Theo fell to the floor in a heap, the force with which he hit the ground combining with how his head was already spinning. The rusting cell door swung close with a whine, grating on his ears, making him wince as the world tilted faster around him. Air would not stay in his lungs, rushing out more quickly than he could take it in. He clamped his mouth shut, teeth grinding against each other so hard his lower jaw vibrated. Still, his breaths squeezed from his lungs, hissing through his teeth. Screwing his eyes shut, he forced an inhale, drawing it back through his gritted teeth. It was slow and hard, his body screaming to open his mouth just a fraction more and take in the deep gulp of oxygen he needed. Instead, he kept filtering the air through his teeth, focusing on the ever-slowing hisses, letting his heart-rate fall in a tandem rhythm.
Once he could breathe, he took in the scents around him.
A sharp whine pushed from his throat as he lurched half-upright, both his wolf and coyote howling in unison, barely caring about the thick metallic note of blood that clung alongside sweat and fear. Any somewhat fresh scent was heaven at this point to his blood-thirsty beasts. Besides, the staleness of it reiterated that the beta was no longer there. Neither he nor his alpha. They were both safe.
A hoarse, half-laugh filtered through his cracked lips, sending pangs through his chest, radiating from the still-oozing punctures from Scott's claws. He did the right thing. For once, he actually did it.
"How are you still alive?" A cold voice asked.
Theo turned his head, ignoring the intensified throbbing in favor of searching for the voice's owner. A thin shadow hovered just beyond the bars of his cell, head tilted.
"Not to doubt your reputation, but the alpha should have ripped you to pieces," the voice continued.
There either wasn't enough light for him to see her clearly, or he had some level of concussion. Probably both. Regardless, he shifted his weight, pulling his arms beneath him and slowly pushing himself to a sitting position. By some magic, he managed to do so entirely silent. A smirky smile flashed across his face. Some modicum of control had returned.
"Honestly, I'm just as confused as you are," Theo forced out with a chuckle, refusing to let the sharp pain shooting through his ribs show.
A quiet tutt was his only answer.
It ground his gears more than he would admit.
Intaking a quick, steadying breath, he tensed what muscles he could and threw himself forward, just barely containing a pained groan as he rolled to his feet. He swayed, the room spinning yet again and his head throbbing like an anvil had dropped on it, but he kept his footing. His coyote snarled at him, seething not-so-quietly at the blatant display of weakness.
"Wh-what do you want?" He asked through gritted teeth, trying to find the blurred silhouette amongst the bars.
"A little justice, a little admiration, but mostly a good heaping portion of revenge," she answered, voice coming from behind him. "Bet you can understand that, can't you, Raeken?"
Theo spun, arms flying out to steady him, much to his annoyance, as his body teetered. A growl started to seep from his chest, but the sound was aborted by renewed hisses of pain. The vibrations of it made his whole chest explode. He stifled any further noises, shoving them to the back of his throat and swallowing them back down. Pain is temporary, he thought to himself, jaw clenching with the effort of straightening his stance.
"How do you know me?" His growl dripped murderous intent.
Her lilting laugh echoed through the cell. "More ways than one, to put it simply."
Had his world been spinning any less, he would have rolled his eyes back into his own skull. Is that how he had sounded with his snarky cryptic one-liners? He hoped not. That would explain the snickering he occasionally heard from the other chimeras before they met his claws.
With a vicious shake of his head, he ground out, "And the extended version?"
"Ah, ah, no spoilers. It'll be so much more fun to surprise you!" She said, fingers dancing along the bars, dipping into the grimy light illuminating his cell.
She stepped closer, thin pale face catching the light. Though things were still somewhat blurry, her crooked, too-wide, giddy smile stood out bright and clear. It nearly cracked her face in two. Joker probably would have looked less creepy that close-up.
"My name's Fallon, by the way," she giggled, waving at him like a toddler at a zoo animal, "and I'm gonna be the one to kill you. Eventually. Unless you're not as good as I've read about, then you'll probably end up on that alpha's claws or his beta's."
Theo was taken aback by the lack of change in her heart rate and the pensive yet detached facial expression. There was barely anything to get read on. Even what he could catch of her chemosignals over the cell's other scents gave him absolutely nothing.
"Nothing? Hmph," she tilted her head, a curious purse to her lips. "Figured you'd be much more uppity and in my face, like the beta. He sure had some fire and made a great-"
He slammed into the bars, roar shaking them. The wolf in him was snarling, egged on by the yipping, frenzied coyote, snuffing out his rational brain as he missed grabbing her throat by a hair.
"There's the monster," she said, the too-wide smile returning. "Good to know Daddy didn't put all that work into you just for it to go to waste."
Before he could ask what she was talking about, a cough filled his throat. Each contraction of his chest sent white-hot pain searing through him, nearly whiting out his vision, sending him stumbling to the ground again. He clutched his sides as the coughing heaves subsided, a wordless growl seeping from him, only to be abruptly cut off when his chest threatened to start clenching again. He glanced down and poked at his sides, gingerly moving his now blood-covered hands, groaning as dark, near-blackish blood oozed from ten deep holes.
"Fuck you, Scott," he growled, shifting to sit up as much as he could manage, one hand pressing into the dirt of the cell floor.
"Wounds not doing good?" Fallon asked, her voice damn near a coo.
The energy required to snark was more than he had at the moment. If his past self could see him now, he'd be more than disappointed. Disgusted was the best word he could come up with. Self-sacrifice was unbecoming of the Chimera of Death. As was showing weakness, especially to an enemy. Even his current self was peeved about that, along with his coyote, but given he was likely to die soon, maybe he could forgive himself that much.
"Here's hoping you survive then. It'd be a pity if you died before we could even get any real tests done." Fallon shrugged, "We'll just have to see."
"M'am," a new voice said from behind her.
"What?!" She turned away from Theo, seething.
"The lab and greenhouse are the only rooms left to pack," the male voice said, tone even though his heartbeat was racing.
Theo lifted his head in time to catch her glaring at him. The tightness in her scowl made him smile. He had almost forgotten he screwed up her plan earlier. Peeling his hand from his torso, keeping his eyes level with her, he waved, a trademark smirk accompanying the gesture.
Fallon turned and left the room without another word, the man following close behind her. The door shut hard, its thud echoing in the dim room, only interrupted by the turning of lock after lock. He counted five separate clicks and slides.
He stayed still, attention fixated on the door, an unease rising in his stomach. She wasn't a typical hunter by any definition. Even the ones that had been in the game since before they could walk and had starred down disgraced werejaguars had the sense to waver in his presence.
After what he guessed were minutes, he let his shoulders relax. The shift in his weight pulled him off-balance, sending him stumbling into the nearest wall. His hands and face met the coarse stone with a crash, eliciting a hoarse growl that only made his torso erupt in pain again. He slid down the wall, grimacing as the bricks bit at his skin, peeling his bloody, sweat-soaked shirt from his skin, reopening the wounds along his sides as the fabric was slowly pulled from the divots.
This might be a tad worse situation than he was used to handling, but he could not bring himself to care. A new, soft smile made its way over his face in time with a slow cascade of pride rippling through him.
He did his damn job.
Liam was no longer the one she was toying with. The little wolf was safe, back with the pack, and hell would freeze over before they let Fallon anywhere near him again. That was all that really mattered. He kept Liam alive. Whatever came next, he would take it gladly.
The heaviness of his eyelids slowly pressed his eyes shut, adrenaline finally waning in full. His wolf was finally quiet, settling into a corner peacefully. Boots stomping down the hallway and unintelligible shouts were a tantalizing lullaby, pulling at the exhaustion in his bones. Several weeks without sleep meant he drifted easily into the inky abyss of sleep.
—
Theo jolted back, the sharp twinges of electricity still thrumming through his spine and tingling in his fingers. His growl rose quickly in his throat, an echo of the fury in the glare he leveled at the glass wall and occupants behind it. Fallon stood beside her favorite lackey, hand lifted, waving at him with the oddly twisted smile that sunk his stomach faster than an anchor in the ocean. He hated that look, almost more than Stiles' judgmental sneer, and it never brought good things. Never. Nearly two weeks with the psycho had taught him that much.
He stepped back, neck hairs bristling and hands balled at his sides, ready to spring in any direction. Keeping half an eye on her, he took in the room around him, scenting the air first. They were definitely underground. The air had taken on a musty edge, as though it were trapped too long to be fresh and almost stale yet somehow still too nature-y. Beneath the air's latent heaviness was blood. Etched into every surface, floor, and wall alike. He knelt down, one knee pressing into what he previously thought was just a textured concrete. Another rock sank in his stomach as he stretched his fingers, tips grazing a set of gashes, only for another, smaller, set to run crossways through it.
Bile rose in his throat.
His gaze focused back on Fallon, a snarling grimace warring with the impassive mask he strove to keep up. His coyote was seething, pacing in his head, thrumming in his veins as anger pulsed through them, itching to leech out through his claws. The coppery scent blanketing the room only egged on the restless predator, much to Theo's annoyance. The damn thing had been hard enough to control when it was only worried about Liam, let alone adding the blood frenzy into the equation.
With a deep, steadying breath, Theo forced himself to look around the room again, paying attention to the doors and window. Just one, and it looked like a viewing area beyond it. Given the blood and claw marks, this was more of an observation room than anything. Groaning deep in his chest, Theo stands. She was a scientist, like them.
He turned quickly, biting back his wince and whine before they fully revealed themselves. The wolf and coyote snarled at him, chastising him for being weak. This was far from the worst situation he had been in, and sniveling like a newly made brat would get him nowhere. The Doctors were gone. He outlived them. End of story.
Theo launched into motion, moving methodically through the room, stretching out his whole body with every step. Over a week since they caught him, and this was his first time being let loose since the first day other than in his cell the night before. They were brighter than he wanted to give them credit for, keeping him bound, knocked out, or some combination of the two for the duration of traveling. If he had to guess, just by the black tint to his veins and sluggish sensation in his limbs, he would say Fallon had procured some of the Doctors' black wolfsbane serum. Or made some, courtesy of her dear dad. Vallack had given her everything short of the key to the sewers.
His attention returned to the glass as the lead hunter reached into her pocket, pulling out a thin silver touchpad remote. His brows quirked as it clicked. Sharp hissing radiated from above him. He looked up just as a thick red gas fizzled through what he assumed had to be a vent, falling with an ominous slowness. Theo's focus jumped between it and the psycho with the remote standing nonchalantly behind the glass, as always.
"Just great," he sighed, rolling his head in a circle with closed eyes.
It was about time for her to try out her little formula. Honestly, he expected it to come sooner than a week into holding him, given how fast she acted with Scott and Liam. All the traveling over the last week probably had something to do with it. They stayed in Beacon Hills with the other two. They hadn't had a choice with him. The pack knew where they were holed up and would be back in force as soon as they finished licking their wounds. If Theo were anywhere other than at their mercy, he might have been inclined to give them a small round of applause for their smarts.
A new coughing fit wracked his body. The pain forced his eyes shut. He tried to take a deep breath but could taste the bitter ashiness of the gas already permeating the cell. It burned his lungs, irritating them further, forcing more robust, ragged coughs.
"Good, it looks like this will affect you after all. Honestly was a little worried about that, what with your abnormal biology."
Theo's eyes flew open, fangs starting to drop as he snarled in tandem with his wolf and coyote. He would shut her up if it was the last thing he did. This was just the beginning of whatever she did to Liam, and he hated it. His wolf snarled alongside his train of thought, almost salivating at the idea of her blood covering his hands. She more than deserved it if what Argent and Derek said was true. Not even Scott would be able to be angry if he dropped her still-dripping throat at the alpha's feet.
"No," he growled at himself, forcing his teeth back to normal.
That was the wolfsbane talking, the anger it created. He was better than that, at least according to a certain beta. Murdering people was no longer his default setting. He could get out of here without killing people. Most of them. He would leave most of them alive. Fallon would be an exception, no matter what. She was too guilty, just like him.
He shook his head, his whole body swaying with the force of the movement as he clutched at his head. His wolf was screaming, incoherent with rage, as it flung itself at the walls of his mind, doing its best to maul the coyote, beating the poor thing away. His hands itched, claws sliding free, carving lines in his scalp as he fought to push them back in.
Finally, he managed to swallow back a cough enough to get a good breath in. The sting in the back of his throat was still there and worsening with every breath, but he needed the oxygen more than he was worried about whatever the wolfsbane was doing to his body.
"Shit," he said, speech slurred through his fully dropped fangs.
"Fighting it doesn't really do anything, but you're welcome to try," Fallon said, sounding too amused by what was happening.
One opportunity, that's all he needed. One moment with her guard down. Just one. A snarl spread over his face, a growl following, low and rumbling, carrying through the cell and quickly spilling into whatever else of the compound was beyond the door. He would fight this thing till his last breath, of that he was damn sure, and he made sure to convey the sentiment in the glower he leveled at her when he finally found her eyes again.
Another round of coughs ripped through him, sending vicious pangs through his torso. Tears gathered at the edges of his eyes, seeping into the thick creases surrounding them as his shift deepened. His wolf was snarling loud enough to block the sound of his own blood rushing in his veins and the groans that morphed into screams as his bones began to break, rearranging themselves far more slowly than usual. His scream pitched into a roaring howl as fur sprouted from every pore, coating his mangled, half-shifted body.
It never took longer than a few heartbeats for him to shift. Never.
His chest heaved, barely getting enough air to stay conscious, let alone scream, though he wanted to as another wave of the shift barreled through him. To his relief, it finally pushed his body over the edge, completing the change with a sharp barking whine as he collapsed on the floor.
He stayed, laying on his side, letting out heaving pants as he fought to get his heart rate under control. As daunting a task as it seemed, it was easier than wrangling the screaming in his head. Neither of his animals were backing down, just snarling and snapping at the other, making his legs twitch with the ferocity.
"Get up," the coldness in her lieutenant's voice brought back memories of dark rooms and broken bones.
With a weary snarl, he pulled his legs beneath him, not because she had said to, but because he wasn't done fighting. He was the opposite of any little wolf pulled from the street or embrace of a loving pack, and if she thought a little wolfsbane would make him her puppet, she was sorely mistaken. He would be damned and dead again before he let the hollow clicking in his ears win.
The door behind him opened and shut before he turned fully. Standing in front of him was a half-shifted creature of some sort. He couldn't tell what. The eyes were green, but not the shade of an omega's, darker and murkier. A growl rose in the creature's throat as it locked eyes with Theo.
Before he could corral his animals, an answering sound sprang from him, only to be abruptly cut off. He shook his head, stepping back, putting as much space between himself and the newcomer. Fighting was precisely what he needed to not do. The coyote would be damn near uncontrollable if he let it get fresh blood in its jaws.
"You know what's expected, Theodore," Fallon's voice once again drenched in an overly sing-songy tone.
Of course, he knew what she wanted. This room screamed of it. The blood, fear, and rage that had drenched down into the very essence of the space told him as much. It was obvious. But he didn't move. Every muscle in his body was straining, pulling against one another as half of him screamed to stay put and the other to launch at the unknown across from him.
"This really isn't becoming, Theodore. You're the Chimera of Death, the strongest Daddy and his friends ever made. You really should be living up to your potential better," she said, amusement hiding in her disappointed tone.
Another hiss filled the room, shortly followed by a thicker haze of red smoke.
Theo groaned, grabbing his head between his hands, claws digging at his scalp. The wolf was practically rabid, gnawing at the last threads of his control. His coyote was not much better, salivating at the idea of ripping into flesh. It had been so long since he really went for the kill. What harm could there be in letting out the pent-up frustrations from the last several weeks?
A snarl, not his own, ripped through the room, jarring his focus back to the other creature. His lips twitched over his fangs, almost catching on the points as he snarled in return. As he crouched, claws clacking against the concrete, his answering roar shook every atom of his being, strengthened by the combined efforts of his animals. The blue-tinted werecreature shrank back, acrid fear stinking up the room.
Without blinking, Theo surged forward, covering the bare ground between him and his opponent with ease. The werejaguar froze, creating a perfect statuesque, wide-eyed target for him as he leaped the last few feet, claws raised.
—
His coyote howled in victory, still salivating over the blood drying on Theo's hand and clothes. He glanced down, teeth grinding audibly from the effort to keep his eyes on his clothes. From his waist down, he was covered. The jaguar hadn't stood a chance.
A rough, biting chuckle echoed in the cell. The Doctors had said they would make him into the most feared creature in history, and damn if they hadn't delivered. The coyote for its survival instincts and fabled bloodlust; the wolf for its loyalty and strength of will; both added to a purely human body so he could side-step the supernatural laws of nature.
The perfect weapon.
He had been an idiot to pretend he was anything less. A tiger doesn't change its stripes, and a monster can't change its purpose. It was how they built him. Give the damn coyote a taste, and it was game over. He knew the beast was dangerous, had since the beginning, but it was also compelling, almost as conniving as a fox.
This wasn't supposed to be what his life was anymore. Death was the opposite of his current modus operandi. He had been doing so well. Even with all the hunters lately, he had managed to not kill a single one of them. The coyote had settled, only really screaming for minor carnage instead of the blow-out brawls or massacres it used to demand.
Now, he was right back where he started. The damn thing was wild, and someone wanted to use it.
Another weak, biting sound shook from his chest. Who was he fooling? Even Scott used him as a weapon, pointing him at whatever enemies the pack needed dealing with that he or the puppies were not yet equipped to manage. The only difference was the alpha loaded him with rubber bullets.
The coyote was drooling as it whispered in his ears again, half-mentions of slashing Fallon's throat or going the extra mile and tearing it out with his teeth. His claws twitched, the half-dried blood between his fingers squelching awkwardly. Even as he winced at the sound and sensation, the coyote reveled in it.
What would his little wolf think if he saw Theo now? His stomach sank so fast and hard that he lurched to the side, ready for the stream of bile that flew from him in great heaving coughs. There was no chance the beta would even so much as look at him, not after this. Even if they managed to get him out, not that he had high hopes about a rescue, there would be nothing for him back with the pack.
He was a killer all over again.
—
The metallic tang of blood lingered in Theo's mouth, likely from his tongue again. After two months of regularly getting stuck with the cattle prod, he probably should have learned to not bite his tongue every time. Sometimes, he wished it would just not grow back. His healing had limits, but evidently, continuously regrowing a small portion of muscle was not one of them. How inconvenient.
Slowly, his body stopped spasming, eventually laying still against the cold floor. A thin red cloud clung to it, not yet dissipated from the earlier dispersal, and though he was loathe to inhale more than he could help, Theo took a deep breath. His lungs tickled, but he clamped down his throat, expertly stopping the cough from building any further. Finally, he pushed himself half off the ground, one arm precariously underneath him, supporting the whole of his upper body.
"Hm. I knew the wolfsbane wouldn't be as effective, but this is… beyond what I expected," she mused.
Blood smeared over Theo's teeth as he smirked, head half-lolling to the side, "Always happy to impress."
Fallon moved closer, taser prod at the ready, a vicious curl to her lips as she eyed Theo. A rock pitted itself in his stomach. Nothing good ever came out of that look. Ever. It was just like the damn masks the Doctors used to wear, a premonition of something sickening and awful.
"It's only going to get worse, y'know? I've got plenty of ways to make your life miserable," she brought the tip of the cattle prod under his chin, applying an unyielding pressure, lifting his head to meet her eyes. "Well, more miserable."
Theo's jaw tightened.
"Wanna know the next item on the agenda?" Fallon asked, squatting beside Theo, leaning into his space, breath ghosting over his cheek, eliciting a shudder that ran down his whole spine, almost shaking his balance. "Betrayal." A cursed giggle spurted from her as she stood and backed away, "How do you feel about killing your friends?"
He knew it was coming. Derek had warned them back in the woods that these guys were serious business. Whether the wolf was smart enough to not tell Theo the hunters turned wolves loose on their own packs to keep him from charging in half-cocked or just had not yet found out was still unclear. Regardless, he hoped he bought the pack enough time to double down on defenses and get the whole worldwide crew together. Two months ought to have been enough.
Not that she could use him in the assault
"I asked you a question," Fallon said, stepping squarely into his line of sight, toying with the remote.
His tight jaw refused to loosen, despite the overt threat. The coyote was struggling against his renewed iron leash, gnawing at it with a furious fervor. He would not let himself get lured by it again, not after that first kill. Turned out killing was a lot like drugs. Once he swore off it, just giving himself a taste almost erased every ounce of progress he had made. The last two months were nearly as bad as hell, but he would be damned if he let it loose again. Another long slow breath in through the nose and out his mouth was his only outward response.
"It's technically justice, anyway, for what they did to our family, so maybe that's why you don't care," she said with a sigh, half-turning away, a razor-like smirk playing across her face.
"This isn't justice, and those bastards were anything but family," Theo growled, his wolf bristling at her words.
He was not part of her crusade, no matter how much she wanted him to be. To her, the Doctors had been family, thanks to good ol' Vallack and his creepo insistence on being the fourth doctor, and Theo was part of the family due to his extended raising by the fuckers. Every time she said it, he swore he was sucker punched, all the air leaving his lungs.
"You're one to talk. Weren't you just made to be a vessel for a mass-murdering psychopath?"
Theo glowered at her, eyes flashing a dangerous gold, though it didn't faze her. Fallon's face was as relaxed as he had ever seen it, though the now-familiar glint in her eyes told him he was going to suffer for speaking up. His lip twitched in a brief snarl, the coyote egging him on. The beast hated submitting to anyone. He shoved himself up, getting to his feet with a huff while cradling his stomach. The shirt was sticky with blood and plasma, remnants of the slowly healing burn.
She sauntered over to the table, making a show of giving him an easy target he couldn't take, which only riled up his coyote even further. Her side glance over her shoulder almost snapped his restraint. Hate was too nice a word for the roiling anger that sparked whenever she picked up the remote. He would have sworn she wasn't human with the predatory glint in her eyes.
The door behind him opened, letting a shrill, protesting scream cut into the strangling silence. Theo stayed still, eyes not leaving his captor, watching the gears turning in her head. The growing glimmer in her eyes had his pulse racing.
"Here's your playmate for today. I hope you'll treat her appropriately," Fallon said, sighing as she walked to the observation room door. "I have better things to do with my life than watch you put on these embarrassing little acts of defiance."
With a resounding thud, the door shut behind her. The strangled, wild whimpers behind him had Theo's coyote singing, champing at the bit to turn and just disembowel her with a single swipe. Claws slid from his nail beds, smoothly slicing into his palms. He barely noticed, save for how his coyote howled, almost roaring, as the wave of his own blood hit his nose.
How was he supposed to get through this? The options were quickly becoming kill or be killed, and he was not ready to die. Not yet. Survival was his middle name. Dread Doctors, the Alpha of Alpha's, the Wild Hunt… He survived it all. The idea of letting a hunter, even one that was tangentially related to the Doctors, be the one to put him in the ground made his blood boil. This was not where Theo Raeken, the first chimera and Chimera of Death, was going to die.
He schooled his face, letting the corner of his mouth quirk upwards as she turned, giving Fallon his best mimicry yet of the non-fazed calmness he knew would get the most significant rise out of her. She hated when he opted out of her little games. Sure, he paid a steep price for the insolence, but catching the flickering ripples of her anger was worth it. She was far from the only intelligent person in the room. Without breaking eye contact, she lifted the remote, playing with it briefly before settling it in her hand, pressing a button, and stepping fully into the observation area.
Hissing filled the room as the door shut.
"Perfect," he grumbled, rolling his eyes as the red haze descended.
She had started this a couple weeks ago, double dosing him and throwing in wolves with the second round, trying to force him into killing via self-defense. Luckily, none of the wolves she was grabbing were much in the way of fighters. He had them out cold within minutes, no worse for the wear other than his hold on the coyote. Every fight frayed at the tether he had on it. More blood, more anger… But he refused to let it loose again. That first kill had been a mistake.
The sharp sting of claws through his arm drew Theo's focus back to the moment. He reeled back, swiping at the attacker, fangs barred on instinct. He dove forward, shoving his shoulder into her chest, sending her stumbling, creating a couple feet between them.
He snarled, drawing himself up to his full height, letting the beta shift fully morph his features. Intimidation usually bought him enough time to get a grasp of what he was facing. Most supernaturals avoided tussling with a wolf on instinct alone; after all, where there was one wolf, there was usually a pack. But, to his surprise, the girl squared up in turn, her golden eyes flashing paler than usual as she shifted.
A pit dropped in Theo's stomach. She couldn't have been more than fourteen. Just a kid.
White-hot anger seared through his veins in time with a primal growl fueled by his own wolf. She was going after kids now, likely just to get under his skin. He flicked his eyes back to Fallon, letting all the fury out in a single look. The bitch barely reacted, only twirling the remote further. He would not be a pawn. Not again. He was more than a set of claws, more than a weapon.
The she-wolf darted forward, claws aimed at his face. Blocking the strike was easy, a matter of grabbing her wrist. She squirmed, her writhing screams more animal than human, her eyes now more of a pale cream than gold as the wolfsbane took hold. He twisted her arm, spinning the girl to face away from him, bringing her wrist up between her shoulder blades. The coyote salivated at her pain-filled shrieks, urging him to shift his grip, to put just as few more ounces of pressure and pop her bones from the socket.
Snarling, fury dripping from the noise, he threw her across the room, hardly noticing how she stumbled to the ground but did not stay down. The coyote snarled again, railing against Theo's last shred of restraint, howling with furious intent, beyond frenzied at the prospect of sinking his fangs in the girl's throat.
He had to finish this quickly, for both their sakes.
The girl moved first, coming at him with her claws, slashing haphazardly at his chest and throat. For the most part, he blocked the blows from their intended targets, catching the lighter ones on his forearms. He hadn't noticed her shift her footing till a strike landed at his hip, tearing deep into the tendons, forcing him half to the ground. Through gritted teeth, he jostled his weight to the other leg, narrowing his eyes at his opponent, observing her approach. She limped on her left foot, staggering her gait just enough for him to launch forward, tackling her to the ground. He almost felt bad about the force of his attack when her head smacked into the concrete with a reverberating thud, but the feeling was short-lived. Her body tensed, giving him just enough warning to lift himself partly off before she reared back, roaring inches from his face.
The smirk that flitted to his lips was instinctual, muscle memory as much as the full-body punch he leveled at her face, squarely landing his knuckles between her eyes. She crumpled instantly, head hitting the floor again, though the thud was softer this time. A shaky breath released from his chest as her own rose slowly. The coyote was pouting, angry at being ignored yet again, but his wolf, set off by the wolfsbane as it was, preened, happy to have lived up to the pack's expectations even under duress.
A disgusted groan, distorted by the speakers, made Theo wince, covering his nearest ear with a still-clawed hand.
"Come on, Theo. You can do better than that," she sneered, one arm on her hip.
"Maybe I need a better dance partner," he snorted, a smirk building on his face as he tilted his head. "Care to join me? I bet it'd be just the performance you're looking for."
Her eerie, half-hearted laugh echoed in the room, almost sending a shudder tearing through him. He really hated that laugh.
"I think I'll stay off the dance floor for now, but if you don't like your current partner," she said with a sigh, "I could always get you a new one. What'd you prefer? Someone with a little more oomph? Hmm?" She blinked, waiting for a reaction he refused to give. "Maybe I got the wrong style for you. What about that beta, huh? He was so feisty, so angry. I can only imagine how he'd—"
Theo reeled back, breath catching in his throat. Not for the first time, he was glad Fallon was just human. The frantic pace of his heart would have been a dead giveaway at the nerve she just struck. Not like his face was much less of one, but the intimacy of his heart being less the culprit made him feel less violated. He had worked so hard to keep his secret hidden, tucked away in the back of his mind, guarded by the wolf. Every fiber of him knew he had to keep Fallon from finding out how close he actually was to him.
Nothing was off limits when it came to Liam. He knew that from the start. Hell, even Scott saw it. Keeping Liam safe was the only thing ever to have overridden the coyote's desire to turn tail. No one had mattered like that, not since before the Doctors came into his life, and he would rather chop off his own hand than put that on the line. Murder had been part of his life since he was ten; it bothered him less than blinking. But this, what Fallon wanted, was beyond that. The Doctors barely had a handle on the coyote, and they raised him! No matter what tricks Fallon had, there was no way the coyote would listen to her, not entirely. It always had a scheme, an ulterior motive no one fully understood. The only exception had been Stiles. Intelligent, too perceptive for a human, untrusting Stiles had seen through the coyote from the start.
"You don't want that do you, Theodore?" Fallon asked, a cruel curl pulling at her lips. "The poor little beta back here, facing off with you and our little guest," a whiny pout saturated her tone. "The only way I'll consider leaving him alone is if you play with our guest yourself."
It made no sense for her to try. The gain was in no way worth the loss. Besides, there was no way she could get to Liam. He was safe, surrounded by the strongest pack in the country. No one in the world was safer than his little wolf. There was zero chance she could get to him, not with the other fifteen or so supernaturals and humans in her way.
But, the lead hunter had yet to make an idle threat. She always followed through.
Always.
Tears built behind his eyes as Theo ground his teeth, the crack reverberating through his jaw as one of them shattered. Nothing beyond the clenching of his fists indicated that he registered the pain. Instead, he was stock still, battling back the furious howling of the coyote and plaintive keening from his wolf, trying to ignore them both. Neither animal was being helpful. The wolf's loyalty was finally coming to bite him squarely in the ass, encouraging the coyote.
"Tick, tock, my offer only lasts so long."
The only way the pack could handle the coyote in the driver's seat would be to put him back in the ground. Liam would have to see that. Anything less, and the whole pack would suffer for it. He nearly wiped them out the last time, all on his own. Now an army of hunters, hell-bent on razing the supernatural world to the ground, was standing behind him.
"I don't - I don't know what to do," Theo whispered to no one, wincing at the crack in his voice.
"Well, first, you need to get your head out of your ass, then we'll figure out the rest," his coyote hissed, settling back into control.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, half-choking as the hushed words tumbled from him.
There weren't any other angles for him to play or threads to pull. He was stuck, drowning in his wolf's seething snarls and lingering trails of his coyote's frenzy. The blood around him had soaked into his skin, tainting his scent with rot. He was slipping, losing crumbs of who he had built himself to be to the rabid animals in his head. There was only so long he could stave off the inevitable.
He turned to the girl, hands shaking at his sides. He had no clue whether it was from his own trepidation at what this meant or from his coyote's excitement. As the claws slid out and he moved to kneel beside her, the line between him and the coyote blurred. The animal was all but howling victoriously again, shoving Theo's ability to make decisions aside.
With a grace he had not felt in years, he brought his hand down on the girl's chest, claws ripping through flesh and the force of his thrust cracking clean through her sternum. He wrenched his hand back, throwing the oblong bone to the side, ignoring her writhing scream and thrusting his hand back in. The blood poured out of her, saturating the air with a delicious coppery note. He all but purred at how her screams turned to gurgles the longer he left his hand loosely curled around her frantically thumping heart. Slowly, the little organ lost its rhythm, pumping blood out of the gaping wound less efficiently. Her screams were barely audible whispers tickling his soul, bringing a wide smirk to his blood-covered face.
Silence fell over the room when he removed his hand, claws wrapped tightly around the girl's heart.
It was short-lived, broken by the slide of a door over a metal track and slow applause leaking from the room beyond. Theo turned, meeting Fallon's gaze, almost hoping for a flinch. When none came, he tossed the heart to her feet, rescinding his claws and fangs, though his eyes stayed golden.
"Satisfied?" He asked, still smirking.
Of course, she was. He could smell the contentment leeching off her as well as the disdain, if not better. Humans, he sneered internally. So easy to figure out and even easier to use. He walked towards her, keeping his steps measured and short, his eyes soft and downcast, though he hoped not too soft. She was the type who could tell feigned from true submission. He just had to survive long enough. Eventually, everyone made a mistake. The Doctors had, and they were centuries-old science nuts. No one anticipated how quick he could build his own following or how efficiently he could remove himself from the playing field.
Fallon would be no different. A simple means to an end. Getting out of Beacon with a way to finally take what he wanted. If she wanted a bunch of packs dead, who was he to say no. All he needed was an alpha's bite, kill the alpha and take his pack's power, just like Deucalion taught him, and he would be the strongest supernatural creature to ever exist.
All he had to do was be patient. Patient and just docile enough.
"What do you need, alpha?" He said, dipping his head to the side, exposing his neck to her as he would in front of any Alpha.
The caustic nausea seeping from Fallon almost made him snicker. Of course, the hunter would hate being treated like a werecreature, even if it was in deference. It was a nice bonus to his agenda, a sweet treat to savor. She had worked hard to gain his allegiance, so she couldn't just wave off the display or ban it. He tucked his chin tighter, hiding the sharp smirk creeping across his cheeks, blood-covered fangs poking out of it.
