Chapter Text
Theo hasn’t slept in four days.
Well, not properly, at least.
He’d slipped into light, unrestful sleep a handful of times, only to jerk himself awake in fear of waking up in a morgue drawer.
Despite his advanced healing and abilities, he was reaching his limits. The bags under his eyes were ridiculous, he shuffled his feet in lieu of walking properly, he had to hold his head up any time he sat down, and Liam had managed to sneak up on him twice. Theo needed sleep, desperately.
Which is why he was currently curled into a small sphere, in his wolf form, on the floor next to Liam’s bed.
Theo thought this was up there next to listening to Deucalion on his list of stupid ideas.
It was easier to cope when he had four legs, easier to push the more human parts of his psyche to the back of his brain and let his wolf numb it all. Sometimes it was the only way he could sleep. He had tried sleeping in his own room, on his own bed (which was still such a foreign idea to him, one he didn’t think he’d ever get used to.), but after three hours and twenty-two minutes, Theo gave up on that plan. He knew the last time he got a decent amount of nightmare-free sleep was when he was pressed up against Liam’s back, and desperate times called for desperate measures.
So Theo had oh so carefully trotted over to Liam’s room, methodically avoiding the floor boards that creaked, gentle nosing the door open and stepping inside. The chimera froze as the door hit the wall, the handle making an obnoxious thud against the dent he had left, but luckily Liam only let out a quiet huff in his sleep, heartbeat steady.
Which is how Theo gathered the courage to curl up next to the werewolf’s nightstand, in as small a ball as he could manage, tail over his nose, trying to get some semblance of sleep.
It wasn’t working.
Forty-six minutes had passed if Liam’s bedside clock was to be believed, and Theo was no closer to sleep than he was in his own room.
He wanted to blame the floor, and how it was too hard to sleep on, but Liam’s carpet was soft and plush, and he wasn’t uncomfortable at all. He wanted to blame Liam, but it wasn’t his fault that Theo couldn’t sleep. He knew it might be easier if he was actually on the bed next to Liam, but he wasn’t quite that desperate.
Yet.
Another fifteen minutes passed, and Theo was just about to bite back his pride and get on the bed when it seemed that Liam made his decision for him.
“Oh for the love of God, Theo.” The beta whined quietly, throwing his blanket back and turning over to face the wolf on the floor.
Before Theo knew what was happening, he was being hauled up onto the bed, Liam’s hands gripping him behind his front legs and pulling him up with an unceremonious flop. Liam tugged him closer to the center of the bed, ignoring Theo’s startled yelp as he threw his blanket back over top the both of them.
Theo blinked at him.
Liam glared back.
“You’ve been laying there for like an hour, staring at me and making these really annoying noises, okay? So just go to sleep.” Liam hissed, settling himself at Theo’s back, arms wrapped securely around the chimera’s ribs and nose buried in the scruff of his neck.
Theo’s ears went back, head twisted to face Liam as he squinted at his new apparent attachment. It wasn’t that he minded, on the contrary he selfishly thought it would help, but he didn’t understand why Liam would willingly initiate this much contact that didn’t involve violence.
They were practically cuddling.
(Well, they were cuddling, but Theo wasn’t about to admit that if he didn’t have to.)
“Shut up,” Liam muttered sleepily, apparently reading his mind, “It’s not weird; you look like an overgrown German Shepherd.” The beta’s voice was muffled in the thick fur around his neck, and some part of him was screaming at him for leaving such a weak part of him exposed, but the bigger part of him that just wanted to sleep ignored it.
Craning as much as he could, he bumped his nose against Liam’s arm, as close to a ‘thank you’ as he was going to get. He got a hum in return. Taking a few more seconds, he stared at Liam’s sleeping face in mild wonderment at this act of kindness, before finally, finally settling down.
He was asleep in minutes.
. . .
Unfortunately for Theo, no good thing lasted for very long.
He was running from Tara, again, bare feet slapping against the cold linoleum of the hospital for what could possibly be the millionth time. He didn’t know why he still ran in his dreamscape, not when she always caught him.
Not when he deserved it.
Maybe it was just another way for his brain to torture him, another way to prove he deserved this. Deserved whatever his sister wanted to do to him, deserved to suffer, deserved to be where he really belonged. That he could never escape.
Liam never should have pulled him out of the ground.
He should have left him there to rot. Left him there in his own personal Hell. Hell is where monsters belonged, after all.
But he did, and he was here now, pulling him out of the hospital halls once more.
“Hey, hey, you’re okay, Theo, you’re alright.” There was a hand, firm but impossibly gentle, stroking his shoulder in a grounding manner. “Just breathe.”
Theo was trying to, really he was, but his lungs were heaving like they forgot how and his legs were tangled in sheets and he wasn’t quite sure where he was. Blue eyes darted around the room, blurred in their frenzy, but still able to make out the blue walls, large windows, pictures of the McCall pack and the lacrosse stick in the corner, assuring that he was indeed in Liam Dunbar’s room.
Until one of Liam’s hands strayed too close to Theo’s heart as he came to this conclusion, destroying any semblance of calm he had managed to scrape up.
The chimera tore himself from the beta’s grasp, darting into the far corner of the room where he could hide in the shadows. It was useless, yes, but if it bought him time he’d take it.
Theo’s mind was too foggy to really make out what was going on, just letting the beasts take over in order to protect himself. His body took on a low crouch, practically cowering, ears flattened to his skull and tail tucked tightly between his legs. Baring his teeth, Theo let out a snarl, eyes wide enough the whites were showing. Almost fully pressed against the wall, the fur on his back puffed up, heart racing a mile a minute.
Liam raised his hands, saying something in a calm voice, but Theo couldn’t hear him, too lost in the panic. Too lost in fight or flight, too lost in dimly light hallways and heartless little girls. He knew that if he stared at the shadows too long, she would be there, hissing his name, dripping blood onto the floor and her feet.
The chimera’s body was shaking, unable to separate the image of his sister with that of Liam, both just falling into a single blurry figure as his brain tried to make sense of something. It was all too easy to fall back onto linoleum tiles and against steel drawers, too easy to slip in the blood on the floor.
The figure in front of him had crouched down now, and Theo snarled at them, pushing himself impossibly further back. He was getting lost in the haze of his wolf, too lost, too scared, too–
“Theo!”
Liam.
Liam. Not Tara.
Liam’s not going to rip his heart out.
“Take a deep breath, Theo. It’s okay. I’m not gonna hurt you.”
Blinking, Theo heaved in enough air it made his lungs hurt, looking straight into Liam’s eyes. It was grounding to see baby blues staring back at him, slowly allowing the rest of the room to bleed back into his senses.
This wasn’t his worst flashback, not by a long shot, but that didn’t make it pleasant either.
At least it was over, now.
“You with me?” Liam asked softly, hands out in a placating manner.
The chimera nodded, slowly lowering himself to the floor in an attempt to relax. He stared at his front paws, ears back in shame. He didn’t understand why Liam was being so patient with him, at all. This can’t be a good way for the beta to spend his time; always watching him and pulling him back night after night.
“Get dressed. I think you need to spend some time as a person.” Liam said, standing and moving over to his dresser. “Put on something you can run in. I don’t think either of us are getting back to sleep tonight.”
Theo turned his gaze onto the clock, seeing the numbers ‘03:51’ blinking back at him, and he had to agree. So, he slunk back to his own room, quickly changing back to his human body with a grimace as muscles and bones realigned themselves. It was never a pleasant change.
Rifling through his duffle bag (the one he hasn’t dared to unpack fully, because he shouldn’t be comfortable here, he doesn’t deserve to be comfortable here), Theo picked out his lone pair of sweatpants, boxers, and a long sleeve shirt, pulling all of them on in haste. His hands were still shaking.
It took two tries to tie his shoes.
Running a hand through his hair, he tugged at the strands, trying to get a grip on himself. He could still feel her hands, pulling, ripping at him, breaking through his sternum and sinking into–
Stop.
Breathe.
It might have cost him a few strands of hair, but soon he was able to focus enough to hear Liam loitering in the hall.
Pursing his lips, he glared at himself in the mirror, taking in how beads of sweat were formed on his brow, soaking his hair and chest. He took in how there were dark bruises underneath his eyes, despite his healing, and that he was in desperate need of a shave.
Liam snapped him out of his stupor, huffing loudly in annoyance from the hall. Getting the message, Theo slipped through his door and almost headfirst into the beta.
“About time!” Liam snapped, marching down the hall and stomping down the steps without waiting for him.
Theo blinked in confusion, but followed regardless. It wasn’t an odd occurrence for Liam to get frustrated at little things, and he was too drained to really care about it much. It was better if he didn’t question it, really.
He found the beta rummaging through the fridge, plucking out bottles of water and apples, then proceeding throw one of each at Theo.
“Eat, then we’ll go.” Liam grumbled, flopping onto one of the kitchen stools and taking a large bite of his own apple.
Theo, not wanting to get yelled at, followed suit.
They ate in relative silence, the only sound coming from their chewing and the breathing of Liam’s parents upstairs. He wasn’t exactly sure how they hadn’t woken up from the commotion, but he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Theo instead decided to take the time to feel out Liam’s chemo-signals, mostly getting waves of annoyance and frustration, but also an undercurrent of concern that while subtle, was enough to make him nauseas.
He didn’t understand why Liam would be concerned for him, at all, but he didn’t dare question it.
Just as they were finishing their food, Dr. Geyer came trotting down the steps, stretching his arms over his head. The doctor blinked at them, waved, then looked at the clock.
“Good morning. A bit early for you boys, isn’t it? It’s Saturday.” He said over a yawn, making a beeline for the coffee pot.
“Morning, Dr. Geyer.” Theo mumbled, hunching into himself so he wouldn’t be a nuisance.
“Morning Dad, we’re going for a run. Neither of us can sleep.” Liam explained, getting up to throw his apple core away and wandering into the hall. His step-father placed a kiss on the top of his head as he passed.
“Ah, that explains it. Well, be careful; there’s a storm coming, and wear those reflective bands your mother got you, please? I don’t want to see either of you in my ER later because some tired driver couldn’t see you and turned you into pancakes.” Dr. Geyer said, placing the things he needed for his breakfast on the counter. “And Theo, for the thousandth time, call me Jesse. You’re a guest in my home, not a patient or one of my coworkers.” The man teased, smiling warmly at him.
Theo froze, but nodded anyway, following Liam’s lead and throwing his food away. By now Liam was standing at the door, Theo’s keys in hand and four reflective bracelets dangling from his fingers.
“We will, Dad! Will you be home later?”
“No, sorry kiddo. I’m working a double shift. I have the next few days off, though, so maybe we can do something then, okay?” The man explained, smiling softly at his stepson.
“Sounds good!” Liam said with a smile, opening the door as Theo made his way over. “Have a good day at work, love you!”
“Be safe you two!” Jesse called, and they both waved at him before the door closed.
Liam tossed two of the bracelets at him.
“We’re going to the preserve, but we should still wear them.” The beta explained, wrapping the velcro around his wrists, Theo repeating the action as he reached the driver’s side door.
“You good to drive?” Liam asked, still holding onto his keys with a raised eyebrow.
“Good enough to know I’d sooner put myself back in the ground than let you drive my truck.” Theo huffed, plastering a smirk on his face. Liam rolled his eyes, throwing his keys at him with a little more force than necessary as he rounded over to the passenger side.
“Shut up and drive, asshole.”
. . .
The ride over had been quiet, filled with the quiet chatter of the radio, detailing a major storm rolling in. Neither of them paid much attention to it, not overly concerned with the weather.
It had just started to rain when they stepped out of the Tundra, but they didn’t pay it much mind. They had fought battles in much worse conditions, so a little rain was nothing to worry about in their books.
Running helped. It was easy to forget about Tara, the Dread Doctors, his failures, everything, when he was running. It was easy to just let his legs take him wherever the path lead. He kept pace with Liam, not straining too much to match the werewolf’s speed.
It quickly turned into a game, both of them getting lost in the adrenaline, chasing the other through the trees with low playful growls and taunts. Their eyes were lit up blue and gold, and Theo couldn’t remember the last time he truly felt so free.
Liam seemed to be enjoying himself too, laughing and darting around trees and low branches in a way Theo didn’t know he could. He wasn’t worried about getting lost, just about letting go, and enjoying the moment. They didn’t have many chances for this kind of freedom in their lives, not anymore, so they made sure to take advantage of it.
But of course, all good things must come to an end.
The rain was pouring down on them now, cracks of lighting and thunder splitting across the sky, almost like a warning.
They should’ve listened.
“We should head back.” Liam said, though he sounded like he’d rather do anything but. Theo had to agree, but he wasn’t exactly keen on becoming fried chimera, so he nodded, turning on his heel to leave.
The first bullet landed in Liam’s thigh.
The werewolf howled, falling to his knees in pain as he gripped the mangled flesh of his leg. The heavy scent of blood quickly permeated the air, and Theo whirled around, fangs bared with a snarl on his tongue as he looked for the shooter.
The second landed in his right shoulder.
Theo howled at the impact, clutching the joint while wolfsbane seeped into his veins. Poison was mixing with the smell of blood, and he quickly realized with horror that Liam hasn’t gotten back up.
This wolfsbane smelled different, more potent, and Theo started to panic.
He had to get Liam out of there, now.
While he wasn’t feeling any effects himself, Liam obviously was, bad enough that he couldn’t stand, and if Theo focused his hearing, he could tell that Liam was struggling to breathe. That wasn’t right, at all. He’d seen Liam fight through worse than a single bullet, so if he was staying on his knees, that meant trouble.
The rain and thunder were pounding down, making it hard to smell or hear anything, but he had to try. It strained his senses to the point it hurt, but he managed to make out two heartbeats, and the scent of gunpowder.
The third bullet landed in Liam’s left shoulder, and the werewolf went down, howling in pain.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Liam try to stand, gold eyes piercing through the dark forest, but he was struggling, and the gold was flickering.
Theo charged after the two heartbeats.
Another bullet whizzed by him, thankfully landing in a tree this time, followed by another, this one cutting clean through him. He howled, clutching at his side as blood soaked through his shirt, but he didn’t stop, he kept running.
He came upon them faster than he would’ve liked. Two men, one shorter than the other, both looked young and stupid. Rage filled every vein, every bone and every pore of his being at the sight of them. Liam was laying there, on the forest floor, dying, and these bastards had the nerve to smile at him.
Theo roared, louder than he ever had in his life.
The two hunters froze, caught off guard, maybe because of how he was still functioning when Liam was clearly incapacitated, but he didn’t care. Another bullet pierced his leg, but at this point rage had drowned out any pain he felt.
Theo ripped the gun out of the smaller human’s grasp, breaking the muzzle clean off and bashing the butt of the rifle against the hunter’s skull hard enough he heard bone shatter.
Good.
The chimera whirled around, roaring in the other hunter’s face and ignoring the barrel of the shotgun pointed in his own. Instead, he tacked the other man, smiling darkly as the hunter tried to shoot him and missed.
A knife was plunged into his ribs, and Theo howled, claws scraping at the hunter’s arms in desperation. The hunter only laughed at him twisting the blade and making Theo choke.
No, no no no–
Liam, he had to get Liam–
The hunter removed the blade, spitting in his face. “All of you animals deserve to fucking die.” The man hissed through his teeth, laughing as Theo spit blood.
Red flooded Theo’s vision, and his body went into autopilot.
Once a killer, always a killer.
This man’s throat was easy rip.
Blood sprayed over his face, splattering in a sick mimicry of a Pollock painting, and Theo took seconds to revel in the human’s last sputtering breaths.
Unfortunately, satisfaction didn’t last as long as it used to.
Horror quickly washed over him, making his veins run cold as he realized what he’d done.
What he’d just thrown away.
He’d broken Scott’s one rule, broken the alpha’s new and blossoming trust, broken every promise he’d made to himself and Liam. Every nice thing he’d gotten used to was gone, flowing away with this hunter’s blood.
The little golden threads of a pack bond were going to snap when the found out what he’d done, he was sure. Golden threads that he had meticulously built and braided were going to break forever, all because he wasn’t paying attention.
The other hunter’s pulse was thready, and he knew all too well that the little human wasn’t going to last long.
Theo wanted to cry. He wanted to scream and maybe the rain was loud enough to drown it out, now. His claws had retracted but the blood was still there, mixing with the rain and dirt, staining him, marking him, as if his blue irises weren’t enough.
Liam, as always, snapped him out of it.
This time, it wasn’t with a punch or a firm hand on his shoulder, but instead with a whine of pain, and a wet cough.
Theo heaved in air, not having realized he had been holding his breath, and bolted back in Liam’s direction. Pain shot up from his wounds but he didn’t care, Liam was far more important.
Carefully, he scooped the near unconscious beta up into his arms, making sure he was secure before he took off in the direction of his truck. He wish they hadn’t run so far into the preserve, but there was nothing he could do about it now, so he just kept running. He stumbled a few times, but never stopped.
He doesn’t think he’d ever been so relieved to see the blue of his truck in his life.
Despite almost ripping the passenger side door off the hinges, Theo placed Liam on the seat with more care than he’d ever given anything in his life. Locking him in with the seatbelt, the chimera bolted to the other side of the truck and jumped in, almost breaking the key as he turned the ignition.
“Just hang in there, okay Liam? You’re gonna be fine.” Theo was probably talking louder than he should, but it didn’t matter, Liam just groaned at being jostled.
Stomping on the gas pedal, he just hoped he could get to the hospital in time. He didn’t have his phone on him, and neither did Liam, so he just had to hope that Melissa McCall was on duty tonight, and that Dr. Geyer was busy.
He didn’t want the man to have to see his son bleeding and half shot to death.
“Just hold on, Liam… Please.”
. . .
Outside the hospital was chaos. Ambulances and medical personnel were running everywhere, and there were stretchers being rolled everywhere. Sirens and lights paired with the torrential rain made it hard to process what was happening, but Theo couldn’t take the time to figure it out now.
Not when Liam’s pulse was so erratic.
So, he threw his Tundra into park, not bothering to check where, carefully extracted Liam from the front seat and bolted through the hospital doors.
“I need help! Please, I need help!”
The chaos was worse inside, the smell of blood and gasoline heavy in the air, and doctors and nurses were running in every direction, lights flickering above him.
Fuck, did he hate this place.
He could barely make out anyone through the sea of people, but thankfully he made out one familiar face.
“Melissa!” He called, loud as he could over the machines and yelling, weaving through people.
The nurse turned, wide eyes locking on him and his cargo and made an immediate beeline for them.
“This way, now!” She shouted, and Theo could do nothing but follow as she lead him through a maze of people and gurneys.
Finally, she ripped open a curtain, finding a man with a broken wrist on the bed.
“You, out, now.” Melissa ordered, gesturing for him to get out in the hall.
“But, I haven’t–”
“Don’t care, out.” She said, practically hauling the man out by the shoulder.
Melissa McCall was officially one of Theo’s favorite people now.
“Set him down here and start talking.” She ordered, darting to the drawer and pulling on a pair of rubber gloves. Theo was quick to comply, trying to ignore the pained groan Liam let out at being moved.
“We went for a run in the preserve,” He started, heaving and shaking out his arms ignoring the drops of blood the fell onto the floor at the action. “We weren’t paying attention, we should’ve been paying attention–”
“Hey!” Melissa called, pausing from where she was cutting through the beta’s shirt and grabbing his attention. “Liam doesn’t have the time for you to freak out about this now. You’re good at compartmentalizing emotions, right?” At his nod, she continued, moving onto Liam’s pants with the scissors. “Then do it, right now there’s a seven car pile up and no extra set of hands, so I need your help here, you understand?” Again he nodded. “Good. Now tell me what I’m looking at here.”
Theo took a deep breath.
Blunt, to the point.
“Two gunshot wounds, one to his right thigh, one to his left shoulder. Both made with wolfsbane bullets.” Melissa nodded along with his explanation, peeling the beta’s clothing back.
Black veins travelled up Liam’s leg and shoulder, black blood bubbling over the edge of the wound and onto her gloved fingers, and the stench of poison was overwhelming.
The lights flickered.
“How long ago was he shot?” She questioned, grabbing a tray full of metal tools.
“Fifteen, twenty minutes? I got him here as soon as I could, we had been running for awhile by the time the hunters showed up.” Theo said, slipping on his mask and ignoring the pain of his own wounds.
There was no time to worry about himself, only Liam.
Melissa nodded, grabbing a scalpel and positioning it above Liam’s shoulder. “How’s his pulse?”
“Erratic.” Theo said after a beat, and Melissa sighed, rolling her shoulders.
“You have to let me know if it changes. Liam, if you can hear me sweetheart, this is gonna hurt, okay?” And with that, Nurse McCall started to cut into the bullet wound.
Liam growled low, writhing uncomfortably a bit, but otherwise stayed as he was. Once Melissa seemed satisfied, she reached over to her tray and replaced her scalpel with a kelly clamp.
The lights gave out just as she inserted it.
“Crap. Crap crap crap.” She hissed, looking around in the near pitch black of the room. “I don’t have time to look for a light, you’re gonna have to be my eyes here, Theo. Can you do that?”
Blue bled into his irises, and suddenly the room was just as visible as before to him. He nodded, trying to ignore the way Melissa was staring at him.
“Well that’s an interesting development.” She said softly, shaking her head and turning back to Liam’s shoulder. “Tell me what I’m looking at here.” She said, jerking her head in the direction of the clamp.
Theo moved over, gently pushing her hand back so he could see. It wasn’t hard to spot the bullet, the silver casing sticking out like a sore thumb in the sea of red.
“I see it!” He said, carefully guiding the clamp over. “It’s right there.” Melissa stared at him for a moment, then nodded, pressing down with the clamp.
“Got it!” She exclaimed, pulling the bullet out with a rush of black blood. She dropped it onto her tray just as the lights came back on.
“Thank God…” She muttered, moving quickly over Liam’s other leg before the power went out again.
“This one is close to his Femoral Artery, so I’m gonna need you to pin him down, okay? Keep him as still as possible.” Theo nodded at her, quickly climbing onto the bed and pinning the beta as best as he could while staying out of Melissa’s way.
Liam jerked as soon as the scalpel hit his flesh, letting out a bark of pain as he tried to get away from Melissa’s hands.
“Keep him still, Theo!”
“I’m trying! C’mon Liam, calm down!”
Theo pressed as much body weight as he could into the werewolf, trying not to hurt him but needing to keep him immobile. It was hard; even when wounded, Liam was stronger than Theo.
“His pulse is rising.” He said, gritting his teeth at his own wounds being strained. The bullet in his shoulder was the worst.
“How fast?” Melissa asked, scrambling to find the bullet in his leg.
“Really fast… Not normal fast.” Theo spat out, blue eyes locked on where Liam’s pulse was racing.
“Crap… He might be tachycardic. This poison needs to get out of him, now.” She said, grunting as she finally yanked the bullet free, dropping it on her tray next to the other.
Theo climbed off the beta, just in time to see him turn his head and cough up black blood. The slick fell straight onto the floor and pillows, staining everything and leaving a horrible miasma in the room that made him want to choke.
“Okay, Theo, down the hall and to the right there’s a nurses’ station. My desk is third to the right, and in my filing cabinet there’s a small blowtorch in the fourth drawer. If the drawers are locked, break it, I don’t care, just get me that blowtorch and fast.” Melissa ordered, and Theo couldn’t move fast enough.
Bursting from the curtain, the chimera ran as fast as his wounded and tired legs would take him, weaving between people and wheelchairs until he came across the nurses’ station. He found the one where Melissa’s scent was the most concentrated quickly, immediately falling to his knees and ripping the drawer open.
There, sitting in the bottom of the fourth drawer, was a tiny silver blowtorch, right next to a card from Sheriff Stilinski. On any other day, Theo might’ve taken the time to snoop, but today there was no time. Instead, he snatched the blowtorch, ignored the nurse yelling at him and bolted.
Straight into Dr. Geyer.
“Theo, what are you… Are you okay? Where’s Liam?” The man said, grasping him by his shoulders, but he didn’t have time.
Spouting out a quick apology he could barely hear, he ducked out of Dr. Geyer’s grip and took off again, ears strained for Liam’s heartbeat. He could hear the doctor following him, calling his name, but he couldn’t stop.
When he opened the curtains again, there was black blood coming from Liam’s nose, cotton packing in his shoulder and thigh, and his pulse was steadily slowing down.
Pursing his lips Theo shoved the blowtorch in Melissa’s waiting hands, climbing back on top of the beta to keep him down just as Dr. Geyer burst into the room.
“What is going on?! Liam?!” The doctor exclaimed, rushing over to his step-son’s side while Melissa lit the torch.
“I’ll explain later, I promise, but right now you need to back up.” Melissa stated, removing packing from Liam’s shoulder.
“Not until you tell me what you’re doing with a blowtorch and my son!” Dr. Geyer shouted, moving to block Melissa, but Theo shot an arm out to stop him.
“If I explain right now, he’s going to die, and we’re losing time just standing here and arguing. I know what I’m doing Dr. Geyer, let me save your son.” Melissa pleaded, words seemingly enforced by flickering lights and beeping machines.
The stare down between the two medical professionals lasted a few seconds too long in Theo’s eyes, but soon enough Dr. Geyer was nodding his consent.
Melissa wasted no time, giving him a quick order to keep him still and burning straight into the wound.
Liam came to life, golden eyes wide and blood stained fangs fully bared as he howled. He thrashed and tried to scratch at his captor, and took all of Theo’s strength to keep the werewolf down. Thankfully, a plume of blue smoke quickly came into the air, giving him enough time to readjust and pin Liam more thoroughly as Melissa moved around to the next wound.
He could hear Dr. Geyer falling into one of chairs in the room, hear him mutter the words “Oh my God” over and over, but he couldn’t focus much on it.
When Melissa put the torch on the leg wound, Liam half-howled, half-screamed. It was a heartbreaking sound. The werewolf snapped his teeth at him, and Theo growled low in response, letting blue flood through his eyes.
It didn’t have the same impact Scott’s eyes had, not by a long shot, but it seemed to be enough to keep Liam grounded so Melissa could finish.
Once the last of the wolfsbane dissipated, Liam melted back into the bed, staring at Theo with unseeing golden eyes for a few moments before he seemed to calm and fall back into unconsciousness. Melissa took a deep breath, rubbing Theo’s shoulder once he stepped off the beta.
“So… S-So the rumors, that went around months ago… about werewolves… th-they’re true, aren’t they?” Dr. Geyer said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
“Yes, and I promise I will explain as much as I can to you, but why don’t you take Liam up to a private room first so he can heal? He should be ready to go home in a few hours.” Melissa said softly, and Theo recognized that she was just giving Dr. Geyer something to do so he wouldn’t panic.
The man nodded numbly, going into autopilot as he went about the motions to put up the sides of the bed and wheel his son out into the hall. Theo took the time to take over the newly empty chair, groaning as his body finally ran out of adrenaline.
Melissa sighed.
“So, is that your blood or Liam’s on your shoulder?” She asked, eyebrow raised and arms crossed in a pose only a mother could pull off.
“Mine.” He muttered weakly, curling in on himself self-consciously. “It’s fine, I’m healing.”
“Yeah, well I’m sure it’ll heal better when you don’t have a bullet in your shoulder.” She smiled at him patronizingly, and he rolled his eyes in response. “Sit up, let me get the damn thing out of you and then you can go sit with Liam while I call Scott.”
Theo swallowed, remembering that he’s going to have to tell Scott what happened, what he did, when he arrives. He probably only has a few hours left here, so he’d better make the most of it.
Sitting up straight, Theo listened for Liam’s heartbeat, finding it upstairs a few feet away from where he was currently sitting. He tuned out everything else, just focusing on the steady thump-thump of the beta’s pulse for as long as he could.
Melissa came up to him a few moments later, bringing his attention back to her, but he still made sure to keep his hearing partially focused on Liam.
“What happened to the hunters?” She asked softly, cutting away at Theo’s favorite long sleeve shirt. Not that it mattered, he wouldn’t need it soon anyway.
“I killed them.” He said, blunt and emotionless.
Melissa paused in her cutting, only for a second, then nodded and continued.
“Can’t say I blame you, honestly. Is that why your eyes are blue now?”
“No. They’ve been blue for a few weeks now.”
Again, she nodded.
“You know, about ten years ago I had this patient. I’ve never forgotten him.” Melissa started, picking up a new scalpel. Thankfully, the wound hadn’t completely healed over, so she didn’t have to go in blind. “He was a little boy, same age as my son. Came in for an asthma attack. Poor kid was scared out of his mind, and I wasn’t his nurse originally. He asked for me specifically; said he was a friend of my son’s.” She told him to brace himself and made a quick, neat incision.
Theo hissed out between his teeth, but otherwise sat calmly.
“Why are you telling me this?” He asked. He knew the story, he was there.
“Don’t interrupt me.” She said sharply, raising an eyebrow at him as she picked up a new kelly clamp. “Now, when I got that message I almost had a heart attack, already thinking that I was going to have to call the Sheriff about his son coming into my ER, but turns out I didn’t need to. Because instead it was a little boy I’d only seen a handful of times at the elementary school.” She was quickly able to find the bullet. “And he was just, so scared, but he was sweet and listened when I told him what was going to happen, and I held his hand when the machines made noises he didn’t like.”
Theo bit back a growl as she pulled the bullet out, grinding his fangs together in a way that hurt, but it was an easier pain to deal with.
The machines still made noises he didn’t like.
“He was alone for a while, and as much as I would’ve liked to, I had other patients. But, I checked in on him as much as I could. And once his treatment was over I brought him orange juice and the last red jello cup I could find. I’ve never seen someone so excited about jello. Now, Albuterol is great for Asthma, but it makes your hands shake.” She laughed a little bit, gently wiping blood off of his shoulder, and then his face. “He got so frustrated, it was kind of adorable, honestly. But I helped him, and he started to feel better. I sat and listened to what happened, and he let me drone on about my day.” She paused, sighing gently and taking one of his blood stained hands in hers.
“After he left,” She began, cleaning his hands oh so gently, seemingly oblivious to the minor panic attack Theo was about to have. “I never saw him again. Until today.” She met his eyes then, and he didn’t know what to do.
“That little boy from all those years ago is sitting across from me right now. And he’s been through a lot, he’s done a lot. But he’s still there.” Theo swallowed, ignoring the burning in his eyes that could only mean tears were imminent.
“I know something changed. I know Liam is helping you change.” She put a hand on his cheek, wiping away a tear he didn’t know he let fall.
When had he become such a mess?
“Everyone deserves a second chance. And that doesn’t mean you’re entirely forgiven, you still killed my son.” Theo looked away at that, shame crawling up from the depths of his gut, but Melissa tugged his chin back to her. “No, you look at me, Theodore Raeken. You’ve messed up, in a lot of ways. But right now you’re on the right track. I’m not sure I can ever forgive you, maybe not fully. But I can recognize that you’re trying, and right now that’s enough for me.”
It was more than Theo could ever ask for.
The chimera nodded, swallowing hard and not trusting his words. Melissa pulled him to his feet, steadying him by his shoulders.
“Go up and be with him. Don’t worry about anything else right now, because you saved a life today.” She beamed at him, gently rubbing his arms. “I’ll be up in a few minutes, okay?” He nodded.
After parting ways, Theo made his way upstairs, stuffed inside an elevator with far too many other people. Thankfully he could escape on the next floor, quickly navigating the far less crowded halls to where Liam was.
Dr. Geyer was there, sitting on the edge of the bed with his fingers tangled with Liam’s.
Liam had been changed into a hospital gown, tucked into a new clean bed. His pulse steadily beeped along with the machine, face illuminated by the steadily rising sun. He still looked like he was in pain.
Slowly, Theo made his way up to his bedside, a now blood-free hand gently gripping Liam’s.
It was easy to take his pain.
Liam let out a sigh of relief in his sleep, and Theo grit his teeth, black veins thick and heavy in his arms. Out of the corner of his eye, Theo saw Dr. Geyer staring at him with his mouth open.
“I’m taking his pain.” He explained, breathing out heavily through his nose as Liam’s pulse slowed to something easier.
Dr. Geyer nodded at him, head swivelling between the monitor and Theo’s arm. Finally, the chimera took all that he could stand, snatching his hand and melting into a chair.
“I guess this is something a better get used to, huh?” Dr. Geyer joked, shaking his head in disbelief. “How are you doing?”
“I’ll be fine soon.”
The man across from him sighed. “I called Diane. She’ll be here as soon as she can, but the accident is causing major traffic. I wanted to wait until she got here but… He’s really a werewolf, isn’t he?” The doctor’s voice was quiet as he stared at his step-son.
“Yeah, he is.” He said, just as quiet.
They sat in silence after that, until Melissa came in holding a bundle of clothes and a few cups of red jello.
“These are Scott’s, but they should fit you fine, Theo. Scott is also already on his way, said he felt something was wrong and got in Roscoe as soon as neither of you answered your phones.” She explained, passing off the clothing to him and placing the food on the table. “Go get changed, he should be here soon, so long as that damned Jeep survives.”
He nodded, gently taking the clothes and getting changed in the bathroom. The shirt was a tad too tight and jeans a hair too long, but they were warm and smelled like Scott (like his alpha, the beasts in his head whispered, and Theo tried to ignore them), so he burrowed into them anyway.
When he returned to the room, bloody clothes disposed of in the trash, Melissa was giving Dr. Geyer a crash course on what Scott and Liam’s relationship was. Thankfully the man didn’t seem to mind, taking it in stride and asking questions when he needed.
Fifteen minutes later Scott himself burst through the door, looking panicked and sneakers squeaking on the floor in his haste.
“Liam…” The alpha whispered, walking a little too fast over to his beta’s bedside, eyes glowing bright red thanks to his adrenaline.
Oh so gently, Scott ran fingers through Liam’s hair, drawing whatever pain Theo wasn’t able to pull with a kiss to his forehead.
Sensing his alpha’s presence, Liam turned his head, gold eyes meeting red. He looked weak, and tired, eyes not fully open but attentive enough.
“Scott…?” The beta rasped, pressing his head into his alpha’s hand. Golden eyes turned to the other occupants of the room, brows furrowing in confusion. “Dad, Melissa…? Theo? What’s going on…?” He slurred, seemingly oblivious to his father’s gasp after seeing his eyes.
“Just rest, sweetie. We’ll be here when you wake up.” Melissa said, rubbing her hand up and down Liam’s calf. The beta nodded, back to sleep almost instantly.
Scott stood back, eyes fading into their normal soft brown. Taking a deep breath, the alpha turned, a strong hand coming down onto Theo’s shoulder.
“You okay?”
“Almost healed.”
“Can we talk outside for a minute?” The alpha asked softly, and while Theo felt panic rush through his veins, he nodded, following Scott out into the hall.
“My mom told me what you did.” Scott began, hands in his pockets and a neutral expression on his face.
It made Theo want to shrivel up and disappear.
“Don’t worry Scott, as soon as Liam’s healed I’ll be out of your hair.” He said, plastering on the same smirk he always did, hoping Scott wouldn’t see through it. Wouldn’t see how fake it was.
“I’m not kicking you out of here, Theo.” Scott said, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t like it, but I’m not angry.”
“You should be. I killed two people.” Theo hissed, eyes shifting for emphasis.
“You killed two people who were trying to kill you and Liam. They almost did kill Liam, if not for you.” Scott actually had the nerve to smile at him. “You saved him, again. You should be proud of that. And it doesn’t mean you’re back to who you were. You wouldn’t be so worried about how I’d react if you were.” The alpha said, patting his shoulder a few times.
“I’m glad you’re okay.” Scott said with a smile, walking back into Liam’s room.
A few moments later, Theo followed, with a true smile on his face.
. . .
Bright lights greeted Liam when he woke up.
Groaning, he looked around the room, quickly recognizing the hospital walls around him. Next, he recognized his Mom and Dad, huddled together on two uncomfortable chairs, fast asleep. Next he saw Melissa, resting on her hand as she slept, and then Scott, half folded on the bed next to his right hip, snoring the day away.
And lastly, his eyes found Theo, sitting in a chair to his left, staring right at him.
“What happened?” He whispered, shuffling further up the bed.
“Hunters found us on our run. They shot at us, and someone can’t hold their wolfsbane apparently. Your parents also got a crash course in lycanthropy.” Theo explained, smirking humorly at him. Liam groaned.
“So that’s why I feel like I got hit by a semi…” He said, tossing his head back against the pillow. He could deal with his parents later, when they weren't sleeping, and when he wasn't aching.
“You’re still in pain?” Theo asked, frowning as he sat forward in his chair.
“No, it’s fine, don’t–” But Theo, the bastard, was already grasping his wrist and draining his pain. He couldn’t help but sigh in relief, feeling tension he didn’t know he had melt away. “Thanks…” He muttered. It was still weird to see black veins travel up Theo’s arms.
“No problem.” Theo whispered, pulling his hand back and flexing his fingers. The chimera continued to stare at his hands, an odd expression on his face.
“What’s wrong?”
“I broke your rule.” Theo spat quietly, though none of the other occupants of the room seemed to stir.
“What?” Liam rasped, licking his dry lips. Theo quickly handed him a glass of water, from which he drank greedily. “What do you mean?”
“I… Disposed of the hunters who shot us. You said that if I ever went back to… my old ways, I had to leave.” Theo’s eyes met his then, looking almost timid.
Timid looked bad on Theo, he decided.
“You’re an idiot.” Liam announced.
“What?”
“If you really think I’m kicking you out after saving my life, you’re an idiot.” Theo blinked at him, so he rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t totally unconscious, Theo. You did what you had to.” He assured, even if the words felt foreign on his tongue. “Look, I’m too tired to fight you on this, so just believe me and I’ll punch you for it later if it makes you feel better, deal?”
The chimera smirked at him. Much better.
“Deal.”