles demanded of Malia, who shrugged.
"No, we were betting against Scott, you just happened to get involved. But never mind that, who won?" she asked excitedly, and Scott threw his arms in the air in annoyance as Isaac looked at his phone.
"I don't believe you guys, all of you?" he asked his mother, who shrugged, smiling a little.
"Oh don't feel bad honey, it was done out of genuine curiosity…and a desire to make some cash."
Scott shook his head, thoroughly annoyed, and then, a night a few weeks ago sprang to mind…
"Hey, that night we were going to the cinema, and you kept forgetting stuff, you were trying to catch them at it weren't you?" he demanded of his boyfriend as he looked at his phone, having been the coordinator of the betting pool, and Isaac went slightly pink.
"Well, yeah. I'd have gotten away with it too had Stiles' dad not been delayed leaving the station, isn't that right Parrish?" he asked waspishly, and the deputy whistled innocently while avoiding looking at the Prime Beta.
"This is, this is mutiny! Rebellion! A conspiracy against us!" Stiles croaked, truthfully more annoyed that he hadn't twigged to the dating or to the betting pool more than anything else.
"You tried to rig it? Not very sporting of you." Lydia commented snootily, and Isaac raised an eyebrow at her.
"Oh really, says you who insisted on making a statement to the sheriff when that guy tried to snatch your purse and Melissa was patching you up?" Isaac pointed out, and she went scarlet and wisely went silent.
Not that the crook in question had gotten far with his attempt to steal her purse. He had learned, to his detriment, that it was a bad idea to try to rob the girlfriend of a formerly murderous Alpha werewolf with arsonist tendencies.
"All of you, seriously?" Scott sighed, shaking his head.
Truthfully, he was more annoyed that his pack had actually managed to keep all this going for months, and that both he and Stiles hadn't had a clue (they might have given them some vague clue, he could use the cash himself). The dating revelation he was actually genuinely delighted about, he thought with a small smile.
Isaac had found the file he had made to track everyone's bets on how long it would take Scott to figure it out, and he now knew, so he supposed, right, he and Scott had been together about six months, so give or take a week or so, so that meant that it was…
"Son of a bitch!" he groaned, and bitterly handed a twenty to a widely grinning Malia.
"YES! Pay up!" she taunted, and the rest of the pack grumbled and complained, all of them now forced to reluctantly part with their cash.
Scott and Stiles watched in outraged horror as the whole pack, all of them in for twenty bucks apiece, all bitterly, with a lot of grumbling, griping and swearing, passed their money to Malia. And it wasn't just the pack members, hell, even Gareth and Natasha were also passing her money! Neo, Brooke and Lori all were too!
"What, you guys too? You've been here, what, three days!" Scott raged, and Neo shrugged, looking vaguely apologetic.
"Hey, it was a good rate, look at her, she's loaded!" he told him, and Scott had to admit, Malia was now rather rich, as Allegra, the last to hand over, shot her a dirty look.
"Mercenary coyote." She grumbled under her breath, as Malia, still grinning broadly, made a show of putting her illicitly earned cash into her back pocket.
Bitch.
"Anyways, as you were saying?" Isaac asked hopefully, and Scott crossed his arms and stuck his nose in the air.
"Hmph. You can all die for all I care." He sniffed, and Isaac leaned in close to Scott's ear.
"You realise if anything actually does happen to anyone, you'll never forgive yourself?" he pointed out, and despite himself, Scott did smile a little, he was right about that at least, but still, it was the principle of the thing, "alright, fine, I'll take over."
As Isaac let everyone know their group assignments, with surprisingly few objections, Scott and Stiles exchanged nettled looks, the fact that everyone had actually known and nobody had told them! But on the other hand, something both of them had been hoping for since they were kids had actually happened, so they supposed they couldn't be too angry. With everyone now with their assigned groups, the two friends glowered at the rest of the pack (some of them did look slightly shamefaced (Malia, obnoxiously counting her money, did not)) before Stiles looked at Malia.
"You could at least take us out for ice cream or something!" he insisted, and his ex laughed and gave him and Scott a twenty each.
"Here, it's only thanks to you I got it all, if you'd known, you'd probably have won." She told him, and he grinned, while Scott shot him an unimpressed look, and Stiles shrugged.
"What, I would have!" he exclaimed defensively, and Scott shook his head.
He needed new friends.
"Ok, let's go, everyone be safe, stick to your groups, nobody gets hurt, and if you get killed, I'll kill you myself!" Scott told the pack as the large group started to head towards the door (Jackson pulled a protesting Garrett back by the ear and pointed him towards Melissa and Allegra, who at least sent him a commiserating look).
"Isnt that a little redundant?" Danny muttered to Ethan, who sniggered as they left.
In the living room, the last people left standing, Melissa, Allegra and a very mutinous Garrett, looked at the detritus of the entire pack leaving their mess behind them.
"Nice, they all come here, eat me out of house and home, and I get to clear up afterwards." Melissa grumbled, wishing Kaisha had at least done her magic to help with the cleanup.
"Well, they did help decorate the place dear. Now, let's get this place cleaned up and get this fancy thing of Chris' set up. Garrett, I'm going to give you a very important job." Allegra told him, starting to sweep the paper plates into the various open pizza boxes, and he looked at her excitedly.
"Sure, what?" he asked, glad to be included, and she smiled and winked at him.
"Stick the kettle on, if this is going to be a long night, we'll need coffee." She told him, and he scowled at her but did comply while outside, the cars and bikes of the pack roared to life and headed towards the preserve.
Notes are in the next part
