CHAPTER FOUR: NOT EDITED

The loud clang of the bell echoed throughout every classroom, signaling that another period was over. I silently thanked the bell for ringing because of the intense subject of AP Biology that was invading my mind. Some shuffling next to me caught my attention, making me turn to see that my brother was getting out of the seat next to me. Our teacher decided it was a good idea for us to be partners since we were related to my dismay.

Theo didn't utter one word to me during the class assignment which made me feel slightly better because I wasn't so sure if I was ready to face him yet. I still haven't gotten over this morning when he brutally punched me in the face, causing the swelling of my eye to grow even darker- which earned me weird looks from the other students in the classroom.

When I tried to get up from my seat, I winced at the pain that traveled up both of my legs. I honestly thought that the bruises from the night that Theo and I returned to Beacon Hills would be gone by now, but I guess I was wrong. A groan left the back of my throat when I finally got out of my chair and I was scared to the bones that my teacher would see how much pain I truly was in.

"Hey, are you alright?"

I looked up and swallowed hard when I saw Scott McCall standing in front of my desk with his books in his hands. I didn't know what to say, my brother's words were still fresh in my mind and I didn't want him to get mad at me anymore. Last thing I need is to be in more pain that I already am in.

"What- What do you mean?" I asked, stuttering on my words.

"Are you okay?" Scott repeated his previous words while looking at me closely.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," I swallowed hard, putting a small smile on my face, hoping he would believe my lie.

I knew that he was a werewolf, a True Alpha to be exact and he could hear my heartbeat if it skipped a bit. Thank goodness my brother taught me how to keep my heart rate under control for situations like this one. I grabbed my books off of my desk and walked around Scott so that I could get into the hallway before my brother saw that I was talking to him.

When I walked out of the room, I was met by the familiar face of Malia Tate. She narrowed her eyes at me before grabbing my arm and leading me away from Scott who looked confusion by the whole thing. I tried to make out words but soon they got caught in the back of my throat when she led me to an empty room to talk.

"Malia-"

"What happened?" she asked bluntly, looking at me closely.

"W-What do you mean?" I stuttered, cursing under my breath at how bad my lying skills was at the moment.

"Why are you wincing so much?"

"I'm not wincing," I gritted my teeth when she tapped my leg with her shoe.

"Did Theo do this?" she glanced at me.

What? How did she know that Theo was my brother? Did Lydia rat me out to Scott's pack? I honestly couldn't believe that she would do that to me. I was practically shaking to the bones when she narrowed her eyes in my direction. I couldn't form any words out of my mouth, it was hard to speak when I didn't know what to say in the first place.

"N-No, I fell down the stairs, I told you that already," I told her.

"Carter, tell me the truth," Malia sighed, "I hate when people lie to me."

"Don't tell anyone please," I begged, "I don't need Theo beating me up anymore."

"Do you want me to torture him?"

"No," I shook my head.

"Then what do you want me to do?" she asked, looking at him.

"Just keep to yourself, please Malia."

"Fine," she said, but then she placed her hand on my right shoulder, "If he ever hurts you again and you don't tell me, I will torture him myself."

With that, she left the room leaving me gaping like a fish. I was surprised that she actually cared about me. I haven't had that feeling in a very long time since Theo doesn't give a shit about me apparently. When I walked out of the room, a hand grabbed my arm and started to pull me in a different direction.

"Stiles, why the hell are you pulling me like this?" I asked, looking up to see Stiles Stilinski holding on to my arm while he pulled me to who knows where.

When he didn't respond, I sighed in annoyance. I couldn't understand why he was ignoring me, or why he was pulling me along with him. Then I realized that he probably figured out who I was, or Lydia probably told him and the rest of the pack. Stiles led me into the locker room where Theo was getting dressed.

"Theo," Stiles called out to him.

Theo turned around, locking eyes on me before looking at Stiles and Scott, who just happened to walk into the room. "Why do you have my brother in such a tight grip?"

Stiles moved his arm off mine, making me wince at the red marks on my arm from how hard his grip was. "Oh great, there is another one."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I glanced at Stiles with raised eyebrows.

"It means, another Raeken, another asshole, someone else that I don't trust," Stiles retorted sarcastically.

"I'm not an ass-"

"Okay, okay," Theo cut me off, looking in my direction with stern eyes, "Carter, just stop it."

"Look, we want to talk to you," Scott spoke up after everyone settled down a bit, "Both of you."

"About what?" Theo asked him.

"How did you become a werewolf?" Stiles asked Theo and I.

"Oh, um, I'm not a werewolf," I replied, scratching the back of my head in awkwardness when Stiles and Scott looked at me in confusion.

"Yes-"

"No, he is telling the truth," Scott interrupted Stiles, "If he was a werewolf I would've known by now."

Stiles nodded, "So Theo, how did you become one?"

"Fine," Theo sighed, "I was skating in a neighbor's empty pool, trying to do a handplant, nobody was home. I'm not that good of a skateboarder, but I guess I was feeling pretty determined because I completely lost track of time. I didn't even realize that was night until the yard lights came on."

I rolled my eyes at Theo's lie, I knew what really happened but I kept my mouth shut as Theo continued telling his fake story. "Like I said, I wasn't very good. On my last try I went down and hit hard, really hard. I was sitting there at the bottom of the pool and I realized something, I never heard the board come back down."

Theo then started to explain on where the werewolf bit him and how the alpha was killed by two twins before his first full moon. I looked over at Stiles who narrowed his eyes, and I knew by that look he didn't believe him- but Scott did of course.

"Scott, listen to my pulse. I'm telling the truth."

"Right, or you just know how to steady your heart rate while you're lying your ass off," Stiles challenged.

"Why would I lie?"

"Because maybe you're not who you say you are."

Theo sighed, "Okay, in the fourth grade you had an inhaler, I had one too. I remember this day where I ended up in the nurse's office with an asthma attack, a bad one."

I wanted to say something badly about how he didn't have asthma anymore and how that sample is totally irrelevant to Scott and Stiles at this point of time. So I just stood there, while watching Scott believe my brother's lies, making me feel bad for Scott when he finds out the truth about how Theo wants to steal his power and his pack. The sound of the bell ringing snapped me out of my thoughts and I followed Theo out only to have Malia stop my brother in place with a hard, cold glare.

I shook my head in her direction for her to not saying anything to my brother because he would beat me up for it. When she shifted her eyes to me, my brother walked away before he could see what Malia was doing. Malia gave me a quick nod before walking in the other direction, earning a sigh from the back of my throat.

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Okay this chapter was kind of short and terrible, so I apologize for it. I promise, promise next chapter would be longer. Dedicated to reichenbachfalls for starting a protect Carter tag.

Question: How do you like the interaction with Malia and Carter so far? Thoughts on Malia wanting to torture Theo for hurting him? What do you think will happen in the next chapter?