Chapter 12

Liam:

"Brett?"

Brett Talbot, from my old school and an ex-teammate, is a wolf. What the actual hell? What was he doing here anyway?

He straightened and shifted back, still keeping the girl behind him.

"Liam?" He questioned.

"You know him?" Scott asked.

"Yeah, we were in Devenford Prep together. Brett, what are you doing here?"

"Running for our lives." He said warily, watching us.

"We have to find Theo." The girl said looking up at Brett.

"Theo? Why are you looking for Theo?" I asked, feeling defensive.

"We were told to. We have to find Theo or Stiles." The girl squeaked.

"Wait," Scott said, shifting back, "were you sent by Corey?"

They both nodded and I relaxed. These were the two that Corey rescued and texted Theo about. Looking at them, they looked ragged like they had been running for days.

"I'm calling Theo." I said pulling my phone out.

"And I'll call Stiles. Have them meet us at the school."

I nodded dialing.

"You know Theo?" Brett asked.

"He's my boyfriend." I said then froze.

Did I really just say that? I looked at Scott who was trying but failing to hide a smile. Then looked at Brett who looked surprised but nothing else. Shaking my head, I went back to making the call.

"Hey, you okay or do I need to come kiss you again?" he answered, making me blush.

"I'm okay. But we ran into a situation."

"What kind of situation." he asked hurriedly. I rushed to reassure him.

"Nothing bad, I swear. But you and Stiles need to meet us at the school. The kids Corey found, they're here." I told him. He was silent for a minute.

"They are? He's not with them, is he?"

"I don't think so, no." I said looking around. Not that I would be able to see him if he were.

"Tell Theo, Stiles is on his way to get him." Scott tells me.

"Just meet us there. Stiles is on his way to pick you up now."

"Yeah, okay. See you soon."

"Bye." I disconnected and turned to Scott.

"Stiles and Malia are coming. Malia is contacting Derek to get him there too. We may need him." He said. I nodded.

"Brett and…" Scott turned to them.

"Lori." She said.

"Lori, was there anyone following you?"

"We don't think so." Brett answered.

"Okay, let's get going, just in case."

Nodding they followed us back the way we came, running as fast as possible. We got to the edge of the field just as Stiles was pulling up. Theo got out before Stiles had turned off the jeep and jogged over to me, pulling me into a hug.

"You're okay, right? There was nobody following or anything?" he asked.

"I'm fine, I promise. There was no one else there." I told him, happily accepting a kiss. I forgot there was anyone else there until I heard Brett speak.

"So, you weren't lying. He really is your boyfriend." He snickered. Closing my eyes, I groaned.

"You called me your boyfriend." Theo said and I didn't need to look to know he was grinning.

"Anyway." I said avoiding looks all around, my face felt nuclear it was so hot. "Theo this is Brett and Lori. I went to school with Brett."

"We are just waiting for Derek now. He should be here soon." Stiles said then turned to me with that evil smile he gets when he's up to no good. "In the meantime, should we discuss-."

"No." Scott and I said at the same time. We didn't need him to continue to know what he was thinking.

"There's Derek and Braeden." Malia said nodding towards the parking lot.

"Thank God." I sighed and Theo chuckled grabbing my hand. We met up with them at the bleachers and introductions were made.

"Can you tell us what happened? How you ended up there and how you got out." Scott asked. Bret sighed, Lori clinging to his side.

"It happened so fast. We were just walking home from school, and we heard this hissing sound and then Lori dropped, and a second later so did I. we woke up strapped to tables. I don't know what they used to strap us down, but we couldn't move or break free, even shifted. Then there were two people in white coats coming at us with giant needles. I saw them inject Lori first and… then she was screaming. Then they injected me, and it just felt like-."

"A thousand tiny pinpricks all over your skin." Theo finished and Brett nodded.

"Yeah. Afterwards they shoved us into cages. There were two other kids there too, but they were moved out a day after we got there. Every few days the guy in the lab coat would come in with another guy and run test on us and examine us, like he was looking for changes or something. Then they would leave. After a while they transferred us to rooms that only had a bed."

"The guy in the lab coat, what did he look like?" Theo asked.

"Tall, thin, short brown hair, glasses."

"Did he have moles, one by his mouth and another on his chin?"

"Yeah, he did."

Theo grimaced.

"Your dad?" I asked. He nodded.

"That guy was your dad? And he injected you too?"

"Yeah, and Corey. When we were kids." Theo sighed and I squeezed his hand.

"How long ago were you taken?" Derek asked.

"What's today?"

"April 3rd." he answered. Brett and Lori both blinked in shock.

"We were taken around the beginning of March."

"So, after we got you back, Stiles." Scott said and he nodded.

"The room with the cages, what did it look like?" Stiles asked.

"White brick walls, a cement floor, and a steel door that had a scanner on it."

"Does that sound like where you were held?" Scott asked.

"Sounds like it. I don't know if it's the same room but could be."

Stiles put an arm around a fidgety Malia. She hated hearing about the time he was taken.

"Did you talk to anyone, or did they talk to you?" Derek asked.

"Not really, we just talked to each other until they separated us. We could hear people screaming but we saw nothing." Lori said, speaking for the first time since we got here.

"So just the two guys you talked about. No women there?"

"There was one woman that I saw, but only a few times. Usually, she wouldn't talk. She would sometimes come for me to take me to the bathroom. She wasn't normal though. I mean she was a shifter, but she didn't seem like she could control it."

"Did she shift in front of you?" Scott asked. Lori nodded. "What did she look like?"

"Kind of like a multicolored cat."

"Kate." We all said at once.

"Did you see her talk to anyone?"

"Just the one that came in with the lab coat. He was older. She was escorting me back one day and complaining that she wasn't a babysitter. He told her to stop whining and do her job. After that I didn't see her again. That was maybe a couple of days before we got out. I can't be sure." Lori shrugged.

"You mentioned the other guy. What did he look like? You said older. How much older?"

"I don't know. Really old. White hair, bald on top." She answered.

"Gerard." Scott growled his eyes turning bright red.

"You're an alpha." Brett said. Scott nodded. "But you're so young."

"Trust me, age is irrelevant in this case." Derek chuckled. Scott rolled his eyes.

Theo:

"Corey helped you escape. How?" I asked getting us back on track. We could talk about Scott's awesome alpha-ness later.

"Last week your father was getting ready to strap us down again. Then one of the machines went haywire and he turned his back. The two guards that were there just fell down and someone, Corey, grabbed our hands and whispered to us not to move. When your dad turned back he acted like he couldn't see us at all. He started yelling for people to find us. When everyone rushed out of the room they left the door open, and Corey dragged us out of the room and down some halls, then we snuck into the back of a van. He stayed with us when the van pulled out. At the first stop we came to he gave us a bag of water and food and told us to head to Beacon Hills and find either you or Stiles. We would have headed here anyway. Our pack is here." Brett explained.

"Who's your alpha?" Derek asked.

"Satomi." Lori answered.

"Of course. I know her well. She was friends with my mother."

"Can you get us back to her? She has to be worried sick. She's our foster mother. Took us in when hunters killed our parents." Brett said.

"We'll get you home." Derek assured them.

They both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Do you know how long you were in the back of that van before you stopped?" Stiles asked.

"Uhm, an hour, I think. But the van we were in was windowless in back, so we didn't see anything." Brett explained, shrugging.

"Did you hear anything?" Scott asked.

"No. Not until we got out of the van. But it was mostly just birds flying overhead and a radio from inside the gas station. Once we got out and hid in the bathroom until they pulled out it was silent. No cars or anything."

"Did you see anything, markers or signs of any kind while running back?" Derek asked.

"No, but honestly we were too worried about not being caught again so we just kept running for as long as we could. We slept in shifts in cave's when we could, but we just kept going until we reached the city limits then we headed straight for town." Lori answered. She looked exhausted; they both did.

"I'm sorry you both had to go through that. But thank you for the information you just gave us. Hopefully, it will help us find them and stop them from doing this to anyone else." Scott said. They both nodded, holding on to each other.

"Was Corey okay? When you left him?" I asked when nothing else was said.

"Yeah, he was fine. He didn't look hurt or anything." Lori said. I relaxed even with that little bit of information.

"He's okay. We will find him and get him out." Liam leaned in, to whisper and I nodded.

"So, Corey can't just turn himself invisible but others as well." Stiles mused. "I wonder what was in that stuff they injected you with."

"We would have to run a blood test to check." Scott said. "Maybe we can ask Deaton to do it."

"Run it on my blood. I mean it would still have to be in my system wouldn't it? I wouldn't be able to do some of the things I can do if some of it didn't linger. I didn't have super strength before that first injection."

"What?" Liam said his eyes snapping to me. "First injection? There was more than one?"

"Uh…" I said my eyes cutting to Stiles. Liam followed their path.

"You knew about this?" he asked.

"Well, sort of. But I just found out last week when Theo went over what happened to him." Stiles rambled.

"Dude." I said, sighing when Liam growled.

"Sorry, making mini wolf mad isn't on my top ten list of things to do." Stiles said.

"Liam." I called to get his attention away from a shuffling Stiles. "It's okay, I'm okay. I promise. I didn't freak out." Much, but I wasn't going to tell him that.

'You didn't?" He asked, narrowing his eyes. Damn.

"Not much. But I'm fine. I promise. I got through it, and I never have to talk about it again. Just calm down, okay?"

"Fine. But next time you don't do something like that without me there." he said.

"I love when you get all protective." I grinned giving him a kiss.

"Aww…" two voices, Malia, and Braeden. Liam rolled his eyes.

"You've changed." Brett said. Liam looked at him. "You don't seem as tense or angry as you did before."

"Yeah, I have. I regret what I did. Being a wolf actually helped me with that." He shrugged.

"Yeah, if there's one thing that can teach you control its being a shifter. But I'm glad. I hated you so much after what you did. But then the coach told me that he wasn't angry, that there were reasons behind your actions and not to hold that against you."

"Coach said that?" Liam asked surprised.

"Yeah. After he said that I…" he went sheepish. "Did some digging and found out why you reacted the way you did. I get it, well as much as I can. But it's good to see you worked things out."

"Thanks. That means a lot."

Brett nodded.

"Right now, we need to get you guys somewhere safe until we can get you back to your pack." Scott said.

"They can come with us. Now that Theo is staying with Parrish, I have an extra room and I can take them back in the morning. I'll give Satomi a call tonight to let her know we found two of hers." Derek offered.

"Okay. We should get going. I need to get you home, Liam."

Liam frowned but nodded. I put my arm around him.

"When you talk to Corey again, can you tell him thank you? He saved me and my sister's lives, I think." Brett said hugging his sister.

"I will." I smiled, proud of my brother.

Everyone started to walk off, but I held Liam back for a minute. I waited until everyone was far enough away.

"How are you doing? Did your run help?"

"Yeah it did. You were right. Talking to Scott helped a lot. But then so did talking to you. I'm sorry I've been so-."

"I told you; you don't have to apologize. I'm just glad you're doing better." I said hugging him.

"I wish I could take you home with me."

I laughed.

'I don't think that would go over to well."

"Probably not, but I would feel better."

"You would so take advantage of that." I smirked down at him.

"Maybe. And it's not like you wouldn't enjoy it too."

"Oh, I would definitely enjoy it. But could you handle it? I don't sleep in a shirt." I quirked a brow.

"Even better." He grinned, devilishly.

"I will be shirtless for you anytime, boyfriend." I whispered in his ear, feeling him shiver.

"Yeah, that kind of slipped out when I was distracted." He admitted, his face pinking up. There it is.

"I'm not complaining."

"I'm sure." he snorted. "We should go. They're waiting."

I looked back and saw Scott, Stiles and Malia waiting. Derek and Braeden gone with Brett and Lori.

"Okay." I said letting him go.

"One more thing." He said and then yanked me to him, again, and pressed his lips to mine. I pulled him closer. Stiles' beeping his horn separated us this time. Which is probably a good thing.

"That should hopefully get me through the night." he said.

"Same."

We jogged back to the parking lot and shared a small kiss goodbye.

Liam:

Scott dropped me off back home and I waved bye before going in.

"Liam is that you?" my mom called. I held in a groan and pasted on a smile, heading into the living room instead of upstairs. She was curled up on the couch watching TV.

"Hey mom."

"Hi honey. You're a bit late coming home today."

"Yeah I was hanging out with Scott."

"Just Scott?"

The smile I was working hard to keep on dimmed.

"At first yes. Then Stiles was there and Malia."

"And… him?"

Now I really wasn't smiling.

"Yes, and Theo." I could even tell my voice turned hard.

"Oh." Was her only response.

"Goodnight." I said turning away from her.

"Wait, Liam." She called just as I had one foot on the steps.

"Yes." I turned back to see her hurry into the entryway.

"I was thinking we haven't spent any time together, just the two of us in a while."

There was a reason for that.

"You're birthday is coming up. Why don't we go out to dinner? Your dad is working anyway. But maybe a birthday dinner could suffice."

"I have the retreat on my birthday."

"Oh, right. Okay, how about the day after?" She asked hopefully. As much as I would love to tell her no because I can't see that not being awkward, I didn't want to hurt her feelings either.

"Sure mom. That sounds good." I said with another forced smile.

"Great. I'll find somewhere nice to go." She hugged me.

"Okay. I'm going to bed. Night mom."

"Night honey." she called as I rushed up the stairs.

A shower later I was in bed.

LIAM: MY MOM WANTS TO TAKE ME TO DINNER THE DAY AFTER MY BIRTHDAY. JUST US.

THEO: THAT'S A GOOD THING, ISN'T IT?"

LIAM: I DON'T KNOW.

THEO: GIVE HER THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT. MAYBE SHE WANTS TO STRAIGHTEN THINGS OUT.

LIAM: MAYBE, BUT I DON'T THINK SO.