The Little Wolf (Teen Wolf: Thiam)

Chapter 4: Sometimes Practice Doesn't Make Perfect

As it was "off" season for lacrosse, except for some fall ball scrimmages, of course, Coach Finstock expected the boys to be in shape by running. Since the motel incident, he decided not to force them to do cross country anymore but still expected them to put in some miles. Coach let Nolan and Liam lead the run since they were the team captains. Liam usually slows down and doesn't use his werewolf powers for lacrosse, but today the only thought that crossed his mind was he needed to be faster. If he was faster, he could have saved Rebekah. All the team members knew Liam was a werewolf, since Liam was found with Brett and Lori's bodies, the bullying from Gabe, Nolan and Aaron's scheme, Monroe, and her hunters, and basically everyone in town knew who the supernaturals were at this point. Most of the team accepted it, however, some of them still feared the boy. Liam took off on the track at a fastest pace, leaving his team behind. Nolan and Corey shook their heads at each other as they lead the rest of the team around the track. Liam starting to lap them on their second lap. Liam could only think about trying to become better, tears streaked the beta's cheeks, luckily he was running too fast for anyone to notice. Coach blew his whistle after thirty minutes calling the team in for drills.

"I wish you could all be more like Liam, putting in all your effort. I mean that's why he's a captain!" Coach screamed at his team.

Liam's enhanced hearing picked up on the whispers of his teammates, "What? A freak?" "A dangerous animal" "Develop anger issues" "Who would want to be like him?"

If Liam had a tail, it would have drooped. He forced back his tears as Coach rambled off the drills.

Corey whispered to him knowing only he could hear him, "you okay?"

Liam glanced at the boy, "Ya, I'm fine just shaken from last night."

The rest of the practice did not end well for Liam. His teammates began to be aggressive with him. He missed a few balls, got screamed at by Coach, but still managed to make his teammates mad by being better than them. By the end of practice, fatigue was catching up Liam. His vision began to get blurry as he walked to the locker room. He got a shower and changed back into his clothes when two of his teammates came up to him.

"You think you are so great being a werewolf and all."

"Want to show us what you got?"

One of the boys punched Liam straight in the face; the beta fell to the ground, his ears ringing, vision turning black from a mixture of exhaustion and the punch.

Liam looked at the boys, "I am not going to fight you."

The other boy started kicking him in the chest until Nolan saw what was happening and screamed at his teammates.

"If you two don't stop right now, I am telling Coach to kick you off the team. You know he will after you hurt his star player, " Nolan grimaced at them.

The boys sprinted out of the locker room leaving Liam lying in a pool of his blood. Nolan helped him up as Corey ran over.

"Hey Liam, look at me; are you okay?" Nolan asked.

"I'll heal."

"You sure Liam you seem to have lost a lot of blood either Theo or Mason can take you to Deaton's," Corey questioned.

"I said I'm fine!" Liam snarled at the boy. He started coughing up blood from being kicked in the chest.

Corey hunched down, "Fine, Liam if you don't want to go to Deaton's, but you need to calm down. Come on let's get you home."

Nolan and Corey half-carried Liam to Theo's truck waiting for him in the parking lot.

"What happened?" Theo looked with concern over his friend.

Nolan told him what had happened.; Theo grabbed Liam from their arms and placed him in the passenger seat.

"Why didn't you defend yourself?" Theo asked the beta.

"They were right; I couldn't take them I am a monster, Theo. I deserved every punch I got."

Theo hated seeing Liam hurt like this; he grabbed the boy's hand, "You are not a monster. You are one of the most selfless people I have ever known."

Liam stared back at the window, not letting go of Theo's hand until they reached the house. Liam knew his parents couldn't see his wounds until they were healed. Theo gave him one of his sweatshirts which was two sizes too big on the boy. Theo couldn't help but smile at the small boy, swimming in his sweatshirt.

 The Dunbar-Geyer household always had family dinners, so the boys put down their stuff and sat down at the dinner table. Liam was always small. He ate more than a normal person his size with his werewolf metabolism, but Theo noticed he always ate less than all the other supernaturals. Theo watched as Liam pushed his dinner around his plate, taking small bites here and there.

"Liam, aren't you hungry?" Dr.Geyer asked. He knew his stepson had just come from lacrosse practice and looked worn out.

"Yes sorry, I am just tired," Liam replied. "Getting back to school really was exhausting," he forced a laugh.

Liam decided to eat a little bit more just to get everyone not to be suspicious of his behaviors, but he enjoyed the feeling of not being full, the emptiness. He deserved to be empty; he actually appreciated his teammates beating him up. After dinner, the boys went up to complete their homework; after a while, Theo came over to Liam's room.

"Want to play a round?" Theo asked pointing at the controller.

"Okay just one, then I think I need to get to bed," Liam replied not wanting to disappoint the chimera.

Theo smiled at the boy just wanting to spend more time with him. Liam and Theo sat on Liam's bed touching shoulders while playing the game. After the round, Liam looked up at Theo.

"I really should go to bed," Liam said.

"You look exhausted, did everything heal okay?"

"Mostly, I should be good by tomorrow."

"Okay goodnight, Liam."

"Goodnight Theo."

Theo woke up in the middle of the night from a nightmare of him being the one pushed off the bridge instead of Tara. He tried to roll over and go back to sleep when he heard a rapid heartbeat. Theo got up and peered into Liam's room; the boy was thrashing in his bed, obviously in a nightmare. He wanted to comfort the beta but decided against making it awkward. He couldn't show Liam his true feelings; I mean Liam liked girls right?