All about control

shifting gears (may)

Theo's eyes scan the scene before him, taking note of the glass on the floor alongside the broken table and how the two hunters seem to be fairly injured while his friend is free of any wounds. He blinks, rubbing his temples as he looks up to Anika who is giving him a wary smile.

"I'm so.." Liam starts, trailing off as he turns to look at Theo for answers, as if Theo would have any for him.

"Confused." Theo finishes for him, finally walking further into the diner.

With every step he takes, crunches resound through the space, both glass shards and bits of plastic grinding and shattering beneath his weight. He stops just a few feet short of the two hunters. Bound and gagged, glaring is the best they could do as they sit perfectly still.

Anika hums from her spot on the counter, kicking her legs like a three-year-old on a playground, "Yeah, we have a lot to talk about."

He barely hides his flinch as Liam laughs, half hysterical, behind him. Even the hunters' eyes have tracked to the wolf, widening as the land on him. Theo turns, a baffled quirk to eyebrows and mouth. The beta's eyes are stretched wide, the whites visible, laser focused on Anika.

"What even are you? And how the hell did you manage to take down two hunters on your own without getting hurt?" Liam's voice rose in pitch with each question falling past his lips. "Are you supernatural? Is this some kind of trap?"

Theo sighs, shaking his head slowly as Liam's head snaps from side to side, too fast to effectively check anything. The stink of fear flooded the room, wrinkling his nose as he stepped back towards the beta. Before he takes more than a step, the flicking blue eyes land back on him, a fearful glint complimenting the worried turn of his lips. Theo frowns, turning to face Anika.

He sighs, leveling his eyes with hers, "I don't care what you are-"

"Don't care?!" Liam all but screeches.

Theo snaps his head back in Liam's direction, hoping the hardness of his glare communicates at least a tenth of the murder threat it used to, raising a hand to stop him just in case. This is neither the time nor place to argue, not with the hunters still in hearing range. Tied up and locked up means jack shit till the fight is over and done with. As the beta's mouth clacks shut, he focuses back on the only unrestrained, supposed, human, eyes rolling.

"Right now," he huffs, glancing back at Liam with just his eyes, daring him to cut in again. "Right now, I don't care what you are. Bigger picture is more pressing," he says, gesturing to the bodies on the floor, eyes locked with Anika's again. "What the hell are they doing here and what do you know about it?"

"Right," Anika clears her throat then, rubbing the back of her neck.

The uptick in her pulse draws Theo's attention. Any pretense of her not knowing anything just went up in smoke, and continues to do so as her eyes flick between he and Liam. His eyes narrow, a distinctly wolfish growl rising in his chest. It is just shy of aggressive, meant more to intimidate than anything.

He was done with games and trying to be nice to people. Every ounce of armor he had shucked off over the last year creeps back into place as she fidgets with another napkin. The subtle acerbic note of nerves tastes weird on his tongue, floating a step below truly nervous or afraid.

Anika takes a breath, blinking at him slowly, "So, these chucklefucks, they're with Monroe."

Blood congeals instantly in his veins, the whole of his body from head to toe locking in place. A phantom pain zings to life in his shoulder and starts to grow, the wound long since healed, but evidently his body holds onto some memories better than others. Behind him, Liam's heartbeat is starting to run, pounding through his chest, much louder than his own.