EIGHT LETTERS || Liam Dunbar [2]

FOURTY SIX

Katherine spent the entire night wandering around Beacon Hills, trying to find Mason and Corey.

The rest of the pack had been looking too, and even with check-in phone calls every fifteen minutes, they weren't able to find them. The only one excused from the search party was Scott because he needed to heal. She stuck closely with Liam, and Hayden by association, under the sole reasoning that she could still only hear out of her left ear.

But when they'd all regrouped back in the McCall's kitchen that morning, Hayden excluded as she agreed to stay out and look while they made a decision, they were all empty handed. Katherine sat next to Liam on the set of stools pushed up to the kitchen island, and she kept her arm hooked tightly around his as her stomach was flooded with nervous prickles.

It was warm against her, which she was thankful for, because it was unbelievably cold outside and she couldn't feel the tips of her fingers or the end of her nose, not even her cheeks. She'd made herself a coffee the moment she got inside, and had drank that one within minutes and replaced it with another, which meant she was fidgety and unable to sit still.

After just two minutes of quiet bickering, the final decision was that they wouldn't talk about anything Mason-related until she'd drank double what she had in coffee, in water, and was able to keep both feet on the ground and make sure her eyes didn't twitch every time she tried to focus on something.

That was how she'd ended up on the kitchen stool beside him, her arms looped around his and her chin tucked shakily at his shoulder while she tried to keep herself in one spot instead of running around the city like the Flash on crack, as Stiles would've put it when they were younger. She'd also ended up stress-eating two Pop-Tarts, a lemon poppy seed muffin and an apple to keep her hands busy so her already bitten nails wouldn't end up bleeding, and she'd even taken the time to file down what was left of them and haphazardly brush through her hair out of sheer boredom while waiting for everyone else to get back.

Eventually, Liam had dragged her into the kitchen and put another cup of coffee in her hands, apparently having decided that watching her run around like a chicken with it's head cut off wasn't going to work anymore, and he was done with having to sit by and watch it, so she wound up sitting with her chin on her palm until everyone had arrived and they were ready to start.

"Our Dad's got an APB out," Stiles announced with a small huff, raking a hand through his hair.

Kira raised her brows slightly. "For a 5'8 16 year old?"

He blinked at her with a slight squint in his eyes, causing Katherine to smile weakly. His irritated face never failed to make her laugh. "I recommended nine-foot tall rampaging werewolf," he muttered.

Almost immediately, Liam's head snapped up. "It still might not be him," he mumbled weakly, but they all knew the likelihood of that being true. He glanced over at Katherine for comfort when no one said anything, and all she could manage was a twist of her mouth. "But, Hayden's at the school looking."

"I can keep checking the woods," Malia volunteered hopefully.

"My mom can check all the hospitals in the county," Scott's voice rang from behind them, and she immediately turned around to look him over for any injuries. When she saw no blood on hi shirt, she sighed in relief. "We can find him," he continued.

Liam inhaled nervously. "What happens then?"

"We figure out a way to save him," Scott promised evenly, looking him in the eye.

From the way she was sitting, she could feel Liam physically deflate in relief. He was slouching against her slightly, which made her a bit nervous, but she took every ounce of energy she had left in her after the long night she'd just had, and forced it away.