What Could Have Been [Thiam Rewrites]

Chapter 8: Out of the Frying Pan & into the Fire

Notes: Please note that there are depictions of violence involving guns in this chapter, equivalent to 6x16 of Teen Wolf. I'm working on the next part of this now. Hoping to have it up around Friday!

Theo

Theo stared in horror as Liam and Nolan disappeared over the small cliff within the enclosure. He should've seen it earlier—he should've stopped it the minute he'd sensed something off with Liam. Instead, he'd chocked the shaking hands and reserved behavior up to his usual anger, but this place, combined with the Anukite, was affecting Liam more than Theo could've ever imagined.

"She wants me to kill you," Nolan said, his voice wavering and his finger on the trigger. "She'll kill me if I don't."

"Liam!" Theo shouted. Despite the fact that he was only a few feet away, Liam gave no indication that he'd heard him at all.

Theo leapt down to the lower level, landing in a crouch as Liam flung the crossbow out of Nolan's hands and shoved him up against the wall.

When Liam raised his fist, Nolan flinched, but the fist landed on the wall behind Nolan's head. Even now, he was trying his hardest not to kill the pathetic boy in front of him. He was trying not to disappoint his alpha.

"Liam!" Theo screamed. "Liam, listen to me!"

He punched the wall again, his freshly healed knuckles bleeding again.

Theo cursed under his breath and found a large rock. Knocking him out was a last resort, but if he couldn't calm Liam down, he'd have no choice. Liam had never actually killed anyone, and the guilt-ridden torment that came with it was something that Theo never wanted him to experience. Even if it was piece-of-shit Nolan.

"Liam," Theo said, speaking softly now. "Please don't make me do this."

But he lifted his fist, staring at his razor-sharp claws, and Theo knew that the next blow wouldn't be aimed at the wall. Liam would go for Nolan's throat.

Theo launched himself forward, bashing the rock against Liam's head before he got the chance. As Liam crumpled, Theo threw an arm under his shoulders to keep him from slamming against the floor and leveled his gaze at Nolan.

Let the sniveling little wimp run back to Monroe and Gerard. They would probably kill him just for being a coward.

Theo smirked at the thought. "Run," he snarled at him.

...

The good news was that Theo had stopped Liam before he murdered Nolan. The bad news was that Liam's roar had alerted every single hunter in the zoo to their location. Winding pathways or not, they'd find them soon enough.

Theo shook him. "C'mon, Liam," he said. "Really need you to wake up now. I'm in no mood to carry your ass back to my truck."

Liam blinked, slowly coming to, but apparently the rage wasn't gone because his eyes glowed yellow, and he roared again before Theo managed to find the rock and knock him back out.

Theo swore under his breath and hauled the boy over his shoulder. He scrambled away from the lower level and into an alcove he'd spotted earlier that was almost pitch black even in the height of the afternoon and nearly impossible to spot without already knowing it was there. He set Liam down just before hunters swarmed into the main enclosure.

Theo had never been more thankful that hunters couldn't track their scents. He held his breath as their heart beats drew closer. When he thought they might be in the clear, Liam stirred, and Theo clapped his hands over his mouth and nose until he lost consciousness. He couldn't risk Liam giving away their position.