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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗

𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯

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"Dad, really, I'm fine. I'm okay," Meilani assured Rafe who stood before her in the hallway near the boys' locker room. He had showed up a few minutes prior after hearing about Brett being injured and had came along after Noah had been phoned to the school by Stiles. "So is Scott wherever he is."

Before Noah and his deputies could show up to take care of the dead EMT that was killed by Violet, Stiles had gotten Brett out of the school and taken him to Deaton where Derek had promised to meet him. Meilani still had to stay back with Isaac and make sure that Liam stayed safe because Garrett could have been anywhere even though no one had seen him since Meilani knocked out Violet. Liam's name wasn't on either of the lists just yet, but Meilani wasn't taking any chances any time soon. 

Rafe shook his head with a sigh, a flash of guilt appearing on his face. "No, MeMe, I should have been here. I said I would come watch your and Scott's games."

"Dad, this is was just a pre-season scrimmage. I didn't even tell you about it because it was like a nothing game."

"Yes, but I promised you, Scott and your mom that I'd be around so she could pick up some double shifts at the hospital. I should have been here."

Meilani smiled softly at her father, her heart warming at the total one-eighty he'd done. If you had told Meilani a year ago that her father would be dropping back into her life and actually trying to be a father, she would have never believed it. She probably would have even laughed in your face. Never in a million years did she think Rafe McCall would be stood before her at her lacrosse game telling her that he was upset because he hadn't been there. 

"You're here now, Dad. That's what matters."

The small moment between Scott and Meilani was cut off when Parrish and Noah walked out of the locker room with Violet in hand cuffs. She was escorted out by Parrish who looked like he wasn't going to deal with any of Violet's shit. Violet had noticed Parrish's name tag on his uniform and mumbled his name out loud, which Parrish had heard and corrected her to call him Deputy Parrish. 

Meilani narrowed her eyes at Violet as the girl passed her by, who merely shot her a cocky look right back. As if the girl had gotten any sort of advantage on Meilani when Meilani had overpowered her in a matter of seconds. If anyone should have been giving the cocky and confident looks, it should have been Meilani. At least, Violet would be one less assassin she'd have to worry about for the time being.

Rafe's eyes flickered down to the clear evidence bag that Noah held in his hands that had Violet's necklace in it. "Sheriff, is that it? Is that the weapon?"

"Yeah. It's a thermo-cut wire," Noah informed, flipping the bag around so Rafe could get a better look at it.

Rafe's eyebrows furrowed as his eyes shined with realization and he rushed around the corner to talk to Parrish who had already turned the corner into the other hallway. Noah had quickly followed after him to shout for Parrish and Liam and Isaac both appeared in the space that Rafe and Noah had previously occupied. She noticed that Scott and Kira had been missing from their side when they had both been around the school when Rafe showed up.

"Where's Scott and Kira?" Meilani questioned, her eyes bouncing between Liam and Isaac.

"They took off. Your boyfriend told them about Lydia cracking the second part of the Dead Pool," Isaac explained, crossing his arms across his chest. "Lans, everyone is on it."

Liam noticed Meilani's eyes flicker over to him to say that Liam still hadn't showed up on it, but they really shouldn't have high hopes at this point. At the rate things were going, it seemed like everything was just going to keep crashing down around them. "I mean, yeah, I'm not yet, but there's still another third."

Meilani could hear her father's voice around the corner and subtly peered her head around the corner to try and listen in on the conversation while Liam and Isaac did the same to listen in with their wolf hearing. There had been a dozen other murders that had been done with the thermo-cut wires and Rafe had all the intentions of pinning it on Violet, which would be correct. Violet had tried to play it off like she just went to school at Beacon Hills High, but froze when Rafe threatened to call her parents. However, he said it in the way like he'd known something, because in the next second he was calling her out for not having any and why she and Garrett were called The Orphans. Violet was hauled away after that and Rafe told Noah that they needed to look for Garrett and also search both his and Violet's lockers. 

The three wolves exchanged a look before they were off back down the hall towards the locker room to check Garrett's locker for anything that could help them out. Isaac had stayed near the door to make sure neither Noah nor Rafe showed up to check Garrett's locker room locker next. Meilani and Isaac stood before Garrett's locker and Meilani wrapped her hand around the lock, ripping the lock off and snapping it in half. She tossed the broken lock to the ground and opened her locker, both hers and Isaac's eyes landing on Garrett's sports bag that was filled to the brim with wrapped up stacks of hundred dollar bills at the bottom of the locker.

"Guys, I think I hear someone coming. Did you find anything?" Liam panicked, tearing his eyes from the hallway to glance back at Isaac and Meilani who stared down at the pile of money.

Meilani couldn't tear her eyes from the money that rested in Garrett's bag like it was no big deal. Like the kid wasn't running around slaying random supernatural beings that he passed so he could get paid big bucks that weren't even his. She didn't think it was a good idea to tell Liam about the money just yet. Not until she was able to count it and see just how much Garrett and Violet actually got and for who. 

Releasing a heavy sigh, Meilani collapsed back against the locker next to Garrett's and ran her hands over her face. The longer this night went on, the more and more suffocated Meilani felt with the weight of everything. She wanted so desperately to make sure that no one else on this dead pool died, but she couldn't save everyone if she didn't even know who was on the final third of the list. Not only did she have to worry about her friends' lives being in danger, but she also had to worry about other supernatural creatures that went undetected in Beacon Hills that she had no idea about. 

This was supposed to be the semester Meilani would have been able to relax and just be as normal as an alpha as she could. She had been so excited to finally get to have somewhat of a normal relationship with Stiles again where half their conversations weren't supernatural or research related. She would have been able to grow closer with Rafe after the eight years the two had missed out on each other. She wanted to go on double date with Scott and Kira and do normal couple things. However, that couldn't happen, not when her life got twisted upside down.

It wasn't even like Meilani hated saving people that couldn't save themselves. She slept better at night knowing that she was able to make sure another person in their supernatural ridden town was safe and in their own bed and not six feet under. There was also just a selfish part of her that also missed how it was before all of this werewolf drama happened.

"This just keeps getting better and better, huh?" Meilani huffed, dropping her hands from her face and banging her head back against the locker behind her with her eyes closed. "Isaac, I don't know what to do. It's like everything is happening at once and I have no idea how to stop any of it."

Isaac frowned when he noticed the pinched up way Meilani's face contorted in stress. He could hear her heart beat beating rapidly in her chest and he could smell the sour scent of anxiety creeping up in the air. It was almost like Isaac was suddenly hyper-aware of everything that Meilani was feeling. A feeling that Isaac hadn't ever felt before and he just chalked it up to the stress of the night suddenly catching up to him as well. He reached his hand out to place on Meilani's shoulder and the second his hand touched her shoulder, it was as if he had been shocked.

Meilani's eyes snapped open at the feeling and her eyes flashed a bright red when they met with Isaac's while his flashed a bright yellow color. The locker room around them had frozen in time for a moment as a switch had gone off, a tight cord suddenly being tugged between two teen wolves and tying the two together. They had felt like the air had been sucked out of their lungs before being shoved right back in, making them both feel breathless. A foreign feeling that neither one could really decipher coursed through them for a moment before it settled back down and the duo almost felt . . . at peace around each other. 

A complete one-eighty feeling to what Meilani felt only a few seconds prior.

"Well, that's new," Isaac breathed, his hand slowly coming to drop back to his side as he and Meilani still stared wide eyed at each other. "What the hell just happened?"

Meilani slowly shook her head as she opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to make sense of the whole thing herself. Had Isaac's eyes always been that blue? Had his hair always curled up at the ends like that and tickled the top of his forehead? Was his jaw line always that sharp and prominent?

"I . . . I don't know, but I think I know who might."

The ride over to the animal clinic was filled with a tense silence between Meilani and Isaac as Meilani sped her bike through the town. She could feel them flex and twitch any time she had to turn the bike or swerve around a manhole cover in the road. The roads were empty with most people already being home in their beds for the night and Meilani was able to go on a straight course for the clinic. She could practically feel every muscle on Isaac's arms as they wrapped tightly around her stomach so he wouldn't fall off the bike. Even the usual cologne he wore was more heightened to her senses, even after an almost full game of lacrosse where the both of them should smell like nothing but sweat. 

Hell, Meilani even felt all of her senses on high alert as she swerved through the streets. She could feel every rumble of her bike as the engine continued to churn and puff out allowing the bike to push forward effortlessly. She could hear every puff and huff of the engine and all the night time critters that chirped or howled around the duo. Even the small ruffle of the leaves in the slight breeze was louder in her ears than usual. Meilani was even almost certain that her vision had sharpened even more and extended further as she could see a good distance ahead of her compared to before. 

Thankfully, the tense silence was cut off when they arrived at the animal clinic and the voices of Stiles, Deaton, Derek and Peter could be heard inside along with the steady heart beat of Brett. The duo climbed off Meilani's bike that she'd parked next to Stiles' Jeep and made their way inside the clinic and over to the main examination room where everyone was. All eyes had instantly snapped over to Meilani and Isaac when they entered the room, especially Peter who had his eyebrows raised the second his eyes landed on them.

"Babe, what are you guys doing here? Did my dad already arrest Violet?" Stiles inquired from where he stood near Brett who was on the floor for whatever reason. A yellow liquid smeared over the boys' lips as he laid on his back, his chest moving slightly up and down to show he was in fact still alive. Now it was just a waiting game for Brett to wake up from his wolfsbane coma.

"Oh, um . . . yeah. They were, um, searching Garrett and Violet's school lockers when we left. We did whatever we could before we left," Meilani stammered, scratching the back of her neck. "Isaac and I . . . may have ran into a problem, though."

"Well, I wouldn't call it a problem as much as a situation," Isaac corrected.

Peter shot the duo a knowing smile, almost like he already knew what was wrong. That was usually never a good sign for anyone. "I can definitely say it took you two long enough. I had a feeling that it would you be two. Derek, you smell it also, don't you?"

Derek's nose twitched slightly as if he were trying to pick up whatever scent Peter mentioned. His eyes brightened with recognition as he crossed his arms, tilting his head as he analyzed the two very confused teens before him and the other confused teen that stood across the table from him. "It's a sweet kind of scent. The only scent that comes off from . . ."

"Mates," Deaton finished for Derek, earning wide eyed responses from Meilani and Isaac.

Meilani blinked rapidly, her brain trying to process the word that had slipped from Deaton's mouth. Mates? As in two wolves who were destined to be together like in all the werewolf movies and books Meilani had seen and read. She had always thought that was something that writers and Hollywood had made up to add a little bit of romance to the movies and books. Now it was actually a thing? With her best friend of all people? Was she dreaming?

"Mates," Isaac repeated, his voice coming out strained as he sounded just as confused as Meilani felt. "Like Meilani and I are supposed to be together?"

"Every wolf has one mate. It goes back for centuries that every animal and person has its mate that they are destined to be with. Wolf mates are different because it enhances all of your abilities and then enhances your view on your mate. You notice things you never noticed before and you even begin to feel the other's emotions and pain through that connection. You make the other stronger and faster in every way among other things. However, that connection is only brought to the surface when one of the wolves feels a deep emotion for the other," Peter explained and instantly picked up the way that Isaac's jaw twitched, causing the blue eyed man to raise his eyebrows. "Looks like someone's best friend has been lying to them."

Meilani's eyes cautiously glanced over to Stiles where she caught a strong scent of jealousy come off him. A scent she'd never really smelt off her boyfriend before because he usually knew how she felt about him, but now he clearly felt threatened by this new aspect in Meilani's life. He had his arms tightly crossed across his chest and he didn't look anyone in the eye, showing off even more how upset Stiles had become over the whole thing. Something that Meilani didn't blame him for because she was just as upset and confused a she was. 

For as long as Meilani could remember, it was always Stiles and only Stiles. She'd even admit to seeing herself marrying the boy one day even though she was still in high school and still had a bit of life to live through before she even should think about something like that. It was just how strong and deep her feelings for Stiles had gone and she couldn't even begin to see herself being with anyone else but him. Which currently was something that confused her because she still felt that way. 

She didn't love Isaac, at least not in the relationship kind of way. She loved him in the platonic kind of way and would call him a brother before she had called him a boyfriend. However, if he was her mate and that part of them both had just been unlocked, why didn't she feel herself drawn towards Isaac? Why didn't she want to throw herself at him like she'd seen in the movies and the books? Shouldn't she be feeling the butterflies and warm feeling that she'd gotten from Stiles her whole life?

"So . . . what? What about Stiles? Are Meilani and I are both suddenly just supposed to be together just like that?" Isaac asked after a long beat a heavily tense silence that was nearly suffocating if Meilani were honest.

"Not necessarily. Not all mates actually end up together. Sometimes they end up with other wolves. However, in your case, you both have also have another mate. A soulmate," Deaton responded from where he still stood nearby Brett in case anything else happened to him. "You guys are both half wolf and half human, so you also get a human mate. Not every werewolf is so lucky to find both of their mates or even their true ones at all. Their human mate is a much stronger feeling than their wolf mate is. Stiles is Meilani's soulmate and not only did Meilani get the rare alpha power, but she also got the rare second anchor. Scott is supposed to be her true anchor, but because Stiles is her soulmate, he also became her anchor."

Meilani squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her temples, a pounding headache coursing through her head with all the new information. So her best friend was in love with her and was her wolf mate, but she wasn't with him because she loved Stiles and he was her other true soulmate which practically overruled her wolf side. She not only was a rare alpha, but she also had a rare double anchor that could help keep her in control. On top of that, Meilani had a bunch of supernatural creatures to keep alive while also making sure Liam stayed in control and didn't give in to his wolf anger.

Isaac had gone tensely silent as he took in the information. It was true that ever since Allison had died and he and Meilani were constantly together, that he started to realize that maybe his feelings for her were deeper than friendship. However, he had tried so hard to push it deep down because he never wanted to ruin the relationship he already had with Meilani. Especially not with Meilani being in love with Stiles. Regardless of how much Isaac acted like he hated Stiles, he didn't and actually loved the way that Stiles cared for Meilani above all else. He would never come between the two like a home wrecker. 

Stiles still stood in silence, but the smell of jealousy had gone down since Deaton explained that Stiles was also Meilani's soulmate. It was like he was lingering on the fact that his mate side took over Isaac's. Though, that didn't stop Stiles from still feeling the tiniest bit jealous that there was still a part of Meilani that was attached to someone else. Regardless of her deep feelings of love being projected fully at him. It had always just been him and now Stiles felt like there was an intruder.

As if the weight on Meilani's shoulders wasn't heavy enough.

To say Meilani didn't sleep properly that night was an understatement. It was almost a complete parallel to the nights when Stiles was missing when Void possessed him. She even felt as awful as she did during that time.

Stiles had followed Meilani's bike home the night before to make sure she got home okay even with Isaac on the bike behind her. He was only human and couldn't protect her like Isaac could, but he would be damned if he still didn't follow his girlfriend home. I mean . . . that's what metal bats were for, right? He hadn't said much when Meilani had popped up near his window after she parked the bike in the driveway, but he did kiss her goodnight like he always said and told her that he loved her. He even promised to come over the next night to help her count the money in Garrett's gym bag she'd taken from his locker. The same bag that was currently hidden underneath her bed so neither Melissa or Rafe saw it.

Meilani could still tell that Stiles was bothered over the whole wolf mate and soulmate situation and she didn't blame him. Even now she still felt weird over the whole thing and didn't know how to properly handle the whole thing. She hadn't even realized she pulled on one of Stiles' old maroon and black flannels until she looked in the mirror to make sure her quickly done french braid wasn't sticking up everywhere. She even heard Isaac up and getting ready in that same moment as if the universe wanted to remind her of what was going on. It would definitely take some getting used to being more hyper-aware of everything Isaac did.

And like the universe just wasn't done knocking her while she was down, Meilani sat on her bed as she listened to Melissa on the phone downstairs. The electric company had turned off the power in the McCall residence because Melissa was three months behind on the payments. She desperately tried to beg the woman on the phone with her to turn the power back on long enough for her to store the food in the fridge properly because clearly she didn't have the three hundred dollars to get all new groceries.

Meilani had fallen back on her bed with her hands over her face when she she heard Scott's footsteps stop just before her door. She peeked out from between the gaps in her fingers to see Scott's small smile on his face as he stood in her doorway. "Have you come to watch my death?"

Scott scoffed softly and strolled into Meilani's room, sitting down on the bed next to her. She had debriefed her brother on everything the night before with Isaac. It had taken a solid hour to get him caught up with what happened after he took Kira home when Kira found out about her mom being on the list. He had sat in silence the whole time, allowing Meilani and Isaac to rattle off each other as they went along the string of events. Scott even didn't seem all that shocked when Meilani had explained to him about how Isaac was her wolf mate, but nothing would ever come out of it because Stiles was her soulmate and that overpowered whatever feelings came from the wolf mate. Not like that alone was a shock since anyone could see the way Stiles felt about Meilani and vice versa.

However, Scott did mention that Meilani and Isaac had grown quite close over the course of their friendship, especially after Allison had died and they helped each other get through her death. It was no surprise to him that Isaac would have felt at least a little something and unlocked whatever final lock was still bolted shut. That didn't mean that Isaac and Meilani couldn't still be best friends. They would just have to get used to the new feelings and enhanced senses the duo got. 

That didn't stop Meilani from feeling horrible for Stiles and couldn't imagine how he must truly feel. She made a mental note to talk to him that night when he showed up to go through the money with her.

"Mei, I think if anyone could handle everything going on, it would be you," Scott said, glancing down at Meilani who still only peered up at him through the gaps in her fingers. "I know everything is literally shit right now, but we always figure things out, you know that. We can figure out how to help out Liam. We can figure out how to protect everyone on the list. We can figure out how to deal with this whole wolf mate/soulmate thing. We just have to take it a step at a time."

Meilani puffed out her cheeks and dropped her arms to either side of her head as she stared up at the ceiling. "I just . . . I don't know what to do anymore, Scott. I feel like everything is just coming down at once. Between Kate and Liam, Garrett and Violet, Stiles and Isaac and now Mom downstairs trying to swindle the power company to get our power back on. It's all getting to be too much. I literally feel like I'm drowning and I don't even know which way the surface is anymore."

Scott reached forward and squeezed his twin's hand with an encouraging smile on his face. "We're all right here besides you, Meilani. Always. The whole pack is here to help you. It's okay to look for help sometimes. Stop trying to take everything on your shoulders alone, okay? You can come to any of us and you know that."

"Thanks, Scotty," Meilani whispered, squeezing Scott's hand back gratefully. "I love you."

"Love you, too, Womb-Mate," Scott mused, poking Meilani in the side and smiled when it earned him a small giggle from his sister. "Just stay strong like you always do and it'll all work out, I promise. I'll see you at school, okay? I promised Kira I'd take her today."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Meilani called after Scott, letting her hand drop back to the bed as Scott stood up to make his way out of the room.

Scott sent Meilani a knowing smirk over his shoulder at her as he made his way through the door. "That's not a lot, Mei."

Meilani feigned an offended gasp and chucked a pillow at Scott, earning a chuckle from him as he ducked to dodge the pillow. She dropped back onto her bed with a huff, staring up at the ceilings. "Brothers."

Meilani was able to make it through three classes before she had another bit of drama to deal with. Mason had ran up to Meilani and Isaac when the duo stepped out of their class and asked if either one of them had seen Liam. They had decided to do a run around the track in the woods in the morning and Mason hadn't seen the boy since. He hadn't showed up to the class that Mason and him shared and he wasn't even sure if the boy had showed up to his first two classes because he even skipped out on Mason in the middle of the track.

It didn't leave Meilani with any good feelings.

Meilani had sent Liam a string of texts as her, Isaac and Mason ran through the school to get towards Finstock's office to ask him if he'd seen the boy anywhere. Every single text had gone unanswered by Liam and that sent another wave of worry through Meilani because Liam typically answered her right away. He had even promised to text her or answer her calls after they found out Garrett was one of the assassins. However, as expected, Finstock hadn't seen Liam in class and suggested that the boy was probably sick like him.

Mason tore his gaze away from a pale and sickly Finstock and turned to Isaac and Meilani. "Liam didn't seem sick on our walk."

Meilani nervously tapped the side of her phone as she still got nothing back from Liam. Seriously, where was he? "He's still not getting back to my texts."

"Mine either," Mason sighed, slapping his hands to his sides as the bell rang to start the next classes.

"Don't worry. Lans and I will find him," Isaac promised Mason as kids began to file into the hallways to make their way to their next classrooms. "But text us if you find him, yeah?"

Meilani chewed on the inside of her lip as Mason turned to walk away from them and began to walk down the side hallway where no one was. She felt the sleeve of Isaac's gray sweater brush against the side of her own sleeve and it was still a shock to how heightened the feeling was. There was still so much for Meilani to get used to and now she had the added stress of her beta being missing. 

What possibly could go wrong next?

As if the universe heard Meilani's inner thoughts, Meilani's phone began to vibrate rapidly in her hand and felt her body run cold when she saw it was Liam's name. Something about the call just didn't sit right in her stomach and she cautiously answered the phone, stopping at the end of the empty hallway while Isaac  stood nearby in case she needed him. "Liam?"

"Sounds like you already know the answer to that, cupcake."

Meilani's jaw clenched as Garrett's voice filled her ears and her grip tightened on her phone so hard she was surprised the phone hadn't snapped in half. "Where's Liam, Garrett?"

"Aw, come on, Meilani. You actually think I'm going to tell you that?"

"I'll give you the money back," Meilani bartered, knowing full well that her stealing the money from Garrett's locker set him off. Liam was just a pawn to get that back from Meilani.

"Yeah, you will, but that won't get you Liam back. You're going to have to put a little more effort in than that. I want the money and Violet or you never see your precious beta again. Come meet me by the buses. Now."

Meilani let out a frustrated growl when she heard the other side click with Garrett hanging up on her. She shoved her phone into her back pocket and tugged her hands through her hair which only messed up her braid, closing her eyes to try and slow down her rapidly racing heart. She needed to be as calm and clear headed as she possibly could with everything going on. Liam couldn't be saved if she gave into the blood lust and wound up ripping Garrett's head from his shoulders. 

Isaac had tentatively placed a hand on Meilani's shoulders to remind her that he was there for her. He instantly felt a foreign feeling course through him before Meilani suddenly relaxed under his hand. Their eyes met for the first time since the night before and Meilani swore it was like she hadn't even been stressed in the first place. Almost like Isaac had taken all her stress for the moment, or at least . . . that's what it felt like. She suddenly felt relaxed enough to think straight and she offered Isaac a grateful smile.

"Stay here. I don't want you getting in the middle," Meilani ordered Isaac, gently removing his hand from her shoulder and turning to make her way towards the buses.

"Meilani, you can't face him by yourself!"

Meilani glanced over her shoulder at Isaac and flashed her alpha eyes at him. "Just watch me."

Not giving Isaac a second to fight with her, Meilani took off towards the back lot where the buses all pulled in until the school day was done. Most of the kids used this secluded part of the school to make out in between classes and Meilani was just glad that today was one of the rare days that no kids loitered around nearby. Garrett already stood in between two of the buses when Meilani showed up and he smiled tauntingly at her as she approached him, his make-shift lacrosse stick weapon clutched in his hand.

"Alright, what do you want? You want me to go to Stiles' dad? I can do that, or I can talk to my father. He's an FBI agent," Meilani offered, narrowing her eyes dangerously at Garrett. He needed to know that if he even did anything to Liam that would get him killed then he would have to answer to her next. 

"You really think I want you talking to anyone with a badge? I'm not getting help from a werewolf because I want her to talk to someone. They are transferring Violet to a federal facility. You're not going to let that happen. They're going to put her in a car. We are going to follow it and we are going to get ahead of it. You stop it."

Meilani blinked in disbelief at him and took a step closer to the boy, crossing her arms. "You expect me to attack a car? That's your brilliant plan?"

Garret's face dropped menacingly and he got close to Meilani's face, as if he actually scared her. "You're an alpha. If you can't stop one little car, then one little beta is going to die." He held up his lacrosse stick and pushed the button on the side to release the dagger on the end. "I stabbed your precious little boy with a blade dipped in wolfsbane. Once it gets to the heart . . . bad things happen."

"We're taking her now."

Meilani groaned as she followed Rafe through the police station after school. She had tried to get Rafe to get himself off the team that would take Violet down to the federal facility. There had to be some way that Meilani could prevent herself from attacking a car that had her father inside of it, right? "Dad, come on! Isn't that a little dangerous? I mean, Garrett's still out there. Maybe we should let someone else do it."

Rafe stopped outside of Noah's office and offered his daughter a grateful smile. "Sweetheart, I appreciate your concern, I really do. After what happened with Katashi and losing evidence off an armored truck, I'm not letting this out of my sight. If you're still worried, then you should know that I've got Beacon Hills' finest coming with us."

Meilani furrowed her eyebrows and followed Rafe's line of sight to see Noah escort Violet out of one of the back holding rooms. As the girl passed by Meilani, she sent the girl a knowing look that practically shouted that she knew Meilani would be getting her out of this.

This was definitely not ending well.

As soon as Rafe and Noah had left, Meilani had took off at a run to meet up with Garrett where he texted her he was somewhere up ahead on the route that the car was scheduled to take. She tried to tell him that this plan was not going to work in the slightest, but it was clear that Garrett wouldn't be letting up on the plan that he had in mind. Meilani just hoped she'd be able to figure out a way to not hurt her Rafe or Noah in the process of all this or at least get out of having to do any of it and still save Liam. 

"There's a stop sign half a mile ahead," Garrett informed a few minutes into the drive behind the car.

"So I take out the tires with my claws?"

"Teeth, claws, heat vision, whatever," Garrett snapped, sounding annoyed with Meilani's questionings. "Just stop them. You ready?"

Meilani opened her mouth to offer a retort when she noticed that the car had been flipped onto its side and Noah and Rafe's body were on the other side of the car. Noah was further out from the car than Rafe was and from where Meilani was, it looked like Rafe's leg were crushed beneath the side of the car. "Garrett, stop the car!"

The car's tires squealed as Garrett stopped short a few feet from where the car had been flipped over. Meilani tore off her seat belt and bolted out of the car, shouting her dad's name  but he laid unmoving on his stomach. She slid to a stop before Noah and Rafe, dropping to her knees by her unconscious father. "Dad! Dad, come on!"

"Meilani . . . " Noah grunted, slowly turning over onto his back with a pained grimace on his face.

Meilani followed Noah's gaze and saw that Garrett had hopped out of the car, grabbing his lacrosse stick. He extended weapon and pushed out the daggers on either side of the stick and twirled it around expertly. She frantically shook her head as she watched Garrett cautiously. "Garrett, Violet isn't in the car! She's gone."

Noah's grip on Meilani's flannel sleeve caused her to jump and he pulled her down close so he could whisper in her ear. "You have to listen to me. They're still here. They're still here."

As if on cue, the sound of the Berserkers sounded right near Meilani and her head snapped up to see one stood just a few feet away on the edge of the road. It flexed its hand threateningly and growled as its knuckles cracked loudly. Meilani slowly rose to her feet as she watched Garrett twirl his stick around and shout at the Berserker to come at him. He swung the stick at him a few times, but the Berserker didn't even flinch. The Berserker merely stared Garrett down as he cockily antagonized it.

Garrett had just finished gloating about it not being so touch just seconds before a second Berserker showed up behind him and shoved its claws through his stomach, raising him into the air. The blonde haired boy gasped for air as blood dribbled down his chin before he was unceremoniously dropped back down to the asphalt where he lay motionless. 

Meilani had stepped forward to check if Garrett was dead since she could no longer hear his heartbeat. She was all but two steps ahead before her name was called and then the next second her world was thrown into darkness.

Meilani wasn't sure how long had passed, but she eventually blinked her eyes open and could feel a searing hot pain in her abdomen. When her eyes finally adjusted, she squinted up at the bright light bulb that shined in her eyes and Deaton's face cleared up in her vision.

"Welcome back. Though, I was kind of hoping you'd be asleep for a few more minutes."

Meilani groaned as she lifted her head up to see what was stuck in her stomach and saw that it looked like a kind of stick with multiple designs in it and the end was curved up. Upon closer inspection, Meilani realized it was the handle of one of the small hooks that the Berserkers carried around them ready to slash people up when they were ready. 

"Lans," Chris' voice gained her attention as the man walked over to the other side of the table. "This is going to hurt. Isaac, hold her down."

Before Meilani could open her mouth to ask any questions, Isaac's hands pressed down on her shoulders to keep her down on the table as Chris' hand wrapped around the handle of the hook in her stomach. He held Meilani's side next to the hook and swiftly pulled it out from her stomach, earning a strangled cry from Meilani as the pain shut up her side. She rolled over the side of the table and Chris caught her before she could crash to the ground, helping her to lean up against the side of the medical table.

"You okay?" Chris checked, pressing the gauze that Deaton handed to him to Meilani's wound.

"Where's my dad and Noah?" Meilani questioned, replacing Chris' hand on the gauze since she was okay enough to hold herself up.

"They're at the hospital and they're both doing fine," Isaac assured Meilani, sitting on the medical table next to where Meilani leant. "I just got off the phone with your mom before Deaton decided it was time to pull out the hook. Just so you know, that really hurt. I think we need to end this connection between us because it's already causing me pain."

Meilani let out a weak laugh at Isaac's attempted joke and shook her head, sobering up when she remembered what had happened and why the Berserkers were even there in the first place. "It was Kate. It was her and the Berserkers."

"We know," Chris responded, stepping back when Deaton stepped in front of Meilani to tape the gauze to her wound. "They move fast and they don't leave much in the way of tracks."

"We have to find her. They've got Violet and I think Violet knows where Liam is."

Deaton straightened up when a thought came to him and he picked back up what had been shoved into Meilani's stomach, holding it out for Meilani to take. "Then as much as this hurt, maybe it could also help. Can you get a scent?"

Meilani gingerly took the item from Deaton and brought it closer to her nose, already catching the tiniest hint of a scent.

It didn't take long for Meilani's wound to heal back over and for her and Isaac to take off in a sprint in the direction of the scent that Meilani caught. The scent had lead over to an abandoned building with the numbers seventeen and eighteen written in bold over two garages to the side of a back entrance door. Chris had showed up a minute behind them and when he stepped out of the car, he had an expression of recognition on his face.

"You been here before?" Isaac inquired, walking over to Chris with Meilani at his side as the two scanned the area around the building.

"Yeah, I used to work here. We actually used to own the building. It was part of the business," Chris answered, staring up at the building before him.

"Isaac and I have fought these things before. They're strong. Really strong," Meilani warned Chris, not wanting the man to get hurt. It was bad enough Allison died because of her, she didn't need Chris dying next.

Chris backed up towards the back passenger door of the car and opened it up, reaching inside to pull out one of his rifles and shutting the door after. "That's why I brought this."

Meilani nodded her head in shock and breathed out a laugh. "Okay, yeah, I'm good with that."

The trio made their way inside the building that was vastly empty save for the tarps that hung down from the ceiling and the randomly placed metal shelves that held various items. It looked like they were about to do construction inside of the building but never got around to doing so. The inside was dimly lit thanks to the moon and the small lights that littered the floors that sent Meilani, Isaac and Chris' shadows across the concrete floors. 

"You shouldn't have come," Kate's voice echoed from somewhere nearby.

Meilani's eyes scanned around her for any sight of Kate, but so far she'd come up empty. "Kate, I'm here for Violet. I need to talk to her."

"I knew you'd find me," Kate voiced somewhere from behind the trio and they turned to walk further in that direction. Her shadow had appeared in the tarp up ahead and she was flanked by two of the Berserkers. "But . . . I was hoping we could do this later. I just . . . needed a little more time to learn control."

Meilani stuck close to Isaac and Chris when she noticed that Kate's claws had grown out and they trailed along the flowing tarps. The woman slowly walked her around the tarp went the two Berserkers still standing their ground, making her way closer towards Chris, Meilani and Isaac. 

"Put the gun down. We walk away and you don't have to get hurt."

"Where's Violet?" Meilani demanded, her hands balling into fists at her sides. 

The light caught on Kate's face and it showed off her canines, bright blue eyes, and face was dark with hair. She took another threatening step closer to the trio and trained her eyes on her brother. "Put the gun down, Chris."

"Where is she?" 

However, Meilani never got her response when the two Berserkers appeared on the other side of the tarp and took off towards the trio. Chris had instantly opened fire on the Berserkers, the empty bullet casings clinking to the ground with each shot. Meilani and Isaac both tried to get Chris to stop since the bullets would do nothing to deter the Berserkers, but it was too late when Kate rushed at him and sent him spinning backwards with her fist.

Meilani and Isaac both squared off with a Berserker and Meilani flipped over the Berserker's claw when it tried to slash down at her. She landed on one knee with her fist down on the ground, already shifting into her alpha side. Meilani pushed off the ground and leapt at the Berserker with her fist raised, but it quickly shot her down and sent her crashing to the ground with a groan. She had just stumbled to her feet when the Berserker thrusted its hand forward, sending her flying through the multiple paper-like dividers and crashing into the random piece of furniture on the other side.

Meilani growled as she leapt back to her feet and hopped up onto the piece of furniture, jumping on top of the Berserker when it ran towards her. The Berserker crashed through another set of dividers and threw Meilani across the room, sending her sliding across the floor. Meilani grunted when she turned onto her side, her eyes widening when they landed on the sight a few feet away.

Violet's dead body slouched in a chair, blood dripping down from her eyes.

Now how was Meilani supposed to find Liam?

Meilani struggled back to her feet and had made it back towards where Chris and Isaac were just as Isaac helped Chris back to his feet, Kate and the two Berserkers nowhere in sight. She slowly shook her head when Chris and Isaac glanced to her for answers about Liam. "Violet's been killed by Kate."

"I'm sorry. There's still time. You'll find him," Chris assured, placing a comforting hand on Meilani's shoulder.

"I don't even know where to begin to look for him," Meilani huffed, her shoulders deflating as the suffocating feeling returned full force once again. She only had so much more time before the wolfsbane made its way to Liam's heart. Then he would be as good as dead and what kind of alpha would be Meilani be if she let Liam die?

However, as if the universe finally wanted to give Meilani at least a tiny break, a sudden scream tore through the room and echoed off the walls. Meilani's ears instantly perked up as she realized who the scream belonged to and took off without warning in the direction she heard the scream come from. She barely even felt her feet touch the ground as she pushed herself harder and harder towards the place she'd heard the screams. 

Meilani dodged and leapt over multiple twigs and logs in the woods, each one just being another one closer to where Liam was. Luckily for her, Liam kept screaming for help so she was able to follow the screams to the middle of the wood where an old well rested. The top of the well had a wooden cover it where part of it was broken off as if someone had been dropped down into it. When Meilani peered her head over the side of the stone well, she saw Liam desperately trying to climb up and out of the well.

Meilani instantly reached her hand down and wrapped her hand around his wrist, tugging the young boy up and out of the well. She had fell onto her ass thanks to Liam's added weight and she hugged the boy close to her chest as she let out a relieved sigh.

"It's gonna be okay, bud. I promise. It's gonna be okay."

Chris and Isaac had followed Meilani into the woods thanks to her scent and Chris was able to speed them back over to Deaton who was still luckily at the clinic. Much like with Brett, once Liam laid down on the metal table, Deaton dragged his small blade along the boy's chest to release the yellow smoke that was the wolfsbane. Liam had released a breath and relaxed back onto the metal table, his eyes closed as he slept and his body coated in sweat and well water.

Meilani gently ran her hand over the top of Liam's head as Isaac stood next to her and Chris and Deaton stood on either side of the metal examination table. She was just so glad that she was able to save one person tonight and it only made her more determined to save everyone else on the Dead Pool. No matter what it took. "I'm tired of watching people die."

"I'm not sure you have much choice about that," Chris countered quietly.

"Maybe I do."

Deaton frowned at Meilani's response and placed down the blade back on the metal tray with the rest of his doctor tools. "Meilani, that's a lot of burden to carry on your shoulders."

Meilani scoffed and her eyes trailed back down to Liam's sleeping form, the boy appearing more relaxed whenever Meilani ran her hand through his soaked hair. "I don't care, Deaton. No one else dies. Everyone on that list. Everyone on that Dead Pool. It doesn't matter if they're Wendigos, or werewolves, or whatever. I'm gonna save everyone."

Isaac reached forward and wrapped his hand around hers, smiling softly at her. "You won't do it alone."

Meilani returned the smile and allowed herself to try and relax the slightest bit. She saved one person tonight and she had the drive to do that over and over again until everyone was safe.

No matter the consequences.

AUTHORS NOTE

Hi hey hello

This chapter legitimately took me ten hours to write because I was stuck so hard on how to properly write all the original scene stuff so PLEASE GIVE THIS CHAPTER SOME LOVE SO I CAN FEEL LOVED FOR FIVE SECONDS. I swear, I almost trashed this chapter at least thirty times so if there's any grammar stuff please just ignore it. I cannot be assed to go back right now and fix it because WOW IM TIRED OF LOOKING AT THIS DOCUMENT TODAY! 

SOOOO THAT HAPPENED! Meilani and Isaac are wolf mates and you're welcome to all the Meilani & Isaac stans! You all know we had to add in that little kink to the plot and bring in the angst. Isaac is no doubt catching feelings for Meilani, no matter how much he wanted to suppress them because she's his best friend and he in no way wanted to ruin Stiles and Meilani's relationship. I tried my best to explain both the wolf mate and the true soulmate parts while also trying to still keep it interesting. This won't be the last time any of this kind of stuff will be brought up so there's still more to uncover with all of the mate stuff and more drama to come from it ( especially in Season 5 op . . . ) so expect to see more of it. 

I know Meilani and Isaac kind of seem okay about it right now, but they're both still trying really hard to get used to all the new feelings that this new . . . ability, if you will, brings along with them. We'll get more into Stiles' feelings on the whole thing next chapter! So that'll be fun times!!

Shout out to roscoeobrien for helping me fine tune the idea and listening to me ramble about it for the past two days (yes you can yell at me since i did what you told me i didn't have to do).  I love you with my entire being, my VIP. You're the best for always listening to my Meilani fan girl talk and encouraging all my chaotic behavior.  *bursts with all the love I have for you*