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Scott was coming back to town, and Liam was about to go off.
It wasn’t like Scott deliberately chose when to come back, but he just somehow set the date to meet Liam on the full moon, and Liam was so horrified reading the texts that he almost wanted to jump off the hospital roof again.
That Alpha was so selfish, like he didn’t even know there were some werewolves in the world who were still having trouble dealing with the full moon, and Liam wasn’t just some random werewolf either. He was his Beta, and more importantly, the untitled Alpha-in-training in this goddamn town.
Liam bit his nails, then glanced back at his phone.
Scott: Looking forward to seeing you, Liam. Hope you’re doing well!
That was not a reassurance. That was a threat.
He let out a loud groan, his whole body so stiff that he completely didn't notice Mason walking toward him. Mason rested a hand on Liam’s shoulder, and the werewolf abruptly jumped as if the floor suddenly became lava.
“Woah, woah, woah. Did I cut the wrong wire or what?” Mason said in an amused voice, letting his hand drop back as Liam was basically leaning against the lockers now.
Liam pressed a hand on his chest, trying to steady his breath. Then he shot Mason a glare. “What the hell, Mason? I could’ve died in a heart attack.”
“You’re overreacting.” Mason chuckled. “And werewolves can’t get a heart attack.” He stepped over to Liam and rested an elbow on the lockers. “So, what’s going on? You seem anxious.”
Liam stared at him for a few seconds, then sighed. “Scott’s coming back in two days, and you know what that means, right?”
Mason didn’t seem to know what it meant. He furrowed his brow. “It means you’re gonna have a heartwarming dad-son reunion?”
“No, Mase.” Liam rolled his eyes. “It means he’s giving me a test, to see if I’m capable of being the interim Alpha of this town. And—” he lifted his phone, pulled out a picture of the moon, and shoved it in Mason’s face. “It’s the full moon.”
Mason narrowed his eyes, and threw Liam a reassuring look that looked like another threat. “You’ll be fine, Liam.” He patted Liam’s shoulder. “You were fine the last few full moons.”
“I won’t,” Liam whined. “Not if Scott’s here.”
“Then use your anchor.”
Liam paused. Anchor. He was pretty sure his former anchor had just left Beacon Hills more than a year ago, and he hadn’t thought about finding a new one since then. He had been fine most of the time anyway, but right now, he suddenly felt stupid that he hadn’t done it earlier.
“I don’t have one,” he muttered.
“I’m sure you do.” Mason smiled, then he gave Liam’s shoulder a gentle squeeze before walking away.
Liam was dazed. He didn’t know what Mason meant, but he did know he had something close enough to an anchor, or rather, someone who had always calmed him down during the war. He sighed. Well, this was his last resort, but he somehow didn’t hate this idea.
He pounded the lockers and walked toward the school entrance. He had to catch a different bus today.
*
“You want me to do what?” Theo stood at his apartment door, but Liam just shoved him aside and walked straight inside. He somehow got the privilege to do that, though. He crashed onto the couch.
Theo sighed and closed the door before walking toward him.
“I want you to be there at me and Scott’s reunion,” Liam said flatly.
“Why?” Theo scoffed. “And I’m pretty sure Scott’s gonna kill me on the spot.”
“He won’t,” Liam muttered. “And we’ll figure out a way to make you look like a complete stranger.”
“That’s a bit contradictory, little wolf.” Theo walked over and sat beside him. “Plus, why do you want me there?”
“Well, I need someone who can calm me—” Liam choked, but he quickly put himself together and cleared his throat. “I mean, that’s not important. I just need you there.”
Theo stared at him for a second, then he shook his head. “This is so stupid.”
“C’mon, Theo—”
“Fine.”
Liam’s eyes widened, but he slowly broke into a grin. He turned toward Theo. “You sure?”
“It’s not like you’re gonna leave in five hours if I say no.” Theo let out a snort. “So, how am I supposed to look like a stranger?”
Liam jumped to his feet and said cheerfully, “I’ll drop you some clothes tomorrow. Probably sunglasses. Oh, and a hat. You’ll definitely need a hat.”
Then he sprinted toward the door and left, leaving Theo’s helpless laughs behind.
*
Two days passed like a flash, and Liam found himself in a coffee shop. He fidgeted nervously and glanced at the chimera every twenty seconds. Theo sat three tables down, wearing sunglasses, and his head was buried under a...bowler hat? Liam wasn’t even sure if that was the name, but it was the only thing he could’ve found in his dad’s closet.
Scott had said he would be five minutes late, so he should be...
“Surprise! Little runt!” A loud voice rang out from the entrance, and Liam almost flipped the table over with his thigh. Stiles? What the fuck was he doing here?
“I told him not to come, but he booked the ticket anyway,” Scott said sheepishly as he showed up from behind his best friend. “How’s my Alpha-in-training doing?”
Liam’s head buzzed for a second. Well, except for the witches, the chupacabras, the giant spiders, and the enormous crack in the preserve, he guessed he was doing great.
He opened his mouth, but Stiles didn’t give him a chance to speak.
“Derek told me half the Hale House went down.” He walked over and sat across from Liam. Scott followed.
“Um...” Liam stalled. “That was probably the witches.”
“The witches?” The two older boys shouted at the same time.
“Yeah, well, we’ve got it covered eventually, but the crack was so big that—”
“What crack?” Scott asked, raising a brow. Liam glanced at him for one second before lowering his gaze to the table.
“No, uh- I mean,” Liam stuttered hard. Beacon Hills hadn’t stopped being a disaster since the older pack members had left. Sure, same as usual, but it had become his disaster since he was technically the de facto Alpha now.
Liam bit his lower lip. “Well, th- there was an earthquake,” he lied.
“Earthquake?” Stiles threw him a confused look. “Huh, never heard of that.” He pulled out his phone, seemingly starting to google.
“No, Stiles.” Liam rushed out, grabbing Stiles' phone. “No. There’s no earthquake. I mean, there is an earthquake, but there’s also chupacabras and—”
He cut himself off as Scott and Stiles were both staring at him with concerned looks, frowning.
“Giant spiders,” he finished anyway.
Stiles gasped so hard that he choked on his saliva, and Scott’s eyebrows kept climbing higher and higher until ten new wrinkles formed on his forehead.
Liam squeezed his own thigh.
Oh God. He messed up. Now Scott was going to think he wasn’t capable of protecting this town, and he wasn’t qualified to be an Alpha. Scott would be so disappointed that he might even kick him out of the pack.
He glanced at the bowler hat. Theo’s whole body trembled, seemingly trying not to laugh. This freaking chimera.
Liam breathed shakily, his left hand gripping Stiles’ phone, his legs shifting. His right-hand fingers began scratching the surface of the table, as if he were clawing something—
“Full moon, huh?” Scott’s voice snapped him back. He whipped his head up and saw Scott’s eyes fixed on his right hand. His heart skipped a beat.
“No, Scott. It’s not the full moon. I mean, I don’t-” he stumbled over every word. “I’ll- I’ll put them back. I’ll put my claws back. I promise.” He squeezed his eyes shut, focusing on...anything he had to focus on, but Scott’s voice came again.
“What claws? Liam?” He sounded genuinely perplexed.
Liam darted his eyes to his right hand and saw...five human fingers gripping air. He froze, then began feeling his steady heart beating a gentle rhythm. He exhaled and looked up at Scott, who was grinning at him.
“You calmed yourself down,” Scott said gently. “I’m proud of you.”
Everything in Liam’s body relaxed. Yeah, Scott just said he was proud of Liam, because he just survived a stressful full moon. Sure, a certain chimera who was sitting a couple of tables down probably had something to do with it, but whatever, and he still had a lot of things to tell Scott. He let out a small laugh before hearing Stiles’ voice again.
“I think he found a new anchor.”
“Yeah, I did—” He quickly broke off, but it was too late. His two seniors whipped their heads toward him. Liam swore he had heard some bone cracks in the process.
“Good for you, Liam,” Scott cheered like a proud dad, but Liam only wanted to crash his head onto the table. “What’s your new anchor?”
“I- I- I-” Liam’s tongue failed to move. Did he even have a new anchor? He swore he didn’t, but it seemed like his mouth thought otherwise. He should probably just say something like “what’s your question again?” or “sorry, you’re too loud so my brain’s not working properly” to Stiles, but his throat refused to generate sound, like his entire body betrayed him.
His gaze flashed between Scott and Stiles, who now seemed more curious than some five-year-old kids, but he still couldn’t find the words. His hand was gripping Stiles' phone again, which Stiles somehow hadn’t asked for, then he saw the bowler hat once more.
“The hat!” he shouted, his muscles finally starting to work normally. He pointed at the chimera, who was now shaking like a broken washing machine, but soon regretted it, because Scott and Stiles immediately turned around.
“The hat?” Scott tilted his head, still staring at Theo, who he didn’t seem to recognize.
“Yes, Scott, the hat,” Liam rushed on desperately, “I mean, my dad has the same kind of hat in his closet, and it somehow became my anchor, you know. Like, it might have something to do with its shape. It’s round, like a full moon, well, yeah.” Liam’s voice became quieter with every word.
To his surprise, Scott seemed to buy it. He turned back and looked at Liam with that proud-parent face. Liam exhaled heavily, but it only lasted one second because Stiles abruptly stood up and walked toward Theo.
“No, Stiles—” Liam screamed, earning some annoyed looks from other customers, but Stiles was already standing beside Theo.
Then he grabbed the hat.
And the sunglasses, oh my God.
“I think you mean the guy wearing this hat.” He turned toward Liam—whose mouth was completely open at this point—with a complicated look.
Liam tried to speak, but he only managed to make a sound closer to a squeak, then his eyes grew even wider as Theo just stood up, looking completely unbothered.
After a long awkward silence, Scott cleared his throat.
“Liam,” he said tentatively. “Why’s Theo here?”
“Uh...” Liam forced out the words. “I...um...the hat...he’s wearing the hat...”
“Stop talking about the hat.” Stiles rolled his eyes and stomped back toward Liam. “Liam, don’t tell me your anchor is Theo.”
“Is that true?” Scott blurted out. “Is he the reason you calmed down?”
“Um...” Liam stuttered. “I guess...”
“Oh my God! He’s your anchor?” Stiles exclaimed, slamming a hand on his forehead.
“What’s wrong with that, Stiles?” Theo smirked shamelessly. Stiles immediately shot him a glare.
“Shut up, Raeken,” Stiles roared, then grabbed his phone, finally, from Liam’s hand. “Liam, you better explain.”
“No, no. I don’t have an anchor. I don’t know why he’s here. I—”
“You asked me to come, little wolf.” Theo cut in abruptly, walking over.
“Theo! Not helping!” Liam felt like his skull was about to crack.
“So,” Scott coughed. “Theo’s your anchor?”
Liam didn’t answer. In fact, no one answered.
Scott stared at Liam for apparently too long, then he let out a sigh. “Liam, if your anchor’s Theo, you do know what that means, right?”
Liam’s eyes widened. Stiles’ eyes narrowed. Theo’s eyes didn’t move, but his face twitched.
“What do you mean?” Liam’s voice cracked a little.
“Um...” Scott hesitated for a very long moment, then he rested a hand on Liam’s shoulder. “I think it means there’s some, um, tension between you two.”
“What kind of tension?”
“Affection,” Scott said slowly. “I think it means you like him.”
Liam didn’t know what Stiles was going to do. Maybe gasp or yell or ventilate. Because he only heard him inhale for half a second, then his vision went completely black.
*
Liam woke up in a...moving box. He blinked a few times, but the surroundings were too dark. He groaned loudly before sitting up, then noticed the chains wrapped around his body and his arms. He tried to break free, only to be met with clanking noises.
“What is this?” he yelled.
“You’re awake, little runt.” Stiles’ voice came from one of the walls, then he soon realized he was in a large vehicle.
“What the hell, Stiles?” he shouted back. “Why did you chain me? Where are you taking me?”
“I don’t know. Maybe somewhere as far away as possible from civilization. Maybe Nevada, or Mexico.”
“What?” Liam’s mind was still processing.
“Liam, we’ll need to find you an anchor, but before that, I’ll have to make sure no one dies during this full moon.”
“No, Stiles. Please, no,” Liam pleaded. “I’m fine! I promise. I’m fine, and I don’t need an anchor.”
“Because Theo’s your anchor?”
“I-, no-” Words caught in Liam’s throat. It was like his body stopped obeying his mind again, or someone had cast a sinister spell on him. He gripped his thighs hard, but his mouth just couldn’t produce the words, like he had taken truth serum.
Wait, truth serum? Did that mean...
Liam took a couple of deep breaths, clearing his mind. His fingertips began to itch, but he ignored it. He relaxed every muscle in his body, then opened his mouth. The words flowed on their own.
“Yes, Theo’s my—”
The tires screeched to a stop. Liam flew forward and hit his head on the wall. “Ow!” Then he heard Stiles get off the vehicle. A few seconds later, the back door opened.
“Get out,” Stiles said firmly.
Liam wanted to punch him, but his hands were still chained, so he had no choice but to follow the order. He stepped outside and found himself in a forest. A giant tree stood beside him, looking weirdly familiar. Then he gasped as he suddenly remembered something.
“No, Stiles. You’re gonna chain me on that tree again!”
“It’s necessary evil,” Stiles said evenly.
“No, no.” Liam turned around, showing his hands. “Look, I’m fine. Look at my hands!”
Stiles paused for a moment. Liam was pretty sure his claws had retracted, and there were no cuts on his hands. If he could convince Stiles that he was okay, maybe Stiles would just let him go. He waited nervously.
Then he felt a violent yank as Stiles pulled him by the chains and dragged him toward the tree.
“Don’t try to fool me, little runt. Did you really think I didn’t see the holes and blood on your jeans?”
Liam looked down. Oh no, his jeans were completely ripped, and blood was dripping from the cuts. God dammit! Liam grunted. His claws started to slide out again. The human’s power of observation was insane. The whole world might have crumbled if Stiles had become a werewolf. This was so unfair—
“That’s a bit rude, Stiles.” A voice rang out. They both snapped their heads around and saw Theo walking toward them, smiling. “Be nice to our little wolf.”
“THEO!” Liam cried, but he was soon cut off by Stiles’ louder growl.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Theo!?” He walked toward Theo.
Theo ignored him. He shoved him aside and strode over to Liam. Liam felt his heartbeat begin to steady, and his claws slid back. Theo picked up the key—which was conveniently left at the back of the car—then inserted it into the lock. The chains came off Liam’s body instantly.
“You heard him.” Theo turned toward Stiles. “He said he was fine.”
“Fuck off, Theo. I swear I’m gonna—”
Stiles broke off as his expression suddenly became indescribable, because Liam lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Theo, burying his nose in his chest. Theo froze for a second, but then he let out a chuckle and rested a hand on Liam’s back.
“Well, little wolf,” he said gently. “I guess the anchor thing is true.”
Stiles’ shriek echoed through the entire forest, but no one even batted an eye.
*
The police van swerved onto the dirt road, quickly disappearing from sight. Liam followed Theo toward his truck before they both got in. Theo started the engine, then turned toward Liam. “So, you like me?”
Liam immediately shot him a glare. “Shut up.”
“I would, but I need the answer.” Theo smirked.
Liam growled. “For God’s sake, Theo, just shut the fu—”
Liam never got to finish the sentence, because Theo quickly pressed a kiss on his lips. He suddenly felt dizzy.
“You didn’t punch me.” Theo smiled. “I guess that’s a yes.”
Liam stared at him, his cheeks turning impossibly red. He was about to go off again, but in a good way, probably.