Scott returned and Stiles said, "I think Kinsey and I might have found something."
"So did I," Scott replied.
He led them to a den and Stiles said, "It's a coyote den."
"Werecoyote," Scott corrected.
"You see this? This is Malia's. Remember, it's the same one as she was wearing in the photo," Stiles said, pointing to the clothes and toys in the photo he'd taken.
Kinseu glanced around. "Um, guys, we shouldn't be here."
"What do you mean?"
Scott let out a sigh. "She's not going to come back now. We just invaded her home. Our scent's going to be everywhere."
Stiles frowned at his friend's words. "If she's not going to come back here, where's she going to go?"
Scott shook his head. "I don't know."
Kinsey frowned as she glanced to her friend. "Can you track her scent?"
He turned to her. "Maybe. But I'm better at this when I'm a full wolf. And I'm still worried that if I do it, I won't be able to turn back."
Stiles sighed. "The door's still open."
"If I can't get to Derek, we're gonna have to find someone else to help. This is basically a crime scene, right? I think it might be a little out of my boss's league."
"And more in my dad's," Stiles realized, widening his eyes.
Stiles called his dad and when he arrived, he asked, "You're sure it was her?"
Scott nodded. "I looked her right in the eyes. And they glowed just like mine."
"It makes sense, Dad," Stiles said.
The sheriff frowned at his son's words. "But it wasn't a girl. It was a four-legged coyote, right?"
Kinsey shrugged. "Technically yes, but like Scott said, her eyes glowed. We're sort of still working on figuring it all out ourselves."
Scott glanced to her as he said, "Okay, but if it was a full moon and she did change while her mom was driving, then anything could've happened."
"Horrible things could've happened. Ripping, shredding, tearing things," Stiles added.
Kinsey nodded. "Which could have caused the accident."
He turned back to his father. "Think about it, Dad, all right. They're driving, Malia starts to change, she goes out of control, the mom crashes and everybody else-"
"Except for Malia," Scott said.
Stiles shot his friend a look before continuing. "She blames herself, all right, goes off running into the woods and eventually becomes trapped inside the body of a coyote."
"That makes sense," the sheriff said.
Kinsey glanced at Sheriff Stilinski, hoping he believed them, though she didn't think it likely.
Sheriff Stilinski finished his thought. "In a Chinese folklore. Boys, Kinsey, this is, this is insane. I need this kept quiet. The three of you, not a word. I don't want anyone hearing about this. I especially don't want Mr. Tate hearing about this." Scott was staring blankly into the air and the sheriff called, "Scott? Scott!"
Scott shook his head and came to. "Sorry. What did you say?"
Kinsey glanced at him worriedly. Everyone kept saying they were fine, but it was obviously far from the truth.
---
During school the next day, Stiles showed Allison what they'd found. "Here's what we found in the den. It's right in the middle of the hiking trails."
Allison nodded slowly at his words. "Well, that could narrow it down. Coyotes travel in fixed trails. But I think you're right about her not going back to the den. Coyotes don't like wolves. And they're really smart. If they don't want to be heard, they actually walk on their toes."
"Coyotes tiptoe?" Stiles wondered.
Allison nodded, glancing to Carter at Stiles' question. "They tiptoe."
The bell rang and Allison let out a sigh. "I got to go, but send me and Carterto the pinned location."
Stiles nodded. "Okay."
Carter made his way to history and saw Mr. Yukimura talking to his daughter.
When Carter walked in, Mr. Yukimura said, "Kira. You forgot all the research for that boy you like. All right, everyone. Let's get started. We were just talking about internment camps and prisoners of war. There's a passage in our reading that I'd like to go over in more detail. Who would like to come up and read aloud for us?" No one raised their hands. "Mr. Stilinski, how about you?"
Stiles glanced up. "Oh, maybe someone else could."
Mr. Yukimura smiled. "Everyone participates in my class, Mr. Stilinski."
Stiles nodded slowly as he walked up to the podium. "Okay."
Carter glanced Stiles to see him muttering something, but he couldn't figure out what it was. He glanced at him and he saw the panic in his eyes.
Carter looked forward and suddenly saw his mother creeping towards him. He let out a yell and jumped up from his chair.
"Stiles?" Scott called. "You okay? Carter, are you?"
Carter shook his head. "I swear I just saw my mom."
Stiles suddenly started breathing heavily and Scott took his shoulders while Carter stared blankly. Scott told Mr. Yukimura, "We should take him to the nurse's office."
They walked into the boys bathroom.
Scott said to his friend, "Stiles, look at me, man. Is this a panic attack?"
Still gasping for air, Stiles said, "It's a dream, it's a dream. This is just a dream."
Scott shook his head. "No, it's not. This is real. You're here. You're here with me and Carter. Okay, what do you do? I mean, like, how do you tell if you're awake or dreaming?"
"Your fingers. You count your fingers. You have extra fingers in dreams," he said, leaning against the sink.
Carter nodded, trying to push past his own things he was seeing. "Stiles, hold up your fingers for me. We're gonna count your fingers."
"One. Two," he said as his friend pointed to the fingers.
"Good. Keep going."
"Three. Four."
"Five."
"Six. Seven."
"Eight."
"Nine. Ten."
"Ten," he said. "Ten."
He relaxed a little, but was still panting. He slid down a wall. He said to Scott, "What the hell is happening to me?"
Carter shook his head. "I don't know, but we'll figure it out."
Stiles narrowed his eyes at him. "Am I? Is he? Scott can't transform, Allison's being haunted by her dead aunt, Carter by his dead mom. I'm straight up losing my mind. We can't do this. We can't... we can't help Malia. We can't help anyone."
"We can try," Scott replied. "We can always try."
Sheriff Stilinski walked through the halls with Stiles.
"A couple of students said they saw it running across the field and back into the woods," the sheriff informed. "Thank God nobody got hurt."
Stiles frowned. "What happens if she does hurt someone?"
"Most likely they'll have to put it down."
"Her. Dad, try not to forget there's a girl in there, one you'll be killing. Come on, you aren't back to not believing, are you?"
The sheriff sighed. "I believe there are a lot of things I don't understand yet. Things Robin seems unfazed by. But that doesn't mean that everything and anything imaginable is suddenly possible. Now, are you 100% sure that this is a girl and not an animal?"
"Yes. Scott's sure, so I'm sure." He then asked quietly, "Scott, you been listening?"
Sheriff Stilinski let out another sigh. "All right, let's get this figured out." He led them away.
That evening, Stiles grabbed his backpack from the locker room and pulled out the doll. "Scott, Carter. I think I know what she was looking for."
Scott frowned. "You took the doll from the car?"
Stiles nodded. "Yeah, I thought you could use it, you know, for, like, her scent."
Mr. Tate's voice caught their attention. "Where did you get that? Where did you find this? It belonged to my daughter."
Sheriff Stilinski walked in and said quietly, "Sorry. Mr. Tate, I don't know how you heard about this. If you got your own police scanner or what, but you can't be here." Something caught his attention and he pulled back Mr. Tate's jacket to reveal a gun.
"I have a permit," Mr. Tate said.
"California schools are gun free zones, permit or no permit. You need to leave, Mr. Tate. Now."
Mr. Tate started stuttering as he walked out. "You find that animal. You find that thing."
They got to the clinic and Scott, Isaac, Stiles and Carter gathered around the metal table. "Xylazine," Deaton said. "It's a tranquilizer for horses. For a werecoyote, expect it to work within seconds. I only have three. So whoever's shooting needs to be a damn good shot."
"Allison's a perfect shot," Scott replied.
"She used to be," Isaac Nd Carter told them.
"She can do it."
Isaac met his eyes. "If we manage to find the thing."
Stiles narrowed his eyes. "Okay, what is the point of him? Seriously, I mean, what is his purpose? Aside from the persistent negativity and the scarf. What's up with the scarf anyway? It's 65 degrees out."
Carter rolled his eyes. "Dude, the scarf doesn't matter."
Isaac turned to Stiles. "Look, maybe I'm asking a question no one here wants to ask. How do we turn a coyote back into a girl, when she hasn't been a girl for eight years?"
"I can do it," Scott said.
Stiles glanced at him. "You can?"
Scott nodded. "You remember the night that Peter trapped us in the school? In the gym, he was able to make me turn using just his voice. Deucalion did the same thing in the distillery."
Deaton turned to Scott. "This is a werecoyote, Scott. Who knows if it'll even work, if you can find someone who can teach you."
Carter tilted her head slightly. "Is that why you called Derek first?"
Scott met her eyes. "Yeah. I could try it on my own. But right now, I'm too scared to even change into just a werewolf."
Stiles said, "We need a real Alpha." He earned a dirty look from Scott. "You know what I mean. An Alpha who can do Alpha things. You know, an Alpha who can get it going. You know, get it-"
"Up?" Isaac wondered.
Scott gave them a disappointed frown. "Great. I'm an Alpha with performance issues."
Deaton glanced to each of them. "Is there anyone besides Derek who could help?"
Isaac shook his head. "I wouldn't trust Peter."
Carter glanced between the group. "What about the twins?"
Deaton turned to her. "They're not Alphas anymore. After what Jennifer did, almost killing them, it broke that part of them."
Stiles glanced at Carter before saying, "I think he's onto something. What if they know how to do it?"
Scott looked between them. "Nobody's seen them all for weeks."
Carter smiled slightly. "Yeah... Uh that's not entirely true."
Scott frowned. "Carter, what do you know?"
"Doesn't matter. It's what Kinsey and Lydia know that we need."
"Text them to meet up with us at Derek's loft."
Carter did so, and they made their way there. As soon as they got inside, Lydia pursed her lips. "They said they'd meet us here."
Moments later, the twins appeared and started attacking Scott. He fell to the ground and said, "I thought you guys were gonna teach me to roar."
Aiden nodded. "We are. You do it by giving in."
"Giving in and letting go," Ethan clarified, adding a roar for effect. "That's how Deucalion taught us control."
The two of them attacked Scott again and he groaned in pain. Stiles glanced at the ginger-haired girl and said, "Hey, you know, that's funny. Carter and I tried something like this one time using a heart monitor and lacrosse balls. But you're right, beating the living crap out of him is probably a lot better."
Scott's eyes narrowed. "That's actually the plan?"
Aiden nodded at Scott's question. "You're afraid to turn."
"We're gonna make you," Ethan said. "You turn. Then you kick our asses."
"And then you roar."
A few moments later, Aiden said, "You don't think you can let go with us?"
"You think you're going to hurt us?" Ethan asked in a taunting tone.
"Come on, McCall. Give it your all."
"We can always heal," Ethan told him.
The fighting continued and Scott let out another groan of pain.
"Fight back, Scott!" Kinsey yelled.
Aiden glanced at her and nodded. "You're an Alpha. You want to roar like one, you've got to give in full throttle. You've got to be the monster. Become the beast."
"Become everything you're afraid of," Ethan replied. "That's what gives you power. It gives you strength."
"Giving into it doesn't make you the bad guy," Aiden said.
"So long as you can control it."
"Sometimes control's a little overrated."
Stiles started encouraging his friend. "Come on, Scott. Fight back."
Scott turned to face them. "What if I can't control it? What if I can't turn back?"
Ethan let out a sigh. "Then it takes over. You become Malia. You get further and further away from being human. You turn into an animal. Or worse."
"You turn into Peter," Aiden told Scott.
Scott wiped some blood from his mouth and lunged at Aiden. He was thrust onto a table and Aiden started beating Scott near senseless.
Ethan stopped his brother. "What? I thought we were helping him."
Aiden shook his head. "You help too much."
They left, and Scott and his friends made their way to the Preserve. As soon as everyone gathered together, Lydia asked, "Anyone else think we might be doing more harm than good?"
"We're trying to keep a father from killing his own daughter," Scott reassured her.
"Actually, we're trying to keep a guy from killing a coyote who is actually his daughter, who we don't know how to change from a coyote back to his daughter," Kinsey said in a lightly snide tone.
Stiles glared at her. "And again with the not helping."
"Did you bring it?" Scott asked, turning to Allison.
She walked over to her trunk and pulled the tranquilizer out.
Scott turned to the rest of them. "Allison and Isaac, you're together, Carter and Lydia, you're together. Kinsey and Stiles, you two are together."
Stiles and Kinsey walked off in one direction, the others in another and he called his dad. "It took the doll again? What the hell is so important about this doll?"
The sheriff said, "I don't know, but listen to me. There are traps all over those woods. Near the trails? Probably near the car crash. And Tate is out there with a rifle. I want you to stay out of those woods. You got that? Stiles?"
"It's the doll," Stiles suddenly realized.
"Stiles?"
"It's the doll?" he repeated in a questioning tone.
A gunshot caught their attention and they trekked through the woods. Stiles turned to Kinsey and began spouting, "All right, but why would it go all the way to the school and then all the way back to the house just for a doll? One that was in the car wreck in the first place. We didn't find it in the coyote den."
Kinsey frowned. "Well obviously there's something about this doll. She likes it."
"It likes the doll a lot," Stiles said.
"Hey, remember the picture you took?" He pulled it out. "Malia isn't holding the doll."
Stiles studied the picture a moment before saying, "That's Malia's younger sister. It's her doll. I know what she's doing."
"What?"
"I know where she's going."
He called Scott and left a message. "Scott, it's me. You got to call me back as soon as you can. It wasn't Malia's doll. It was her sister's. Malia left it at the car for her sister. It's like bringing flowers to a grave. Okay, and we stole the flowers. So, that's all she's trying to do, right? Bring the doll back to the grave, to the car wreck. That's where she's headed. The car wreck."
Stiles finished his message and Kinsey heard a click and glanced down. She'd managed to get her left ankle stuck in a bear trap. "Stiles?"
He didn't turn around. "Yeah."
"Stiles," Kinsey called again in a shaky voice. She closed her eyes and tried to calm her breaths.
He turned around and his eyes widened. "Kinsey, don't move."
"Wasn't planning on it. You need look for a warning label. And please be quick. I'm kinda scared."
Stiles frowned. "A warning label?"
"Yes. Instructions on how to disarm this thing."
"Kinsey, why the hell would they put instructions on the bottom of a trap?"
"Animals can't read."
"Kins, I can't read either."
Kinsey let out a shaky breath. "Uh, well, you don't need the instructions. When was the last time you needed instructions? You never use them. You're too smart to waste your time with them. You can figure this out. You're the one who always figures it out, Stiles. So do what you do best and figure it out."
He looked into her warm brown eyes, holding a familiar terror as of late, and nodded. "Okay, here we go. Ready?"
She nodded slowly. "Please hurry."
He twisted it and she fell into his arms just in time. He held her tightly, relishing in the fact that she was safe and a howl resonating through the forest caught their attention.
Stiles and Kinsey shared a smile and he said, "That's what I'm talking about."