𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐬 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 ▷ Stiles Stilinski²

73|the hard way

After all, I had barely been back a few hours and the things that they told me had happened while we weren't here was just crazy.

"And there could still be more," Isaac sighed, standing up and patting down his jeans.

"How many hunters have you seen out here before?" Lori asked.

Scott thought for a moment back to any of the countless times we had been running from people trying to kill us in these woods.
"A lot."

"Still wanna split up?" Malia asked Liam.

The beta shrugged as if it were nothing. "We can deal with it. We just need to find Brett's trail."

"No we don't," Lori said suddenly. She pointing down to the ground where there was a vertical pile of rocks.
"Rock balancing. Satomi taught us. It's him, and I know where he's going."

We all followed Lori who led us towards the tunnels below Beacon Hills.

"Why aren't they listening? We know about hunters," I whispered to Isaac.

He shrugged, "We were like that once, too; thinking that we knew better. We learnt the hard way."

He had a point, we used to do reckless things all the time. But Liam usually took what we said to heart, listening to what we had to say.

I understood that he wanted to show that he could make a decision, but he also needed to understand that he didn't have to do it alone. Scott had to learn that once, also.

"Well, let's hope he doesn't have to," I said, before climbing down into the tunnels.

The six of us moved through them quietly, trying not to draw attention to ourselves. Thankfully our steps weren't causing any echoes so we were managing to stay under the radar for now.

We turned a corner, to see a puddle of black liquid on the ground. Lori went over, kneeling and dipping her fingers in it.

She moved her fingers under the tunnel lights, turning to look at the rest of us. "He's been poisoned."

"That's why he's not healing," the Alpha stated.

"What if he only has a few hours to live?"

Liam spoke up, "Well if we howl, we can find him."

"We've been through this, Liam. It too risky," I said carefully.

"Who cares about the risk?" Lori asked, her voice rising. "He could be dying."

Malia moved past the girl, examining the trail left by the black blood. "He's still moving."

Scott sighed, sounding somewhat frustrated. "We just need time to think."

He was right that we needed to think, but the longer we waited, the less chance we had of actually finding Brett alive. This wasn't a thought that I was about to voice in front of Lori, however.

"I need him to know that I'm here, that I'm coming for him," Lori told the Alpha.

"Yeah, Lori's right," Liam said, standing up straighter. "He has to know we're here."

He then turned to the tunnel, and we all began to realise what he was about to do. Malia tried to get him to stop but was too late.

Liam let out a loud roar that echoed through the tunnels and made my ears ring.

Part of me wanted nothing more than to hit him over the head for not listening to us. It reminded me of the night we had been in the school and Scott had growled over the PA system.