Take One

I couldn't believe I'd let them talk me into this. Tying up a terrified, half-shifted werewolf teenager? Worst plan ever. I was already pacing when Stiles and Scott started talking.

"Like I said," Stiles began, arms flailing, "I told my dad everything I could—"

"But you didn't tell him about Liam?" Scott snapped, clearly still tense.

Stiles blinked. "You barely told me about Liam! What did you do with him, anyway?"

Scott scratched the back of his neck. "He's upstairs..."

"Doing what?" Stiles asked.

"...Lying down," Scott mumbled.

I whirled around. "Lying down? He is tied up in the bathtub with duct tape over his mouth! That's not lying down, that's kidnapping!"

"I panicked!" Scott threw up his hands.

Stiles didn't even blink. "Yup. This isn't going to end with us burying the pieces of his body out in the desert, is it?"

A muffled scream came from upstairs.

That was it.

"I'm going up there. You guys better hope he's not traumatized for life, or I will traumatize you," I growled, storming toward Scott's bathroom.

Inside, Liam was struggling against the ropes, panic bleeding from every inch of him. His face was flushed, sweat running down his temple. My heart twisted.

"Hey, hey, Liam, it's okay," I said gently, kneeling beside him and brushing hair from his face. "We're not going to hurt you. I'm so sorry about all this. I told them this was a stupid plan."

Stiles crouched beside me. "Alright, Liam. We're going to take the tape off your mouth. If you scream, it goes right back on. If you talk quietly, it stays off. Got it?"

Liam hesitated, then nodded.

Stiles peeled the tape off with exaggerated care. Liam winced, but he didn't scream, he just breathed hard, trying to make sense of anything.

"You've seen a lot of confusing things tonight," Stiles began, "and more confusing things are going to happen because of the confusing things that happened tonight. Do you understand?"

Liam stared blankly. "Not really..."

"Good. That's good."

"I don't understand either," Scott muttered.

"Maybe you should tell him," Stiles prompted, glancing at Scott.

Liam looked at us with those big, watery eyes. "Tell me what?"

Scott swallowed. He was nervous. "Liam," he said, "what happened to you... what I did to you... which I had to do to save you, it's going to change you."

Stiles, of course, had to ruin it. "Unless it kills you."

I elbowed him in the ribs. "Stiles."

"Shouldn't have said that," he admitted.

Liam's lips trembled. "What?"

"Uh... Uh-oh," Stiles fumbled. "Oh-oh... Is he... is he crying?"

Scott stepped forward quickly. "Liam, it's okay. You're going to be all right. You're not going to die."

"Probably not," Stiles added.

"Stop it!" Scott snapped.

"Okay, possibly not—"

"Would you please just help me untie him?" Scott barked.

I was already working at the ropes. "Liam, look at me. You're safe. I'm right here, okay? Just breathe."

Scott reached for the final knot. "Liam, are you okay?"

Stiles hovered behind us. "We're sorry about that. We're really sorry—"

"Liam, what the hell is your—AHHH!"

Liam lunged. He was fast. Too fast. His eyes flared gold, claws out. He slammed into Stiles, sending him flying onto his back with a scream.

"Leg! I got him! I got him! I got him!" Stiles shrieked, kicking wildly.

Scott tried to grab him, but Liam twisted out of reach, snarling.

"Liam!" I shouted. "Liam! Stop! You're not in danger, you're just scared!"

He locked eyes with me for the briefest second. His expression twisted with fear and pain,and then he bolted. Out the door, down the stairs, and before any of us could move, we heard the front door slam open and shut.

-----☾-----

Kira was flipping through Lydia's math notes like she was trying to decipher an alien language.

"These are your math notes?" she said, eyebrows shooting up. "No wonder Malia's failing..."

Lydia leaned over, pointing at something scribbled along the edge of a page. "Some of them are mine. The rest... I think it might actually be a code."

"A code?" Kira blinked at her. "You don't remember writing it?"

"Not in the slightest," Lydia said, frowning. "But considering my sketch of a tree led us to the Nemeton, I should probably figure out what this means before it tries to kill us."

Kira nodded. "Maybe it's like the Enigma code the Allies used? My dad was a WWII nerd. And, well, my mom was... in it."

Lydia glanced at her. "I think it's a variation on something called the Vigenère Cipher."

"Do you know how to crack it?" I asked.

"With a key," Lydia said distractedly, her voice trailing as she started to pull out her phone.

I was just about to ask how the hell Lydia thought she was going to crack it, when Mrs. Martin walked up, tossing a ring of keys into Lydia's hand.

"Remember the rules—no more than six people at the lake house, stay out of the wine, and if anything gets broken, it's getting added to your credit card debt."

Lydia didn't even look up. "Fine."

"And lock up the basement. From all the scratch marks I found on the walls, it looked like a pack of wild animals got down there."

My eyebrows shot up at that, and I gave Lydia a pointed look. She just shrugged.

Then I heard it, Stiles's voice cutting through the hallway noise.

"Liam, hey!"

I turned and saw Stiles and Scott beelining straight for Liam. And immediately, I felt my stomach drop.

Liam looked like a cornered animal, tense, wide-eyed, and one wrong word away from bolting. My instincts kicked in before I could think. Too much pressure. Too fast. Back off.

Scott was already talking.

"We need to talk-"

"No," Liam snapped, backing away, his voice sharp and loud. "You need to back the hell up, okay? Both of you."

I stepped forward quickly, sliding between them. "Liam," I said, keeping my voice calm, steady. "Hey. Look at me."

His eyes flicked to mine. He didn't move.

"You're okay," I said gently. "No one's going to make you do anything. Just talk, okay? That's all."

His fists clenched, and for a second, I thought he'd run. But then he gave the tiniest nod.

Scott, bless his heart, took that as a green light to keep pushing. "Liam... we're brothers now."

I closed my eyes and exhaled through my nose. Scott, please. I knew those words. Those were Derek's words.

Stiles groaned beside me. "Oh god, that's..."

"What are you even talking about?" Liam barked. "We just met. And you bit me!"

"The Bite is a gift," Scott offered weakly.

"Scott, stop talking," Stiles muttered.

Then he pointed at Liam. "You! We're trying to help you, you little runt!"

"By kidnapping me?" Liam shouted, voice rising again.

I held up my hand like a traffic cop. "Ok, no yelling. Seriously." I turned and glared at Stiles. "You're not helping."

He backed off, throwing his hands up. "Just to clarify, Scott kidnapped you. I was more like... moral support?"

I turned back to Liam and softened my voice. "Listen... I get why you're scared. I'd be freaking out too. But something is happening to you. Ignoring it won't stop it."

"I'm fine," he said, but there was a tremor in his voice he couldn't hide.

Scott stepped forward. "I've gone through this. Something's changing in you, something big."

"I said nothing's happening," Liam snapped, but he wasn't yelling now. And he wasn't looking at Scott anymore.

He was looking at me.

I met his gaze and gave him a small, understanding smile. "Okay. You don't have to trust them yet," I said with a slight tilt of my head toward Scott and Stiles. "But maybe trust me—just enough to not run again?"

He paused then shoved past us. I sighed.

-----☾-----

"I'm not sharing my basement," Malia grunted, arms folded across her chest like she was ready to square up with literally anyone who challenged her.

I leaned against the edge of the desk, "Nobody is asking you to share the basement Malia."

Lydia didn't miss a beat. "Actually, it's my basement. And my mom already noticed the claw marks from the last time you 'borrowed' it."

Malia rolled her eyes, but didn't argue. That was progress.

Stiles held up his hands like a hostage negotiator. "All right, she's still learning, no murder basements, got it."

Scott chimed in, "We're using the boathouse for Liam. It's got support beams—we can chain him to one."

I winced. "Okay, let's maybe not lead with the word 'chain' if we're trying to get him to trust us?"

Kira looked uneasy. "How do we even get him to the lake house if he won't talk to us?"

Stiles, bless his overly enthusiastic heart, leaned in like this was a war strategy meeting. "I say, if it keeps him from murdering someone, we chloroform the little bastard and toss him in the lake."

Malia nodded. "I'm in."

I nearly choked. "Stiles!"

Scott looked equally horrified. "We're not kidnapping him or drugging him!"

"Thank you," I muttered under my breath. "Glad someone here has sense."

Lydia tapped a pen against her notebook. "Then let's be smarter. We tell him there's a party. Invite him."

Stiles narrowed his eyes at her. "So you're gonna ask out a freshman?"

Lydia gave him a look. "No. I'm done with teenage boys. But if we're playing a trick on someone... why not use the trickster?"

Everyone's heads turned to Kira, who immediately started shaking hers.

"Who, me? No way. Not me."

"Yes, you," Lydia said, practically glowing with inspiration. "You know what they call a female fox? A vixen."

Kira's eyes darted between all of us. "Me?"

Lydia gave her a winning smile. "You can do it, Kira. Be a vixen."

She looked to me and I gave her what I hoped was an encouraging smile.

-----☾-----

The Jeep rattled like it always did, every bump in the road jarring enough to make me consider bailing and walking the rest of the way to the lake house. I had my arms crossed tight, fingers digging into the sleeves of my jacket, and I wasn't looking at him. Not yet.

Stiles glanced over like he was trying to figure out if I'd cooled off or if he was about to catch another wave of it.

"You're mad," he said.

Wow. Ten out of ten for emotional intelligence.

"You think?" I snapped, still not looking at him.

"I mean..." he hesitated, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. "I did technically say chloroform was the backup plan."

I turned my head slowly, just enough to give him the look. You know the one—the really? Look.

He winced. "Okay, yes. Not... our best look."

"He's fifteen."

"I know."

"He is terrified."

"I know," he said again, more serious this time. "Cass, I do know. It got out of hand."

I sighed and finally uncrossed my arms, letting them drop into my lap. The anger was still there, but it had cooled from a boil to a simmer.

"He trusts me a little," I said quietly. "That's not nothing. Don't screw that up for me."

"I won't," he said. And I believed him.

The silence that followed wasn't heavy anymore. The kind of quiet that came with headlights cutting through the dark and pine trees blurring past on either side.

"You're good with him," Stiles said after a moment. "You're going to be a great mom."

My cheeks flushed, and I shook my head. "I see myself in him. The anger at the world. The way he looks at people like he's waiting to be let down."

I felt him glance at me. "You think that's still you?"

I shrugged. "Some days."

The Jeep hit a bump, jolting us both. My hand shot out to grab the roll bar. "God, Stiles. This thing is going to kill us."

"She's not a thing," he said, wounded. "She's a classic."

"She's a deathtrap with personality."

He grinned, and I felt my own mouth twitch a little at the corner. Damn him.

"Look," he said, voice a little softer now. "We screw up, yeah. A lot. But at least we're screwing up together."

I finally turned to look at him fully, taking him in, the way his hands rested on the wheel, the quiet sincerity in his eyes. Even when he was being stupid, I still loved him.

I rested my head back against the seat. "You know... we keep doing this."

Stiles glanced over. "Doing what?"

"Driving into chaos."

He smiled faintly. "Yeah, but... at least we're driving into it together."

I looked over at him, a soft smile on my lips. "Yeah. Together."

-----☾-----

I leaned against the kitchen counter, watching Scott pace like a nervous dad in a waiting room. He was chewing on his bottom lip, one hand clutched around his phone like it held all the answers.

"I just talked to Kira," he said finally. "She's on her way. She said it's all going fine."

Stiles didn't look reassured.

"It's not that," he muttered, eyes darting toward Scott. "I have to tell you something."

Oh no. That tone never led anywhere good.

"I asked around about Liam," Stiles continued, rubbing a hand down his face. "I know why he got kicked out of his last school."

Scott tensed. "This is going to be bad, isn't it?"

"He kind of got into it with one of his teachers," he admitted. "And... the kid's got some serious anger issues."

"How serious?" Scott asked, like he didn't want to know but couldn't stop himself.

Stiles pulled out his phone and showed us a picture. "That's his teacher's car. After Liam took a crowbar to it."

I muttered, "Jesus," under my breath. Not judging—just worried. That wasn't just a temper; that was pain looking for a way out.

The front door opened before I could say anything else.

"Yay, party...!" Kira's voice called, full of that nervous energy that always made me smile. "...Sorry."

And then Liam walked in behind her.

His eyes locked onto all of us, one by one, and I could see it happen—how fast his trust drained. The tension hit the room like static before a lightning strike.

"What the hell is this?" he demanded, taking a step back.

"Think of it like an intervention," Stiles said, because apparently, we were still going with that strategy. "You have a problem, Liam-"

"And we're the only ones that can help," Scott added gently.

Liam's face twisted. Rage. Confusion. Panic. He looked like someone about to be backed into a corner, and I couldn't blame him.

They launched into the explanations, what we were, what he was now, and I stood to the side, watching him flinch at every new word like they were physical blows.

"Werewolf?" Scott.

"Werecoyote?" Malia.

"Banshee?" Lydia.

"Guardian?" Me.

"Fox?"

"Kitsune," Kira said, her voice small. "But 'fox' works."

Liam turned to Stiles. "What are you?"

"For a little while, I was possessed by an evil spirit. It was very evil." Stiles said. I flinched at teh reminder.

Liam blinked. "What are you now?"

Stiles hesitated. "...Better?"

Yeah, okay, I couldn't help the snort that escaped me.

Then Liam saw the chains. "Are those for me?"

Malia, because she has the subtlety of a wrecking ball, said, "No, they're for me." Her eyes flashed blue.

He stared at her. "How did you do that?"

"You'll learn," Scott promised. "But first, you need to get through the full moon."

Liam stiffened. "The moon's already out."

"And you're starting to feel something, aren't you?" Scott asked.

"I feel like I'm surrounded by a bunch of psychotic nutjobs!" Liam barked, voice rising. "You guys are out of your freaking minds! I don't know how you did that eye-thing, and I don't care, I'm walking out the door right now, and if any of you try to stop me, I swear to God, I'm gonna-"

Then he screamed. A real, guttural, almost inhuman sound.

"What's wrong?" Scott stepped forward. "Liam?"

"You don't hear that?" Liam gasped, clutching his head.

"Did you tell someone about this?" Lydia asked, eyes narrowing.

"My friend, Mason..."

From outside, the unmistakable sound of a crowd erupted. I swore, looking between my friends.

Liam groaned like he'd just been punched in the gut. "You said it was a party..."

"Who did Mason invite?" Stiles asked sharply.

Kira peeked out the window. "Everyone."

Liam dropped to the floor, his claws extending. Lydia's face went pale. "The floors! Get him off the floors!"

Liam snarled, practically shaking now.

"Boathouse! Now!" Scott shouted.

Chaos exploded. People moved in all directions. Malia shifted without warning and snarled at Stiles.

"Malia—!" he yelped. "Basement. Now. Now!"

"I'll stay and help Lydia," I said quickly, grabbing her arm as she fumbled with the lock on the front door. "Can you handle Malia on your own, Stiles?"

He gave me a weak smile, one that was way too casual considering he was probably about to be mauled. He ducked downstairs, dragging malia and the chains.

I turned to lydia, giving her a faint smile. "Hostess with the mostest right?"

"Shut up Andie." She grumbled before pulling the door open.

"Hey," Mason said from the crowd, looking very unsure. "Uh... are we in the right place?"

"...For the party?" Garrett added behind him.

Lydia's face transformed in an instant. She plastered on that queen bee smile like it was armor.

"Absolutely," she said, stepping aside.

The crowd roared with approval.

I smirked. "Alright, then. Let's throw a party."

-----☾-----

I barely managed to keep Lydia from committing homicide with a corkscrew.

"Okay, I didn't order a keg of beer, especially not domestic," she snapped, staring down a frat-boy-looking delivery guy like she was about to banish him with a glare.

"Somebody ordered it," he said with a shrug. "Are you trying to tell me nobody here wants to drink?"

"Who put this here?" Lydia gestured sharply at a laptop someone had dropped on the couch. "This laptop is two thousand dollars..."

Her eyes flicked toward a wine bottle someone had popped open.

"Oh, and that bottle of wine is four hundred..." She inhaled through her nose like she was trying not to scream. "How much?"

The delivery guy, DeMarco, grinned, passing her a receipt. "What's this extra hundred dollars?" Lydia asked, pointing to the receipt.

"I call that the, 'Yes, you do look twenty-one to me' surcharge."

I winced. "Oof."

Lydia sighed through her teeth. "Let me get you some cash..."

"I opened the wine," Garrett said, strolling in like the human equivalent of a smirk. "I should probably pay for the keg."

Lydia looked like she might explode. I stepped in before she could.

"Lyds, I got this. You breathe, go upstairs."

She shot me a grateful look before stomping off.

But while I was playing party security, I couldn't stop thinking about Scott and Kira—and Liam. Something in his eyes when he screamed back there had stuck with me. I'd seen that look before. Hell, I'd worn that look before.

"Lydia," I called. She reappeared from the hallway. "I'm gonna go check on the chaos squad. You good here?"

She nodded. "Go. Save Scott and the angry child you've already adopted."

I gave her a half-hearted glare before ducking out the door.

-----☾-----

I heard the growl before I saw him. Liam was straining against the chains of the boathouse.

"Liam! Liam, wait! Stop!" Scotts voice echoed.

"What did you do to me?!" he screamed, lunging at Scott.

"Liam..."

"This is your fault! It's all your fault! THIS IS YOUR FAULT!"

He strained and the chain snapped, and he bolted into the darkness.

I was about to run after him when a familiar voice cut through the night like a knife.

"How did you know?" Scott asked as Argent stepped from the trees, stoic as always.

"I got your text," Argent said simply. He gave me a small smile, wrapping his arm around my shoulders briefly.

"Hi Cassie," He said. I gave him a grin.

We followed him deeper into the woods. "There's a clearing just north of here. All you have to do is corral him there, the rest is taken care of."

Scott glanced at him, unsure. "What are you going to do?"

Argent just looked at him. "He's your Beta, Scott. The better question is... what are you going to do?"

Before Scott could answer, Liam's scream tore through the forest again.

Argent turned to Scott and I. "Go."

We found him on his knees, clawed hands gripping the earth like it was the only thing tethering him to this world.

"What's happening to me?" he cried.

Scott crouched beside him, his voice low. "The same thing that happened to me."

I hung back at first, letting Scott lead. But when Liam's voice cracked, something in me did too.

"They can't know about this," he said, trembling. "My mom, my stepdad... I can't do this to them again."

Scott's brow furrowed. "What do you mean, 'again'?"

"I got kicked out of school... and I deserved it," Liam choked out. "The way they looked at me, when they saw what I did to that car..."

"Liam, it's okay-" Scott reached out.

"They can't see me like this," he sobbed. "Like... like..."

"Like a monster?" Scott said softly.

Liam didn't answer, but the word hung in the air like a noose.

"You're not a monster," Scott said, firm now. "You're a Werewolf—like me."

I stepped forward slowly and knelt beside them.

"And like me," I added gently. "Well, not a werewolf, but, the point is, I know how it feels to lose control of something you never asked for. To be scared of yourself."

Flashes of the nogitsune and my visions crossed my mind. I shook them off

He didn't say anything, but he didn't run either. That was something.

"Being supernatural doesn't automatically make you a monster," I continued. "But it does suck sometimes. It's scary. It's lonely. But you're not alone. Not anymore."

He looked from me to Scott, chest still heaving, but something in his eyes began to settle.

"You don't have to figure it out all at once," I told him. "Just... don't shut us out, okay?"

Liam nodded slowly. I helped him to his feet.

And I thought, Okay. Maybe he's gonna be alright.