ASHES ASHES | teen wolf

seven. liam kinda loses his shit

After a day of plotting with the Scooby Gang to lure Liam into a conversation, Cadmus was ready to slam his head in a door. For the good guys, Stiles and Malia were way too invested in kidnapping and killing the kid.

Neither of them seemed impressed when Cadmus informed them that Liam dying would actually hurt Scott. The bond between alpha and beta was something not many people would ever understand... and Liam was Scott's first bitten beta. That made it even worse.

It did what he needed it to do, though. Everyone agreed to get Liam into Lydia's lakehouse, but at the same point, no one listened to him that claiming they were going to a party could be an idea that backfired on them.

So here he was, leaning up against a tree as Scott pulled into the driveway of the lakehouse. Stiles kept sneaking him suspicious glances the entire time, which would have been a lot more amusing if Malia hadn't appointed herself as the human's personal attack dog. He could totally take her, even with only a partial shift... but he really wasn't in the mood to tussle with someone who seemed to be incapable of conversation short of threats.

She would probably really enjoy the idea of tearing his throat out.

Still, Cadmus shifted his attention fully to Scott as the alpha wolf took his helmet off and glanced at everyone, trying desperately not to think how hot Scott looked at that moment. Nope, not a good idea, he mentally screamed at himself as he looked anywhere but Scott. This was not the road he wanted to go back down. He had self-respect.

Glancing back at the werewolf, he felt his mouth go dry.

Apparently, he didn't have enough self-respect to be anything less than a lovesick moron.

Scott tried for a smile as he looked at Stiles. "I just talked to Kira. She's on her way. She said it's all going fine."

His best friend shook his head, looking more anxious than normal as he stepped forward. "It's not that... I have to tell you something." He took a bracing breath, tightening his grip a little on a little folder in his hands before moving toward Scott. Cadmus couldn't help but approach, standing so close to Scott that their shoulders were practically touching.

Scott looked at him in alarm but just swallowed heavily as he looked back to Stiles, who was still talking. "I asked around about Liam. I know why he got kicked out of his last school."

Scott's entire body sagged, and their shoulders were definitely touching now, something that Cadmus was desperately trying to ignore. "This is going to be bad, isn't it?"

Stiles nodded hesitantly, chewing on his bottom lip in a way that actually reminded Cadmus of Nova. That was disturbing to him, considering the fact he didn't want to be comparing his cousin to Stiles in any way. "He kind of got into it with one of his teachers. And... the kid's got some serious anger issues."

Sighing, Scott ran a hand through his hair. "How serious?"

Stiles handed over the folder, wincing a little. "Well, that's his teacher's car... After he took a crowbar to it."

Scott flipped the folder open, and Cadmus took a sharp breath in through his nose as he took the image in. The image depicted a smashed and dented car. The windows of the car were totally bashed in, and the most worrying part was probably the fact that the words 'THIS IS YOUR FAULT' were engraved on the side of it.

He'd let his cousin go to this kid's house.

Alone.

Momentary panic spread through him before he shook his head. "Look," he said with a lot more confidence than he felt. "We all have problems, and that doesn't decrease what we're capable of. If you condemn him for something he can't control, you've already lost the fight. Right now, he's a scared kid who's about to go through one of the most traumatic experiences in his life. That's what we have to focus on, okay?"