chapter fifty four
friday night frights

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A REGULAR lacrosse game. That was all Odessa Stone wanted—hoped for. She should've known better. She should've known a lacrosse game in Beacon Hills wasn't an exception for someone like the Beast to not rein terror.

Though Odessa and Stiles tried to stop Liam from provoking the Beast out in the open, the young Beta couldn't help himself. And he was currently facing the consequences of his extreme actions. While students, parents and faculty ran into the school for shelter, the Stone stumbled into another entrance of the school with Stiles and Hayden as they helped a fading and bleeding Liam into the school. It was imperative that they weren't seen by anyone because if they saw Liam in his current state, questions would arise and they didn't have time to come up with half-assed excuses.

The teens hurried through the halls of the school as the Beast's growl echoed through the air. They stopped in their tracks to evade a screaming crowd that was running around aimlessly. Soon, more people filled the halls of the school. They needed to find somewhere to take Liam, and fast.

Odessa quickly opened the door to a random classroom and held it open for Stiles and Hayden, who were holding up Liam as much as they could due to his increasing dead-weight. He was fading fast and that made it harder for them to hold him up.

"The desk," Stiles exclaimed while guiding the young Beta, blood soaking his hands, "the desk!"

Liam screamed in pain as he was let go of and left to his own devices. Stiles and Odessa swiped their arms across a teacher's desk to clear it of all its supplies. Once it was cleared, the three teens got Liam up on the desk on his back, causing him to yell again.

"Liam," Hayden called anxiously as she looked down at the boy, afraid to do anything that would result in more injury.

The Beta grunted, clenching his teeth dangerously together, "I'm okay. I'm fine."

The three teens around him ripped his jersey open and gasped at what they saw. His chest and stomach were completely clawed to shreds, covered in blood. Odessa gave her boyfriend a warning glare when he exclaimed a sound of disgust.

"What? Is it bad?"

"No."

"Very."

Hayden and Stiles glanced at each other when they heard the other's answer, not knowing how to proceed. They looked to the blonde across from them, who was already doing her part she did every time someone got hurt, calming them. Her hand was already enclosed with Liam's as white lines began to appear going out of her hand and into his.

"Okay. Okay," Hayden swallowed thickly in a panic, "what do you guys usually do when this happens?"

Odessa was about to answer but Stiles beat her to it, "oh, I usually pass out. And I think I still might do that."

Still calming Liam until he was almost asleep so he wouldn't feel as much pain, the Stone watched her boyfriend's eyes flutter dangerously, "Stiles!"

"Okay, okay," the boy snapped out of it, coming to his senses, "okay, Scott did this with pain. He could trigger it. Pain makes you human."

Hayden eyed him incredulously, "he's already in pain."

"Right, okay, but maybe adding a little more could help take away the pain," Stiles looked to his girlfriend for back up, knowing she knew what he was talking about, but even she looked hesitant.

Liam, not cooperating with Odessa's powers, sat up when the pain in his stomach flared. Hayden caught him by his back to keep him steady, whispering to herself, "take away his pain," without a second thought, she cupped Liam's cheek and pressed her lips to his. Black veins appeared on her cheeks as Liam began to settle. Once they pulled apart, the Beta laid back down on the table, breathing heavily as his wounds slowly began to heal.

"Okay, next time I'll kiss him."

Odessa scoffed, almost playfully, at her boyfriend's words, "are you kidding? Next time I'll kiss you. I'm totally using that the next time you get yourself into trouble."

The room chuckled at her declaration as the atmosphere began to lighten now that Liam was healing. Though they knew that even though the room they were in was now settled, everywhere else around them was complete and utter chaos.

Screams echoed from the hallway outside the classroom, and Odessa was getting antsy. She wanted to go out there and help. Pursing her lips, she announced, "I'm gonna go out there and see if I can find Scott or Malia."

As she started toward the door, Stiles was quick to move in front of her to stop her, "what? No, no, no. You're staying in here, where I am, where I can see you. You're—"

"Stiles, I'll be fine," he opened his mouth to object once more, but she beat him to the punch, "I'll be fine. I'm going out there. End of discussion. Stay here where it's safe," she turned back to look at Liam, "if you feel up to it, text me and I'll tell you where I end up and with who."

Getting a small nod in return, Odessa turned back to her boyfriend, tilting her head, almost challenging him to continue to stand in her way. Thankfully after a few seconds, and a long sigh, Stiles moved aside to let her through. Before the blonde was able to take more than three steps, her wrist was grabbed to pull her back, causing her to collide into Stiles as he cupped her cheeks and firmly pressed his lips to hers. Odessa didn't hesitate to kiss back with just as much pressure and before she knew it, their lips were apart once more.

Still cupping her cheeks, Stiles whispered against her lips, "be careful, please. I don't want to see a scratch on you the next time I see you."

Giving him a simple nod, still slightly winded from the unexpected kiss, Odessa pulled away from the embrace. With one last look at her boyfriend, she walked to the door and as soon as she opened it, her ears rang with the screams of terrified students from every angle.

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Searching for her friends would be harder than Odessa thought. As soon as she left the classroom, she was bombarded with students running wild through the school without a clear or final destination.

Dodging terrified students to make sure she wouldn't get trampled over, Odessa weaved her way through hallways to try and find someone she knew. Someone from the pack. Thankfully, she didn't need to look for long.

"Where's Odessa and Stiles," she hears the familiar voice belonging to Malia nearby, "look at me! Do you know who Odessa is?"

"I don't know."

Coming into the hallway where Malia's voice was, Odessa sighed in relief at seeing her friend holding a random person against the wall, "Malia!"

The Tate instantly let go of the boy, who quickly ran down the hall, at the sound of Odessa's voice. Before the girls could try and catch up with each other, banging and growling was heard by one of the exits nearby. Malia took out her phone and started calling someone as the two girls walked quickly down the hall, "where's Stiles? Is he okay?"

"He's fine. Besides almost passing out at the sight of blood, as usual. He's with Liam and Hayden in one of the classrooms," Odessa furrowed her brow during her explanation as she watched Malia put her phone to her ear, "who are you calling?"

Malia only answered the blonde's question when she started talking into the phone, watching the doors in front of her cautiously, "Braeden, it's me. I'm at the school and we need you. Bring your shotgun. Bring all your shotguns."

Badass, the Stone thought to herself as she and Malia ran through the school to try and help their classmates find somewhere to hide as a way to kill time before Braeden got there. Odessa always seemed to associate Braeden with badass. But she felt like it was quite fitting.

Soon, Malia's phone lit up with a notification from Braeden telling them she was on her way, causing the two girls to let out a collective sigh in relief. They knew with Braeden, they had a chance to do something helpful when it came to fighting off the Beast.

They still hadn't been able to locate or get in touch with Scott, which only made them think the worst. Their enemies always seemed to find their way to Scott and he usually, and unfortunately, found himself fighting them on his own. They had to find him, and fast.

Once Braeden joined them, shotguns strapped around her body, Odessa got a text from Liam telling her he was ready. She quickly sent her location and who she was with and waited for him to join them. When they were all together, the group of four had no plan on direction. They mostly listened for any commotion or, more specifically, growls sounding around the school. After almost 10 minutes of going around the school, they finally caught a break.

They heard growling coming from the library. It was always the library.

Now sprinting toward the library, Liam was the first to enter, not taking a second to hesitate on attacking the Beast for the second time that night. The Beta jumped into the air and slammed his enclosed fists against the Beast's face, causing it to roar. Once the Beta and Alpha were out of the way, Braeden took her chance to start shooting as she and the two teen girls walked into the library.

With every shot, the three walked closer and closer to the Beast, who seemed to not be affected by the gunshots at first. However, with every bullet hitting its fur, the Beast grew weaker on its feet, until finally, it couldn't take any more hits. The Beast jumped through the glass window of the library and escaped into the night.

Now with the threat gone, Odessa and Malia ran toward Scott, who was having a hard time getting up from the ground. His face was covered in blood and there were multiple bruises littering his body. The two girls helped him walk until he was able to do it on his own as the group met in a huddle in front of the broken window.

"You didn't seriously think you were gonna have a chance against that thing, did you," Braeden hissed at Scott, shock still present on her features at her first sighting of the Beast.

The McCall panted, still catching his breath from the fight he had just gone through, "no. But I got its scent."

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Upon making sure Scott was okay, and making sure Liam was okay to be somewhat in charge of his Alpha until he was one hundred percent, Odessa took her chance to go home, not surprised to see her boyfriend's Jeep already parked in the driveway. She knew more of the pack would be coming over soon to regroup, so she made sure to tell herself to take advantage of the empty house while it lasted, no matter what that meant to entail.

Odessa instantly felt a smile tug on her lips at the sight of Stiles sitting on the edge of her bed. His elbows rested on his knees as one of them bounced up and down anxiously—no doubt waiting in anticipation for her return to him.

The Stone didn't announce her entrance, only coming over to him to stand in between his legs, simultaneously taking him by a delighted surprise at the sight of her, and hugged him to her stomach. She smiled lightly when she heard and felt him sigh heavily into her t-shirt.

"Are you okay," was the first thing Stiles asked as he picked his head up from her stomach. He looked up to her as though he was about to hang on to her every word.

It was Odessa's turn to sigh, her happiness of seeing him faltering a bit at the question, "yeah, of course I am," she bit her lip in hesitation at what she wanted to ask him in return, "did you think I wouldn't be?"

Stiles' hands that were rubbing up and down her thighs softly ceased in surprise of her question. He furrowed his brow, "what? Of course I did. Where did that come from?"

"I just," the blonde ran a slightly frustrated hand through her blonde locks, telling herself not to leave their embrace. She made a mental note to herself that she needed to wash her hair soon, "I don't need you to worry about me every time I leave your side. I'm a werewolf, lovie. You don't need to worry about me not coming home to you because I will. Every single time."

Stiles stood up abruptly, causing her to stumble back, "but you almost didn't, Odie. You were gone for 5 days. I didn't know where the hell you were and it was torture to not know if you were ever coming back to me. So, I'm gonna worry. I'm a worrier, Odessa, that's what I do. Especially for the people I... care about."

I love you. I love you. I love you.

That was all Odessa wanted to say.

That was all Stiles wanted to say.

But of course, neither of them did.

Odessa exhaled sharply, almost too nervous to keep eye contact with him. Swallowing thickly, she reached to cup his cheek, caressing his skin with her thumb, "I'm sorry. I can't even imagine how hard it was for you. But you have to remember that even though I was gone for those 5 days, I came back. I escaped and now I'm fine. Baby, you have to trust me enough to let me help when I know I can. Because nothing is going to stop me from helping my friends. Nothing is going to stop me from helping you."

"I trust you," Stiles almost whispered after a moment of silence between them, "I..."

"I know."

The couple stared at each other until they found themselves leaning into each other naturally. Odessa cupped both of his cheeks as his arms wrapped her waist as their lips pressed firmly together. The blonde felt Stiles guide her to her bed, setting her down on her back, their lips never parting. As soon as Stiles was comfortable with being in between her legs, Odessa took him by surprise when she pulled away from his lips, breathing heavily against his skin to catch her breath.

She was ready. She knew she was. There were no I think so's or maybe's. She was ready for him.

"Stiles, I'm—"

"Stiles? Odessa?"

The couple froze in their position at the sound of the front door opening and Scott calling their names from downstairs. Little by little, the hot atmosphere around them faded and they knew their moment was ruined. Sighing heavily in annoyance, Stiles carefully got up from on top of her and helped her sit up, fixing her unruly hair for her, making her chuckle.

Though Odessa was thoroughly bummed and bitter at them being interrupted, she was confident that in time—at the right time, she would tell her boyfriend she was ready to have sex with him.

Let's hope she was actually, truly, ready.

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comment & votes babes <3
this chapter is dedicated to my favorite person on this app who deserves the whole world, heywqrds . my girl is going through an extremely tough time right now and if you guys could show her your love and support, i would so appreciate it. soph, i love love love you so much, pls remember you are not alone and we are all here for you <3