Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf
Two-Pack III
Strauss looked worriedly at the Hilton hotel as he brought his cop car to a stop outside it. Now, in any other town, any crank reports could be easily dismissed, but since starting here, he had found out that any and all bizarre sounding reports did generally have to be investigated. And considering the alarm that had been raised, he wasn't entirely sure why he was investigating this alone.
Admittedly, the sheriff and Parrish had shot out of the station in a hell of a hurry, and Clark was on her mission to find her missing sister, and the others were still dealing with the fallout from the return of William Barrow, but still, he wasn't entirely filled with confidence. A driver who had made the linen delivery to the hotel had called it in, claiming that the hotel just felt…off. Like he thought, anywhere else, he could have easily ignored it, however, that wasn't the case in Beacon Hills. The driver hadn't been sure, but said that the whole thing just seemed weird, that the staff were barely present, and hardly registered his delivery, or even acknowledged that he had been there at all. Having made the run many times, he was a little concerned about the sudden change in the staff demeanour, believing that it was like they were all acting like zombies, and it wasn't until he had bumped into the catering driver that he had suspected that something was amiss, as the catering driver had registered similar concerns, that the staff were acting like zombies, and that the entire place just felt off.
Now, it wouldn't be unheard of for a place like the Hilton to be used as a front for a drug operation, but the Hilton was the most popular hotel in town, and as part of a chain, it was generally strange for these sorts of hotels to be sucked into these sorts of things, too many prying eyes from outside, that was more smaller venues or companies that that happened with. But as Strauss nervously surveyed the Hilton, he couldn't help but feel that the drivers were right, and there was something weird about the place.
Nothing looked out of place, not really. There were still cars in the parking lot, lights were still on, and the place still looked like it was in perfect use, and there was even someone still on the desk. But Strauss couldn't help but think that there was a sort of dodgy air about the whole thing. Nevertheless, as a deputy, he had a responsibility to check this out, so, making sure his gun was loaded and ready to go, he took a deep breath and headed inside.
"Hi, I'm Deputy Strauss with the Beacon Hills sheriff department. Just wondering, have you noticed anything out of place recently? We've had a few reports." He said to the man sitting at the desk as he walked up to him, but the man made no reply.
In fact, the man didn't react at all. He was simply sitting, staring at his computer. Strauss frowned, peering at the computer, and felt his frown deepen. According to the man's screen, every room was currently vacant, all except for the largest suite in the place.
"Sir? Did you hear me? Do you know what's going on here? Is anything wrong?" Strauss asked worriedly, peering at the man, who once again didn't react, just seemed to be intently staring at his screen, not looking at Strauss, or even acknowledging his presence.
Ok, what the hell was going on here?
"Sir, I'm going to take a look around, where are the rest of the staff? The guests?" he asked, his sense of alarm growing as he did so.
The man was almost catatonic, there was no sign of anyone else in the hotel, what the hell was going on here? Where was everyone? One thing was for sure, there was only one occupied room in the building, so that was going to be his first port of call. Wondering briefly if he should call it in, but deciding that he should wait until he had more of an idea what he was dealing with here (had they all had a bad batch of drugs or something? Been spiked? Something in the air maybe?) he settled his fears, and headed towards the elevator.
The doors to the elevator slid open as he approached, and he almost sighed in relief, then took a double take. Now, he knew he was meant to be cooling his jets since splitting from his boyfriend of nearly two years, but damn, the guy leaving the elevator was hot. Tall, well built, muscular, with a neat, trimmed goatee, beautiful blue eyes and long, flowing gold hair, Strauss felt himself get…excited. And that excitement only doubled when he noticed that the well-built muscular guy, clad in workout shorts and a form fitting black tshirt that accented his eight pack abs…had a twin. A man, the exact copy of the first, also emerged from the elevator, virtually identical. Damn, Strauss thought, thank god for them and all he supposed.
"Excuse me, sirs? Could I have a word?" he asked, hurrying towards then, figuring that since they were moving around, they at least seemed to be more help than the guy behind the desk.
The men stopped short as Strauss approached them, and both of them smiled, but Strauss couldn't help but feel that there was something a bit, off he supposed, about their smiles, like they, like the guy behind the desk, weren't all there. But that didn't matter, they seemed more responsive than the guy at the desk, and so he figured they were his best bet.
"I'm Deputy Strauss, with the sheriff department, can you tell me if there's anything you've noticed in this hotel, anything strange or out of the ordinary?" he asked, trying not to look too much at the two men he was trying to question, but damn they were pretty.
The men didn't respond, however, one twin started to edge away from Strauss line of sight, moving to stand behind Strauss. Strauss froze, and rested his hand on his gun. Admittedly, if these two were up to anything, he was now basically surrounded, but if he was fast…
"Sir, please, I'm trying to identify what's going on here, could you please hold still?" he asked, trying not to sound too rattled, and the twin he was facing smiled broadly, but while the last smile had been vacant, this one, this one was full of promise, of intent, of malice.
And the man behind him moved, his strong arms wrapping around Strauss' chest, pinning his arms to his sides before he could even reach for his gun, damn it, he should have called for backup!
"Let me go!" he demanded angrily, kicking frantically to try and free himself, but somehow, the man who had him pinned lifted him in a one armed bear hug, his arms pinned to his sides, his ribs protesting the treatment as the other twin jerked his hand out, his rough hands clamping down around Strauss' throat.
Strauss gasped in shock, his legs kicking helplessly in the air as the twin who had him pinned held him fast, and the other one started to crush his neck. Strauss choked, gurgling as he struggled for air, his face going scarlet, tongue starting to go thick in his mouth, vein throbbing in his forehead as the hot man took a last, menacing step towards his victim, and Strauss realised in that moment that he was going to die, murdered in this hotel by two hot but unnaturally strong twins. He was going to die, no, he couldn't, he had to, no, this couldn't be happening!
And as the one crushing his neck brought his face closer, to Strauss terror, the man's neck then rotated one eighty degrees, so that the back of his head was facing Strauss, and with a shake of his head, the long flowing hair parted to reveal a monstrous face, and if he wasn't struggling to breathe, to remain conscious, to stay alive even, Strauss would have screamed.
A snarling, vicious hyena, eyes glowing a vivid rust colour, its snout covered in spittle was under the hair, it opened its fangs, it was going to rip Strauss' face off, this was the end of his life, fuck, no, god no, fuck no please!
"Boys! Let the good deputy go." A sultry, sexy sounding voice commanded, and the two men let Strauss drop to the floor, the deputy thudding to the ground, taking a deep shuddering breath as he tried to breathe normally again. As he gasped frantically, air rushing back into his lungs, he reached for his gun, only for one of the men to pull his gun from it's holster, and with a terrible, grating sound, the crushed gun was dropped in front of a disbelieving Strauss.
What in god's name had he walked into here?
"Hmm, dinner delivering itself to us! The mistress will be pleased, it's so nice when her dinner comes just begging to be eaten…strip his shirt off, and then we'll take her to the mistress." The voice commanded, and Strauss felt his shirt get torn off him by the two men who flanked him, leaving him shirtless as one man yanked him up by the hair, and Strauss whimpered a little in pain as he looked up at the architect of this nightmare.
The man standing above him was, well, gorgeous. Slim, toned, muscular, currently clad in dark jeans, a purple v-neck that showed rather a lot of his adonis like chest, wrapped in a leather jacket, his blond hair swept into a lazy quiff, gorgeous blue eyes you could lose yourself in…why was he here again?
"Pretty boy," Ash purred as he crouched down, cupping Strauss' chin with a hungry look in his eyes, "you might not actually become dinner, deputy. The mistress might have another use for you. Let's go." He ordered the Kishi, and Strauss protested in shock as he was lifted up by the two Kishi flanking him.
"Let me go, I've got backup on the way!" Strauss protested as the Kishi bodily hauled him off his feet, suspending him between the two of them, and Ash smirked.
"Aww babe, we all know that's not true. Let's go." Ash ordered, and the Kishi bore the now shirtless struggling deputy into the elevator, Strauss struggling to get free but finding no way to do so.
"What's going on here?" Strauss demanded as they ascended to the suite level, and Ash winked.
"Oh, don't worry, nothing too insidious. See, we need a base of operations that's all, and the staff just need to be made compliant. The mistress has been waiting a long time for Homecoming after all, and now we're in the final stretch. It's going to be a blast." He promised, and as the doors slid open at the suite level, Strauss looked at Ash, who was now leading the way down the corridor, in confusion.
Homecoming? That didn't make sense, Homecoming and it's associated events had been at the start of the school year, and certainly weren't now, so what was he talking about? Something though made Strauss, still stuck between the two Kishi and unable to get free, think that the sinister connotations in Ash's voice weren't good for anyone.
To Strauss shock, the two brutes holding him fast, he was still unable to escape, weren't just twins. In fact there were another two guys, exactly the same as his two captors, flanking the door to the suite that Ash opened, emitting them into the suite, and Strauss mouth fell open as he saw the beautiful woman inside, lying on the couch watching TV.
All thoughts of Talon faded from his mind, his ex-boyfriend was exactly that, his ex. He wasn't gay, he was totally straight, and this woman, this woman was the woman he deserved to be with, she was the one for him!
"And who is this?" she purred excitedly, and Ash nodded to the two Kishi, who dropped Strauss to the floor, and he scrambled to his feet, smoothing his hair nervously.
"Deputy Strauss ma'am." He replied, and she got to her feet, stroking her hand gently up his chest, her beautiful eyes boring into him.
"And a very handsome deputy you are too. And you came here all by yourself?" she asked, her eyes flicking to a man standing silently in the corner, clad all in black, and Strauss nodded eagerly.
"Yes ma'am, just checking you're alright," he told her huskily, and her eyes flashed in delight as she snaked an arm around his neck, pulling him close.
"Oh I am my handsome deputy, after all, thanks to you, I'm another one down." She told him, and kissed him hungrily, and Strauss moaned in pleasure as their lips connected.
But as that happened, his mind seemed to kick back in from whatever vacation it had been on, hang on, he wasn't into women, he didn't like women, never had done, he liked men, always had! Talon, his ex, his strong hands wrapped around Strauss' body, their tongues in each other's mouths, that was who he liked, not this woman! But as his brain tried to disengage him from the kiss, her eyes flashed maliciously, and something sharp seemed to move inside his mouth, and he was suddenly trapped, unable to scream, his whole body convulsing and shaking, he couldn't escape, what the hell, no, FUCK NO, TALON, NO!
And she gently let go of Strauss, and he toppled to the ground, sweat glistening on his bare chest, eyes rolled back in his head, utterly spent on the ground.
"Pity he's into dudes, he's a good kisser. Take him and dump him somewhere away from here, we don't want any more cops interfering and sticking their nose in," she ordered two of the Kishi, freshly conjured as they emerged from the bathroom, and they nodded, dragging Strauss' spent form away, "and Ash, why don't you and the Mute take some of the boys out on the town tonight?" she asked, her eyes looking out over Beacon Hills hungrily, and the Mute and Ash both came to her side, looking at her curiously, "I sense something is going to go down tonight, and I would hate for you boys to miss out. After all, it's always nice to get to meet the locals…especially when very soon now, we'll be the locals, and they will be no more," she purred excitedly, as every day brought them a step closer to the supermoon, Homecoming, and the culmination of all her plans.
And now, thanks to Strauss stumbling so helpfully into her clutches, now she only had nine boys left to go.
XX
"Red Five to Red Leader, do you copy?" Stiles asked into the headset, and Scott permitted himself a small sigh, why had he let Stiles choose the callsigns again?
As Scott answered Stiles, Argent looked at Isaac, who was shaking his head in slight despair.
"Why is he red five, we've only got four groups?" Argent asked curiously, and Isaac rolled his eyes.
"Luke Skywalker's call sign in the original Star Wars." He replied, and Argent chuckled.
"And he thinks he's Luke? I always saw him more as C-3PO myself," he said, and Isaac laughed, and then looked at Argent excitedly.
"Can you please tell him that, and make sure I'm there when you do it? I'd love to see the expression on his face!"
Melody smiled as she followed them down the trail that Scott was leading them down, and had to admit, it would be rather amusing to see Stiles' reaction to that particular insult. Liam, who was walking beside her, looked at her curiously.
"Who's Luke Skywalker?" he asked, and her mouth dropped open slightly.
"Wait, you haven't seen Star Wars?" she asked in disbelief, and he shook his head, as both Scott and Isaac came to a stop, looking at him incredulously.
"You haven't seen it? You would bite the only person in existence other than you who hasn't seen it wouldn't you?" Isaac asked Scott, who grinned and shrugged.
"Animal magnetism I guess, it's ok squirt, we can watch it at some point, I hadn't watched it till Isaac and Stiles practically forced me to anyway," he said, reflecting back onto what had happened that day, the day after Scott, influenced by the Darach, had tried to cremate himself, leading to a fight between him and Isaac, which had been resolved by the revelation that Derek hadn't died, and that Scott had been a dick to Isaac.
Of course, as it had later come to light, things had only gotten so bad between the two of them at that time because they had both been falling in love with each other and hadn't noticed, but that was neither here nor there.
The four groups had been split up, and were all taking different approaches through the preserve. One heavy hitter per group (so Scott as the True Alpha and the strongest in the pack, Lydia with her banshee powers, Kira as the kickass thunder kitsune and Kaisha as a powerful djinn), one trained gunman in each as well (Argent, Gareth, Natasha and Camden, with Parrish as a helpful addition) with the rest of the pack evenly distributed among the groups to make up good skill sets. The journey had been alright, and it seemed as though Scott had thawed in his irritation with them all, now focusing more on making sure everyone survived their little jaunt into the woods.
And so, here they were, four groups of the supernaturally aware, traipsing through the dark, creaking woods of the preserve, their vehicles all parked at Devil's Corner as they headed further into the unknown of the woods to try and figure out what on earth was going on in this town, and just how much of it was tied to what was happening inside the preserve.
There was a small sigh on the network of their communication devices that Argent had helpfully provided to help better coordinate their missions like this, making it easier to defend the town and coordinate when they were all out on patrol, like they would be on a normal night.
"Echo Base to Red Leader," Allegra sighed, sounding as though she was regretting her life choices at the moment, which made them all grin, "all groups have reported in and are accounted for. Keep us in the loop, and good hunting."
The four groups had been divided. Kira's group was heading towards where Kira had spotted the jeep that had been spying on them in the dark the other night, Rakaisha's group was going towards where they had found the pool that they had investigated earlier, Lydia's group was following the direction in which Braeden had found the tracks leading deep into the preserve, while Scott's group took the route that the soldiers had come from earlier. The pack was well armed, their guns, claws, arrows, cattle prods, swords, staff, knives and all, but despite the sense of security that that should provide, it was still rather unsettling walking through the preserve this late at night, with long, gnarled shadows, dappled moonlight breaking through the trees, and a cool breeze whistling through the preserve as they walked through it.
Why couldn't they stay on a nice beach or something?
However, as time went on, there was no sign of, well, anything. And rather than reassuring them that things were all going swimmingly, it actually put them further on their guard. There was literally nothing, no signs of anything, no traces of things that they knew had happened, it was like someone, or something, had gone to great lengths to hide any possible sign of their presence.
"This is weird, we know something happened at the pool, we know there was a jeep watching the patrol the other night, so where the hell is everyone? Everything? Someone is hiding what's happened here, covering their tracks." Derek reason as the continued to progress further into the preserve, now quite far from Devil's Corner as the four groups continued to push inward, the preserve hardly getting less creepy as they did so.
This deep into the preserve, the trees were much closer together. The sun was totally down by now, and long eerie shadows were dominating the landscape, the trees creaking menacingly as their breath puffed into the cold air in front of them. Leaves covered the ground, silencing their movements, but as they got further in, the sense of paranoia was growing: were they being watched? Was there someone, or something out here, and they were blundering into the trap? The high prices they were all fetching was playing through all of their minds, what if poachers were lying in wait, ready to strike and deliver them all to this Directive?
Kira was in the lead of her group, her sword poised and ready in her hand as she frowned, surveying the area where the jeep had been sitting watching them during their patrol. It was definitely here, Malia had confirmed it, she had smelled their own fright and fear at being watched this deep into the preserve, but there was no sign of anything, no sign a jeep had ever been here at all. Everyone else was reporting the same thing, yet all the evidence pointed to the fact that there was something insidious going on deep inside the preserve. And she had to admit, the fact that they were getting further and further away from their means of transportation was starting to make her slightly unnerved too. It was like when you walked into a haunted house at the fair, you knew something was going to come out and make you jump, but the longer it delayed, the more your body started to imagine horrible what ifs, and hers was certainly doing that, especially with Scott's news that the guy who had attacked her boyfriend had shown up at the clinic, keen to finish the job.
"Wait," Malia commanded, jarring Kira from her fears about the guy who had attacked Liam, and the kitsune turned to see the coyote crouched down, sniffing the ground, her eyes glowing blue.
Pretending not to notice Natasha stiffening behind them (she knew Argent vouched for Natasha but she felt the entire pack would feel a damn sight safer if Natasha was helping them from afar), Kira crouched down beside her.
"What is it?" she asked, joining her friend, and Malia looked at her, a significant expression on her face.
"The jackpot. I smell blood, and fear, recent too. Someone, or something, was chased this way. But it's weird," she said, gently pawing at the fallen leaves, and finally found what she was looking for, a leaf with specks of blood on it, and was relieved that Neo was helpfully shining the light of his phone onto the ground to help her out, "if a chase has been going on, surely this wouldn't be the first sign of it we should have?"
Violet, her eyes scanning the trees worriedly, to which Natasha gave an approving nod, looked at her, unconvinced.
"Maybe the chase just started here?" she asked hopefully, but Braeden, her own gun covering the tree line, shook her head.
"Maybe, but even so, Malia has the best nose in the pack. Regardless, she should have picked up on something else by now, especially if someone was wounded. But if that's true, and they were chased, how the hell are they hiding their scents? How have we seen exactly nothing of the stuff we know is happening in here?" she asked, and Neo cocked his head worriedly.
"And if they are covering their tracks, how do we know we aren't being herded into a trap?" he pointed out, and Kira had to admit, the abada had a point.
Natasha and Braeden looked at each other, and the hunter shrugged, which did nothing to reassure the missionary, to her distaste. She got Natasha was only here due to the unique hunting that Beacon Hills offered, but even then, she could offer her opinion a bit more.
Kira and Malia looked around, as Malia tried to discern which direction the scent was going in, and eventually, settled on which way she could identify most.
"That way," she said, pointing into the darkest part of the preserve yet, which did nothing to fill Kira with confidence, but nevertheless, she stood up and keyed the communications equipment.
"Red…what number are we meant to be? Never mind, Red someone to Red Leader…do we really need callsigns? Isn't it a little redundant? Anyway, Malia has identified a scent, it goes right into the deepest parts of the preserve, want to join us?" she asked, and Scott replied instantly.
"We're all on our way, everyone else join Kira too, it's the first solid lead we've had, we won't be long."
"What's happening?" Garrett asked irritably from back at the McCall house, and Allegra interjected.
"What's happening is you make a terrible cup of tea, I mean really, how?" she asked in disbelief, and there were various laughs from across the channel.
Leaving Garrett to receive a lesson in tea making, the other groups soon joined them, clustering around the bloodied leaves that Malia had discovered.
"Literally nothing, but we know stuff has been happening in here, someone's cleaning up as they go along." Jackson complained, as the groups all mingled into one again, and Scott nodded, looking darkly at the direction that Malia believed the scent had disappeared to.
"Yeah, and that is the worrying thing, if they can tidy up so we can't even smell stuff, how the hell are they doing it? Ok Malia, this way? Everyone, stick together, nobody gets hurt or killed." He ordered, and as one, the entire pack proceeded after the coyote as she led them further into the preserve.
Hollowed out trees, ancient oaks, gnarled and creaking branches filled this part of the preserve. The wind seemed to be getting colder as they went further in, and flecks of snow started to fall as they moved further in. There were dark clouds rolling overhead, and by the sounds of it, they didn't just contain snow, there were booms of thunder within the clouds too, and the occasional flash of lightning as well.
"Great, snow." Melody complained, and Stiles shot a dirty look at Isaac, who couldn't help but smile smugly as he wrapped his scarf a little tighter round his neck.
"Glad you gave me this now." Liam said cheerfully, wrapping the scarf that Isaac had loaned him round his neck tighter himself, and Stiles' mouth dropped open in fury.
"You gave him one?" he demanded, he'd been asking for weeks, it wasn't like Isaac didn't have any to spare, and Isaac kept refusing the dickhead!
"He basically forced it on me." Liam explained easily, and Stiles' expression changed from his look of outrage to one of malicious delight, as Isaac went pink and determinedly avoided looking at him.
"Really?"
"It's cold out here, case in point, snow!" Isaac insisted, pointing towards the snow that was now falling round him, and Aiden sniggered.
"Yeah, the scene's exactly like how you're imagining Stiles…a dad dressing his kid before they go out in the snow." He told him, to the delight of the others, and Isaac and Liam both went scarlet, avoiding looking at the others, and Scott, well, even he was struggling not to laugh.
And the fact that he had found it kind of adorable that Isaac had basically forced a scarf round a rather befuddled Liam's neck, and the fact that he had felt such a rush of love for his boyfriend in that moment, had been nothing to do with it.
"I will kill you all in your sleep," Isaac grumbled under his breath, now bright red, and Scott took his hand and squeezed it reassuringly.
"It's sweet, ignore him, he's just sore he hasn't got one as he's spent so long mocking the fact that you wear them." He told him, also wearing his own scarf that Isaac had given him, and then, briefly resolved not to mention to Liam about what they had done with Isaac's scarves on his return from New York.
Ethan, also wearing a scarf (the perks of being Isaac's best friend), noticed that Malia, who was slightly ahead of the others, had stopped.
"What's up?" he asked, and she held up a hand, and it was like a switch had been flipped, the whole pack went silent, Scott edging up behind her as she crouched down, Argent, Derek and Braeden with her, all of them now tracking.
"Voices, up ahead, and the scent of blood we've been following. It's like there's too much now for them to hide. But there's people up there." She told them, and Scott sniffed himself, and unless he missed his guess, there was about nine people up there, one of them wounded.
Looked like they had found the soldiers from earlier.
"Ok, so what do we do now?" Brooke asked curiously (she also had a scarf, but as a native of Alaska, that was to be expected), and Scott grinned at her.
"Wait and see. Ok, let's see…"
Sean groaned, coughing as one of the soldiers booted him in the stomach. If he wasn't poisoned, exhausted, terrified, grieving, he'd have killed them all hours ago!
"Vicious beast isn't so scary now is it? The big bad wendigo! Look at it," the leader spat contemptuously, and Sean weakly brushed the spittle off his face in revulsion, "a monster. Don't see why Sinner wants the thing alive, reckon he'd believe us if we said we had no choice but to kill it?" he asked, and the other soldiers laughed excitedly.
"Yeah, let's finish it off, it looks like it won't last the night anyway, especially if it winds up in the Executive Suite, we'd be doing it a favour." One said, only for a low growl to reach their ears.
"Hey, enough of that!" the leader demanded, kicking Sean again, who gasped in pain, but one of the other soldiers was looking around in horror.
"It wasn't him!"
There was a deafening roar that shook the entire clearing, as something with glowing red eyes sprang across the clearing, whipping the gun out of the leader's hand and slamming it into his chin, knocking the man off his feet and crashing him to the ground. A challenging whinny and the clop of hooves was the last thing the one who had raised the alarm heard before a form appeared, gorging his chest with a long horn, and a hooved foot then kicked him in the chin, dropping him like a sack of potatoes. A lithe, graceful form with glowing brown eyes neutralised another, her body wrapping around one of the soldiers, using her legs to get him into a headlock and slamming him down to the ground. Lori, delighted to work out some of her frustrations with all that happened, felled another. Braeden shot one in the knee then shot his weapon from his hand, while Liam attacked, his twirling acrobatic and fiery form making short work of his soldier. Melody (using her skills that were unknown to the pack), easily neutralised another, though to them it looked as though it was just the benefit of the training she'd had the last few months working with them. The last two tried to cut and run, only to be met by the twins, who threw them bodily back to the heap with their comrades, and just like that, it was over.
"Ok, that was cool." Lori exclaimed excitedly, she rarely had to fight in her pack, as Satomi preferred the elder, more experienced ones to take the lead, but she couldn't deny, that had been very satisfying.
With the defeated soldiers groaning in humiliation and pain, Scott crouched down and extended a hand to their would-be victim, who hastily accepted it, wincing as he got back to his feet.
"You're the hot wendigo!" Lydia exclaimed as she recognised him, and he allowed himself a small sile before wincing, yeah, even that hurt.
"Hey babe," he said, ignoring the warning growl from one of the twins, "but, don't feel so great at the moment. Thanks for that. I'm Sean." He said to Scott, who shook his offered hand.
"Aren't wendigos meant to be on par with Alphas?" Scott asked in concern, running his eyes over the brutalised wendigo, and Sean nodded grimly, and gasping thankfully as Scott laid a hand on his wrist and took some of his pain away, making him feel a little better.
Isaac was giving Sean a look that if Lydia was a betting person, believed had little to do with the fact that Sean was a wendigo, and more to do with the fact that when he didn't look like he'd gone a couple rounds with a heavy weight boxer, he was tall, hot and blond, very much Scott's type in guys.
"Usually yeah," Sean said, ignoring the scary looking woman who was covering him with her gun, the way he felt, if she wanted to finish him off, she should feel free, "but I was poisoned. They killed my whole family," he explained, his voice wavering as the pain of what he had endured was finally allowed to hit him, as there was something about this Alpha that just made you feel, safe he supposed, and like he was finally allowed to process everything that had happened, "poisoned our meat supply, but they did something else to me, I don't know what. I can still kill them, but I can't eat them, I'm starving, but if I bite them, I immediately puke it back up. I think they've made me vegetarian or something."
Scott blinked, that was a lot of information to get in thirty seconds, but as he processed what Sean was saying, he squeezed Sean's hand reassuringly.
He'd been through the wringer, watching his family get brutally murdered, being undyingly hungry, exhausted, emotionally compromised, and chased all over the preserve, he was lucky to still be standing after the day he'd had.
"You're safe now. They got your whole family? I'm sorry." He saif softly, and Sean, who was likely ages with him, nodded, avoiding looking at Scott, tears welling in his eyes.
"Everyone except Willow, my cat, you might remember her actually, you gave her her shots once." He said, and Scott nodded, smiling as he remembered the cat.
"I do actually, she didn't appreciate Deaton injecting her, she bit him." He recounted, and Sean gave a watery chuckle as he remembered that too.
"That's my girl." He said proudly, and Isaac leaned in close to Stiles.
"Not sure about the cannibalistic wendigo, but I like his cat." He whispered, and Stiles grinned.
"Halfers on a pack of tuna for her?" he asked, and Isaac grinned and nodded, as Scott turned his attention to the defeated and groaning soldiers, and approached the one he had brought down.
"Let's get some answers shall we? Who are you?" Scott demanded, and Neo took a step back, to see the change from sweet and compassionate Scott to ruthlessly protective Alpha of Beacon Hills was rather jarring, and the leader of the soldiers, his visor shattered and cuts covering his face from where Scott had hit him with his own rifle, glowered at him.
"We won't tell you anything." He sniffed, and Scott sighed.
Really, this was so tedious, and it was a school night.
"Aiden!"
Aiden practically skipped over, and then with great gusto, brought his foot down on the man's wrist, making him scream in agony as it shattered beneath his foot.
"Let me make something perfectly clear: you guys have been sneaking around the preserve, trying to kill a teenager, and somehow hiding what the hell you were doing. In case you missed it, you guys lost, we flattened you in seconds. And see, Aiden, Ethan, both of them have murderous, violent urges that I need to temper. But if I'm in a bad mood, I'm more than happy to let them act on it. And guess what? You clowns have put me in a bad mood. So, either you start cooperating, or I let my friends here torture you and your men just for the sheer hell of it. And just so you know, Aiden likes to stamp between the legs too." He growled, and the man went white as he looked at the grinning twins.
"How much is he bluffing?" Natasha asked Argent softly, and Argent, who wasn't entirely keen on the idea either, shrugged, there was a difference between him allowing Scott the leeway he needed to defend the town, and the leeway Natasha would afford as she was already stretched to the max just by not hunting Scott and his pack.
"Leave the kid alone Tasha, he's got a job to do. And besides, I'm more concerned about these damn soldiers and what they mean than the means Scott uses to get the information we need." Gareth told her, and she scowled, but did go quiet.
Fortunately for everybody, the leader of the soldiers decided to be cooperative, if only to try to alleviate the gleeful look of excitement on Aiden's face.
"Alright! We're Ouroboros!" he exclaimed, holding his shattered wrist with his good hand, and Lydia looked in distaste at the other soldiers visors, with the symbol emblazoned on it.
"And that means?" Scott asked, and the man, seeming to get a bit braver, gave him a taunting look.
"We're the military arm of the Directive."
Scott squeezed his eyes shut, as though praying for patience, and it was rapidly evaporating.
"Aiden, if he doesn't start being a bit more cooperative, shatter one of his kneecaps would you?" he asked lightly, and Aiden nodded eagerly.
"Sure!"
Liam was looking at his Alpha nervously, but to his surprise, Derek patted his shoulder, squeezing it to calm him down.
"I know it's a bit brutal, and Scott actually really doesn't like using torture, but if we don't find out more about these guys, we'll be fighting in the dark, and that isn't fun." He told him, and Liam gulped but nodded, forcing himself to watch as his Alpha held court over their defeated enemies.
"Ok! Ouroboros is the military of the Directive, we report to the Dread Doctors!" he exclaimed, trying to move his knee out of the way of Aiden, but Aiden suddenly stopped short, his face going ashen white as he looked at Ethan, both of them looking as though they had seen a ghost.
Scott, having noticed the sudden change in Aiden's demeanour, was about to ask them what was wrong, when Derek interjected.
"You're lying. The Dread Doctors are a children's story, meant to get us to behave when we're kids." He explained derisively, and the man, sensing the power of the conversation was drifting back towards him, chuckled.
"Oh they're real. They've always been real," he said with dark excitement, "and it's their job to wipe all of you monsters off the face of the earth! And you know what? They're close now, so close!" he told them excitedly, a sadistic lilt in his voice.
"The Dread Doctors?" Scott asked in disbelief, and behind him, Violet let out a small sigh.
"Why does every bad guy in town have to have a title?" she asked, sounding rather unimpressed, and he had to admit, that was a good point, one he'd have to ponder at a later date.
"The Dread Doctors, there's three of them. The Surgeon, that's Dr Valack," the man boasted, and Argent froze.
"Valack? Surely he must be dead by now?" he demanded, and the man, rather enjoying himself now, laughed mockingly.
"No, not dead, far from it. And then there's the Pathologist, Dr Urbaniak," he continued, and this time, to everyone's surprise, it was Camden and Parrish who reacted.
"Urbaniak? He was on the intel reports when we were in Afghanistan, as a person of interest, spooks thought Urbaniak might work for the Taliban, Saddam, Assad, all that lot." He explained, and Rakaisha looked worriedly at the soldiers on the ground.
Soldiers? A children's horror story come to life? Persons of interest in America's wars? Incoming genocide? What the hell were they dealing with here?
Malia was looking at the defeated soldiers worriedly, but then she thought she heard something, a gentle tap and some shuffling, but when she strained her ears, she didn't hear anything else, so figured it was one of her mortal enemies, squirrels, she elected to ignore it.
"And the Geneticist, Dr Turnbull."
This time, the twins reacted physically, both of them looked at each other in horror, the blood draining from their faces as they both shook their heads in denial.
"He's lying." Ethan insisted angrily, both his and his twins eyes glowing blue, and Scott flicked a look at them.
"How do you know?" he asked, and Aiden growled angrily.
"Because she's dead. We killed the psychopathic, murderous bitch ourselves. She's dead!" he repeated, and the soldiers all started to laugh mockingly, the leader in particular.
"Oh, she's very much alive. And believe me, she's been looking forward to seeing you boys again," he gloated, and Aiden took a step back, shaking his head, both he and Ethan were quivering in terror, refusing to believe what they were hearing, no, it was a lie, a trick, she was dead!
"She's dead!" they cried in unison, and the soldiers laughed.
"Oh no, she's not boy, and when she finds you, she's…she's…" the man began, sounding so confident, gleeful about what was coming before he abruptly stopped, and reached up to his helmet with his good hand.
And he wasn't the only one, all the soldiers were reaching up to their helmets, as if trying to hold their heads due to a headache. They all started crying out in pain, screaming in agony, and Scott got up and backed away from them, looking at them as they clawed at their heads.
"What's going on?" he asked, horrified as all the defeated soldiers writhed on the floor in excruciating pain, and Lydia pulled him back, her face ashen, and she didn't have to say anything, everybody knew what that meant.
And then there was a cacophony of bangs, and the screams and cries abruptly stopped as chunks blew out of their helmets, their bodies going limp as the smell of blood, smoke and brain matter filled the air, wisps of smoke coming from the blown-out helmets, the heads inside them rendered unrecognisable by the bombs that had just exploded inside their skulls. There was the sound of several pack members losing their pizza as the horrible reality of the executions became apparent, and the smell of vomit filled the air as the reality of what had happened to the soldiers sank in.
And then, there came the tapping, and the shuffling of feet.
Scott looked up, his eyes glowing red, and he raised his arms, as Aiden and Ethan, roaring loudly and in challenge, saw the person approaching them, forcing them back, the scent of terror gushing from them as they saw the person emerge from the shadows of the trees, her cane clacking on the cold ground as she emerged from the mist and darkness that made up this deep area of the preserve.
The mist swirled around her as the woman advanced. Walking with a slight stoop, she was relying on the cane she was walking with for support, a cane that seemed to be crafted of bone and metal that glinted in the moonlight peeking through the canopy of trees. She was wearing some form of steampunk like boiler suit, that nevertheless had a touch of modernity about it. She was wearing a long black lab coat that reached down to her ankles. A half skirt was around her waist, leaving her legs free to move however she needed them to. She wore sturdy boots, and metallic fishnet stockings creeped up her legs acting like a form of armour. Her face was covered by an insidious death's head like mask, with two black panes of glass marking where her eyes should be, with a third pane of glass off to the side of her head. Her mask was connected to a respiratory device that double around her neck and led back into the rest of the mask. And as she came to a stop, her suit glinting in the moonlight, she rested her hands on her walking stick and drew herself to her full height, her insidious form and terrifying mask looking out at the pack, as she slowly contemplated them from one end of the pack to the other before her sightless mask fixed on the twins, standing behind Scott, both of them vowing angry and immediate repercussions against this woman as she stared at them all, a sense of doom descending on the pack as she surveyed them.
"Hello boys." She purred, her voice dripping with barely contained rage and disgust, yet cold and vicious as she stared at them all.
Aiden and Ethan roared, the whole clearing shaking as the woman fixed her sightless gaze onto the twins, a sadistic enjoyment emanating from her as she ambled that little bit closer.
"You're meant to be dead!" Aiden thundered, and it was all Derek could do to prevent him from springing at her, and she let out a mocking laugh.
"Oh, I was close, don't you worry about that you filthy little animals," she hissed in a sadistic purr, the twins straining to spring at her, "but where are your manners? It's been so long, after all. Why not say hello to Maria?" she taunted, raising the furnished bone cane she used, and the twins gave a thundering roar, trying to spring at her, horrified by what she had done to the closest thing they had ever had to having a mother.
"You're the monster, let us go!" Aiden demanded furiously, both he and Ethan were on the verge of losing control, and the woman looked curiously at Scott, who was expending most of his energy stopping Ethan from pouncing at her.
"Tell me boy, do you know who you have in your pack? What these vicious little vermin did to me?" she asked in a quiet, chilling voice, "ripping me almost in two, throwing me to what they presumed was my death, letting me be consumed by fire?"
Scott allowed his eyes to glow red, looking warningly at the twins, who while still furious and about to lose control, did stop straining, allowing Scott to turn his attention to the boiler suit clad woman.
"I know what they are. And something makes me think, whatever they might have done," he growled, indicating the twins, both of whom were panting heavily while the rest of the pack clustered around them to make sure they didn't launch themselves at her, "it pales in significance to things you've done."
The woman cocked her head, the glass panes of her suit glinting in the moonlight.
"So judgemental. But now here we are, reunited after all these years. And this time, I don't intend to allow these little animals get the better of me!" she insisted, and Scott growled warningly.
"Who are you?" he bit out, just as two more boilersuit clad people emerged from the shadows, standing to the left-hand side of the woman.
The one at the opposite end of the line was taller than the woman that so clearly knew the twins. Dressed in a double-breasted grey lab coat that cocooned his whole body, his mask was a smooth, metallic grey with a set of goggles embedded around the eyes. A metallic grille marked where his mouth should be, and he had several studs running up the side of his head. His armour seemed more metallic and armour like, and the fact that his mask was smooth as compared to the other two made it seem all the more eerie.
In the centre however was the one who was clearly the leader. The tallest of the three, his boilersuit was much more ornately designed, but still had echoes of an armour like function, and also flanked by his long, black leather lab coat. He had a mask similar to that of the woman, but it was more tapered at the front, with a bronze-coloured grille covering his mouth. Two panes of red glass covered his eyes, while a third pane was in the centre of his forehead, while a spinning piece of apparatus occasionally rotated off to the side of his head.
The three boilersuit clad people stood together, and Scott felt his stomach churn as he beheld them, these three nightmarish beings that stood in front of the pack. He had led his pack into a trap, and now, these freaks, whoever the hell they were, these architects of the Deadpool, had them cornered.
"I'm so glad you asked!" the figure in the centre exclaimed happily, as though nobody ever asked about him or his companions, speaking in an articulate English accentuated voice from beneath the mask, "to my left is Dr Simon Urbaniak, the Pathologist. To my right, and who some of your friends have already met we have Dr Penelope Turnbull, the Geneticist. I myself am Dr Gabriel Valack, the Surgeon. Together, we are, the Dread Doctors."
The Dread Doctors. Really?
"You're a children's story." Kira denied, though sounding like she couldn't quite believe what she was hearing, and Valack chuckled.
"'Search in your closet, search in your bed,
Where await those doctors of dread?
They come at night, they take the young,
Their evil deeds go unsung,
So heed our tale, be best behaved,
Or we'll send you to those doctors so depraved!'"
That rhyme, her mother had taught her that when she was a child, to try and reign in her childhood mischief. Somehow, she very much doubted her mother knew that this supposed children's tale was actually real.
"What do you want?" Scott demanded, the pack clustering behind him, waiting for his signal, and Urbaniak, the Pathologist, looked at him through his own mask.
"Why, the only thing that matters of course. The eradication of your entire disgusting species. And we are close, so close to achieving our goal. Your pack could well provide the final piece of the puzzle. Hence the large prices we set for our Deadpool." He explained, and Derek growled at him.
"You're insane! You want us all dead!" he spat, and Valack nodded, utterly remorseless.
"Well of course we do Derek. You see, you beasts defy the natural order. Werewolves, banshees, abadas, kitsunes, Antukai, and every other monstrosity that exists in this unseen world of yours, you are all blips in the grand tapestry of life. Errors. Mistakes. And do you know what the difference is between an error and a mistake? Anyone can make an error. However, it only becomes a mistake when you refuse to correct it." He explained, his voice cold and menacing, yet alight with excitement as he studied the pack before him.
"And we are the force of correction. We exist to fix nature's mistake, in allowing you aberrations to exist to begin with. That is why we set the Deadpool. That is why we are here. We are going to correct the natural order. And then, we are going to fix nature's mistakes, by destroying every single one of you!" Turnbull growled, and Aiden growled at her, longing to throw himself at her and tear her apart.
"I'd like to see you try!" he challenged, oblivious to the glares and exasperated looks of the rest of the pack, and she laughed.
"Oh I'm going to Aiden. After all, we set the Deadpool, the prices, for those who are most important to our work, to our research. Admittedly, I offered a higher price for you and your little freak of a brother, but that's because we have unfinished business. I'm going to enjoy this Aiden," she promised, her voice full of dark, sadistic pleasure, "after all, it wouldn't be the first pack of the Steiner twins that I've torn asunder."
The twins started a little, and looked at each other.
"Steiner?" Ethan repeated uncertainly, and the Geneticist threw back her head and laughed, a cold, shrill, mocking laugh while her two companions also chuckled.
"Oh of course! I forgot, I've destroyed your pack so many times, I forget how much you know! Yes, your family name is Steiner. You see, poor Dr Urbaniak had designed a brand new pathogen, and wished to test it," she explained, leaning on her cane, "but he fell ill, and he didn't want to abandon his experiment. So, I stepped up, and unleashed his pathogen onto the Steiner pack, including the pregnant Alpha, who happened to be carrying twins. Oh, it was wonderful to watch, as Simon's little virus melted their organs from the inside," she recounted with relish, the twins' faces horrified, "their bodies reduced to piles of bloody, cancerous jelly. Your birth mother delivered you with her final breaths you know. But as you lay, screaming for your mother who was now little more than a mass of primordial ooze, Maria's pack happened upon you. You see, Urbaniak and I shared an interest in if being pregnant would provide your mother any defence against his little virus. It didn't, yet you two were born naturally immune to it. Maria and her pack rescued you, took you in. You can imagine my delight when I found you a few years later, and got the chance to experiment on you all over again!"
The pack was silent, horrified as the Geneticist gleefully recounted her part in the death of the twins' birth pack, the two of them shaking with rage and horror, Lydia squeezing Aiden's hand while Danny, his bow trained on the Geneticist, stood in front of Ethan, as though trying to spare him the pain that she was so happily inflicting. However, as they looked at the Dread Doctors, aghast, there was noise as numerous soldiers emerging from the mist, their weapons levelled at the pack, surrounding the whole pack, and as they clustered together, watching warily, Braeden voiced what they were all thinking.
"You're all insane." She spat in horror, and Valack chuckled.
"Oh hardly my dear Braeden. We are simply scientists, with an interest in improving our world. Everything can be justified if it's for science you know."
"Including taking twin werewolf boys and seeing what wonderful experiments you can have with them," Turnbull told them excitedly, her voice a gleeful, malevolent hiss, "do you think that that Alpha beast is the reason you could combine into a combined werewolf? No! You two were able to join into one superior being because of me, he just unlocked the potential, I was the one who allowed for you to share a body, to become greater than the sum of your parts, me! But, then Maria here," she lamented, waving her cane around tauntingly, savouring the roars that the twins threw at her, "ruined my experiment. And ever since then, especially, after our last encounter where you left me for dead!" she spat angrily, stooping as she leaned on the cane again, and Valack gently helped support her, "I've been looking forward to the happy day when I would finally get back the Steiner twins, and finish what I started."
Scott shook his head. These three, these Dread Doctors, these guys were different from everyone else they had faced. Peter, he had wanted revenge. Gerard too. Jennifer had wanted revenge, while Deucalion had wanted Scott himself, much like Agravaine. Even the Nogitsune, that had wanted revenge and to vent its frustrations.
The Dread Doctors weren't like that. They were doing this because they wanted to wipe out all supernatural life. They were doing this simply as a means to an end, their end.
What was all the more terrifying was the fact that the Dread Doctors were doing this simply because they could. And they were enjoying it to boot.
"You're all insane!" Jackson spat, and Valack froze, turning his red glassed vision onto Jackson, who took a step back, forcing Melody behind him protectively, especially as the soldiers looked at the Dread Doctors, as though waiting for their go-ahead.
Behind Jackson, Melody's heart was beating very fast. The entire pack was frozen, transfixed in horror as the Dread Doctors held court, but it was obvious that the soldiers were slowly encircling the pack, but none of them could tear themselves away from their new enemies. But the Dread Doctors, her mothers, even other members of the Diktat, had told her those stories growing up, how on earth didn't the Beasturo know that the Dread Doctors actually existed, were actually a group of megalomaniacal mad scientists who wished for nothing more than to eradicate all supernatural life?
"Do mine eyes deceive me doctors? Another prodigal son, come home at last! Good evening Jackson," Valack greeted, an evil, greedy purr in his voice as he did so, "you look well. You see, we knew your parents. Your birth parents that is. They used to work for us, for the Directive, until their bleeding hearts interfered with our experiments. They took pity on two of our test subjects, foolish to the extreme as both test subjects were rather narcissistic and self-involved, but that's neither here nor there. Their meddling cost us one of our prized specimens," he recounted, his tone steely as he remembered, "and so, action had to be taken. Colonel Sinner took action, and acted swiftly, and without mercy. Wonderful, what a bullet that's been constructed with werechameleon DNA can do…it certainly put paid to your birth parents. And here you are, all these years later, hale and hearty, ready to pick up where they left off. Their meddling caused quite enough damage to be going on with, freeing that test subject, and later allowing his pregnant counterpart to escape due to their actions. And she certainly made quite the ruckus as she fled, just ask your absent friend, Garrett isn't it? Ask him what happened to his parents." Valack taunted, and Jackson was shaking.
He had always wondered what had happened to his birth parents. He had known that his mother had died during the operation that had saved Jackson himself from dying with her, and that he'd never even had a chance to meet his birth parents. But, if Valack wasn't lying (and Valack's heartrate had only changed once, when he had angrily recounted the escape of one of his test subjects, clearly the one in question was important to him), Jackson's birth parents had been working for the Directive before their good nature had led them to interfere and try to help some of the Dread Doctor's captives to escape…and their good nature had gotten them killed, Jackson orphaned, and as a result of their actions, Garrett's parents had also been killed simply as collateral damage.
Liam was shaking in terror. The twins were snarling, gnashing their teeth, it was obvious they wanted to spring on these Dread Doctors and tear them apart, while Jackson had obviously been rocked to his core by the knowledge that his birth parents had actually worked for the Directive before they had been murdered. The Dread Doctors were the reason that Garrett had grown up in an orphanage. The Dread Doctors were behind everything, the disappearances, the deaths, all of it, and they were doing it all simply because they wanted to, because they could, because they believed that the supernatural had no business even existing in this world. The whole pack was transfixed, terrified by the depths of the Dread Doctors depravity, however, it was clear that their patience was beginning to wear very thin, they wanted to attack, all they were waiting for was Scott's say so.
"Ah! There he is! Your little werewolf pup," Valack whispered, his mask turning his attention to Liam, and Scott growled angrily, shoving Liam protectively behind him, and trapping him behind him, Stiles and Isaac, "you see, when I had dear Belasko tear the little brat asunder, I did wonder my dear Scott if you would act to save his life. And here he is, the Beta to the True Alpha. The heir to your kingdom. The first bitten Beta of a True Alpha, a truly unique and fascinating specimen. I am going to so thoroughly enjoy dissecting you all. In fact, I believe I speak for us all when I say, we're all looking forward to it."
As he said that, the various soldiers, all of them wearing the military gear that the dead soldiers at their feet also had on, truly emerged from the mist, surrounding the pack, weapons pointed right at the now surrounded pack. Scott let out a low, warning growl, keeping the pack clustered together, but was highly aware that they were surrounded, and if they started shooting, they'd all be very dead. Scott looked and felt a course of anger pulse through him as Crockett emerged, flanking the Dread doctors, his weapons aimed at Scott's pack. He grinned, his gun twitching right towards Scott.
"What do you want?" Scott demanded, he could feel the others getting tense beside him, they were waiting for his signal, but quite honestly, he didn't know what signal he was going to give, especially as they had, as usual he mused irritably, blundered right into a trap.
"Oh, isn't that obvious?" Urbaniak asked in his soft voice.
"You." Valack replied eyeing the pack hungrily.
"Dead. The twins in particular. Allow us to introduce you to the full power of the Directive!" Turnbull cried in excitement, and for the first time, they full extent of the Directive's manpower became apparent.
Dozens of soldiers were now emerging from the trees, breaching the late night mist that filled the preserve. Another military looking man emerged from the trees in the opposite position to Crockett, both of them flanking the three Dread Doctors, clearly the other leader of Ouroboros. The tree above them shook, and they all chanced a glance up to see the Popobawa land on the branch, screeching angrily as it gazed hungrily down at them all. Behind the Dread Doctors there were another four people, three of whom remained in the shadows. However, the tallest and most likely the leader of the group stepped forward into the moonlight, and Liam felt his throat close up as the man flexed the claws of his right hand as they glowed an eerie, electric blue.
"It's him! Scott, it's him!" he shrieked in panic, his whole body shaking, and Isaac and Stiles stood closer to the beta to protect him while Scott prepared to meet the man who had almost taken Liam from them, and the man chuckled darkly as he advanced towards the pack.
Scott glowered at the man approaching them, wanting nothing more than to tear the man apart. He'd been right, it was the man who had come into the clinic. And here was here, and wanted to harm his beta. Over his dead body.
It was clear that his pack were longing to throw themselves at the enemy, but Scott didn't see how they could act, not without getting themselves slaughtered, Lydia, Kira and Kaisha might be able to stop some of the bullets, but they were surrounded on almost all sides by Ouroboros, it would be a massacre. Actually, they had left behind them uncovered, but he didn't have time to muse on why that was, and was planning to have the pack escape that way, and then worry about the guy with the claws and the damn Popobawa as and when.
Melody was struggling to contain her shock. The man who seemed to be doing the Dread Doctor's bidding, the one who had almost killed Liam, she knew him, or at least, knew of him. His name was Belasko, and he was once one of the King's Dragon Guards, what in god's name was he doing here and why in the name of buggery was he acting on the Dread Doctors behalf?
As the pack readied their weapons, pointing them at the soldiers and other minions of the Directive who were closing in, Liam chanced a look behind him, wondering exactly why the Directive's forces weren't encircling them from behind too. However, as he looked behind them, the cool wind blew a scent in the air, and he felt his stomach knot. He smelled blood, and judging from the way Malia had twitched, she had smelled it too. He peered through the murk of the preserve, trying to find the source…then as he did, he turned and started pulling on Scott's sleeve urgently.
His Alpha however didn't pay any attention, he was too busy locked in a muttered conversation with the other pack leaders as Ouroboros encircled them, getting ever closer, the three Dread Doctors watching in fascination as they did so. However, it seemed as though there was something that was niggling at the Dread Doctors as well, and even Crockett and Sinner seemed slightly put off by something or other.
"How do we always wind up in these messes?" Stiles asked tiredly, his sword rising, ready to fight, and he felt a little reassured that Neo was right behind him, and he ran his hand through his hair from left to right, and Scott, watching the enemies around them, shook his head.
"We're just lucky I guess…there's too many of them for that." He muttered, and Isaac, with his knives in his hands, feeling a lot more confident as Camden and Argent were covering him from the back, traced a finger around his ear as if he was scratching it.
Scott looked and shook his head, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.
"Escape honey, not mayhem," he hissed, and Isaac went a little pink, but it was Lydia, staff at the ready, who twirled a finger around her white streak of hair, that had the answer, and Scott nodded, yeah good idea.
The pack had numerous of these hand signals, innocuous things so as not to tip off their enemies, but the attentive pack members knew exactly what was expected of them once the shit hit the fan…which it was about to.
Spectacularly most likely.
But before he could act on their plan, the pack all about to spring, Scott finally acknowledged the tugging on his sleeve.
"What Liam?" he asked in exasperation, after all, they were surrounded, outnumbered at least three to one, with a flying anal rape monster, and the man who had torn Liam to shreds all poised to attack, all on the say-so of three mad scientists, this wasn't the time for interruptions!
"What are they?" Liam asked, his voice trembling in fear and as one, they turned to look at whatever the hell it was that had spooked Liam.
Eight figures were approaching them through the darkness of the preserve, and as they approached, Scott couldn't help but feel a chill tingle its way down his neck. Six of them were absolutely identical to each other, tall, muscular, with long flowing locks of gold tinged hair, a small neat goatee on their face and their eyes dead set as they looked at the pack. They were clad in golden armour, each of them wielding a long spear, tinged with gold down the handle.
The other two newcomers however were rather different. One man was clad all in black, with military like robes. He was bald, with intense, almost protuberant eyes that made him look slightly unhinged, however most shocking of all was the fact that in place of a mouth he had smooth skin. In his hands were two lethal looking tomahawks as he neared the pack.
The other however was a very attractive guy, perhaps a little older than most of the pack. Clad in black jeans, complete with chains, he was also wearing a purple t-shirt that showed a considerable amount of his sculpted looking chest, a leather jacket, and his blond hair was styled into a messy quiff.
But while Scott would happily have looked at the man for quite a while, he was more concerned with the six identical people approaching them, flanking the two who seemed to be the leaders of their group. They looked normal, but as he looked at them with his Alpha eyes, he couldn't help but shake the fact that there was something eerily familiar about them, and it was making him feel uneasy.
"Oh great, a man without a mouth. This can't be good." Stiles complained, resigned as he saw the man approach, and Isaac looked at the man anxiously.
"Oh, I didn't dream him! I must have saw him in the hospital, I thought he was a dream so I ignored it and went back to sleep!" he moaned, with everything they'd seen and encountered, he should have known better!
"You dreamed about him? Not me?" Scott muttered, sounding slightly put out, and Isaac rolled his eyes.
"Whoa!" Violet exclaimed as the hot guy moved into full view, and then blushed as Malia looked at her strangely.
"Why are you thinking he's hot? You're into girls?" she pointed out, and the trainee hunter nodded, looking confused.
"Yeah, I am, so why…" she asked in confusion, and Derek looked concerned as well.
"I also think he's hot and I'm straight…" he mumbled, then his eyes widened in realisation as the implication set in, and Argent aimed his gun right at the hot guys head.
"He's the incubus!" Argent spat, Natasha and Gareth also covering the incubus, who threw them a lazy, easy and very sexy smile.
But Scott was still more concerned with the six guys, who emitted a low growl, and as one their heads span one in a half circle, and revealed their true frightening visages, and he jumped in fright as he saw it happen. Their real faces were like a hyena, snarling and growling, sharp teeth, spittle blowing from their muzzle, their eyes glowing a sinister dull orange. But while their eyes looked like they would belong to a shapeshifter, like them, Scott felt his insides freeze over as he realised exactly who and what they were dealing with. That sort of glowing eye, like a star glowing in the blackness of the night sky, they'd only seen that sort of eye glow before.
His heart caught in his throat as he remembered, kneeling on the ground, blood staining his hand, holding Allison as he took her last breath…
"Scott, their eyes, they're-!" Kira spat in fury, her sword ready and crackling with electricity and Scott let out a vicious snarl.
"I know what they are. Demons," he spat, turning to look back at the Dread Doctors, who, bizarrely, seemed just as confused by the new interruption as they were themselves, "you conjured demons?" he demanded furiously, but to his surprise, Turnbull shook her head, as she surveyed the newcomers herself.
"They're not ours…marvellous specimens though," she purred, and Scott, who had been hoping to hear her heart flicker, groaned.
"I hate it when bad guys tell me the truth," he complained, because that meant if the Dread Doctors knew nothing about these guys, then they were another faction of bad guys in town.
Why did they always need a double feature?
So, they had the Dread Doctors and their forces on three sides, and the incubus, a guy without a mouth, and six demons on the other. So, how to get out of this one?
"What's up doc?" the hot guy asked the Dread Doctors, who despite wearing their masks, all seemed to look at each other in shock at being addressed that way, "not to be a dick or anything, but my mistress wants the boys. You can have the girls."
The incubus seemed to notice the lustful looks many in the pack were giving him, however the Dread Doctors seemed singularly unimpressed by his entrance, and by his demands.
"And who the bloody hell are you?" Urbaniak demanded snootily, and the incubus grinned winningly.
"My name's Ash. This here is the Mute, and the boys here are the Kishi. My mistress wants the boys, and I'm not going to deny her. They're coming with me. You can take the girls, we're all adults, we can come to an agreement." He told them, dripping charisma, his powers and his personality combining to lure everyone into giving him whatever he wanted, and the Geneticist turned her masked face towards him.
"Well, even if we were to entertain this absurd idea of yours, Jackson and the twins belong to us anyway. But, have a look around. We have you outnumbered." She pointed out, and noticing that the Dread Doctors and Ash seemed to be distracting each other, Scott nodded, all of them getting ready for his signal.
The Mute raised an eyebrow derisively, and it seemed as though he was trying to communicate with the Dread Doctors, though to no avail. The Surgeon took a step forward, raising a hand as Ouroboros, Belasko and the Popobawa coiled, as though waiting to strike. The Surgeon tilted his head, the same way a dog would, and let out a small chuckle.
"Ah, you have the power of telepathy. Do you really think my friend in all my years of dealing with the supernatural, I don't have defences in place for such an eventuality?" he asked derisively, tapping his gloved finger against his mask, and the Mute's face turned to one of anger, "though I suspect you're trying to tell me you easily dispatched the troops that you encountered on your way here. Trust me, we have plenty of tricks up our sleeve. Now, be a good lad, and surrender. It's been so long since we last dissected an incubus. And I can practically hear Dr Turnbull salivating at the thought of playing with your demonic friends there."
Ash laughed, shaking his head, though his eyes had a glint to them, and Scott could tell things were about to go very south, very fast. On his signal then…
"I won't ask again doc. The boys are coming with me, you take the girls. Easy as that."
The Geneticist stepped forward, her mask somehow managing to convey the glare she was giving him.
"No, they aren't. In fact, you're going to join them." She sneered, and Stiles looked at the two opposing factions, who both wanted the entire pack.
"Doesn't anybody care what we want?" he asked, and Urbaniak turned to him.
"You are insects, stepping stones to the completion of Project Typhon. You are all but a means to an end. Enough of this. Colonel, seize them!" he spat, gesturing at the pack and at Ash and his friends, and the Mute looked furious while Ash scowled.
"Bad move doc."
"NOW!" Scott yelled, and his pack moved as one.
Lydia spiralled into the centre of the pack, as the pack all crouched down around her. She then emitted a powerful screaming shockwave, using her staff to help direct the attack in an outward ripple. Kira then stood up and unleashed a torrent of lightning from her sword, combining it with Lydia's scream attack while Argent and the other gunmen threw flash grenades into the air, which exploded, blinding the two enemy factions. As they all clambered for their weapons, the soldiers of Ouroboros struggling to see, Kaisha then followed up by unleashing a shockwave of her own. With the enemy distracted and staggering away, and with many of the soldiers on the ground struggling to get back up, the pack made good its escape, Scott leading the way, leaping over the fallen soldiers as they struggled to recover from the attack.
"Get them!" Turnbull screeched as the Popobawa shrieked and flapped into the air, pursuing the pack doggedly, with Ouroboros right on their tail.
Ash had also recovered, and pointed, and with that the Kishi and the Mute stormed off, chasing after the pack.
Bullets started to fill the air as the soldiers of Ouroboros opened fire, with Kaisha using her magic to hold off the bullets as they made good their escape. However, the Kishi were right behind them, their hyena faces snarling, their teeth gnashing as they jumped towards them, spears going for the kill, determined to kill the djinn. Isaac span, shooting an arrow into the face of one of the Kishi, which roared in annoyance but did distract it, allowing Kaisha to continue to run. The Popobawa spiralled down from on high, swooping towards the back, screeching in fury as it aimed right for them. Neo whinnied in annoyance, and jumped into the air, slamming his hooves down on the back of the bat monster, crashing the beast into the ground. As the Popobawa cried in agony, Stiles viciously plunged his sword into one of it's wings, the beast writhing in pain as it struggled to get back to its feet, stumbling as it did so. Violet was then there, punching the bat creature with one of her knuckle dusters, sending it crashing back down to the ground.
As the pack continued to run, Sinner was barking orders, Ouroboros shooting at the pack, with Belasko giving a roar as he lit up his claws, doggedly pursuing them. He leapt through the air, landing right in front of Liam, and with a malicious grin, he reared his hand back, trying to finish what he started. Liam stumbled backwards in fright, his heart hammering inside his chest as the man who nearly killed him bore down on him, a maniacal grin on his face as he moved to rip Liam's throat out…only for Scott to give a thundering roar, leap in front of his Beta and punch him in the jaw so hard it shattered and the momentum of Scott's punch sent Belasko hurtling through the air before he landed in a heap. Scott wordlessly pulled Liam to his feet, and was about to check that he was alright when Liam suddenly flinched in terror, shoving Scott out of the way as the Mute twirled towards them, his tomahawks glinting as he tried to cut down Liam's Alpha. Liam roared and bit down on the Mute's hand, one of his tomahawks flying from his grip as he did so, and as he staggered back in pain, Lydia let out a scream, sending the Mute hurtling through the air. Scott nodded to Liam, leaping to his feet as they ran for it.
The scene was chaos as Ouroboros converged, closing the net towards the pack. Bullets were flying between the two factions, as the pack did their fighting retreat, Argent, Natasha, Parrish, Gareth and Violet firing at Ouroboros as they gave chase. Meanwhile the Kishi were leaping at the pack from the side, their golden tinged spears hurtling at the pack. Kira blocked one elegantly, knocking it blade first into the dirt, but that did nothing to deter the Kishi itself as it sprang through the air, extending claws and trying to bite off her face. Kira shrieked in panic as the Kishi came right for her, its muzzle growling and biting, going right for her face, and in a panic, she swung her blade…and sliced the demon's head clean off. She breathed a sigh of relief as the Kishi dropped to the ground, and was just about to start running again when the severed head roared in fury, and the body clambered to its feet, picking the head back up and putting it back on its neck. Kira's jaw dropped, what in the name of, how the hell, come on!
The Kishi ran towards the pack, their spears shining through the air as they attempted to hit the pack defenders. Sean gave a ferocious snarl, grabbed one by the long hair, and bit down on its exposed neck. He spat the blood out (he didn't know if it was something that Sinner had done to him, or if it was because of the Kishi being a demon but man did it taste horrible) as the Kishi collapsed to the floor, only for it to leap back up and go right for the Wendigo again. The Mute had also recovered, and Ouroboros was closing in, and Ash, the hot incubus, was almost right on top of them.
Time to leave this party.
"Lydia, Kira!" Scott yelled, shoving a frightened Liam behind him as another Kishi advanced, determined to skewer the two of them, and the two girls looked to see what he was pointing at.
Eyes widening in realisation, Lydia twirled, directing her scream through her staff and shattering the roots of two of the nearest trees. As the trees swayed alarmingly, Kaisha joined in, using her magic to help yank them down towards the ground. There was the groaning sound of tearing wood as three large trees were uprooted, plunging towards the ground, and it was then that Kira leapt through the air, lightning crackling off her and directed through her sword. The lightning ignited the tops of the falling trees, and the various members of Ouroboros who had been about to encircle them yelled in alarm as three burning trees crashed to the ground. Ash snarled in annoyance, the trees stopping his advance as the pack ran through the smoke and fire they had caused, dodging through the burning branches as the trees burned and smouldered. The Kishi were separated from their prey, and the Mute, now recovered, was taking his tomahawks to the branches of the trees, determined not to fail their mistress when Ouroboros opened fire, now shooting for them as the escaped pack left them as the only game in town. Glowering at them, as his mistress wouldn't be happy about this, Ash waved his hands, channelling his magic and directing the bullets back towards their assailants, forcing them to scatter as they dove to the floor to avoid being killed. As he did so, the three Dread Doctors emerged through the smoke, their sightless masks turned to face him, and he figured that now was the time to go, and with a sharp whistle, he ran to join the Mute and the Kishi as they made for safety. The Geneticist, furious at their meddling costing them the pack of the True Alpha, threw her walking stick like a javelin, and Ash whistled as it flashed right by his nose, implanting in one of the smouldering trees, missing him by centimetres. He gave her a cheerful wave and vanished into the night with his companions, the fire covering their escape as it had the packs.
The Surgeon looked musingly at the burning trees as Crockett and his men tried to follow, however some unseen force had acted to impede them, trapping the in the confines of a small area, and nothing was shifting it, to the fury of Crockett and his troops.
"They're more resourceful than I thought." Valack mused, as with a gesture Turnbull's cane leapt back into her hand as she leaned on it wearily, while Urbaniak looked at the burning area, figuring they were lucky it had been so cold and damp recently otherwise the place could have gone up like a firework.
"Pity we didn't get them. Them, or the incubus and his demon friends." Urbaniak commented, as the shield seemed to flicker and die, and Crockett ran out into the woods, his men right beside him, trying to find the pack, who had most likely thrown the shield up in order to cover their own escape and would only have lowered it if they were safely away.
"We will get them. Pity we're out of range of the base otherwise we could have taken the vehicles. But it matters not. The pack will be ours, as will the incubi and his demons, and whatever the silent guy is. We'll take them all, dissect them, pick them apart, whatever it takes. And then, we will be that much closer to the success of Project Typhon." Turnbull vowed, the flames of the trees reflected in parts of her mask, as the three Dread Doctors planned for the future.
At Devil's Corner, the pack meanwhile, ignoring Melissa, Garrett and Allegra all shrieking in their ears and demanding answers, all clambered into their vehicles, and sped away from the scene, the distant sounds of Ouroboros pounding through the preserve behind them as they sped away to safety, and as they fled, Scott breathed a sigh of relief. They had survived, just, but they were all still alive, and hadn't come off the worst, yeah, they'd run, but they hadn't been wounded, and nobody had been killed. He'd take that over them getting their asses kicked like they had when they had first met Agravaine any day. But as they sped back towards the relative safety of the town, Scott felt his stomach churn, for numerous reasons, and even Isaac tightly holding onto him did little to fix the situation, as he considered their new predicament: they were now at war with the Dread Doctors, well equipped and well-armed enemies, who wanted nothing more than to wipe them off the face of the earth, and they were doing it simply because they could.
They hadn't faced an enemy like them before.
And on top of that, Ash and his demons were the ones going around brain draining people.
So, what the hell did they do now?
As they roared back to town, Scott frowned as he saw the twins on their bikes with Lydia and Danny holding onto the backs of their respective boyfriends, and figured the first step to finding out their next move would have to come from them.
Stomach churning, and longing for his bed, Scott breathed a deep sigh as the pack made its way to safety, while the new villains of Beacon Hills began to conspire and plot their revenge.
Well, here I am, back with the next episode!
How has everyone been? Ive been exhausted mainly, I hate summer in this country, anyway onto the story
So now the pack have met the Dread Doctors, and have also discovered their links to the past of several pack members, and if you're savvy, you might be able to figure out a soon to be pack member too. But the pack has its work cut out with the Dread Doctors, and of course Ash and his work for Qandisa
Talon I had a brainwave for the other day, he'll be another Alpha who comes to town and those of you who've read the book and watched the film might recognise the actors playing the all-male pack, they've been around a lot recently. As for the other brainwave I was rather pleased with the one for Turnbull being the one to allow the twins to initially become their combined form, it was just Deucalion who taught them how to unlock it
The Dread Doctors obviously have their own theme, so in the case of Turnbull on her own, its Spoils of War Part One from Game of Thrones and the Dread Doctors as a whole's theme is Army of the Dead from the same
Anyway, next time, we get more answers as to the Dread Doctors, more victims of Qandisa, Allegra takes an active role, Scott falls out with someone, and the pack comes under attack by the insidious Dread Doctors, but until then, have a read and hope you enjoy!
