True North

48

HILL VALLEY ZOO

"Hey. How close is he?" Liam asked.

"He's back down the road," Mason said. "Don't look." After a moment, he added, "Should I come with you guys?"

"His friends shoot to kill," Theo reminded him. "Go home."

Mason's tone turned awkward. "Yeah, Lydia would kill me if anything happened to her car anyways, so..."

"Don't worry about it," Liam told him. "Nolan's gonna do the rest."

When they entered, Lena glanced at Liam. "I hope you're right about this."

"Where are they?" a hunter asked.

"Inside the zoo," Nolan replied. "They're all here." He stared at the hunters. "It's not just the two of you, is it?"

"What do you mean, "just?""

"It's not just a pack, okay? There's an Alpha, and a Banshee... They're all here."

"I don't see all of them," hunter two said.

"I don't see anyone," hunter one noted.

"I-I saw Theo, Lena and Liam bringing a car full of food and supplies right here!" Nolan exclaimed. "There were at least six sleeping bags, okay? They're here! They're all here!"

"It's just Nolan and two other guys," Liam realized. "This isn't going to work."

"Where's the backup?" Theo wondered. "I mean, shouldn't there be, like, twenty of them?"

Lena let out a sigh. "I mean, they only saw us, and they're definitely not gonna believe Nolan."

"Okay... Then they have to believe us." He shouted, "Isn't that right?"

"Why are you yelling?" Liam whispered.

Theo continued shouting. "You got a problem? Oh, that's right, you always have a problem!"

Liam continued whispering. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Shut up!" He punched Liam who glared and Lena growled softly. "Yeah, you see that, Scott? Your little Beta can't even take a punch. The little girl can barely control her temper. And what do you think, Malia?"

"Hey, over there..." hunter two said.

"What, you think he can take me? Do you think she can?"

Liam whispered, "Okay, I get it. But did you actually have to punch me? I'm okay, Lena."

The boys began fighting and Lena stayed back at the urging of Liam.

"Told you they're here!" Nolan said.

"You sure that's all of them?" hunter one asked.

Theo was still shouting. "See what I mean, Scott? He's only good in a fight when he's angry. So, let's see how angry he gets."

Liam continued to whisper. "Are you done? Or should we keep going."

"We gotta call for backup," hunter one said.

"I think they're sold," Lena stated, glancing between the boys.

"You ripped my T-shirt!" Liam cried, noticing his ripped shirt.

Theo panted. "Yeah, you broke my nose. Twice. It healed, you broke it again. Two times!"

Liam punched Theo's nose again. "Three times."

Lena looked up with a frown. "There's still three of them, and it's been half an hour."

"Don't blame me!" Theo protested. "You're the ones who picked the abandoned zoo. The hell are we doing in this place, anyway?"