Summer had been calm for everyone. The now graduated seniors were preparing for college with the exception of Malia who was planning a trip to France. Jules was going to miss all of them, why wouldn't she. They had been by her side through everything and their departure wasn't going to be easy. She had kept her abilities dormant throughout the summer because she never really had a use for them. The Wild Hunt was gone and that feeling of normality was starting to come back to her.
However she didn't think normality would mean comforting Liam in the boys locker room. "I can't handle this." Liam who had been laying face down on the bench says with a muffled voice. Mason sighs in exasperation as he, Jules, and Corey give up and decide to just start dressing Liam themselves
"Yes, you can!" Mason grabs Liam under the arms and pulls him into a seated position so he can help Liam into a long-sleeved shirt. "And you've handled so much worse than this! You're practically the Alpha now!" Mason tries to encourage him only for Liam to look at him pitifully. "I'm nothing without her."
Corey sighs impatiently as he tries to put Liam's lacrosse shoulder pads on him. "Liam, can you help me with this, please?" They are almost finished dressing Liam and are fastening the rest of his lacrosse pads as Liam continues to whimper. "Hayden left me." Jules rolls her eyes slightly as she slaps him lightly. "She moved. To protect her sister. And it's not like she dumped you or anything." She tells him as Corey struggles to put Liam's jersey on over his pads and groans from the effort.
"Liam, why is your arm so heavy?" Corey struggles . Suddenly, Mason's phone buzzes, and he checks it to find a text message from Scott. "Okay, Scott says Coach is losing it." Liam's lip sticks out as he pouts.
"Scott's leaving, too." Liam leans forward as though he's about to lay face-down on the bench again, but Corey pulls him back into a seated position. Mason, too, is starting to become impatient with Liam as he crouches down to look him in the eyes.
"Going to college is not leaving, okay? It's called "growing up!" And we're all going to be going to different colleges eventually." Corey jerks upright and looks at Mason with an offended expression. "I thought we were both applying to UCLA...?" Mason shoots Corey a look and uses a flat palm to gesture across his neck to stop Corey from talking. Liam, too, looks at Mason with an appalled expression.
"You're going to the same college, too? What about you Jules, what school are you leaving me for?" Liam says sadly making Jules nod her head in disbelief. "I'm planning on going to Berkeley, then Stanford or Columbia for Med School." She answers making him fake cry.
"Everyone's leaving me." He whines as Mason, who is tired of arguing, turns the subject back to Liam. "That is not the point!" Corey gives up on trying to put Liam's jersey on, and Mason grabs Liam's lacrosse stick before shoving it into Liam's arms, grabbing his helmet and sticking it on the end.
"Then what is the point?" Mason and Corey each take one of Liam's arms and lift him to his feet, though he does nothing to bear any of the weight of his body, causing Mason and Corey to stumble in their effort to drag him out of the room. Jules laughs as she helps the boys. Liam only lets his head fall on her shoulder in a dramatic way which she doesn't mind as he was like a brother to her.
"The point is that summer's almost over. We're about to be seniors. This is about to be the best year of our entire lives, and you're still captain of the lacrosse team, so come on and—" When Corey and Mason attempt to drag Liam backward out the locker room door, they trip on Liam's feet and all three of them tumble to the floor.
Mason then pulls out his phone, seeing another text from Scott which makes his eyes widen. "Coach is making Diaz captain." Alarmed, Liam and Jules sit up as well and Liam looks determined to prove himself, just as Scott intended with his misleading text message. Jules drags him up and starts running to the field as she already had her gear on.
Diaz was on a roll on the lacrosse field, easily spinning and dodging the attempts by the other players to block him from getting toward the goal. Nolan, who is playing goalie, looked terrified as Diaz prepares to throw the ball toward the goal behind him. "Oh, God...Oh, God..." Nolan shakes as Diaz
forcefully throws the ball at him. Suddenly Liam appears out of nowhere and performs an impressive aerial spin, deftly catching the ball with his lacrosse stick before landing lightly on his feet. "That's how you play lacrosse, McCall! Who is that kid? He's spectacular!" Coach yells making Scott look at him exasperatedly
"Coach, that's Liam." Scott tells him as Coach becomes irritated. "Well, how the hell am I supposed to tell them apart? They're all wearing the same thing!" Coach says as Jules makes her way into the field, grabbing the ball with her stick and running as she avoids other players. "They've got numbers on their jerseys." Scott tells him while Jules passes the ball to Liam who ran towards the opposite goal. Suddenly, Diaz appears and tackles him hard, causing Liam to flip backward and land face-down on the grass as the other players shout around him.
Coach looks impressed by the tackle, but Scott looks concerned, particularly when he hears a low growl from Liam as he tries to get up. Jules pushed through the crowd of players only to realize Liam was shifting. When Scott realizes this as well he frantically blows his whistle and thrusts his arms outward to communicate that he wants the other players to back off.
When he reaches Liam, he crouches down to look him in the eyes, looking even more concerned when he sees that Liam's eyes are blazing bright gold as he growls uncontrollably. Scott squeezes Liam's shoulders with his hands as he tries to shield Liam's now-panicked face from view. "Liam! Your eyes!" Jules whispers as Coach starts to shout while walking in their direction.
Scott puts his hands over the front of Liam's helmet just in case he gets close enough to see his partially-shifted Werewolf face. "McCall! What the hell was that? That wasn't a foul—that's called "winning." Coach tells him as suddenly, the rest of the players, who have gathered around Jules, Liam, and Scott, begin to look scared as they whisper to each other. Confused, Coach looks around, not understanding the others apprehension until he finally sees what they're looking at.
A bloody, clearly-injured wolf slowly trotted onto the field. Scott, looking alarmed, pulls the Liam up to his feet as they all gape at the wolf in shock. Nolan, who is closest to the wolf, gulps anxiously, seemingly frozen in fear while the others back up several steps. The wolf snarls at the group, keeping its eyes on Scott as saliva drips from its fangs.
"Everyone back." Scott says alarmed as he notices how terrified Nolan is. Jules noticed this as well and slowly made her way to him, grabbing his hand and pulling him back slowly. Nolan, still terrified, remains silent as Jules keeps her hand in front of him to keep him from walking any closer.
Scott steps forward to stand next to Liam as the wolf once again snarls and growls at them. After a moment, Scott flashes his red Alpha eyes at the wolf, who whimpers before turning around and slowly retreating back into the woods, limping as though it has been badly injured. Scott look back at Jules and knowing what the three had to do they leave, running into the woods without another word.
Once the three are deep into the woods, they begin to talk about what they could be dealing with. "Do you think it's a wolf-wolf, or...?" Liam asks as they walk through the woods feeling the leaves crunch under their feet. "I think it's just a wolf." Jules, Scott, and Liam become silent as they come upon another wolf, this one laying dead on the ground as though it had recently died. The three become horrified when suddenly, hundreds of spiders begin pouring out of the wolf's eyes and mouth and scurry away. After a moment, Liam sees something in the distance and frowns.
"Guys..." Liam gestures toward the area in front of them, leading them to see that there are nearly a dozen more dead wolves scattered across the surrounding area. Jules stares at the scene with her mouth agape as she feels her heartbeat quicken.
"Oh God."
***
Making it back to the house was full of silence. Nothing weird like this had happened since The Wild Hunt. It left Jules with many questions as she stared out into her room blankly. For her it was just another night of endless thoughts. Sleep was the one thing that was never constant in her life especially in the past few months.
She tried everything from melatonin to ASMR videos but nothing seemed to help her. The only sleep she was really getting now were the naps she took between the day but everyone knows that's not enough sleep for the human body. It had shocked Jules just how much energy she still had even from her lack of sleep. She assumed it was just her supernatural side that allowed her to have that much energy.
Jules being the person she was, didn't tell anyone due to not wanting to be a burden. The only person who seemed to notice something wrong was Parrish due to their connection. Every time he saw her he always asked her if she was doing okay and every single time she insisted that she was.
Even looking up at the stars didn't help her, which made he question a lot of things because they usually did. The one thing that was constant in her life became inconsistent.
It was tearing her apart slowly but she wasn't going to let it show.
***
Jules had been yawning all through her wait in the orientation line. Every time she felt her eyes closing she would jerk herself awake leaving Mason and Corey to look at her amused as they found it funny.
Liam has just walked out of the guidance counselors office and gave Jules a small smile as she walked in—her eye bags didn't go unnoticed by him. Once she walked in she was welcomed by Ms.Monroe who smiled widely at her as she sat down. Jules handed Monroe her course requests and upon seeing them she smiled widely. "All AP's! Wow Jules you must be really serious about your education."
Jules gives her a smile as she rubs her hands in her jeans. "In the end it's all for my Mom. I know it sounds silly but once I become a doctor I don't want my Mom having to work to many shifts. She works really hard and she needs a break." Jules explains making Monroe smile at the girls dedication. "What about you, Jules?" Monroe's question catches Jules off guard and Jules looks up at her to see Monroe still holding her smile.
"Do you still have nightmares?"
That was the one thing Jules hated about sleep. She never knew if she would have good dreams or bad. That was the main reason she wasn't getting sleep. Even between her naps the image of Brett and Lori all bruised and bloodied never seemed to leave her mind.
It was always them repeating the same two words. Save us. Save us. Save us. Each time she had the nightmare they would stalk closer and closer to her. Eventually to the point where they would grab her arms and shake her until she woke up sweaty and out of breath. The stars that had been the one constant thing in her life, changed into her nightmares.
"Jules?" Monroe calls out distracting her from her daydream. "Um no, the nightmares have stopped so.." Monroe only nods her head at this and places Jules' course requests in a file. "Well if you ever need someone to talk to I'm always here." Jules gives a Monroe a smile before standing up and walking out.
She was greeted by Liam, Mason and Corey and they immediately begin walking out of school. Mason and Corey had been walking faster then Jules and Liam leaving them treading behind. She suddenly felt him grab her hand and she stops, turning back to look at him with a confused look on her face. He stays quiet for a moment—pursing his lips before opening his mouth to speak.
"Do you still have nightmares?"
Liam knew she wasn't okay when he saw the bags under her eyes. He knew she wasn't one to talk about her problems and although he was invading her privacy he couldn't help but listen in on her conversation. Jules stayed quiet as she smiled sarcastically. "All the time." Her answer leaves Liam feeling bad for her as she tries to hide her pain with a smile.
"They never seem to stop."