"𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒾'𝓂 𝑔𝓁𝒶𝒹  𝒾 𝑔ℯ𝓉 𝒻ℴ𝓇ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇 𝓉ℴ 𝓈ℯℯ 𝓌𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ 𝓎ℴ𝓊 ℯ𝓃𝒹"

Ophelia wasn't surprised to find Stiles' Jeep parked in the driveway. If Scott had called her, of course he had called the other boy. The front door is unlocked and she steps inside the house, listening for anything that might not be right. But all she can hear is her friends' voices upstairs. "Scott, I'm here," she calls out. They almost instantly stop talking. As she walks up the staircase, Ophelia frowns as she picks up the heavy scent of anxiety weighing in the air. "Hey, are you okay-"

When she opens the bedroom door, she discovers Scott and Stiles looking at her with fear. Ophelia's brows furrow in confusion at their strange behaviour. "H-hey, Fi," Scott says nervously. "Thanks for coming.'

"Okay, what's going on? Why are you both so nervous?"

Stiles rubs the back of his neck. "Well, it's kind of a long story-"

"Is someone else here?" she interrupts, eyes flicking around the room. "And why do I smell blood?" Despite their attempts to keep her from moving, Ophelia pushes past them and swings the door to the bathroom open. There's a third heartbeat. Ophelia Stone rips the shower curtain to the side and stops short at what she finds behind it.

Laying in the bath is Liam Dunbar, duct tape restraining his entire body so he can't move a muscle. The second he meets Ophelia's wide eyes, desperate pleas and yells of help are muffled by the tape bound over his mouth. She quickly pulls the curtain back, then calmly walks out of the room and quietly closes the door behind her. Scott and Stiles share a nervous look, tensely anticipating her reaction.

After a few seconds, Ophelia nods. Then she turns her head to look at the werewolf. "You bit and kidnapped a ten year old?"

"I didn't mean to-"

"What do you mean you didn't mean to?" she yells. "Of course you meant to!"

Stiles drops down onto the end of Scott's bed with a sigh. "I knew you made a mistake calling her," he mutters.

"I mean, this is insane," she rambles, pacing back and forth around the room. "This is something I would do. Not you. Never you." Scott winces, his eyes moving back to bathroom containing Liam. Ophelia pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs. "Okay, tell me what happened and don't leave out anything; I want full details." Her eyes narrow further when Scott hesitates. "Now, McCall."

So he recites the story of how Sean Walcott, a goddamn wendigo, had taken Liam up to the roof of the hospital where he had proceeded to dangle the boy off the ledge whilst threatening to literally eat him. Ophelia's eyes soften as she comes to understand that Scott had only bitten Liam to save his life. She knows that he would never bite someone without their consent, especially considering that's exactly how he had been turned, and the longer she watches him the more she realises just how terrified he is by the situation.

"This isn't going to end with us burying the pieces of his body out in the desert, is it?" Stiles questions. They all look over to the bathroom when Liam's muffled cries reach their ears. "As a reminder, this is why I always come up with the plans," he scolds Scott. "Your plans suck!"

"I know," he acknowledges. "Which is why I called you," he tells Ophelia.

Stiles' lips purse. "I thought you called me first," he says.

"Well, actually, I called you second 'cause she kinda always knows what to do in these types of things..."

One of her eyes twitches. "Get that boy out of the fucking bath now." They hesitate, but when she growls their eyes widen in alarm and they quickly scramble up.

A minute later, Liam is sat on a chair, the duct tape still covering his mouth and around his chest to keep his arms restrained. Ophelia leans against the wall in the corner of the bedroom, arms folded as she studies the scene in front of her with narrowed eyes.

"Liam," Stiles begins. "We're going to take the tape off your mouth. If you scream, it goes right back on. If you talk quietly, it stays off. Got it?" Liam finally nods (because he literally has no choice), so Stiles rips the tape off his mouth. The younger boy groans in pain. "Okay, Liam, now you've seen a lot of confusing things tonight. And more confusing things are going to happen because of the confusing things that happened tonight. Do you understand?"

Chest heaving up and down in fury, Liam retorts, "Not really."

"Good, that's good."

"I don't understand either," Scott adds in confusion.

Ophelia clears her throat. "Let's keep it basic, Stilinski," she calls out impatiently.

Stiles winces slightly at the use of his last name. "Okay, maybe you should tell him," he says to Scott.

Liam's eyes dart between them. "Tell me what?" he asks sharply.

"Liam... What happened to you, what I did to you, which I had to do in order to save you, it's going to change you."

"Unless it kills you," Stiles counters. He flinches at the low growl from the corner of the room. Scott turns to his best friend and stares at him. "Shouldn't have said that..."

Liam's breaths become shorter, panic taking over his body as his wide, tearful eyes move between the three teenagers. "What?" he replies shakily.

"Uh..."

Ophelia places a hand over her eyes.

"Uh-oh... Oh-oh," Stiles stammers. "Is he... Is he crying?"

Scott hurries over and kneels before the boy. "Liam, it's okay. You're going to be all right. You're not going to die," he assures confidently, speaking over Liam's sobbing.

Stiles crouches down beside them. "Probably not."

"Stop it," Scott exclaims exasperatedly.

"Okay, possibly not."

Ophelia's brows crease as she studies the recently bitten teen. It doesn't take her much longer to realise that his tears are fake. And, to no surprise, Scott and Stiles are completely believing him. She's impressed, really. If lacrosse doesn't work out, Liam could easily get a career in Hollywood.

Overcome by guilt, Scott says, "Would you just help me untie him?" The pair quickly take off the tape bounding Liam. Ophelia watches as her friends step back to give him space, his head hanging low. "Liam? Are you okay?"

The boy slowly stands up. "We're sorry about that," Stiles admits. "We're really sorry." The hybrid's eyes sparkle in amusement as Liam swiftly picks up the chair and violently throws it at Stiles and Scott, sending the latter crashing onto the floor. "Liam!" Stiles exclaims, more than appalled by his behaviour. "What the fuck is your-"

Ophelia cackles when Liam's fist meets the centre of Stiles' face. When both boys are down, Liam nervously looks over to the one in the leather jacket. She waves a hand to the open door and says, "Get out of here, kid." He breathes the shortest sigh of relief and sprints out of Scott's bedroom just as the two on the ground get up. Ophelia moves aside to let them barrel out after Liam. "Satan help me," she mutters.

"Get him!"

There's Scott and Stiles' screams of anger, then Liam's scream, then a loud crash that sends the boys tumbling down the stairs. With a brow raised, she walks out of the room and stands at the top of the staircase. She smiles slightly as Liam breaks free out of the flailing limbs and sprints out the door. So much for the broken bone.

"Leg!" Stiles shrieks. Without noticing that Liam is gone, they both blindly try to get hold of him. "I got him! I got him!" By the time they open their eyes, they realise that they've just been grabbing onto each others' legs. Scott breathes heavily and smacks Stiles' sock-clad foot off his face.

Then they look upward at the sound of their best friend's giggles. Ophelia sighs contently. "Oh, that was amazing," she states.

"Why didn't you help?" Scott questions in disbelief.

"Because you were the idiot that decided to kidnap the ten year old."

As she skips down the stairs and strides out the front door, only then do the boys notice that it has had been open the entire time. Liam Dunbar is long gone. With a frown etched onto his face, Stiles turns to Scott. "So, on a scale of one to Ophelia, how angry do you think he was?"

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ｡ ⋆

The following morning is the morning of a full moon. It's something Malia Tate dreads happening every month. If she had it her way, it wouldn't happen at all. She sighs at the duffle bag full of chains that Stiles has just dropped on the door mat of Ophelia's home. "I hate full moons," she complains.

The hybrid gives her a sympathetic smile and wraps an arm around her shoulders. "I promise they get easier," she reassures.

Stiles nods in agreement. "Yeah, they do, trust me. We've been through it all." He rolls his eyes at Ophelia's expression. "Okay, I've helped Scott get through it."

"It better," the werecoyote retorts, picking up one of the leather restraints that visibly worn from previous use. "Because this isn't going to hold much longer."

Ophelia squeezes her arm comfortingly. "Let's make a goal then. Tonight's going to be the last time we use them." Malia glances to her, the complete opposite of confident. "Besides, you're not going to be the only one needing them soon."

Stiles winces at the subtle mention of Liam. "Yeah... we need to deal with that today," he tells her.

Malia's brows furrow. "Why Fi? She's not the one who kidnapped him."

Ophelia sighs. "As correct as that statement is, because it's a problem for Scott, it's also a problem for me... Where are the days of peace and tranquillity?"

"Honestly, I don't think you'll ever get those."

"It was a rhetorical question, Stiles."

"Ah..."

Malia's eyes squint in thought. "Are you guys sure he's gonna turn into a werewolf?" she asks, referring to the newly bitten boy.

"Actually, we're not even sure if he's going to live," Stiles counters grimly.

"Well, I saw him last night," Ophelia says. "That kid has a lot of anger. I don't think dying's an option for him."

When they make it to school, the Stone's priority is to find Lydia. She has to tell the girl about the 'notes' she had given Malia. After studying them once more last night, Ophelia had concluded that it's some kind of code. For what, she doesn't have the slightest clue.

In biology class, she and Kira watch Lydia transcribe the notes into a program on the banshee's computer just as the bell rings overhead. Kira's eyes widen. "Woah, these are your math notes?" she asks incredulously. She catches Ophelia's grimace and nod. "No wonder Malia's failing."

"Malia's failing because some idiot decided to put her into junior level classes even though she hasn't been to school for eight years," Ophelia snaps. She sighs when her friends look at her, taken aback by her outburst. "Sorry..."

"Some of them are my notes," Lydia informs them, taking the subtle hint from the brunette that she wants to move on. "But I think Fi's right. I think the rest of it's a code."

"But you don't remember writing it?" Kira questions.

"Not in the slightest."

Ophelia's brows furrow in concern. "I think this might be a banshee thing," she says. Lydia's eyes meet hers. "I mean, whenever you do something without realising or remembering it, it's usually always related to something supernatural or deathly, right?"

The strawberry blonde swallows nervously. "I should probably figure out what it means before it tries to kill us..."

"Maybe it's like the Enigma Code the Allies used," Kira suggests. Ophelia turns to blankly stare at her in confusion, whilst Lydia gives her a look like she doesn't understand how she could know about it. "Remember my dad was a World War II buff? And my mom was, well... in it."

"I think it's a variation on something called the Vigenère Cipher."

Ophelia blinks. "English, please."

"Do you know how to crack it?"

Lydia nods. "With a key," she responds.

Ophelia's eyes widen when a set of keys are dangled in front of them. "Woah," she mumbles. "That was way too easy." Lydia rolls her eyes.

Natalie Martin smiles at her daughter. "Remember the rules," she reminds her. "No more than six people allowed in the lake house. Stay out of the wine. And if anything gets broken, it's getting added to your credit card debt."

"Fine," Lydia chirps in agreement.

Just as she goes to grab the keys, her mother snatches them away. "And lock up the basement," she adds. "From all the scratch marks I found on the walls, it looked like a pack of wild animals got down there." Lydia smiles widely as her mother finally hands her the keys, whilst her friends try to keep blank faces.

"I swear, everyone in this town is so oblivious," Ophelia murmurs as Natalie walks away.

As soon as the class finishes, it doesn't take her long to find Scott and Stiles. And almost exactly as expected, they're once again picking up from where they last left the chaotic mess that was last night.

Down the hall, she watches the boys catch Liam and block him in from either side. "We need to talk!" Scott tells him.

"No, you need to back the hell up, okay? Both of you," Liam yells.

Ophelia's eyes find the slightly bloodied bandage on his arm, however, as she pauses for a moment, she realises that there isn't any fresh blood. His leg is healed, and more importantly, the bite has healed. She picks up her pace and stops beside Stiles who still hasn't noticed her arrival. "I actually agree with him," she announces. "You're both reminding me of Derek."

Stiles jumps a few inches off the ground. "Jesus Christ!"

"Not exactly," she retorts.

Liam seems a little relieved by her presence since she had, for some reason, let him go last night, but he hasn't forgotten about how she had literally growled. "Can you just listen for one second," Scott pleads desperately. "Please?" After a moment, Liam gestures for him to get it over with.

Ophelia leans against the wall as she watches on. Like she had said before, now that it's Scott's problem, it's also hers. Because that's what family is for. You take on your problems together. She's not about to just leave him high and dry to deal with a newly turned werewolf that he had bitten in a life-or-death scenario.

"Liam..." Scott takes a moment to think over his words. But what comes out of his mouth makes his best friends stare at him in disbelief. "We're brothers now."

Ophelia Stone had heard the story of how Scott had been turned. She had also heard the many stories of what had happened after he had been turned, which included the many times Derek Hale had confronted him. She vividly remembers Scott reciting to her the words the older man had said, which are, funnily enough, exactly the same as the ones he had just spoken to Liam.

Liam's eyes narrow. "What?"

Stiles shakes his head. "Oh, God. That's..."

"What are you talking about?" he snaps. "We just met, and you bit me."

"The bite... The bite is a gift."

Ophelia flinches forward, entirely ready to smack Scott McCall's face. Stiles stares at him incredulously, unable to believe the words leaving his mouth. Even Scott cringes slightly. "Scott, stop," Stiles stresses. "Please stop." He walks over and claps a hand on Scott's shoulder, then aggressively points to Liam. "You! You, we're trying to help you, you little runt!"

His eyebrows raise. "By kidnapping me?" he counters.

The hybrid nods in agreement. "That is an excellent point you make, Liam."

Stiles blinks innocently. "Just to clarify, Scott kidnapped you. Okay? I... aided and abetted."

"And obviously, I had no involvement whatsoever." Liam looks over to her and nods. Ophelia gives him a cheery smile. "After all, I did let you go."

Stiles' eyes widen comically. "You- you let him go?" he yells.

"Liam," Scott continues, ignoring how his best friends glare at each other in a silent argument. "I've gone through this before." He nods his head over to Ophelia. "She has, too, well, something very similar. Something's happening to you. Something big."

But of course, Liam Dunbar is in denial. He quickly shakes his head at the older teen's words. "Nothing's happening to me," he states firmly.

Ophelia sighs. "Kids," she mumbles.

Liam rips the bandage off his arm, revealing his completely healed skin from the bite. "Nothing," he reiterates. Scott is completely thrown by the revelation, realising that because he's healed, he really is becoming a supernatural creature.

When he finally walks away, the three share a look with one another. Ophelia links her arms through both boys' and huffs a sigh. "Someone better be paying me for the babysitting I'm about to be doing or I am out."

They all decide that the best move is to have an impromptu meeting outside, sheltered by the buses so they can have a little bit of privacy. The topic of discussion is, of course, what the hell they're going to do with Liam tonight.

"I'm not sharing my basement," Malia says adamantly.

"Actually, it's my basement," Lydia reminds her with a scoff. "And my mom noticed how you tore it up last time."

"She's learning, all right?" Ophelia defends. She glances to the werecoyote who gives her a small smile.

"But we're going to use the boathouse for Liam," Scott announces. "It's got support beams. We can chain him to one of them."

"But how do we get him out to the lake house if he doesn't trust us?" Kira points out.

Ophelia's eyes light up. "Oh, I'll go knock him out!"

Lydia turns to look at her best friend. "You're never entertained unless someone's in pain, are you?" The hybrid grins.

However, Stiles is on a similar path as Ophelia is. "I say if it keeps him from murdering someone, we just chloroform the little bastard and throw him in the lake!"

The Stone looks at him, bursting with pride. "I think I've taught you all I can," she says, feigning wiping a tear off her cheek. Scott snickers.

Malia raises her hand in support. "I'm in," she declares.

"We're not knocking him out, killing, or kidnapping him," Scott argues. He catches the stare Ophelia gives him. "... Again."

"Then let's be smarter," Lydia says. "We tell him there's a party and invite him."

Stiles' brows raise. "So, you're going to ask out a freshman?" he asks sceptically.

"No, I'm done with teenage boys," Lydia replies. Ophelia catches the way he deflates ever so slightly. "But, if we're playing a trick on someone, we'll have to use the trickster."

The entire group looks at Kira. "Who? Me? No way," she rambles anxiously. "Not me."

"Yes, you. You know what they call a female fox?"

"Oh, oh, I know this!" Ophelia exclaims happily. "A vixen!"

"Me?"

Lydia smiles reassuringly. "You can do it, Kira. Be a vixen."

As the bell rings from the building up ahead of them, the group disperses to attend their remaining classes. Malia quickly grabs Ophelia's hand, pulling her to a stop as they linger behind. She smiles softly. "What's up?"

Malia shifts her weight, pulling her lip in between her teeth. "Uh, I was wondering-" She takes a second to steady her racing heart. "We both have free periods, so... do you wanna just leave?"

"Now you're speaking my language." Malia's lips lift into a nervous smile. Ophelia's eyes sparkle with worry. "Are you okay?"

The werecoyote nods. "Yeah... Yeah, sorry, I'm just not looking forward to tonight."

"Don't apologise. Never apologise. It's okay to be worried about it. It took me a while to get used to it. But when you do, it's worth all the struggle you go through to get there."

Malia takes a deep breath and nods, comforted by the words spoken. "Yeah, thanks," she whispers.

"Where'd you wanna go?"

Her lips purse in thought. "Milkshakes?"

"Done."

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ｡ ⋆

Ophelia Stone doesn't feel strongly about many people: there's her family and her friends in Beacon Hills. For a while, she's felt strongly about Malia Tate. But for that while, she had seen her as possibly her closest friend. The more time Ophelia spends with the girl, the more she acknowledges that her view on Malia as just a friend is quickly morphing into something more. It completely terrifies her.

She would do anything for her family. She would kill and, more importantly, she would die for them. But for Malia, Ophelia would give her the goddamn world.

It had taken her a while to get over the intense betrayal and heartbreak Bonnie Bennett had given her over a year ago. The non-humanity killing spree had helped speed along the healing process. Although now it's like her previous relationship had never happened. When Ophelia thinks about love, she doesn't think about what once was with Bonnie. All she can think about is Malia.

As she watches the girl on the other side of the booth twirl her straw around in her chocolate milkshake, Ophelia comes to a startling realisation.

She's in love with Malia Tate.

And she has no idea what to do about it.

Malia has only spent a little over two months back as a human; she needs time to properly reintegrate herself into the world. But how much time is enough? Even if Ophelia does decide to do something about it, would Malia ever reciprocate her feelings?

"Watcha thinking about?"

She quickly blinks, startled by Malia's voice. "Oh, just stuff," she answers vaguely. The werecoyote raises her brows, thoroughly unimpressed by the response. "Sorry, just... friends."

"Yeah, I think about that all the time, too." She takes a long sip of her milkshake. "Are Stiles and Lydia together?"

Ophelia Stone stills. Well, that was unexpected. "What?"

Malia's eyes squint slightly at her reaction. "I said, are they together?"

"Oh. Uh, no. Why?" Does she have feelings for Stiles? Or Lydia?

"Well, I see him staring at her all the time, so I was just wondering what the hell he's waiting for."

Ophelia breathes a small sigh of relief. Her lips curl into a smile. "They're both oblivious idiots," she says with a chuckle.

Malia's eyes flick across her face and she smiles slightly. "Yeah, they are."

They stare at each other in a comfortable silence as if they're trying to delve into each others' souls to pick apart their inner thoughts.

But for the second day in a row, Ophelia's phone rings. This time, she does curse aloud. "Oh, fuck you, Scott," she murmurs. She presses the button to answer the incoming call a little too firmly. "What?"

Scott's eyes widen at her sharp tone of voice. "Um, sorry... I was just wondering where you are. And Malia, too, if you know."

Ophelia pulls the device away from her ear to check the time and she curses under her breath again. As she looks out the window of the café, the sun is setting. "Shit, we'll be there in half an hour," she tells him. "Sorry."

"All good, see you soon."

The drive to Lydia's lake house is quiet, neither of them speaking more than a few words. They're both wrapped up in their own minds. Ophelia's fingers drum against the worn leather steering wheel as she overthinks almost every decision she's ever made, unaware of how the girl beside her glances over to her every minute. Well, I see him staring at her all the time, so I was just wondering what the hell he's waiting for. What is she waiting for? If she's learnt anything throughout her incredibly violent life filled to the brim with death, it's that time moves faster than you think is possible and that you shouldn't take moments for granted.

She's taking her time with Malia for granted.

Before she can dig herself into a hole any further, she pulls the Porsche to a stop in front of the Jeep. Stiles, Scott, and Lydia wait for them, the duffle bag full of chains for Malia in the Stilinski's hand. "Sorry," Ophelia calls out as they join the group. "We got distracted."

"I just talked to Kira," Scott fills them in. "She's on her way. She said it's all going fine."

Stiles sighs. "Yeah, I need to tell you something," he says, eyes flicking between both Alphas. "I asked around about Liam. I know why he got kicked out of his last school."

"This is going to be bad, isn't it?" Scott presumes.

Ophelia arches a brow. "What, did he punch someone?"

"Worse," Stiles replies with a grimace. "He kind of got into it with one of his teachers. And... the kid's got some serious anger issues."

"I literally told you that this morning," she retorts with narrowed eyes.

Scott ignores her, asking, "How serious?"

Stiles shows them a photo on his phone. "Well, that's his teacher's car... after he took a crowbar to it." Ophelia zooms in on the picture and her eyes widen. The metal is dented on all sides with paint peeling off on majority of the vehicle, but what catches her and Scott's attention is the words scrawled in huge letters by a set of keys. 'THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT.'

She looks to the werewolf upon getting hit with a wave of guilt from him and places a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, you couldn't have known about this, okay?" Stiles nods in agreement. "You saved his life, Scott," Ophelia reminds him. "It'll be harder to help him adjust, but it's not impossible. Look how I turned out!"

The entire group is silent.

When she growls, they all erupt with positive responses. "You turned out fine," Lydia tells her with a smile. The second the hybrid turns away from her, the smile falls. "Just fine..."

Tires crunch atop of gravel and Ophelia's eyes widen slightly. "They're here," she announces. They all hurry inside to wait for Kira and Liam. After all, they told him it was a party. Not an intervention.

A few minutes later, the front door opens. Liam's face falls as he sees the group of five waiting for them with Stiles' bag full of chains and restraints in full view on the coffee table. He instantly turns back to the door, but Kira quickly shuts and locks it. "Sorry," she says with a sheepish smile.

Taking a deep breath, Liam turns back to the teens. "What the hell is this?" he asks irritably.

"Think of it like an intervention," Stiles declares bluntly. "You have a problem, Liam."

Ophelia winces. "Brutal," she whispers.

Scott steps closer to him. "And we're the only ones that can help." And so he delves into the world of the supernatural, then moving to explain what everyone in the room was.

It takes Liam a few minutes to process what he had just been told but is still more than sceptical about everything. "Werewolves," he begins incredulously, pointing to Scott and Ophelia. Then he points back to her. "But also part vampire." She grins. "Werecoyote..." he points to Malia who nods. "Banshee," he points to Lydia. She shrugs sheepishly. Then he turns around to Kira. "Fox?"

"Kitsune," she corrects kindly. "But fox works."

Liam nods his head over to Stiles. "What are you?"

He purses his lips. "Uh, for a little while, I was possessed by an evil spirit. Fi was too, actually... It was very evil."

The Stone hums. "Here I was thinking you were gonna say Abominable Snowman again." Stiles rolls his eyes.

Liam folds his arms over his chest. "What are you now?"

"Better. Um..."

The boy's eyes finally find the bag of chains. "Are they for me?" he asks, a hit of nervousness in his voice.

"No," Malia answers. "They're for me." She flashes her cobalt eyes at him.

Liam instantly tenses up. "How did you do that?"

"You'll learn," Scott tells him. "But first, you need to get through the full moon."

"The moon's already out."

"And you're already starting to feel something, aren't you?"

They all watch him finally give into the rage boiling inside him. "I feel like I'm surrounded by a bunch of psychotic nutjobs," Liam snaps.

Ophelia flinches like someone's slapped her across her face. "That hurt," she whispers. Remembering their conversation from yesterday morning, Lydia takes her hand and gently squeezes it.

"You guys are out of your fucking minds! I don't know how you did that eye thing, and I don't care." By now, he's bellowing at them all. "I'm walking out the door right now, and if any of you try to stop me, I swear to God, I'm gonna-" Liam cuts himself off as he clutches his head in agony, pained screams leaving his mouth as he stumbles forward.

"What's wrong?" Scott asks in concern, rushing over to him. "Liam?"

"You don't hear that?" he gets out between his heavy breathing. Liam falls to his knees, firmly pressing his hands against his temples as he tries to escape the pain.

Scott and Ophelia share a look, both of them stopping to concentrate on the ambient sounds. Her face falls at the sound of dozens of cars driving up toward them. Lydia quickly glances to the windows as headlights flash through the blinds. "Did you tell someone about this?" she asks the boy.

"My friend Mason," Liam answers. Ophelia throws her head back with a groan of frustration as the cheers of teenagers suddenly fill the night air. "You said it was a party," he defends himself.

"And who did Mason invite?" Stiles questions, although he already knows the answer.

"Everyone," Kira announces.

Ophelia crouches down before the younger teen. She suddenly has a priority higher than getting him to safety. "If you touch my car," she begins lowly, "or if any of your punks of friends touch my car, I will rip your heart out faster than you can say 'Ophelia, I touched your car.'"

Stiles' eyes widen and he quickly places a hand on her arm. "Okay..." He laughs nervously. "She's obviously kidding about that," he tries to reassure Liam.

"Oh, she's not," Malia retorts, deadly serious.

Liam pales a few shades lighter even through the excruciating pain. His fingernails grow out into claws that scratch against the timber floors as he groans once more.

"The floors!" Lydia exclaims in alarm. "Get him off the floors!" However, she stops in her tracks as Liam's head snaps up, eyes glowing golden as he roars menacingly at her.

Instantly, Ophelia has the banshee pulled behind protectively, her own eyes flashing crimson at him. Instinctively, Liam's irises return to their natural colour as Scott and Kira help him up. "We need to get him to the boathouse," the True Alpha says. "Now!"

"Fi," Malia groans, fangs and blue eyes on display.

Ophelia hurries over to her in concern as she doubles over in pain, feeling the effects of the full moon. "Okay, let's get you downstairs," she soothes calmly, grabbing the duffle bag that Stiles hands her. She wraps an arm around Malia's waist and lets the werecoyote's claws lightly dig into her arms as she tries to ground herself. "You got this, you're okay."

"What are we supposed to do with the hordes gathering outside the door?" Lydia questions in panic, glancing to Stiles who stands beside her.

"Lyds, who throws the best parties in this bloody town?"

The strawberry blonde is completely appalled by the question. "What? Me, obviously!" she shrieks.

Ophelia nods, wincing slightly as Malia's grip on her arm tightens. "Exactly. So both of you get out there and throw a fucking party!"

Stiles and Lydia stare after them as they disappear to head down to the basement. He turns to look at her with pursed lips. "I mean..." Lydia scoffs and strides over the door to let what must be at least a hundred people into her house.

The second Ophelia gets downstairs, she quickly gets to work with hooking the chains up to the walls. As she straps the leather restraints onto Malia's wrists, she feels her chest constrict as she hears the girl breathe heavily, just barely holding herself together. She knows it's normal to go through this, hell, Ophelia had spent years mastering the act of control. But seeing her friend in pain, it breaks her heart. "Tighter?"

Malia lifts her head and locks eyes with her, her own shining bright blue. "Tighter," she confirms with a gravelly voice. Once she's certain the restraints are secure enough, Ophelia stands up and gives her space as she rattles the chains to test their strength. Malia takes a deep breath and tries to ignore the sweat trickling down her face. "You can leave if you want."

Ophelia stops to look at her seriously. "I'd never leave without you," she says softly, quoting exactly what the werecoyote had told her back in Mexico. She isn't sure if that's why tears spring to Malia's eyes or because she's feeling the effects of the moon at its fullest. "I'm never leaving you, okay?"

They both look upward as the music upstairs increases in volume, the bass reverberating through their bones. "Is it 'cause you don't wanna be around a hundred freshmen?" Malia asks breathlessly.

Ophelia snorts. "While that's not exactly my favourite thing to do... no." She sits down on the concrete floor a few metres away from her, giving her space to feel more comfortable. "I'm not leaving, because you shouldn't have to deal with this on your own."

Throughout the next five minutes, Malia circles from lunging forward and trying to attack the brunette in front of her, then falling back onto the ground in exhaustion. "Fi, just go," she begs.

However, Ophelia moves closer. She ignores how Malia's heart picks up in panic. She knows the girl fears hurting her. "I'm not leaving," she repeats firmly. When Malia's predatory instincts kick back in and she pulls against the chains with a growl, Ophelia still doesn't flinch. "Breathe for me, okay? I'm not going anywhere."

"What if I hurt you?"

"You won't."

"But I want to," Malia stresses. She lunges again, raging anger seeping off her figure. "I look at your face and I want to slash at it. I want to tear at it. I want to feel your bones crack between my hands."

Ophelia hums. "Yeah, you're gonna have to get a little more creative than that to faze me," she retorts. She leans closer to Malia to the point where she can see each individual bead of sweat on her face. "I told you, I'm not leaving."

Malia growls as she surges against the chains, her eyes blazing a brighter blue than before. The sudden display of strength causes the leather restraints on her wrists rip further than they already were.

Ophelia eyes them and clicks her tongue. "Oh well." Malia's eyes widen at her casual words. "What? Like I said, this is the last time you're gonna be using them."

It takes another few minutes before Malia finally manages to break one arm free from the restraint in a wave of rage and bloodlust. Without moving from her position on the floor, Ophelia swiftly leans backward out of the range of Malia's swiping claws. However, when the werecoyote realises that she can't reach far enough to attack the girl, her jaws snap as she snarls, furiously pulling against the final chain.

Ophelia calmly stands up, keeping her eyes locked with Malia's as she speaks. "I know you can hear me," she begins. "Malia, I need you to concentrate on my heart, okay? Just concentrate on it and listen."

"Listen to mine," she growls in return. It's racing rapidly. She whirls back around to Ophelia as she exclaims, "Run!"

The Stone steps forward as Malia's back is facing her, continuing to tug at the chains. "I'm not running, Malia. You're not going to hurt me." Her voice softens, "But I think you're terrified of possibly hurting me because of what happened with your family."

Malia stills and turns around to briefly glare at her before she returns to desperately trying to break the metal.

"I know what that's like. I know what it's like to hurt someone, to really hurt someone. I know what it's like to be so overcome with power that you enjoy it. Because when you're fearless, when you feel powerful, you feel in control." Ophelia's voice drops to a whisper. "Fuck control." She stops directly behind the girl and reaches out to tug the remaining chain off the wall.

The second she realises she's free, Malia doesn't waste a second to snarl and leap forward to Ophelia. But the hybrid is faster.

She tightly grips onto Malia's arms, letting her struggle m frantically to try and draw a drop of blood. "Focus on my heart." She feels Malia falter.

Malia Tate lets her hearing concentrate on the beating organ. To her shock, it's deadly calm. It's a cathartic, thump, thump, thump. And she realises that Ophelia isn't scared of her at all, or of getting hurt. A strangled sob rips through her throat as she falls limp in Ophelia's arms, dragging them both down to the floor.

As she watches Malia look down to her hands to find her claws gone, she smiles. She gently reaches out and cups her cheek, turning her head over so their eyes meet. "See? Told you that you could do it."

Tears drop down Malia's flushed cheeks as her lip wobbles while she stares at her friend in disbelief. She didn't leave. Without a word, she throws her arms around Ophelia's neck and pulls her into a tight embrace, completely thrown by the display of loyalty and affection. "Thank you," she says shakily.

Ophelia slowly rubs her sweat-coated back. "Don't thank me," she replies softly. "It was all you." She gently wipes away the tear and feels Malia lean into her touch.

But then the werecoyote notices something. "Your jacket," she voices in alarm. "I ripped your jacket."

"I don't care."

"Why? It's your new favourite."

Ophelia smiles. "I don't care."

When Malia accepts her offer of a glass of water, the Stone ventures upstairs to be met with large groups of people dancing to the blasting music.

She sighs. "Fuck, I hate teenagers," she mutters. It doesn't take her long before she runs into Kira.

The kistune's eyes widen at the sight of her and she rushes over. "Is Malia okay?"

"Yeah," Ophelia smiles. "Yeah, she's okay. Liam?"

Kira grimaces. "Well, uh, he kind of got away."

She stares at her. "He got away?" she repeats. Kira hesitantly nods. Ophelia shakes her head and returns to the path to the kitchen.

"Wait, Fi," Kira calls out. "Do you know where Lydia is?"

The brunette frowns as she looks around the party with glowing crimson eyes. She spots Stiles' flailing limbs in the living room as he dances along with a few younger boys, but the banshee is nowhere to be found. "Have you tried upstairs?" she asks.

Kira hurries away. After filling the glass up to the brim with ice cold water, Ophelia pauses at the top of the staircase leading back down to the basement. She can hear Kira talking upstairs. Quickly returning the glass back to Malia and promising she'll be back in a minute, Ophelia races up to the next level to find out why Lydia Martin had disappeared.

She finds the two girls in what looks like a study, but as soon as she closes the door after entering, she freezes in confusion. Utter silence. Complete silence. Ophelia's brows furrow and she turns around to open the door once more. Then, she closes it again. It's soundproof. "Hey, did you know-" She cuts herself off as she notices that Lydia is intensely focused on her computer. "What's going on?"

She joins Kira to watch the strawberry blonde. The code from earlier in the day finally stops processing, asking for a keyword. Lydia releases a shaky breath before slowly tapping the keys as she enters the answer.

Ophelia Stone's blood runs cold. The key to the code is, Allison. She takes a few steps away from them, head spinning as she is flooded with flashbacks from the day where she had seen her friends' worlds fall apart. Guilt constricts her lungs to the point where she can't breathe. She misses the concerned look Kira sends her way. Placing a hand on the wall to support herself, Ophelia focuses on the sound of Malia's heartbeat ingrained into her brain. Slowly, her own heart regulates, and after a minute she can breathe again.

When she returns to the computer, she, Kira, and Lydia watch a list of names load, each with certain numbers beside them. And on the list are names they all recognise.

"What is this?" Kira asks, voicing herself and the hybrid's confusion.

"It's a list of supernaturals in Beacon Hills," Lydia answers grimly, unable to remove her gaze off the screen. "It's a dead pool. And we're all on it."

𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴... 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘪 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯. 𝘧𝘪'𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯

𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘪, 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯.