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Theo had never been lucky. Not in any way that mattered, at least. Misfortune had followed him so closely for so long that he couldn't even be angry about it anymore.
So when he found himself chained to a chair after being forcibly removed from his truck at 2AM, he wasn't even surprised. It's not like this hadn't happened before.
Theo squinted in the dim lighting, trying to make sense of whatever shitty situation he'd wound up in this time. Looked like they'd brought him to some kind of empty warehouse – they being the three armed, sullen-looking assholes who'd decided to ruin his night.
It didn't take a genius to realize they worked for Monroe.
Theo grimaced at the sound of metal against concrete when the tallest of them pulled up a chair and sat down across from him. He looked like a villain straight out of a James Bond movie: dressed in all black with a scar splitting one eyebrow. The assault rifle in his lap made Theo smile.
"You compensating for something?" Theo asked, grin as sharp and careless as a knife, but the guy didn't even twitch. He just kept looking at Theo like an owl looks at a field mouse. Careful. Cold.
But Theo's smile only got sharper. "I'm gonna take that as a yes."
That's when one of the other two slammed the butt of their gun into the back of Theo's head. He doubled over, dizzy with pain and wheezing with awful, breathless laughter. Hot tears stung his eyes, but whether they were from the blow or the laughing, he couldn't quite tell.
"Here's how this is gonna work," the hunter across from him announced at last, slow and steady, like Theo was a very small child. "We're gonna offer you a deal. If you take it, we let you go. If you don't, we send you back underground. Got it?"
Theo wasn't laughing anymore. He went deathly still, something cold settling over him like rigor mortis. Something birthed by memories of metal, and hallways, and dark hair. Blood in his mouth and on linoleum floors. The taunting blink of exit signs. All the things that made up his bad dreams.
Back underground.
"You're bluffing," Theo insisted, because they had to be. It was impossible. They'd need to have the sword – the same one that Liam had shattered months ago.
Liam. Theo waited for him to burst into view, eyes wild and teeth bared. Like a knight. Like salvation.
No such luck.
Then the man on the chair nodded curtly to one of the others, who crouched down to rummage through a duffle bag on the floor. Theo's heart was slamming against his ribs at that point; he was grateful to be the only one with supernatural hearing.
They were bluffing. They had to be.
But lo and behold, there was the sword, fully reassembled and being brandished before his very eyes. Theo's mouth went dry when he saw it, like he'd glimpsed an abusive ex at the grocery store.
"Stole it right out from under Dunbar's nose," the hunter in front of him sneered, and Theo damn near snarled keep his name out of your mouth. But he didn't, because that would be saying too much. A reckless reveal of his own stupid, senseless love.
"Okay," Theo said once he'd composed himself, eyes narrowed. "You've got my attention. What do you want?"
The hunter leaned back a little, looking satisfied. "An inside man. Somebody who can give us information and topple the McCall pack for good."
And, despite everything, Theo laughed. How could he not? "I've tried that already. Didn't work out too great."
"Yeah, well, you know what they say," drawled the hunter, smiling for the first time. His canine teeth were sharp enough to rival Theo's own. "Failure is just success in progress."
Theo raised both eyebrows. "Inspiring."
"We both know who you are. What you've done. It's not like morals are an issue."
Theo felt a stab of anger in his gut, ripping through the dread like a flaming sword. He wanted to lurch forward and scream, Fuck you! You're wrong! Things are different! But all he could manage was, "People change, don't they?"
"Not you. Not freaks like you," the hunter said, matter-of-fact, like a scientist explaining an animal's behavior. Like Theo was nothing more than a diagram in a textbook. "So what's it gonna be?"
Not that long ago, the choice would've been obvious: betray the others to save his own ass. A Theo Raeken classic. But he'd learned a few things since then. Learned about love, and sacrifice, and the way they bled into each other to create a wonderful, deeply human mess. Damaged dog, new tricks.
And Theo thought about Liam. Always about Liam. His eyes, his laugh, his stupid convictions. How undeniably good he was.
All things worth suffering for.
So it was with Liam's face in mind that Theo curled his lip and said, "Fuck you guys."
"Is that a no?" asked the hunter across from him, eyebrows raised. Last chance.
"Yeah," Theo replied, unblinking. "That's a no."
The hunter narrowed his eyes, clearly seeing this as an inconvenience. God knows it wasn't Theo's imminent suffering that bothered him. "It's actually pretty disappointing. You're not as smart as we thought you were."
But despite that imminent suffering of his, Theo smiled. "Your mistake."
And he'd be lying if he said he wasn't scared when they started reaching for him, the sword glinting in the corner of his eye. Of course he was fucking scared. But he still strained against the chains and snapped his teeth at every limb he could reach, because wouldn't Liam want him to go down fighting?
Yes. Yes, he would. So Theo fought.
"Knock him out, dammit!" one of them eventually snarled, and the last thing Theo felt was the butt of a gun against his temple.
Out like a goddamn light.
Theo had never been lucky. That's why he found himself looking up at a familiar stretch of stainless steel, breath billowing around his face like cigarette smoke. But rather than screaming, or crying, or cursing the universe, he just smiled, because he'd done the right thing. In spite of his horrible self, he'd done the right thing. And now, there was nothing left to do but crawl.
So Theo rolled over and dragged himself through the freezer, teeth gritted with borderline manic determination. He shoved open the door as soon as he reached it, because why wait? He knew how this went. Might as well face the music.
Theo knew the floor would be cold, but it still sent a shock through his system when his feet touched the linoleum, making him shudder. The morgue looked the same, dark save for the dim light flickering over the examination table at the room's center. Theo breathed deep and found that the air smelled of nothing, which was somehow more unsettling than if it had reeked of rotting corpses.
Well, maybe just one corpse.
Theo scanned every shadowy corner for the dark hair and sallow skin he knew so well, and was almost disappointed to not catch sight of his sister. He didn't want to roam the halls in search of her. Didn't want to prolong the inevitable.
But Theo was brave, braver than anybody would ever admit, so he stepped into the sickly green light of the corridor, sucking in a lungful of that horrible nothing-air. And he started to walk, arms wrapped around himself to fend off the cold.
Not that the goosebumps would ever go away. They never went away.
Theo was beginning to think he really was alone when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He stopped dead, heart falling down, down, down to the very pit of his stomach. The same heart that would be ripped from him like a luxury he couldn't quite afford.
Despite this, Theo turned.
Tara's face was as familiar and bloodless as ever, lips chapped and eyes watery, all of it framed by the mane of dark hair she'd inherited from their mother.
"Hey, Tara," Theo croaked. "Long time no see."
Tara shifted then, and Theo braced for the feeling of cold fingers plunging into his chest, but it never came. No, what he felt was a pair of arms around him, holding him close, so close, as if he deserved to be held. Like he was loved, despite everything.
Tara was hugging him.
"This can't be right," Theo choked out, because it couldn't be. Where was the blood in his mouth? The cracked ribs? Where was the reckoning?
"This can't be right," Theo repeated, this time with tears in his eyes.
"Shh," Tara said, then pulled back a little, smiling. "Listen."
Theo listened. What he heard was a voice he could just barely make out, as if it were miles away. He picked up on a few panicked words, like holy shit and please be okay, and that's when he recognized who it was.
Liam.
"He needs you," Tara murmured, almost mischievous, like she knew something Theo didn't. Even here, even now, she teased him. What were older sisters for?
The full spectrum of human emotion crashing down on him, all Theo could think of to say was, "I'm so sorry."
Tara just smiled.
And then Theo wasn't in that dimly-lit hallway anymore. He was in the back of Mason's car, slumped against Liam's shoulder. The sudden change in scenery made him jolt, which made Liam jolt, too.
"Theo!" Liam sputtered, the surprise on his face giving way to relief almost instantly. "Theo, it's okay. You're okay."
"What the hell happened?" Theo rasped, Tara's face lingering on the backs of his eyelids. This didn't make any sense.
"Liam called you a bunch of times after he had some nightmare about you dying, but you didn't pick up, so he got super worried and basically started a search party," Mason informed him from the driver's seat.
"We were all worried," Liam muttered, looking pointedly out the window.
"Found you just in time, apparently," Corey chimed in from the passenger seat, twisting around to blink at Theo with wide, earnest eyes.
Theo blinked back, dumbstruck. He hadn't been sent back underground at all. The pack had found him in the few moments after he'd been knocked out and before the hunters had gotten the chance to use the sword. The morgue, the hallway, Tara – just one big, bittersweet dream.
Maybe he wasn't so unlucky after all. Maybe that's all luck was – being looked for in the middle of the night. Being loved.
"Yeah, you really did," Theo murmured at last, breathless with too many emotions to name. Gratitude, mostly. "Thank you. All of you."
"No problem," Mason said simply, then laughed. "Liam carried you out bridal style."
"Shut up!" Liam cried, which only made Mason laugh harder. Something warm and weightless rising in his chest, Theo smiled and elbowed Liam in the side.
"Sounds like I make a pretty good bride."
"Not that good," Liam huffed, but Theo saw the way his mouth twitched before changing the subject. "What did they even want with you? Parrish took them all into custody, but they haven't confessed anything yet."
Theo shifted, recalling the wannabe Bond villain with the eyebrow scar. "They wanted a guy on the inside. Somebody who could give them information and... Destroy the pack, I guess."
"You said no, right?" Mason asked, and Corey promptly punched him in the arm.
"I said no," Theo confirmed, half-smiling. No offense taken. "I like you losers too much."
"We like you too," Corey chirped, so sincere that it made Theo's heart ache. He'd love to say he didn't give a damn about being liked, but that just wouldn't be true. There was nothing he wanted more – nothing he'd ever wanted more. And now he had it.
It felt like the sun.
The mood was partially killed when, almost apologetically, Liam presented Theo with a drawstring bag. Eyebrows furrowing, Theo peered inside and was confronted with the shattered pieces of the sword, glinting like a malevolent constellation.
"We found this," Liam said gently, no doubt hearing the stutter of Theo's heart. "Did they threaten you with it or something?"
Theo leaned back; looked away. "Yeah."
The entire car went quiet. Liam's hands were trembling when he closed the bag, not with fear but with anger, the smell of it enough to make Theo's eyes burn. Hard to believe that not that long ago, Liam had watched him get pulled underground without batting an eye.
I think you were rotting down there.
Mason broke the silence by clearing his throat and asking, "You guys mind if I stop for gas? I'm running kinda low after driving around all night."
"Go for it," Theo said. Liam's hands were still shaking.
Once Mason had parked at the nearest gas station and climbed out of the car, Corey turned to announce, "I'm gonna go get some chips from inside. You guys want anything?"
"Beef jerky," Liam said, making Theo wrinkle his nose.
"Gross, man."
"Is not!" Liam protested; once the car door swung shut behind Corey, he got quiet for awhile, worrying at his bottom lip. Theo caught whiffs of a dozen different emotions – not that he needed to taste the air to realize Liam had a lot on his mind. At this point, he could probably map out Liam's headspace without any senses at all.
When Liam finally spoke again, his voice was ragged at the edges, but soft. "I'm really glad... I'm really glad you're okay. When I first saw you all, like, unconscious and shit, I thought..."
"You've never gotta worry about me," Theo assured him, flashing a winning smile. "I'm like a cockroach."
"I'm always worrying about you," Liam mumbled, and Theo's smile faltered from the impact, Tara's words ricocheting around his head like a bullet.
He needs you.
Liam's voice, reaching him in an unreachable place. Liam's arms, carrying him out of harm's way. Liam's goodness, inspiring him to be kinder, braver, better. Liam, who apparently needed Theo just as much as Theo needed him.
Theo could only grin knowingly and say, "You care about me or somethin', little wolf?"
"Shut up," Liam grumbled, face turning a shade of pink that Theo would never get sick of.
"I care about you, too, y'know."
"Really?"
"Nah."
Liam scowled, making Theo laugh. "I dunno why I even saved you."
"Sure you do," Theo said. They looked at each other, Liam all flustered and Theo's smile losing its edge, turning hopelessly soft. He couldn't help it. Couldn't help the dumb little butterflies flitting between his ribs, like he was just some lovesick kid with a schoolyard crush.
There were worse things to be.
Worse things than Liam grabbing Theo's face and kissing him fiercely, like he'd been waiting a long time for this, like he'd never wanted to do anything more. Worse things than Theo kissing him back, just as fierce, one hand squeezing Liam's thigh and the other slipping up under his shirt, greedy fingers roaming warm skin.
Liam, too, felt like the sun.
Theo was borderline whimpering when he heard the passenger side door open, because apparently Corey had the worst timing ever; they scrambled apart, werewolf reflexes proving to be useful for more than just combat.
"I got your beef jerky!" Corey announced, smiling a totally oblivious smile as he tossed Liam a Slim Jim. Theo would've strangled the kid if he wasn't so lovable.
"Uh... Thanks," Liam sputtered, face beet red, and Theo had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing. He'd come to terms with the fact that he was running with a bunch of goddamn nerds, and it was kind of the best thing in the world. Much better than what he'd had in the past. Much, much better.
When Liam started awkwardly ripping into the Slim Jim packaging, Theo leaned in to mumble in his ear, "I'm never kissing you again after you eat that."
"You're such a drama queen," Liam muttered under his breath, but he was smiling. Probably because he knew Theo was lying.
Of course he was lying.
"Mission accomplished guys," Mason declared as he hopped back in the driver's seat, closing the door behind him. "Let's go home."
Those last three words made Theo's heart skip. He hadn't heard them in a long time.
Home. Let's go home.
They'd only just left the gas station when Theo felt something press up against his shoulder. He glanced down and found that Liam had fallen asleep on him, half-eaten Slim Jim still clutched in one hand; seeing that Theo had used him as a human pillow not that long ago, it was only fair.
Yeah, Theo thought, brushing hair from Liam's forehead with a fond smile. Only fair.