As Teddy finished his drinks, the sun completely disappeared behind the dense forest. He finished the last of his beer as the healer's candle weakened- its wick sputtering in the wax. He was just trying to work up the energy to move when he heard someone walking up the gravel walkway. The alpha's son had a small room on the first floor and wouldn't take kindly to Teddy stealing his dad's booze. Teddy was too tipsy to manage an apparition. So he clumsily vanished the empty bottles and grabbed his glass before slipping into the liquor cupboard. In the absolute dark of the closet, he whispered a cleaning spell on his glass. He held his breath as he unsteadily returned it to the shelf, praying the glass wouldn't clink as he set it down.
The front door opened and Teddy held still, waiting for the footsteps to trail off to the stairs. They didn't. Instead, they came closer. Teddy silently swore. The alpha's son was an almost perfect replica of his father and had inherited all of his father's propensity for gaining muscle . Magic or no, Teddy had no wish to get on the bad side of Tyler's already quick temper. How could he explain raiding the alpha's alcohol? Maybe he could use his metamorphmagus powers to transform into someone else? But who?
As the man on the other side came closer, Teddy could see lamplight wildly swinging under the crack of the door. Teddy's chest hurt as his heart pounded against it. Could he morph into Pret? No, Teddy didn't think Tyler would be scared of Pret like most of the werewolves were.
Pret was one of the oldest members of the pack but still managed to have no friends to speak of. Everyone avoided him. Lilith had called him the creepiest creep she had ever met. Teddy agreed. No one seemed to know anything about him except that Pret enjoyed violence.
In any case, morphing into Pret was out. Maybe he could disillusion himself. It might work in such close quarters because it was so dark. Was Teddy sober enough to hold such a complicated spell, let alone move quietly enough not to be noticed? What if Tyler was tipped off to Teddy's presence? With a killer loose, Tyler's reaction would probably be worse than if he saw the intruder was Teddy.
The lamp had stopped moving and was now paused outside of the door. Teddy tried to steady his breathing and take full deep breaths. Maybe he could say he had accidentally walked in here? Tyler would only believe that if he was drunk.
Speaking of drunk, maybe Teddy shouldn't have finished the last of the alcohol. He could feel it kicking in and the world was getting more than a little fuzzy. He took another steadying breath and memories of his pack initiation started to crowd in.
Not now. This was not the time for his nightmares to come. Carefully, he backed up to the far end up the cabinet, maybe giving himself five feet from the door. If he was very very lucky, he might be able to 'Obiliviate' Tyler before he got a fist into Teddy's face.
The knob jiggled as someone struggled with the sticky lock. Definitely Tyler. Who else didn't use magic? Unless it was the Alpha? Merlin's saggy pants, that was worse. Teddy braced himself against the back cabinets in anticipation.
The door eased open and Teddy fingered his wand.
The person illuminated by the light wasn't big enough to be the Alpha or his son. This man was all lean sinewy muscles and, although he was covered in scars like the Alpha, they barely stood out against his extremely pale skin. His teeth, always a little too sharp looking, shone in a wide, predatory smile.
It was Pret.