"Hey." Malia crawled into her bed, Eli laid in it late that night. He blinked over at her as she scanned his face. "I can have Scott come pick you up."

"No." he said back with a small nod of his head. "I'm gonna stay here with you. Whatever you're gonna face, i'm gonna do it with you."

Malia cracked a grin. "Guess I keep forgetting that you're just as strong as I am now."

"Not as strong." Eli corrected her with a minor grin, Malia laying onto the pillows more. "You worried?"

"About my mom?" Malia asked, making him nod. "Not really worried, just-"

"Anxious?" he cut her off with a knowing nod. "Let me remind you that i'm kinda an expert in that field of studies."

Malia laughed slightly, staring his way. "How do you make it stop?"

"Doesn't stop, but you can find ways to help it slow down." he nodded his head, reaching for her hand and placing it on her heart. "Feeling your heart reminds you that you're in more control then you think."

Malia took a breath. "How do you think you can control yourself so well on full moons?"

Eli shook his head. "Deaton thinks that i've been in control before I was even turned. Like, I found something to keep me human long before."

Malia nodded. "That's what Scott says too."

"I don't know if it makes total sense but..." he gave a minor shrug, whispering as they looking at each other. "I guess it does help to already find your anchor before you have to use it."

Malia nodded, giving him a smirk. "Too bad you weren't around when I first started changing."

Eli laughed. "Could have just came and stole me from my house."

"I should have." Malia joked as she grinned as well.

Scott driving away made the coast clear for Malia to shut the door, turning backwards to look at Eli, who was holding the man's arms tightly, Braeden his feet. "Get anything out of him?"

"Not yet." Braeden spoke. Malia grasped the man, pushing him against the shelves.

"You think you can make me talk?" he laughed in disbelief. "I'm an Spersnaz Soviet Special Forces. In battle, we kill our own wounded."

Eli watched the girls with risen eyebrows, the russian man gagging slightly as Braeden pushed into his neck more. "You could tear out my fingernails, cut my lips with razors. I'll still say nothing."

"Lucky for you, we don't have any razor blades." Eli mocked, leaning against the shelf next to him.

"Correct me if i'm wrong, but your section is out of work and broke, right?" Braeden practically yelled at him.

"You won't get a word out of me." he answered her confidently.

"What if we paid you 10,000?" she leaned in closer to ask. Malia and Eli shared a look when the man was silent.

"The Desert Wolf was last seen close to the Canadian border." the Russian man said, flipping through the money Braeden gave him. Eli rubbed Malias back. "She won't travel by plane. She will stay away from surveillance cameras when she can."

"Then we still have some time." Braeden looked toward the pair. Malia nodded, looking to Eli.

"There's another reason she won't fly." the man said back.

"Scared of heights?" Eli mocked slightly, tilting his head.

"She's not traveling alone." he corrected him, taking the trio off guard by his words.

"What do you mean?" Malia hesitantly asked.

"She has a hostage." he informed her with a single nod. "An animal doctor."

Eli shut his eyes. "Shit."

"Deaton." Malia confirmed in worry.

"Find anything?" Malia asked as her and Eli looked through Deaton office at the animal clinic.

"Just a bunch of animal food receipts." he called over his shoulder, looking through all of Deatons things in hopes of finding out even the smallest bit where he was. "You?"

"Not yet." Malia answer.

There was a linger, Eli felt it on his skin. Then the voice hung. "Can't find them, can you?"

The pair turned quickly to look at Theo, stood in the doorway. "Probably don't even know where to start. You're not gonna find him. Let's be honest, he's probably already dead. I wonder what's gonna happen when Scott realizes that it's your fault."

"Leave her alone." Eli spoke up quickly to get Theos attention. "Shouldn't you be tending to, oh, I don't know, your wannabe pack so you can feel like you're in charge for once?"

"Why do you think i'm here?" Theo scanned over him. Malia moved forward, shoving Theo harshly as he flew back into the cabinets across the room.

Eli rose his head when she walked over, pulling Theo up by the neck to hold him against the cabinet, hitting him across the face. "I should kill you."

"Yeah, but you won't. You like me too much." he joked with a bloody mouth. Malia hit him again, flipping him over on the counter and breaking his arm.

"Yeah, get him, Malia!" Eli cheered her on. She crawled ontop of him, punching him over and over in the face.

Theo chuckled up at her. "He's coming with me."

Malia huffed, hitting him again as he panted, again, again, and again. Theos laugher echoed through the clinic. "I let Stiles kick my ass, too. He never broke any bones."

Eli walked forward, snapping Theos arm the second he popped it back into place. Theo groaned in pain. Malia nodded to Eli. "I can help you find them! Deaton and The Desert Wolf."

"You've not getting him!" Malia yelled down at Theo.

"It's not your decision to make." Theo glared up at her as Malias hands tightened on his collar. "I'll help you, and he decides."

"How do we find them?" Eli looked down at Theo.

"The Dread Doctors." he found his face again. "I know how they found you, how they found everyone."

"Are you out of your mind?" Eli looked in disbelief at the ridiculously large needle Theo held. "Do you think my memory was just completely whipped? That was not a comforting feeling."

"Look, I promised i'd help you guys and I will." Theo gave a knowing look as he looked back and forth between the pair.

"That's suppose to help me find Deaton?" Malia asked in disbelief, staring at the needle, hers and Eli's shoulders pressed together.

"No. Something in the Dread Doctors operating theater is gonna do that." Theo corrected her with a shrug. "I can take you there but I can't let you see were it is."

"Ever hear of a blindfold?" Malia suggested.

"Not one that works on a werecoyote and an advanced werewolf." Theo looked between the pair with a knowing look.

"Advanced werewolf?" Eli repeated his words, eyebrow shooting up. "You know what happened to me. Why i'm different."

"Of course I do, i'm the one that did it." Theo said back with a minor look of disbelief. "Eli, I saved your life."

"You confused the hell out of me." Eli corrected him with a knowing look. "And now you can't even tell me what's going on."

"You wanna know?" Theo rose his eyebrows his way. "I knew that when I got my pack, I wanted you apart of it. You're strong, a different kind of strong. When the Dread Doctors injected you with mercury, I placed those plates in your back to take it from your blood, to save you incase my plan with the chimeras didn't work."

"So we've figured out." Eli said back sarcastically with an eye roll. "Doesn't explain anything else. Why I'm so in control, why I'm like Scott and Malia but not at the same time."

Theo huffed slightly. "Might have left that part out."

"You think?" Malia and Eli asked on sync.

"Look, I didn't know if you were gonna survive the plates transplant. I needed to make sure that while I saved your life from the mercury, someone saved you from me." Theo pointed to himself, waiting for Eli to go on. "You were bit."

"What?" Eli practically yelled at him.

"You don't remember, just like you don't remember getting taken the first time. You're not like the chimeras because you're a real werewolf." Theo nodded his way with a sigh. "I should have told you."

"No shit, Theo!" Eli tossed his arms up.

"Why can't we sense him then? Why doesn't he smell like a werewolf?" Malia cut in with a crazy look.

"He still has Chimera in him, it's just overpowered by the actual bite." Theo tried to explain to the clearly, confused pair. "I don't know why he's so in control though, that wasn't me."

"Surprise, surprise." Eli mocked with a cross of his arm. "So, I was bitten by some alpha werewolf and worked on by the Dread Doctors, just for you. That's real sweet, Theo."

"Who's the alpha?" Malia asked.

"Can't say." Theo said back, making the pair in front of him tilt their heads on sync. "Do you guys want my help or not?"

•

kylie speaks

dance if you have the
most complex storyline
and theo is your number
one fan.

eli: 💃🏼💃🏼