"Do you think I should backhand Garrett or pistol-whip him if I see him?"

Scott sighs at my question as he places books into his locker. I was leaning on the wall next to him, waiting for his answer as if he would actually choose one of the options, even though we both knew he wouldn't. It was still fun to give him some gray hairs.

Everyone was out of school today, Malia helping Derek find Satomi's pack, Stiles and Lydia working on the last part of the Dead Pool with Parrish, and Kira making sure her mom was prepared now that her name was on the list too. This left only Scott and I in school today to deal with the outcome of Garrett and Violet being revealed as assassins.

They were mentioned in hushed tones, no one wanting to openly say their names as if it would cause the two of them to suddenly appear. Garrett still hadn't been found, and Violet was still in custody keeping her mouth shut which didn't help with any leads on the Benefactor.

"You should call the sheriff."

I make a disagreeable hum and tilt my head defiantly. "I'll do that after."

Scott closes his locker and moves to say something, definitely a lecture, but Mason's sudden appearance saves me. He walked up behind us, awkwardly kneading his hands together as he waited for our attention.

"Uh, hey guys, can I talk to you for a second?"

"You okay, Mason?" Scott let his hand hover over the younger boy's shoulder, waiting to give him comfort if necessary.

Mason shook his head, glancing to his feet. "Have you guys seen Liam? We went for a run this morning but I haven't seen him since and he's not answering any of my calls or texts."

I stepped away from the wall to stand in front of Mason now too, alert at the mention of Liam being missing, especially with a certain blond assassin still on the loose.

"I haven't seen him since last night," I replied, recalling dropping Liam off at his house.

"Same." Scott agreed.

Those clearly weren't the answers Mason was hoping for and he deflated, face conveying how anxious he was. Scott squeezed Mason's shoulder and offered him a supportive smile but I could see the worry in his eyes that he tried to suppress for Mason's sake.

"Why don't we go ask Coach? Liam was supposed to have his class this morning." Mason looked more hopeful after Scotts suggestion.

"Yeah, okay." He allowed Scott to pull him down the hall in the direction of Coach's office. I trailed behind them, my eyes scanning the halls as we passed other students on the off chance any of them would be Liam.

I was worried about Liam but hoped this was him ignoring Mason so he didn't have to tell him the truth about Garrett and Violet. Of course, him lying and ignoring Mason wasn't good either, but there were worse possibilities.

The office door was wide open and when we peered inside we all shared a communal judgmental look as Coach sipped at a bottle of cough syrup like it was tea. He was clammy and pale, obviously sick with some kind of virus.

"Coach," Scott knocked on the doorframe. "You seen Liam today?"

Coach didn't even flinch at our presence as he downed the liquid without hesitation. He stared at the wall in front of him blankly. 

"Sorry guys, Liam skipped my class." He sighed tiredly. "Maybe he's sick like me."

Coach turned, his glazed-over eyes landing on me. "Knight, be a gem and shut the door. These degenerates would kill to see me weak." He glares out into the hall at the steady flow of students passing by.

"Yes, sir." I gave a firm nod, taking the order seriously and pulling the privacy screen down before closing the door. 

Scott rolls his eyes at Coach and I before putting his focus on Mason. 

"Liam didn't look sick on our run." Mason muttered. His posture fell in defeat, no leads on where his best friend was. 

"Maybe he wanted some alone time? Was he in the bad mood?" Scott offered up, trying to calm Mason. The younger teen didn't agree with him though and shook his head.

"He was a little off but he was fine." Mason's frown lifted for a second when he looked at me. "He was happy you said you'd go to the movies with us."

I bit my cheek to try and hold back the smile that threatened to grow on my face. Scott gave me a curious side glance, and I made an effort not to meet his eyes. Eventually, he looked back to Mason.

"Don't worry, we'll find him. But text if you see him?"

Mason nodded and gave us a dismissive wave as he joined the crowd of students down the hall. When he was out of view Scott and I began walking in the opposite direction so we could talk more privately.

"Maybe I can swing by his house?" Scott suggested, the topic of finding Liam still at hand.

"Don't you have PSAT prep right now?" I asked.

"Stiles is coming over tonight so we can study anyway, it's not that big of a deal." Scott shrugged, trying to be nonchalant about it but I knew the test actually was a big deal for him. 

It was a huge qualifier for a lot of their scholarships and college applications. Scott had been studying for it since last semester even started.

"No, you need to go. I'll go to his house and check up on him." Scott was about to say something when his phone started vibrating loudly in his pocket.

"It's Liam."

I sighed in relief. "Tell him he's a jerk for making Mason worry."

Scott chuckled and swiped the screen, putting the phone to his ear. 

"Liam?"

I was watching Scott with a smile, waiting for him to give Liam a big speech about not making his friends worry, but it faded when Scott froze. His eyes darted around us, checking our immediate surroundings as if searching for someone.

"What is it?" I ask Scott but he doesn't answer, holding his finger to his lips and then grabbing my upper arm, tugging me with him to a secluded corner.

I was confused as to what was happening, watching Scott as he clicked his phone to put the call on speaker.

"Where is he?" Scott questioned gruffly, and my question was answered when Garrett's voice came through the line.

"Come on, like I'm gonna actually tell you that."

"I'll give you the money." Scott glanced at me nervously when offering up the money he never told me he had in the first place. I brushed it off, giving him the benefit of the doubt and caring more about Liam than cash.

"Yeah, you will," Garrett responded and I could hear the smirk in his voice that made my fists unintentionally clench. "But that's not going to get you Liam back."

Scott and I shared a tense glance before returning our attention to the phone as Garrett continued to talk. "You're gonna have to put in a little more effort than that."

"What do you want?" Scott shook his head at how playful Garrett sounded, as if he was enjoying toying with us.

I bit my tongue to prevent myself from snapping at Garrett, knowing it could lead to him hanging up the phone and our chances of getting Liam back would minimize.

"I want the money and Violet. Come to the back parking lot in five minutes or you'll never see your Beta again." Garrett ordered and then hung up, leaving us to stare at the ended call.

"This could be a trap," I say.

Scott sighs. "I have to go, Liam's my responsibility."

I felt torn between wanting to keep Scott safe and find Liam. The possibility of Garrett using this as some cheap ploy to get Scott and collect the price on his head as well as Liam's before leaving town was too much of a risk. 

On the other hand, Liam could have really been somewhere completely alone. The one thing I promised him he'd never have to be.

"I can't just sit here and do nothing." I confess, desperate to do anything but stand here. 

"I'll ask Mason what trail they ran on, you can go there and see if there are any signs of where Liam was taken. I'll work on Garrett while you try to look for Liam." Scott instructed and I nodded, feeling relieved that he gave me an actual task.

I moved to pass Scott and head to my bike, but paused before leaving his side completely. "By the way, I say Garrett definitely deserves to be pistol-whipped now."

Scott just brushes off my words as we walk in separate directions, but I knew deep down he agreed with me.

Before I drove away from the school I waited for Scott to text me, that way I would know where to go and also make sure he really didn't want my backup with Garrett. I didn't want to leave him like this, but maybe we would be able to have a better chance at finding Liam separately. I didn't have the senses of a werewolf but I did have experience tracking.

I headed towards the hiking trails near the preserve after Scott texted, my mind focused on Liam. If we lost him I knew it would break Scott. For an Alpha to lose a member of their pack was like losing a limb, and since Liam was Scott's first real Beta, it would be almost impossible to recover from.

The parking lot at the beginning of the trail was completely empty. It was the middle of the day so people must have either been at work or in school. I parked in a spot near the beginning of the path and left my helmet on my seat, hoping there wouldn't be anyone in the middle of the woods that would try to steal it.

I observed my surroundings as I started on the path, trying to keep an eye out for anything obscure. The area was quiet, the only sound coming from the wind that rustled the leaves above and filled the air with the scent of pine.

My mind started to wander to thoughts of Liam and whether or not I would be able to find him, and if I did end up finding him what state would he be in? It brought unwanted tension into my body and I couldn't shake it, especially when I spotted a puddle of blood on the path ahead.

I crouched down, taking a stick from off the ground next to my boot as I studied the splotches of blood. There was far too much of it to be some random hikers injury, and there was no trail of blood around it to show any signs of someone walking away.

I jabbed the stick into it, seeing that the blood had mostly dried towards the edge but was still wet enough for Liam to not have been taken that long ago. I tossed the stick aside as I stood up, taking note of my surroundings to see if there were any obvious markers on the trail of an abduction besides the blood.

There were some footprints around the area but they didn't leave a deep enough impression for it to be Garrett carrying Liam's body weight, and they were too clean to show he was dragged off into the tree line.

As I was scanning for any clues I caught sight of a large fallen branch discarded towards an opening of the trees that looked oddly out of place. I ventured closer, careful to not step on anything significant as I did so. My eyes widened when I noticed the tire tracks that were smeared under the branch in a haphazard attempt to hide them.

I tossed it aside, keeping a close eye on the direction of the tire imprints that ventured through the trees and down the incline I was on. This wasn't the place for a car, especially one without proper tires, the imprint showing they definitely weren't an all-terrain set.

When the ground evened out under the incline I had to sift through some of the leaves to find the tracks again, looking for where the car had pulled out rather than turned it. I heard some movement off to the side and perked up, eyes darting around me as I tried to find what had made that noise.

"Liam?" 

I knew the chances that Garrett hid him somewhere this close to where he nabbed him was unlikely, but maybe Liam had retraced his steps from wherever he was taken and was hobbling back after escaping. It was a foolish thought and I soon regretted making my location known when a faint clicking echoed through the air.

I turned rapidly now, looking around me as the smell of fresh pine faded and the wind brought that pungent scent of death to my nose that was all too familiar lately.

Sudden footsteps boomed behind me and I tucked and rolled out of the way just in time as a Berserker swung its fist to where my head was supposed to be. I felt my throat clench with fear as I shot back up, knowing I had to get the hell out of here now because not even Scott could face a Berserker alone.

The Berserker composed itself after the failed swing and started stomping in my direction, the bones that hung from its body clattering against each other. I used the trees around us to my advantage as I started to dodge the large behemoth to sprint back up the hill.

I was no match for the speed of a Berserker though, and the creature leaped forward behind me, his hand clutching onto the back of my ankle and making me fall face-first into the dirt. I tried not to panic and twisted over as it dragged my body towards it, reaching into my jacket to grab one of my daggers and swiped at its wrist to cut what used to be flesh.

It didn't hurt it, of course, but it did allow the nerves in its hand to weaken and my leg slipped from its grasp. I turned to get up but a heavy-soled boot kicked into the side of my head and sent me for a loop. I went to reach for my dagger that had slipped from my hand but was kicked again, my body rolling to the side to protect my head from another hit.

My vision split into threes and I tried to frantically make myself see straight but it was no use as I felt two large arms lift me up and hold me tight, no room for escape. I groaned and let my eyes adjust to the blurred figure that strutted closer, trying not to think about the way the blood pouring from the side of my face made my skin itch.

"What?" Kate's sarcastic voice spoke up and my vision cleared enough to finally see her face properly after all this time. "No welcome home party?"

I became nauseous not only from my head injury but having to see Kate once again. I had wondered how I would react to seeing her for the first time after her death and I felt like I was experiencing everything and nothing all at once.

"Look at my little girl all grown up." She tilted her head to the side, smiling at me while I glared at her with disgust.

I couldn't move my arms because the Berserker was hugging my upper body to its chest, so I settled for swinging my foot at her gut and kicking into it so she stumbled back.

The Berserkers hold on me tightened without Kate having to say anything, its instincts to protect her from harm were second nature. I cried out as it felt like my insides were being crushed. Kate gathered herself and straightened out, coming to stand in front of me at an appropriate distance to where I couldn't hit her again.

"You should've stayed dead." I spat at her with a strained voice.

Kate leered at me with hooded eyes, blinking to allow her normal iris to glow to its inhuman shade of jade green. For a split second, I thought about how I might not recognize her in her new form, but as she drew her fist back and collided it into the side of my head I felt right at home in the darkness she threw me in.

~

||| A/N |||

What do you guys think of Jac and Kate finally having their reunion??