New Beginnings

8: Alpha's Orders

Liam went to school the next two days only because he knew Scott would want him to. He couldn't focus, could only think of Theo, and it was awful. How much pain was he in? Was he even still alive?

Scott arrived the morning of the lacrosse game, Friday, and they met up with Deaton, who had finally been able to identify the kind of wolfsbane Theo had been shot with. "It's very rare," admitted the emissary. "It takes exactly three days to kill a werewolf."

"So if Theo was shot Tuesday night - " Liam said anxiously.

"He'll be dead tonight, if we can't find him and burn it out," finished Deaton gravely.

"I've searched every inch of the preserve. Everyone has," groaned Liam. "I've tried howling, but he hasn't replied, and he's going to die, I know he is..." Liam raked his fingers through his already-messy hair, and Scott glanced at Deaton, who nodded, understanding Scott's unspoken message, and left.

"Liam, listen, I know you've been spending a lot of time looking for Theo," Scott began, as Liam barely shot him a glance, pacing the room worriedly. "I know you trust him."

"He saved my life," Liam defended Theo.

"I know, I get it, Liam. You're slowly taking my place as leader, and he's like your Stiles." Liam laughed mirthlessly.

"You don't get it, Scott," Liam finally informed his alpha.

The true alpha stood there, frowning in confusion. "What don't I get?"

"He's not my Stiles. He's more like my Allison."

Scott stood there, shocked. "Oh."

"Yeah, oh, because it's Theo Raeken and he killed a bunch of people. I don't have time for this, I should be out looking for him - "

"Parrish and Sheriff Stilinski are out looking for him, and soon I will be, too," Scott said sternly. "You can come after school."

"Are you kidding me? No! This is no time to be Clark Kent and go to school!" shouted Liam. "He's about to die, and he thinks I don't even like him! He thinks I left him, all alone, and if he dies it's going to be all my fault!" He punched one of Deaton's walls, leaving a significant hole there.

Deaton came in at that point. "Scott, could you get your beta under control, please?"

"No, no, I need Theo," said Liam, clutching his ears. "I need Theo, I need him - "

"He's your anchor," realized Scott.

Liam looked up at Scott desperately. "I'm sorry, I know you told me to be my own anchor, but I can't, Scott, I can't..."

"Liam, I'm sorry. But you have to go to school. Alpha's orders."

"It won't do me any good!" yelled Liam, enraged. "I can't focus without him! I can't do anything if he's not there!"

"Liam, calm down!" Scott brought out his red alpha eyes, but for once Liam didn't calm down. He didn't listen.

"STOP TELLING ME TO CALM DOWN!" roared the beta, and then he ran outside of the veterinary clinic.

Scott stared after him, mystified. "He's never disobeyed my orders before," he said, stunned. "My alpha eyes always work on him."

"Unless you're not his alpha anymore," Deaton said thoughtfully.

"What?"

"Just a thought," Deaton said, "just a thought."

Scott spent the rest of the day at his house, catching up with his mother, who told him all about Alec's training and how he enjoyed spending time with Liam and how he remembered more and more of his time spend out on the full moon. How he still missed his old family, understandably, but he was getting used to his new pack.

"New pack?" Scott had to question that one.

"Oh, yes," Melissa nodded, smiling. "We call them the Puppy Pack - they hate it. But yes, Liam, Nolan, Mason, Corey, Alec - and we think Theo might even be a part of it, too. Or at least, we did, before he tried to leave Beacon Hills and got taken by Monroe."

"Interesting," Scott said thoughtfully. "How has Liam been doing? As a leader, I mean."

"As a leader, fine - but if you want to know my opinion, I think the war with the hunters still haunts him. He was happier with Theo than I had ever seen him since the war."

Nolan, meanwhile, was firing his crossbow into the woods when he noticed the entrance to the tunnels, the one that had once been a rift to the Ghost Riders' train station. "The tunnels," he murmured. "We didn't check the tunnels." He immediately texted Liam and the others, who immediately showed up, and the search of the tunnels began.

That afternoon, Scott received a call from Liam's parents. "What do you mean, he didn't show up to school?" frowned Scott. "I ordered him to."

Nevertheless, the point remained: Liam Dunbar had not been in any of his classes, all day - and Mason, Corey, Alec, and Nolan had not shown up for any of their classes, either.

"Where are they?" wondered Scott just as Argent walked in, pecking Melissa on the cheek - that still needs some getting used to, Scott thought, turning away from the sight.

"I think I might have an idea," Argent said, showing Scott a picture of the tunnel Nolan had been by and then the text tunnels.

"They won't find me," rasped Theo, whose skin was nearly grey. He had black bags under his eyes, and the wolfsbane had nearly gotten to his heart - well, his sister's heart. You could tell because of the black veins. "Don't you get it yet? Nobody cares about me."

"Oh, is that so?" Monroe smirked, and flipped her computer around to show Theo the cameras on her screen - or four of them, anyway. She enlarged one of them to show Liam, calling Theo's name. "Answer him," she commanded, brandishing a taser.

"No," whispered Theo. "You'll kill all of us anyway."

"True, but it can be a slow and painful death for you and a quick and painless death for everybody else, or it can be slow and painful for everybody. Your choice, Theo." Her heart skipped a beat.

"You're lying," rasped Theo. "You're going to make it painful whether I answer or not. Would've thought Gerard taught you how to lie better than that, before his bitch of a daughter ripped him limb from limb."

Monroe glared at Theo. "You know, I will personally be very happy tonight when that wolfsbane bullet kills you. I'm going to go find your pack, and kill them, too. And you can watch all of it," she said, turning the volume up to its loudest on the computer and then going off armed with military-grade weapons to meet Liam and the rest of the pack. Before she left, she surrounded Theo with mountain ash and electrified the fence, so nobody - supernatural or otherwise - would be able to save him.

Theo stared at Liam. "You should know by now I'm not worth it, Dunbar," he whispered, sweat beading his brow as his head lolled.

Unaware of the trap awaiting him and his pack, however, Liam proceeded towards Monroe and her wolfsbane bullets.