Chapter 7 ✧Tension All Around✧

Not that I was ever much of a talker, or even a whisperer, but during the walk back to the jeep, I was abnormally silent. We all were, I guess, seeing as the encounter with Theo Raeken ended up being much more awkward then anticipated. But I had a feeling that my silence came from a much different reason then Liam and Stiles'. 

Walking with my eyes on the ground, I began concentrating so hard on keeping my heart beat steady that i didn't notice Scott until he'd spoken up. 

"Find anything?" 

The true alpha stood next to his motorbike, which he had parked next to Stiles' jeep. His arms were crossed, and he looked at the three of us with raised eyebrows. 

His best friend, who was standing stiffly in front of me, sighed. "Nope." 

An awkward silence bubbled up after Stiles' one worded response. Liam looked over his shoulder at me, and I just shrugged in response. He was looking at the wrong person if he wanted someone to make the siution less awkward. 

Suddenly, Liam's eyes brightened as he looked over to his alpha. "I fell in a hole." 

My mental break down temporarily dissipated as I let out a small laugh at the sound of pride and utter happiness in Liam's voice. He looked back at me, and I gave him a real genuine smile which he gladly returned. It wasn't until he finally took his eyes off of me that I let the smile fall again. 

Stiles and Scott, though, never smiled. Instead, the awkward silence remained awkward while Stiles hoped into his jeep, slamming the door shut behind him. 

"It was the bridge where his sister died, wasn't it?" Scott asked in a serious tone, walking towards Stiles and the blue jeep. 

"Yes, it was. Very Embarrassing" Stiles confirmed quickly, a hint of irritation in his voice. I attempted to swallow a lump in my throat as I noticed tension between Scott and Stiles. Seeing problems between the two best friends terrified me as much as the voices in my head. "So, we're gonna leave now." 

Stiles turned his keys in the ignition, but the car only responded with miserable sputtering, refusing to start up for its owner. Unsurprisingly, this only further irritated the older boy as he cursed under his breathe and moved to get out of the jeep once more. 

"Liam, just do me a favor." Stiles called to the younger werewolf. He opened his car door, jumping out of the drivers seat and moving to the front of his car. "Get in the car, turn the ignition when I say." 

Liam swiftly hopped into the jeep to do what Stiles asked. I closed the door for him, only to cross my arms in the open window and rest my head. When I did, Liam looked over at me and smiled softly, but never got the chance to say anything because we both heard Scott and Stiles speaking once more, this time in lower voices. 

"Stiles," Scott spoke shortly. 

"Be with you in a sec." Stiles muttered in response. I frowned, looking away from the older boys as the rummaged through the hood of the jeep. "Try it," He yelled to Liam. 

Liam turned the keys in the ignition, only for the engine to sputter pathetically once more. I almost suggested to Stiles that he should take the vehicle to a car shop, but then I remembered what had happened last time when he did. 

"Stiles." Scott said once more. 

"Yes, we followed him out here. What do you want me to say? That I'm a stalker, huh? That's I'm crazy, totally paranoid?" Stiles' tone was exasperated and raising with each sentence. "None of this is new information!" 

Stiles went back to working on his jeep, and Scott continued to look at him. "Now are you gonna try to at least him the benefit of the doubt?" 

"I give people the benefit of the doubt. I've given a lot of benefit to a lot of people." 

Things were silent again, allowing me and Liam the chance to glance at each other worriedly. I tried to stay calm, and not allow myself to get to worried. If I started questioning things, I might start hearing voices again, and I don't know if I can handle that.What ever insane thing was going on with me, I wasn't ready to let the world know. Especially not when we had other issues to deal with. 

"Like Derek?" Scott asked softly. "Kira? Liam? Isaac and Charlotte?" 

"I was right about Peter." Stiles muttered. I shivered at the thought of the ex-alpha and current psychopath. "Try it again." 

Jumping slightly when he realized Stiles was talking to him, Liam once more turned the keys. I frowned when the car only continued to make depressing noises before the engine died out again. 

"You know, I bet you still think that there's something about him that can be saved." Stiles said, referring to the one and only Peter Hale. 

Scott shrugged his shoulders lightly. "Maybe." 

I cringed, hearing Stiles exhale in exasperation. I looked away from the two seniors. Them fighting was the last thing I wanted to see right now. 

Apparently noticing my discomfort, Liam reached out towards my hand. I didn't even realize that I had quickly snatched away my hand from his until I looked up at the hurt look on his face. 

"S-sorry. You're hands are just cold." I lied quickly, praying that Liam wasn't listening to my heart beat. I didn't need him trying to figure out the truth, that I was pulling my hand away from him because I thought he was just the personification of the horrid voices inside my head. Or the fact that I currently didn't trust my hands to do something I can't control while Liam is holding it. 

"Because you trust everyone!" Stiles shouted suddenly, causing both me and Liam to jump, losing the eye contact we'd been holding. 

I let out a shaky breathe, realizing Stiles had just punched his jeep. I looked over at my friend, not sure how to feel. I saw him cradling his hand, but an angry look was still evident on his face. I tried not to look scared, because the days where I was always scared was something I wanted to keep behind me, but I couldn't help what I was feeling in that moment. 

"Are you okay?" Scott asked. 

"I'm fine." Stiles responded quickly, never looking up to his best friend. 

"You could've broken it." 

"It's not broken." 

"Let me see it." Scott pleaded, stepping towards the paler boy. Stiles murmured another "I'm Fine" but Scott still didn't back off. "Let me see it." 

Stiles had a look in his eye I didn't recognize, and I stepped forward with a look on my face that I'm sure the entire world recognized. "Stiles?" 

The older boys gaze snapped up, causing me to flinch slightly. I hadn't meant to, but I'd suddenly felt my hands turning freezing cold out of nowhere, and I was scared to find out what was causing it. I quickly stuffed my hands in my pockets, Stiles' gaze on me softening as I did so. He let out a sigh before slowing reaching out to Scott. 

We all were silent as Scott took Stiles' hand in his. Clamping both of his hands around Stiles, Scott closed his eyes tightly. Leaning my head forward, I watched as Scott's veins turned black, showing that he was taking away Stiles' pain. The true alpha inhaled, and then gently took his hands away. 

Stiles wiggled around his fingers, testing out how they felt now. Seeing as I didn't see Stiles wince in pain, it seemed to be a safe bet to say that Scott had successfully taken his friends pain. 

Suddenly the jeep started up, it's headlights shining on to Scott and Stiles. I let out a small breathe, knowing that any conflict that there had been had just temporarily been resolved. 

"Stiles?" I spoke softly, not sure if the boy was ready to talk yet. "Would it be okay if you drove me and Liam to the school? You know, so we could see Mason?" 

Stiles took his eyes away from Scott and nodded his head. "Yeah. Yeah, of course I can do that, Charlotte." 

✧✧

Running through the parking lot, Liam and I made it to one of the school's main entrances just in time to see Mason coming out. 

"Hey, sorry I'm late. I brought Charlotte." Liam explained, motioning over to me as though my presence would make everything better. 

"Oh, no, you're not late." Mason told Liam. I cringed at the edge in his tone, not ready to see another pair of my friends get lost in tension and drama. "You missed it. I worked out, for two hours." 

"Yeah, I know. I forgot." Liam murmured in a small, apologetic tone. He looked over to me, begging me to say something, but Mason cut both of us off. 

"Well, if you two were together then I don't really want to know what you were doing to make you forget." 

My eyes widened immediately as I looked to my friend. "No! It wasn't something like that. Mason, Liam wasn't here for a different reason, and It's about time we told you what that reason is." 

"We're going to tell you a lot of things. A lot of heard to believe things. Like, really, really hard to believe things." Liam began to ramble, giving Mason a chance to allow his dark eyes to drift off to a different subject. 

"There's a wolf," Mason stated suddenly, his voice a mix between being concerned and intrigued. 

I looked to Liam's face, expecting Mason to have been talking about Liam. I figured maybe Liam had started to shift, or his eyes had at least began to glow. But I saw instead that Liam's face looked nothing short of normal, for the time being. 

"Yeah, I'm getting to that," Liam brushed the subject off with a small shake of his head. 

"No, there's a wolf," Mason repeated. "Right behind you guys." 

Liam and I exchanged a confused look before turning to look over our shoulders. Sure enough, a pitch black wolf was behind us, slowly approaching us. A vague memory of Stiles telling me that actual wolves no longer resided in California resurfaced, which told me that this one most likely had to be supernatural. 

"That's a wolf," Liam confirmed in a small voice, his hand reaching out wearily to grab my arm. 

Unlike Mason and Liam, I wasn't completely concerned about the wolf's presence. He resembled the wolf form of Derek Hale, and happiness bubbled up inside me at the though of Derek returning. He'd been gone for so long, his text messages and phone calls always being cryptic and short. I couldn't have been happier to have him back, even if he did suspiciously come out of know where in his wolf form. 

But then the wolf let out a deep growl, and I knew that wasn't something my beloved Hale would not do. My eyes widened, a small lump forming in my throat as I realized how large the teeth were on the unknown wolf. 

"Run." 

After saying the single word, I turned to the two boys, pushing both of them towards the school. They didn't hesitate to follow my lead, and soon we were sprinting towards the school. Liam had his hand on my back, making sure he didn't lose me as we followed quickly behind Mason. None of us dared to look back as the growling continued. 

Suddenly, I felt Liam's hand fall from my back. I skidded to a stop at the bottom of a staircase Mason had already began climbing.

 I turned back just as a load roar rattled the school building. With wide eyes, I saw Liam facing the wolf in his werewolf form, his fangs bared and his claws out. I'd never heard Liam emit such a strong growl and I wasn't surprised to see that it was enough to stop the wolf in it's tracks and make it turn around. 

Allowing his eyes to fade from glowing yellow to there usual blue, Liam turned to look at me and Mason, who had climbed down the steps to stand at my side. 

"There's something I got to tell you." Liam breathed, a worried look on his face as he waited for Mason to react. 

I looked up at Mason, waiting for him to turn away from Liam and I fearfully, or even to shout something at us. But instead his face contorted into a look of shocked amazement, his eyes wide with the same excitement you might see in a mad scientist.

"You're a werewolf." 

My mouth fell open automatically, and I turned to look over at Liam. Unsurprisingly, Liam was just as shocked as I was. Mason Hewitt was not at all phased by the fact that his closest friend was a werewolf, and I wasn't sure if I loved my best friend even more, or if I should be questioning his sanity altogether. 

Who knows, Mason and I just might end up being roommates together over at Eichen House. 

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Hey guys, I finally updated. I know the gif is kind of a brighter tone then the chapter was, but I've wanted to use it forever because Larlotte is just too cute. Also, can we take a moment to apprciate how amazing Masons reaction was? I'm honestly in love with him (and I may or may not want him and Brett to get together). 

Also, I keep forgetting to tell you but I made and ask.fm for Charlotte literally twenty years ago. Her ask is just CharlotteEvangeline so you can go look her up! If you don't know how to do that, the link is in my bio!! So once you're done reading this, feel free to hop on by and ask her questions!!

Question - Who do you think is going to figure out what is going on with Charlotte first?