Liam stood to face Scott angrily. "What do you mean, no?"

"Liam, look at her," I told him. "She's too weak. It will kill her. We don't even know what the mercury's doing to her. We don't even know if it is actually mercury. The bite either kills you or turns you, and right now, Hayden is too weak to turn."

"You said that it might work," Liam told me.

"That was on the way here," I told him. "You know, when she was still conscious enough to answer a few questions. This can't be the only way to save her life."

"It saved mine," Liam told us.

'You know, that was different," Scott told him. "You were hanging off a ledge."

"You promised," Liam told him. "You said you'd do everything you could."

"Which is why I'm not going to do something I think is going to kill her," Scott told him. He started to gasp for breath. "There has to be..." He tried to catch his breath, breathing heavily. "There has to be..."

"Scott," Theo told him, tossing Scott an inhaler.

Scott caught it, breathing heavily, taking a puff, calming himself down. "There's another way to save her."

Hayden was breathing heavily in pain.

"Guys, I don't know what the statistics are for surviving a werewolf bite, but she's definitely not surviving this," Theo told us. "We need to do something."

  *****  

The next morning, Melissa was here, helping us take care of Hayden.

Hayden was lying on the exam table.

Melissa carried IV bags toward the table, hooking them up to Hayden.

"What's that?" Liam asked.

"It's called chelation therapy," Melissa answered. "It removes heavy metals from the blood. But, the problem is, is that can injure the kidneys, and Hayden only has one to begin with, so..."

Melissa started to inject Hayden with the needle.

Hayden moaned in pain, starting to stir awake.

Liam grabbed Melissa's wrist tightly. "Hey, you're hurting her."

"And you're hurting me," Melissa told him.

Liam let her go. "Sorry."

"Hey, guys," Theo told us. "Remember, we're here to save a life. Not kill each other."

"It's the full moon," Scott told us. "We can feel it even during the day."

"And it's a Supermoon," I told them.

"What, is that supposed to make you guys, like super strong?" Melissa asked. "Super aggressive?"

I sighed, nodding. "Both."

  *****  

Scott and I were sitting out in the main room together, both of us tired after no sleep last night.

"You know we're going to need help with him," I told him.

"He'll be all right," Scott told me.

"He's 16 and in love," I told him.

"First love," Scott agreed. "Trust me, I remember what that's like."

I nodded barely. "All those emotions mixed with the Supermoon... tonight isn't going to be good."

Scott sighed. "I know."

"We need help," I told him. "And I don't mean restraints or chains. I mean, Malia, Stiles, Lydia. You need your pack, Scott."

"I'm not so sure I have one anymore," Scott told me.

I sighed, taking his hand. "It's bad now. But trust me. We've all been through worse. And we've gotten through that before. We can get through this."

Scott looked at me.

I nodded, looking away.

"Tara?" Scott asked. I looked at him. "Thank you."

"For what?" I asked.

"For everything," Scott answered.

I smiled a small, tired smile, looking at his hand in mine. Our fingers linked, closing in on each other. Scott held his arm around me. I leaned my head against his shoulder.

I didn't know when we had fallen asleep.

  *****  

We stood in the backroom with Liam, Melissa and Hayden.

Hayden was barely able to stay awake.

"It's not working, is it?" I asked.

"She should be showing signs of improvement," Melissa told us. Hayden took her hand weakly. "Hayden?"

Hayden gasped quietly for breath. "Call Val... My sister Valerie."

"She's a deputy," Liam told us.

"I think I might know where she is," Scott told us. "Theo just texted me about the high school. He said there's cops everywhere. Might be another Chimera."

"Um, my sister," Hayden told us. "I don't want to die without my sister."

"I'll get her," Scott told us, turning toward the door.

"Wait," I told him. "What are you going to tell her?"

"If I have to, I'll tell her everything," Scott answered.

I nodded.

Scott walked out, leaving.

I looked at Liam, Melissa and Hayden, sighing.

Hayden moaned in pain, turning slightly, barely able to move.

I took Hayden's hand, taking her pain. Black veins trailed from her arm to mine. 

Hayden slowly relaxed, no longer in pain for the time being.

  *****  

Melissa drew blood from Hayden.

Gray spots had begun appearing on her skin.

"It's on her neck, too," I told her. "She's getting worse."

"Which is why we're taking her to the hospital," Melissa told me. "We're in an animal clinic, and I need equipment designed for humans."

"Fine," I told her. "We'll take her to the hospital. But we're not going through the front door."

  *****  

Melissa and I took Hayden up the elevator in the hospital in a wheelchair.

Hayden was still barely staying awake, moaning in pain.

Black blood started to backwash into the intravenous bag.

"What's happening?" Melissa asked.

"I'm not sure,"  I told her. "But it's definitely not good."

Hayden looked up weakly. "My sister."

"Scott's out looking for her right now," Melissa told her. "He's going to bring her here as soon as he can, all right?"

Hayden groaned in pain, starting to turn slightly.

I took Hayden's hand, taking her pain again.

  *****  

Melissa and I took Hayden into an empty surgery room to help her, lying her on the exam table.

"Shouldn't we be talking to one of the doctors?" Melissa asked.

"Do we bring them in and watch them treat her as a normal patient, bound to find out that she is supernatural, while we stand here knowing that's not going to work, and risk exposing all of us while creating chaos?" I asked.

Melissa sighed. "Is she dying?"

"With the amount of mercury in her body right now, she shouldn't even be alive," I told her.

Melissa shook her head in distress.

I looked at Hayden worriedly.

  *****  

The heart monitor was going down, lowering with Hayden's heartbeat.

Melissa took Hayden's hand. "Oh, no, no, no, no." I hung up my phone. "Tara? What's wrong?"

"No one is answering," I answered. "Not Liam, not Scott. The only one I could contact was Mason, and he's looking for Scott and Liam right now."

"Well, that's good, because if Liam wants to be with her, he needs to get here now," Melissa told me. "Because she's dying, and I don't know what else to do."

  *****  

The heart monitor slowed to a stop.

Hayden died, a single tear of mercury sliding down her cheek.

  *****  

Mason called.

He had said that Scott hadn't been answering because Theo had set up a cell phone jammer up at the school.

Theo was a Chimera. He was playing us all along.

I ran toward the library, seeing Scott lying on the floor, shifted and not moving. I couldn't hear his heartbeat, slowing to a stop outside the doorway. "Scott. Scott!" I ran inside, kneeling on the other side of Scott, in denial, shaking my head. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Okay."

I started to give him chest compressions.

"What..." Mason trailed off. "What are you doing? What are you doing?"

"Bringing him back," I answered.

"But his--his heart," Mason told me. "He--he hasn't had a pulse in over 15 minutes. You can't bring someone back that--"

"He's not someone," I told him. "He's Scott. And he's an Alpha. And he's too strong to die like this!" I looked at Scott, still trying to bring him back, trying to keep a control over myself, angry and in denial, refusing to accept this. "Come on. Open you eyes and look at me, okay? Come on. Breathe, Scott. Breathe."

"Tara, it's--" Mason started.

"Shut up!" I told him. "He's too strong to die like this." I breathed for Scott, pushing his chest repeatedly, trying to bring him back. "Come on. You can do this. You're an Alpha. Come on, Scott." I took a deep breath. "Roar. Come on! Come on, Scott."

I let my eyes start to glow blue, raising my arms over my head, slamming my hands against Scott's chest, looking toward the ceiling, roaring loudly in angry, devastated denial.

Scott gasped to life, eyes glowing red, roaring loudly.

Mason slid away in surprise.

Scott continued to roar, his head falling back into my lap.

I sighed in relief, looking up, able to breathe again, holding Scott close, tilting my head against his.

Scott let himself return to normal, looking up at me in relieved confusion.

We both closed our eyes, breathing heavily.

  *****  

I took Scott back home.

Scott laid on his bed, leaning against the wall, lost, confused and defeated.

I sat next to him, having his hand in mine, trying to deal with how I had acted, how I had felt, when I had seen him like that...

It felt as if it had been entirely out of my control.

And I didn't feel bad or ashamed about it in the least.

"I lost, Tara," Scott told me.

I sighed, looking up. "Every leader suffers loss. Sometimes more than you think is bearable. My mom, Talia. Laura. Derek. They were all Alphas, and they all failed in one way or another, and they all lost more than I can put into words. There is no right way to being an Alpha, Scott. Everyone has their own ways, and most of the time..."

"They fail?" Scott finished. I looked up. "It's different this time, because I lost everyone. Except you, I lost everyone."

"You'll get them back," I told him. "You have to."

"Why would they come back?" Scott asked.

"Because you're their leader," I answered. "And even when a leader thinks they have nothing left to give, there's still one thing. Hope. Give them hope." 

Scott nodded.

I smiled a small smile, lying down next to Scott, leaning my head on his chest.

Scott held me closer. "You were scared. That I was gone for good."

"I was terrified," I told him. "Some say that love makes you weak. That's what I always thought. But I found that it actually makes you stronger." I looked up at him. "And that's what we need to do. Make all of us stronger. I'm gonna help you. I'm with you. For better... or for worse."

Scott nodded barely.

It would take a little time, but the pack would be reunited. And hopefully stronger, better.

It was the only way we could make it through.