I struggled to keep up with Scott and Liam as they marched down the halls of Beacon Hills Hospital. The lightning that Liam and I had seen earlier was the start of a vicious storm that caused traffic jams, cell towers crashing and chaos across the city. We had picked Malia up on our way, the seniors needing to get to the high school for Senior Scribe, so that left Liam and I essentially with no way home.

"My dad's in surgery, he'll be in there for hours," Liam explained as we approached the elevator. Scott's plan had initially been to drop us both at home, but the traffic meant if they didn't go now, they would be late.  "So I can either hang out here...or I could still come with you guys?" Liam offered.

Scott didn't stop walking as he spoke, "You and Sydney can wait here, we can pick you up-"

"No!" I interrupted my brother as both boys turned to me with their brows furrowed. "I just mean why would we want to hang out here?" I added, trying to cover the fact that I just didn't want to be alone with Liam. 

Scott sighed hitting the elevator button before  turning to Liam. "Show me your hands." he demanded.

Liam briefly looked at me before slowly pulling his hands out of his pockets, opening them to reveal his bloody palms. "Okay...so I'm still having some trouble." he mumbled, clearly embarrassed with the situation.

"No, you're learning." Scott corrected his beta. "Just focus on not changing, you were starting to get the hang of it."

Liam looked over at me and clenched his jaw, looking down at his feet. "That was before." he muttered.

Neither Scott or I had to ask what before was. We both knew, we knew that before was when I was Liam's anchor, the thing that kept him human.

I felt my cheeks heat up as I turned my attention to the ground, immediately uncomfortable. I felt horrible about what I did-truly, but it needed to be done. 

"I'm trying." Liam explained, breaking the silence. "But it's not working." he added holding up his ear buds. That explained why he had had them shoved in his ears the entire night. 

"Derek said that you were one of the strongest he's seen at your age, and coming from him that means a lot. It means that things are going to be harder for you for a while." Scott stepped back into the awaiting elevator. "But it also means something else doesn't it?"

Liam shrugged, "I'll be strong?"

Scott took his hand off the door giving it permission to close. "Hell yeah."

And then the doors closed. Leaving Liam and I...alone. I mentally cursed my brother as Liam and I stood awkwardly frozen in place. What now?

Luckily, Liam had a plan, "Come on." he instructed, turning from the elevator.

"W-where are we going." I stumbled over my words, surprised that he was involving me in whatever plan he had brewing.

Liam didn't turn around, "We're following them."

I followed behind him, still in shock that we had exchanged real words, not the words we had been saying to each other for months, the classic 'hi', or 'sorry' when we bumped into each other. These were real words.

"How are we going to get there?" I asked as we rounded a corner.

"Drive."

I let out a small laugh, "Oh yeah? With the car that neither of us have?"

"We'll take my dad's." he answered as we stopped in front of the door to his step father's office.

"You don't think he'll mind?" I questioned,  skeptical of the situation as my eyes surveyed the hall to ensure no one was watching as we entered the office.

"He's in surgery, I already told you that." he muttered,  looking through the drawers of the desk.

When he found what he was looking for, he stood up and look toward me. "Okay let's go." he breathed, grabbing my arm, a set of car keys in his hand.

I looked down at his hand which was lightly holding onto me. I felt butterflies in my stomach at his touch. Liam noticed and quickly pulled his hand away, a blush immediately rising on his cheeks.

"Come on." I muttered exiting the office.

---

I sat in the passenger seat of Liam's stepfather's car, watching as the rain poured down on the school in front of us. "So what are we supposed to do now that we're here?" I questioned, glancing over at Liam. 

He didn't say anything, instead his eyes were focused elsewhere, and it seemed like he was sensing something. 

I rolled my eyes, leaning further into my seat, "Why are you ignoring me?" I demanded, crossing my arms over my chest like a pouting five year old. 

"I'm not," Liam snapped, not bothering to look at me, "Just stop talking for a second." he ordered. 

I scoffed as I sat up, turning to look at him, "Okay, I get that-"

Liam spun to look at me, his eyes wide, "Sydney, just shut up for a second!" he ordered, already throwing his car door open. 

I jaw dropped as I watched him step into the rain, soon enough I was doing the same thing, marching through the rain so I was in front of him, "You can't speak to me like that!" I argued, raising my voice over the downpour. 

Liam seemed to ignore my words, instead a look of concern covered his face, "Scott's in trouble." he announced, already grabbing my hand and pulling me with him.

"What!?" I screamed as I struggled to keep pace with him, his hand still locked on mine. I had no idea what he was talking about. How could Scott be in trouble?

"We need to find Malia," Liam yelled, still sprinting through the school grounds as he ignored my confusion, "Hurry up!"

"I'm trying, Liam!" I argued, already struggling to catch my breath. I paused for a moment, allowing my eyes to scan the faces milling about, "There!" I called, pointing toward where Stiles and Malia stood. 

Liam took off toward them, and was literally right behind them when Malia turned around, not wasting a second before throwing Liam to the ground. He let out a grunt as I gasped, the grip he had on my hand breaking as he hit the ground. 

Malia's eyes widened when she realized who it was. Stiles looked to me in confusion, "What the hell are you two doing here?" he inquired.

"Scott's in trouble." Liam breathed, trying to catch his breath.

That was all it took. I helped Liam off of the ground as the four of us broke into a run, following Liam's direction to where Scott was. The rain continued to pour down on us as our feet smacked against the pavement. 

My worry grew with each step we took, afraid of what we would find when we finally located Scott. It turned out I didn't have to worry much longer, as soon enough we arrived at an underpass to find Scott, Kira and a huge man I had never seen before. Beside Kira also stood a boy around our age, but I didn't recognize him. 

My heart dropped into my stomach as I came to a halt beside Stiles, Liam and Malia instantly morphing as Liam let out a growl. I watched in horror as the large man dug his claws into Scott's torso, and slowly all the colour drained from my brother's eyes.

"No!" I screamed, trying to run forward, but I was instantly stopped by Stiles who gripped onto me, his own eyes full of terror. 

I held onto Stiles, my heart pounding against my ribcage as I watched my brother take a hold of the man's arms, the vibrant red colour returning. Slowly, he rose from the ground, gripping onto the arm of the unidentified man before easily snapping it. 

I wince at the noise, watching as the man growled in pain, cradling his injured arm to his chest as he took a step back. 

"I don't know who you are," Scott spat, now at his full height,  "Or what you thought you were going to do, but I'll give you a choice. You can stay and I'll break something else, or you can run."

The man looked over to us, shocked that he had been defeated. Stiles slightly loosened his grip on me as he took a small step forward. "I'd run." he advised.

The man rose to his feet, looking at the group of us before fleeing the scene. The minute he was gone, the rest of us regrouped, me instantly throwing my arms around my brother. He held me tight, giving me a small nod as we pulled back, "I'm okay." he promised. 

I gave him a small smile, grateful that Liam had convinced me to come to the school with him. As we all shared curious glances, our eyes landed on the mysterious boy.

He stepped forward with a grin "You don't remember me, do you?" he let out a small laugh, "I guess I look a little different since the forth grade."

A look of recognition covered Scott's face as he looked back at the boy,  "Theo?" he questioned. 

I let out a small gasp as I looked at the teenage in front of us, I had only been in grade two at the time, but I still distinctively remember the boy from my older brother's class.

"You know him?" Malia asked.

"They used to." Theo confirmed, "Trust me, I'd never thought I'd see you guys again. A couple of months ago I heard of an alpha in Beacon Hills, I found out his name was Scott McCall, I just couldn't believe it. You're not just an alpha, but a true alpha."

"What do you want?" Scott questioned, stepping in front of the rest of us. 

"I moved back to Beacon Hills, with my family, because I want to be a part of your pack."