Chapter 11: Thickening Plots

6:30 am

The sun was starting to rise and shed some light outside the windows of Oscar's sitting room of his . There were three other betas in the room along with Charlie and his fellow beta Miles, standing around in silence. The scrapes and bullet wounds they got were now completely gone, as if they had never happened. Even after six months, the fact that he could now heal so well still through Charlie for a loop. The only bad thing was that even if the wounds themselves have healed themselves, some pain still lingered from what they had healed from like a hard ache. Charlie felt a bit sore in the spots where he had been bumped and cut by thorns during his run and he saw Miles was shifting his feet a bit, no doubt still reeling from getting shot in the leg, even if the wound was gone now.

Leaning off in a corner, looking out the window was Oscar. A passive look was on his face but the werewolves in the room could easily detect his disappointment He just stayed silent, looking out at the early morning light starting to peer out into the skies.

He then spoke out of nowhere. "I have to say, I am far from impressed with what I saw from you two. You were both caught and brought to heel, far from the safe point during a simple hunting exercise. Given the military backgrounds you both possess, I would have expected something far more impressive."

"Yeah we're fine from getting shot at too, thanks," Miles sputtered out.

Immediately, Oscar's face hardened and Charlie inwardly cringed. While he appreciated Miles' sarcasm, it was clear that Oscar, and a few of their fellow betas didn't. Before any of them knew it, Oscar came forward and clawed at Miles' face. Miles cried and crutched down, holding his face as Charlie jumped next to him.

"Still fine?" he asked, indifferent to what he had just done.

Miles had his hand over the left side of his face where some drops of blood were starting to ooze through the space in his fingers. He looked up at Oscar to see the Alpha flashing his red eyes dangerously at him. He took a breath and averted his eyes. "Ecstatic."

"What was that?" Oscar said stiffly.

Charlie knew what Oscar wanted and let his foot tap against Miles', making him look up at him. He widened his eyes down at him and tried to mentally tell him what Oscar was looking for. His former drill instructor pulled the same thing with his unit back in basic training. Miles cringed but straightened himself up.

"I'm well sir," he said in a sterner tone.

Oscar nodded. "Good. Now, either of you care to tell me what went wrong?"

Charlie decided to answer when he saw Miles hesitant to talk after what Oscar did to him. "We weren't prepared. We've never been through something like that before."

Oscar rose his eyebrows at him in disbelief. "What? I thought you army types always have skirmish drills like that all the time. It's the very reason that I chose to give the bite to both of you in the first place. What, were both of you at the bottom of your classes or something?"

Charlie was barely able to keep himself from rolling his eyes at Oscar's rant. First, gave them the bite? He didn't 'give' them anything, he forced it on them. Second, Miles wasn't in the army, he was in a military style prep school. Only he had been, which is why he was able to endure Oscar being a hard-ass. He was a carbon copy of his squad's drill instructor.

"Oscar, you took us deep into the woods, out of nowhere, with bags on our heads. You gave no explanation until we got there and then ripped them off to show us four men armed with sniper and assault rifles. You then tell us to run through the woods, unarmed, and get to the road if we want to live. Then those guys start shooting at us. That's not a skirmish you put us through, it was a straight up manhunt."

The Alpha didn't blink at Charlie's scolding tone. "Exactly," he said to both of their visible shocks. "A hunt. All part of your new lives as werewolves. Consider it practice for when the time comes when you meet real hunters. Only, they won't be as gentle as my associates were."

"Gentle?!" Miles cried out incredulously. He still remembered how his leg felt like it was on fire a few hours ago from the bullet that had been stuck into him. "You call getting chased and shot at in the woods with automatics gentle?!" Miles cried out.

"Watch your tone," Oscar lowly but harshly. He narrowed his eyes at Miles, making them flash red at him and Miles quickly found his insides shrivel up and shrunk back. "And as for your question, yes, I do call it gentle. The two of you have only been wolves for a few months. You've been spared so far, but let me tell you here and now, hunters won't be with either of you."

"Yeah, and that's if you're lucky," muttered a beta behind the two of them. "If you're not, they will spare you, and make you wish they didn't." He then went to move his hand over where his left ribs were. "I sure did."

That pain in his voice made Charlie want to flinch.

"He's lucky we were able to find and save him before they finished having their fun with him," said another beta. "Not too many other werewolves get that chance."

Charlie felt a chill run down his spine and it seemed that Miles was feeling something similar. Their alpha wasn't done with them yet though.

"Miles," he said, making all their attention fall back on him. "Your foolishness led you to being shot out there." Oscar moved but surprisingly went to stand in front of Charlie. "But you, you disappointed me the most."

"Oscar?" said Charlie, confused.

"When you saw that Miles was down, you should've taken the time to flee while he had given you the opening."

"And leave him behind? Soldiers don't leave their people behind. And aren't pack mates supposed to be the same?" he asked the alpha somewhat passionately.

And Oscar responded in kind. "Yes, but what did that get you last night?" That made Charlie's jaw tighten. "You ended up getting caught along with him. Had that happened during the real thing, the hunters gotten two wolves instead of one and the rest of the pack might not have had any warning maybe until the next one was ready to be taken. How would that have helped your other pack mates? Answer me that!" he spat at him. Charlie didn't say anything. He just glared on ahead and Oscar nodded triumphantly. "I thought as much," he smugly said at him. He then visibly sniffed the air and settled himself. "I know you hate me right now, and I don't care. The Alpha doesn't need to be liked, he needs to make sure that the pack doesn't die. I turned the two of you because I hoped you could help me do that. But, if you are going to help do the opposite, I'll kill you both myself. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir," they both muttered stiffly to him.

Oscar then stepped into his personal office with his Second Dean, a very imposing looking man, behind Oscar himself, trailing behind him. He closed the soundproofed door behind him, as Oscar went to switch on some classical music to play on the speakers inside.

"Was that a little too much Oscar?" Dean lightly asked him as soon as the music came on.

Oscar went to sit down at his makeshift desk and spin his chair to face him. "What do you mean Dean?"

"The hunting exercise. Charlie and Miles actually did better than the rest of the pack did during their first hunting test. They lasted longer and got closer to the road than any of them, even myself."

"Yes, I noticed. It seems I did make a good choice turning them. Their military training and education helped them better than normal bitten betas. I can only imagine how they'll be after a few more months when they gotten a better grasp of their new abilities."

Dean still looked lost. "Then, what was all that back there?"

"If I sing praises for those army boys this early then they'll start growing lax, which I can't afford, especially now. Besides, their actions last night weren't all praise worthy. Brave as it was, Charlie still had made a stupid and foolish move during the hunting trial. Miles was as good as dead and he went and killed himself along with him trying to carry him away. Pulling off brave stunts like his might earn him a gold star, medal or whatever in the army but against hunters it could get him as well as the rest of us killed." Oscar suddenly stopped and took a deep breath. "Point is, I need them to stop thinking like good honorable soldiers and start thinking like hardened wolves. We're going to need them, sooner rather than later." Oscar turned to look out the window with a far off look on his face.

The change in demeanor made Dean start feeling anxious. "Oscar? Has something happened?"

"Not happened, happening. I've got some news from an alpha that I know in Vermont about a week ago. And again from some werewolves belonging to packs in Maine and Pennsylvania. Word is spreading all along the eastern seaboard that the hunter families and clans are starting to move underground."

"Underground? You mean, they're going into hiding?" That was a switch as it was usually the werewolves that needed to go underground, not the hunters.

"That is the leading theory at the moment. A handful of hunters had recently caught some heat from the feds. Arrested and taken into custody during some surprising raids."

"How? Why?" Hunters weren't usually that sloppy.

"I have a hunch. You know that after the battle at La Iglesia in Mexico over six months ago, the Calaveras were taken into federal custody, right?" Dean nodded and Oscar continued. "Well, it seems that they were released about two weeks ago, well at least that fossil Araya, her nephew Severo and a handful of others. Well, most of the Calaveras' assets and holdouts were stripped and seized, not to mention they've been put under surveillance. Hunting wasn't supposed to really be an option for them anymore. But, they were tracked moving east before suddenly just dropping out of sight."

"Let me guess, around a week ago, when many of the other hunters started going underground," Dean piped in.

The Alpha pointed right at him, telling him he was spot on. "It's no coincidence. Some think they're all trying to lay low together until all this federal heat blows over-"

"But really they're likely planning something," Dean finished for him.

Oscar nodded, happy with his Second's deduction. "Exactly. Which is why I need to bring the hammer down and accelerate my plans of expanding our pack's power. Two of these new recruits were a good start but I need more."

"The old lady find any more potential recruits?"

"No, she hasn't found anyone as of late. I don't expect her to find more anytime soon as I had sent her to look into something else for me. The situation to the west."

Dean stiffened. "What is the situation?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. But, I will say that it is escalating. And, it could be the push that is needed to give me the opportunity of a lifetime. If so, then we need to have the upperhand. Speaking of-"

Dean quickly nodded. "Don't worry Oscar. I already have someone working on the Hales for us right now. They'll confirm if your suspicions about the child's father are true or not."

"Good. It would be so much easier if I could get Maggie to confirm it for me. I'm sure she already knows the truth herself. Yet, even though she's apprenticed under my emissary, I can't trust her. She's too taken with Derek Hale and close with his sister to risk them. Just make sure that your man is discreet. The Hales are naturally distrusting and if they get wind that I'm prying then it could drive them away and I need them close."

"Yes, I know. Don't worry, I have it under control."

While the door was soundproofed and the music drowned out anything prying lupine ears could hear on the other side, the room's vent still left a small opening for what was being said to be heard through a vent grate in the bathroom. That someone being Charlie.


7:15 am

Malia woke up that morning to a pleasant smell drifting through the air and went to the kitchen to see that her dad had a small stack of pancakes ready on the table. He was at the stove, over a pot that had strips of meat sizzling on the surface. The smell of it made a small satisfied growl escape her throat and that caught his attention.

"Hey sweetie, good morning. How'd you sleep?"

"Not very good," she bluntly told him.

"With how you looked when you came home, I figured as much." When Stiles had dropped Malia off, he saw how upset she was. She hadn't said what was wrong and he didn't push. But, he hoped that Malia would feel well enough to tell her after she had slept and had a good breakfast. "That's why I decided some pancakes. When I was your age, after I had a crappy day my father would go and place a stack of vanilla/nutmeg pancakes with a side of bacon in front of me the next morning."

She nodded before looking at the meat still cooking. "That's not normal bacon, is it?" It smelled different to her. A good kind of different.

"No." He smiled fondly at her. "It's deer."

She returned his smile before running over and pulling him in for a warm hug. "Thanks dad," she said into his shoulder. That made him squeeze back a little harder.

Soon after, they were both sitting at the table, enjoying the pancakes and Malia scarfed down the deer bacon strips. Henry also moved to grab two strips for himself. He had to admit that deer wasn't so bad, when it was properly cooked of course.

"You feeling better?" he asked her after half her stack was gone.

"A bit," she sighed out.

"I heard that something happened at the precinct on the news. Some kind of an attack and a prisoner got out. You were all there, weren't you?"

"Yeah, we were."

Malia then moved to slowly explain everything that had happened since the night of Senior Scribe. From the attack by the werewolf with talons, to Tracy and her serpent tail attacking them at the vet clinic and at the station. She then told him how she had encountered those three men in the masks who had appeared out of nowhere and then disappeared. Though, Malia found that she wasn't able to tell her dad about how Tracy had been ready to kill her. She didn't exactly know why she was leaving it out, just that she didn't want to say anything about it.

Henry was silent and didn't interrupt Malia while she told him everything. His heart almost dropped when he heard about Tracy Stewart's tail and her power to paralyze people with a single strike. And the fact that she had done that to his daughter and her friends before taking off and attacking more of her friends at the Sheriff's station. He knew that all this supernatural stuff could get...insane. Everything that had happened in the last year had more than proven that. But this seemed to be on a whole other level, and his daughter seemed to again be in the thick of it. When she was talking about heading for the station, Malia had stopped in her story for a moment, before she started to talk about running into those three men in masks. He could see that something about that encounter had frightened her.

"Unbelievable," Henry muttered after she was done. "Just when I thought things couldn't get any crazier around here. Is Lydia going to be okay?"

"I don't know. She lost a lot of blood. They had to send her into surgery."

Henry let his gaze fall a bit before he rose his head back up. "How is everyone else?"

"Terrible," she said before she moved to shove another piece of deer bacon into her mouth. "Scott and Kira are feeling upset. Liam is scared. Theo seems to be trying to keep himself calm."

She then trailed off for a bit and Henry seemed to notice a name missing.

"And Stiles?"

Malia moved to stare down at her plate as she absentmindedly swirled a piece of pancake over a drop of syrup over and over. "He was...angry. And anxious. I'm getting a little worried."

Henry nodded in understanding. "Well I can't say I blame him for being anxious or angry, given what happened to his friends and his father last night."

But Malia shook her head. "No, it's not just last night. He's been like this for a while now. Since before we left for the summer, he's been really anxious about something. I can always smell it all over him. Whenever we're together. When we're at school, riding in his jeep, or sleeping together in his room. I've been trying to help but he still has trouble sleeping a lot of the time."

Henry took a moment to try and block out any visual images of Stiles in bed with his daughter. He thought about the timing, and he quickly guessed what this might be about. "Uh, I can't say that I'm surprised sweetheart. You're all seniors now. It's natural and normal for some teenagers to be feeling that around this time."

The confusion was plain on Malia's face. "What do you mean?"

"This is the last year all of you can be like this. Once the school year ends, everyone goes off and begins their separate new lives in the world."

"Yeah, Stiles was worried about wanting everyone to still be together. He told me he has a vision."

He sighed to himself. Henry did like Stiles. Yes, he was a little different, even without the werewolf thing thrown in, but he thought that it made him a good fit for Malia. He couldn't have asked for his daughter to have had a better first boyfriend. Yet, he knew how it would all likely end.

"Well, maybe the reason Stiles is getting more anxious and aggravated is because he's starting to find out that his vision is not going to be as easy or simple as he hoped it would be."

"Why?"

"Well, for starters, his best friend has been struggling for the longest time to keep his grades, so much that he went to summer school to help raise them. Scott can't get a scholarship so worked an internship at the hospital to help get college credit but he still might not be able to make tuition for Davis and his mother is thinking of selling the house. Kira is juggling between a school close to her boyfriend and a school close to her family. Lydia is overwhelmed with options and might choose one that is far away from everyone."

"How do you know all that?" Malia cut in. It felt like he knew more about her friends than she did.

He smiled sadly at her. "We parents talk to each other almost as much our kids do. And there is an even bigger issue that Stiles is having trouble dealing with."

Her heart dropped. "What?"

"That he might have to leave girlfriend behind." He sighed when he saw his daughter's eyes widen. "Malia, I know you've been working hard to catch up with school, proud of that by the way, but do you really plan to go to college?"

"Uh...I don't know." She looked down and tapped her finger against the side of her plate.

"Sweetie, please, you can be honest."

She shrugged. "Not really."

Henry nodded. "And I can get that, kind of. I mean, spending half of your life as a coyote out in those woods, you don't really know where or how you want your future to turn out. But Stiles, he does want to go to college. He's been working on it for so long and all his work has given him more than his fair share of choices."

And Henry knew that Stiles did have his share. The Sheriff had told him about the opportunity that had come for his son in the mail a few days before school started. Apparently, Stiles had been offered both an academic and lacrosse sports scholarship to Georgetown University. A full ride to one of the most impressive universities in the country. Apparently, someone had put his name down and given them their recommendation to review Stiles as a potential student. They had sent a school representative during one of Beacon Hills' lacrosse games a few months ago and had been impressed with Stiles' healthy level of play and looked at his academics. Yet, the Sheriff knew that Stiles was looking into UC district schools so that he could be close by his friends and Beacon Hills, or Malia. With what was happening, he was sure that the Sheriff hadn't found the right chance to tell Stiles but he knew the man would have to do it soon. Henry knew that a chance like this didn't come along often. And he knew that his daughter cared too much for Stiles for him to give it up for her sake.

He continued. "He has an idea for what he wants for himself after high school, but I think he's beginning to realize that you don't, if he hasn't already. Stiles is probably worried that you'll feel like he's leaving you behind if he goes off to college. But he does want to go and doesn't want you to feel like you're making him have to choose between you and his college dreams."

Malia quickly straightened up. "I don't want him to have to give up any of that for me," she said quickly.

"I know sweetie," he said back quickly. "I know."

But from his own graduation experience, he knew that it was highly likely that it just might not be an option.


2:45 pm

Liam and Mason were walking out of their last class together and headed out in the hallway which was slowly filling with other students as classes were starting to end for the day. Liam moved and stopped in front of his locker while Mason was checking his phone, looking eager and expectant.

Liam noticed how Mason's mood seemed to have jumped. "Mason?"

"What are you doing tonight?" his friend asked him suddenly and excitedly.

"Why?"

"You're coming out with me to Sinema tonight."

He closed his locker door and looked over at him. "Sinema? That club you were talking about before?"

"Yeah. I just got the green light to go and I can bring a friend. So, you're coming with me."

Liam sighed. "Uh, Mason I don't think I can right now."

"Why not?"

"Uh, maybe because there are werewolves running around with snake tails and giant talons."

That made Mason blink a bit. "Yeah, but didn't you guys already stop them?"

"Two of them, but there are still more of them out there. You saw the holes."

"Yeah, but there's been no sign of them or any new attacks?"

"No, but we still need to find them." Liam started to raise his voice up a bit and his breathing quickened. "And there's still those guys in masks Malia told us about. Okay, we have to find them before more people get hurt."

"Whoa." Mason held a calming hand out at him as he took a nervous look around at the nearby people. "Calm down."

Liam took a deep breath. "Yeah...sorry. It's just, these guys Malia told us about, I think I might've seen them before."

"What?" Mason quickly gasped out. "Where?"

Liam let his back lean against the lockers and rested his head into the metal. He then started to tell him about the nightmare he had a few nights ago. Of seeing animal carcasses splattered everywhere with parts of the bodies missing. And then seeing a wolf of mixed limbs, as well as other...things made up of animal parts sewn together. Then of the three metal men that were with them.

"And you really think it was them you saw?" Mason asked him.

Liam nodded. "Yeah. And the last time I had a dream like this was right before Scott and Kira were kidnapped and taken to Mexico."

"Have you told them yet?" Liam's silence was all the answer he needed. "Maybe you should."

Liam bounced the back of his head from the locker at that. He knew Mason was right. The last time something like this happened. he had stayed quiet. But, would Scott listen to him? What was he even supposed to say? He was worried because he had a nightmare that may have included these masked men? Before he could dwell more on it two kids, a girl and a guy, came into his sights. They came over and stopped next to him and Mason. Liam knew the girl. She was a junior and had noticed her in the halls a couple of times.

"Hey you're on the lacrosse team. It's Liam, right?" the girl asked him.

He nodded. "Yeah."

"I'm Gwen," she said to him. "This is Michael," she said introducing her friend. "Do you know where Scott is?"

He immediately straightened up. "Why?" he asked, his tone a bit defensive. After the last week, he was feeling quite tense and alert.

"Well, the two of us want to try out for the lacrosse team this year. We would've gone to Coach Finstock but he's..."

"Gone," Liam finished.

Everyone knew the story. Coach had relapsed and started drinking again before school ended last semester. He had left to go back to rehab.

"Yeah, so that's why we need to find Scott. We know you hang around him a lot so I was hoping you could help us out."

"You want me to talk to him about helping with you with tryouts?"

"Couldn't hurt," Michael chimed in. His tone then started getting a bit spiteful. "Seeing as how we already tried talking to him and got nowhere."

Liam narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"A few days ago, Gwen and I went up and asked him about how we could make the team and he told us to meet him on the field after school to see what we can do. And he completely blew us off." He seemed to get a little pissed at the end. Even Gwen seemed a bit aggravated.

"What?" Liam was shocked.

Michael's jaw tightened. "We must've waited at the field for an hour. He never showed up. Probably was laughing about it."

That didn't sound at all like Scott and was about to accuse them of lying. But then he thought of what Michael said about the timing. It sounded like this happened right when 'chimeras' started showing up. "Hey, I'm sure Scott didn't mean to do that. He's kind of been a little busy lately," Liam said to them.

Mason ducked his head down to roll his eyes. "Understatement," he muttered to himself.

Liam had heard him and gave him a small kick at his heel. "Look, the point is that Scott probably got sidetracked and just forgot about meeting with you guys."

"Well can you help talk to him this time?" Gwen asked him. "If we want to get a shot of making the team then we need his help. He is the captain after all."

"Co-captain," he corrected.

"Co-captain?" Gwen repeated back. "Well, who's the other one then?"

Liam turned to share a look with Mason.

Stiles and Malia walked through the doors and he checked his watch and saw that there was just about ten minutes until his and Malia's next class. He was a little worried they would be late as after they left the hospital, they took a detour to Lydia's house to get bestiary.

"So, we're meeting with Scott and Kira in the library after our last class," he said as they walked down the halls together.

"Yeah, I know." She looked down at the book in Stiles' arms. "Do you think there might be anything in there about the men in masks?"

He doubted it. Stiles guessed the bestiary had as much about the masked men as it did about werewolves with talons or serpent tails. "Maybe," he shrugged.

They crossed around a corner and their eyes lit up when they saw Liam heading right for them with Mason and two others kids, a guy and a girl, that they didn't recognize.

"Stiles, do you have a minute?" he asked as he came up to him with everyone.

"Why, what's up?" Stiles asked as he looked at each one of them.

The girl stepped around to face him. "I'm Gwen, this is my friend Michael," she said pointing out the other one before looking back at him. "You're the other co-captain for the lacrosse team, right?"

"Yeah, I am?" he said a little slowly.

"We were wondering if you could help us."

Stiles straightened up. "How can I help?"


3:00 pm

"Hey Lori."

Lori looked away from her locker to see that her brother Brett was going over to her, separating from some of his lacrosse teammates.

"Brett, hey, what's up?"

"You doing anything tonight?"

"No, not really. Why?"

"Well, I'm heading over to Sinema later tonight. I was wondering if you wanted to come with."

"To Sinema?" Lori was surprised. Brett hardly ever invited her when he went off to go clubbing. Not that she minded. It wasn't really her scene. "I don't know."

"Liam's going to be there," he said in a sing song like tone.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Shut up," she grumbled at him. "You don't know what you're talking about."

He then burst out laughing. "Oh come on. It's pretty obvious you're crushing on the guy. Hell, even Mason saw it when we were off with them the other night.

Lori moved to run her hand over her face. "Oh god," she said, feeling embarrassed. She then moved to close her locker and began to head on out.

Brett followed along beside her. "Relax, I'm sure Liam is clueless, not surprisingly." He mumbled that last part. "Look I don't see what you find so appealing about that IED. You could do way better."

She stopped walking and turned to face him. "What, you rather I go for one of your airhead teammates?" she countered. Brett made a show of looking like he was considering it and Lori moved to give his shoulder a whack. "Liam's a great guy, and you know it, even if you don't want to admit it Brett." That made her brother stubbornly look off the other way. "He tried to help his friends save you when those two assassins tried to kill you, even though you were a complete ass to him before and during the game. He didn't need to do that, but he did. And he helped save our whole pack shutting the Deadpool down. Would any of those friends of yours done that?" Lori then smiled. "And I've always thought he was a little cute."

"Lori," he pleaded.

She kept going. "These last six months though, he's gotten even hotter. Especially right after training, how his bare muscled arms and legs glisten. Those tight cheekbones and pecs and abs when they peak out from under his shirt," she sighed out dreamily. "Then there's his butt."

Brett quickly moved to cover his ears. "La, la, la, la! Okay!" he said, trying to drown out her words.

She laughed a bit at her brother's antics before the both of them sobered up a bit after a moment.

"So, are you coming?" he asked her again. "Mason said he was going tonight and he was going to try and bring Liam too."

"Really? After all that, you're still inviting me?"

"I still think your taste in guys could be better but...I suppose it could be worse. If he shows up, you could go and get him alone and then try and make your move."

She silently considered it for a moment before she nodded. "Alright, I'll be there." She then snorted. "And I wouldn't be so judgmental. Your taste in girls or guys is hardly something to be proud of." Lori shook her head and took off for the exit to the parking lot.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he said, going after her.

"Figure it out, if you can."

"Ooh, nice comeback,' he threw at her.

"Yeah, I thought so," she shrugged.

"Seriously?" they both heard suddenly. The two wolf siblings stopped and looked over to see Wilson walking over to them with him shaking his head and his hands resting on his hips. "Can I ever have one time where I meet you two at school and you're not already fighting or end up in a fight?"

"No," they said together nonchalantly.

He shook his head at them amusingly before his expression got serious. "Listen, are the two of you going out tonight?"

Brett nodded. "Yeah, we going out into town. Might meet with Liam and his friend Mason later." He threw a playful look Lori's way which earned him a small shove with her elbow. "Something up Wilson?"

"Maybe," he sighed out. The grim feeling he felt earlier as he was heading into the school coming back to him. "Just keep your chins up, especially when you are around Scott McCall's pack."

"Why?" Lori asked, concerned.

"With everything going on with these strange shapeshifters appearing, we can't let our guard down. And, it seems that they Scott and his pack are in their sights right now, but there is a chance they might also target us soon enough. So watch out for anything that looks or feels out of place."

"In this town?" Brett threw in skeptically.

"Even for this town. Trust your instincts and theirs if they flare up."

"Okay," they both nodded.

They moved to head out the door but Wilson followed after them.

"One last thing," he said making them stop to look back at him. "You guys ever meet that new guy hanging around their pack. Theo, I think his name is."

"Uh, no but Liam has mentioned him," said Lori.

Brett nodded. Liam had told them that he and Stiles had followed him into the woods which was how he had found the hole Tracy had dug herself out of. "Why?"

But Wilson shook his head. "Nothing. Don't worry about. Now go, I think your friends are waiting," he said, pointing his chin out.

Lori and Brett turned and they quickly spotted their group of teammates and friends gathered and patiently waiting off at a corner of the parking lot.

"See you later Wilson," Brett said as he and his sister started to head off.

"Yeah, be safe," he told them.

"We will," said Lori before they started to go into a small jog to meet with everyone.

Wilson spent a moment watching them go before he looked out at the parking lot. The feeling that he had felt out here before still bothered him. It was like he was being watched and stalked. And he still felt a small tingle of it now.

As he headed back inside, a girl was tapping her fingers along the top of her steering wheel, watching him. She then grabbed her phone and moved to send a text.


3:30 pm

Stiles watched as Gwen began to run for the goal to try and get the ball passed Liam, who was helping him with the tryout. After hearing their story, Stiles told Gwen and Michael that he would see what they could do then and there if they wanted. They both said yes and he told them that he would meet them on the field after he changed. Since it would just be them, he couldn't give them a full tryout but would see how they fared on their shots. Stiles also covered for Scott with them and explained that he wouldn't have meant to ditch them but had been called in to work and must've accidentally forgot to tell them, which he knew was more or less true considering everything that was happening. He gave the bestiary to Malia and asked her to explain to Scott and Kira that he would be by a little later.

Gwen's shot had managed to slip through Liam's block and hit the net. It had been her fifth attempt and Stiles nodded.

"Nice shot," he said to her afterwards.

"Really?" she panted out as she ripped her helmet off.

"Yeah, really. It's not easy to get passed Liam, right?" he said looking over at him.

"Definitely," Liam said back with a small grin.

Her previous four tries, though she didn't score, they had been pretty close. To score against a werewolf with speed and sharper reflexes wasn't easy but Gwen did. They may have just found a good new addition to first line.

"What about me?" Michael called out from where he stood. He sounded a little nervous and both the wolves could smell how anxious he was.

Michael had gone before Gwen, shooting a set of five against Liam. He hadn't managed to score one goal where three of his shots had been caught by Liam. As for his other two, one of them he had made hit the post and the other overshot and flew over the goal. But, he'd seen worse. He and Scott had been worse. With a bit more work, Michael could end up being a pretty good player.

"You're actually not too bad," Stiles answered sincerely. "You just need to work on your aiming and control when you shoot. With a little more practice I think you might have something." Michael's eyes brightened up a bit. "I'll talk to Scott for when we can hold the official tryouts for the team. But, until then keep practicing because we'll be watching out for you guys. Especially you Gwen."

She smiled widely. "Thanks. I can't wait to go and tell my sister."

She and Michael then moved to grab their stuff and head out leaving Stiles and Liam watching after them.

"Not bad there co-captain," Liam said to him.

"Co-captain," Stiles repeated almost to himself.

Him, co-captain of the team. Even after six months, he still had some trouble believing it. It seemed like only yesterday when his place on the team was to warm the bench. Him and Scott, co-captains. Who would've thought it? He sure wouldn't have.

Liam saw that Stiles seemed lost in thought before he suddenly let out a big yawn out of nowhere. "You okay?"

"Huh?" he gasped as he moved to rub at his eyes. "Uh, yeah. I'm good."

"Have you been having trouble sleeping lately?"

"I always have trouble sleeping," Stiles shrugged but he noticed that Liam seemed bothered. "Why? Have you?"

"Uh well, kinda," he admitted a bit awkwardly. "Forget it, it's stupid."

"Liam, I can feel how worried you are. What's going on?" asked Stiles in concern.

He didn't want to sound like he was being silly, worrying about some nightmare, especially with so much going on right now. But, last time something like this happened, Stiles hadn't thought it silly or stupid. He'd taken what he told him seriously. And Mason had said he should try tell the others about it. Maybe he could trust Stiles.

"Well, you remember how I told you about that crazy dream I had before Scott and Kira were kidnapped?"

Stiles nodded. "The one with the nemeton?"

"Yeah, well, a few nights ago, I had another one. It felt just like the other one had, and its been freaking me out."

"You saw the nemeton again?"

Liam shook his head. "No, but, I think I saw the three that Malia ran into at the station."

"The men in masks?" Liam nodded. "What did they look like?"

Liam then began to tell him about the three he saw and it seemed to match Malia's description. And Liam had this dream before they first appeared. Stiles guessed that Liam's instincts must've sensed danger coming for the pack, like before, and was trying to warn him about it. He then told him the other details of the dream and from the sound of it, it seemed like these masked men might be the ones 'making' these supernaturals. And, when Liam told him of the wolf he dreamt, made from parts of other wolves stitched together, he felt a hard chill run down his spine.

"What do you think it all means?" Liam asked him after he was done.

"I'm not sure." Yet, he silently added. "But we have to keep our eyes open. Thanks for telling me about this Liam."

He nodded. "So what do we do now?"

"Well, Scott, Kira and Malia are waiting for me back at the library. Why don't you go home?"

"Can't I go with you?"

"We're just going to be going over the bestiary and other lore. C'mon, it's Friday night. Don't you have anything planned?"

He shrugged. "Well, Mason invited me to go with this club tonight."

"Awesome, go."

"No, I should stay and help."

"You've helped out enough. Go and have some fun."

Liam let out a heated sigh but found himself nodding. "Alright."


4:00 pm

Theo was making his way into the Doctors' lair to go and retrieve Donovan. Courtney was trailing behind him, giving the place a nervous look over.

"This place is beyond creepy. Maybe I should go back and wait in the car," she timidly suggested.

"It's fine," he said dismissively to her. "We'll be in and out. It's just around the corner." He then stopped and turned to face her. "It'll be okay, I promise," he said gently and almost affectionately to her.

She took a deep breath and then nodded. He then headed off into the lab with Courtney a step behind him.

Theo had to admit that he was surprised that Courtney seemed content enough to listen to him without much hesitation or resistance. He felt that was because he not only made her feel strong and significant with this new change but she also found him attractive. Tracy seemed to had been the same way before she was eliminated. Tracy and Courtney were both cute but not really his type. Still, he would milk the loyalty it got him for all it was worth if it helped him get what he wanted.

After he staked out Devenford with Courtney earlier, he had left her there to keep watch. He warned her to stay far enough away to not be picked up by any of three werewolves who were around. She followed his orders to a T and sent him a text warning him that Wilson Grant had thrown his name out to the two beta kids that went there. If he wanted to avoid having more werewolves on his back then he had to move forward with the plan.

As they stepped through the lab, Courtney's eyes fell on a plastic capsule to the side, filled with a bubbling green liquid, and had a person inside it. "Is that guy dead?"

He stopped and gave the guy a small look. "No, but he's really alive either."

"Who is he?"

"Oh trust me, you don't want to know. Now, come one. He's just through that door."

Yet before they could take more than one more step, Courtney gasped out as the three doctors stepped into the room from the three different ways in. The Pathologist came in from where they did, the Geneticist came out from the room ahead and the Surgeon stepped out through the door at the top of the stairs. Courtney looked scared but Theo remained calm and rose his hands up as he looked up at the Surgeon.

"It's okay. I'm just going to borrow him for a bit," he told him.

The Surgeon tilted his head at him before he looked up at Courtney. "You already have one."

Theo rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, I need another one. And its not like you're using him anyways," he said, turning to look at the others. "Keeping him strapped to a chair. Or any of them."

He faced both the Geneticist and the Pathologist before turning to look back at the Surgeon but jumped slightly as the doctor was now just a few feet from him. Theo tried to not to be so intimidated in front of Courtney but he still looked a bit nervous. The Surgeon just stared at Theo for a moment before he looked over at Courtney. She started to back away but had gone right into the Pathologist, who moved to hold her still as the Surgeon approached her. He tilted his head at her while she breathed quickly and deeply.

"Her condition appears stable," he grunted out in his muffled voice. He then turned to look at Theo. "Do as you wish."

"Thank you," he said with a glare. He then looked over at the Pathologist. "Do you mind letting her go now?"

The Pathologist released her and she quickly moved over to stand behind Theo. The three doctors then slowly began to leave the lab and head out into the tunnels.

"Can we just grab him and get the hell out of here now," Courtney gasped at him.

Theo moved for where Donovan was still bound in his chair, still sweating and shaking a bit but he seemed to settle when he laid his eyes on him. At a nod from Theo, Courtney began moving to unbind him.

"Let's go," Theo said to him with a calm smile. "It's time to grab you a bite to eat."


6:30 pm

Cora was standing out in the backyard of a fancy house that was filled with dozens of teenagers, a good many she had seen from school. She couldn't help but feel that she just stepped into a cliche party scene in any teen movie. There was a pool with some people swimming around and there was booze everywhere with music filling the air. She turned around to see Ruben heading to her with a cup in each hand.

"Here you go," he said as he handed one to her.

She looked down at the punch that she could smell was spiked with some scotch or vodka. Cora went and took a sip and felt a bit of a buzz as it went down her throat before vanishing in a moment as her healing factor kicked in.

"I'm glad you decided to come," Ruben told her before moving to take a sip from his cup.

"Well, the jury is still out on how I feel about it," she slurred out.

Ruben snorted in his cup. "Funny and cute, wow."

A small smile cracked its way through her hard exterior. "So, how'd you hear about this party?" she asked, trying to make some conversation.

"Oh, I pretty connected around here, Well, the basketball team was invited and I've known most of them my whole life. And the guy who lives here, I tutored him in history last year. Managed to help him get his grade up almost a whole letter."

"Wow, those are some connections," she said as she moved to drink more from her cup.

"Yeah...well I'm kind of hoping to make a new connection tonight. Maybe you could help me with that?" he asked suggestively.

She rose her eyebrow at him. "Does that line usually work for you?"

"First time," he said with a smile. "So, what's your story? Where'd you move here from?" he asked with a small smile.

She wasn't in the mood to talk about herself but Ruben wasn't prying. He was simply curious. Cora could understand that. After all, she was the new girl that no one knew anything about in a school filled with kids who've known each other for many years.

"California." she muttered.

"Cool. Like Los Angeles or San Francisco?"

She shook her head. "No, nothing like that. Just a small little town. I doubt you would've heard of it."

"Why your parents move you here?"

At his question, Cora's jaw tightened a bit. "No, it's just me and my brother." Memories of her mother and Laura came back to her and she felt some old pain slipping through.

Her being upset must've been obvious because Ruben quickly became apologetic. "Oh, I'm sorry if I said something wrong," he quickly told her.

But she stopped him. "No, no, it's alright. You didn't know."

The air around them got awkward as Cora moved her gaze off to see a guy from the basketball team scream like an idiot before he ran to throw himself in the pool with all his clothes on and make a big splash.

"Uh, well let me make it up to you. Can I walk you to school on Monday?"

She looked over at the hope that stirred up in his eyes and scent and she found herself nodding. "Sure."

Back at the loft, Maggie was making soft cooing sounds over the baby basket set up in the middle of the living room. Little Jason Hale was laughing and gurgling at her and she was smiling and laughing in kind. She then lifted her head to look over at Derek, who was staring hard-faced out the tall windows to the side.

She rolled her eyes at his back. "Are you just going to stand there and sulk all night long?"

"I'm not sulking," Derek said lightly, not moving his gaze from out the window.

"Well I know you're not being taken by the view." She could practically see him roll his eyes through the back of his head. "Derek, stop being a complete sour puss," she said in slight amusement.

That made Derek finally turn away and look over at her. "Really? You have to call me that?" That was too close to what a young annoying, spastic boy liked calling him. A sour wolf.

Maggie rose her eyebrows at him. "It got you to finally look away, didn't it?" she pointed out. She then sighed and smile tiredly at him. "Relax, Cora will be fine. It's just a party. I happen to know that you went to them all the time back home. Laura," she explained further.

"Which is why I'm worried. She went with a boy," he argued back.

"So?"

Derek narrowed his eyes at her. "So, I think I have a good reason to sulk. Considering what happened the last time Cora was off by herself with a boy."

Right then and there, Maggie picked herself up from where she was kneeling and folded her arms at him. "You make it sound like she snuck off behind your back and got knocked up on purpose. Derek, she was grieving, hurt and left alone for days. That wasn't her fault, was it?" she said pointedly.

Derek deflated and stared hard, back out the window. He knew that Maggie was right. That hadn't been Cora's fault. Boyd had just been killed and the two of them had been close due to their time being held captive by the Alpha pack. She was hurt and Stiles was her only source of comfort which she had thrown herself to. He should be able to relate and had no right to judge her. After all, he'd done the same thing with both Kate and Jennifer when he had been hurt and grieving. At least Stiles had genuinely cared about her and wanted to help while Kate and Jennifer were just using him.

Maggie then let a sigh as she had no doubt hit an old sore spot. "Derek, I'm sorry," she quickly muttered.

He cut her off. "No, no I deserved that."

"True, but…just try not to sulk around Jason so much. We wouldn't want him to pick up any of his uncle's bad habits. Isn't that right Jason?" she asked the baby in a low, teasing tone while she moved her index finger to tickle at his stomach.

Jason responded with a high pitched laugh as she tried to grab at her finger with his left hand. She laughed with how cute he sounded and looked. For her, Hale men always seemed more handsome when they were calm and happy rather than sad and sullen.

Hearing his nephew's laughing made the tension Derek was feeling abate a bit. "Traitor," he muttered under his breath, as a small smile was cracking through. But he then went back to staring out the window with a concerned look on his face.

She stood up and headed to stand next to him. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say that Cora isn't the only thing you're worried about."

He sighed and moved to go and sit down on the couch. Maggie moved to throw herself beside him.

"I got a call from Scott earlier. He and his friends are having some trouble back in Beacon Hills. Unusual trouble."

She nodded. "Yeah, the strange shapeshifters. Last night, Alan Deaton called and told me about them."

Derek perked up at the news of the town vet and pack emissary. "He called you?"

"He's leaving Beacon Hills to investigate some old rumors about unusual shapeshifters that popped up over twenty years ago in Russia. He thinks there might be some clues that might have answers to what is going on in Beacon Hills. He contacted me to find out how to get in touch with Zeke Astor."

He narrowed his eyes. "Zeke Astor? Wait, as in...Riley Astor?"

"Yeah, his little brother."

Derek vaguely remembered Riley. He had been around 13 when he had first met him. It had been the first time he had ever seen a Garuda. He remembered thinking that it was one of the coolest things ever to see a guy sprout wings and take to the sky like a bird. Riley had always been nice to him though he guessed it helped that he and Laura had dated soon after they had met. But, he had been killed, a little over two years before the fire.

"How old is he now?"

"He's twenty. Last I heard, he was going to college somewhere around Washington."

"Is he like his brother?" he softly asked. Maggie nodded. Zeke was a garuda too. "What happened to him?"

"After Riley died, Zeke was placed in the foster system. They were all either had left." She turned to look out towards the windows. "When you two first came here after the fire, Laura wanted to reach out to him."

"She did?" He didn't know that.

"Yeah. Asked for my help too and together we found him after a year of looking. But, Zeke wasn't in the best of places when we did. He seemed to be always getting into trouble. Running away and bouncing around from one foster home to another."

"And what does Deaton want with him?"

"Turns out one of the shapeshifters that Scott and his pack brought down had talons. Riley's talons."

"What? How is that possible?"

"When Riley was killed, his killer went on and tore his wings and talons from his body and took them."

Derek let a small growl loose from his throat. Ripping body parts from a victim after killing them. That sounded like someone taking them for a trophy. He could only think of one set of people that would do that. "Hunters?"

"That's what Laura thought. That's why Zeke was acting out. He wanted to find his brother's killers and make them pay. Laura wanted to help him in any way she could so she stayed in contact with him. Called him and sent e-mails whenever she could. It seemed to make actually start making a difference with Zeke. He started to get better with his home life and gradually start settling a bit. And Laura...I think it helped her not only get better after the fire, but start moving passed an older and still painful chapter of her past. At least until..."

She didn't want to finish but she didn't have to. Derek understood. Until her death.

Derek started shaking his head. "I had no idea. For five years...why didn't Laura ever say anything?" he said in a small voice.

"You were kinda going through a lot back then."

"Like I always seem to be," he said a little resentfully. First with Laura and then Cora. His sisters go through hard and emotional pain right in front of him and he was so caught up in himself and his own problems that he only seemed to notice theirs long after its too late. "Typical."

"Hey." Maggie then went to put her hand on his shoulder. "Derek, you're trying your best to try and take care of Cora. I can see that and I know if Laura and your mom were here, they would agree with me. But, while I can't speak for your mother, I'm pretty sure that Laura would say that you would do even better if you went and finally got over yourself."

Derek let a small chuckle break free from him which made Maggie laugh a bit herself.

"Yeah, you're probably right." He then moved to smile at her. "Thanks Maggie."

At that, he went to engulf her in a tight hug. For a couple of seconds, they thought nothing of it. But as it dragged on, Maggie began to lean into the feel of Derek's strong arms wrapped around her and rub her hands up and down his strong back. As for Derek, he started to take in the smell of the maple scented shampoo in her hair and the feel of her soft skin as her face rubbed against his neck. The two of them slowly pulled their faces away but still had each other in their arms. They just stared, keeping their eyes locked on to one another for what could've been a minute or an hour. Neither Derek or Maggie looked away until they suddenly found themselves getting pulled back towards each other. A sudden bout of crying rang out when their noses were an inch away from each other and they snapped apart.

"Uh, what's wrong Jason?" Maggie said moving over to him.

Derek wrinkled his nose. "I think he needs a change," he coughed out.


7:30 pm

The halls of Devenford were pretty quiet now. Any and all student clubs and activities were over and the students had gone home, to enjoy their friday nights. He was the only security guard left on duty so it fell to him to make sure that the school was closed up and secured for the weekend. Wilson was going through the halls, making sure the offices were locked and the lights in the classrooms were off. His footsteps echoed through the empty halls as he walked through them. As he turned a corner, he stopped when he heard the sound light steps being made. He guessed there was still a student or two still around.

"Hello?" he called out.

No one responded, but he heard those steps moving along the halls, a bit fast paced. It sounded like they were running. He moved to go after them and came upon the stairs around where the sound stopped. He didn't see anyone around. Or hear anything. He let his hearing expand and he could hear a soft, steady heartbeat sounding somewhere on the floor above. It seemed whoever was around was trying to be silent, not even move and could feel a hint of amusement drifting through the air.

Now Wilson was getting impatient. "I know there's someone there," he called out. "If this is a joke, it isn't funny and it's over. Come out and let me see you." Nothing happened but Wilson could still feel someone there. "I won't be asking again. If I have to come after you, I will," he called out.

There was suddenly a whip of air behind him and Wilson's flashed gold before he turning around but saw no one there. There was someone else. Someone fast. And Wilson began to feel the same presence from the woods last night, before he ran into Stiles. He narrowed his eyes before throwing his hands down and brought his claws out. But as Wilson turned around, Donovan, the one who had been hiding on the floor above, quickly descended the stairs and threw himself at Wilson from behind. But, Wilson threw himself to the side and they got nothing but air. He had felt the attack coming and dodged it.

"Nice try," he growled as he stomped for the young man. Wilson grabbed Donovan at his collar and yanked him to his feet. "Who are you?!" he demanded.

Donovan didn't answer but his eyes flew from Wilson to over his shoulder. Wilson noticed and turned around to find Courtney running for them, revealing her as the one that had ran behind him. Once Wilson looked over at her, Donovan bared his sharp teeth and bit at Wilson's hand holding him. He roared out in pain as he let him go and pulled himself away. Courtney had her long needle claws out and moved to swipe at him but Wilson bared his pain and ducked out of the way before sending his palm right into her side and knocked her off her feet. Wilson took a moment to look at his bleeding hand where he could see the bite marks dug into it and looked up to see that blood was dripping from Donovan's lips.

Courtney got back to her feet and move to stand next to Donovan and they stared the werewolf down. Wilson glared at her, as he realized that she must've been who he had been tracking last night.

"Who are you two?!" he growled.

The two of them didn't answer. Courtney simply extended her hands to show the sets of long, thin claws on both of them. As she did, Donovan showed his sharp teeth and a hole opened at the side of his neck where a set of teeth showed themselves before it quickly disappeared again. Wilson resisted the urge to gasp in shock at them. He had his answer. He grunted as he fully shifted and roared hard at them.

The two young chimeras flinched at the sight and sound of a real werewolf in front of them and Wilson took the moment and charged for them. The two of them tried to claw and land a blow on him but Wilson proved more than formidable. While the chimeras had the advantage of surprise and numbers, Wilson had the advantage of experience and greater strength over them. Also Courtney and Donovan were still not quite used to their new powers yet. They threw themselves at Wilson, overwhelming him a bit but their strikes were either hitting air or just grazing him when they did connect. Wilson rammed Donovan and threw a hard punch at him with his injured hand before he ducked from Courtney's attempt to claw at his face. Her claws missed and cut right into the drywall, leaving four thin lines cut into it. Wilson quickly threw a hard kick at her leg, making her cry out in pain before he grabbed at her head and threw her back, making her slide a few feet down the floor.

Donovan felt a tingle in his hand and saw that a set of jaws appeared in his palm. He huffed as he got to his feet and charged for Wilson, trying to go for the werewolf's face. Wilson reached up and grabbed at his wrist, stopping his hand a foot from his face. He thought he'd seen a lot since becoming a werewolf but was still thrown at the sight of teeth in the palm of a hand. He looked down to see Donovan smirk at him before he brought his palm down to grab at Wilson's wrist. He held on tight to him as his teeth bit right through to the bone. Wilson gasped out in pain and tried to pull away but Donovan hung on, determined to make sure he couldn't get away again.

Donovan snarled at him as he could feel the werewolf's flesh and blood pouring into him from his hand. "Mmm, tangy," he breathed at him.

Wilson glared at him before he used his other hand to swipe at Donovan's face. The boy cried out as he felt the pain of his face being clawed and jumped back, letting Wilson go. Donovan stumbled as he moved his hand to apply pressure to his cheek, trying to stem the blood gushing from the four fresh claw wounds on his face. Yet, as Wilson struck Donovan back, Courtney leapt forward and jammed her needle claws right into the beta's stomach. At Wilson's pained yell, she looked up, ready to sneer at him, only to witness a fist flying at her just a second before it made impact at the side of her head.

"Bitch," Wilson spat as he struck Courtney and then moved to yank her hand back and force her claws to remove themselves from him.

Courtney was forced on one knee but Wilson grabbed her top's collar and lifted her into the air and threw her off. She flew into the air and collided right into Donovan, who was still whimpering as he tried to nurse his clawed face. They stumbled down into a heap on the floor and Wilson took the moment to look down at himself. Five small holes were at the stomach section of his uniform from where Courtney stabbed him with her needle claws and spots of red were steadily growing at each one. It hurt but the biggest pain came from the missing chunk of flesh at his wrist. It burned and blood was pouring steadily down on the floor like a leaky faucet. He tried to flex his fingers but it proved difficult and painful.

There was groaning and Wilson looked up to see that the two chimeras were getting back to their feet. Once up, they stood side by side, facing down Wilson with intensive looks of hunger and bloodlust overtaking them. Courtney let out a bark of anger before starting rub her claws together, in a manner he'd seen in his favorite Freddy Krueger movies. Donovan brought his bloodied palm out to display the horrifying fanged jaws still in the middle of them, snarling to display the same kind of sharp teeth in his mouth. The two shared a look with each other before they started to slowly approach him together, just like predators stalking their wounded gazelle. Wilson started to slowly back away, down the hall. Wilson didn't think he could beat them like this, not with only one good arm. And he was starting to grow tired. The best thing he felt he could do was get away and hold himself up somewhere so he could focus his energy and strength on healing himself.

He then turned around, ready to begin running, but stopped when he saw something. It was...a wolf. It calmly making its way to him through the dimly lit hallway. Wilson was frozen at the incongruous sight before him as the wolf stopped right in front of him and then lit its eyes deep gold as they stared at each other. Wilson turned to see that Donovan and Courtney had stopped moving and seemed to be watching the sight before them. Yet, when Wilson looked back, the wolf was gone. Instead, there was a naked teenager standing just a foot in front of him.

Theo had been watching the whole debacle from a safe and secure distance in his wolf form the entire time. Yet, he started to realize that the two fresh chimeras couldn't beat Wilson and when it seemed the guy would actually escape, he knew he had to step in. He dashed down the opposite hall, cutting off the Second from escaping, and appeared to be shocking him with his animal form. He saw him look away and then quickly transformed back to his human form to handle this himself. Before Wilson could recover from his surprise, Theo grunted and bared his teeth before he moved and swiped his claws right across Wilson's throat, splattering his blood across the the nearby wall. Wilson's uninjured hand went right for his throat as Theo lifted his hand to reveal some pieces of Wilson's torn out vocal cords. He gurgled on his own blood for a moment before he collapsed and fell into a dead heap on the floor.

Neither of the three knew that, in that moment, his death was felt in the hearts of every member of his pack, including Brett and Lori at Sinema, during another Chimera's attack.

Theo went to thrust his hand down and throw the torn flesh down to the ground beside the corpse before looking up over at Donovan. "Dig in," he told him.

Donovan's eyes flashed a pale white before he went and dove right for the body with his teeth bared out.


9:30 pm

Ruben was walking into his home after having dropped Cora home first. His mother was the only one home, with his father still not home from work. She greeted him as he came in and asked if he had a fun time and he smiled and nodded at her. He had a small smile on his face all the way inside as he headed off for his room. Yet, once he stepped into his bedroom, his face fell when he saw that there was already someone there. He was sitting at the edge of his bed, just waiting and he rose his head as he entered.

"Nice night Ruben?"

"Dean," he hissed. Ruben quickly moved to close the door, in case his mother was able to hear anything. The last thing he needed was to stumble upon having a stranger in his room, especially a werewolf stranger. "What are you doing here?"

"Just checking on your progress." He then moved to stand. "You were with the Hale girl tonight, right?"

"Yeah, I was. I took her to a party."

"And? Did she say anything about herself."

"No, not really."

"She doesn't suspect that you know about her? About what she is."

He shook his head. "No."

"Is she

"She's been a little hesitant but after tonight I think she's slowly starting to warm up to me. I'm walking her to school on Monday."

Dean nodded. "That's good. Don't let up. Steadily make her comfortable and gradually feel that you are safe to open up to. Let me know if she ever says anything about her home life or her family."

He headed off for the open window, so that he could go and leap out of it, but Ruben stopped him.

"Dean, what is the big deal about this girl?" Dean stopped and turned slowly to look at him. "Not that I'm complaining," he said quickly, worried that he had upset the guy. "Cora's cute and I am kinda into her, but why do you want me to spy on her? Can't you do it? I mean, she is one of you, right?"

"That's none of your concern Ruben. The only thing you should be worried about is keeping an eye on that girl and nitpick at news about her family, especially on her son and who the father might be. Understand?" he said a little harshly. His tone made Ruben shrink back a bit and Dean gave it a moment before he smiled calmly at him. "Hey, relax. Everything will be fine. And remember what is waiting for you if you succeed. Your reward if you help me and my pack."

He finished with a flash of his blue lupine eyes before he went and threw himself out the window. Ruben ran over to the window but saw no sign of Dean anywhere. He let out a deep sigh and pulled his head back in.


10:00 pm

Theo was hiding off in a distant corner of the school grounds, but he had a good view of the parking lot where Stiles' blue jeep was parked. Next to him was Donovan, with his lips still stained with the blood from what was left of Wilson Grant's corpse. Donovan went and ran his fingers at his cheek, amazed to feel smooth, unblemished skin. The scratch ohe'd gotten from the werewolf during the attack had healed itself away, with not a trace as if it didn't happen.

Donovan looked down at his watch, seeing the time. "We've been standing out here for almost an hour. Where the hell is he?" he asked impatiently.

"Probably still in the library. Scott told me that was where they all were when he left earlier."

"Well what the heck's he doing in there for so long?"

"Calm down." Theo kept his eyes out on the parking lot and the front entrance through the whole of Donovan's rant. "He'll be out soon. Just wait a little bit longer."

Donovan let loose a small growl under his throat as he went to lean his back against the wall. "Whatever."

"You still doing okay?" Theo asked, not in concern for Donovan's well-being, but for the sake of the plan.

Donovan's lips curved into a predatory smirk. "Okay? I'm doing great. The pain and the shakes are all gone."

"That's not surprising. Wendigos are always at their strongest right after they've fed on human flesh."

Donovan looked down at his hand and clenched it into a hard fist and opened it again. "And I feel even stronger than I did before."

Theo cracked a small smirk. "That's because you fed on the flesh of a werewolf. Feasting on a shapeshifter's flesh can not only give a Wendigo back their strength but increase it. Like they say: We are what we eat. You're now much stronger than you were before."

Donovan saw a fanged jaw appear in his palm and he then moved to clench his hand, before he slammed it into the nearby wall. It left an indent the size of his fist and he smiled as he found that he barely felt a thing. "Then I can't wait to see how much stronger I'll get after I chow down on Stilinski's pathetic, idiot son." He could still feel his blood pumping from the fight with the security guard. Feasting on his flesh was invigorating and Donovan could feel his mouth water at the thought of chomping down on Stiles' flesh next.

Theo finally broke his eye contact on the entrance to narrow his eyes at Donovan starting to drool. "Don't underestimate Stiles."

Donovan sucked at his fanged teeth. "I'm not scared of him."

It looked like Donovan was feeling overconfident and Theo knew that would spell trouble. "You should be. He's a whole lot smarter and tougher than he looks or acts." 'Which is what makes him so dangerous', he silently added.

That made Donovan glare at him. "What are trying to say?"

Theo rolled his eyes. "Stiles might be more than you can handle, even with you juiced up, that's what I'm saying."

"Screw you," Donovan spat at him, fully enraged at what Theo just said to him. "And you know what, screw all this sneaking around. I'm done waiting. I want Stiles now and if he's not coming out, then I'll go and get him in there."

Donovan expected Theo to argue with him some more, so he was truly surprised when Theo just shrugged.

"Fine. You don't want to listen to my advice, that's cool." He then dug into his pocket and pulled out his student ID. "Here. The library should be closed so you'll need this to let you in."

Donovan blinked but then moved and yanked it out of his hands. "Just don't get in the way. He's mine."

"Wouldn't dream of it. Enjoy." Theo then got up and moved to head on off.

"Oh, I will," he mumbled after him before he focused back on the entrance. "Every single second of it."

Yet, barely a moment later, the door starting to open and Donovan ducked into the shadows to see that Stiles was walking out through the doors, stretching a bit as he let out a yawn.

'Really? Now you decide to show up?' he thought to himself in annoyance. But, it didn't matter. He would soon have what he always wanted. Ultimate payback for everything Stilinski had done to him and his father. On his palm, a jawed hand appeared, fangs sharp and watering for more werewolf flesh.

Stiles let out a small yawn before rubbing at his somewhat stiff neck. He still feeling a bit groggy from having passed out on the table for a few hours. As he loosened himself back up, he started to recall the strange dream he had while out.

He had been going through the woods, just wandering around aimlessly for what seemed like forever until he came face to face with a wolf. It had been different from the wolf he had seen and dreamt before. Not hulking or shaggy furred but smaller and its fur was sleek and well groomed. but it didn't make him feel worried or scared at all. It wasn't his 'wolf', something about it screamed female to him. It had just stood there, staring at him, and he had just stared right back. His honey brown eyes not once leaving its eyes as it went and shined a red glow. Staring at those eyes, Stiles had found himself feeling safe and content that he had lost track of how long they had been doing it. Only a beam of light hit them did Stiles finally break his gaze and look up. He saw that it was from the full moon and he realized that it had gotten dark. He then turned to find that the wolf was gone. Stiles stepped over and saw that it had left four paw prints dug into the dirt. They were filled with water, and he saw the light of the full moon reflected in them. That was when he had woken up.

Odd dream but at least it wasn't a scary one. He guessed that hearing about Liam's dream might have triggered it or something. But now, all Stiles wanted to do was just get back home and started for his jeep.

From where Theo had hidden himself, he could see that Donovan was moving to follow Theo's original plan to sneak up on Stiles. Donovan kept himself out of sight, watching as Stiles tried starting his jeep and then became frustrated as he went to open the hood and get hit with the smoke and smell of the burnt tape glue. Theo had gone and loosened one of the bolts earlier to set all this up. Not only would it keep Stiles there and distracted but it would keep his nose from picking up Donovan's scent as well as the smell of lingering blood still on him. As soon as Stiles was hit with the smoke, Theo saw Donovan begin to step out of his hiding spot and carefully move for him as Stiles was distracted. Theo smirked at Donovan's actions. First the guy wanted to throw his plan away and now he was following it to the letter, Theo would laugh if he wasn't worried that Stiles would hear him and blow this whole thing. But, right now, he would just stand back and enjoy the show.

Donovan closed in on Stiles as he brought out a wrench and was bent over his jeep's engine. He carefully moved in, trying not to do anything to alert him. Stiles was clueless as to what was about to happen as he saw the kid set the wrench down and grab a roll of duct tape. He didn't see what Theo was so worried about. Stiles seemed as stupid and pathetic as he always looked to him. Donovan raised his hand and slammed it down at the back of Stiles' collarbone, quickly tasting his sweet lupine flesh and blood.

Stiles let out a hard scream that echoed in the empty parking lot and his eyes flashed a very bright blue hue.


As the Dread Doctors moved along their hidden frequency after terminating Lucas, they suddenly stopped when they felt something pass through the air. They found themselves back in normal space, in the middle of an empty street. The three of them turned as one and looked out in the same direction. The Geneticist and Pathologist then turned to look at each other while the Surgeon kept staring ahead.

"That was a power shift," said the Geneticist. "It is close."

"There are two subjects close by," The Pathologist said back to him. "One is Subject 1."

The two of them then looked away from each other, back towards the Surgeon.

"What does this mean?" asked the Geneticist.

The Surgeon kept his poise before he looked down at the hilt of his cane and then tightened his grip on it. "A possible solution."

With that the Surgeon started walking off in a steady pace to the school. The other two following half a step behind him.


Meanwhile, at the same time, Cora was calmly reading a book for her English class in her room. She had gotten home over two hours ago from that party with Ruben. She had to admit, it wasn't…as bad as she feared. She wouldn't say she had a fun time, but it wasn't a terrible one either. Ruben had asked if he could take her out again sometime and Cora told him that maybe he could.

Right now, it was just her and Jason in the apartment. Her son had been sound asleep by the time she had gotten back home and had been put in his room. Derek had gone to drop Maggie off at her home and a small part of Cora was hoping that she wouldn't see her brother until sometime tomorrow though she knew it was highly unlikely. She knew her brother too well and she knew that Maggie didn't want to risk making the first move. Regardless, she would keep her fingers crossed.

Cora suddenly jumped when there was a loud bout of crying from Jason's room. It had come so unexpectedly and Cora's heart stopped, thinking that something was happening to her son. She dashed off and practically threw herself into the room, not knowing what to expect. The room was empty, nothing seemed wrong, but Jason was still crying his lungs out in his crib.

"Shh," she hissed out as she moved to pick him up. "What's wrong baby?" she asked him soothingly.

Jason just kept crying, even when Cora rocked him in her arms which always seemed to normally settle him down, he just kept wailing. As she rocked him, Cora's eyes fell over to the window, at the crescent moon outside, and she couldn't help but feel an urge to cry herself.


A/N: I apologize for how this chapter took longer than usual to get up. I had to rewrite several parts of it quite a few times before I was happy with it. I hope you find it was worth the wait. I will try to have the next chapter not take as long. After all, it comes with the clash between Stiles and Donovan. It will be slightly different, considering that Stiles is a werewolf now, but it still won't be easy for him, physically or emotionally. I also have a little moment between Liam and Lori planned following the aftermath of Wilson's death.