✓ | battle wounds, scott m.

chapter seventy eight.

"I know what happened to Donovan," Theo said, "I know everything." Stiles looked at Ella who simply grabbed Theo by the collar and pushed him to the fence, "You don't know anything." Theo looked down at where Ella's hand gripped his shirt and Ella let him go slowly. "I was there," he hissed, "I was at the library. Malia found the book. She was texting us to see where you were. She said she left you two at the library. I told her I was close. When I got there, I heard the scaffolding come down." "You saw him?" Stiles asked. "Just the body," Theo responded, "I watched you guys come out. I was gonna say something, but then I saw the cop car. And the body was gone. I don't know who took him. I only saw what you saw, and I didn't say anything because neither of you didn't."

Sirens went off in the distance, causing Ella to sigh. "That's not an ambulance, is it?" Theo asked, mainly looking at Ella. Ella shook her head and both she and Stiles walked to the dead chimera's body. "We should get out of here," Theo said, causing Ella and Stiles to look at him with disbelief. "We can't just leave him," Stiles shook his head. "Fine. All right, let's take him. Someone's stealing the bodies anyway, right? Here's our chance to find out who. Stiles, Ella, come on. We gotta do something," Theo said. Ella looked down at the corpse, "You killed him." "In self-defense," Theo said, "He was going to kill you. . and me and Stiles.  If we stay, we're either going to have to tell the truth or we're going to need a pretty convincing story. It's your choice. I'm not going to ask you to lie to your dad."

Ella and Stiles sighed. "Don't worry," Stiles started. Ella bit her lip, "We've had plenty of practice."

▽

"Hayden? It's Scott," Scott said as he knocked on Liam's bathroom door with his knuckles. Ella didn't even bother to ask why Hayden was at Liam's home. She felt the protective mother side of her come alive when she heard that a girl was at Liam's place. So now she sat on Liam's bed, watching the scene take place in front of her. Scott turned around to face the other three in the room, "I can hear her heart beating, she's really freaked out. What happened?" "I– she was okay when we got here. Then I went to text you for two seconds and then she went and locked herself in," Liam shrugged. Ella couldn't help but wonder what they were doing before they got here.

"Why?" Stiles asked. "I don't know," Liam answered. "She's definitely a chimera?" Ella asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Liam nodded, "She said she heard a voice saying "your condition improves"." "Okay, that's unsettling," Stiles asked as he stepped towards the door, knocking on it, "Hayden? This is Stiles. Your sister works with mine and Ella's dad down at the station. Look, just open the door, okay? You can trust us." Stiles shrugged and backed away from the door when she didn't answer. Ella rolled her eyes and decided to give something a try. She got up from the bed and walked over to the door, "We just need to tell you the truth, Hayden. And that kind of thing is usually better face to face. Listen, you're either gonna unlock the door, or I'm going to break it down." No answer. "It's okay if you don't want to talk or if you're not ready to believe us, but they just wanna know if you're okay in there." When she didn't get an answer again, she raised her brows and stepped back. As she was about to push herself against the door, the door clicked and opened a crack.

Scott stepped in front of Ella, pushing the door open wider with one hand and pushing the rest of them back with the other. A wolfed out Hayden came into sight: her eyes glowing yellow, canines pointed in her mouth, and claws where her normal nails used to be. "I believe you."

▽

Ella looked over at where Liam and Hayden stood. Hayden was looking in the mirror whilst she and Liam talked about something that Ella couldn't hear. They shared a couple of laughs and Ella smiled softly, puppy Love was the most beautiful kind of love. Ella then looked over at Scott who was already looking at her, gesturing for her to stand with him. Ella made her way towards him, immediately being engulfed into a hug. It was warm and it seemed to make Ella's mind go blank. Scott was a really good hugger. "Is she going to be okay?" Ella asked into Scott's shoulder. Scott didn't answer, but he pulled her closer and hugged her tighter. It was comforting and seemed to ease out Ella's worries. They pulled away and Scott placed a comforting kiss on Ella's forehead.

Ella smiled then walked over to where Hayden and Liam stood, the laughter had  died down and they had began a serious conversation. The two smiled at Ella. "Don't worry. You'll learn to control it." Hayden examined herself. She didn't feel nor did she look any different. "I'm not like you. I wasn't bitten by a wolf. I was somebody's science experiment," Hayden spoke, looking back at the two through the mirror. Ella smiled weakly, "I wasn't bitten by a werewolf. I was more like chosen. Besides the point, sorry, but we'll get through this together." Ella played with her princess ring, twirling it around her fingers softly. "This is so bizarre," Hayden shook her head, "What am I?" Liam spoke this time, "You're Hayden." Hayden smiled at Liam and Liam nodded in return, the three of them walking towards Scott and Lydia. Scott kept his eyes on Ella, smiling softly as he thought about their future together.

Ella scrolled through her Instagram feed. She liked some pictures and saved others. Ten hearts popped up from the bottom of her screen, signaling she had gotten ten likes on her recent photo. The photo was a picture of herself and Scott kissing in front of a multi-colored sunset with the caption: I'm gonna marry you someday and that's a promise. The caption was cheesy, but so what. Ella fell her head on Scott's shoulder, closing her eyes softly once she had set her phone in the pocket of her hoodie. On the other side of the room, Hayden's head was on Liam's left shoulder. "They're cute together," Ella whispered. Scott smiled, "Not as cute as us." Ella looked up at Scott and he placed a soft kiss on her lips.

▽

Ella was half asleep when she heard the rattling of chains. She lifted her head up as hers, Scott's, and Lydia's heads snapped towards the location of the sound. Liam was pulling them out of a black duffle bag, holding them up for the rest of them to see. "What are you gonna do with these?" Liam asked. "Brought them," Scott answered, "Just in case." "In case of what?" Liam demanded. "In case we had a chance to catch one of them," Lydia said. Scott stood up, bringing Ella with him, "If we can't make the school a fortress than maybe we can make it a trap." "They're coming for her. Does that mean she's the bait?" Liam asked. "Liam, we brought her here to protect her," Lydia reasoned. "And now she's bait," Liam growled. "Am I?" Hayden asked. Ella frowned, they hadn't told her this part.

"No," Scott answered, "No one's bait. But we can't be guards to everyone every night." "Then why aren't we talking to Stiles and Ella's Dad? Why aren't we doing something better than hiding in a school?" Liam demanded. "Because we still don't know anything about them or what they want," Scott explained, "Kay? They're winning and we don't even know what the game is." "What if they come in here and those things don't work?" Liam asked, "What if you have an asthma attack, what are you gonna do?" By now Liam was practically shouting at Scott and Ella didn't like it one bit. Ella wasn't going to let Liam yell at Scott like that.  "I don't know," Scott said.

"Your plan sucks!" Liam shouted. Ella furrowed her brows and stood and walked to stand in front of Scott, "Do you have a better one?" Liam's facial structures relaxed, but he didn't stand down. "Kids are dying and we're next! So somebody has to do something, somebody has to save everyone, somebody's gotta be the bait!" Ella shouted at Liam. Everyone stared at the brunette in shock She had never raised her voice at anyone. They didn't think she'd start with Liam. Scott stepped forward and placed his hands on Ella's shoulders. Ella pulled away from his grasp and walking to Liam, sighing, "I'm sorry for yelling, but Liam, you have to understand where we're coming from." Liam looked at Ella in the eyes, her blue orbs making him relax as he nodded and went to Scott, "Scott, promise me you'll do everything you can to save her." When Scott didn't answer, Liam tried again, "Scott. Promise?"

"I'll do everything I can," he nodded, "I promise." Ella sighed and went to stand beside Scott. "Guys," Ella heard Hayden's voice call. "I think I might need a little help right now. I forgot my pills. I have a bottle in my locker, I can get them, but I–" Ella cut her off, "I'll get them." He nodded at Liam then faced Hayden, "What's your combination?"