Alone • Liam Dunbar

Forty

There seemed to be an everlasting silence in the warehouse now. The assassins evacuated the second the alert went through that all contracts had been terminated, and only those unconscious or dead were left behind.

Scott, Lori, and I walked side by side, none of us saying a word about what happened. I could tell Scott preferred it that way as he had to come to terms with what he had almost done. When we reach the others in the main area of the building, it's clear everyone is still on edge, guns and claws at the ready.

Chris and Braeden are checking the assassins laying on the ground around them, making sure they're not able to harm anyone. Derek is on guard next to them, his handgun still poised at his side. Satomi stands at the front of her pack, all of them completely disheveled. Their group parts when they see us, allowing Brett to push his way through, his eyes solely on the young girl beside me.

"Lori," he breathes out, the first of us to break the silence.

All of us watch contentedly as the two siblings race toward each other to embrace.

Kira passes them, coming to stand with Scott and I. She slips her hand into his and he accepts her touch without a second thought. I'm glad to witness life return to his eyes at her presence, a bit of calm restored to him.

"Is it over? Really over?" Kira voices what I'm sure everyone is thinking.

After weeks of being on the run for merely existing, the wolves around me wanted to know if they could finally rest and heal from their immense losses. No one responds outright, but Scott gives her a firm nod that's enough of an answer.

He only looks away from her as his phone alerts him of a message. He uses his free hand to pull the device from his pocket, reading it quickly before looking up at Kira and I.

"It's Lydia. She says we need to go to the station."

Chris, Braeden, and Derek all give us dismissive gestures, urging us to go. It's their way of confirming they could handle things here. The three of us give them grateful goodbyes as we rush to leave the warehouse.

Kira drives behind Scott and I in her car, keeping up with our bikes as we speed through the town, treating required traffic laws as mere suggestions.

When we reach the station, we all park haphazardly before running inside. There's no deputy at the lobby desk waiting to check us in, an indication that we weren't the only ones in the middle of a hectic night. We use their absence as an invitation to walk directly into the main part of the station, finding Lydia, Malia, and Stiles.

"What happened?" I ask when we reach them.

"It was Peter," Malia says. Her eyes are cold at the mention of her father. It makes Stiles lay a comforting hand on her shoulder, and I'm relieved to see Malia lean into his touch rather than reject it again, a sign of their reconciliation.

"Meredith was in the same hospital as him after my grandmother drove her insane," Lydia speaks up, filling in the blanks as the what occurred. "She heard everything Peter thought of while he was in his coma. All of his pain, all of his rage."

Lydia's eyes glaze over as she speaks of her late grandmother. It was hard for her to deal with the fact that a woman she once loved so deeply as a child unintentionally played her part in what had transpired these past few weeks.

Her teary gaze travels across the room. We follow her line of sight, finding Meredith surrounded by deputies. She looks out of place beside them, so frail and meek. I hate that this is the first time I'm seeing her again after her false death.

"Peter planned all of it out in his head," Stiles continues for Lydia, seeing how all of this was beginning to swallow her whole.

"The bonds, the assassins, everything. Meredith didn't know any better."