Alone • Liam Dunbar

Four

Scott and I headed in the direction of the town's preserve after I texted Liam for a bit more clarification on his and Stiles' location. I didn't tell him we were on our way, figuring that would be something they could discover all on their own.

A familiar faded blue Jeep sat in front of the low-hanging chain that warded off anyone entering the preserve grounds at night, something no one actually abided by. Liam and Stiles were nowhere to be found, and I could assume they were currently hiding under a brush as they tailed Theo in the wilderness.

Scott and I park but remain seated, only removing our helmets. We stare out into the rows of trees up ahead, waiting for any sign of movement in them.

"Should we go out there?" I ask and Scott shakes his head.

"They'll figure out what's going on and be back soon enough," he says cryptically. He notices my puzzled expression and sighs before explaining.

"Theo's sister died from exposure a few years ago, she got stuck out there in a creek one night and couldn't get out. That's why his family left town before," he tells me, his voice dripping with pity.

My eyes go back to the woods up ahead, empathizing with Theo's losses. Liam and Stiles weren't going to stumble on anything malicious, rather just a lonely boy grieving and paying his respects to his dead sister.

"Alright, fine. I'm officially worried about Stiles, too," I relent, not finding anything about this situation amusing anymore.

"I don't want him to get bad again," Scott agrees.

We vividly remember what life had been like around the time of Stiles' possession. He was plagued by panic attacks and nightmares, and there was hardly a time when he was awake that he didn't feel like his whole world was caving in. Things weren't like that now, but there was no telling if they could be again.

"What do we do?" Scott asks, not because he was without ideas, but because when it came to Stiles it was hard for him to be a leader.

Scott still saw himself as a fragile asthmatic boy when he was around his best friend. That wasn't something negative, it only meant Stiles made Scott feel the most human. In some ways, that could bring him an immense amount of strength, in others, it could leave him completely lost.

"Track his chemo-signals. If it gets to a point where he's having panic attacks again, we bring in the sheriff," I suggest.

"An intervention? He's going to hate us," Scott replies, hesitant to observe his friend in such a personal way without his knowledge.

"It's better than him going nuts and taking your Beta out into the woods again to follow someone who could actually hurt them," I say in a lecturing tone.

This situation could have gone down a very different path if Stiles was following someone who had real ill intentions toward us. What would have stopped them from hurting him all the way out here? What would have stopped them from hurting Liam? The preserve was secluded and there were miles of real estate to hide bodies without anyone seeing or hearing a thing. Stiles is one of the smartest people I know, but this idea of his was incredibly stupid.

Scott thinks to himself for a moment, but not for any reason I could assume.

"Does Liam text you a lot?" he inquires.

His question seems out of left field at first, but then it dawns on me that he's suspicious as to why Liam decided to message me instead of him, especially when he's his Alpha and Stiles' best friend. I act quickly, knowing what he was looking for.

"We're friends, Scott. I text Lydia, too, doesn't mean I wanna cop a feel." I force a fake laugh, selling it as best I can. 

I wasn't going to let everything fall apart over something so insignificant.