Laws of Nature [2]; Liam Dunbar

eight: new plans

Marlow followed Scott and Malia through the woods. She tried to catch Liam or Hayden's scent. Neither had hit her along the way. She questioned whether or not the two would even be hidden in the woods. If the Dread Doctors performed entire experiments on their victims, they probably weren't doing it out in the open. Especially not the woods.

Scott had rapidly surpassed Marlow and Malia. Marlow came to a halt, trying to catch her breath. Malia stopped as well. "This is pointless." Marlow choked out. Malia gave her a look. She knew that look. It told her not to give up hope. Marlow would never admit it, but she wasn't sure if she had hope for the two to begin with.

The girls heard Scott roar in the distance. Malia nodded towards the direction of the roar and Marlow followed her. They came to a stop once again when they found Scott kneeling on the cliff that overlooked the whole town of Beacon Hills. "There's no scent. No tracks. No way to find 'em." Scott told them, his breath coming out in ragged heaps.

"But Liam can howl back, right?" Malia asked. Marlow crossed her arms in front of her chest. The chances of the Dread Doctors not somehow incapacitating Liam and Hayden were slim. Seriously slim. But she kept her comments to herself. Now was not the time to mouth off.

"Only if he heard me," Scott told Malia. He turned around to face them. Marlow couldn't help but notice the way he looked at her. There was a hint of disdain in his look. She closed her eyes with a sigh.

She already felt bad enough for leaving her friends alone, this was unnecessary. But she would be stupid to bring it up now. No, she wouldn't do that. Not when Liam and Hayden's lives were on the line. "I don't think the Dread Doctors would leave anything up to chance. They wouldn't hide them in plain sight," she said instead. Even risking Scott getting angry at her for stating the obvious.

Scott let out a depleted sigh. "Yeah, I got that much too. Thanks, Marlow," he said, his voice dripping in so much snide and sarcasm, Marlow thought her brother was standing in front of her and not Scott.

She bit down on her lip. Marlow felt horrible about this situation. She really did. But she couldn't handle Scott being mad at her. Not when he had never been mad at her before. Not once in her entire life. "I didn't cause this, you know?"

"You didn't really help us either, did you?" Scott asked.

Marlow scrunched up her nose, trying to thwart the tears welling in her eyes. She wouldn't start crying because Scott McCall was going off on her. She was too old for that. She might start crying if they never find Liam and Hayden or find them dead, but not because of Scott. She could see the slightest hint of regret in his eyes.

Malia stepped in between the two as Marlow's phone started ringing. She pulled the device out of her pocket. Stiles' name was shown on the display. She tapped on the accept button and turned away from her friends. "I think we're all on edge here, okay? No reason to start fighting each other," she heard Malia say as Stiles started rambling on the other side.

"Calm down, Stiles! What's wrong." Marlow asked alarmedly. She didn't know what to expect. Did his mission with Theo go well? Is he calling to tell her that their dad found Liam and Hayden dead? She carefully listened as he explained their newest problem. When he was done, she thanked him and hung up the phone.

"Marlow, I'm sorry," Scott said as the young werecoyote turned back to her friends. 

She ignored his apology and instead went on to explain the situation. "That was Stiles," she said, holding up her phone, "Kira has just been arrested for murder."