What Could Have Been [Thiam Rewrites]

Chapter 1: Redemption

Theo jolted awake in a metal container. He shivered against the freezing air and he struggled in the dark to find a latch, a door, any way out. He slammed his fist against the sides, kicked at the end of it, until finally something gave. He slid out onto the floor-he was in the hospital. In the morgue.

Something clicked and slithered nearby, and Theo sprung to his feet, ready for whatever monster had come for him. The door swung open, and his sister-grown up, her skin covered in a layer of filth, and her hair covering her face-emerged.

He'd been ready for any monster, but not for his little sister.

Fear paralyzed Theo, and he couldn't move, couldn't make a sound as his sister stalked closer and in one swift movement, dug her fingers into his chest and ripped the heart from his chest. Gasping, Theo collapsed to his knees, unable to breath around the excruciating pain in his gaping chest.

Theo bolted upright, tumbling from the backseat of his truck in a cold sweat. It was a dream. Just a dream.

Liam had freed him from his own personal hell weeks ago, to fight the Ghost Riders. He wasn't in hell anymore. Not when he was awake, at least.

After everyone returned from the hunt and the Ghost Riders moved on from Beacon Hills, Theo didn't know where else to go. He had no home, no parents, no pack, not even the Dread Doctors left.

Five times now he started the engine and hopped on the highway only for cold dread to flood his veins until he turned around. He always ended up back in Beacon Hills. A few times he'd parked near Scott's house, debating for hours in his head if he should knock or not. Theo was fairly certain that no matter what he did or said, Scott would never forgive him.

Theo wasn't sure he'd ever forgive himself, either.

Theo pulled his knees up, his head in his hands, and listened to the beating of his heart. His sister's heart in his chest. The steady drum of it, trapped beneath the curve of his ribs.

The panic was subsiding when he heard a different thundering heartbeat.

Out in the empty street, he watched as a girl fought off two grown men. Theo considered helping, considered leaving the stale air of his truck, but the girl was no damsel. She was an impressive fighter. She fought like-like a werewolf. The two men were already on the ground, the girl's heart rate already returning to a steady beat.

A siren sounded, and police car pulled up behind the girl's car with the flat tire. Theo sank lower, betting that same deputy would wake him in the early hours of the morning and force him to leave the parking lot. The girl was motioning to the men as a female deputy stepped out of car, and Theo quickly losing interest in the encounter. He shut his eyes, but kept his ears trained on the deputy just in case she spotted him.

His eyes sprang open at the sound of a gunshot. The girl fell as if in slow motion, the deputy holstering her weapon and returning to the police car. The rubber burned as she peeled away from the scene too quickly.

Theo tapped his fingers on the center console, waiting for the girl to move, waiting to hear even the ghost of a heartbeat. It wasn't like he could do anything now. He didn't know the girl, even if she was a werewolf.

But then he heard it. So faint he nearly mistook it for the wind-the faint rhythm of a beating heart.

She was alive, but just barely. And if no one helped her, she wouldn't stay that way for long. Theo's mind whirled as a plan formed in his mind.

...

The drive to Deaton's animal clinic was only a few minutes, but it felt like an eternity. He wasn't sure how long the girl in his back seat with a bullet hole in her head would last by the way she was bleeding all over the place. It would take forever to get her scent out of his truck.

Theo skidded to a stop outside the clinic, leaning on his horn and not giving a single fuck that it was past midnight. He hefted the girl into his arms and banged on the door.

A few minutes later, the door unlocked and Deaton opened it, letting Theo through with the injured werewolf.

"What did you do?" Deaton asked.

Theo set the girl on his table. "What did I do?" he demanded. "I saved her life. A deputy shot her between the eyes, and you're asking me if I had anything to do with it?"

Deaton flicked a glance at him as he rifled through his drawers for gloves and forceps. "Does Scott know you're here?"

Theo clenched his jaw. "No. And I'd like to keep it that way."

"A cop shot an innocent werewolf, and you don't think Scott should know about it?" Deaton asked, the air ripe with suspicion. With the forceps, Deaton dug the bullet from her forehead.

"I didn't say that," Theo said. "He should know, but it shouldn't come from me. He probably wouldn't take my word for it, anyway."

Deaton's eyes softened. "I'll make sure he gets the message."

"Look," Theo said, pointing at the girl, "is she going to be okay?"

"Now that I've removed the bullet, she should start the healing process. It'll take some time, but she'll live." Theo nodded, moving for the door. "You did a good thing bringing her here, Theo."

"Yeah, whatever."

Theo didn't breathe until he was back in his truck, the air tainted with the scent of blood and fear and some floral scent. Probably from the girl's conditioner. He rolled the windows down as he drove aimlessly around Beacon Hills until the sun rose over the horizon.