✓ | battle wounds, scott m.

chapter seventy nine.

After a while of watching out for Scott, Ella had went to go look for him only to be thrown into the lockers and blacked out by a dread doctor. Liam and Hayden had been taken, and Ella was laying in bed with an ice pack on her forehead and a pounding ache at the side of her head. She felt completely and utterly useless. Lydia, Mason, and Corey were talking about the dread doctor book, Corey sitting at Ella's feet. "Sorry it's taking me so long. I'm a slow reader," Corey smiled sheepishly. "That's okay, Corey," Ella said in a raspy voice. Scott then walked into the room, "He's right. We don't have time for that anyway." "No, Scott, don't!" Ella shouted as she sat up, instantly groaning and laying back down.

Scott stuck his claws into the back of Corey's neck. Ella sighed and shook her head, Mason coming to her side and asking if she was okay. She nodded and asked for him to help her stand up. She wrapped her arm around his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her waist to balance her. Malia, Stiles and Theo walked into the room. "Don't get too close," Lydia said. "What is he doing?" Theo asked. "Tapping into Corey's memories," Ella answered him, "It's usually something only Alphas do." Theo walked closer to get a better look, "Is it as dangerous as it looks?" "Probably more," Stiles replied. "Does anyone know if it's working?" Mason asked.

Scott gasped as released from Corey, stumbling back and Malia and Stiles catching him. Lydia helped Corey stand. "Is he okay?" Scott asked. "What the hell did you do to me?" Corey groaned. "You'll be all right," Scott said. Corey reached behind his neck then looked at his hand to see blood on his fingers, "There's blood." "You'll heal," Scott shook his head. Ella furrowed her brows, "Scott -" "He'll be fine!" Scott shouted, scaring Ella and sending her flying into Mason's arms. Mason cradled her, whispering that she was okay in her ear. The pain from both Ella's shoulder and head increased. "Listen I think it worked. I saw something. There were tunnels. Pipes along the walls. There were these huge blue pipes at the entrance," Scott said as he drew something on a notebook.

"Wait a second I know this. I've seen this before. That's one of the tunnels I used to skateboard in," Stiles glanced at Ella, "Remember mine and Ella's dad caught me one time and told me to never go back?" "It's the water treatment plant," Lydia said. "That's where they are. That's where we'll find Liam and Hayden."

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Ella wasn't able to do anything for two hours straight. And that was the time that Liam and Hayden were saved. Ella made her way downstairs when she heard more footsteps, seeing Liam and Hayden sleeping together on the couch with a blanket over them. Theo was hugging Scott and Ella slowly walked over to Liam and Hayden and placed a blanket on them before kissing Liam's forehead.

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Ella sat on the operating table of the animal clinic, her head resting in between her knees as Scott spoke to her and Theo. "My asthma is back. I'm not sure how, but it came back. Just as bad as it used to be. So now, I keep my inhaler on me all of the time. Just like I used to. And it's been five days. We haven't seen any new Chimeras, and we haven't seen the Dread Doctors. We all go to school, pretending like nothing's happened. But everyone seems to know. You just walk down the halls and no one's smiling. No one's laughing. You get the feeling that everyone can sense that something's coming. They just don't know what is, or how bad it's going to be. Every time I feel like I should do something about it, I find myself reaching for my inhaler. Like, I'm going to take a hit of it and, and come up with some brilliant solution on how to save everyone. But I don't know what to do. I don't think anyone does."

"Maybe that's why no one's really talking to each other. Sometimes we don't even notice each other. But I think some of us are okay with that. Because not talking makes it easier to keep secrets." Ella touched her shoulder. "And I don't know if anyone's really lying about things. Maybe it's more like lies of omission. Maybe the worst lie is to Stilinski. Because no one's told him about Parrish yet. Then again, no one's told Parrish either. He doesn't seem to remember taking the bodies. And we think that he's only really dangerous if you try to get in his way. If Stilinski knew the truth, he'd definitely get in his way. So Lydia and Stiles are trying to find the bodies, which means finding the Nemeton. They're driving around, searching all of the woods. But the last time that we found this thing, three of us had almost drowned in ice water. We're not the only ones looking for Chimeras. . Stilinski's got everyone looking for the next target."

"Questioning anyone who's a genetic Chimera. Anyone who's got two sets of DNA. No one really knows what they're looking for. Some think it's a serial killer. Some probably know it's worse. The two Chimeras that we know about, Hayden and Corey They're both doing okay. Actually, better than okay. They're healing faster and getting stronger. They don't need our help. And I don't think they'd want it anyway. I still haven't heard from Kira. And I'm getting more and more worried about Deaton. I know something's coming. And all I can think about is how good am I going to be if I can't even breathe?" "You sound like you're trying to apologize," Theo said. "You came back looking for an Alpha. I guess I'm sorry that you found me," Scott said, causing Ella to lift her head from between her knees to look at him. "I'm not sorry," Theo said.

Ella looked at Theo, "You still want to be part of the pack?" "Scott, Ella, I'm with you. For better or worse," Theo vowed. "Trust me. There's gonna be worse," Ella nodded. "I'm counting on it."

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"You guys are sure that's where Parrish is taking the bodies?" Theo asked as Ella pushed open the doors for Theo, Stiles and herself. "Lydia says that's what happens in his dream," Stiles answered. Theo narrowed his eyes and stopped at an empty table, "I mean, you know if Lydia finds the Nemeton, she's also going to find Donovan. . Sorry." The twins shared a glance before Ella stepped forward, "She's also going to find Josh." "You know what, maybe she should," Theo said, shrugging. Ella raised a brow, he wanted her to find the bodies? That was a stupid idea. A very, very stupid idea. "I think things are different now for Scott. Especially after what he did to Corey. I don't think he's going to blame us for defending ourselves. I know he won't blame you or Ella."

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"Hey, what did you want to talk to me about?" Scott asked once he and Theo were in Theo's truck. Theo shook his head, "It can wait." "If something's wrong, you should tell me. We've all got to start talking to each other again," Scott insisted. "This might not be the best place to start, Scott," Theo said. "You think I'm going to be angry?" Scott asked. "Not with me," Theo shook his head. "Theo, you can talk to me," Scott pressed. Theo was silent for a second before instructing Scott to open the glove department. Scott furrowed his brows and opened it, taking out a wrench with blood splattered on it. The wrench from the other night. . the one Ella used to knock Donovan off of Stiles. "It belonged to Stiles. He dropped it at the school," Theo said. "Dropped it when?" Scott asked. "When he killed Donovan."

"What are you talking about?" Scott asked with furrowed brows. "You know he and Ella hurt their  shoulders, right? You smelled the blood," Theo said. "That was the Jeep. He said the Jeep's hood fell on them," Scott stated. "No, no, no, that was Donovan. He went after Stiles and Ella at the library. I only saw the end of it. And when I saw what Stiles was doing I couldn't stop him. I shouldn't - I shouldn't be telling you this. You should hear this from them—" "Tell me." "I saw Donovan go down. Stiles hit him with the wrench, and then, he just, he just kept hitting him.  Uh, maybe it was because he - He threatened to kill their dad. Or maybe Stiles thought he had to keep going to defend himself, but he just - He kept hitting him," Theo said. "That's not possible," Scott said, voice laced with disbelief. "He crushed that kid's skull. I heard it cracking and splintering. By the time I pulled Stiles off him, half of Donovan's head was caved in. It didn't even look real. Ella was horrified, God, tears were running down her face rapidly and she was shaking so bad. I keep telling myself that it was self-defense It was self-defense, but Scott, I'm sorry. I've never seen anything like it. And I've never seen anyone that angry. You - You should talk to Stiles. You need to talk to Ella. You have to talk to them."