Chapter Text
Theo:
“Teddy, why aren’t you wearing any clothes?” Erica questioned after hopping into the passenger seat, and using her left hand to cover her eyes.
I shrugged. “I didn’t bring any” I admitted.
“Why?” she asked.
I scoffed and shook my head. “I was a little more focused on trying to find my soon-to-be-boyfriend” I pointed out. I was going to wait to ask Liam to be my boyfriend until after we went on a few more dates, but considering the repeated attempted murders, ambushes and kidnapping, I don’t think I should wait.
Boyd sighed as he hopped into the back seat. “I should’ve gone with Allison and Malia” he mumbled.
I rolled my eyes. “Relax, I should have some clothes in the back” I reassured Erica as I drove off. I always had a duffle bag with some clothes, and other things I might need in my truck just in case. Boyd grabbed a blanket out of the duffle bag, and threw it at me. I took one hand off the wheel to catch it, and used it to cover my lap. I side eyed Erica when she let out a sigh of relief. I then pressed the button on the truck door to bring my window down, and glanced at Erica and Boyd to do the same.
I inhaled deeply, and drove where the scent trail was leading me. Allison and Malia were not far behind us in Allison’s dad’s SUV. Everything took a weird turn as the trail steered us to the suburbs, and we pulled up to the biggest house in the neighborhood. “What the hell?” Erica questioned as I shifted the truck in park. This is where Liam is? You’d think they would’ve taken him to a warehouse or something.
Boyd quickly threw a pair of black sweatpants and a gray t-shirt at me, before he and Erica opened their doors, and jumped out of my truck. I opened my door, hopped out, and quickly slipped on the sweatpants and t-shirt, not really caring that I wasn’t wearing shoes. I circled around the hood of my truck to stand next to Erica and Boyd. Allison, with a crossbow in her hand, and Malia (clearly wearing some of Allison’s clothes) got out of the SUV to where the rest of us stood. We all immediately took notice of the uptick in Allison’s heartbeat, and glanced suspiciously at her. “You got something you wanna share with the rest of the class?” I asked.
Allison swallowed. “I recognize this place” she admitted.
Malia scoffed. “That’s obvious. Now can you tell us anything useful before we go knocking on the front door?” she questioned.
Allison armed her crossbow. “Be on your guard” she warned as she slowly walked the pathway to the front door.
Erica rolled her eyes. “No shit princess” she commented as we all moved to follow Allison.
Once we all reached the front door, Allison suddenly took off and disappeared around the side of the house. What the hell is she up to? Malia sighed and then hurried after her.
Before the rest of us could go after them, the front door opened, and a woman who looked to be in her mid to late thirties with shoulder-length dark blonde hair, and bright blue eyes stood in the doorway. “Hi, I’m Mrs. Holloway. Come on in, we’ve been expecting you” she said in a welcoming tone, and stepped aside. Her chemo signals were mainly closed off, but I managed to get a whiff of anxiety from her scent. This is weird, and not the good kind. I briefly glanced warily at Erica and Boyd right before we decided to step inside. Mrs. Holloway closed the front door behind us, and locked it. If we weren’t on our guard before, we definitely were now. “Follow me” she said casually, and we hesitantly followed her to the dining room. A young looking guy was sitting at the dining room table, and had an almost full plate of food in front of him. He had light brown hair, and blue eyes that went wide at the sight of us, his scent and chemo signals were all over the place with emotion, but the guilt was clear as day.
I glanced pointedly at Mrs. Holloway. “Where’s Liam?” I demanded.
She furrowed her eyebrows. “Who?” she then asked, her heart skipping a beat.
I briefly flashed my golden-yellow eyes. “I don’t have time for games” I growled. The trail led me to this weird stereotypical suburban house for a reason. He’s here or he was here, so she definitely shouldn’t be testing me like this, not when I already wanna kill her.
She scoffed. “You werewolves have no sense of humor” she retorted.
Erica rolled her eyes. “Right, because hunters are so known for theirs” she said sarcastically.
She tilted her head. “Actually, I technically haven’t been a hunter for a long time. I only recently came out of retirement a few months ago. The things you do for family ” she explained, and sighed.
Boyd then sighed. “Ma’am, we really only came here for one reason, and we’d like to find that reason before things get ugly” he argued.
“Meaning you can either speed things along by telling us, or I tear this place apart looking while Erica happily beats your ass” I threatened, Erica smirking beside me.
She narrowed her eyes, and a man who looked to be in his mid to late thirties with light brown hair, and bluish greenish eyes walked into the dining room to stand beside her. His hands were smeared with black blood, and he held a bloodied knife in his right hand. He placed the knife on the table, and I let out a low growl. That blood smelled like Liam’s. Instantly, my eyes shifted, my fangs dropped, and my claws flicked out as I ran straight towards the man. I grabbed him by his throat, and slammed him against the wall so hard, it left a dent. “You have five seconds to tell me where Liam is before I rip your throat out” I snarled.
He glared at me. “If you kill me, then you won’t find him, because my family won’t tell you” he warned.
I glared back as I tighten my grip around his throat, my claws digging in and blood slowly leaked out. He winced as his face began turning red. “I’ll find him, I always do” I growled, before I grabbed the front of his head, and banged it off the wall. He passed out and slid to the floor. This idiot doesn't how lucky he is that his kid is watching, otherwise he would be dead. I just don’t wanna do what was done to me.
Suddenly, I heard quiet click of a safety switch off from a gun, and turned to see Mrs. Holloway pointing a gun at Erica. “Step away from my husband, or I’ll kill her” she threatened. Erica flashed her golden-yellow eyes in response.
I scoffed. “I’d like to see you try” I said smugly as Boyd immediately moved to block Erica from Mrs. Holloway’s view, and snapped his fangs at her.
“I can tell you where Liam is” the young guy from the dining room table announced.
“Nolan honey, don’t tell these beasts anything” Mrs. Holloway argued.
“He’s in the basement, it’s soundproof, so that’s probably why you haven’t figured out where he is yet” Nolan explained, ignoring her. Fear came off of his scent in waves, but his heart didn’t skip a beat.
“Show me” I ordered. Nolan swallowed as he nodded, and got to his feet when his mom pointed her gun at me.
“You’re not going anywhere with my son” she said firmly.
I scoffed. “Trust me, he has a higher chance of living than you do” I said and smirked. Liam’s my priority right now, but I can always take out her and her husband later.
She narrowed her eyes, but just as it looked like she was going to pull the trigger, Allison stepped into the room. “Put the gun down Aunt Charlotte” she ordered, and aimed her crossbow at Mrs. Holloway. Her aunt?!
I arched an eyebrow. “Where the hell have you been?” I questioned.
Allison sighed. “Call it hunter's intuition, but I figured they had to have been keeping Liam in the basement. There’s a hidden entrance to it which Malia is guarding. Now, my dad is on his way, and is bringing some of the Argent clan with him. So you, Erica, Boyd, and Malia need to grab Liam, and go before they get here” she informed me. Mrs. Holloway’s eyes widened at that, and she instantly dropped her gun on the floor.
“Can you handle this?” I asked, gesturing towards the unconscious man that’s I now know is her crazy uncle behind me, and towards the crazy lady that’s her other aunt.
Allison nodded. “I’ve handled worse” she replied.
“So, is your dad the only sane one in your family?” I said in disbelief, which caused her to roll her eyes at me, before I followed Nolan to the basement. Once Nolan opened the door to it, I rushed past him down the stairs, Liam’s scent calling to me. When I reached him, my heart nearly leapt out of my chest, and distress and worry took over at the sight of him. He was restrained against a small section of a metal fence against a wall, and had a pool of black blood forming underneath him. I waded through the blood, ignoring the way it felt beneath my bare feet, and focused on his rapid heartbeat. I used all my strength to break his restraints while slightly grimacing at the shocks of electricity, before carefully gathering him in my arms. “Don’t worry, baby wolf, I got you” I said softly as I stared at his extremely pale, and unconscious face. My heart clenched in my chest. I wish he would open those beautiful baby blues and tell me he was fine, that I was worrying too much like usual.
I looked up when I heard footsteps fast approaching, and Erica and Boyd quickly came into view. Their eyes softened when they saw the state Liam was in. “Poor pup” Erica whispered.
We turned to see more approaching footsteps coming from a different direction. “Come on, let’s go, we don’t have time to be standing around” Malia called out impatiently, and we quickly followed her.
I shifted my eyes to golden-yellow to see through the darkness, and we hurried through what seemed to be a tunnel, before we stopped by a metal spiral staircase. Malia ran up it first, and swung the trap door open once she reached the top. I walked up next, holding Liam tightly against my chest, as Erica and Boyd flanked us. Once we all reached the top, Malia swung the trap door closed, and they all surrounded me as we rushed to my truck. Boyd hopped into the driver’s seat, and Erica in the passenger seat, with Malia and I climbing into the backseat. I gently laid Liam down between Malia and I, with Liam’s head in my lap. I then shoved my hand into the front of my pocket for my keys, and tossed them at Boyd. He instantly caught them, and started my truck. Erica threw the blanket I used earlier at me, and I immediately pressed it against Liam’s stomach.
“Where are we headed?” Boyd asked no one in particular. It didn’t take long for the blanket to become soaked with black blood, and cover my hands in it. Malia took off the jacket she was wearing, and I removed my hands, so she could place it on top of the blanket. She took over putting pressure on the wound, and I wiped one of my hands on my sweatpants before I grabbed Liam’s hand, and focused on taking away some of his pain.
“I don’t know if he’ll make it to the animal clinic, we might have to head to the hospital” Erica suggested.
I winced at the intensity of the pain that I was taking from Liam, and had to stop for a short break. “Do we know if Mrs. McCall is on staff?” I questioned.
Malia shook her head. “Her shift’s over by now, she’s probably on her way home” she answered.
“Boyd, head to the McCall House. Erica, tell Deaton or Morrell, hell I’ll take both of them, to meet us there” I ordered. Boyd instantly took a sharp right turn, and Erica pulled out her phone.
I looked down at Liam as I heard his vitals start to drop, and his breathing became more shallow. “Hurry Boyd” I said firmly, just as he pressed harder on the gas pedal. “We’re gonna be there soon, just hang on, baby wolf” I whispered to Liam, and gently squeezed his hand before I resumed taking his pain away.