Chapter Seven: (edited) - 5x02
Mason exhaled a long lungful of air as he exited the school corridor, stepping out into the chilly night. He fidgeted with his jacket, pushing his arms through the sleeves and setting the collar straight. A frown crept onto his face when he rounded a yellow school bus and saw Cress and Liam running towards him.
"Sorry!" Cress exclaimed squeakily, panting tiredly as she stopped in front of him, doubling over and placing her hands on her knees, struggling to catch her breath.
"Hey, sorry we're late!" Liam apologised, glancing down and frowning confusedly at Cress' pathetic and athletically challenged form before peering back up to Mason.
"Oh no, you're not late. You missed it." Mason complained, rolling his eyes in frustration as he folded his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. "I worked out. For two hours."
Cress' expression fell regretfully as she stood up and looked down at her shoes sheepishly, as if she she were a young child, being scolded by her parent.
"Yeah, I know, I forgot." Liam admitted, shuffling his weight uncomfortably. He seemed to be able to talk, though Cress found it next to impossible to find the right words to express how sorry she was. "And I'm gonna tell you why."
Mason looked towards them both expectantly as Cress' head shot up towards Liam's in surprise. She gave him a questioning look that asked 'are you sure?' But he nodded confidently and turned his eyes back to Mason.
Liam glanced down anxiously at the dirtied toes of his sneakers as he racked his brain for the right way to explain everything. "Actually, I'm going to tell you a lot of things. A lot of hard to believe things.
"Really hard to believe." Cress added wistfully in a grim and almost inaudible voice.
Mason's eyes abruptly darted to Cress, then over her head when he caught sight of movement behind her. He glanced back to Liam who continued muttering useless nothings, and then looked back to whatever had captured his attention behind Cress.
"There's a wolf." Mason said simply without any use of elaboration.
"Yeah, I'm getting to that." Liam admitted weakly, eyes averted to the ground.
"No, there's a wolf right behind you." Mason said more urgently with widened eyes.
Frowning, Cress and Liam both slowly turned to glance over their shoulders to see whatever had Mason so fascinated.
Cress froze, her entire frame going rigid as she came face to face with a wolf. Cress felt almost enthralled, if not terrified by its features; the luscious fur was completely pitch black like the midnight sky, dark glowing green eyes. It pulled back its teeth into a menacing sneer, letting out a threatening growl. It could probably sense that Liam and Cress were wolves.
Liam gulped down fearfully and nodded in confirmation, taking a cautious step back. "That's a wolf."
Cress thought for a moment, contemplating whether or not she would be threatening enough to scare away the wolf.
"Nope," Cress shook her head, deciding on her thoughts aloud. She frowned as she noticed Liam and Mason weren't making any attempt to move either.
The wolf growled and took a leap towards them.
"Run!" Cress shrieked, already fleeing into the school, putting as much distance between her and the wolf as she could.
As Cress ran, the wolf found himself more agitated and began running towards Mason and Liam, its teeth still bared as it let out muffled growls.
Mason and Liam both spun and bolted back into the corridor, the wolf chasing close behind them. They all rounded a corner, Mason nearly falling over on the marble floor but he desperately regained his balance as he ran faster to catch up with Cress.
Cress and Mason continued to run until they reached a flight of stairs that Mason quickly ascended, while Cress brought herself to an abrupt halt, ensuring that her friend was safe.
Liam stopped suddenly, his shoes squeaking along the marble floors of the school corridor. Liam waited until Cress had made her way back to his side before he spun around, teeth lengthening and exposed, eyes glowing yellow and claws growing.
He growled, with a force he only used during a full moon. The dog stopped in front of Liam and Cress, watching them curiously, its head tilted slightly to the side. Its eyes basically rolled, as if it were completely unfazed by Liam's erupting roar.
Cress frowned curiously with a tilted head — perhaps she was quite similar to the wolf before her — as she looked into the wolf's eyes. Green. Light green. Mysterious green. Her frown came from the odd familiarity she felt towards those eyes. She felt like she actually knew them. And it stared back at her with the same amount of eager curiosity. It seemed to be as fascinated and enthralled with her as she did it.
Mason, hearing the earth rumbling growl, turned slowly over his shoulder as he watched the backs of Cress and Liam. Their shoulders lifted and fell heavily with exhaustion or anger as they stared down the wolf. Their hands were somewhat spread and claws had sprouted from their fingernails.
Casting a last longing look at Cress, the wolf turned as Liam let himself turn human again. The animal sprinted away from them, disappearing through the doors as if it were never even there.
Cautiously, Cress and Liam both swivelled their bodies around as Mason carefully descended the steps, his eyes wide and alight with amazement and admiration.
"There's something I gotta tell you." Liam admitted in a soft voice to Mason who stood, watching down in awe of his friends.
His jaw hung open in wonder and his eyes were wide; but not with fear. The corners of Mason's lips quirked up into grin as he began shaking his head in disbelief. "You're a werewolf."
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The black wolf jumped over a fallen tree and galloped towards the bridge, settling his paws against the wood, his furry ears perking up at the sound of the soft currents of water that came from the river below.
He slowed his pace and simply stood for a moment, taking in the smell of the forest and the sound of the water that dripped onto rocks with his wolf senses before he turned human again — which was not always an easy process.
Exhausted from running for miles, he stayed crouched and breathed quiet and rapid pants. The boy curled his hand around the wooden railing, clutching onto its splintery surface and carefully pulled himself up. He stared off ahead into the eerily silent shadowy forest with his distant eyes.
Theo turned over his shoulder, his mind consumed with thoughts of Scott's pack. He'd so fat been doing fairly well at gaining the Alpha's trust, but they all knew that Scott wouldn't agree to anything without his pack's agreement. Stiles certainly didn't trust him, but Theo was sure he'd come around sooner or later. Cress was more than conflicted about whether or not Theo was screwing them all over. Who knew what Liam, Malia and Kira thought of him?
Slowly, his lips were pulled into a devious and cunning smirk before he turned back to stare ahead for a few more moments. Exhaling a long lungful of air, he began sprinting, naked, back into the woods.