From Ashes ✗ Stiles Stilinski [#𝟏]

𝐟𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 [ alpha. ]

She shoved through the wall of men and found herself staring at the disheveled forms of Jackson and Stiles. Maddie stood next to Chris Argent, breathing to calm herself as the hunter's voice flooded the near-empty hall. "Boys." His tone was collected and suspiciously friendly, as was the pleasant smile on his face. His eyes told a different story entirely. "I was wondering if you could tell me where Scott McCall is."

This was a terrible plan. In fact, if anyone had answered her calls, this plan wouldn't exist. The two reactions to her presence there were expected. Jackson, with his purple and swollen jaw, conveyed an alarming amount of nerves surfacing. She couldn't say she wasn't satisfied with this reaction, to be fair. On the other hand, Stiles gave her a mildly shocked stare which withered into something almost accusatory. Chris snapped his fingers to regain the boys' attention.

Stone faced even through his obvious fear, Stiles answered, "Scott McCall...? Haven't seen him since the dance." The noise Chris made was nearly inaudible and held no inkling that the man believed the words her just heard. Stiles could even note that but didn't look away for an instant. "Jackson, you?"

Jackson's deer caught in the headlights expression was telling enough without his string of indiscernible sounds that would've formed words had he the courage to finish them.

Stiles sighed and muttered, "Oh, for the love of god..."

Chris gave a slight nod and the men behind him pushed past Maddie, grabbing the two teenage boys. Maddie's eyes widened and she marched in front of the eldest hunter. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Getting information," Chris said. There wasn't the slightest bit of emotion in his voice and there was something dangerous about that.

"Not by beating up kids!"

"Huh. That bruise looks fresh on Jackson. How'd he get it?"

Maddie pursed her lips and glared.

"I'm guessing it wasn't for information either." Chris moved past her and into the abandoned room the boys had been thrown in. Maddie rushed in behind him, gripping her weapon so tightly that she could feel the grooves painfully indenting on her palm. As she entered, the graying Argent locked the door behind her and looked back at the boys. "Let's try this again. Where is Scott McCall?"

There was a thick silence that followed. Maddie turned her attention to the teenage boys. "Just tell them! I swear Scott will be okay."

Stiles gave her a hard, guarded look. "I. Don't. Know."

This response seemed to send Chris flying off the handle because he grabbed Stiles roughly and slammed him against the locked door. "Let me ask you a question, Stiles. Have you ever seen a rabid dog?"

Maddie had made the slightest move to pull them apart but stopped herself.

"No, but I'll put it on my to-do list if you just let me go," the snide comment escaped Stiles.

Chris' eyes were ablaze but his demeanor didn't seem to reflect that anger. "Well, I have. And the only thing I've ever been able to compare it to is seeing a friend of mine turn on a full moon. Do you wanna know what happened?"

"Not really. No offense to your storytelling skills."

"He tried to kill me, and I was forced to put a bullet in his head." Allison's father had gotten louder gradually as the veins in his neck protruded. "The whole while that he lay there dying, he was still trying to claw his way toward me, still trying to kill me, like it was the most important thing he could do with his last breath. Can you imagine that?"

Stiles paused for only a moment. "...No. And it sounds like you need to be a little bit more select –"

Both of Chris' hands slammed against the wall on either side of Stiles' head. The hunter looked like he was about to throttle the boy before a hand yanked him away.