Chapter Text
Theo has made a lot of mistakes in his relatively short life. He killed his sister, he manipulated and betrayed the McCall pack, and murdered more people than he can even remember. Right now, though, he thinks his worst decision is coming to this pack meeting.
It's all Liam's fault. He'd caught Theo while he was filling up his truck with gas and wouldn't leave until Theo'd agreed to attend. Which is why he's currently standing in the corner closest to the door, waiting for Scott and Malia to finish arguing over whether Monroe's remaining hunters were enough of a threat to pursue. It was pointless, Theo knew. As long as Monroe remained alive and free, there would always be hunters to be worried about. But Theo didn't share that; he didn't need more glaring looks shot at him from all sides of the room.
"All I'm saying is that Monroe retreated, and we took care of the majority of her hunters. They'll eventually fizzle out without us resorting to being the monsters that they've claimed we are," Scott pressed as Malia rolled her eyes.
"And all I'm saying is that she'll be back, and she'll be stronger than before. What if next time, she comes back with double the amount of hunters? We've already lost so much, why risk losing more?" Malia retorted. Just as Scott was about to respond, Liam jumped in.
"She's right, we barely beat her the first time. At the very least, we should keep tabs on her and the more dangerous hunters."
Theo couldn't help but agree. Despite the war technically being over, he's been attacked twice in the last week by amateurs that couldn't even figure out which bullets to use. All their regular bullets had done was pepper welts into his precious truck-- well, essentially his home-- and give his healing factor a little workout.
From his corner, Theo zoned out as they all took turns going back and forth. Even with them debating rather heatedly, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of pack coursing through the room. Something he would never truly be a part of. He’d accepted it a while ago, but it’s moments like these that make him almost long for the feeling of belonging somewhere.
They all looked so at ease with each other. Liam, Corey, and Mason were settled close together on the couch; practically sprawled on top of one another. Scott sat in a chair with Malia seated on the arm, positioned so that everyone was looking in their direction. Stiles and Lydia occupied the loveseat, and Argent and Melissa stood behind them. He couldn’t help but notice that Argent never really took his eyes off of Theo, as if he didn’t really trust him. Theo didn’t blame him, though.
Theo had positioned himself so that he’d be ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble. Every so often, he’d hear the words “send him back,” which put him on edge more than he’d like to admit. If it came down to it, he was prepared to run to his truck and take off for good. If he was being honest with himself, he should’ve done that the second he was brought back from the ground.
When he finally tuned back into their conversation, it was to find them all staring at him.
“Theo?”
He couldn’t control the sharp spike of panic in his chest and quickly schooled his expression and masked his scent. He chastised himself for not paying more attention to their conversation. He stared blankly at Scott, waiting to hear if they’d made a decision regarding his fate.
“What do you think?”
Was Scott being serious? Why did he want Theo’s opinion? Malia must have been thinking the same thing, because she gave Scott a puzzled look before giving Theo a particularly nasty glare. He only smirked in response.
“I just don’t think--”
He barely got a few words out before Malia was lunging at him; Scott and the others being a second too late to stop her. Before he could register what was going on, Theo was being slammed into the wall he’d been leaning on, Malia breathing heavily in his face.
“If you wanted to get this close to me, all you had to do was ask,” Theo grunted out.
Malia huffed and pushed him further into the wall, which he didn’t think was possible. Finally, after a few more tense seconds of snarling and glowering, Scott and Liam were able to pry her off of him.
“Why is he even here? Hasn’t he tried to kill practically everyone in this room? Why would we take his advice on anything, especially if it involves our survival?” Malia snapped at the others, never taking her eyes off of him. They exchanged looks that Theo couldn’t decipher. A perk to being in the pack he supposed.
“Look, if you want me to leave, I’ll leave. I didn’t even want to come in the first place,” Theo shot back angrily. He didn’t necessarily want to go back to his truck, but anywhere would be better than the McCall living room right now.
At his words, Theo could have sworn that Liam looked slightly crestfallen. He didn’t think too much of it, though. Liam could feel bad for a fly that hit his truck’s windshield as they were driving. At least the fly was more deserving of his pity.
Surveying the room and observing the subsequent silence following his words, Theo couldn’t handle the ranging looks of fear to frustration to regret in their eyes. He started towards the door, his hand only reaching the doorknob before he felt a hand wrap firmly around his wrist.
He whipped around at the unfamiliar touch and came face to face with Liam.
“Let go,” he gritted out. Liam just looked back at him. They stayed like that for an uncomfortable amount of time; Theo fuming and Liam staring defiantly, never loosening his grip.
After a few moments, Liam yanked him impossibly closer. Practically spitting in Theo’s face, he growled out: “Stay, dickhead. Nobody’s forcing you to leave.”
Theo wanted to argue that he was pretty sure he was the last person that the pack wanted here as their ally, but he didn’t dare argue with Liam. He didn’t really understand why his absence would make Liam so upset, but at least it prolonged the inevitable night of nightmares in his truck.
Ignoring the baffled looks from the rest of the pack, Liam pulled Theo back into the living room and shoved him onto the couch next to Corey; his hand never leaving Theo’s wrist. He was sure that if not for his healing, there would be dark, finger-shaped bruises painting his skin.
They stayed like that for another hour, until the pack meeting ended. It was late, and Theo knew he had to get going if he wanted to tuck himself away in a decent spot in the preserve, but Liam still wasn’t letting go.
Various pack members started to settle in for the night and Theo took that as his cue to leave. He gently tugged at Liam’s grasp, which still wasn’t relenting.
“Stay here tonight,” he practically whispered. “Scott won’t mind.”
And there it was. Theo couldn’t even begin to understand what it was about Liam that made it so damn hard for him to decline. Before he knew what was happening, he was curling up on the floor next to Liam. He caught Argent giving him a look that he couldn’t place, but tried not to let it faze him. This would be the first night in months that he had somewhere warm and safe to sleep. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d felt safety.
As everyone established their final sleeping arrangements, Lydia leaned behind the couch and closed the curtains, snuffing out the light seeping into the backyard.
As the curtains slid closed, two familiar mechanic figures caught their last glimpse of Theo laying on the floor of the True Alpha’s living room. The closest thing they’d had to a success was sleeping on the floor of the enemy. Their plans would have to be put on hold for now; but make no mistake, Theo Raeken would be theirs soon enough.