chapter four.

"SHE'S NOT DEAD."

Derek's firm voice booms around the tense vet, his broad arms crossed looking each of them in the eye. Arthur glanced at Isaac who trembled besides him guilt tinting his blue eyes, he understands why Derek would deny his first beta's death but Isaac saw it. He wouldn't lie about this.

"Derek, he said, 'there's a dead body. It's Erica'." Stiles counters. "Doesn't exactly leave us much room for interpretation."

"Then who was in the vault with Boyd?" Derek retorts, searching for anything to prove he hasn't lost his second beta.

"Someone else, obviously." Stiles replied, rolling his eyes.

"And maybe it was the girl on the motorcycle. Okay," Scott turned his head to Issac. "The one who saved you?"

Arthur glimpsed at him for confirmation, Isaac shook his head gripping the towel tighter, "No, she wasn't like us. And whoever was in the vault with Boyd was."

An idea popped in Arthur's mind finally making sense compared to others, his thumb resting on the corner of his lip. "What if that's how Erica died? They put them together during the full moon and see which ones survives. Like a, a ⏤"

"Werewolf thunderdome." Stiles breathes out, finishing for him when he couldn't find the word. Arthur nodding the weights he had been carrying lifted off his shoulders insisting he wasn't useless, he might have found their play.

"Then we get them out tonight." Derek declares, his jade green shining with determination. Arthur sighed, he already went over this with Stiles and he thought Derek was smarter. Apparently not.

Deaton whipped his head around shaking his head advising him, "Be smart about this, Derek. You can't just go storming in."

"If Isaac got in, then so can we." Derek retorted. Arthur groaned lowly, though he's bewildered Issac had been able to get inside, however he got caught minutes later, they probably let him inside.

"But he didn't get through a vault door, did he?" Deaton sassed.

"We need a solid plan." Arthur states, his ocean blue eyes pleading with the alpha to think this through.

"How are we gonna come up with a plan to break into a bank vault in less than 24 hours?" Derek inquired recklessly, the urge to save his runaway betas clouding his judgement.

"Uh, I think someone already did." Stiles interrupted furrowing his eyebrows reading his phone, "'Beacon hills first national closes its doors three months after vault robbery.' Doesn't say here how it was robbed, but it probably won't take long to find out."

"How long?" Derek wonders, flickering his gaze to Stiles getting impatient the longer they stood there arguing.

"It's the Internet, Derek." The alpha arched a brow. "Okay? Minutes."

* * *

"YOU'RE A HARD PERSON to find." Arthur mumbled, an arm draped over his eye hiding from the early morning sun peeking through his blinds. Werewolves didn't have the ability to steal other people's memories, so how couldn't Isaac remember? Maybe all he needed was sleep and everything would come back on his dreams ━ but you can't remember your dreams so then he'd forget it all over again... man, it's too early for thoughts like those. "Do you remember anything?"

"Just that girl." Isaac's muffled voice replied, on the mattress beneath him still half asleep. He had suggested he stayed at his home tonight instead of Derek's because he missed the beta. "Everything else is a headache." It silent for a moment.

"I actually thought we wouldn't find you." Arthur muttered, with him being asleep the flicker was between keeping things inside his head and speaking out loud were blurred. He found it hard to keep continuing on their search when neither could find Isaac, every trail crumbled and turned to dust. "Like Erica and Boyd."

"But I'm here, beautiful as ever." Isaac joked, lifting the pillow away from his face and moving it underneath him. "Also Boyd and Erica can take care of themselves."

"But what would an Alpha Pack want with Erica and Boyd?"

"Their looks?" Isaac suggested, his voice drowsy as he shifted. "Like they're making an Alpha Pack is good looking people."

"Could they be recruiting?" Arthur inquired, eyes closed his arm was cramping but he didn't want to move it. But wouldn't it take time for them to find an Alpha and kill it, maybe they're going make them take Derek's title? Arthur shook his head destroying the idea, No that doesn't make sense. They could be replacing another but ━ no.

Is there a possibility they have no purpose? If they did, than what would they be doing with Boyd and Erica?

" ━ so that when we look at them, we turn to stone." Isaac's voice swims in Arthur's ears as he shakes his arm out of its stiffness.

His eyebrows furrowed, moving his head to edge of the bed to glance down at the Beta. "What are you on about?"

He rubs a hand down his face sighing. "I don't even know anymore."

He nods glancing at his alarm, the numbers 5.08 blared maroon. "Okay, good talk I'm going back to bed."

"But I've still more ideas."

"Night, Isaac."

"Technically it's morning ━" His face is smacked by a pillow. "Never mind, night."

* * *

"ALL RIGHT, SO we meet at Derek's at 5:00 to go over the plan," Arthur hears Scott informed climbing out of his vintage car to meet them halfway outside school. "And then we don't get started until dark." Arthur felt a twinge of annoyance recalling he couldn't be there tonight climbing up the school steps.

Stiles nodded. "'Kay. What do we do till then?"

Arthur shoot him a look, "Right now? We've got English." The boys pulled open the blue and black double doors, the bell ringing.

* * *

HIS TONGUE POKES HIS cheek trying to focus on the question in front of him not Lydia painting her nails besides him on his bed, the door ajar because even though they've been best friends since either could he's still a boy and she's a girl. He didn't mind, it wasn't like Lydia would ever hit on him. But the thought of lacing her fingers with his made his heart skip a beat, he's done plenty of times over the years ━ and he's loosing consideration on the question. His brain refuses to come up with answers for some stupid reason.

Arthur groans revisiting the urge to crumble his copy into a ball and toss it out the window, Lydia was supposed to be helping him study advance Biology. He's starting to regret not giving himself a chance to second think before hanging his slip, he's starting to believe he can't do this anymore.

"I feel like running away and start a cow farm." Arthur grumbled, laying his head on her back his long legs dangling on the edge.

She paused to glance at him, her eyebrows drawn inquiring, "Why cows?"

"I like cows." He shrugged.

"If you pass Biology will you stop talking about your cow farm?" Lydia inquired, blowing softly on her nails.

"Of course." He chimed, fingers tapping his stomach.

"Fine, what's the question?"

"What does an ecologist mean by the term conservation?" His nose scrunched, the more times he reads the question the less it made sense.

He wished he could be with Scott and Stiles discussing the plan on rescuing Boyd and Erica but Derek reminded him needed to resume his studies especially now with the STATS coming up, and he is struggling. Derek could be using it as an excused for him not to come, if he doesn't help them fight then what's the point of him being the pack?

She paused for a moment gathering her thoughts, before delivering an answer. "You know what Conservation ecology is right?"

"The protection, preservation, management, or restoration of natural environments and the ecological communities that inhabit them." Though his voice came off questionably spinning around to face her.

"Keep going." She encouraged her eyes glued to her nails refusing to make a mistake.

"Ehh, well Conservation is usually held to include the management of human use of natural resources for current public benefit and sustainable social and economic utilization."

"Just shorten it up so you can remember it and you've got your answer." Lydia replies, finishing up her nails a smile gracing her lips meeting his bewildered gaze.

"Whoa, I had it in me all along." Arthur grinned boyishly, spinning back around the table writing in his answer hearing Lydia's light laughter behind him. "I need a break, do you have any snacks."

Her eyebrow arched. "You answered your first question."

"Thinking works up my appetite, Lydia." Arthur retorted stretching his long legs. The strawberry blonde rolled her eyes playfully quickly snatching her nail varnishes before he pummels on her bed besides her, a mischief look in his eyes. "My sweet tooth is aching."

She opened her mouth to reply, but a dazed look fell over her features. A scream bubbles up his throat making him sit up and tumble of her bed cupping his ears but it did nothing to help him, Lydia's scream is unlike anything he's heard. It sent shards of agony inside his ears, he's positive the entire town could hear but he doubts he'll able to when she's done.

It was silent. Arthur timidly peeked his head afraid he might trigger her again, she was panting features bewildered. That isn't normal. "Does that always happen?" He inquired.

"I just, I don't ━ I don't know." The woman looked like she went through an earthquake and survived, her forest green eyes remained wide searching for answers he didn't have. "It's fine, let's just, I just need fresh air."