Bleed Your Heart Out

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A/N Warning: This chapter contains violence, threats of violence, mention of torture, and threats of murder. As always, take care <3

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Liam watched the locker room door with a focus he had never had before: watched it unblinking, unwavering. If he concentrated, he could hear Nolan getting closer–could hear the boy's converse squeak against the linoleum in quick succession; could hear the boy's heart beating rapidly against his ribcage, frantic and desperate; could hear the boy's breath escape in quiet gasps. Even without the smell of his chemosignals, Liam recognized the signs of anxiety–of panic. Liam didn't know why Nolan was panicking, and he didn't care. Not when Theo was taken, being held captive, going through who knows what, all because of him.

It was Nolan's fault. The whole thing. The arrow, he was sure, was Nolan's. If it had been anyone else's, Theo probably never would've seen it coming. It was Nolan's hunter buddies who dragged Theo away. It was all because of Nolan, Gerard, and Monroe. And sure, it might've been more so the fault of the adults, but they weren't the ones he was about to see–weren't the ones he was about to get his hands on.

He could feel his beast buzzing just below the surface, his skin practically vibrating with the tension of it. The beast wasn't trying to break free of its mental cage–not yet–but Liam knew it was only a matter of time. Now, it was lying in wait, waiting for the exact moment to strike.

Corey, who's hand was on his bicep in order to keep them both invisible, tightened his hold. "You need to calm down," he whispered urgently.

"I am calm." Liam breathed. It was technically true: despite the beast buzzing beneath the surface and the slowly simmering rage boiling up inside of him, Liam felt an odd calmness. The calm before the storm.

"You're going to rip his head off if you don't take a second to breathe."

"He'd deserve it," Liam–his beast–growled. And, oh, he was angrier than he thought. Oh, he already wasn't in control.

Corey tightened his hold, digging in still human nails into Liam's bicep. "We need him. Theo needs him," Corey reminded him lowly, "without him we can forget about getting into the compound."

Liam's beast snarled at that, low and dangerous, his focus on the door tightening. Like a true hunter, waiting for its prey. "Don't worry, I'll make sure he'll still be able to get us to Theo. He'll just be missing a few limbs when he does."

"They'll notice something's wrong if he walks in there missing an arm. Besides, it's not his fault. He's just a pawn. He's being played–by both sides."

Liam stilled at that, his eyes dropping to the ground as he took in the meaning–the truth.

The plan at the zoo revolved around the pack using Nolan's desire to get back on Monroe's good side against him, and... And, Liam realized suddenly, Monroe chose Nolan to be the one to be the one to infiltrate the police station because she already viewed him as expendable.

A pawn, playing on a chessboard without even realizing that he was the sacrificial piece, on that everyone was ready to toss aside if it meant winning the game.

"If we hurt him, what good would it do? It'll just let the other side know that we did something to him, and that he might be compromised. It won't help get Theo out any faster, and despite what you might think right now, it won't make you feel any better."

Liam knew it was true. He knew Corey was right–hurting Nolan wasn't going to do anything but slow them down. It might feel good initially, but Liam would regret it for the rest of his life. He still had nightmares about what he did to Scott–still had haunted memories of what he had done to Hayden and his coach's car. If he hurt Nolan, Liam would never forgive himself after it was all said and done.