Stiles and I follow the path Scott previously took off down, trying to find him.
Definitely feels like we're running in circles though I hate running, especially in the dark
"Oh whoa, Adds look up there" Stiles breaths out trying to catch his breath.
I come to a stop next to him and set my hands on my hips trying to catch my breath. I squint my eyes in the direction he's looking and I huff as I swing my head to the side to look at him "How– as we're running– did you see that?"
He smirks, lifting his brows once quickly before walking towards the hill leading up to the hole in the boulders "Pfft you know I have perfect vision" shame that, I'm sure you'd look amazing in glasses
I shake my head at my wayward thoughts and follow after him.
He reaches his hand out to help me over one spot in particular that has major twisting ankle vibes coming off of it.
We walk around the boulders and see an opening, bending forward to not hit our heads, we walk into the cave and Stiles shines the light around.
We notice a jacket and a few other kids items that may have been from the car "Is that–?"
"Yeah, that's definitely the jacket Malia was wearing in the photo– I think this is a coyote den" Stiles states as he turns around towards the entrance.
I take a deep breath in, letting it out quickly and tap his arm "Okay let's go find Scott"
We head back outside and start running in the other direction from how we got here originally.
We're dodging tree branches and massive bushes with prickly leaves, when I crash into a body and the three of us scream frantically before we recognize each other.
"Oh" Stiles states as he flashes the light in Scott's face and we all pant out our quick breaths, trying to slow our breathing.
I swallow and look to Scott "I think we found something"
Scott nods and looks between us "So did I"
Scott fills us in on how the coyote's eyes lit up blue just like Derek's were-blues when Scott flashed his Alpha reds to the coyote, who he strongly believes was Malia definitely could make sense, Talia was able to fully transform as well
We walk up the same path and behind the boulders as we walk into the den with Scott.
Stiles shines the light around for him, stating "It's a coyote den"
"Werecoyote" Scott clarifies as he looks around
Stiles bends down and picks up the jacket "You see this? This is Malia's. Remember, it's the same one she was wearing in the photo?"
Scott reaches forward and grabs a stuffed teddy bear before looking over his shoulder towards us "We shouldn't be in here..."
I get better placement of my feet as I'm trying to stay in the crouch without my knees touching the ground and I gain his attention with the movement as I face him "What do you mean?"
Scott shakes his head "She's not going to come back now. We just invaded her home. Our scent's going to be everywhere."
Stiles shares a look with me before looking back towards Scott "If she's not going to come back here, where's she going to go?"
"I don't know" he mumbles to the ground before Stiles points to the stuffed animal in his hands "Can you track her now? You think you got her scent?"
"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" he shares a worried look with us, earning a sigh from Stiles before he mutters "The door's still open."
Scott nods "If I can't get to Derek, we're gonna have to find someone else to help."
We agree with nods before my calves are on fire and I need to stand up.
Scott looks around and back towards Stiles "This is basically a crime scene, right? I think it might be a little out of my boss' league."
"And more in my dad's," Stiles finish's Scott thought before he digs in his pocket for his phone and we head outside where it isn't so cramped.
Noah and his deputies waste no time in getting out here, heading into the cave after we fill him in on our evening discoveries and telling us to wait by his car.
He walks out a couple minutes later, walking back over towards us with one of the sweaters that was in the cave in his hand.
Noah looks around before raising his brows to Scott "You're sure it was her?"
"I looked her right in the eyes– and they glowed just like mine" Scott states with as much conviction as he can.
Stiles nods "It makes sense, Dad"
Noah squints his eyes in return looking between us "But it wasn't a girl– it was a four legged coyote, right?"
"Well, okay. But yeah, see, that's the point that we don't exactly have figured out yet" Stiles relents before I make a noise, gaining his attention as I justify "Okay, but if it was a full moon and she did change while her mom was driving, then anything could've happened."
Stiles nods and sets a hand on my shoulder as he directs his words to his dad, elaborating "Horrible things could've happened. Ripping, shredding, tearing things."
Scott nods and looks to Noah as well "Which is probably what caused the accident"
Stiles points out with his other hand "Think about it, Dad, all right. They're driving, Malia starts to change, she goes out of control, the mom crashes and everybody dies."
"Except for Malia," I chime in before Stiles continues "She blames herself, all right, goes off running into the woods and eventually becomes trapped inside the body of a coyote."
"That makes sense" Noah states, earning relieved sighs from the three of us before Noah pops that relieved balloon with his next words "In a Chinese folktale. Guys, this is– this is insane."
We look to the ground, shame and frustration instantly rolling off us because I know we're right
Noah leans closer to whisper out "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"
Stiles and I nod before Noah narrows his eyes at my brother "Scott? Scott!"
We move our eyes to Scott who looks a million miles away, looking off to the side of us. He shakes his head with Noah's exclamation, looking back to us "Sorry. What did you say?"
Mr. S doesn't get a chance to repeat himself and instead groans as another red and blue flashing light car pulls up "Oh, hell."
We turn around noticing the Suit himself walking around the front of the car with Mr. Tate walking towards us from the passenger side in what good decision making process would bringing him here ever be a good idea?
We turn back around just as the pair are closing the distance to us and Noah nods once "Mr. Tate"
Malia's dad walks up to him and grabs the article of clothing out of his hand and lifts it up sadly stating "It's hers..."
"All right wait here" Suit states before making a move to walk past– that Scott doesn't waste a second trying to stop him "Dad–"
Suit leans closer as he flicks his eyes between Scott and I "I'll talk to the two of you in a minute. I wouldn't mind hearing how your mom's okay with you both running around in the woods this late."
I roll my eyes after he walks off and turn towards Stiles who huffs out a breath as he rubs a hand over his mouth.
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Stiles, Scott, and I meet Allison in our history class just before it's going to start to show her our findings of the previous evening.
Stiles hands me his tablet and I tilt it towards her, pointing to the cave area that our pinned location is lit up "Here's where we found the den"
Stiles leans against my shoulder as he moves his finger along the map, adding "It's right in the middle of the hiking trails."
Allison looks to the map and nods "Well, that could narrow it down. Coyotes travel in fixed trails," she lifts her eyes towards Scott with her next words "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" She connects her eyes with mine as I make a face taking in that information.
"Coyotes tip toe?" Stiles implores adorably, earning chuckles from Allison and I as she nods "They tip toe."
The bell rings and she walks away from us, heading for the door and throwing over her shoulder "I got to go, but send me the pinned location–"
"Okay" I mutter as I do just that and lock the tablet before handing it back to Stiles to put in his bag.
We walk up different rows to find seats just as Kira walks up to Scott in the row next to me while I walk past them "Hey. I'm Kira. You knew that– I knew you knew that. I don't know why I just told you that again. Anyway, I have something for you..."
Stiles sits to the right of me in the front row, as I turn in my seat towards him. He raises his brows at their exchange, that I find absolutely adorable as shock completely covers Scott's face "For me?"
I smirk at Scott when he flicks his eyes to me quickly before looking back towards Kira who is digging in her bag "Yeah. About the Bardo– my explanation was sort of all over the place, so I did some research and I printed it out for you..."
A smile instantly crosses my face at my live action romcom as Scott chuckles lightly and shakes his head "Ah, you didn't have to do that"
"It only took a couple of hours" Kira states and Stiles shares a shocked look with me as Scott shakes his head "Wow– then you really didn't have to do that"
Kira ignores that as she continues to frantically search her bag in front of her "I swear I printed it out–"
Mr. Yukimura walks up with a massive stack of papers and holds them out to her "Kira. You forgot all the research you did for that boy you like"
I turn back facing forward with a scrunched nose grimace towards my desk as Mr. Yukimura ever oblivious to teenage embarrassment begins class "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?– Mr. Stilinski, how about you?"
My worried eyes flick over to him as he shifts in his seat and offers softly "Oh, maybe someone else could..."
I raise my hand, opening my mouth to volunteer as tribute when Mr. Yukimura flicks his eyes to mine, quickly shaking his head and looking back towards Stiles "Everyone participates in my class, Mr. Stilinski."
Stiles sighs out an "Okay" and moves to stand up from his desk, walking across the front of my desk and towards the podium.
I can see his mouth moving as he whispers to himself, and my worry level skyrockets as I turn slightly to share a worried look with Scott sitting behind Stiles' seat I just want to take him out of this situation
Stiles scrunches his brows inward as he reaches up the podium and turns his fingers white with the grip he places on each side.
He starts to breathe heavier and I can see the sweat on the side of his face from here.
He looks up with half lidded eyes as his face takes on much the same reaction to a couple weeks ago with the panic attack and I'm instantly out of my seat slowly walking around the side of my desk, keeping my hand on it "Stiles?– you okay?"
Stiles drops his head forward and almost collapses, catching himself on the podium as I quicken my steps to shove the top of my shoulder under his arm, trying to stable him.
Scott rushes forward next, taking his other arm as we begin to walk across the room with him.
"We should take him to the nurse's office" Scott throws over his shoulder to Mr. Yukimura who looks on worriedly at Stiles.
Mr. Yukimura nods his head yes, looking between us as we head out of class and rush down the hallway "Here bathroom– take him in there" Scott offers and I nod as we round the corner.
Pushing the door open we walk him inside quickly and he immediately drops our arms as he rushes to the sink, setting his hands on either side as he looks at his reflection in the mirror.
Scott looks worriedly to me as he gasps out "Stiles– look at us, man– is this a panic attack?"
I shake my head, gasping through my own quick breaths "No he's not having trouble breathing like a panic attack– it's more like he's–"
"It's a dream, it's a dream– it's just a dream" Stiles interrupts and I swing my wide eyes to his reflection and walk forward to stand next to him "No it's not. This is real Stiles– you're here with us. Right now– you're here with me, Sty."
I set my hand on his back and he flinches away before he's looking over his shoulder at me and I hear his breathing quicken from my words.
I soften my face as Scott walks up next to me, looking towards Stiles and stuttering out "Okay, what– what do you do? I– I mean, like, how do you tell if you're awake or dreaming?"
Stiles rushes out through his pants as he lifts up his hand to exaggerate his words "Your fingers– you count your fingers. You have extra fingers in dreams" he croaks out as he leans farther against the sink.
I waste no time in lifting up my hands towards him "Okay then, how many do I have?"
He drops his head, breaking his eyes from mine in the mirror, and shakes it towards the sink as he continues to catch his breath.
I step closer and grab his upper arm near his shoulder, attempting to gain his attention again "Hey! Look at me, come on Stiles–" he connects our eyes in the mirror again and I lift my hand up again before I continue "Look at my hands and count with me."
I slowly lift each finger as he begins to count between his quick breaths of air "One, two–"
He swallows and drops his head again as Scott looks over quickly and takes a step closer towards me, urging his friend "Keep going"
Stiles lifts his head up, looking at my fingers that I'm lifting again "Three– four"
I lift out my thumb and Scott states "Five."
Stiles looks surprised as he moves his eyes between us, turning around and leaning against the sink as he faces us.
I lift up my other hand and begin the same process of lifting my fingers as he counts out more confidently "Six– seven..."
Lifting my third finger I softly say "Eight"
Stiles connects his eyes with mine, swallowing thickly as he finishes the last two through a broken can't believe it voice "Nine– ten."
I wave my fingers once while I state "Ten– okay, ten. You're awake– you're here with us, Stiles."
Stiles reaches out connecting our palms and moving his hands down slightly to line up his fingers with mine.
He slowly gets his breathing under control as he moves his eyes and I feel him put slight pressure with each pad of his fingers against mine as he silently counts them again.
Once he reaches ten again he wraps his fingers around the sides of my hands and squeezes once, before he lets go and sits down on the ground, roughly hitting his back on the wall "What the hell is happening to me?"
Scott and I kneel down next to him, I set my hands on his leg as I scoot closer and reassure "We'll figure it out– you're going to be okay."
Stiles furrows his brows looking up from the ground and connecting our eyes as he croaks out "Am I?"
Sadness rushes through my whole body as I look at his broken face I will do everything in my power to make sure you will be
He flicks his eyes up to Scott and continues "Are you? Scott, you can't transform. Allison's being haunted by her dead aunt. And I'm straight up losing my mind" he whispers the last word before taking a moment.
When he continues there's tears in his eyes and he shakes his head, "We can't do this. We can't– we can't help Malia. We can't help anyone" his voice breaks before Scott shakes his head and sets his hand on Stiles' shoulder "We can try. We can always try."
I smile softly at my ever positive to do whatever it takes brother and nod to Stiles when he moves his hesitant eyes to me again just before the bell rings.
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Apparently Malia decided to leave the woods and come to the high school to run rampant and scare the living fuck out of a couple of people since we invaded her home, why not
Including Kira, that Scott found in the locker room with Malia growling and snarling her teeth at her, before ultimately running off as to not be crushed by the lockers Scott knocked over.
Animal control was called, along with the Sheriff's department and as you can imagine– school is a chaotic mess at this point.
Stiles and I are leaning against the lockers watching everyone run around trying to find her, when Noah walks up and nods for us to follow him.
We fall in step with him, Stiles in the middle, as Noah sets his arm around his back, resting his hand on Stiles' shoulder to fill us in "A couple of students said they saw it running across the field and back into the woods– thank God, nobody got hurt."
Stiles looks to me and back to his dad quickly "What happens if she does hurt someone?"
Noah sighs and drops his arm back down to his side as he shrugs "Most likely they'll have to put it down."
I lean forward keeping my steps with their pace as I elaborate "Put her down?"
Stiles makes a noise and points over to me, agreeing "Exactly– Dad, try not to forget there's a girl in there, one that you'll be killing."
We slow our steps as he continues "Come on, you aren't back to not believing, are you?"
Noah pivots on his heel to face us as we all stop and he states just above a whisper "You know what– I believe there are a lot of things I don't understand yet. But that doesn't mean that everything and anything imaginable is suddenly possible"
Stiles drops his head forward, looking to the ground with a sigh as Noah continues, moving his eyes between us "Now, are you guys one hundred percent sure that this is a girl and not an animal?"
"Yes" Stiles and I answer without missing a beat before Stiles continues "Because Scott's sure."
We look to our left and see Scott waiting down the hall, near the doors at the end of the hallway.
Stiles turns fully facing me, showing Scott his back as he mumbles quietly "Scott, you been listening?"
Noah and I see Scott nod, which Noah raises his impressed brows at.
He nods and sets his hands on our shoulders "All right, let's get this figured out. Come on."
We head into the locker room to grab our bags that Kira, bless her, carried from class to return to us.
Stiles grabs his bag and I make a noise pointing to a rip and slight hole in the front "What the fuck– is that what I think it is?"
He grimaces and nods stating "I had a reason," before wrapping his hand around my elbow and leading me over towards Scott "Hey– I think I know what she was looking for" Stiles digs into his bag and pulls out the creepy nope he took last night.
Scott levels him with a look and tilts his head to the side "You took the doll from the car?"
Stiles shrugs "Yeah, I thought you could use it, you know, for like her scent."
Scott sighs as I let out an involuntary shiver being that close to the creepy thing when a voice calls from the doorway next to us "Where did you get that?"
On alert Stiles makes a noise to answer when an angry father comes walking quickly towards us "Where did you find this?" He reaches forward and snatches it out of Stiles' hand as we crash into each other to step back away from him.
Mr. Tate looks sadly at the doll as he states softly "It belonged to my daughter."
Noah walks up to us whispering "Sorry" as he touches Scott's chest and walks in front of us to address the grieving but also pain in the ass father "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" Noah states with a shake of his head.
He reaches out to guide him out of the room, however, as soon as his hand touches Mr. Tate's side they both freeze and Mr. Tate closes his eyes on a sigh.
He opens them when Noah reaches forward to move his jacket out of the way and he reveals a gun in a holster on Mr. Tate's side.
I immediately feel Stiles shift closer, moving his shoulder slightly in front of me as Mr. Tate states "I have a permit."
Noah lets go of his jacket, shifting to stand in between us and Mr. Tate a little more as he informs just above a whisper to not cause a panic "California schools are gun free zones, permit or no permit."
Noah takes slow steps closer moving his arm out to guide Mr. Tate to the door "You need to leave, Mr. Tate– Now."
He shrugs his arm off to furrow his brows and angrily clip out before leaving us "You find that animal. You find that thing."
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We make a plan to safely catch Malia with Allison and Isaac before we leave school to go on our assigned tasks.
Allison heads home to get a sniper dart gun while Isaac, Scott, Stiles and I head to Deaton's.
We're waiting in the back exam room when Allison texts me that she got it.
I nod to Scott who returns the nod as Deaton walks in and sets the bottles on the table in front of us "Xylazine. 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 states with zero hesitancy, however, Isaac makes a noise of disagreement "Well sh– she used to be."
He isn't wrong, Lydia took Allison out to practice her arrow shooting abilities after noticing how much she was shaking in art class the other day. Allison saw Kate again, resulting in almost shooting Lydia in the head with one of her arrows. Had Isaac not been there to catch it, I don't even want to imagine what could have happened.
I shake my head, crossing my arms over my front and move my eyes over to Isaac reiterating "She can do it."
He tilts his head to the side at my words "If we manage to find the thing"
Stiles drops his hand on the table next to me before pointing across the table at Isaac "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 sixty five degrees out."
I snort through a chuckle as Isaac moves his eyes between us, throwing a smirk our way before shaking his head "Look, maybe I'm asking a question no one here wants to ask– all right 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 states as strongly as he can muster, though even I don't believe his confidence he obviously doesn't have in himself.
Stiles looks to me and then over to him "You can?"
Scott nods and looks between us "You remember the night that Peter trapped us in the school?" on a terrifyingly vivid level, yes
Stiles and I nod towards him as he continues "In the gym, he was able to make me turn using just his voice. Deucalion did the same thing in the distillery"
I move my knee back and forth as I make a noise "Okay but Scotty– this is a were-coyote, how do we know it'll work the same. I mean what if they don't follow an Alpha?"
Deaton nods and looks to him as well, "She's right, who knows if it'll even work at all if you can find someone who can teach you."
Stiles lifts his head up with the realization "That's why you called Derek, first"
Scott sighs with a nod as he looks over to him "Yeah, I could try it on my own– but right now, I'm too scared to even change into just a werewolf"
"We need a real Alpha" Stiles states, rubbing a hand over the side of his mouth without much thought.
Trying not to laugh, I move my lips inwards between my teeth at the wounded puppy look on Scott's face.
Stiles looks between us before backtracking with a scoff "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 offers and Stiles makes a face of wasn't going to go there agreement and points towards him as I raise my brows and let out a chuckle.
Scott sighs "Great. I'm an Alpha with performance issues"
I snort and shake my head "Jesus christ, all right well is there anyone else besides Derek who could help?"
Isaac looks to me and argues "I wouldn't trust Peter."
Stiles scratches the side of his face and lifts his hand out "Maybe the twins?"
Deaton interrupts "They're not Alphas anymore. after what Jennifer did, almost killing them? It broke that part of them."
Stiles tilts his head to the side "Yeah, but what if they know how to do it?"
Scott shakes his head "Nobody's seen them for weeks"
Stiles and I share a look as I pull out my phone and open my text message chat with Lyds and mutter "Actually, that's not totally true."
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Scott takes off on his bike while Stiles and I head to pick up Lydia in his jeep. We head to Derek's, where the twins told Lydia they'd meet us to teach Scott how to Alpha command.
Stiles pulls open the door to Derek's loft and we notice the silence and staleness of the air from no one being here in a long time.
Lydia looks around the empty room, walking down the steps into the main living area and muttering once Stiles and I come to a stop next to her "They said they'd meet us here"
The sound of a fist connecting with a jaw followed by grunting of pain, draws our attention behind us just in time to see another fist connect with Scott's face.
The twins stand on either side of him and they each grab an arm to throw him down the stairs and just near us sink or swim training– got it
Stiles grabs my arm and ushers Lydia and I back a few steps out of the way of the apparent brawl that needs to take place.
Scott is groaning on the ground as the twins smirk towards him and then to each other before flipping off the stairs as Scott stands up.
They each fly towards him and land punches that have Stiles and I flinching back with the sound of impact.
They each take turns beating the ever living shit out of Scott. Punches to the face, stomach, holding his arms while the other gut punches him I mean you know, the fucking works
Scott falls to the ground after a knee jab into his nose, he rolls over bleeding profusely and grunts out "I thought you guys were gonna teach me to roar"
Aiden steps closer to him stating "We are. You do it by giving in" before Ethan finishes "Giving in and letting go. That's how Deucalion taught us control," he reaches down and grabs Scott's shirt, lifting him to stand up.
Stiles makes a noise and shares a humor filled look with me "Hey, you know, that's funny. We've actually tried something like this one time using a heart monitor and lacrosse balls. But you're right, beating the living shit out of him is probably a lot better" he points towards the twins with a wink as Scott scoffs towards them "That's actually the plan? You kick my ass?"
"You're afraid to turn– we're gonna make you," Aiden states while again Ethan finishes the thought "You turn– then you kick our asses."
Aiden turns around as he states with his ice colored were-blues "And then you roar" he finishes with an actual roar towards Scott who flinches back.
Aiden steps closer, throwing his arms out to his side "You don't think you can let go with us?"
"You think you're going to hurt us?" Ethan asks as he pushes Scott across to his brother who pushes him right back "Come on, McCall. Give it your all– we can always heal."
Scott reaches back and goes to punch him, however, he is blocked and instead punched in the face again with the words of the unhelpful lesson continuing "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."
"That's what gives you power. It gives you strength" Ethan states before Scott again swings and misses before getting an elbow in his back as he falls to the ground with a groan.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I furrow my brows wanting to stop this because it obviously isn't helping. Lydia shares a worried look with me as Stiles reaches over his chest to set his hand on my elbow.
Aiden continues as Scott is on all fours coughing up a pretty impressive puddle of blood they can't take him past the point of healing can they? "Giving into it doesn't make you the bad guy"
"So long as you can control it" Ethan states, obviously the more level headed of the two.
"Sometimes control's a little overrated" Aiden clearly enjoying this too much states before kicking Scott in the ribs.
With that I turn away, resting my forehead on the front of Stiles' shoulder. He moves his hand around my side and rests it on my back as he mutters just under his breath "Come on, Scott. Fight back"
I hear Scott grumble through clenched teeth "What if I can't control it? What if I can't turn back?"
"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"
Stiles keeps his arm around me as I shuffle my feet to his side and lift my head off of him, looking over my shoulder and seeing Scott standing up.
He lifts his arm to wipe the blood on the side of his mouth with the back of his hand before he screams and rushes forward.
Aiden grabs him around the middle, pivots on his foot and slams Scott down on the table.
The noise of the impact has Lydia and I flinching back.
Aiden gets on the table to hover over Scott as he continues to punch him in the face over and over again.
Stiles increases his hold on my side as I turn into him again shielding my eyes from watching Scott be pummeled into the table
The sound of fist meeting flesh stops and I lift my eyes to see Ethan with his hands on his brother's arms. Aiden breathes out "What? I thought we were helping him"
"You help too much" Ethan clips out before Aiden moves off Scott who's breathing is increasing as he pants out quickly.
Stiles and I move closer, earning the attention of the psycho twins as Scott rolls his head to the side and spits out more blood onto the floor.
There's a look in his eyes, and even though they aren't their Alpha red, I just know deep in my gut– he's got this
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The next morning we all meet at the preserve. Scott pulls up on his bike while Allison and Isaac get out of her car and Lydia, Stiles and I hop out of Roscoe.
We all walk around the vehicles into a wide circle, looking around we all have the same hopeful this will work but also expecting something to go wronglook because let's face it, that's life as of late
Lydia comes to a stop next to me and noticing my face she turns back towards the group "Anyone else think we might be doing more harm than good?"
Scott turns to us and tries to clear it up for anyone having doubts "We're trying to keep a father from killing his own daughter"
Isaac makes a noise gaining his attention behind him "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."
I drop my head to the side, connecting my not helping eyes with his before Stiles raises his hands out and chimes in next to me "aaand again with the not helping."
Isaac offers him a look as he nods and Scott turns around as he addresses Allison "Did you bring it?"
Allison pops open her trunk and grabs the dart gun before closing the trunk again and tries to give us a convincing she's ready look.
Scott nods and walks towards her handing her the three darts loaded with the Xylazine tranquilizer.
Once she's set, he turns back around to us "Isaac, you go with Allison, Stiles stay with Addy, and Lydia you stay with me. We'll all head in different directions, keep your phones on and call Allison or Isaac if you even think you see–"
A gunshot rings out, echoing deep in the woods that has me flinching and looking behind us. I turn back around, widening my eyes as I connect them with Scott's well this just got more complicated
Scott wastes no time hopping on his bike with Isaac running after him and Stiles screaming "Wait, wait. Wait! Wait!"
Lydia and Allison regroup and run in the same direction the boys just went while Stiles grabs his phone out of his pocket to call his dad.
Stiles exchanges a few words before he turns around facing me as he furrows his brows with his next statement "It took the doll again? What the hell is so important about this doll?"
I throw just of a confused face back to him as I shrug and he listens to whatever his dad is saying before he widens his eyes slightly and looks at me.
I move my head to the side with my silent question as he states "It's the doll"
He hangs up the phone and states again but more confused this time "It's the doll?"
We hear another gunshot sounds farther away this time at least
I start pacing and Stiles kneels down to the ground as he implores "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."
"I have no idea, I fucking hate dolls, why does she have to love it so much?" I let out a shiver before walking again.
Stiles chuckles and looks over to watch me continue to pace in front of him "I know you do Adds, but I don't know– she seems to like the doll a lot."
I huff out a whine and cross my arms as he continues "I mean it's just a doll, you know. It's got little arms, a big baby head and dead, soulless eyes."
I make a horrified face and stop my steps to snap "Fuck– stop it, why would you–?"
He tries to fight off his smile as stands up and brings out his phone again, clearing his throat "I don't know, she had it in the photo right?– here let's see–"
I gasp and reach forward pointing to his phone "Wait that's Malia right?"
"Yeah, that's the jacket and the scarf we found in the den–"
"Stiles, she's not holding the doll" I state, earning Stiles to bring the phone up closer to his face and mutter "That's Malia's younger sister. It's her doll–"
He moves his head, facing me with a shocked expression adorning his face as he whispers out "I know what she's doing."
"What?" I jerk my head back slightly as he connects his with mine and states "I know where she's going– come on, but watch your step. Dad said there's animal traps all over the woods that Tate set up and he's also the one out here with the fucking gun" jesus he's hellbent on being the least helpful person ever
Stiles walks ahead of me while he quickly talks to Scott's voicemail "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."
I freeze instantly as I feel and hear the pin lock noise deep in all the bones of my body.
My heartbeat is beating in my ears and I feel like I haven't drank anything in weeks as my mouth becomes very dry with the realization of what my foot just stepped in.
The very thing we were supposed to be looking out for "Stiles?"
My voice is just above a whisper that I'm not sure if he even heard it.
He does, however, he misses the complete terror laced around his name as he calls over his shoulder to me "Yeah"
His back is still to me and I need him to be on the same page, so I offer a little louder "Stiles!"
He turns around quickly with that decibel and his eyes widen as he moves them from my scared face, quick breathing that I'm trying to steady, down my body and legs until they widen as he takes in the steel claw animal trap I'm standing on "Jesus fucking chr–, Adds don't move–"
"Yes thank you, Sherlock" I quip and groan in annoyance at myself before continuing "Which I mean in the same lighthearted way we've always used– kinda sounded a little on the edge of 'no shit, Sherlock' which I definitely wasn't going for–"
He walks closer and raises his arms out to his sides towards me "Addy–"
"No I know, I need to calm down because not calm people move a lot, or start shaking and I'm one shimmy away from showing how much of a non werewolf I am–"
"Addy–" he tries again but I'm on a roll "Like fuck Peter, seriously, he couldn't have turned me into a happy healing werewolf? No I got a banshee, pretty sure I can't scream my leg to regrow tissue and muscle and fucking bone probably!"
"Addy come on, you–"
"Do you think these things are strong enough to break my tiny ass fibula bone because I do, and I–"
"Adds!" he moves right in front of me with his shouty voice breaking my train of thought, as I swallow thickly and move my worried watery eyes up to his.
He lifts the side of his mouth into a soft smile, raising his hands out as close to me without actually touching me "As much as rambling Watson is one of my favorite sides of you, I need you to take a breath because you were on to something okay? You need to stay calm enough that you don't shake anymore than you already are."
"Right" I whisper, licking my lips quickly. I close my eyes and take a deep breath in that I release slowly as I open my eyes, connecting them with his again.
Stiles nods and kneels next to me looking at and around the trap.
I lick my lips again and offer "Look for a warning label"
"A warning label?" He looks up to me confused as ever which I nod and elaborate "Yeah, there's gotta be instructions on how to disarm it"
"Addy, why the hell would they put instructions on the bottom of a trap?"
"Because animals can't read" I offer like it should be obvious and hopefully I'm right.
Making an impressed face he bends forward looking on the back near my heel, after a few seconds Stiles chimes in "Adds, we got a problem"
"Oh yea, what's that?" my shaky voice softly asks down to him as I feel tears rush to my eyes.
He sits back on his heels and looks up at me, stating just as shakily "I can't read either."
I suck in a quick breath of air before I nod my head slightly "Right well, you don't need the instructions," he throws me a look and I raise my brows as I continue "Honestly when's the last time you ever used them huh? Because it wasn't when we were installing the living room TV to the wall mount, am I right? Your dad threw those away in the box and the trash came before we ever figured out where they could be– and you still completed that task no problem."
I lower my arms to my sides slowly as I take another deep breath to state more confidently "You don't need them because you are too smart to waste your time with them," Stiles moves his eyes back and forth between mine as I continue with a confident nod "You can figure it out. Sty, you're the one who always figures it out. I know you can do this, there's a reason you're my Sherlock okay?"
I smile softly towards him hopefully conveying how much I trust him
He nods before he licks his lips and wipes a hand over his mouth. He leans every which way looking at the device before blowing out a quick breath "Okay, here we go. Ready?"
A tear falls down my cheek that I hastily wipe away and nod to him.
Stiles reaches his hand out onto a knob, setting his fingers around it to turn as he shouts "Okay, here we go– jump to me"
He twists the knob and he's immediately standing up while I do as I'm told– I push off on my toes that are on the inside flap of the trap, letting out a tiny squeal as I reach my hands out towards his shoulders.
I wrap my arms behind his neck as I put my weight on him and bend my knees, snapping my legs up behind me while at the same time Stiles reaches forward and wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me tightly against him.
He pulls my front flush against his just as we hear the trap snap loudly closed below us.
I rest my forehead into the side of his upper cheek as we both let out shocked shaky, quick breaths that it worked and I'm still intact.
I pull back while he turns his head to connect our eyes and I shake my head, completely at a loss for words.
Silently he pulls me closer and I close my eyes, while he rests his forehead against mine.
Arms wrapped tightly around each other and foreheads pressed together, we stay like that for a little bit longer before he slowly slides me down his front and I can't breathe for a whole new reason
Once my feet are back on the ground, we jump and I feel his fingers press a little harder into my sides when we hear a loud roar coming from the woods just to our left Scotty's baaaaaaack
I smirk towards the direction of woods it's coming from as I hear Stiles laugh lightly "That's what I'm talking about."
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After getting Malia to the station, getting her clothes and letting her shower before they asked her questions, Noah let Stiles and I go with him to take her home.
I rode in the backseat with her, and as we come up the driveway to her home I notice her chewing on the side of her thumb nail.
"Hey" I whisper to her and see Stiles turn his head ever so slightly in the passenger seat towards me out of my periph.
Malia looks to me with her wide brown doe eyes and I smile softly "No one expects this to not be a weird transition for you, you have mine and Scott's number I gave you right?"
At her subtle nod I continue "Call us if you need anything okay? We're here for you, no matter what– Scott for the coyote side and me for the human girl side."
She smiles and laughs softly as tears rush in her eyes and she nods, setting her hand on my arm she squeezes once, trying to convey the words she can't seem to find at the moment.
Noah walks around the car and opens her door for her, with one last soft smile towards me they close the door and head up the steps to the front door.
Stiles looks back to me as I unbuckle my seatbelt and lean in between the front seats to watch out his passenger window.
Noticing his eyes and the face he's making towards me, I shake my head nervously "What?"
His eyes shine brightly before he clears his throat and looks out the window as well "Nothing– nothing at all"
We watch as Mr. Tate opens the door and looks between Noah and Malia a few times before stating what I think is her name.
We see her nod before he lets out a sob and reaches his arms around her to pull her into him for a bone crushing hug if that's not a reunion hug to make you cry, I don't know what will
Noah steps aside and looks back to us, giving us a nod to let us know they're good.
Stiles and I let out sighs of relief as I lean my shoulder into the driver's seat and Stiles sits back in his seat rubbing his hands together.
"We did something good" I smirk towards him as he looks over his shoulder at me, returning with a lop sided smile "Yes thank you, my ever positive munchkin."
I hit his shoulder lightly as he lets out a laugh and looks out his window again. The laugh dies in his throat though as he leans forward slightly. He breathes out another breath of relief and I shake my head "Stiles?– what–"
"I can read what the mirror says, Adds– clear as day 'objects in mirror are closer than they appear'."
I gasp and look between him and the mirror, the smile growing on my face as I set my hand on his chest "Door's closed?"
He moves his hand up to rest on mine, squeezing twice as he leans his head back against the seat "Door's closed."