Up In Smoke → Liam Dunbar [1]

Chapter Sixteen

The moon was up and out, and Liam was slowly starting to feel its effects. Addy, however, was soundly asleep on his shoulder. She had drifted off an hour ago, and her head sagged against him. If he could have, he would have wrapped his arm around her shoulder, but he couldn't.

And it was a good thing he couldn't.

Liam suddenly jolted forward in his seat, knocking Addy to the floor in the process. His nails had turned to claws, and his teeth as fangs. There was a dark look in his eyes, the same she saw on his first full moon. 

"Whatever you were gonna teach me, I think you better start." Liam's breathing was heavy, and his eyes turned gold. Addy rubbed her head as she slipped in the seat between Stiles and Derek. It wasn't safe to sit next to the out of control werewolf, no matter how much she wanted to stay by his side. 

Sweat formed on his forehead as he tried to keep in control. The urge to maim and kill grew stronger as the night continued. He needed to get in control. He needed to help Scott. "Liam, you with us?" Addy spoke softly. Her voice caught his attention, and for a split second he felt sane again. 

"We have a mantra that we use. You repeat it, focus on the words. It's like meditating. You say the words until you feel control coming back to you," Derek said. His voice was calm as he did it. He had trained betas before. He could do it again. But, Liam was different, he was angrier - stronger. It was going to be harder for him to keep control.

"Okay. Okay. Okay! What are the words?" Liam's voice was tight as he fought against the restraints holding him back. If he could get through chain, he was going to break the cuffs too.

"Okay, look at the triskelion. See the symbol? I have a tattoo on my back; it's the same thing. Each spiral means something different."

"Alpha, beta, omega," Stiles figured. He had heard it before. The triskelion had several different meanings. The first one that always came to mind for Addy was past, present, future.

"It represents the idea that we can always rise and fall back to another. Betas can become alphas. Alphas can become betas."

"Can alphas become omegas?" Liam asked through panted breaths. Derek nodded.

"All you have to say is the three words. And with each one, you tell yourself you're getting calmer, more in control."

Addy looked at the poor boy. He was pale, sweating like crazy, and his breaths were so ragged she wondered if any air got to his lungs. Last month, he had lost all control and the only thing on him was blood. Her blood. Liam was going to make sure that it wasn't going to happen again. 

"Alpha, beta–"

"Slower."

"Alpha. Beta. Omega," Liam groaned. He wasn't going to be able to stay in control much longer. He felt it: the need, the wanting. "Alpha. Beta. Omega."

"Good. Say it again. Remember, every time you say the words, you're getting calmer."

"Alpha." A growl started forming with his words. It just got more prominent each time. Stiles climbed onto the seat trying to get as far away as the werewolf as possible. They were in the back of a van, so he wasn't going to have much luck. Addy kept herself between him and Liam, she could heal, he didn't. 

"Say it again," Derek urged on. It was the only method he really knew until he found himself an anchor. That's how werewolves survived, they had an anchor.

Addy sat directly in front of Liam looking into his bright golden eyes. "Come on, Li. You can do it."

"Derek, I don't think the powerful talisman of self-control is working." Even in dangerous times, Stiles' sarcasm always shone through.