Chapter Text
Hopper's grip on her hurts , she can’t blame him though, she did kick his shin pretty damn hard.
“I can not fathom what in god’s name made you think that kicking me was a good idea.” She claws at his wrist, she needs to get free, she needs to sniff out Robin and Billy, she needs to get to Steve’s place. “Will you cut that out!”
Hopper rips open his cruiser's passenger door and scoops her up. Saying she was angry was an understatement; Max was furious. He dumps her in and slams the door, in an instant she’s grabbing the latch and pushing the door open, only to have it slammed back into place.
She lets out a snarl of frustration and bangs her fist on the window. Hopper is staring down at her, his eyes lit up and brows furrowed as he leans his weight into the door to keep it closed.
“Are you done now?” She glared up at him and felt a rush of adrenaline flood through her as they locked eyes. She slams her fists on the glass again.
FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK. YOU.
Max can’t help the grin on her face as Jim’s eyes just about pop out of his head with how wide they go. She almost falls straight to the pavement when he yanks the door open, only to be saved by his hand catching her by the shoulder. She doesn’t break their eye contact.
Yeah you fucking heard me. FUCK YOU.
Now hold on a damn second-
Did you just expect me to stand there and do nothing while you pointed a GUN at my brother!?
Let me explain-
Have you already forgotten he saved all of us?
Max-
Billy saved Jane and you were just going to put a bullet in his head-
ENOUGH.
Max gasps as the command rattled through her brain. She stiffens while her vision goes black, she thinks her brain might have exploded. Hopper's voice was like a clap of thunder against her eardrums, she felt it vibrate through clenched teeth.
Her eyelids flutter as her vision starts to clear up and the sky is above her. She gasps as her rib cage finally expands and lets her lungs fill with air. She blinks as feeling starts to come back, her fingers are tingling and her pants feel wet.
“Take a deep breath, kid.” She finds herself following the instruction, focusing everything on her chest expanding, the air entering her lungs through her nose, then exiting through her mouth.
“I-“ She sucks in another breath, “I think I pissed myself.” Max glances up at him, he’s kneeling down, his hands gently stabilizing her head.
“No fucking shit. Pretty sure I did when I heard your voice barking at me in my head.” Hopper snips out, though the worry is clear on his face. She huffs, disturbing her breathing pattern. “Ya know I’d say you deserve it but I’m pretty sure you just had a fucking seizure.”
“Have you tried-“ another shaky breath interrupts her, she swallows the bit of saliva that pools in her mouth before continuing, “Have you tried not being so loud?”
“Glad to see you’re still a brat, guess that means there isn’t too serious brain damage.” It’s a light hearted sneer. “Do you want to try to sit up now?”
She slowly nods, as she slowly moves up Hopper's hands shift to her shoulders and hold her up. She feels a bit dizzy, like her brain is a bobble head and it’s thumping around.
“I’m assuming you’ve only used that a few times?” She shakes her head, which causes a few spikes of pain behind her eyes.
“Only with Billy, this morning and last night.” Max managed to mumble out. The Alpha instructs her to keep breathing slowly.
“How new is it?”
“I uh, I presented last night.” She bites at her lip as she notices his scent go a bit sour. “I’ve been really stressed out lately.”
“Yeah. Yeah that will do it.” He sighs and pats her shoulder.
A few minutes of silence goes by, she looks over her shoulder at him.
“Were you really going to shoot him?” Max can’t help the waiver in her voice, she feels sick when Hopper's eyes shift back from the school to hers.
Between you and me? No. I would have stepped in before they even got the chance. They were already on a no shoot order.
His voice is quiet in her head, like he’s whispering, being careful not to spook her.
I need you to tell me what’s goin’ on. The more I know, the more I can try to help. I owe Billy that.
Max hides her sniffle as best she can. She breaks the connection and glares back at the school. It seems that the kids are being let back in.
“Where is Robin trying to get him?”
“Steve’s house. I think she hopes that Steve can calm him down.”
A few black vans are pulling into view. They park outside the school entrance. Max’s eyes narrow as a few larger men step out.
“Who are they?” Hopper is pulling her to her feet as one catches sight of him and starts walking toward them. “Hopper? Who are they?” She whines as he scoops her up and tells her to watch her head as he sets her in the truck's passenger seat.
“Listen to me, these guys are bad news for Billy. Stay here, when I’m done talking we can go to Steve’s alright?” Max opens her mouth but he quickly cuts her off, “The less they know about Billy right now, the better. These guys are shoot now, ask questions later. Do you understand?”
She nods as the man finally comes into view, she ducks down a bit as Hopper closes the door just as a man clears his throat to catch his attention.
“Chief Jim Hopper?” Hopper takes in a deep breath before he turns around.
“Howdy, how can I help y’all today?”
“I’m Jeff Croft, I’m with the Alpha’s Association. We got a report of a new Alpha in town that is causing you some trouble.” Hopper shakes his hand. “We thought we could offer a helping hand. Care to fill me in on what happened today?”
Hopper feels his lip twitch, Billy Hargrove was really giving him a run for his money today.
“Oh god- Ohgod- oHMYGOD-“ Robin feels like she might puke, she assumes it’s the fact she can barely get air into stripped raw lungs as she ducks under a branch and rounds a tree.
Steve’s jacket is a stale comfort to her, his scent on it is fading. It’s been jammed in his locker for months, she’s surprised it even managed to get Billy’s attention. Billy, who is currently sniffing her down like a bloodhound on fucking coke. She can hear him pounding after her, twigs, sticks, bushes, anything that was in his way was trampled over by blood covered paws.
She’s worried she might not make it in one piece to Steves, she’s worried that Billy will tackle her to the ground bite down on her leg and give her rabies. By the time she gets to Steve’s she’ll probably start showing symptoms and by that time she’ll probably be a crazed beta foaming at the mouth-
“FUCK!” The root that seems to reach out and snag her ankle brings her slamming into the ground. Her arms ache as they take the brunt of the impact and she feels her tear ducts start to burn.
“Fuck- Fuck- Fuck!” Robin claws at the dirt in panic as she tries to get up, her foot catches again and sends her sprawling forward for the second time. She army crawls forward, each panicked breath stripping her throat raw over and over.
The hot breath on her neck brings tears to her eyes as her body tenses up. He’s on top of her, his cold wet nose pressed up against her skin causing her to shiver and bite back a sob. Robin presses her face deep into her arms to muffle her high pitched whines of fear as the wolf sways above her. His teeth graze her scalp as he snuggles through her sweaty hair. He nips at her ear, muzzle bullying it’s way past her arms, hot breath puffing a crossed her now exposed cheek.
“If y-you’re going to kill me just do it man, add me to the stupid statistics, just bite my head off and be done with it-“ Robin lets out a startled yelp as what feels like a sopping wet piece of sandpaper is slowly dragged along her cheek and up into her hair. Globs of drool hit the ground and her face.
“What the fuck.”
Robin takes a deep breath and slowly pushes herself up while receiving another rough lick. She turns her head, glancing over her shoulder with wide eyes as the unmistakable sound of a purr erupts in her ear. The wolf above her is purring like an excited bastard ready for a puppy pile with their pack. As Robin slowly turns over on her back the wolf jumps up in place with a garbled bark, she curls in on herself to avoid being squashed as the wolf thuds back down.
He barks again, giving her another few licks, and that sends her into a fit of manic giggling. Her hands bury into soft fur as she tries to get him to back off a bit. Robin's head is reeling in confusion, fear, and relief; It’s an odd mixture of emotions, but she’s happy that this crazy alpha that was hellbent on ripping Tommy Hagan to sheds has decided that she’s pack. His head thuds down on her chest in an awkward scenting, she’s confused as he rubs his neck all over her.
She huffs as she shoves his face off her while sitting up, the wolf crowds her space. Her instincts are buzzing in confusion, she’s never met an alpha that doesn’t seem to know it’s manners. She offers out a hand, palm up to him in a small test. If Billy properly scents her wrist then he’s good, if he doesn’t that could spell a whole lot of trouble for him.
“Oh.” The word leaves her mouth in a small gasp as he flinches back. Ears back and fangs bared as he sniffs at her hand warily. “It’s okay, you’re okay! Look, like this.” The beta pulled her hand back, she dragged her nose and cheek along her wrist scenting herself. She watches him slowly sit back on his hunches, blue eyes wide watching her movements curiously.
“That’s one way to scent, now you try it.” She offers her hand out again, a smile on her lips as he leans forward and copies her movement. “Now you’ve got it Hargrove.” She laughs as his soft ringlets tickle her arm and his purring starts up again.
As he scents her, Robin takes the moment of peace to try and calm her breathing, as well as take in the alpha before her. She wasn’t that surprised at his size, Billy was a muscle head, so having a large wolf to accompany his ego and muscles was practically a no brainer. She’s seen him before, when he wolfed out to protect them against the MindFlayer.
He’s definitely a lot bigger than he used to be, but maybe that was because this was the first time up close Robins got to observe him. See his fluffy blonde curls that covered every inch of him, well, accept that mass of black keloid-like lumps in the middle of his chest that branch out like a splatter of paint. A few tufts of curls are scattered about, she thinks it might even be a tad fuzzy if she were to reach out and touch it.
She can see the discolouration of skin along his arms, a few patches of hair are missing there too. She bites her lip as she sees those black veins that peak through as well. He must feel her gaze as he pulls back, blue eyes staring down at her. His lips twitch and his teeth clatter together. Robin tilts her head in confusion as she watches his mouth open and close a few more times.
“Billy… What are you…?”
A few things happen all at once.
“R-Rooob-Rooobin!”
As shock washes over her face, a gunshot rips through the few seconds of silence after the Alpha speaks, following the bang, is an awful mangled scream that busts her eardrums. She covers her ears as the wolf continues, it lurches to the side clawing at its back in a panic.
“You idiot! You could have hit the kid!” A voice snaps out at the shooter. Robin feels tears drip down her cheek as she watches the alpha writhe in pain on the ground. His pupils blown wide in terror as his head whips around trying to find the threat.
She sits up, hands still over her ears as she looks around. She’s blinking away tears as fast as she can as another shot rings out. It hits a tree above the woods head and she’s scrambling to Billy’s side. Her eyes search his back looking for the wound, only for rage to boil as she takes in the multiple bloody little holes that pepper across his lower back.
“Stop it! You’re hurting him!” Robin snarls in the direction of the shooters, two officers suddenly pop into view. The youngest's eyes are wide, and the older is loading his pistol. “Using snake shots on people is fucking animalistic!”
“Ma’am please come here! You’ll be safe with us-“ Robin steps in front of the whining alpha, waving her arms trying to stall as best she can.
“I was doing just fine! He’s confused, he needs help not fucking bullets you idiots!” The older groans as Robin stands her ground.
“David use the rifle, I’ll hit her at this range.” The younger sighs and raises his gun. Her blood runs cold as she darts forward with zero thought. Both officers scream at her as she grabs the rifle's barrel and points it up. Her hands burn and her ears ring with pain as the shot goes off. She can barely hear herself as she yells for Billy to run, as she prays he can understand her and books it for the hills. Robin gasps in pain as she’s tackled to the ground, she thrashes as the officer begins to cuff her. Then suddenly everything freezes.
She glances up and smiles, the older officer is frozen in fear as the wolf towers over them. His eyes clouded over and teeth bared in a wicked snarl. He lunged forward, sinking teeth into the dude's shoulder and hauls him off. Tossing him like a sack into the brush. Teeth clamp around the back of the varsity jacket and haul her to her feet.
She can hear him wheezing, as he sets her on her feet, then ducks his head between her legs and bucks her backward onto his back. Robin yelps and quickly clings to him, she buries her face into his fur as he takes off between the trees.
It was dark out now, the mid-fall breeze chilling his already aching body. He wasn’t exactly sure where he was, or how long he had been wandering for now. The trees overhead stretched tall over him as he practically dragged himself along the small running path. His breath came out in short puffs as his tongue hung from the side of his jaw as he panted. His back aches as the weight of the girl swayed back and forth as he toddled.
He was too tired to keep running.
My name is Billy Hargrove. I live at 4819 Cherry Lane. I have a step-sister named Maxine Mayfield. She has the brightest red hair I have ever seen. I have a blue 1979 Camaro, I like peanut butter on my waffles. I used to surf every afternoon with my mom. The girl's name is Robin, she’s Steve’s best friend.
The Alpha recited what he could remember, a way to keep him focused. He needed to stay focused. He couldn't afford to lose himself again, not after what happened back in Cali, not after the Mindflayer, he couldn’t do that to her again. He couldn’t lose himself in whatever this was.
I can’t do what to who...? To Max…? To Robin…?
He felt odd, like the way he was walking on all fours, it made his shoulders roll uncomfortably and pull awkwardly on his back injuries. Not that he could even remember where he had gotten all this pain and aching from, had he gotten into another fight? He doesn’t remember getting into a fight. He remembers chasing after Robin…?
Do I fight a lot? It sure feels like I do, feels like I got my ass handed to me. Why does walking feel so weird? Damnit focus. Again. My name is Billy Hargrove. I live at 4819 Cherry Lane, I have a step-sister named Maxine Mayfield, she has the brightest red hair I have ever seen. I have a blue 1979 Camaro, I like peanut butter on my waffles. I used to surf every afternoon with my mom. The girl's name is Robin, she’s Steve’s best friend. Why do I feel so weird?
The last bit of his train of thought brought him to a stop, he huffed, shaking his head and looking around. He did feel strange, like something wasn’t right with his body, though he had been walking like this for what felt like hours now. If it was weird, then why was he still doing it? The alpha looked around again, as if expecting someone to laugh at him from the darkness, pointing out how silly he was being.
Slowly he pushed himself up on two of his legs, he felt tall, oddly tall. He moves one arm behind his back in case the girl slips, so far her grip hasn’t wavered. Maybe today was just a weird as hell day, or was this how he normally went about his business? Weird walks through the woods at night on all fours, covered in bruises and cuts that could possibly be from a fight. Well with how deep the gashes felt he assumed it was from a fight.
Am I supposed to be doing something? This place feels so familiar yet so new, it’s odd. I’m odd. My name- My name is Billy Hargrove. I live at 4819 Cherry Lane. I have a step-sister named Max I think..? She has the brightest red hair I have ever seen. I have a blue 19… A 1964 Camaro? I like peanut butter on my.. On what? I think I used to go surfing every afternoon… Who did I go surfing with? Who’s Robin? What’s going on? Where am I?
The Alpha stood still, blinking slowly as he looked down at himself. He was skinny, not underweight, his fur longer in some chunks, while shorter or nothing at all on him. The longer bits had dirty blond little ringlet curls, though the strands looked a tad brittle and dry. A growl started in his throat, he took such good care of his hair and now it was all dirty matted and messed up-
“Billy hurry up! Can’t you figure out your lame hair problem in your room? Billy! C’mon I need to use the washroom before you make me late for school!”
Wait, why do I remember making such a fuss over something so stupid..? Was it a stupid habit, that I did…? Why would I even need to worry about something like that? Hair doesn’t matter, it’s just stupid hair right? My name is…. It’s uh... Billy... Yeah, it’s Billy maybe? I have a sister, she has, she has red hair. What colour is my hair? Is it red too? I have a blue, a blue car... I like peanut butter… Robin?
He found himself back on all fours and shaking his head, then starting to walk down the path again. What a silly thought, or memory maybe? Of him standing in front of some object that reflected him, fiddling with a shiny can that made a rattling noise when he shook it. Hairspray, it was a can of hairspray he thinks. What an odd thing to be doing.
“Max! Maxine if you don’t give my hairspray back I swear I will cut all of your hair off while you fucking sleep you bitch! Open the door now! Maxine, open this door right fucking now!”
Maxine…? Is that my name..? No, I’m a boy, that’s, that’s a girl’s name, isn’t it? What is my name? Does Robin remember my name…?
The Alpha startled as his hand landed directly into a large muddy puddle, distracting him from his thoughts as drops of water splashed up onto his face. He snorted and shook his head, sending what little had landed on him off. He glanced down, the puddle was rippling around his wrist, it was the first time he really had even acknowledged his own body.
To his surprise as he lifted his hand out, the limb somehow looked wrong, like it wasn’t normally attached to a hand with elongated fingers that ended in dirty black claws with splotches of dark red, that was now dipped in mud. The skin looked strange, the texture was rigid and bumpy, a few tufts of bloody curly blond hair sticking out.
He hunched back into a crouching position to study his hands more, both seemed to be the same, and moved in the directions he wanted them too. So they seemed to belong to him, though the fact they seemed unfamiliar and wrong was slightly alarming.
Huh, my hands look fucking gross. Looks like I got lighter fluid dumped all over me and got burned. Shouldn’t- That should hurt right?
“Now remember Billy, everyone who can do what your mother and you can do are nothing but dirty mutts. Shame, you at least could have made a good son with some good set rules and manners, but that mutt half of you will always win. No matter how good you try to be Billy, you will always be a good for nothing, lame excuse for a son and a human. Your kind is the dirt I walk on. Nothing but a filthy, filthy, mutt.”
The Alpha felt a whine build up as he turned his hands and arms over a few times, he was starting to notice more and more patches of tanned skin with dark almost black veins crisscrossing around, then traveling back into the darker purplish textured skin that covered most of him. It looked disgusting if he was being completely honest with himself.
My name is- What’s my name? Can someone just tell me? I can’t, I can’t remember.
“What’s wrong? Billy?”
Who’s Billy?
“Now you listen here and you listen well boy, if you ever walk around this house in that ugly mess that your mother has somehow convinced is apart of you, I will beat you blacker than the negros that walk the streets you hear me? No son of mine will ever be a mutt you hear me? You hear me William Hargrove? Speak up like a real man unless you want some more bruises to match that skin.”
He hated it, the voice that never seemed to stop, always echoing loudly in his head. He didn’t know who it belonged to or why it was so hateful. Why it made his chest tighten with pain, his legs tremble with fear. If the Alpha was being honest with himself, he knew that voice, no matter how much he denied it, no matter how many excuses or how many times he told himself that this voice loved him. He knew that he absolutely loathed it.
“I don’t get it Susan, he’s not normal. His hair is longer than it should be and God help us, that earring? What are we going to let him paint his nails next? Prance around in frilly little dresses with the basketball boys? He’s got a dick, I’ve seen it myself, I just don’t get why he has to go out and act like some Nancy.”
“Sweetheart, he's just doing it to get a rise out of you. Maybe he just wants more of your attention, more man to man bonding-”
“Susan, what that boy needs is a firm backhand and a Bible to knock all that nelly pillow-biting sin out of his head. Once he does that I’ll be able to teach my son how to do things properly. Until then, he’s nothing but a lost cause.”
“Neil, darling, he lost his mother-”
“Susan, you best keep your mouth shut about that woman. She may have given birth to him and put all that nelly wolf shit in his head,but he is MY SON. He will learn to act like it whether he wants to or not.”
The frightening memory dissipated as a soft earthy beta scent filled his nose. He turned his head and happily accepted the small head that rubbed her cheek along his offering comfort. Her grip tightened on him as she offered him soft words.
“It’s okay, you’re okay. They can’t hurt you, I won’t let them, okay?” Her voice sounded tired, but he was grateful for the small comfort. He was honestly happy to not be alone, he dropped back down to all fours and continued down the path. He mindlessly followed her guidance.
Though, if he was really being honest with himself, he was slightly frightened by the fact he couldn’t remember his own name.