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Liam was so done.
Soooo, witches and wizards existed now. Of course they did. Why wouldn’t they?
And according to Deaton, most of what myth and history had told them was wrong. Witches weren’t bad, wizards were. Covens were real, for both witches and wizards, but wands and potions were absolute nonsense. And their magic seemed to mostly focus on shape shifting, so he guessed there was some truth in the whole ‘turning children into toads’ thing.
And wizards seemed to have some malicious vendetta against Beacon Hills. Or maybe, it was werewolves, he hadn’t really had chance to ask, what with all the fighting.
A bolt of white light shot past his ear, eliciting a snarl from Theo. Seriously, who even fights with light?
Theo rushed past him, immediately tacking the wizard that had shot at him. Brett and Alec were behind him, fighting the one that seemed to be the leader. Nolan hung back, shooting with his crossbow from a distance, wearing a look of confidence that Liam hadn’t really seen before.
Maybe because he finally knew he was fighting for the right side.
Lori too, was further back, protecting Nolan from the wizards trying to take him down. Mason and Corey hadn’t joined the fight, instead they had been talking to Deaton and then researching in the local library for a way to properly counteract the wizards. Claws and fangs weren’t effective enough.
There was a loud bang from behind him, and all of a sudden Lori was overwhelmed. Liam could see Brett desperately fighting to get to her, the panic clear in his eyes, but he couldn’t break through the mob surrounding him.
He couldn’t reach her.
But Liam could.
He shoved off the wizard he was fighting, sprinting towards where Lori and Nolan were quickly backing up.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another bolt of light, blue this time, heading towards him, but he dodged out of the way and continued running.
And then….. everything stopped.
The wizards froze, looking up at the sky in unison. Then they spoke, in eerie, whispered voice that crackled like the light they used.
“It is done.”
Then, they disappeared, quite literally in a puff of smoke, which Liam was left pawing at as he reached Lori and Nolan.
Wait…. pawing?
Liam looked down, the world seeming bigger than usual, at his hand, no, paws?
Thick brown fur covered his body and, was that a snout?
He was a wolf.
What the fuck.
How had the wizards done this? Was he going to stuck like this forever?
It was kinda cool, and he had wanted to full shift at some point, but not like this.
This was wrong. And he hated it.
He needed to get out of here.
Liam turned, heading back in the direction he’d come from, pace quickening as he adjusted to his new form. It was only then that he realised the rest of the pack had been speaking to him, for who knows how long. He was so distracted by his panic that he couldn’t focus on the buzz of words around him.
Theo crouched down, blocking Liam and trying to communicate with him at the same time. His voice was calm, but Liam couldn’t decipher the words.
What if it wasn’t just because he was panicking? What if he never understood what anyone was saying ever again?
This was wrong, so wrong.
The others had formed a loose circle around him, blocking him in.
Why were they stopping him?
Couldn’t they understand he needed to get out of here?
Liam saw a gap in the circle and sprinted towards it, still not hearing any of the worried yells from the rest of the pack.
Brett tried to tackle him as he dived for the gap, but he easily wriggled out his grip.
Maybe there were some benefits to this weird, wolf body after all.
Footsteps thundered behind him as he sprinted off into the distance. They couldn’t catch him, he was too fast.
But where did he go now?
Mason.
Mason would know what to do.
Liam changed direction, making his way to the library instead. Hopefully he had lost the others by now.
He got there surprisingly quickly due to his wolfiness. Yeah, there were definitely some benefits to this.
But he still needed to be able to turn back.
Getting into the library was surprisingly easy; there was nobody else there. Did people really not use libraries anymore?
Liam headed towards the corner where he could hear Mason and Corey’s voices, his claws clacking on the floor. They were surrounded by piles of books, looking tired and confused.
Neither of them looked too worried when he approached, though they did stand up quickly. They were used to all the weird-ness of Beacon Hills by now.
“What’s going on?” Corey asked, looking more bewildered than scared.
Mason frowned. “Liam? Is that you?”
He understood that. Finally, he understood something!
Liam whined softly in response. He hated not being able to communicate properly.
He was panicking again, this needed to be fixed, now.
Could it be fixed?
Corey had disappeared, where had he gone?, and Mason was kneeling down to him, similar to how Theo had earlier.
But he couldn’t understand what he was saying.
Why?
He could before! Why did it have to stop now?
This is definitely not what he thought a full shift would be like.
A loud bang behind him, but not hunters this time. No, it was the rest of his pack.
How did they find him?
Almost as if he’d read Liam’s mind, Corey walked back into their corner in the library, shoving his phone back in his pocket anxiously.
This was a trap.
Fuck.
The panic was raging now, drowning out the endless hum of the world around him.
He needed to leave here too. But where would he go?
And if he left would he ever be able to change back?
And why was there a wolf in front of him?
Wait…. what?
A black wolf, with fur smoother than his own stood in front of him, observing him closely.
Theo.
He could fix this. He could change back, so maybe he could help Liam to. Hopefully.
The others had vacated the library, but Liam could still hear dull murmurs, so they must be somewhere near.
Would they hate him now?
A black snout nudged him, forcing him to zone back into reality. How was he going to fix this?
He motioned for Liam to follow, and, out of curiosity, he did so. They were in the kids section in the library now, the part so full of bean bags, blankets and pillows that it looked like a giant nest.
Oh.
Theo curled up on one of the bean bags, leaving Liam enough space to curl up comfortably next to him. It took some weird, wolfy coaxing from Theo, but he eventually did so.
What was he supposed to do now?
Liam shifted awkwardly, his blood still fizzing with anxiety. Theo placed his head on Liam’s back, both as a comfort and a restraint, and, somehow, Liam found himself nodding off.
His dreams were calmer and more peaceful than they had been in a while, not that anyone knew about that. When he awoke, sunlight was streaming through the library windows, and he found he didn’t really want to emerge from his bean bag nest.
But Theo was gone.
Theo was gone and he had to find him. What if he was mad at him? Or he’d been attacked by the wizards? What if that was why he was a wolf? What if he was stuck too?
Liam stood, shaking off the blanket that had been placed over him and picking up the pile of clothes that had been left on the floor for him.
Wait.
He was human again.
How had that happened? When had that happened? Did that mean Theo was human again too?
Liam pulled on the clothes as quickly as he could, not bothering with the shoe laces and sprinted towards the door. A hand caught his shoulder as he stumbled, and he looked up in shock.
Theo.
“Glad you’re awake, but is there anything you don’t worry about?” he said, the smirk on his face not matching the concern in his eyes.
The only response Liam could think of was “Huh?”
Theo laughed. “C’mon, today you’re relaxing.”
Liam pulled back, the acidic feeling of panic rising in his throat again.
“No, no, I can’t. Need to track down the wizards.”
He began pacing and muttering, hands yanking on his hair.
“Liam.” The worry in Theo’s gaze was back again.
“The reason it took you so long to turn back last night was cause of how much you were panicking, not the spell. The others are going to deal with the wizards today, and you know they’re more than capable. Now, I promised them I’d get you to calm down and I’m positive Mason will hunt me down if I don’t, so either you come with me willingly or we do this by force.”
Liam was stunned. That was… a lot. How was he supposed to react to all that?
He took a deep breath. “Okay.”
Theo grinned. “I have so many movies lined up.”
Liam groaned as Theo shoved him into the car.