Inked Emissary

Chapter 9: Beacon Hills

  Blood dripped from Scott's extended claws as he raced through the woods, Derek and Liam at his side. The gashes in his side were already starting to heal but his shirt was ripped and bloody, he was feeling slightly weak at the amount of blood he had lost and he could see the other two in similar states. In all the three of them weren't doing well.

  There were four rough, Alpha-less betas. They weren't quite omegas because of their grouping but they were as vicious as them.

  Scott was at a loss as to where they had come from, why they were here and why they seemed to be hellbent on taking them out. They had simply been going into the woods to scout the area, something they did regularly in the light of all the new creatures. They were walking along and talking quietly when they had been attacked, now they were running.

   They reached a clearing and Scott decided they had done enough running. He stopped and turned, his betas doing the same. For a moment the three stood, faces distorted by their wolf, tense ready for the oncoming fight.

  The moon was hidden behind clouds and a thick fog was oozing from between the trees, dulling everything. Through the fog they could hear the wolves though. They were crashing haphazardly through the undergrowth following the sent of Scott, Liam and Derek. Scott shuddered, they were mad, their wolf had too much control and it wasn't even full moon.

  After what seemed to be an age, they arrived. The four seemed to separate from the fog, like separate pieces of it solidifying. Their blue eyes glowed though the murk and their growls mixed with those coming from the True Alpha and his betas.

  The rouge betas only stood there for a minute before leaping at their quarry. The biggest went straight for Scott, teeth bared and full of confidence from their successful surprise attack. What he seemed to forget was that they were prepared now, they had no chance. He was a True Alpha, Liam was the strongest beta that he had ever encountered and Derek had a lifetime of experience.

  The werewolf leapt at his throat regardless but Scott jumped forward too. He wouldn't kill the beta, his only disadvantage, but he wouldn't stop at hurting him to protect his Pack. So Scott raked his claws across the other's chest, the beta giving out a pained howl but his rage just increased.

  Another beta joined the attack on Scott at that point and he was vaguely aware of the other two on Liam and Derek. Liam's one was already down and the youngest wolf was already  getting into the formation they had planned. His back was pressed against Scott's a moment later as one of the betas attacking him turned on Liam.

  Scott lunged again and used all of his supernatural strength to land his fist in the side of a beta's head. The wolf crumpled, his face slowly starting to shift back to human. It was at that moment that he heard Derek's pained howl and he spun to see Derek's beta with his teeth sunk into Derek's shoulder.

  Scott raced over to the Hale and grabbed the beta's face. The wolf unlatched his teeth and shook his head from Scott's grasp. While he was distracted however, Derek thrust his palm into the wolf's temple and he crumpled just like his comrade. 

  When Derek and Scott turned to Liam they saw the last beta at his feet. As Scott had said before; he was the strongest beta he had ever come across.

***

  The betas were secured in the basement with the other creatures. Scott hated doing this but he would not kill them and he couldn't let them roam free. The chains were lined with wolfsbane so the wolves and wendigos and kanimas couldn't escape and they were fed and given water regularly but still...

"You shouldn't worry so much Scott," came Malia's voice, she was the werecoyote in the Pack, a strange girl who didn't quite understand people and preferred to just observe and only get involved when she felt the need to.

" You can't let them go and for some reason you can't kill them, this is the other option," she said.

"You really don't have any problems with killing do you Malia?" Kira commented. The coyote growled at her but didn't move, Scott was grateful that his girlfriend's pointless, and thoughtless, comment hadn't started a fight. He was just too tiered.

"If Stiles was here he'd know what to do," Scott muttered but every one heard him.

  He was so worried about his friend, only the Sheriff seemed to know where he was and he wasn't saying anything. Stiles' dad hadn't even given a reason for the sudden departure, although Scott had a good guess.

"I just hope he is okay where ever he is," Lydia said. She was glad at that moment that Isaac had left with Chris to go to France, he would have just snapped and said all sorts of things about Stiles that would definitely caused a big fight within the Pack.

***

  Malia left the basement long before anyone else. She didn't know what to do, Stiles was still in college, from what he had told her he had made friends and had a really good set up. Besides, he was still learning how to control his magic, she couldn't tell him.

  She was full of guilt, she felt as if she was being torn in two. She wasn't helping the Pack by keeping Stiles away but Stiles would have wanted to help, especially now that he wasn't just some weak human. The guilt was just amplified when she saw the Sheriff. She found that she couldn't talk to him or be around him, although he had tried to talk to her in the beginning as the only other person who knew where Stiles was. He had given up pretty soon when she had made it too obvious that she was avoiding him.

  All of this crossed her mind as she walled up the dimly lit steps to the ground floor of Derek's building. By the time she reached the light she knew that once again she would not tell Stiles about any of this.