Calculatingly Wise

50

Scott and Tessa made their way to the Animal Clinic to meet up with Liam, Mason and Theo. Scott played the voicemail they'd found at the Primal Pack compound.

"Hey, it's me again. I, uh, don't know why you can't seem to call me back. Maybe because you think you're punishing me. But this is too long. It's too much. And it's not about us. Something is happening in Beacon Hills, to the people here. I just... I just, I need to know everyone there with you is okay, so can you just, please, call me, please? One call, that's all I'm asking for, and if you can't call me back, then... I'm going to get my answer anyway. That means I'm coming up there myself. If I don't get a call from you, I'm coming up there. So just try, try to remember. It's my pack, too."

Theo frowned. "You pulled this off one of the bodies in the woods?"

"Malia did," Liam replied.

Scott nodded. "Yeah, there were six dead bodies, and one of them had no face."

"Okay, so the one with no face, you think that's the woman on the phone?"

"Maybe."

Mason looked at them with a puzzled expression as Scott went on. "It's the same thing that happened to Aaron. It took over his body, basically stole his face and his DNA. So that means whoever this woman is, she could pick the other half of the Anuk-Ite."

Theo looked to Mason grimly. "Which means she's just half of the problem. The other half we already know about, Aaron."

Scott shook his head. "We don't know where he is, though."

Tessa frowned. "Well, we're supposed to keep the two halves apart."

"If we know about one half, let's just go for that one. That's Aaron," Theo said.

Mason stepped closer to Tessa and Theo. "I'm not agreeing with Theo, but I do think it'd be easier to track Aaron over a voice on the phone."

Liam narrowed his eyes. "That's agreeing with Theo."

Mason gave a half-hearted shrug. "Yeah, but I thought I'd try to soften the blow a bit."

Theo looked surprised. "Is everyone completely shocked that I might be right?"

Liam shook his head. "No, we just don't like it."

After a moment, Scott offered a compromise. "Maybe we're all right. Maybe we should be looking for Aaron and the woman on the phone. I mean, since you guys agree..."

Mason cut Scott off. "Wait, you mean, her, me and..."

"Him? Her?" Theo finished.

Scott nodded. "Yeah. You three find Aaron. Liam and I will try to find out whose voice is on the phone."

Liam looked between them. "If we find either half, maybe we don't have to fight it at all. Stop the Anuk-Ite..."

"Stop the war."

As Theo, Mason and Tessa left, Scott grabbed Mason's arm. "Watch out for her. I'm worried she might kill him."

Tessa gripped the hilt of her dagger. "I can hear you, and I will stab him."

Scott met her eyes. "Don't kill him, okay? We need him."

"Need him? We don't need him, Scott. Personally, I think we're better off without him."

"Tessa..."

She glared at him and huffed. "Fine."

Mason was armed with a partially melted baseball bat as he lead Tessa and Theo through the tunnels. He went on a rant. "That's a pretty egotistical thing to say, don't you think? "You'd never be able to find Aaron on your own, "you're not smart enough."""