Embracing The Shadows (Shadow Series #5)

06 - Coordinated

"Hand me my bow." I held my hand out in front of me.

Liam glanced back at the bow in the back of the jeep and then looked back at me. "Is this a trick question? You told me not to touch it."

"She didn't even ask a question." Isaac climbed out of the backseat, grumbling in relief under his breath when he stretched out his legs. He raised his arms high above his head, stretching all of his bones and joints. "Just grab the bow and quiver."

"Shh!" Stiles hushed us as he shut the door of his jeep. His eyes were glued on Theo's figure that disappeared up ahead through the trees of Beacon Hills Preserve.

"Clara told me not to touch her bow, though. She threatened to cut off my fingers and feed them to her neighbor's dog if I did." Liam slid around in the backseat, still refusing to pick up my bow out of fear. "I don't know about you, but I like my fingers."

I pressed my fingers to my temple, nearly laughing over his awkwardness. "Liam, I'm giving you permission this one time, okay? Stiles is about to have an aneursym if we don't start to follow Theo through the woods." I  wiggled my fingers in the air to motion for him to give me my bow.

"Let's go." Stiles whispered.

I gave a pointed look at Liam, who sighed in response. He reached over the backseat for my gear. Instead of handing it right over, Liam began to climb out of the jeep with all of it in his hands. Stiles rolled his eyes at the three of us and proceeded to follow the pathway Theo started to walk off in. The tip of Liam's right shoe caught on the front seatbelt, resulting in him falling out of the jeep, bow and quiver landing roughly on the grass beside his body after he slammed into it.

I sighed, "Seriously, Liam?"

"Aren't you a werewolf?" Isaac asked with an amused smirk. "You are the least coordinated werewolf I have ever met." He bent over to pick up my bow and quiver, and handed them over to me. "This is why we can't have nice things, Liam."

I pulled my quiver over my shoulder and held my bow in my left hand. "Okay, let's go." I offered Liam my right hand.

"Sorry, Clara," Liam grabbed my hand and climbed to his feet. He brushed the dirt off of his clothes.

I patted his shoulder. "It's okay."

"Why are you bringing your bow anyways?" Liam gestured to my most prized possession. He led the way toward the directions Stiles walked off in. "We're just following Theo in the woods and I'm a werewolf, so I could protect you."

"What?" Isaac glared down at the younger, teen wolf.

Liam's eyes widened, like he had forgotten he was here. "Uh, I mean, we're both werewolves, so we could protect you." He rushed to correct himself. His hand rubbed the back of his neck, kind of like Stiles did when he was feeling nervous or uncomfortable.

I shot Liam a small smile. "Uh, thanks, Liam, but I think you might be surprised to know that I can take care of myself." I held up my bow as a reminder. "And I'm bringing my bow because this is Beacon Hills. You never know what you could run into, so it's better to be safe than sorry."

Stiles waited for us to catch up with him. He waved his arm through the air and gestured in the direction Theo disappeared in. "I told you he was up to something."

"We just spent three hours watching this dude play video games in his bedroom." Liam pointed out, falling into step between Stiles and me. "He better be out here--" He motioned to the dark woods that surrounded us in every direction. "-- covering up a mass murder."

Liam wasn't wrong. I wanted to prove that Theo was a bad person, but watching him play video games for over three hours was not how I wanted to do it. Theo had a pretty boring life so far. Isaac announced he was going to leave after the second hour, but when he realized I wasn't going to leave with him- and he couldn't get out of the jeep without Stiles or me moving- Isaac decided he would stay. He just grumbled the entire time.