Consumed By Pressure (Thiam TW)

Chapter 12: The Hunters Are in Town

TW: eating disorders

Theo woke up to his nightmare; Liam was still awake turned to stare at the chimera.

"Hey, what happened," Liam said, stroking Theo's back like he did when he had a nightmare.

Theo's dream haunted him: in it, the hunters, being led by Tara, killed every one of the pack members. Especially, Liam, over and over again; Tara would continually laugh, telling Theo that he couldn't save them.

"Tara killing everyone, per usual," Theo replied softly, "Why are you up, Little Wolf?"

"Can't sleep," Liam looked up at the ceiling.

"You need to sleep, Li."

"I know, but every time I close my eyes. I see her, hear her, watch her getting killed over and over again."

Theo sighed, "Liam, you and I both know I know how nightmares are, but no matter what, how awful they are. You need to distinguish between reality and your dream. A lot of dreams are caused by your own feeling. I mean, I feel constant guilt for killing Tara, that's why she haunts me. I mean Hell didn't help, but still. It's awful, and you know I wake up from fear all the time, but I also know I need to sleep, or I can't take care of the people I care about, do the things I want to do, and live in general. Your body is fighting against you right now; you need to let go."

"I don't know if I can," tears started to form in the boy's eyes.

"I'll be with you every step of the way," Theo wrapped the alpha in his arms.

Theo woke up to the smell of coffee streaming through the house; he looked at his phone, "6:30." "Argent," he whispered to himself. Liam was fortunately still asleep; the chimera quietly let go of his boyfriend to not wake him up. Liam was lightly sleeping and noticed when Theo's warmth let him.

"Theo!" Liam woke up panicking. He was dreaming that Theo was being shot by Monroe, and his movement made him think he was gone.

"Sorry," Theo looked at him, pulling him into his chest.

"Not your fault," Liam yawned, slowly stepping out of bed. His head started spinning, but he was used to constantly being light-headed all the time. He threw on a hoodie and sweatpants; Theo tried to ignore that while he was watching him change; he could see his ribs and spine. His clothes were hanging off his small frame.

Theo and Liam walked down to Argent and Peter sitting at the table. Argent noticed Liam's bloodshot eyes and black bags underneath them but ignored saying anything.

"So, we've thought about it; we will split into two teams, and scour the woods and town, looking for any signs of hunters. We aren't leaving each other's' sides, but we need to stop them," Argent beckoned the boys to look at the news. There was another murder, an older man shot through the chest by an arrow.

"Werecoyote," Peter told them. "We looked up through the Argent's old records."

"Peter, you two, and Mason can take the town," Argent looked at them, assuming Liam wouldn't want to go back to the woods. "I will take Corey, Brett, and Nolan to the woods. I think I'm going to have Corey and Nolan go invincible to keep them safer."

Theo and Liam nodded, agreeing with his theory. Argent slid Theo and Liam a cup of coffee; Theo smiled at the man, "you know."

"Looks like you two need it," Chris looked at them.

"You have no idea," Theo shook his head.

Chris started cooking breakfast for the boys.

Mason, Corey, Nolan, and Brett woke up shortly after, and Argent went over the plan again. Nolan was clearly worried, but Corey assured him if anyone was a threat, they wouldn't even know they were out there.