𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐄𝐍

𝘙𝘌𝘜𝘕𝘐𝘛𝘌𝘋 𝘚𝘖𝘜𝘓𝘚

━━━ MEILANI'S HAND SLOWLY REACHED OUT AS THE FIGURE KEPT MOVING CLOSER AND CLOSER, BUT THE LIGHT STILL MAKING IT INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT TO DETERMINE WHO IT ACTUALLY WAS. She took another step forward as a sob breaks through, her body humming with new found energy and life at the thought of reuniting with Stiles. At the thought of being able to run at him and wrap herself around him like she's always done. Inhale his scent and commit to her memory so she never has to forget it ever again, holding him against her and never letting go.

However, when the bright light finally flickered out and disappeared, it only revealed an empty tunnel ahead of Meilani. Even with her alpha eyes, she couldn't see anything but the dark tunnels looming ahead and the water dripping down from the pipes and hitting the ground with a quite PLOP! 

No Stiles in sight.

"Where is he?" Meilani cried, whirring around to face Malia and Lydia who offered her pitiful looks. Looks that she wanted to slash off their faces. "It was working! You guys saw him, right?"

"Lani . . . we didn't see anyone," Malia said, shaking her head as her eyes moved from the empty tunnel ahead and over to a very distraught Meilani Marie McCall. "Just a shadow and light and that was it."

"No!" Meilani roared, the walls shaking around them as her emotion filled roar and her eyes flashing red. She looked over her shoulder again to see if maybe Stiles appeared out of nowhere, but it was still vacant up ahead. The only living souls in the area were Lydia, Meilani and Malia. "He was here. I know it. Stiles was here."

Lydia frowned softly and guided Meilani back into the bunker for the girls to hide in and try the hypnosis thing again. Maybe if Lydia pulled up some more memories it could help them get him back like Meilani was convinced they had almost done. However, they didn't get too far when Liam shoved his way into the room before Malia could swing the door closed behind her.

"Lan, there's something you need to see," Liam announced, earning his alpha's attention as she rapidly blinked away the tears that were still in her eyes.

"Liam!" Meilani whispered, rushing forward and wrapping Liam up tightly into her arms and hugging him close to her chest. A small groan escaped Liam's lips as he was smushed against Meilani and his arms hung limply at his side as she practically crushed them into his sides. "You're still here!"

Liam tried to speak to his alpha, but it was a bit hard with his face so squished up and she quickly let him go with a quiet "sorry" and stepped back from him so he could say what he needed to. "Yeah, I'm here but everyone else is gone. All of them. They're all gone. Look, you have to come with me."

"What is it?" Meilani asked, eyes widening as Liam practically shook on the spot.

"I — I can't explain it. I have to show you."

Meilani blinked rapidly for a moment while Liam stepped back out of the room and she turned to the girls behind her, swiftly drying her eyes with the sleeve of her leather jacket. "Okay, um . . . you two stay here. Just in case."

Malia furrowed her eyebrows and tilted her head to the side like a confused little puppy. If this were any other moment, Meilani might have "aw"ed out loud over it. "In case Stiles comes back?"

"If there's any hope, you need to keep trying. For me," Meilani practically pleaded with her friends, desperately wanting to see Stiles again. Now that she had all the memories back, she still felt like half a person as her other half was still, inevitably, missing.

Without letting either girl even begin to protest if they even wanted to, Meilani blew them both a hasty kiss and barreled out of the room after Liam, slamming the door to the bunker closed behind her and leaving the girls behind.

Liam lead Meilani back to the hospital where Liam and Theo had both been attacked by a herd of Ghost Riders. They'd originally ran there to try and hide in the morgue with the dead because Liam had figured it'd be as good a place as any to hide since the Ghost Riders were looking for the living and not the dead. As usual, that plan didn't pan out too well and Theo and Liam both had wound up fighting the Ghost Riders to the best of their ability until it was just Liam left standing.

To which lead to now, where the lights flickered dimly and cast a horrifying vibe into the corridors of the hospital. On the walls behind the nurse's station were two railroad schedules depicting various trains and what time they'd be leaving. Along the floors of the corridors were railroad tracks. Meilani furrowed her eyebrows as her boot squeaked over the metal plating on the side of the tracks.

"This is happening everywhere, you said?" Meilani reiterated to Liam, trying to make sense of everything that had been going on while she, Malia and Lydia were down in the bunker trying to bring back Stiles.

"Uh, here . . . the school lacrosse field," Liam responded, the tracks creaking beneath the duo's feet as they carried on a bit further down the corridor as the lights above their head continued to flicker and hum with low electricity.

"What does this mean?" Meilani mumbled, running a hand through her hair in slight frustration. 

"It means . . ." a new voice startled the two wolves and they whirled around to see Douglas stood at the other end of the corridor. His legs were spread out as his feet perched on either rail of the tracks and a twisted smirk graced his face. "It's working."

Liam shifted instantly along with Meilani, the duo roaring loudly at Douglas as the man merely shifted along with them. He clenched his hands into fists as he sidled up closer next to Meilani, leaning in close so he could whisper in her ear. "He can't take both of us . . . right?"

"No way."

"Hollenhund," Douglas called, earning a growl from the end of the hallway that Meilani and Liam stood on.

Meilani spun around to see Parrish in all his Hellhound glory, growling at them lowly as he slowly made his way from out of the shadows. He was like a predator slowly creeping up on its prey. "Parrish. Parrish, you don't wanna do this. Stop!"

Douglas chuckled darkly as he stuffed his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and advanced forward towards them. "The train is coming, children. There's no stopping the Wild Hunt. You'll make a fine Ghost Rider, Meilani. And I'll have a true alpha by my side."

Meilani sneered at Douglas before she focused her attention back on Parrish who now stood mere feet away from Meilani and Liam. "Parrish! Stop!"

"And then a banshee, a werecoyote . . . "

"A Stiles?"

"A what?"

Meilani gasped and whirled around at the sound of Stiles' voice, turning just in time to see Stiles take down Douglas with a metal bat. She felt all of the wind get sucked out of her lungs at the sight of the hazel eyed, fluffy brown haired boy just feet away. He was dressed in that same purple flannel and dark jeans that he'd been in when he was taken that night and Meilani could practically sob at the sight of him. 

"That was a bad guy, right?" Stiles asked, furrowing his eyebrows and slowly lowering his bat as he looked to Meilani and Liam. "I read that whole situation right, right babe?"

Meilani take a step forward to rush at Stiles and throw herself into his arms when he scrambled away as Douglas huffed and stood back up again. Behind her, Parrish let out another thunderous roar and Meilani and Liam both grabbed him, throwing him down the corridor and causing him to collide with Douglas which sent them both crashing down to the tracks.

Once Meilani was sure the two supernatural beings were down, Meilani sniffled and charged at Stiles, her legs and arms pumping as she barreled into him at top speed. He grunted heavily as Meilani flung herself into his arms, legs and arms wrapping around her boyfriend tightly as she sobbed into his shoulder. A light chuckle fell past his lips as he stroked her curls, the other arm wrapping tightly around her back to keep her up. 

"Hey, hey, pretty girl. None of that crying shit even though you're really beautiful when you cry," Stiles mumbled into her hair, prying her face away from his shoulder so he could cup her now soaked face with both hands while she kept herself clung to him with her arms and legs. "God, I missed you so much."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Meilani sobbed, trying to blink past the tears so she could see Stiles clearly and not through a blurred, wet screen. "You — you told me not to forget. You told me to remember you loved me and I didn't — I didn't — "

Stiles stopped Meilani's broken sobbed rambling by crashing his lips onto hers, knocking all of Meilani's air right back into her. A warmth spread throughout her and the hole she'd been feeling inside of her chest slowly filled itself back up again and she felt whole. Stiles was really back. He was here and she could hold him and kiss him again. Her lips moved hastily against his own as she gripped to the open flaps of his flannel and pulled him even closer against her if that were even possible.

"Uh . . . " Liam's timid voice broke through the couples' reunion, causing them both to snap their gazes over to him in a daze. It was almost like the world had stopped spinning around them and it was just Meilani and Stiles against the world. Their lips were red and swollen from the intensity of their newly disrupted make out session and Meilani slowly climbed down from Stiles with a sheepish smile and clearing of her throat.

"Ah, Liam, sorry, buddy," Stiles laughed breathlessly, licking his swollen lips and walking towards the young teen and wrapping him up in a tight hug. "I missed your annoying little ass, too. Enough Stiles love to go around, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's great to see you, Stiles. Glad to know Meilani won't be a walking sad cloud anymore, but uh . . . " Liam pried himself away from Stiles and pointed back down the hall to where Douglas and Parrish were starting to get up again, Parrish's body now engulfed with flames. 

Stiles looked over his shoulders and choked when he saw the flaming form of Parrish. "Uh . . . okay, yeah, we should go. Go, go, go!"

"Don't gotta tell me twice," Meilani squeaked, grabbing Stiles' pale hand and darting off in the opposite direction with Liam and Stiles in tow. 

They made it to another part of the floor they were on and Stiles darted into one of the doors to the side to look for something, throwing medical supplies this way and that out the door and narrowly missing Meilani and Liam. "I cannot believe I'm gone for a few days and this whole place just falls apart."

"Baby, you were gone for three months," Meilani cringed, scrunching up her nose in what she hoped was a cute way when Stiles stumbled out of the room he was in, wide eyed.

"I was . . . what? What did you do without me?"

Meilani coughed awkwardly and scratched the back of her neck, shifting on her feet as an embarrassed tint took over her cheeks. "Not wake up like I was in some sort of alternate universe where I kissed Isaac or anything . . . or that I forgot you existed for a few days . . . never that. Nope. Couldn't be me. Not Meilani."

Stiles' face dropped at that and Meilani could practically hear his shatter in his chest at the thought of Meilani and Isaac together. "You and Isaac . . . were together? Oh,God . . . and I kissed you, which is like kissing Isaac and — " He gagged midway through and shook his head. "Oh God, that means I now basically indirectly kissed Isaac! This is just great! If they don't let me graduate next, I swear to God . . ."

"You know . . . I thought he was going to freak out more over you and Isaac," Liam hummed, watching as Stiles frantically wiped at his mouth and hurried into the next room to look for whatever it was he in was search of. "Stiles, what are you even looking for?"

"Ah! This!" Stiles ran back out of the room with a small tank of liquid nitrogen and waved around the nozzle. He then jerked his head down the hall to where Parrish now slowly stalked towards them, still in a green and orange flame and growling at them. "And him. Grab him. Grab him now."

Meilani and Liam both shrugged at one another and grabbed either one of Parrish's arms once he was close enough. With a tug on the handle of the liquid nitrogen, a burst of white smoke shot out of the nozzle of the liquid nitrogen and Stiles shot all of it out at Parrish. The flames on Parrish's body eventually flickered out and both Meilani and Liam were able to drop him. A small groan left Parrish's lips as he blinked his eyes awake and they showed off his normal color, rather than the hellhound ones.

"Stiles? What are you doing here?" Parrish questioned, startled to suddenly see the Stilinski boy again.

"Buddy, love you and all, but we're way past that now, okay? You gotta fill us in. What's going on?"

Parrish's face contorted as he pushed himself slowly back to his feet, his body now charred and dark. "Douglas . . . he's merging the worlds so the Ghost Riders can cross over. He wants his supernatural army in our world."

"How do we stop him?" Meilani questioned, trying to help Parrish dust himself off though it did nothing to remove the charred parts of his body. He'd more than likely need to shower or allow the charring to heal itself on its own.

"The train. It's coming," Parrish informed the trio, jerking his chin in the direction of the schedule that rested behind the wall of the nurse's station.

"Okay . . . and how do we stop that?" Liam asked next, tearing his eyes from schedule to look back up at Parrish with hopeful eyes.

Parrish shook his head grimly. "You can't stop it . . . but you can divert it."

After Parrish gave them the run down of they could ( possibly ) divert the train, the trio made their way over to the high school. The area outside the high school was desolate and dark, the only sound coming from the three teens' sneakers crunching along the fallen leaves on the ground that were no doubt left by the Ghost Riders and the creaking of the railroad tracks beneath the leaves. It was almost eery being in a town where you were the only ones left.

"Okay, how the hell do you merge worlds?" Stiles asked Meilani and Liam as if either one of them even had a clue, even after Parrish explaining it to them they were still confused. "Nowhere in the manual does it say that werewolves can do that! And Lani and I pretty much wrote that manual."

"Don't you mean I wrote the manual?" Meilani mused, walking backwards as she faced her two boys with a shrug when Stiles shot her a look. "What? You got the content from me! Look, we can't even move between the two worlds so you got me. I mean . . . look what it took to break you out, Sti."

"We can't move between worlds," Liam repeated, freezing in his steps which caused both Meilani and Stiles to stop from moving towards the entrance of the high school. "But Corey can. He can exist in both worlds and he can take people with him. Like at Lan's house, he pulled a Ghost Rider into our world. At the lacrosse game he brought us into theirs. What if that's how Douglas is doing it? What if Corey is the key?"

Stiles exhaled heavily and placed his hands on his hips, his tongue poking out as he thought on Liam's words. "Interesting theory, okay? Solid logic, bud. It is, but he's in there and w'ere out here. So the only way to save everyone now is to just divert the train. How do you even expect to find him?"

Liam puffed out his cheeks and stood up straighter so he appeared taller than he really was. "I'm going into the Hunt."

"Oh hell no!" Meilani instantly denied, pointing a finger in Liam's direction. "You get that thought out of your head right now."

"Yeah, Liam, I think you're confused here," Stiles chimed in, placing a hand on Meilani's shoulder to keep her from launching at Liam and going into full "mom" mode. "We're trying to get people out of the Hunt. Not add more people to it. It's just . . . that's not a pleasant option here. I am speaking from experience here."

Liam's eyes trailed along something in the grass near the tracks while Stiles rambled on and he perked up as an idea visibly came to him. "I — I don't need to taken to get into the Hunt."

Before Meilani or Stiles could even open their mouths to rebut with Liam, he pressed a platonic kiss to Meilani's cheek and barreled off into the high school while shouting about being back. He sounded like a small child rushing towards something exciting and Meilani would have found it adorable if she wasn't two seconds from kicking her beta's ass for just running off.

"Where we like that?" Stiles asked, slapping his hands to his sides as he watched the young teen disappear into the building. 

Meilani snorted, crossing her arms and glanced up at Stiles with a knowing smirk. "You know we were worse than that." 

Stiles scrunched his nose up adorably and Meilani laughed softly as she poked at it, causing it to fall back into its natural button like state. "God, how are we still alive?"

"I died and came back to life . . . twice so you, uh . . . you got me," Meilani stated, turning back to the tracks and the situation at a hand with a heavy sigh. "So . . . we just have to follow the tracks then?"

"Yeah, well . . . that way leads into the woods," Stiles pointed ahead of them into the trees before he shifted his finger in the direction Liam had just ran into. "And this way leads into the school."

Meilani puffed out her cheeks and scratched the back of her neck. "Do we split up on this one?"

"Baby, if I never have to leave your side again it'll be too soon," Stiles said instantly, snapping his attention back to her face with fear stricken eyes. It caused a soft frown to form on Meilani's face. "We can and will be sticking together on this one, thank you."

"Good, because I probably would have dragged you by your cute little ears anyways if you tried to separate from me," Meilani replied, poking his stomach as she passed him by. "You're lucky I don't put you on a leash after this."

"Some people are into that!" Stiles called after her, jogging to keep up with his girlfriend into the woods.

The couple walked along the dark woods, Meilani's hand clutched into Stiles' flannel so she could guide him through the darkness since he had no flashlight nor supernatural eyes that helped him see in the dark. Though . . . it was also an excuse to just touch him and remember that he was still here. That Stiles was back and she could actually feel him. She felt so touch starved that she couldn't wait to get him alone after this was all said and done and just be with him. It caused a shiver to go through her at the thought of it.

Coming up along a small thicket of trees, Meilani was shocked to the see the train tracks split off in either direction at a tree stump up ahead. They had found it so easily and without error that Meilani was thrown off by the whole thing. So, she tugged Stiles behind a nearby tree, the two poking their heads through the small gap between it and the tree it was currently entwined with.

"What are we doing, Lani?" Stiles asked, peering through the gap and trying to see what she saw.

"It can't be this easy," Meilani whispered to Stiles, eyes and ears on high alert in case something popped out at them. Nothing was ever this easy for them and Meilani was just waiting for that other shoe to drop.

"Yes, it can be this easy," Stiles stressed, dropping his head with a groan and stepping back from the tree to pin his girlfriend to the ground where she stood with a pointed look. "For once in our fucking lives can we please just do this easy?"

Meilani reached out to grab him, but Stiles was faster than her and hopped through the small gap in the trees and ran towards the point where the two worlds would merge. He only made it three steps before an arrow whizzed out and slammed into his palm, sending Stiles flying onto his back in the leaves. Calling out Stiles' name, Meilani leapt through the gap next and got to him just seconds before he disappeared in a plume of green smoke.

"No, no, no, not again!" Meilani cried, gripping the place where Stiles had just been moments before. Her gaze slowly lifted up to meet with Douglas who stood there before her, lowering the automatic bow that he had in his hand.

Before Meilani could get up and fight him, Douglas silently raised the bow again and shot at her next, sending her into a plume of green smoke as well. She stumbled over her own feet and yelped when she crashed face first onto the landing in one of the stairwells inside the high school. She grumbled to herself when she felt the blood gush from her nose and she wiped at it with her jacket sleeve, pushing to her feet and rushing down the steps.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Stiles yelled out when Meilani's body crashed into him, catching her in his arms before she could crash to the ground again. "Are you okay? You're bleeding."

"Yeah, looks like I get to kiss everything but you lately and this time it was a floor," Meilani huffed, wiping more blood away from her nose that was already beginning to heal itself and the blood already slowing. She wiggled her nose when Stiles reached up gently to wipe away some more excess blood with his flannel sleeve. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so. I finally saw the girls' locker room. It's not that different and I am incredibly disappointed in you for making me think it was," Stiles chided her, pushing her forehead playfully. "All my hopes and dreams are gone."

Meilani rolled her eyes at Stiles' antics and tugged him along down the hallway they were in which was, now that Meilani noticed, near the locker rooms. "What the hell just happened?"

Stiles shook his head and allowed Meilani to tug him along much like she had in the woods, fingers brushing along her own as she clutched to the sleeve of his flannel. "I don't know, honestly. I think the worlds . . . I think they're collapsing in on each other."

"Attention all passengers, the train will be arriving in eleven minutes," a distorted voice said over the loud speakers in the hallway.

"Okay, yeah, we gotta get back to the diverter," Meilani suggested and the couple ran out the double doors only to be met with a bright green light again.

Meilani coughed harshly as she landed on her back inside a utility closet. She cursed to herself and shoved away the papers that fell on top of her when she landed inside and stepped out into the science room that utility closet had been located in. A distant growling could be heard somewhere off in the distance and the sound of wind could be heard howling even though there was no wind.

"I swear, they're really testing my control here," Meilani growled to herself, shoving out of the science room and trying to navigate her way to Stiles. She perked her ears up to try and listen out for his heartbeat, but he must been on the opposite end of the campus since she couldn't hear his heartbeat anywhere in sight. What she could hear, however, as she turned a corner was the clicking sound of the Ghost Rider behind her.

The wind around Meilani picked up now, leaves coming from nowhere as they swirled around her head and stayed there as the Ghost Rider's whipped could be heard slashing through the air and hitting the tiled flooring of the corridor they stood stood in. The same corridor that Meilani saw Stiles for the last time in before he was taken three months ago. She cringed when she saw another one appear in the direction was she tried to run in.

The two Ghost Riders raised their guns and Meilani flipped through the air, dodging each and every one as green smoke exploded all around her. She pushed off the floor and leapt onto the wall near the Ghost Rider in her path, kicking off it so she was on the other side of him and darted for the double doors that lead back outside. Another bullet was narrowly dodged as she stumbled out into the fresh air and nearly tripped over the tracks outside. 

Deciding to do this easily like Stiles had asked, Meilani didn't even take the time to marvel over the fact that she had gotten out of there so easily. She took off in a sprint back to the diverter and skidded to a stop when she saw Douglas still stood there, leaves kicking up at her feet as she slid to a stop just feet before him, her alpha eyes flashing dangerously at him.

"You know . . . I'd almost say you enjoy this, Meilani," Douglas mocked, inspecting his weapon with a lazy sigh. "The pursuit of utterly futile endeavors."

Meilani growled deep in her throat as she took another threatening step forward. "Step back from the diverter, Douglas, or I'll make you step back."

Douglas chuckled and waved a finger at her, shaking his head. "Now that's the German way of doing things. You would have made an excellent Nazi Youth."

Meilani's jaw ticked as she curled her fingers, holding herself back from attacking Douglas for the moment. Though, she didn't take her narrowed red eyes off the man. "Maybe you didn't hear me, asshole. I said step back."

"And maybe you didn't hear me," Douglas snapped, instantly shifting and his green eyes flashing as he took a step towards her in a readying stance to fight her if need be. 

The thunder suddenly rumbled around them and a whole army of Ghost Riders appeared out of thin air. They all slowly moved together as if one cohesive unit and swarmed around Meilani and Douglas so Meilani had nowhere to run . . . even if she wanted to run. Not that any of the Ghost Riders ignited fear into her, only anger and annoyance that she had to do this dance with Douglas with the train rapidly approaching and she still need to divert it.

"What? You need your friends to fight your battles, Douggie? Kind of weak, don't you think?" Meilani mocked Douglas, stalking closer to the man.

"Unbelievable. Even in the face of insurmountable odds, you not only have a smart mouth but you still want to fight. I don't know if it's suicide or stupidity or both."

Meilani hummed and raised a shoulder in a half shrug, not the least bit phased by Douglas or his Ghost Rider lackies. "Maybe a bit of both on a good day. Either way, I'm getting to that diverter."

Douglas tutted at the true alpha mockingly. "You of all people, Meilani, should know what happens to a lone wolf."

"She's not alone!" a voice called out and all heads turned to see a tattered up Theo Raeken stumbled out from behind a tree. "She's got a pack."

"Yeah, and Theo's not in it," Malia snapped at him, coming up from behind him with a disapproving glare. "But I am."

"I'm not in the pack," Peter Hale said next, popping up from behind Malia and Meilani blinked in surprise at the sight of the wolf that turned her all those years ago. What he was doing with Malia was beyond Meilani. "But no one likes a Nazi."

At Peter's words, all Hell broke loose. Douglas and his army of Ghost Riders surged forward. All three wolves and the one werecoyote charged forward as well, trying to gain traction on the Riders and Douglas. Theo, Malia and Peter all took on the Ghost Riders while Meilani jerked her head in Douglas' direction so the trio knew she was tackling Douglas alone. None of them seemed too chuffed over it and they all split up in their respective directions to tackle as much as they can.

Meilani growled as she launched herself at Douglas, feet flying through the air and connecting with his chest which sent him flying across the way and slamming into a tree trunk with a grunt. He quickly recovered and Meilani ducked underneath his claws that he tried to slash out at her with, swinging out her legs and knocking Douglas off his feet. Douglas rolled back up onto his feet effortlessly and ducked below Meilani's next kick, bringing his foot up as he stood back up and kicked her in the middle of her chest and sent her flying much like she had done to him. She yelped as she slid down the bark of the tree and her ass slammed onto the floor.

"Don't you see? Your little friends are no match for the Wild Hunt!" Douglas announced proudly, throwing his arms out to the side as if in triumph. "There are too many of us and too few of you."

"Think again," Meilani threatened, getting back to her own feet and dueling against Douglas once again. 

The sound of a train horn could be heard, the light from the front of the train being seen in the distance as the train rapidly approached the diverter that Meilani still needed to switch over. Malia, having just taken down a Ghost Rider she'd been fighting, tosses Meilani its dropped whip and Meilani caught it one handed. In one swift movement, Meilani turned and shot out the whip with it wrapping around the handle of the switcher and tugged harshly with Douglas just out of reach of it and effectively sent the train shooting in the opposite direction.

Meilani slumped forward with exhaustion and relief as all the weight on her shoulders had suddenly been thrown off her. She closed her eyes and stood back up, releasing a relieved breath and dropping the whip to the ground. "Looks like you missed your train, Douggie. Maybe you can catch the next one to Hell."

Thunder clouds began to roll in a minute later, lightning and thunder booming around the area as the ground shook beneath their feet. Meilani, now shifted back to her normal self, glanced around her with Malia, Theo and Peter all stood around her wearing the same perplexed expressions as Meilani wore. The Ghost Riders all around them slowly lowered their guns, holstering the back up and walking away towards where the train went.

Douglas growled, shouting for the Ghost Riders to shoot all four the supernaturals behind but it was like they didn't hear him. All of them just carried on in the direction down the tracks that the train went off in and didn't give him a second glance back.

"Call your army back," Theo mocked Douglas, smirking at the man when he turned to shoot Theo a deadly look. "Or do they not listen to you anymore?"

Douglas ignored Theo and turned back to the Ghost Riders, shouting at them until they finally heard him and turned back around. All of them stalked back over to him as he instructed them to kill Meilani, Malia, Theo and Peter. However, instead of doing what he said and bowing to him like he demanded, the Ghost Riders all circled around Douglas instead and stared at him.

"The Ghost Riders don't bow," Peter said, eyes sparkling with mischief. "They have no leader."

Lightning flashed through the area and, almost instantly, Douglas was turned into a Ghost Rider. A disgruntled cry was heard from him before a green light flashed out and the Ghost Riders and Douglas were officially gone.

It was finally over.

The rest of senior year seemed to fly by after that. The pack actually got to enjoy what was left of their senior year. Meilani had been reunited with her mother, brother and Isaac and she had tackled all three of them to the ground when they walked through the door of the McCall residence that next morning after the Ghost Riders were gone. Which was fine by Meilani because she'd spent the night in Stiles' bed and, according to Scott, Melissa and Chris were now supposedly a thing. However that happened.

Naturally, Stiles, upon seeing Isaac, glared as he remembered that Isaac got to hold and kiss his girlfriend while was none the wiser to Stiles' existence. He still was grossed out over the fact that Meilani had kissed Isaac and it had taken a lot of coaxing ( and about seven rounds of brushing his teeth ) to get Stiles to relax. Meilani and Stiles were together again and Meilani had to remind him of that. That she was in love with him, not Isaac. That the universe had only made her think she was with Isaac because of their wolf bond, but that was over. She wanted Stiles and only Stiles and .  . . okay, fine, Meilani had to do a lot of convincing that Stiles was the only one she thought of.

Not that Meilani was complaining of course. However, she was glad that she could heal or she'd never be able to cover up just what she and Stiles had done the night they were reunited. Sure, everyone knew that Stiles and Meilani were the furthest things from virgins, but that didn't mean Meilani wanted to walk around looking like she'd gotten into a fight with his mouth. Though, Stiles did make a passing joke about wishing that Meilani would. Something about it being hot to look at for the fifteen minutes that bruises usually lasted for. 

Men, cue Meilani's eye roll.

If Meilani were honest, she'd never even thought she'd make it to her final day of senior year, which, by the way, was not as exciting as she thought it'd be. She should have been dead twenty times over, and yet here she was . . . sitting in her final class of her high school career and the clock ticking down the final seconds she'd spend in this building with her friends surrounding her. In a few weeks, they'd all be off in their own adventures in college and they'd be separated by miles and miles. 

It was something that Meilani still tried to wrap her head around, but she knew that her and her friends would never stop seeing or talking to each other. There was always weekends and holidays for them to meet up and Stiles was still trying to get them an apartment somewhere that they could live together. Though, Meilani was starting to think they might be spending their first semester apart. 

The sound of the school bell ringing and signaling the end of the day snapped Meilani out of her thoughts as the students around her picked up their stuff and filed out the room, the teacher yelling that he'd see all the seniors at graduation in a few short days. 

"No, no, no," Stiles complained from his seat next to Meilani . . . or rather, right next to Meilani as he'd sidled up his desk practically on top of hers. His hand had held hers the entirety of the class and he couldn't stop staring at his lacrosse hoodie that she wore that day. Something she'd been doing every day ( wearing his clothes, not just his lacrosse hoodie ) and it warmed Stiles' hear to see. "That's it? What?"

"Last day ever!" Scott cheered, throwing his fists into the air with a small whoop!

Stiles whined and turned in his seat to face Scott, Malia, Lydia and Isaac who all sat behind him and Meilani with a scrunched up nose. "It just feels . . . anti-climactic."

Isaac raised his eyebrows in amusement at Stiles and leant forward on his elbows. "Uh, Stilinski, pretty sure nothing about our lives is anti-climactic, okay? I mean . . . hello! Scotty, you and I just all came back from disappearing in green smoke. Plus, we still have graduation to look forward to."

"I gotta go to summer school or I can't do the whole graduation thing," Malia added in.

"Let's blow this popsicle stand, kiddos!" Meilani cheered, pushing Stiles' desk away from hers effortlessly and bounding up onto her feet. She held both hands out to her boyfriend with a small giggle, wiggling her fingers while their friends all filed out of the classroom. "Come on, Sti."

"Come on! Seriously?" Stiles grumbled, taking Meilani's hands as she helped him to his feet. "I hate it here."

Meilani smiled fondly up at him and reached up onto her tiptoes to kiss him sweetly. "No, you don't," she mumbled against his lips, his hands going directly to her waist and squeezing.

"Mmmm, no I don't," Stiles agreed begrudgingly, kissing her back before he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and lead her out into the halls where all the seniors cheered and threw their stuff into the air in celebration that they were finally free of high school. Completely forgetting about the four years of college they'd be doing next when August approached.

Meilani stopped before her locker that stilled rested between Scott and Stiles', popping it open to take out all her things — which wasn't much aside from a few more notebooks and a pile of love letters Stiles left for her every day since he'd been back from the Hunt — and placed them into her bag while both boys patiently waited for her. "I cannot believe we aren't in high school anymore. Kind of feels like nothing's really changed."

Scott chuckled and slapped his hand down on Meilani's shoulder, shaking her gently. "Actually, Mei, everything has changed. You're a true alpha now, Lydia's our best friend, Isaac's your wolf mate now, you have a beta. Trust me, nothing's the same as when we stepped into this building."

"Couldn't be more right, Scotty," Stiles agreed, hauling Meilani away from the lockers once she was done and the trio walked out to Roscoe that rested in the quickly clearing school parking lot, where Mason and Liam were already waiting for them to say goodbye. Even though they'd definitely be seeing Stiles, Meilani and Scott constantly until they all left for college. "Okay, Liam, now that you're the new alpha —"

"But I'm not an alpha," Liam said, shifting the strap of his backpack up on his shoulder. "That's still Lan."

"Right, but you're an alpha in training, Li," Meilani encouraged the young boy, dumping her backpack into the trunk of Roscoe and pressed a platonic kiss to the side of his head. "I've taught you  well, my young padawan."

"God, I love when my woman talks dirty," Stiles grinned, earning disgusted complaints from Mason, Liam and Scott. "Anyways, since you're taking over, the most important thing to remember is that Mason is always gonna be the one who is there to save your ass all the time."

Meilani gasped and pushed Stiles' shoulder, shooting her brother a glare when he nodded in rapid agreement to saving Meilani's ass. "You two do not save me all the time."

Scott snorted and leant against the back of Stiles' Jeep. "Only ninety-five percent of the time, no biggie."

"Shut up, Scotty."

"Anyways!" Stiles shouted again, cutting off the minor sibling playful argument that kicked up. "Which is why . . ." He trailed off to reach in the trunk and pull out the metal bat that Stiles had used on more than one occasion since Meilani was turned. "I think you're gonna need this."

Mason tilted his head at the object, his arm draped around Liam's shoulders as they both eyed the thing oddly. "I don't play baseball, Stiles."

Meilani couldn't help but laugh on that one and shook her head, fondly rolling her eyes. "Trust me, you don't need to play baseball to own the bat. Just accept your new weapon of destruction and go with it."

"I'll take your word for it, Lani," Mason said, taking the baseball equipment with a sheepish smile before he tugged Liam away so they could find Corey and Hayden.

Stiles clapped his hands together and dove back into the trunk before he pulled his head back out, holding out a roll of duct tape to Scott with a grin. "Okay, now for Scotty, I leave you with this. You know, hurt her and I'll have your sister tear you to shreds with her wolfy claws and make you look like a twisted version of Two Face, okay?"

Scott frowned down at the duct tape in his hands before he looked over to Stiles. "You sure you won't need Roscoe?"

Stiles waved Scott off and planted his hands on his hips. "Nah, Lydia offered to drive me down to D.C with Lani and then Lani's gonna ride back up on her bike after she helps me move into my dorms, so . . . you know Lydia's starting MIT as a junior? How do you even do that?"

Meilani laughed softly at that and slapped her hands to her sides. "Stiles, Lydia's, like, a fucking genius. Pretty sure her IQ breaks records. I'm surprised that you're surprised."

"Actually, my real question is . . . how did Scott get into UC Davis?"

"Oh, thanks for the support, dude!" Scott scoffed in mock offense, tossing the duct tape into Stiles' ( now Scott's? ) trunk. "How did you get into George Washington?"

Meilani blushed in embarrassment at Scott's words and raised her hands sheepishly. "I called Dad. I asked him to see if he could make a call to the pre-FBI program. And since Dad's been trying to act like an actual dad for once . . . he did me the favor. Plus . . . I owe him a father and children dinner so . . . sorry about dragging you into that one, Scotty."

"Pre-FBI," Scott breathed, shaking his head in disbelief. Almost like he was finally coming to terms that this was it. They were moving on with their lives in just a few short weeks. "Well, I guess we're not the same kids running around the woods looking for a body."

"No, we're not," Stiles agreed, sharing a look with Scott that Meilani couldn't decipher. He winked at Scott before turning to Meilani next and smiled softly at her. "We're really not kids anymore, huh, babe?"

Meilani blinked in confusion, both boys' gazes now on her suddenly and the air around them seemed to thicken with something that she couldn't pin point. Like the boys were both keeping something from her . . . which was odd since both boys sucked at hiding things from her. Especially now that she was a werewolf. "Uh . . . yeah?"

Stiles reached forward and took her hands into his, his thumbs sweeping along her knuckles while his heart rate picked up speed at such a rate Meilani actually worried he was going to faint. Judging from the shake his hands took on, it was inevitable that he just might. The question was . . . why would he need to faint? "We're not those kids, babe. We've grown so much since the kids in the sandbox, you know? I mean, look at you and I. The two of us went from being best friends to the best couple this school ever saw! We made it through everything together. Between you being turned, a Kanima, a Dead Pool, Dread Doctors, Theo. Things that most people probably wouldn't make it through and . . .I wouldn't want to make it through with anyone else but you."

"Stiles . . . what are you doing and where are you going with his?" Meilani asked warily, eyeing both Stiles and Scott warily. They were both up to something and Meilani was, admittedly, scared to know what these two had up their sleeves this time.

"I just . . . you're the prettiest girl in the world and I love you," Stiles said, stepping closer to her so their shoes brushed against each other and he took one hand to cup her face lovingly. "I love you more than anything on this planet. You're the one person I want to fall asleep next to and wake up next to for the rest of my life. Being away from you for those three months — even though it really only felt like three days — helped teach me something. That when you lose something, you learn to cherish it more. And, shit Lani, if I didn't learn to cherish you in those days away from you. So . . . I'm taking life's advice to me and making sure that I do cherish you for the rest of my life."

Meilani was left confused for another moment before her eyes popped wide open when Stiles reached into the back pocket of his jeans and produced a ring. The same ring that belonged to Melissa, the diamond glinting beautifully in the sunlight. It was a ring that Melissa had given to Scott, telling him to give it to whichever guy swooped Meilani off her feet and deserved it. The person who deserved to give a better life to the ring that had quickly dulled out for her after Rafe left and they got a divorce. Someone who would treat the ring as it should be, with love and support and care.

"I — I know this is like . . . out of the blue and we're only just out of high school, but . . . we can wait, obviously," Stiles began to ramble now as Meilani's welled up with tears at the sight of her mother's engagement ring. "I just . . . I don't wanna wait anymore, okay? We can wait until you're done with college and I'll even wait until you're done with whatever years of nursing school you have to do afterwards. I'll wait twenty years if I have to, but I want to do this now. A new start to our new life . . . hopefully one that doesn't include more supernatural drama. So, Meilani Marie McCall, will you be my pretty girl forever and let me love you? Will you marry me . . . eventually?" 

Meilani's hand came up to cup over her mouth as a quiet sob broke through, tears flowing down her cheeks freely now like a never ending coursing river. She tried to open her mouth to respond to him, but couldn't get any words out and just settled for nodding instead. The ring, which thankfully fit thanks to Scott secretly measuring Meilani's hand in her sleep a few weeks ago, slipped easily onto Meilani's ring finger and Meilani threw herself into Stiles' arms and slammed her lips onto his.

Scott let out a joking groan at the sight, but Meilani could hear the smile in his voice when he told them to get a room as Meilani's tongue slipped past Stiles' lips. Meilani couldn't even begin to describe the elated and relaxed feeling that washed over Meilani as Stiles crushed her against his body, returning all her kisses with so much love and compassion and just them. 

Meilani slowly lowered herself back down to her own two feet and slowly pulled away from Stiles, squealing like a small child at the sight of the ring on her finger. This earned her a chuckle from her now fiance, who ducked his head and kissed side of her head.

Stiles, feeling himself relax now that he got the girl forever, turned to Scott and held out the keys to Roscoe. A look crossed his features as memories of the Jeep flashed through his mind, a sentimental thing that meant a lot to him now going to his best friend. "Seriously, Scotty, take the Jeep. I want you to have it. Meilani refused to take her and you're the only other person I trust so . . . please."

Scott reached forward and took the keys from Stiles, inspecting them in his hands with furrowed eyebrows. "Stiles, these aren't even the keys to the Jeep."

"Uh, no . . . actually, that's the key to your house, both you and Lani's rooms, uh . . . the master key to the school, animal clinic, key to the Sheriff's station. Just figured you should have all the keys I secretly made. You can give Meilani whatever keys she needs while you both are still here. So . . . take care of my girl while I'm not here, you hear me? And don't Lahey near her, either. I don't trust him unless I can see him myself."

Scott chuckled softly as he then took the actual keys to the Jeep from Stiles and nodded. "Sure, yeah, like I haven't been taking care of my sister since we were eight, Stiles."

Meilani smiled softly at her brother and stepped forward so she could wrap her arms around both Stiles and Scott. "My two boys, what would I ever do without you two psychos? 

Stiles grinned boyishly, his eyes drifting off to the side where Liam, Mason, Hayden, and Corey walked together. "They're gonna need us."

"They'll always need us," Meilani nodded her head in agreement, checking on her beta to make sure he was okay with his friends before she focused back on her two boys.

"And, you know, I . . . I need you," Stiles said, earning Meilani's attention and he glanced between both McCall siblings. "Both of you. You know that."

"Well, we're officially brothers now," Scott reminded Stiles, leaning his cheek against the ring that rested on Meilani's left hand now. "We'll always be together even when we're apart. It'll be like nothing changed except for the distance."

Meilani placed a sloppy, wet kiss to Stiles' and Scott's cheeks which earned disgusted groans from the twos. "I'll always need you two annoyances, too. Who else is gonna save my ass ninety-five percent of the time?"

"I'll miss you both when I'm down in D.C," Stiles sighed, kissing Meilani's temple softly and wrapping his arm tighter around her waist. He jerked his chin in the direction of Roscoe's keys in Scott's hand and grimaced. "No, but seriously, I need you both right now. I lost my license in the Hunt and need you to drive."

Meilani rolled her eyes fondly and took the keys from Scott, slapping them into his palm with a look. "Your father is the sheriff. I'm sure he'll let it slide, babe. You drive."

"God, what would I do without you?" Stiles mumbled, kissing her softly before taking the keys and hopping into the Jeep with Meilani and Scott. As soon as the car kicked on, Stiles' police radio kicked up and the trio snapped their heads to it when a dispatcher came through along with Sheriff Stilinski.

"Unit four, repeat."

"Are you telling me there's a dead body in the woods?"

"That's exactly what I am saying. There's a body in the woods . . ."

Meilani exchanged a silent look with Scott and Stiles, all of them coming to an agreement. They were off to find a dead body in the woods . . . in the daylight this time.

Maybe not everything has changed after all.

END OF PART ONE

word count: ( 8.7k )

CHAPTERS REMAINING: 10

— ya'll, i cannot fucking believe we are finally at this point. i have been planning this damn chapter since part two of DARKEST HOURS. i cannot tell you guys the amount of spam texts i have sent to ellis about the ending of part one for this book for the past year ( yes, year ). it's insane to think that we are already half way done with meilani's final book with just ten chapters to go.

— not gonna lie, i cried writing this chapter. between Stilani reuniting and getting engaged to just the thought of my girl being half done now, it's an emotional rollercoaster for me honestly. but not to fear because she's not done yet and we still have some content left to go before it's officially done! 

— i hope you guys enjoyed the first part of this and i cannot wait ( yes i can ) to get into the second part of this bad boy! also, lowkey sorry for this super long chapter/author's note but im also not so . . . SEASON 6B LET'S GOOOOOOO!

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