CHAPTER 42,
TRIGGERS
"Yeah, and you broke my nose. Twice."
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HAVING BEEN SITTING at the abandoned zoo for awhile, Mason soon pulls up in Lydia's car to give the supplies he took from the school for them. The pack has a plan; Scott, Lydia, Malia, and Argent will sneak into the armoury while Liam, Theo, and Indiana distract the hunters.
"How close is he?" Liam asks.
"He's back down the road." Mason replies. "Don't look."
"Should I come with you guys?" Mason asks as Theo begins to gather some stuff.
"His friends shoot to kill. Go home." Theo replies.
"Lydia would kill you if anything happened to her car anyways." Indiana states.
"Oh, yeah..." Mason replies, trailing off.
"Don't worry about it. Nolan's gonna do the rest." Liam tells him.
Indiana and Liam walk around and grab the rest of the stuff from the trunk. Once they're finished unloading everything, Mason drives away to leave the three to do what they need to.
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The two werewolves and the chimera are currently hiding at the zoo, ducked down behind one of the walls while two armed men pull up in their car beside Nolan.
"Where are they?" One of the men asks.
"Inside the zoo. They're all here." Nolan replies, pausing as he glances between them. "It's not just the two of you, is it?"
"What do you mean 'just'?" The same man asks, slightly offended by the question.
"It's not just a pack, okay? There's a true alpha, a werecoyote, a banshee, two werewolves, and two chimeras." Nolan informs. "They're all here."
"I don't see all of them." One of the men states.
"I don't see anyone." The other man adds.
"I- I saw Indiana, Theo, and Liam bringing a car full of supplies right here. There were at least six sleeping bags, okay? They're all here!" Nolan exclaims, growing annoyed that they're not believing him.
"It's just Nolan and two other guys. This isn't going to work." Indiana tells the boys.
"Where's the backup? I mean, shouldn't there be like twenty of them?" Theo questions.
"They only saw us and they're not gonna believe Nolan." Liam replies.
"Okay, then they have to believe us." Theo says, then beginning to shout. "Isn't that right?"
"Why are you yelling?" Liam whispers.
"You got a problem? Oh, that's right, you always have a problem." Theo tells, continuing to go along with his own plan.
"What the hell are you doing?" Liam asks again.
"Shut up!" Theo exclaims.
Liam pulls an offended look at the chimera at the suddenness, but Theo doesn't seem to care much since he reaches forwards and punches the boy straight between the eyes.
"Theo!" Indiana shouts as they all rise to their feet now.
"You see that, Scott?" Theo continues, acting like the others are there. "Little beta can't even take a punch. And what do you think, Malia? You think he can take me?"
"Okay, I get it. But did you actually have to punch me?" Liam asks, holding his face in pain.
Theo ignores the questions, reaching over and throwing another punch at the werewolf. Liam falls to the ground this time while pulling Theo with him where they now both begin to fight, throwing each other into the concrete walls as yells leave their mouths.
"See what I mean, Scott?" Theo begins. "He's only good in a fight when he's angry, so let's see just how angry he gets."
Indiana suddenly feels herself being turned around to face Theo, a pair of unfamiliar lips smashing onto hers. Within an instant, she pulls herself away and punches Theo clean in the jaw. She then reaches up and wipes her lips in disgust.
"The hell do you think you're doing?" Indiana snaps.
Liam just growls at the sight of someone he highly dislikes kissing his girlfriend, his golden yellow eyes trained on Theo in anger as blood runs down from his nose. He runs forwards, tackling the chimera down to the ground where they begin fighting with one another again. Indiana just allows it to happen, keeping an eye on the hunters below.
Eventually the boys stop fighting with Theo giving one final slash to Liam's stomach. The both of them have blood somewhere on their body or face due to how rough they were throwing the punches.
"Are you done? Or should we keep going?" Liam asks.
"Indiana?" Theo questions, wanting a response about the men.
"I think they're sold." Indiana replies.
"You ripped my shirt." Liam says.
"Yeah, and you broke my nose. Twice." Theo states. "It healed then you broke it again. Two times!"
Liam shrugs in response before reaching over and landing another punch in Theo's face. The older boy groans in pain as he slides down to the floor with his back against the wall.
"Three times." Liam corrects. "That one's for kissing my girlfriend."
"I'm sorry about that, Indiana." Theo apologises. "I just wanted to make him angry."
"Wow, big bad Theo is apologising." Indiana comments. "But yeah, you made him angry as well as me. You're forgiven though, just don't try that again."
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The three are hiding further in the abandoned zoo just in case they got caught in their old hiding spot since that's where they made the most noise to attract the hunters attention.
"There's still three of them and it's been half an hour." Liam states
"Don't blame me. You're the one that picked the abandoned zoo." Theo reminds. "The hell we doing in this place anyway?"
"Because it's like Mykonos." Liam replies.
"Like what?" Theo questions, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"The Greek island. In the city, they built these long, narrow, winding streets that all meet up with each other. Invaders would get lost in them like they were in a maze trying to figure out which way to go." Liam explains, the two just looking at him. "What? I like history."
"I'm impressed. It sounds like a good idea." Theo replies.
"Only if the invaders actually show up." Liam says.
As soon as the boy says that, the sound of car wheels rolling against rocks are heard. The three peak out of the bar window in front of them, watching black SUVS pull up to the place where armed men step out of the vehicles. Standing with pride of their hunting group is Gerard and Monroe, Indi sucking in a nervous breath.
"Let's go." Theo tells the two. "We're supposed to be decoys, not target practice. You still working on that anger?"
"I'm fine." Liam replies.
"You can be angry at Nolan and stay alive." Theo states. "Come on, let's go."
"Honestly, you should be thankful he's not angry at you for what you did back there." Indiana tells the older boy.
Theo doesn't reply, turning around and walking away to avoid getting caught. Liam's eyes stay glued on the hunters, a small growl leaving his mouth as his jaw clenches.
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The two boys and the girl continue to find themselves hiding in the abandoned zoo still, Theo with them once again because they agreed it's not a good idea for them to spilt up. Liam is currently peering around one of the walls, his eyes on Nolan as his jaw clenches once again.
"If you keep looking, he's gonna see you. Get back." Theo orders, the younger boy not listening to him. "I'm not dying out here because you want payback against some kid who kicked your ass, okay?"
Liam ignores Theo again, the older boy grabbing both of the younger werewolves and dragging them to another spot to avoid them all getting caught.
"Let go." Liam demands.
"Calm down!" Theo exclaims.
"I said let go." Liam repeats, his eyes flashing golden yellow.
"What's going on, Liam? This can't just be Nolan. Something around here is triggering you." Indiana says.
"I'm fine." Liam replies, the girl knowing that it's a flat out lie and he probably would've told the truth if Theo wasn't around.
"What is it? The hunters? You don't like cages, scared of heights?" Theo questions.
"I said I'm fine." Liam repeats, his voice laced with anger whenever he talks to Theo.
"They're up here!" Nolan yells, appearing out of nowhere with a crossbow at hand.
Liam roars loudly, sprinting away from the two and tackling Nolan off of the ledge where they both hit the ground with a thud. More growls are heard, Indiana spinning around and swiftly making her way down to where the two boys at with Theo hot at her heels.
While they're trying to find the werewolf and the human, Monroe was informing Gerard about how the failsafe system for the armoury was triggered. The old man just told her not to worry about it, already knowing it's Scott.
"We're doing what we came here to do, kill his betas." Gerard tells her. "Do you have any concept of what the bond between an alpha and their beta is like? I would say it's as strong, if not stronger, than the bond between parent and child. Imagine what would happen to the parent if I snapped their child's neck and dropped it at their feet."
"I thought that Indiana wasn't turned by him." Monroe replies, slightly confused.
"Oh, she wasn't." Gerard says. "But she became a werewolf at a young age so Scott helped her through it all. She became his beta in the pack. And their bond is stronger than the one between Liam and Scott since they're siblings and have grown together."
"Okay, what about the rest of the pack?" Monroe asks.
"When Scott falls, it'll break all of them." Gerard states. "Even if we only get to kill Liam, Indiana will fall too because with every death that occurs to someone close to her she breaks."
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Indiana and Theo had actually found Liam with Nolan pinned against the wall, the older boy having to knock the blond boy clean out to avoid Nolan from being killed. Currently, they're all seated in the car with Liam now conscious as his hand is intertwined with Indi's. The blond had gotten jealous because he had to watch his girlfriend kiss someone, the brunette having to reassure him.
"Are you sure?" Liam asks, avoiding her gaze.
"Liam, I love you. If I wanted Theo then I wouldn't have led you on or even punched him when he kissed me. He's just a little bitch that was trying to anger you and it happened to work." Indiana tells him.
"Of course it worked, he kissed you!" Liam exclaims.
Indiana sighs, cupping his face gently in her hands before leaning forwards and pressing her pink lips against his. Liam is quick to pull her closer to his body, their lips moving in sync.
"I love you." Indiana repeats, putting an emphasis on the 'you'.
"I love you too." Liam replies.
"I had to knock you out." Theo informs, noticing the boy holding his face slightly in pain.
"Yeah, how many times?" Liam fires back.
"Five." Theo replies, a smug look on his face due to the satisfaction he had for knocking the boy out more than once.
"I almost killed him, didn't I?" Liam quietly replies, ashamed of his actions.
"Almost." Theo truthfully replies.
"But you broke your hands trying not to." Indiana adds, glancing down at his bloodied hands.
"I guess that's something." Liam says.
"Next time you come up with a plan like this, pick a place that does trigger a murderous rage." Theo suggests.
"I didn't know this was gonna happen." Liam replies.
"Whether you meant it or not, you picked the spot. You made the plan, you asked us for help." Theo reminds.
"If I needed your help for anything, it'll be so I get angry enough to kill you myself. Especially after kissing Indi back there." Liam argues.
"You brought me here because that thing that came out of the Wild Hunt is affecting you too." Theo continues. "Look, you need to figure this out before you completely lose it. Indiana can't always be there to calm you down."
"Yeah, I didn't even get a chance to because you freaking knocked him out." Indiana states.
"The Anuk-ite causes fear, it doesn't cause anger." Liam informs.
"People only feel one emotion at a time which is why you get angry when you're afraid. Some people can be mad but show it through sadness, vice versa." Indiana explains.
"If the Anuk-ite can do this to me, what do you think it's doing to everyone else?" Liam questions.
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Indiana stands in the kitchen with two of her friends and two adults, a map sprawled out in front of them.
"They're Nemetons." Argent states.
"What does Gerard want with them?" Melissa asks.
"If they're like the one here then they're beacons for the supernaturals." Mason states.
"If you wanted to kill every supernatural creature in the world, these are where you would start." Argent informs.
"It's Gerard, he's not gonna just stop with Beacon Hills, is he?" Indiana questions.
"He wants the whole world." Argent replies.
A door slamming shut is heard, everyone turning around to see Agent McCall walk through the front door and over to them.
"Wheres Scott?" McCall asks.
"Upstairs, why?" Melissa replies.
"He can't leave. No one can." McCall states.
"Nice to see that you changed your mind, but I'm afraid to ask why." Melissa says.
"It's Gerard's weapons." McCall begins as Scott and Malia walk into the room. "The guns, they've all been distributed legally to the citizens of Beacon Hills. All of them and at no charge."
"He just gave them away?" Scott questions.
"No, he's arming his army." Argent relies.
"Get down!" Lydia suddenly yells.
Indiana grabs Lydia and Mason, shielding them from harm as everyone drops to the floor. The widow suddenly shatters and the glass shards fall everywhere as red lasers are pointed into the house, bullets being fired with the intention to kill.
After a couple of minutes of waiting out the bullets with fear racing through their bodies, they soon stop. Lydia suddenly turns around and hold Indiana against her tightly, as if blocking her from seeing something. And that very something is the dangerously large pool of blood spreading onto the wooden floor with her mother and father wounded.