What Could Have Been [Thiam Rewrites]

Chapter 20: Part 2 - Acceptance

A/N: Sorry about the cliffhanger HAHAHA. No, but really, hopefully this makes up for it!

TW: Violence and depictions of wounds/injuries.

Liam

Parrish and Stilinski pulled into a long driveway lined with trees and stopped when they reached the chained gate.

Liam flung himself out the car before Mason or Corey could stop him. He still hadn't been able to establish a mental connection with Theo-the asshole must've shut him out intentionally-but he could still feel the essence of him. It had grown stronger the closer they'd gotten to this compound, and he knew within his bones that Theo was inside these gates.

"What're you doing?" Liam demanded of Parrish, Stilinski, and Derek as they stared at the chains.

"Legally, we can't break the lock without a warrant," the Sheriff said. "I just called it in, but until then, we have to wait."

"What if you two aren't the ones to break it?" Liam asked. Derek shot him a warning look, but glared right back.

Parrish cleared his throat. "Still illegal. If we see it, technically that's breaking and entering."

"Then look away," Liam growled and reached for the chains, but Derek yanked him back.

"Liam," he said. "We don't even know if they're in there or if they're even in danger."

"Theo's in there. I can feel him," Liam said.

Derek paused at that, as if wondering how that worked, but he nodded, knowing better than to question Liam when it came to his connection with Theo.

"Can you mentally contact him?" Derek asked. When Liam shook his head, he said, "I'll try with Isaac. What about Scott?"

Liam closed his eyes and focused on his alpha. They'd had much less practice tapping into each other's minds, and he doubted that Scott had practiced leaving that part of his mind open, but it was worth a shot.

Scott, Scott, can you hear me?

An explosion shook the ground beneath Liam's feet and his eyes flew open-the blast had come from inside the compound.

This time, Derek didn't protest when Liam ripped the chains from the gate.

Theo

His ears rang and his body ached. The acrid scent of explosive residue hung so thick in the air that he couldn't register anything else. Without his hearing or his sense of smell, Theo felt vulnerable. He had no idea where the blast had come from, and now he couldn't even count who had survived the blast.

Cold tile pressed against his cheek, and he forced himself to rise to his knees. He yanked a shard of glass from his shoulder and another from his calf. Splinters of wood had sliced through his shirt and his pants. Those, he didn't have time for. He grit his teeth against the irritation and peered through the Theo-sized hole in the wall that separated him from the living room he'd been in earlier.

His vision was still blurred, but he spied Monroe crawling across the floor. Her throat was a shredded mess from when they'd been ripped apart. Scott and Isaac were bloodied, bruised, and crumpled in the corner of the room together. For a fraction of a second, panic flooded him that he couldn't hear their heart beats, but he couldn't hear much of anything over the damn roaring in his ears.

Theo ran to them, reaching out for each of their wrists, not satisfied until he felt the steady thudding of their hearts pulsating beneath his grip. That bomb couldn't have come from Monroe or her hunters-not when Monroe had been directly in the blast zone herself. Which meant that they had to grab Monroe and get out of here while they still could.