** i thought i had already posted this weeks ago. Wow, i've been all over the place. Sorry about that, guys. Enjoy the pack meeting. **
Chapter 13
Isaac:
Almost everyone was gathered by the time 3 pm rolled around. We were just waiting for the last two. Melissa had left for work; Argent had gone home to look up something pertaining to Gerard. Allison, Malia, and Lydia were in a deep conversation with Mason and Corey about some show, Arrow, or something. They just kept referring to the hot guy. Scott was listening to Stiles overexcitedly explain something that I had no clue what it was. I wasn't paying much attention as I sat on the couch, with my arm resting over my eyes because yeah Scott was right, and I was feeling it a bit more. I wasn't completely in control of my eyes at the moment and the switch back and forth was automatic.
I tried to remember my techniques for when I was first changed and how to gain control. So right now, I was just focusing on clearing my mind and breathing, ignoring the voices and sounds around me. That is until the door opened bringing the scent of the last two pack members. I looked to see Liam frowning.
"See, I told you we were going to be late." Liam grumbled to his boyfriend as they came in.
"Not my fault." Theo sighed, rolling his eyes.
"How was that not your fault?" he asked claiming a seat on the floor. By now we are all just watching them amused by their little spat. They never really fight. They will bicker at each other, mainly because of Liam's sugar addiction. But they don't fight and the spats they do have is usually resolved in a few minutes' time with kisses.
"You were too cute all curled up like that. I couldn't resist cuddling." Theo whined, sitting next to him. Liam sighed, again rolling his eyes before leaning in for a kiss, just as I said, and the fight was over.
"Have you two gotten even mushier?" Stiles asked. Liam and Theo finally looked away from each other and at all of us staring at them. Liam went red, his staple color anytime Theo is around and Theo just blinked.
"Yeah, they have. You should see them at the house-." Corey laughed.
"Corey." Theo said in warning. Corey snickered but didn't continue.
"Okay, as funny as this is." Scott started. "we need to tell you guys something."
Everybody looked at Scott then followed his gaze as he looked at me, giving me a nod of encouragement.
"I guess that's my queue." I sighed. Allison was immediately at my side holding my hand. "Let me start by showing you guys first, then I will explain."
Taking a deep breath, I let my eyes switch as I faced the group. Mouths dropped all around, except for those who already knew. There was complete silence as everyone stared.
"Whoa." Theo, the first to respond, gasped.
"Are those real?" Malia asked, coming closer and staring. Stiles pulled her back away from me and held her against himself.
"Wait, doesn't red mean alpha?" Corey asked. "Did he get promoted or something?"
That broke the silence as everyone snickered at his question.
"Trust me, not a promotion." I grinned at him.
"What happened?" Mason asked.
I went over everything that happened yesterday, glossing over the part about my… Amber. I left nothing out about the altercation with Conway, Allison squeezed my arm and her breath hitched. I pulled her closer and finished the story with Derek calling Scott and Argent for help.
"Okay, wait. So, this guy just shows up out of the blue at a vacant, condemned house looking for Derek? How does he know Derek and why didn't he just go to the loft, not that I want that to happen, but it makes no sense. Derek hasn't lived there in over a year." Stiles questioned.
"We actually met with Derek and Braeden this morning." Scott said and continued the story of what we learned earlier. I could see Stiles' brain working overtime to put pieces of this puzzle together. Everyone else listened with varying degrees of confusion, shock, and anger. After Scott was done Corey raised his hand as if in class. Chuckling Scott nodded to him.
"Okay, first, Isaac, man, I'm sorry you had to deal with that, and I'm glad your okay but dude that was bad ass." He said causing more laughter.
"Thanks." I said, relax a bit more.
"Second, what did this Conway look like?"
"Uh, tall, taller then me, broad, long blonde hair that he had tied back. Dark eyes I think. I didn't really get a good look at them before they turned red. clean shaven." I shrugged.
"Not sure if you caught this or not before… you know. But was there a scar on his jaw in the shape of a crescent moon?"
I thought back trying to remember if I noticed something like that or not. I cant be sure. I was too busy trying not to die.
"I'm not sure. I wasn't really paying attention to anything but the claws coming at me."
"That's valid." He nodded.
"Corey did you know him?" Theo asked.
"I'm not sure. I mean I didn't know him personally, but I might have seen him at the facility."
"Was he one of the hostages?" Stiles asked.
"Hmmm… not really? I mean he wasn't locked up or even chained up. He was just there if it's the same guy about which I am thinking. I remember one time when I followed Gerard, and he was talking to him, but I couldn't get close enough to hear what about. I just saw them talk like they were negotiating or something. But this was back around Christmas time."
"I think you should talk with Argent. He's looking into Gerards connection with Conway. I know you said you didn't hear anything but at least we can get confirmation that it's the same guy." Scott said.
"Sure."
"Okay, say this is the same guy and he was talking with Gerard. If that was around Christmas time then why did he just now decide to go after Derek?" Stiles said but looked to be talking mostly to himself.
"We aren't sure. Argent thinks its another ploy to go after me." Scott sighed. I could see the stress he was under and also the underlying guilt at the fact that they are not going directly after him but those around him.
"Okay, one more question. Why are these people trying to kill you. I mean I kind of get Gerard's motivation in a bad guy being thwarted way but seriously, I don't understand why." Corey said.
Scott opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
"That's actually a good question." Lydia said, frowning as she thought. "I mean, it could be that its just because Scott got one up on him last year and he doesn't like to lose, especially to a teenager. But I think it has to be more then that. Maybe it has something to do with the dread doctors, since that seems to be a part of his plan?"
"Or maybe it's just because Gerard was the original family psychopath. He poisoned Kate's mind and my mom's. He tried to poison mine as well. My dad, fortunately realized this before it was too late." Allison said, fidgeting at my side. I hugged her close in comfort.
"Well, that sucks. But you and Argent seem pretty sane, so at least we know its not genetic, not really." Corey shrugged. Allison smiled gratefully at him.
"Either way Argent is looking into it as we speak. Stiles' I'm sure he could use your help if you are up for it."
"Sure. I mean I'm already looking into the dread doctors. If they are connected maybe we can figure out how or why." Stiles agreed.
"great. So, another piece of news. With Isaac being a brand-new alpha, there are some things he's going to need time to adjust to. So, Derek and I are taking him to the lake house for a week, just so he has the space and quiet to get acclimated."
"Is that why you asked me if Malia and I could take over your shifts at the clinic?" Stiles asked. I hadn't really thought about my job, and I was glad Scott took precautions for it.
"Yes. Since this is kind of a last night decision I didn't want to leave Deaton in a bind. He has a few procedures scheduled. He can handle those. He mostly needs help with caring for the pets and inventory."
"You didn't want me to come along with you guys?"
"No." Scott said shaking his head. "I need you and Liam here keeping an eye on things while we are gone, just in case Gerard or Simon try something else."
"Wait, me?" Liam asked, pointing to himself.
"Yes you. after me and Isaac you are the most experienced wolf in the pack." Scott said. Liam blinked at him then deflated.
"Why do you insist on saying words that make no sense?" He sighed making everyone else laugh. "Why not Malia? she's older and she's a born shifter."
"Malia tends to strike first and ask questions later. Sorry." Scott said looking at Malia. she shrugged.
"It works for me. most people say stupid things anyway, it's easier my way."
Scott and Stiles snorted.
"Liam, you can do this. I doubt anything will happen, but I know you can do this. And its good practice for you for when I graduate."
"What?" Liam squeaked, his eyes going larger then normal.
"What did you think would happen when I graduated? Of course, I would leave you in charge."
"But, but, but…" he stuttered but no other words followed. Theo leaned in close to him and whispered something none of us could hear in his ear. Liam glanced at him then nodded, giving him a sweet smile.
"We can talk more about that later. But you know you won't be alone. you will have Theo, Mason, and Corey with you to help you."
"The puppy pack." I chuckled.
"Puppy pack!" all four of them yelled at the same time, all of them looking affronted. The rest of us cracked up at their expressions.
"I really want to take offense to that." Liam sighed but he was smiling.
"So, when are you guys leaving?" Theo asked.
"Tomorrow morning."
"What about Clinic? Have you talked to coach?" Corey asked.
"My mom is taking care of that. she's calling us in sick for the week. He won't go against a parent even if he has no problem yelling at us and telling us to suck it up." he snickered.
"True. So, I'm running it alone for a week." Liam groaned.
"More then likely. But you could use this opportunity to show him how good of a captain you could be when I leave." Scott said.
"So not only do you want me to take over wolf duties when you leave but also captain? You have to stop saying things that make no sense."
"It will be fine, and we still have this school year before any of this happens. Just relax Liam."
"Fine, fine." He said. Theo wrapped an arm around him, kissing the side of his head which prompted 'awws' from the girls.
"Stop that." Liam sighed.
"Anyway, that's all we got on our end. Anyone else got some news?" Scott asked.
"I'm almost done with the book. I have a few more chapters to go. But I have been having weird dreams since I started reading it again. So, I'm not really sure if they are dreams or memories trying to resurface." Theo explained, pulling a tense Liam closer.
"Okay, anything you want to share right now?"
"No, I would rather wait until I finish so I have it all. The headaches this time around haven't been so bad but that could be because of Liam. He won't let me read it unless he is there with me."
"Damn straight." Liam nodded sharply.
"Well, if you are starting to remember stuff and can't tell the difference we could always do the mind reading-." Stiles started before Malia slapped a hand over his mouth and Liam growled.
"We are NOT doing that again. He will remember on his own." He snapped.
"Calm down, mini wolf. He was just stating an option. I no more want to repeat that then you do. Don't mind Stiles, he forgets to think before he speaks sometimes." Theo reassured him.
"If I remove my hand will you stay quiet. I really don't feel like trying to restrain a pissed off Liam." Malia said. Stiles rolled his eyes and nodded. keeping his word he didn't say anything just threw Liam an apologetic smile.
"Corey and I have been working on something." Mason cut in, changing the subject, thankfully. "so, you know how random members of the pack keep getting kidnapped?"
"Unfortunately." Scott sighed.
"Well, we have been working on this tracking program. We set it up as an app you can download onto your phone, and it gives you a distance range you can set for each person. Basically, you put in the diameters of how far that person is likely to travel on a normal day and if they go even a millimeter outside of that range then an alert sounds on the phone of the person keeping track so you will know in which direction they were heading."
"But what if you are purposefully traveling outside of that range? I mean if I go visit my mother which is two hours away, is it just going to sound the whole time?" Lydia asked.
"No, its set up so that you can change the distance for any reason. So, if you want to go visit another city or even another state you can change it in your phone, and it will update all other phones connected to that app. Right now, we only have it set for the state of California. But if you wanted to go to Texas you can change it. we have been testing it and so far its been working really well."
"Okay, but what about the tracker itself?" Scott asked.
"Corey actually came up with a great idea for that." Mason said, smiling over at Corey who blushed at his attention. "we found a programmable tracker that's small enough to fit on the back of a necklace. Corey put his on his dog tags."
"so does that mean we all need to get dog tags?" Stiles asked.
"No, it can fit on any piece of jewelry. We thought that for the girls maybe a locket or something, I'm putting mine on my earring and for the guys maybe like a watch. Something that someone wouldn't think twice about if they saw you wearing it."
"That's a good idea. And it doesn't just track them all day, right?" I asked.
"No, I mean it could if you wanted it to. But only when they are out of range does it alert. So, its keeping track but its not going to tell you every place they have been to that day or anything. we just figured it would be a good precaution to have so we don't have another situation like Lydia, Stiles, or Liam again." Mason shrugged.
"We were trying to work in a vitality track for like spikes of adrenaline or something, so you know there's danger, but we haven't quite worked that part out yet. We can't get it to stop going off if we are just out for a jog or something. But the other part works fine."
"Where did you guys find a tracker to test this on?" Stiles asked.
"It's actually a programmable microchip that Corey figured out how to turn into a tracker. He's like genius level when it comes to this stuff." Mason bragged, making Corey blush.
"That's a great guys. Do you want us to test it out?" Scott asked.
"If you don't mind. I mean we just need the jewelry to adhere the tracker to. We figured to start maybe just couples keeping track of each other. I mean it links to messenger so if you do get an alert you can share it with the group. We are working out how to have it directly message everyone but its still in progress for that." Corey answered.
"Okay, let's set that up. it would be good to have some warning. Thanks for doing that. I think it will really come in handy."
Mason and Corey nodded then grinned at each other.
"Anything else, before we call it?" Scott asked looking around and everyone shook their head. "Great, meeting adjourned then."
Liam got up, pulling Theo with him, and approached Scott. If I paid attention I could probably hear what he was saying, but I really didn't need too. I could tell by the flailing limbs, along with the smirk on both Scott and Theo's face and the giggling from Lydia what it was about. Stiles approached Mason with questions on the tracker and Malia pulled Allison aside to talk more about the cooking class they were signed up for next week.
Corey took the opportunity to sit next to me, his face curious.
"What's it like? Being an alpha now. I mean do you feel any different?" he asked.
"Uhm, kind of. Like I can feel the added power because of it and it's a bit like being a new wolf where your emotions are all over the place. I've just started using the tips and tricks I learned to adjust to that for this."
"You don't really sound happy about it. Is it a bad thing?"
"No, its not, not really. I just never wanted to be an alpha. I was fine being a wolf, its saved my life a few times. But I never wanted this." I told him.
"Yeah, I get that. I felt the same way when I first discovered I could blend or disappear. I felt like a freak, and I just wanted to go back to being human Corey and not be Corey 2.0." he shrugged. I laughed remembering Theo saying something similar months ago. "But then I started to realize that being able to do what I can do not only saved my life, but Stiles and other shifters that I was able to free. This isn't the life I expected to lead but if it helps to save someone then I'm all for it."
"Yeah, that's true." I said, nodding.
"Besides, now whenever I want to prank Theo, he will never catch me." he grinned, mischievously.
"I heard that you brat." Theo called, not even taking his eyes off of Liam and Scott.
"Just think of what you can do with that added power. You can protect yourself better and Allison. Not to mention everyone else. It may not be what you wanted but you can still use it to your advantage."
"You are way too smart for your own good." I told him, snorting.
"I make up for what Theo lacks." He shrugged.
"that's it." Theo said, turning to head towards his brother but Liam caught him.
"And on that note, we are gonna go." Liam said holding his boyfriend back.
"Yeah, us too." Mason said, holding out a hand to Corey who took it shyly. "Isaac, glad you're okay man."
"Thanks."
With a wave the puppy pack was gone.
"we're also going to get out of here. Isaac, bro, you'll be fine. I have no doubt you can handle this." Stiles said, taking Malia's hand.
"I hope so." I sighed.
"Enjoy your trip guys. And I promise not to maim a pet in your absence." Malia said with a wave. Stiles pulled her out the door shaking his head.
"She will never have full control of her filter." Scott said.
"Probably not." I grinned, agreeing.
"Come on boyfriend, I want to take a nap and then I want to go for a ride." Lydia said, a salacious smile on her face.
"On the bike?" Scott asked with a quirked brow.
"I can ride that too, later."
Growling Scott chased her up the stairs to his room, her laughing the whole way.
"Hmmm, I think they have the right idea." Allison said, grabbing my hand and tugging me up.
"About the nap or the ride?"
"Both."
** There you go. Liam and Theo are still adorable. Corey is still messing with Theo and Corey is a computer genius lol. hope you enjoyed. **