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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐄𝐍

𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴

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At this point, Meilani McCall should be used to never getting a single break when it came to Beacon Hills. It had barely been two hours since the bonfire where her, Malia, Liam and Isaac almost died. Meilani had just walked out of the school building when Scott had called her to let her know that he was going to the hospital with Stiles because the boy had a concussion. They had gone to Eichen House to get more information on the list that Lydia's grandmother, Lorraine, had made of all those that were already dead. All of them having been supernatural creatures that were at Eichen House at the time of their death. While the trio had been searching the records room, Brunski had turned and attacked Stiles, Scott and Lydia and handcuffed them to the pillars in the dark, dusty room. He'd found out about the dead pool and wanted the payout for Lydia's dead form. Luckily for them, Parrish had showed up when he found out that all the dead victims had been found by Brunski himself.

Scott assured Meilani that Stiles was going to be fine and that he, himself, only had a black eye from when Brunski punched him in the face to try and knock him down. He promised to text her updates on Stiles' CT scan that Melissa had needed to set up for the boy and that Lydia would be at the sheriff's station with Noah, Parrish and Meredith if Meilani needed her for anything.

Then, like a domino effect, Meilani's phone beeped with a text message not even five minutes after she'd gotten off the phone with Scott. It was a text message from Kira that said she'd just gotten back and was trying to save Satomi's pack from another batch of hunters and she might need Meilani's help if it got too much. The alpha had all but rushed back to the house with Isaac and Liam so she can change and try to help Kira in any way that she could. Kira, thankfully, had saved Satomi and the pack before Meilani even finished throwing on a random nearby t-shirt and tossed on her jean jacket with the gray hood on the back since it had started to pour. Now all Meilani had to do was meet up with the girl at the clinic that she brought the pack to.

Meilani jogged back down the steps and made her way into the living room where Isaac and Liam sat waiting for her so they could make their way over to the clinic. She tossed both boys a bike helmet and tucked her own helmet beneath her arm. "Kira found Brett and they're all okay, but we need to go. Isaac, just take Scott's bike and I'll fill up his tank for him before we come back. I'll tell him you use it later whenever he comes home."

"Wait, is it more assassins?" Liam asked, following Meilani through the living room and into the kitchen where Meilani paused near the back kitchen door.

"Maybe a lot more."

"Different than the ones that just tried to set all of us on fire?" was Liam's next question as he stopped near the table.

"I think so," Meilani replied and glanced over her shoulder to see the frightened look on Liam's face. The poor freshman had been through too much in his short time of being a werewolf no thanks to Meilani. He looked so small and defenseless stood next to Isaac with wide blue eyes and shaking hands. She frowned slightly when Liam shakily put his bike helmet down on the table with a shaky breath. "Li, do you want me to take you home? You don't have to come."

Liam frowned back and shook his head, playing with the strap on the bike helmet. "I'm not like you and Isaac. I don't mean I'm not strong or that I'm never gonna learn how to be in control. I mean . . . everything else. You and your friends try to protect everyone. Have you been doing this the whole time? I mean, how are you all still alive?"

Meilani gulped as not all of them were still alive. She didn't blame herself for Allison's death anymore, not after the dozens of talks she'd gotten from Scott, Stiles and Isaac about her not being able to do anything. She'd been pushed to the ground and in the next second the Oni's blade was in Allison's chest. It didn't matter that she was a True Alpha, she would have never been able to get up in time to save Allison. Allison saved Meilani and she'd died doing the one thing she always stood behind: protecting her friends.

"Not all of us," Meilani mumbled quietly, blinking away the wetness that formed in her eyes and hoping Isaac didn't feel the quick shift in her emotions. She picked up Liam's bike helmet and held it out to him, trying to keep her mind off those thoughts. "Let me take you home."

Liam, never being able to deny anything Meilani asked of him, he gingerly took the bike helmet back from her and followed her and Isaac outside to the bikes.

After making sure Liam got inside his house okay, Meilani and Isaac kicked off their bikes to speed over to the clinic where Kira waited for them. The attack of rain had Meilani and Isaac practically squishing in their shoes by the time they'd arrived and made it into the safety of the dry animal clinic.

Kira popped out from the back examination room and she beamed at the sight of her two friends, throwing herself at the duo. The three stumbled from the force of Kira's hug and the two wolves quickly righted themselves, both wrapping an arm around the Kitsune that clung onto them for dear life.

"Is your mom . . . is she . . . "

"She's okay, Meilani. She's healing. Don't worry," Kira assured the alpha, relaxing the girl slightly now that she had one less person to worry about at the moment.

"Are you okay?" Isaac chimed in, running a hand through his wet curls and making them stick up a bit in different directions. He whacked Meilani's hand away when she tried to reach up and fix it for him.

"Now I am. I think I found everyone," Kira responded, grabbing onto her friends' hands and tugging them into the back examination room where Brett, Satomi, a shorter girl with short blonde hair, and a few other people that huddled in opposite corners were. "Satomi, this is who I was telling you about."

Satomi turned to reveal her face behind the hood that had been pulled over her head, her wrinkled face morphed into a knowing smile at the true alpha. "I know who Meilani McCall is."

"Are we safe here?" the short girl asked, hope filling her tone at the sight of the true alpha.

Meilani's eyes scanned the room of the nine people that made up Satomi's pack and she knew that she wouldn't be able to do this alone. She'd need Argent's help if she were going to hide the pack until they were safe again.

"We're gonna need some help. A lot of help."

The next morning, Meilani had decided her best place to keep Satomi's pack for the time being was at the old Argent house. She knew that Chris still paid the mortgage on the place wanting a backup space to go to if he needed to. No one even knew the house was still being used for anything since clear construction tarps hung from the ceilings and the house was practically empty save for a spare desk in a random room and a safe that Chris used to hide random weapons when he wasn't using them.

However, Meilani didn't necessarily think her plan through as Chris had never answered the night before when she tried to call him and decided to just take the pack to the house. She didn't expect Chris to show up at the same time and she had to stop Brett from attacking Chris when the pack had heard movement in another part of the house.

"Brett! Brett, stop. This is his place," Meilani yelled, stopping Brett before he could bare his canines at Chris who already had a gun pulled on the teen boy. "It's Chris'."

Brett let out a low snarl at Chris before he turned away from the hunter, his face back to its normal human one and he walked back over to the short, blonde haired girl that he'd been attached to the hip with since the night before.

"Meilani . . . "Chris said in a father like tone as if the girl were in trouble and she sheepishly walked closer to the man, leaving Kira and Isaac's sides. "If you were going to have guests over, you could have called."

"I did, you didn't answer," Meilani lamely defended, grimacing at the stern look that Chris shot her way. "Okay, I'm sorry! They didn't have anywhere else to go."

"I know this man," Satomi spoke up, taking a few steps forward to reveal herself to Chris' sight. "Hey may not remember, but we've met before."

Meilani turned to Satomi and placed a hand on her shoulder, gaining the woman's attention. "Satomi, you can trust Chris. I do . . . with my life."

Satomi eyed Chris for a long moment, clearly not warming up to the man just yet. The first time met definitely not being a good first impression on Chris' part. "What if he's like the others?"

This caught Chris' attention as his eyebrows furrowed and his gaze snapped from Meilani and over to Satomi. "Wait, what others?"

"Last night, there was a whole team after them. They used crossbows," Kira explained to Chris, taking out a small silver crossbow from her back pocket and placing it into the hunter's open palm.

Meilani watched Chris' face for a reaction, but it was void of anything that Meilani could read. "Chris, are they hunters?"

"Not if they're killing for profit. Not anymore."

"Can they find us?" Brett questioned, standing up straighter where he stood in the middle of his pack.

"They might already know you're here. Maybe they're waiting for dark."

Kira's face fell and her eyes flickered over to Meilani who shifted on her feet, feeling the crushing wait of anxiety pile up. Everything just seemed to keep toppling over and over again and Meilani was pretty sure she'd suffocate from the weight of everything sooner rather than later. Not even Isaac's presence next to her was helping calm her emotions. "So we're not safe here?"

"We're not safe anywhere," Satomi cut in, sighing softly. "We've been trying to get out for days. Everywhere we turn, we find someone new trying to kill us."

"Meilani, if they're coming . . . then they're coming for you, too," Chris reminded the girl, only adding to the crushing weight that rested on Meilani's chest. "You are still number one on that dead pool."

"I know," Meilani whispered, running a hand through her curls with a heavy exhale. "Lydia's been at the sheriff's station all night trying to get answers out of and I know she can do it. Scott and Stiles will be okay because they're both at Stiles' with Malia so she's not off by herself, trying to get more information on the dead pool. We just need more time to save everyone, Chris. That's all I need."

Chris' eyes scanned around the room at the expectant gazes of Satomi's pack that practically begged for help because they had nowhere else to go. A sudden sense of determination had taken over Chris' shoulder as they straightened out and his gaze fixed on Meilani. "Then that's what you'll get."

After Meilani had called Derek down to the house, Chris had left the group to go put trigger sensors around the home so they could be alerted if anyone came. They had been moved to the back part of the house where it was more spacious and they could all rest comfortably and hidden in case anyone did enter the house that they didn't want. Braeden, who had come along with Derek, and Kira had both worked on making sure their weapons were ready for anything that could come their way while Derek and Isaac both stood nearby with their arms crossed, not having much to do in the moment.

"They'll be okay," Meilani assured Derek who stared at Satomi's pack warily. He had obvious doubts about the pack that stood to the side in their own little small huddle and interacting with each other.

"They've got claws and fangs, but they're not fighters."

"Well, that's why Meilani called you," Isaac informed, dropping his hands back to his sides as he followed after Derek who made his way closer to Braeden and Kira so the pack could stand in their own small huddle like Satomi's pack.

"Well, try to remember I don't have claws and fangs anymore, either."

Braeden shot a sly smirk in Derek's direction and flicked her dark, curly hair over her shoulder. "That's why you called me, remember?"

"Am I the only one still hoping this is all just a false alarm? I mean, it's possible we could wait here all night and nothing happens. Right?" Kira asked, hopeful eyes bouncing around the small circle. It was nice to know that not only Meilani had the hopeful thoughts that everything could always work out in the end. Hopefully.

"Meilani, have you heard anything from Stiles or Lydia yet?"

"Um, Lydia is still at the station with Meredith. Stiles, Scott and Malia are headed to the lake house. Something about the record player at the lake house stuck out to Malia so they went to check it out. They are trying to stop it."

"What if there is no stopping it? What if it doesn't end until we're all dead?"

The pack turned to face Brett who had spoken up, clearly hearing the conversation thanks to his wolf hearing. Meilani had a momentary lapse in thought that Satomi's pack could be listening in on their conversation even though they talked quietly to each other. No matter how low they talked, the pack would have been able to hear Meilani and her pack anywhere in the house.

"Then let's send a message. Let's make tonight perfectly clear to anyone with a copy of that list. It doesn't matter if they are professional assassins, hunters, or an amateur who just picked up a gun," Derek encouraged, picking up a random pistol to his right and waving it in the air. "Anyone who thinks they can hunt and kill us for money, is gonna be put on another list. Our list. They get to be a name on our dead pool."

Night had come quicker than anyone in the house had expected and they all waited in a tense silence for the assassins to come. Kira, Isaac and Meilani stood close to each other, ready to protect the other when they did show up. Kira and Isaac stood especially ready on either side of Meilani, determined to protect the alpha who would more than likely be the first one hit since she was the top dollar one on the dead pool. Meilani didn't know if she wanted to be flattered for being so much money or concerned that her status truly was rare enough for anyone to want it.

As expected, about ten minutes after nightfall the assassins showed up in what looked like SWAT gear after a smoke bomb had been chucked into the room. Black helmets adorned their heads and black vests and SWAT styled bodysuit and boots covered their forms. They had shotguns gripped in their hands, little beams of light flickering on the end so they could see exactly where they were shooting. Gun fire ripped through the room like a thunderstorm of fat ran pellets and Meilani was instantly dragged to the ground by Isaac and Kira.

When did it go from protecting her friends to her friends protecting her?

Once the gun fire sounded like it was behind where Isaac, Kira and Meilani had been hidden, they exchanged a look before they were off in opposite directions. Kira unsheathed her katana as she charged forward and Isaac cracked his neck from side to side as his tall form stormed in the direction he heard gunfire in. Meilani had sprinted forward, barely even feeling her body shift as it was like second nature to her now, her red eyes glowing in the darkened room that was only lit up by randomly placed construction lights.

Meilani attacked one of the assassins from the side, leaping onto them and tackling them down to the ground. She slammed the assassin's hand harshly against the tiled flooring beneath them, earning a yelp of pain from him as his hand released the gun in his hand. Her arm reared back before landing several punches to his face until he was effectively knocked unconscious. She rolled off the now unconscious man just as Brett skidded around the corner in her direction.

The alpha pushed herself to her feet and ran towards Brett, groaning quietly when a bullet shot into her right shoulder. She ignored the burning sensation the wound left behind as it tried to heal itself and stopped in front of Brett who waited for what Meilani thought they should do. "Get the others back. Tell them all to hide."

"You got it," Brett nodded and ran back in the direction he came to look for the others and get them to safety out of the line of fire that continued to ring through the air.

Meilani turned around to look for Kira and Isaac in the mass of bodies and dimly lit area, ignoring the next bullet that got sent to her other shoulder. Her eyes scanned the area, but only could see crawling assassins and two of Satomi's pack in the distance somewhere. "Kira! Isaac!" She cursed to herself when she didn't get a response back from either of her friends, pushing further into the war that raged on.

As Meilani turned a corner to look for Kira and Isaac in another part of the area they had been cooped up in, Meilani noticed one of the assassins stood before the short blonde haired girl with his gun raised at her. The red dot from the sniper rifle blinked on her forehead and the girl had squeezed her eyes shut, already accepting her fate. But Meilani wasn't accepting that fate and she charged at the assassin, knocking into him from the side.

The assassin went flying to the side and he crashed into the metal filing cabinet that was placed on the side next to a small desk. Meilani banged his head harshly against the cabinet, even though the helmet definitely protected his skull from any type of damage: fatal or not. She then gripped him by the front of his SWAT uniform and slammed his body down onto the desk, leaping on top of him and slashing at his body her extended claws.

Blood flew into the air as Meilani's incessant claws continued their attack on the man's chest. Even more blood began to pool out of the assassin's mouth as he choked on it, coughing a bit up and staining the front of his uniform. His helmet had been knocked off at some point in the attack and Meilani barely even noticed, seeing too much red to focus on anything but her anger.

Her anger at the assassins for trying to kill all her friends. Her anger at Meredith for even creating the three lists in the first place. Her anger at Peter for making her be a werewolf in the place. Her anger at herself for not doing more to save the people around her.

Meilani was snapped out of her anger driven attack when her phone began to buzz frantically in her pocket. She froze as the assassin raised his shaking hands to show he surrendered and she dug in her back pocket for her phone to see a black screen with a bunch of white text. The only thing on the screen that really stood out to Meilani was the message at the bottom of the screen.

THE BENEFACTOR: ALL CONTRACTS TERMINATED.

Meilani stared at the message for a long moment in astonishment before she slowly turned the phone in her hand to show it to the assassin, showing he no longer would be getting money for killing her because there was no more list.

The dead pool was over.

AUTHORS NOTE

Hi hey hello

JUST TWO CHAPTERS TO GO FOR BOOK FOUR BABY! I am so ready to finish off this bad boy and get into Book 5/Season 5. Sorry this chapter was lowkey slow and everything, but it was mostly a filler up until the end scene when the list was frozen and all the contracts were terminated. However, that doesn't mean the drama is over JUST yet so strap up, folks.