All eyes fell on me when Stiles' phone silently vibrated on the hospital bed. Liam sucked in a deep breath when the caller id read 'Chris Argent' on the screen. My right hand plucked the phone from the bed before any passing nurses could peek into the room we hijacked ten minutes ago. Isaac glimpsed over his shoulder from where he stood next to the closed door, arms folded over his chest, tasked with the job of being our lookout for the time-being.
The last thing we needed was a nurse or doctor accidentally wandering into our room. Mrs. McCall informed us this room would be our best bet to not be interrupted or questioned for our suspicious activities.
"I'm here," Argent lowly spoke into the phone from his location with Aiden on the roof. "You ready?"
I shared a brief look with Stiles next to me. My left hand reached out toward the laptop placed in front of the four of us on the bed and hovered my fingers above the 'enter' button on the keyboard. Kira peered around my body and shared a quick look with Stiles on my left.
"Try it now."
I tapped the button. The screens of the four laptops we acquired flashed to life with four different cameras displayed on each of them. Argent snuck to the roof and helped us gain access to the camera feed throughout the hospital for when the Benefactor arrived.
Liam exhaled with relief.
"It worked," I stated.
"Sending Aiden back to you," he responded.
The call ended with a soft click. The phone screen returned back to Stiles' home screen as I lowered the device from my ear. The wallpaper caught my attention before I handed it back to him, momentarily distracted from the seriousness of the situation.
A picture of myself stared back at me. The picture was taken after I returned home from sharing my life story with Liam inside of my childhood house. My body was physically and mentally exhausted that night when I returned to my house, yet found enough energy to take a few pictures of myself and sent them to Stiles. My hair had fallen into loose wavesI never knew he saved them.
An innocent smile formed on Stiles' lips as he grabbed his phone from my outstretched hand. I smiled back at him until Liam accidentally brushed against my arm to get a better look of the laptops. Our eye contact broke.
"So, now we just wait?" Liam asked, curiously. His ocean eyes shifted from the four laptops to the rest of us, waiting for my response as the sole Alpha of the pack while Scott was currently out of commission.
I nodded once. My attention returned back to the situation on hand instead of the picture of myself on Stiles' phone. "Aiden and Stiles went to meet up with Argent to contact the Benefactor with Garrett's laptop."
"The Benefactor said they needed visual confirmation before payment could be sent—"
The door of our room quietly squeaked open as Aiden slipped into the room. "But then, Argent threatened to go after the Benefactor if they didn't pay," he added, joined in the conversation as if he had been a part of it the whole time.
Kira rose her eyebrows in shock, eyes widened. "Was that a good idea?"
Stiles cocked his head to the side with uncertainty. "No, probably not, but we need the Benefactor to show up, so it's the only plan we've got," he responded, lips pressed together in a thin line when he finished.
"Yeah, well," Isaac muttered from his post by the door as he peeked out the small window into the hallway. "Let's hope we don't have to wait too long. Scott only has—" He glanced down at the timer on his phone. "Twenty-six minutes."
An eerie silence fell upon the room after his words. Everyone glanced at their own timers, either on their phones or watches, worried for the outcome that may follow. Stiles and I shared a quick look before we dropped our attention back to the four laptops, anxiously waiting for some kind of sign. Twenty-six minutes and counting surely didn't seem like enough time to capture the Benefactor before Scott's untimely death we planned to prevent.
The pack had a stronger mentality once they noticed the confidence I felt after the first part of our plan worked perfectly. Liam had a moment of sheer panic when I first rushed into the emergency room along Scott and begged him to stay alive. The switch change of my emotions helped him realize it was all for show and I wasn't as scared as I made it seem when Dr. Geyer tried to restart Scott's heart.
Frankly, I didn't realize I was that well of an actress.
The tip of Liam's elbow shoved its way in between two of my ribs as he leaned across the bed to point at the first laptop by Kira. "Is that supposed to look like that?" He pondered.
I flinched back in surprise at his fast actions and the small pain in my side. The bottom right camera turned black from the loss of signal while the others on the laptop continued with the live feed of the higher floors.
"No," I answered him, brows furrowed in confusion.
Stiles inched closer to to the laptop. "No," he responded, "No, it's not."
Kira leaned more of her weight against the edge of the bed. "Where is that?"
"The roof," I responded with a step back from the laptops.
Stiles peered at me next to him. "Someone's gonna have to check it out."
"I'll go."
"I'll go, too," Kira agreed.
"No, I'll go," Isaac countered with his hand rested on the door handle. "Chloe, you should stay here and keep an eye on the cameras. Let us know if you see anything."
"Whoa, wait," Stiles called out before either could leave the room. "This might not just be a malfunction."
Kira picked up her katana sheath from the end of the bed and revealed the silver blade. "That's why I'm brining this," she stated and marched to the door to join Isaac's side.
Liam bounced on his toes before he suddenly lurched forward. "I'm coming with you!" He eagerly chased after them.
"Wait, what? No," I immediately dismissed the idea as the youngest beta jogged to Isaac and Kira's side near the door. "No, I think you should stay—"
"Don't worry, Chloe." Isaac smiled in my direction with his arm placed around Liam's shoulder. "I'll keep an eye on him."
My brother threw a wink in my direction before he jogged out of the room with Kira. Liam beamed like a small child getting away with something bad. I huffed at their retreating figures.
"Okay, and you're all coming right back!" Stiles called after them with his palms on top of the bed.
"Immediately!" I added. "Especially you, Liam!"
Stiles shook his head and sighed. "Kids," he murmured.
I sharply inhaled at their sudden disappearances from the hospital room. The plan was not for half of the pack to wander off on their own while the rest of us stayed and watched the cameras. Splitting up was not the best idea. I trusted Isaac, though. I knew he would keep everyone safe, but I still feared for Liam's wellbeing. He was still new to all of this.
Aiden softly shook his head at the door they left open. "That's a trio I never thought I'd see," he muttered under his breath, amused.
His comment was ignored. I returned my gaze back to the laptop screens. If I thought too much about the three of them traveling to the roof together, unsure of what they may wander into, my true feelings may slip into the forefront of my mind and thoughts. Scott trusted me as the co-Alpha to keep the rest of the pack in line for the plan to work correctly.
If one thing failed, we risked Scott dying and it would be my fault.
Aiden took it upon himself to stand near the door in case someone approached the hospital room we hid ourselves in. He leaned his left shoulder against the wall by the door frame and peered out in the hallway with his arms crossed over his chest.
Neither of us bothered to utter a word for a few minutes. Stiles and I watched the four laptops with our shoulders inches apart. We focused our divided attention on two different laptops with Kira and Liam gone.There was more of a chance of us missing something with out attention spread out to two laptops instead of one.
Stiles casually bumped his shoulder against mine after a few minutes of silence. "You okay?" He whispered, chocolate eyes slightly narrowed on my face.
"Yeah, why?"I asked without looking away from the screens. My fingers drummed against the underside of the edge of the bed with my body weight leaned against it.
He tilted his head to the side in an attempt to gain my attention. "You, uh—" He scratched the bridge of his nose. "You just really went all out earlier. I wanted to make sure you were okay."
My body tensed. My acting skills for Scott's fake death were supposed to be something the pack didn't discuss. I didn't want them to know how I forced the believable emotions and sobs out of my body.
"I don't think I've ever seen you cry that much before," he softly added.
The tip of my tongue poked against the inside of my cheek. Stiles was too observant for his own good. No one else asked questions about my performance because I made them believe it was all for show— that none of it was real. Of course, Stiles figured there was something more too all of it.
I nervously licked my lips and gradually lifted my eyes to stare at the back of Aiden's head. My hand slyly reached for Stiles' phone between the third and fourth laptop, easily unlocked the screen, and tapped on the Notes app. Stiles' eyebrows met at the center of his eyebrows at my silent actions and leaned over my shoulder as I typed out my thoughts.
I imagined how I would feel if Scott actually died. That's why it was so intense. The pack can't know my true feelings, otherwise they will stress over the plan and Scott could actually die.
The phone screen angled to his body when I finished and allowed him to read the message. His eyes read over the words until he drew back from my shoulder and peered at my face, eyes softened with emotion. I weakly smiled at him.
Isaac and I agreed to be the ones to call 911. We knew what would be expected to make Scott's death believable. I knew what I was signing up for.
We shared a look that silently stated we would talk more about this later when we were on our own.
"Uh—" I gestured to his phone screen after I tapped the Home button. "Nice background, by the way," I added and handed the phone back to him.
Stiles' lips swiftly transformed into a broad grin at the change of topic. "It's one of my favorite pictures of you," he responded, smiling at the picture. "You look relaxed after sharing your life story with Liam. Like a weight had been lifted from your shoulders."
My cheeks warmed with a faint blush. "I didn't even know you saved any of those pictures," I whispered back.
"I save all the pictures you send me."
I sucked in a deep breath, taken aback by his honesty. A sweet, intimate moment was shared between us when our eyes locked onto each other, hints of smiles adorned our lips. Aiden briefly glanced over his shoulder at the two of us, smiling to himself like he was happy for me.
The lights suddenly turned off.
Our heads snapped up at the ceiling at the sudden darkness until the emergency light in the corner of our room switched on, creating a dim ambience. All of the lights in the hospital switched off, including the power connected to the security cameras. The live feed of the hospital we set up changed to dark squares.
"We lost the cameras," Stiles noted with a hint of panic laced in his voice.
Aiden whipped around to face us behind the bed. "Something's wrong," he stated. "We should go to Scott."
I looked from the dark laptop screens to his figure by the door. "Unless this is just what the Benefactor wants," I said with a glance to Stiles. "No power means no one can watch the security cameras."
"They could easily sneak in and we'd never know." Aiden's eyes grew wide at the realization.
"We need to get to Scott," Stiles realized.
The three of us snuck into the corridor outside of our room with Aiden in the lead. My right hand rested against his spine as I waited for his approval to move forward. Stiles latched his hand around my other hand, determined to keep me close to his side.
The corridor was merely lit up by the few emergency lights every few feet across the ceiling. A few nurses hurriedly jogged past us as they raced to check on their patients. Aiden cautiously led the way through the second floor of the hospital until we reached the stairwell.
We jogged down the stairs until we reached the basement floor that led to the morgue. Few hospital workers were seen on the floor. Aiden continued to led the way with his ears tuned for any potential threats. He wanted to keep me safe, while also understanding I could perfectly take care of myself.
The thought brought an odd sense of nostalgia through my body. In the beginning of my hybrid life, I remembered when everyone was overbearingly protective and refused to ever let me be in the middle of a fight. That wasn't the case anymore. My dad broke me, but becoming a hybrid and finding the pack rebuilt me into the person I was today.
Someone slammed into my shoulder and I stumbled back into Stiles' body from the unexpected force. Aiden lowly growled and positioned himself in front of my body as the three of us whipped around and found the barrel of a gun pointed directly at our heads. Stiles stumbled backward in shock with his right hand wrapped around my waist, protectively.
"Holy shit," I breathed.
Argent lowered the weapon when he realized he ran into us instead of the Benefactor. His muscles relaxed in unison.
Stiles reluctantly dropped his hand back to his side once he saw we were safe. "The power's out in the whole building," he explained. "We lost all the cameras."
A heavy sigh released from Argent. "Stay with Scott," he instructed with a wave of his hand at the morgue doors four feet away. "Text me if you see or hear anything."
The watch on his arm was revealed underneath his sleeve. He tapped a button on the side to reveal the timer.
18:02. Time was running out fast.
A grim silence filled the hallway. Argent nodded at us before he briskly walked off in the opposite direction of the morgue. There was a larger part of me that believed we had plenty of time— and, perhaps, we actually did— but there was a sliver of me that feared the worst. We didn't account for the power to be shut off.
One thing I knew for sure. Kira should have stayed with us.
The double doors of the morgue flew open as the three of us dashed into the cooler room. The room was empty. The emergency lights located in the room continuously flickered off with the entire room pitch black until they turned back on seconds later.
"Sixteen minutes," Aiden quietly called out near the wall with the small metal doors where the bodies are stored. He worriedly looked up from his phone in hand to Stiles and me.
"It'll be okay," I reassured him. "Kira knows to come down here at the five minute mark."
"What if she doesn't?"
"She will," I spoke in a strong voice.
Kira knew how important her role was in this plan. Without her, we lose Scott. She wouldn't risk his life, no matter what she ran into on the roof with Isaac and Liam.
The bottoms of our shoes lightly scuffed against the linoleum floor as we occasionally paced throughout the room, impatiently waiting for the rest of the pack or Argent to return. Minutes passed without a new arrival. No one dared to check their timers, apprehensive about the numbers that would read back to us.
Stiles broke after what seemed like hours passed. "Alright," he mumbled to himself and dug into his jean pocket for his phone. His pacing around the room increased when he pressed the phone against his ear. "Come on, come on," he complained. "Answer the phone. Answer the phone, Argent."
Aiden eyed Stiles' anxious behavior as he walked the short distance to stand beside me near the doors of the morgue. "Do you want me to go find the others?" He dropped his voice to a low whisper.
My head shook. "No. I trust Isaac to keep everything under control and Kira knows we need her need her. She won't risk Scott's life," I whispered back to him with my eyes glued on Stiles' pacing figure.
"— come on, Argent, answer the phone. Why are you not answering the phone?" Stiles angrily grumbled into the phone, stressed by the entire situation.
"If the—"
My head cocked to the side when I heard a grunting noise outside in the hallway. Aiden stared at me in confusion at the look of concentration written on my face. I quietly stepped to the doors and pushed one side open with my head peeked through a small crack. I peered down the dark hallway with my eyes supernaturally adjusted to the lack of light.
The sounds stopped.
Aiden stepped up behind me, one hand pressed against my back. "What is it?"
I waited a few more seconds before I slipped back into the morgue, lightly shaking my head. "I thought I heard something," I mumbled, confused. My body swiveled back around to face him. "If the Benefactor tries to come down here, I'm going to need your help—"
The doors violently swung open as Argent was roughly thrown into the room with a heavy thud. Aiden expertly pulled me out of the way before Argent collided into my legs. Stiles jumped from the loud noise.
Argent flipped over on his stomach. "Stiles, run!" He groaned in pain. "I was right. Stiles, Chloe, get out of here!"
Stiles struggled to slide his phone back into his pocket while I grabbed his wrist and pulled him closer to my side. Aiden flicked out his claws when the doors opened for a second time. A blonde women sauntered into the morgue with her head held high with a look of confidence marked on her strong facial features.
My eyes narrowed on the women's figure until a look of realization dawned on my face. "What the hell?" I breathed, mystified by her appearance.
Kate Argent proudly stood at the entrance of the room. The last any of us knew about Allison's aunt was what Scott told us. Peter slashed her throat at the old Hale House. We were told she died.
Stiles latched his fingers in a tight grip around my waist, ensuring I stayed close to his side. He gawked at Kate in a mix of fear and utter shock. Argent clambered to his feet and stood next to Stiles.
"Get out of the way, Stiles. I'm taking the body," she spoke in a smooth voice.
Aiden scoffed, sarcastically. "Like hell you are."
Stiles shifted on his feet beside me. "Why?" He questioned and glimpsed at the metal door to Scott's body. "Visual confirmation?"
A smirk rested on her lips. Her intense gaze flickered from Aiden to Stiles as she traipsed closer to our tight knit group. "Don't worry, handsome. I'm not the Benefactor," she reassured him.
My body partially slid in front of Stiles, protectively when the distance between us decreased. "Then you have no reason for being here," I commented, jaw clenched.
Aiden's arm brushed against mine when he joined my side, chin raised to show zero signs of intimidation. "There's the door," he added with a nod at the doors behind her. "Feel free to leave."
A low snort escaped from Kate's nose as she exhaled. She looked between the two of us, amused. "The hybrid Alpha," she mused. "I've heard a lot of good things about you."
"Wish I could say the same for you," I snipped back. My arms crossed over my chest and the look on my face hardened.
She chuckled. "No wonder Scott had a thing for you. He always had a thing for the feisty ones," she paused, "Much like Allison."
Stiles shifted on his feet behind me. Anxiety strongly radiated off of his body. The tips of his fingers brushed across the base of my spine when they fell from my waist.
"Enough with the small talk," Argent hissed. "What do you want with the body?"
The mention of his daughter struck a nerve with him instead of affecting me like Kate tried to do. She mentioned Scott for a reason. She believed Scott was still a sore spot for me and could use him against me.
Kate stepped closer. "I wish I could tell you."
Argent wasted no time and slipped past our bodies and pulled a second gun out of the holster on his hip. The barrel roughly pressed against the underside of her chin. One of her hands wrapped around his wrist with the gun while the other one reached out for his body until he deflected her. The two of them breathed heavily from the fast actions.
Aiden and I corrected our positions after he pushed past us and created a new barrier in front of Stiles. I stood with my arms crossed while Aiden was prepared to attack if deemed necessary.
"I always forget you carry two," Kate grunted with annoyance.
"Back off!" Argent bellowed in her face.
The smile returned to her face, despite the gun pressed to her chin. "You sure you can pull the trigger fast enough?" She taunted.
"I don't want to."
"You're not going to kill me."
"I'm not going to let you take his body!"
Stiles hesitantly moved out from behind our bodies. "Okay, well, obviously you guys have a lot to talk about, so maybe—" He gestured to the three of us a short distance from the siblings. "I saw some coffee, a vending machine outside."
"I don't want to miss out on this," Aiden muttered under his breath, fingers flexed by his sides, claws extended.
"Listen to me, Kate," Argent desperately tried to get her to understand. "We have a plan."
"If killing Scott was part of it, you're worse than me," she sneered.
Stiles darted out to my side. "He's telling the truth," he called out to gain her attention. "We're trying to get the Benefactor."
The barrel of the gun pressed harder against her chin. "If you didn't notice, you're on that list, too. And you're worth more than most."
Her eyes flashed with anger. "That's why I'm here!"
"Then back off and let us do what we planned!"
The siblings glowered at each other until Kate used her right hand to twist his arm around to check the timer on his watch.
3:04.
Aiden's head snapped in my direction, eyes wide when he saw the time. I strived to keep a look of confidence on my facial features. Too much time had passed. Where the hell was Kira? She was told to be in the morgue at the five minute mark.
Panic swelled through Argent's face. "Take the Beserkers and go."
My heart dropped to my stomach. Beserkers? Why did I have the feeling that's what the other half of the pack ran into?
"Kate, please. We have a plan," Argent begged.
She reluctantly took a step back from her brother. Argent gradually lowered the gun while they shared one final look. The doors rapidly swung back and forth when she darted out of the room without looking back. Stiles heaved a large, relieved sigh.
"Where the hell is Kira?" I yelled into the open air.
My breathing rapidly increased as frustration and anger coursed through my veins. The tips of my fingers ached when sharp claws sprouted from the skin. Stiles' eyes widened by the small transformation. A loud, animalistic growl released from my throat; a warning for the rest of the pack if they didn't show up on time. Aiden instinctively cowered for a brief moment from the growl.
"Please never growl at me like that," he quietly begged, shocked by the rage I encased within my body.
"One minute," Argent called out, equally surprised by the noise I released. He pulled the slab out from the wall with Scott's body.
"I'm here!" Kira raced into the room. She avoided meeting my gaze as she ran to Scott, knowing I was furious with her late arrival.
Isaac trailed behind her, shoes pounded against the floor, shoulders drawn up as a result of my growl. My eyes raked over his disheveled form and took notice of the cuts and bruises that began to heal.
My heart skipped a beat when Liam didn't run in behind them.
"Beserkers," Isaac gasped, out of breath. He noticed my panicked expression. "He's okay. He went to check on Mrs. McCall and Kira's mom."
"Thirty seconds."
Kira hesitantly placed her hand over Scott's heart until bolts of lighting flew from her palm. Stiles and Argent watched in shock. The emergency lights flickered on and off even faster until the lightning ceased.
Scott's body arched off the metal slab, gasped for a large breath. Everyone flinched back, startled. The anger in my body slowly dwindled out of my veins when Scott's eyes flashed open.
Kira smiled in relief and pressed a kiss to his lips. I sunk into Stiles' side, beyond relieved we managed to keep Scott alive, despite the chaos we hadn't planned for tonight.
"What happened? Did it work?" Scott demanded once they drew back from each other.
Kira sucked in a deep breath and stepped back from his body. She looked at the rest of us, still worrisome to meet my gaze. I reached out to grab Scott's hand in mine, nearly brought to tears when he squeezed my hand back. The last time I held his hand, he was recently pronounced dead in the emergency room.
Liam suddenly pushed his way into the morgue with a grim expression. He looked directly at Kira, nervously swallowing.
"What?" She asked.
"It's your mother," he sighed. "She's hurt."
XXXX
Hi. WOW. HOLY SHIT. This was a seriously long chapter. Well over 10 pages when I wrote it in the Pages on Mac. I knew it was going to be a long chapter, but I'm surprised it was this long. That's why it took a couple days to fully write and then go over it again.
Chloe growled. It seemed like the right time for her to do that. She was furious with Kira for not showing up when she was supposed to and feared they'd lose Scott for that reason. Also, none of them expected such a growl from her, which is why they all felt like they were in trouble when she did it. She's like the mother of the pack you don't want to piss off.
If you weren't aware, I plan on updating this story as much as I can until I finish it. This was the end of the eighth episode, which means the next chapter will be the ninth out of twelve. I think I can do it. Then I'll be able to focus on my other stories along with my Shadow series.
How did you feel about this chapter?
So, yeah!