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Liam hated Theo Raeken.

Not only for being a reckless, idiotic chimera, but also for being dumb enough to save Liam’s life.

It was bad enough that Theo had shown up in the nick of time to save Liam from the spray of hunter’s bullets. It was even worse that, in declaring that he wouldn’t die for him, Theo had drawn so close that their lips had nearly brushed.

The most awful thing of all, though, was that Theo Raeken had not made it out of that battle alive. He had in fact died for Liam Dunbar.

And Liam hated him for it.

His hatred for him grew with each passing day that Theo did not rise from the dead. He hated him the most when Scott spoke at his funeral—a polite, choreographed speech about the boy Theo had once been and the hero he’d become in his final moments—because Liam’s heart began to ache. His gut wrenched as if he’d just taken an alpha’s punch. His lungs caved in as he desperately gulped the too-thin air. When the confusing swell of emotions brought tears streaming down his cheeks, Liam hated Theo for that, too.

Long after the casket had been buried beneath fresh dirt and topped with a bed of white lilies, Liam sat at Theo’s headstone. Long after everyone had gone home, Liam kept watching the clouds drift overhead. He’d barely managed to pull himself together in time to fall apart again at the sight of them lowering Theo into the ground.

Because this time, there was no sword and no escape from this particular prison, and Liam couldn’t quite bear to leave Theo alone underground for a second time.

As the afternoon wore on, the sparce, fluffy clouds thickened until they were heavy and saturated. Rain cascaded across the grass. The moisture dripped between the branches of the oak tree above him, soaking his clothes, but Liam didn’t budge. Not even when thunder boomed and lightning arced across the darkening sky.

He only moved when he heard the scream.

A raw, desperate cry for help.

Liam was on his feet, his sports jacket abandoned at the grave, and sprinted for the tree-line. The rapid spray of bullets sent him diving for the ground. Mud coated his hands and pine cones dug into his palms.

The rain was coming down in sheets now, so comprehensive that it dampened his sense of smell and the roar of massive drops pounding the earth muffled his hearing. That didn’t stop him from spotting the hunters, though. Six of them had surrounded a kid with glowing eyes. Their guns and crossbows were trained on the hunched, cowering figure.

Despite their overwhelming victory in the war, Monroe’s efforts had spread like wildfire to the surrounding areas. The hunters in Beacon Hills might have conceded, but that didn’t stop hunters from chasing other werewolves into their territory. Groups of hunters like this were rare, but not unheard of.

Liam didn’t stop to consider an alternative. He merely launched himself through the trees and torrential downpour and ripped the gun from the first hunter he reached, using the butt of it to knock him out. He shoved the unconscious hunter into the raised guns of his friends, sending them sprawling onto the ground.

He sank his knuckles into gut of the next hunter. He doubled over, and Liam took the opportunity to slam his knee up into the man’s nose.

Something struck him from behind—that damn rain had let one of them catch him by surprise—but the hunter hadn’t anticipated Liam’s speed. He snatched the hunter’s wrist and sent them flying over his own head, pummeling them into the ground.

Liam whirled, flinging water from his hair, ready for the next attack.

But none came.

The rest of the hunters were incapacitated.

Only the kid remained. The glow from his eyes had faded, and he looked so small, so young. Liam vaguely wondered if this was how Scott and Stiles must have seen him at first. If their hearts had ached for him the way he ached for this kid—alone and terrified and powerful beyond measure.

“Are you all right?” Liam called over the roaring rain. The kid flinched, but let Liam haul him to his feet. “Come on, let’s get you out of here.”

The kid was cold to the touch and unsteady on his feet. His ankle was likely sprained, but they didn’t have time to stop. The hunters could wake at any moment, and he needed to get this kid to safety.

As they began to jog back toward the graveyard, a chill ran up Liam’s spine and he froze. A shadow had darted between the trees. Thunder roared overhead, but Liam could’ve sworn that he heard someone call his name.

He whirled just in time to see an arrow heading directly for the kid. Liam tackled him, sucking in a breath through clenched teeth as the arrow buried itself in the back of his thigh.

“Go!” Liam shouted. “Run for the clearing and hide in the gazebo. I’ll find you there!”

The kid scrambled to his feet and ran awkwardly, half limping across the slick ground.

Liam ripped the arrow from his leg with a cry, then forced himself to rise and face the hunters. He drew on the power of his wolf and felt the piercing stab of his claws emerging.

Arrows soared toward him, aiming directly for his chest, his head, his gut. Liam ducked and dodged, but five of the six hunters were back on their feet. They only had so many arrows, but there was no telling how much ammo they had carried.

Bullets came at him in a wave, and Liam leapt behind a tree. If they were determined to pick him off from a distance, then he needed to get closer to them. At least, that was what Theo would do.

Liam darted from tree to tree as quickly as he could manage with his injured leg. When he reached the first hunter, he yanked him behind the tree and out of sight of the others before slamming his fist into the man’s nose again and again. Then he pried the gun from his hands, dumped the ammo into a puddle, and emptied the chamber. He clutched the empty gun and used it to bludgeon the next hunter.

Rain soaked through his hair and into his eyes, blurring his vision. The sun had set and the shadows were elongating by the second, but one shadow in particular kept moving in a peculiar way. Liam only ever caught it out of the corner of his eye as he fought. He could’ve sworn he saw a flash of pearly white canine fangs and the yellow glow of werewolf eyes. But it was always gone before he could focus on it. As if the creature was nothing more than wisps of smoke playing with his vision and his mind before evaporating completely.

The hunter landed a blow and Liam fell forward onto his hands and knees. He lifted his head to meet the cold sting of the shotgun’s barrel. He merely shut his eyes and accepted his fate.

After all, what was one more werewolf in the ground.

“Any last words, mut?”

“Yeah, bury me beside the chimera.”

He waited for the blow that never came.

Liam opened his eyes to the sight of that last hunter writhing on the ground without his vocal cords, the gun discarded beside him. But it didn’t make sense. Unless the kid had come back, but—

Pain erupted in his temple and the shadows of the forest wove together to form a curtain that eclipsed his vision and tugged him into unconsciousness.

Liam woke to someone emphatically shaking him.

“Dude,” the kid from the woods said. “Dude, wake up!”

“I’m awake,” Liam croaked. “And my name’s not dude, it’s Liam.”

The kid plopped onto his butt and wrung his hands.

“Oh, cool, uh, I’m Alec.” His hair had begun to curl against his pale forehead as it dried. His clothes were still drenched and puddles littered the gazebo floor.

The gazebo… Liam lurched upright and his vision swam. His stomach churned and the back of his head throbbed. Gingerly, he touched the spot and his fingers came away sticky with half-congealed blood.

One second, he’d been at a hunter’s mercy, and the next he was perfectly safe. It didn’t make any sense. Unless—

“How did I get here?” Liam demanded.

Alec shrugged. “I dunno. Some guy. He carried you from the forest and put you in here.”

Liam’s heart clenched in his chest. Maybe the shadow he’d been seeing in the forest hadn’t been a shadow at all. Maybe it hadn’t been smoke and mirrors, but Theo himself. Come to save him from danger in the nick of time, just as he always had.

“What did he look like?

“I didn’t get a good look at him. I heard someone coming and hid behind the gazebo.”

“Was he tall or short? Brown hair? Did he smell like soap?”

Alec frowned and a crease formed between his brows. “Soap?”

“Just answer the question!” Liam had half a mind to shake the boy.

“I don’t know. I think he was average height and maybe… black hair?”

“Black?”

“Yeah, like jet black.”

Thunder burst overhead so loudly that Liam thought the sky might crack open. Liam surged to his feet, throwing open the gazebo doors and sprinting out into the raging storm.

“Theo!” Liam shouted. “THEO!”

A flash of lightning illuminated the nearby forest, and in that split second, a silhouette stood between two trees in the distance. Liam squinted to get a closer look, but all that remained was a small shrub.

Maybe he’d envisioned the whole thing. Maybe there really hadn’t been anyone else here at all.

“Liam?” Alec asked, trying to tug him back into the shelter of the gazebo. “Who’s Theo?”

Liam tried to tell him, but his hatred for Theo had deepened and his voice was lost to the next rumble of thunder. “He was my friend.”

Theo, the traitor.

Theo, the enigma.

Theo, the shifter.

Theo, the dead chimera.

Theo, the ghost who had saved Liam’s life.

Theo, who had coaxed to life a flicker of hope within Liam and ignited a personal realization that maybe his attraction wasn’t limited to just girls. But before he could even entertain the idea of it, before he could even attempt to pursue something beyond the bounds of friendship, Theo had abandoned him. He had gone where Liam couldn’t follow.

The chimera had swept into his life like a ferocious storm and left just as swiftly.

Liam would never forgive him for it.

After that night, Liam returned to sit at Theo’s grave and keep the chimera company. It had taken Scott and Mason several months to convince Liam that Theo couldn’t be alive. That they’d all watched him die, watched the blood bubble out of his mouth before his eyes had glazed over and the hand clutching Liam’s had gone limp.

“Theo was a master manipulator, but not even he could manipulate death.”

Sometimes Liam brought flowers, sometimes he brought Mason’s most recent freshly baked goods, and sometimes he brought cleaning supplies to scrub the headstone free of any dirt and grime that had built up over the months.

More often than not, Liam merely leaned against the nearby oak tree. He told Theo every little detail about his day, no matter how mundane or trivial. By the time Liam graduated high school, it had become such an ingrained part of his day that leaving for college and moving cities felt like losing Theo all over again.

The fresh wave of grief was as comprehensive as the shadow of the oak tree that now harbored a Liam-sized patch of permanently flattened grass. The branches were so thick that they eclipsed the overhead sun and limited his vision to only a handful of clouds along the horizon.

“Goodbye,” Liam whispered to the headstone. Each step back to his car had felt like a chain tightening around his chest, tethering him to the grave and shallowing each breath.

But he hadn’t shed a single tear.

His anger hadn’t risen to claim him. He merely moved through his obligations and packed his room on autopilot. He didn’t bother to fold his clothes and instead opted for tossing giant piles of clothes into boxes and taping them shut haphazardly. Mason’s brows crept up his forehead when he and Corey and Alec showed up with the U-Haul, but one look at his surely vacant expression, and none of them made so much as uttered a snarky comment.

Scott and Isaac had agreed to drive down from their own college a few hours away to help them move into the apartment Liam was renting with Mason and Corey. Not even the sight of Scott could coax joy into his numb mind and heart. Everything, the good and the bad, was muffled beneath the shadow of grief.

Liam forced a smile and clapped his alpha on the back before greeting Isaac with a quick nod. They began the steady stream of unloading boxes and furniture, and Liam thought he’d been doing pretty well at burying his feelings, but when he took a minute too long to stack another box in his baren room, Scott cornered Liam with a hand on his shoulder.

“Talk to me, Li, what’s going on?”

“Nothing.” Guilt flooded through Liam, and he pulled away from his alpha. He didn’t know how to explain to Scott that he’d become so unequivocally attached to the only person who’d actually succeeded in taking his life. The traitor who’d almost manipulated Liam himself into committing the homicidal act. “Just a little home sick, that’s all.”

Scott’s eyes narrowed, but whether or not he detected the lie, his alpha ruffled Liam’s hair and drew him in for an all-encompassing hug. The crushing kind that made Liam feel as if all of his broken pieces could be melded back together if they stayed like that long enough. His alpha had that effect on people. He wasn’t just strong and protective but healing, too.

And suddenly, the shadow cleaved apart.

“I miss Theo.”

Scott reeled back, bewilderment arching his brows and widening his soft brown eyes. “Theo… Raeken?”

“Yeah.”

“Miss him like…”

Liam averted his gaze. “The night he was killed, we almost—” his voice cracked. “It’s stupid, but I thought there was something between us. Because we never got to figure out if there actually was, I just kinda can’t stop thinking about him. I’ve been going to his grave every day, and now that I’m a whole state away, I can’t even do that.”

“Is that why you broke up with Hayden?” Scott asked.

Heat rushed into the tips of Liam’s ears. “Kind of, but it was more so that I knew I had to figure some stuff out about myself, and I didn’t think I could do that while she and I were dating.”

“I can understand that.” The surprise and shock had faded from Scott’s face, and all that was left was understanding and compassion. Liam wondered if maybe Scott was the one person that might understand his predicament more than anyone considering his past with Allison and how long it had taken him to reconnect with Isaac after the fact.

“I know how stupid this all sounds.” Liam paced in the cramped little space left between the boxes. “And you’re probably just going to tell me that I need to move on, but I don’t know how!”

Scott nodded slowly as he absorbed this, and Liam was ever grateful for his ability to simply roll with whatever nonsensical punches his pack threw at him on a daily basis.

“I’m not gonna tell you that because clearly you’re gonna feel whatever you need to feel about this. About him. But I am gonna tell you that he’s gone. Theo’s not in an underground prison. We can’t rescue him. We can’t revive him. He’s gone, Liam.”

“What if he’s not though?” Liam blurted.

Scott sighed heavily. “Not this again, Li.”

“I know what I saw,” Liam insisted. “I felt his presence.”

“You hallucinated!”

“But then why did I wake up in the gazebo? That hunter was about to blow my brains out and someone saved me!”

Scott gripped both of Liam’s arms with just enough strength to pull him back from whatever ledge of insanity he’d found himself on the precipice of.

“Liam. He’s dead. No one can change that fact. There’s a limit to even what we can do.”

The same shadow that had masked Liam’s emotion all day now seemed to darken Scott’s eyes, and he stared out the window for a long moment before speaking again.

“Clearly, you cared a lot about him, and not knowing what could have been is probably just as upsetting as losing that possibility entirely. But, maybe Theo gave you an opportunity.”

“What do you mean?”

“If he was the reason you realized that you like boys, then maybe he opened the door to an entire new world of possibilities.” Scott released his arms to gestured out the window and across the street, where new students were rolling up with their parents and filling up their dorm rooms. “Liam, you’re at college. You’re in a new school with thousands of new classmates and potential new friends. Maybe Theo wasn’t meant to stay in your life forever. Maybe he was just meant to be a lesson.”

“A lesson.”

“Yeah, and this is your chance for a fresh start. Make a new story for yourself here. One that Theo would be proud of.”

 Liam could accept that.

At least, Liam could have accepted that, if it weren’t for what happened two hours later. When they’d finished setting up the majority of the apartment, they decided to hit up the dining hall for sustenance.

“But it’s like 4:30,” Liam said.

Isaac slung an arm around Liam’s shoulder. “Oh, sweet summer child, you have so much to learn. Like how cafeteria food gets substantially worse the longer it’s been sitting out.”

Liam pried Isaac’s arm off him with a plaintive cry to Scott, “Come get your boyfriend before I start a fight.”

“What’s got your panties in a twist?” Isaac demanded, and despite the boy being both older and almost a foot taller, Liam was highly debating whether or not to make Isaac a permanent part of the floor décor.

“Trust me, you don’t want to know,” Scott assured his boyfriend.

The group was on their way to the dining hall when Liam froze. He wasn’t sure what caught his attention first—the specific cadence of steps that were so light they hardly brushed the ground, the stark scent of laundry detergent mingled with fresh soap, or the casual but slightly ragged appearance.

Either way, Liam attention narrowed to the black-haired boy across the quad. His hands rested easily in his pockets and a dark backpack was slung over one shoulder. The tips of his slightly-too-long hair curled across his forehead casually. Likely thanks to the summer heat, the collar of his button up shirt was loose and the sleeves were rolled up to the elbows.

The boy tipped his head back and laughed at whatever his companion had said to him, and that was enough to snap Liam out of his revere because, despite the hair dye and the new wardrobe, that was—beyond the shadow of a doubt—Theo Raeken.

For a split second, joy at the sight of seeing him expanded like a bubble in his chest. Sheer relief sang through him, and the burning desire to see the one person he could never reach again had been snuffed out because he was suddenly right in front of him. All of those lost chances were no longer lost. All of those unsaid words could finally be said.

But it burst just as quickly as it had formed because if Theo was here, if he was alive, then that meant he’d lied. He’d let Liam believe that he was dead, let him sit at his grave and grieve the goddamn bastard’s life and the loss of what could have been, and let him be fucking heartbroken.

His vision sheeted red.

Liam didn’t remember tearing across the quad. He didn’t remember shoving kids out of the way. He didn’t remember decking Theo so hard that he sent the chimera sprawling across the grass.

The first thing he remembered in that lost span of a few seconds was the smile that crept across Theo’s expression and the words, “Missed you too, Dunbar.”

But that only fueled the flames of rage roiling through Liam. He pinned Theo to the ground and threw punch after punch. Blood burst from Theo’s nose, but that didn’t deter Liam. He wanted Theo to feel all of the hurt and sorrow that had occupied his daily thoughts for the past eleven months. He wanted him to understand just how much grief he’d carried with him and how easily that had morphed into unfettered rage.

People yanked and tore at his arms and shirt, but it wasn’t until Scott roared his name and ripped him from Theo that Liam realized that they had an audience.

Several dozen students had stopped to gawk. Some had their phones out and were videoing, but they were plucked from their hands as if by some invisible force and vanishing completely before returning to their owners minutes later.

Liam didn’t care how absolutely unhinged this must look to the complete strangers surrounding them. It wasn’t like he’d shifted—though he had to study his own nail beds to be certain.

Liam thrashed against Scott, struggling to free himself as Theo’s friend lent him a hand up from the ground, and his vision nearly sheeted red again. He couldn’t explain the fiery hot rage churning his gut at the thought of another boy touching him, even if it was just a gentle grab below the elbow and a clasping of hands.

“What the hell is going on here?” called a booming voice of authority.

“Fuck,” Mason swore.

So much for a fresh start.

* * *

Liam and Theo sat as far away from each other as humanly possible while they awaited the college president’s determination.

Silence stretched between them, taut as a bowstring.

Theo hadn’t said a damn word since they’d been hauled off the quad. The security guards had permitted Theo a few minutes to wipe the blood from his nose before depositing them roughly into chairs outside the president’s office. Liam clenched his jaw and assumed—apparently wrongly so—that Theo would have to be the first to break the silence. After so many months of turmoil, Theo owed him an explanation, and Liam refused to give him the satisfaction of prying it out of him.

Except, the longer the silence reverberated around them, the more irritated Liam became, and when Liam risked a glance at the chimera, his lips were twisting into smirk. Liam crossed his arms tightly over his chest and began to kick the chair beside him, jostling Theo with every movement. He kicked harder and harder until finally, Theo cleared his throat.

“Use your words, Dunbar.”

Liam seethed through his teeth, but managed, “So. You’re not dead.”

“Nope.”

“Would you like to be? Because I can arrange that.”

Theo’s smirk didn’t budge, but his eyes darkened and the amused sparkle fizzled out. As his lips parted, the president’s office door opened on squeaking hinges. The hair across Liam’s arms and the back of his neck stood up on end.

A middle-aged woman with glasses and a stern expression glanced up from her clipboard, resting a hand on her hip.

“Liam Dunbar and Asher Adams, the President is ready for you.”

Liam cocked a brow at Theo, but the chimera shot him a pointed glare that needed no words. He supposed if Theo had faked his own death, he couldn’t exactly go around with the exact same name. The name Theo Raeken was too unforgettable. Of course he’d needed an alias so that his enemies wouldn’t hunt him.

Enemies like Monroe. And Scott. And half of Beacon Hills.

That thought was enough to temper his unyielding rage. The woman led them into an ornately adorned office with thick velvet curtains and oil paintings that stretched from floor to ceiling. The dusty moist smell reminiscent of old libraries permeated the air and sent a wave of nausea through Liam as horrific memories from another library flickered through his mind.

The president swiveled in her leather chair to face them, resting her interlaced fingers atop her desk. “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t expel the both of you this very minute.”

Liam’s heart caught in his throat. Expulsion had been the furthest thing from his mind when he’d seen Theo. He hadn’t considered that he’d get in trouble for tackling him, let alone being expelled from college before classes had even begun. His stepfather had spent an exorbitant amount on the apartment and the deposit and the moving. He was going to be so heart broken, so furious with him, and Liam had no defense because he was thoroughly, utterly guilty. He’d let his anger get the better of him and had forgotten that he no longer resided within the protection of Beacon Hills.

Here, in this administrative office, the McCall pack meant nothing.

Liam had no say, no pull, no way to wiggle out of this.

Theo cleared his throat. “While I understand that the school’s policy on fighting is zero tolerance, might I offer a different perspective?”

The president narrowed her eyes at him, squinting beyond the silver rim of her glasses.

“You may.”

“You see, Madam President, Liam is an old friend of mine, and, well, it’s an old harmless prank we play on the other when reuniting after long periods of time apart.” Theo dropped an arm around his shoulders and tugged him close—running his knuckles over Liam’s scalp and ruffling his hair. “He just got a little carried away this time, but he didn’t actually harm me.”

Liam had felt the small bones in Theo’s nose crack beneath the repetition of his blows, but his quick healing had erased all evidence of that, and the president, it seemed, operated exclusively on evidence.

“According to witnesses, there was quite a lot of blood at the scene.”

Theo tensed ever so briefly before tackling that question head on, too. “Ah, that. Simple blood packet left over from Halloween. All part of the prank and completely fabricated.”

“Hmm.” The president gnawed at her lip as she considered this, clearly not buying the story outright but not inclined to send them packing on the spot, either.

Theo retracted his arm from Liam’s shoulders and inched toward the president. Then he flashed one of his prize-winning smiles that was so dazzling it seemed to light up the entire room. The anxiety wrapped tightly around Liam’s ribcage slowly unraveled at the sight, and the tips of his fingers began to tingle with some strange emotion he couldn’t quite place.

“If we promise to never prank each other on campus again, would it be possible to forgo expulsion?”

The president stood, resting the tips of her fingers along the dark wooden desk free from clutter.

“Consider this a warning.”

“Thank you—” Theo began.

“A warning that comes with twenty hours of community service.”

Theo nodded. “That’s a fair reconciliation if I’ve ever heard one. Truly, we both appreciate your kindness and understanding.”

“Do not mistake my ruling for kindness,” the president said. “If anything like this should ever happen again, you will be escorted off campus immediately and your personal items will be discarded in the nearest dumpster. Do we have an understanding?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Theo answered, and when Liam stood stock still in utter shock, Theo nudged him with his foot. Begrudgingly, Liam wondered if that was considered fighting or if an actual blow had to be dealt to fulfill her standards.

“Yes,” Liam croaked. “Thank you.”

“You’re dismissed,” the president said with a wave, and Liam scrambled for the door. He was halfway down the hall when Theo jogged up beside him.

“No, it’s fine. I wasn’t expecting a thank you or anything for saving your ass after you broke my nose on the quad.”

Liam didn’t even spare the chimera a glance. “Don’t fuck with me, Theo.”

“What the hell is your problem?”

Liam whirled on Theo. “My problem?” his voice had raised an octave. They were nearing the student center now and bound to have an audience in the imminent future. Theo grasped Liam by the collar and yanked him unceremoniously into the nearest stairwell. It was dim and the stuffy air was near sweltering in the summer heat. “My problem? You faked your goddamn death, Theo.”

“And why does that bother you so much?”

“Because you lied!”

Theo stared at him blankly because, of course he had. The chimera was famous for his ability to weave lies with such excruciating detail that it made people doubt their own reality.

“So? That never bothered you before.”

The weight of Theo’s wrist burned against Liam’s chest, and unable to stand the contact a second longer, he broke the chimera’s hold on him and shoved him for good measure.

“You didn’t just let everyone in your life believe you were dead, Theo.” Liam pushed Theo again, his palms slamming against his shoulders and pinning him against the wall. They were so close now, as close as they had been in the elevator that fateful night.

“You let me believe it, too. You saved my life in that goddamn elevator, and I thought…” But the words died in Liam’s throat. Even if he said them aloud, Theo would only mock him. Or worse, shatter any illusion he had harbored that his feelings were grounded in reality.

Theo swallowed, and Liam tracked the bob of his Adam’s apple. His mouth watered as the urge to clamp down on his throat, to taste his skin, became unbearable.

“Never mind what I thought.”

Theo stared at him, blank and unfeeling, and the sensation curled into embarrassment. The heat suddenly made the air too thin to fill his lungs. So Liam channeled all of that energy into slamming his fist into the concrete wall beside Theo’s head before pushing away from him. Away from the illusive chimera. Away from the dream of him.

Liam made for the door and wondered if, hoped that, Theo might stop him, but luck was not on his side today.

Not even as the dark rumblings of Theo’s chuckle halted him in his tracks.

“Oh, you thought that was real?” Theo asked. Rage sizzled in the depths of Liam’s chest in the exact same spot where it used to ache as he sat and spoke to Theo Raeken’s grave. He should’ve known that the Theo he’d built up in his head was far better than the reality of him could ever be. “Poor little beta mistook my attempts at survival with flirting.”

Liam launched himself at Theo, slamming him back against the wall with a resounding thud. He felt the shift writhing, hot and unyielding, beneath his skin, and clung to the remnants of his humanity.  

“The problem with you, Theo, is that your whole existence is built on lies. You don’t know how to stop, so you just started to believe them.”

“That’s bullshit—”

“Is it?” Liam demanded, his claws splitting open his skin and budding from his fingertips to dig into the column of Theo’s throat. “So you leaning into me in the elevator was what, a fluke? If you knew you were going to fake your own death, why bother trying to kiss me? Unless you couldn’t help yourself. Unless some part of that was real.”

Theo’s expression twisted into a snarl, and he shoved at Liam, sending him stumbling back a few steps. “You don’t know anything.”

Finally. Finally, Liam had found the crack in the chimera’s perfect veneer. Finally, the wildfire had caught in the forest of Theo’s eyes. Liam might have reveled in it even longer, but the peppery scent of anger wafting from Theo held a secret. A bitter, citrus scent. One that Liam had only ever caught on Theo a handful of times.

“I know you’re scared.” Even though it came out accusatory, the jagged edge of Liam’s rage had softened. Theo opened his mouth, likely with some obstinate counter argument, so Liam continued, “You smell exactly the same as when I hauled you out of that prison.”

“I—” Theo paled.

“I know it was you that night in the woods,” Liam whispered. “Maybe you came back to see who came to your funeral, maybe even to see if anyone even bothered to hold one at all, and you ended up saving my life.”

Theo’s nostrils flared, but Liam knew deep in his bones that he was right.

“As I said, you know nothing.” Theo’s chest was rising and falling too rapidly. A bead of sweat trickled down his temple. Clearly, he wanted nothing to do with his conversation, but he hadn’t left yet. Liam clung to that flicker of hope.

“I know you won’t believe a word I say unless you’re clued into my heart beat,” Liam said. “So listen closely.”

Theo clenched his jaw, but nodded all the same.

“Over the last year, I visited your grave nearly every day.” Liam watched as the realization of truth dawned on Theo. His eyes widened imperceptibly and then his entire body softened. His jaw relaxed and his hardened gaze became gentle as he traced Liam’s face. “I broke down the day of your funeral, and even on my graduation day, I left my own party to come sit beside your grave and talk to you because I missed you.”

Theo whispered his name, and Liam let himself be reeled back in toward the chimera.

“I ached every single day that I thought you were dead because I couldn’t stop thinking about how I never got the chance to feel your lips on mine.”

When Theo’s gaze dipped to Liam’s lips, he reached for Theo’s hand, dragging it up to rest on his own chest where his heart fluttered quickly beneath his ribs at the contact.

“You can play pretend. You can act like I never meant anything to you, but I need you to know,” Liam leaned in until their lips were a hairsbreadth apart and hovered there with the heat radiating from Theo’s skin, “just how important you were to me.”

As Theo began to tip forward, Liam drew back. He started for the door again because some small, vindictive part of him wanted Theo to experience what it had been like. He wanted Theo to ache just as he had.

“Liam,” Theo whispered. His voice was half-choked and desperate as he caught Liam’s wrist. His eyes no longer burned with rage but instead simmered with an intoxicating warmth, and if Liam wasn’t careful, he would let himself be drawn in like a moth to a flame.

But they were at an impasse. Liam had put his heart on the line, and if he was going to stay—if he was going to even consider forgiving Theo—he would need more from him.

Theo wet his lips and fixated on a point in the ceiling before dragging his gaze back to meet Liam’s once more.

“You have to know it was the hardest thing I ever did, walking away from you.”

Liam’s heart thudded against his chest. He’d been so desperate for a shred of evidence that Theo had felt the same way, but his words, his beautiful words, had confirmed even more than Liam could’ve hoped for.

“Then why did you?” Liam couldn’t help but ask. “Why didn’t you say anything, that night? Why did you leave me alone in my grief?”

“Because!” Theo burst out, dropping Liam’s wrist.

“Because why?”

“Because I had to sever all connections to my previous life. Don’t you get it?”

“Oh, I get that loud and clear, Theo. Leaving was the only way to protect yourself. You don’t give a shit about anyone else. At least some things never change.”

“That’s not why I left.” The words came so quietly that Liam froze, wondering if he’d imagined them.

“What?”

“I left because anyone who gets close to me ends up dead. If I’d said anything to you that night, if I’d let you believe I was alive…” Theo shook his head. “I couldn’t…” He swallowed thickly before trying again. “I needed you to be safe, Liam, what part of that do you not understand?”

It was Liam’s turn to be rendered speechless. The Theo that Scott and Kira had trapped in the Skinwalker prison never would’ve said anything of the sort. He had no care in the world for anyone but himself and his only motivation had been power.

But this—Theo had tortured himself, possibly endured as much longing and heartache as Liam, knowing exactly where to find him but not ever being able to cross that line for fear of risking his life.

Part of Liam had always wondered if the Theo who had returned to them, traumatized from the underground prison, would remain a less volatile, less hostile, less cruel version of himself.

Liam finally had his answer.

The Theo who had saved Liam from the Ghost Riders, who had shoved him into the elevator in the name of keeping him alive, who had protected him from the hunters in the zoo, who had fought beside him against an onslaught of hunters.

That version of Theo was here to stay.

Liam’s version.

With all of their shattered, jagged edges laying bare between them, there was nothing left to say.

So Theo tugged Liam towards him, into the circle of his arms, until their lips finally collided. That strange flickering emotion that had held Liam hostage in the president’s office erupted throughout his entire body. Their chests were flush and Theo leaned into him, heavy and sure and alive. Theo’s lips were so impossibly soft and warm as they slid against his own.

Theo walked him backward and braced a hand behind him before pressing Liam up against the wall with his hip. Liam gasped and dug his fingertips into Theo’s waist as he held on, matching Theo’s energy and kissing back with as much force as he dared.

Kissing Hayden had always been fun and soft and sweet, but this was something else entirely. Liam didn’t have to be gentle; he didn’t have to worry about hurting the chimera. On the contrary, it made those gentle moments all the more intimate when Theo reeled back to stroke Liam’s cheek, gazing at him as if he’d found his own personal fallen star. It rocked Liam’s perception of the world to think that the same hands capable of such violence were also capable of stroking his cheek with such impossible gentleness.

Theo dove back in before the thought was fully formed in Liam’s mind. That tingling sensation rooted all the way through Liam’s toes and shot back toward his brain, making him dizzy and intoxicated on the sheer taste of Theo.

When they finally broke apart, Theo rested his forehead on Liam’s. Their breath mingled for a long moment, and Liam traced every inch of Theo that he could reach. He buried his fingers in the long strands of hair at the nape of his neck, studied the map of muscles down his back and back up his chest, before coming to a stop at Theo’s cheek.

Liam drew back to press a kiss to the chimera’s forehead. Theo’s eyes fluttered shut and an almost imperceptible whimper escaped him. As if Theo had moved on, had started over, but he’d never really felt safe.

“I didn’t think anyone would care.”

Liam’s heart wrenched at the thought. It wasn’t the furthest thing from the truth—most people in Beacon Hills either hadn’t remembered Theo Raeken from his elementary school days with Scott and Stiles or had been the target of his aggression in his return. If it hadn’t been for Scott’s insistence that he receive a proper funeral to honor quite possibly the noblest part of Theo’s life—his death—then likely no one but Liam would’ve attended.

“I think you’ll find it’s a refreshing change not to be right all the time.”

Theo nipped at Liam’s throat and a half-giggle, half-yelp escaped him.

“Oh, god. I don’t have to call you Asher, do I?”

Theo laughed, the sound reverberating through his chest and out into the world as carefree as a summer breeze. Liam wished he could bottle that noise and save it for the next interminable downpour.

“Only around my friends.”

Liam scoffed. “Sure, because Theo Raeken actually has friends.”

“Theo Raeken doesn’t, but Asher Adams is the friendliest bitch around.”

“Now that, I’ll have to see to believe.” Liam kissed Theo again, comprehensive and persistent, and he didn’t stop until Theo shuddered beneath his grasp. “I want to know everything about this past year.”

“C’mon, then.” Theo took his hand. Their fingers intertwined like it was the most natural thing. Like they were two pieces of the same puzzle that had finally found their place beside each other. Cool air from the hallway swept over them as Theo led Liam from the stairwell. “My dorm room’s right over there.”

Dinner at the dining hall was long over, but they agreed to order pizza. Before they could duck out of the student center, though, Liam caught sight of the pack playing pool.

Scott was the only one who noticed them, his gaze briefly flicking to Theo and Liam’s joined hands, and a beaming smile illuminated his face. He nodded, giving his clear approval. Liam supposed they could’ve left, could’ve abandoned the student center and the high volume of people in favor of a quiet night, but Liam didn’t want to kickstart his relationship with Theo by hiding him. He wanted the entire pack to see. He wanted everyone on campus to see. Hell, he wanted to shout from the rooftops that Theo Raeken was alive and well and—most importantly—liked him back.

Theo had stiffened at the sight of the pack, a breath caught somewhere in the confines of his rib cage, and Liam stroked his thumb along the smooth skin of Theo’s hand.

“They’ll understand,” Liam said.

“And if they don’t?”

“Then I’ll make them understand.”

Theo nodded but didn’t seem entirely convinced.

“What about your enemies?” Liam asked.

Theo shrugged. “I’ll figure it out.”

“We’ll figure it out. Together.”

A smile crept across Theo’s lips.

As Liam and Theo stepped into the student center together, it didn’t just feel like the beginning of a new chapter. It felt the closing of an old, worn-out book and the cracking open of an entirely fresh one with blank pages just waiting to be filled.