chapter fifty five
waiting, waiting, waiting

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LIFE IS always made up of plot twists. Things you could have never seen coming. Plot twists could come in all shapes and sizes. In any form, really. The plot twist the McCall pack was currently facing? It was one of their own they had been trying to fight and beat.

Mason was the Beast.

After being, rudely, interrupted by Scott, Odessa and Stiles went downstairs to be informed on what the Alpha found out. And it wasn't anything good. Scott told them that the scent he caught from fighting the Beast led to Mason's car where he also found the bloody shoes they had been looking for all night.

One by one, the McCall pack was coming through the front door of the McCall residence. Kira came by to take care of Scott, who was still very weak from his fight with the Beast, or Mason at that point, and he would take at least the rest of the night to heal. Which gave everyone else time to regroup and plan their next moves regarding Mason and another problem on their hands.

Malia's mother, the Desert Wolf, had been terrorizing her daughter for a while and Odessa was a bit angry to hear Malia kept it to herself. The blonde remembered when she told Malia that she would help with anything to do with her mother and was sad that Malia didn't come to her. But now Odessa, and Stiles, were involved in a different way than they would have thought or hoped.

It seemed Odessa and Stiles caught the attention of the Desert Wolf during the lacrosse game earlier that night. Malia's mother was using her daughter's weakness to try and get to her. Malia's weakness just so happened to be Odessa and Stiles—just their luck.

Though Odessa couldn't help but feel touched to know she meant that much to Malia. The Stone knew Malia meant the same to her. Odessa also felt quite guilty about not knowing her friend had been going through something like that but knew there was no use in dwelling on it. Everyone in the pack had been going through a lot the last few weeks and checking in on each other unfortunately slipped through the cracks.

After getting told first about the threat to her and her boyfriend first, Odessa went upstairs with Malia and Braeden to fill Stiles in. The blonde leaned her back against the wall with her arms crossed as she watched Stiles close Scott's door to give his best friend and Kira privacy.

The Stilinski stopped short after seeing the three, more so his girlfriend, give him wary looks as he walked toward them, "what? What? What did I do?"

Braeden nodded toward Malia simply, "tell him."

The Tate sighed, glancing at her blonde friend, who gave her friend a small reassuring nod, encouraging her to explain, "you know how my mother wants to kill me? I think she might want to kill you and Odie, too."

"Okay, huh, that's disconcerting," Stiles narrowed his eyes at the information, not expecting that in the slightest. He then looked at his girlfriend, who was silently watching him, "you knew about this?"

"She just told me downstairs."

The boy slowly nodded before seemingly making up his mind on a solution, "I should probably have a gun."

Odessa couldn't help but snort at the idea, simply because there was no possible way she would ever allow her clumsy boyfriend to have a gun without some sort of training. And it seemed Braeden had the same idea.

"I'm not giving you a gun," the woman shook her head as if her answer would be obvious.

"You have a gun," Stiles tried to reason, "the Desert Wolf who is trying to kill me and my girlfriend, has a gun. I think I should probably have a gun."

Though Malia was already nodding in approval of his request, the only person Braeden looked to on the matter was the girlfriend herself. Odessa raised her brow, hiding a subtle smirk. If he wanted to hold a gun, she wasn't going to stop him. Mostly because it would prove her point she held in her head.

After the look of approval, Braeden took her gun out of the holster on waist. Before handing it to Stiles, she took something out of the handle of it that Odessa had no idea what it was, but she guessed it was a precaution. Without warning, Braeden tossed the gun to Stiles who tried to catch it firmly but failed miserably. Within a second of it being in his hands, it dropped to the floor with a thud.

"I probably shouldn't have a gun."

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Night turned into day with a snap of a finger, it seemed. Odessa and Stiles got as much sleep as they could and it always helped when they slept together. Their positions varied depending on their mood but they always switched their positions depending on who needs what in that scenario. That night, for example, it was Odessa who asked to be the little spoon because she was colder than usual.

The Stone was always cold, no matter what. Her hands were always cold, her feet, shoulders, her lips. And it used to catch Stiles off guard in the early stages of their relationship, but he grew used to it as time went by. So when Odessa expressed her want to be the little spoon, Stiles did nothing but comply, not fazed a bit when her cold hands intertwined with his once his arm wrapped around her middle.

Before the two knew it, they were up and meeting the rest of the pack downstairs. It was nice to have everyone from the pack together. Every time there was a meeting, there always seemed to be at least one person missing from it. Now everyone was there with Scott still resting upstairs. But they were still all together.

"My Dad's got an APB out..."

Kira raised a brow, "for a 5'8" 16-year-old?"

"I recommended nine-foot tall rampaging werewolf," Stiles shrugged, hearing his girlfriend muffle the smallest of chuckles.

The Stone patted his shoulder, "I'm sure he loved seeing that report go through this morning."

Despite the mood lifting for a moment at the blonde's joke, Liam's shoulders slumped, "it still might not be him," seeing the doubtful looks casted his way, he bowed his head, "but, Hayden's at the school looking."

"I can keep checking the woods," Malia offered, earning nods from around the room.

"My mom can check all the hospitals in the county," Scott's voice rang out as he walked in for the dining room, causing everyone to stand up straighter. He seemed to be back to 100 percent, something everyone was relieved to see, "we can find him."

Liam looked to his Alpha for answers, "what happens then?"

"We figure out a way to save him."

Classic Scott, Odessa thought to herself as she nodded, "okay. Where else could we look?"

The McCall tilted his head, "let's ask Corey," though his suggestion confused everyone, it didn't last long when they watched Scott reach behind him in the thin air before forcing Corey to show himself, who was using his abilities to stay hidden.

"Wait. Wait," Corey stammered as his shirt was being held by Scott threateningly, "it's not my fault. They took him and I couldn't do anything. They took him..."

"Who?"

"The Dread Doctors."

Instantly, Odessa tensed, breathing out, "of course."

Just when her mind was finally starting to push the Dread Doctors from her priority, they wiggle their way back in. Great.

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When Scott came to Odessa with his idea to involve Theo in the plan to save Mason, she didn't know how to feel. Of course, she said it was fine and she was even confused as to why he came to her as if to ask permission to. This wasn't about her and no matter how much she absolutely hated Theo and the idea of involving him in pack business, she wasn't going to be selfish in saying no. This was about saving Mason and they needed all the help they could get. Odessa wasn't going to stand in the way of that.

Odessa and Stiles found themselves confined to the safe walls of the Sheriff's Station instead of going to school. They thought it was a good idea to be surrounded by the Sheriff himself, Deputies and a lot of weapons knowing they were still being hunted by the Desert Wolf. They were also accompanied by Lydia, who also skipped school to check out the Nemeton with Parrish.

"Still nothing from Scott or Liam," Stiles informed his Dad, girlfriend and Lydia as he walked back into the former's office, shutting the door behind him.

Lydia sighed, "are we really sure this is a good idea?"

"Uh, no," the younger Stilinski pursed his lips as he answered instantly, "no one thinks this is a good idea."

"But you're trusting Theo, anyway," Sheriff raised a brow, subtly looking over to his son's girlfriend. He knew all about what Theo did to Odessa, and topping that with what the boy did to him, the man wouldn't blame her if she didn't want to involve Theo at all.

Stiles was quick to correct his Dad, mostly for Odessa's sake, "we're not trusting him. We're using him."

"What if he's using us?"

Odessa broke her silence with an unamused chuckle, hating how Theo was the topic of conversation, "oh, he definitely is."

"Look, we're just trying to cover every place Mason could show up," Stiles explained his, and Scott's reasoning for Theo's inclusion, "Malia and Braeden are at Scott's house. Melissa's got the hospital. Hayden and Corey are at the school."

Stilinski shook his head, "somebody's got to find him."

"Let's hope they find Mason, and not the Beast."

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Who knew doing absolutely nothing could make the time pass so easily? Throughout the day, calls were made to numerous people from different locations who were looking out for any sign of Mason and no one had anything to report.

Odessa didn't know why, but she couldn't help but think of her own capture when working through trying to find Mason. He was taken by the Dread Doctors and was probably taken somewhere to be held just like she was. Did they take him to where she was? The blonde didn't even remember where she was held. She had no memory of her route from where she was held to the Animal Clinic. Hell, she couldn't even remember how she escaped in the first place. It was mostly all a blur.

As the hours flew by and the Sun started to set, the couch in the Sheriff's private office looked more and more comfortable. As the Sheriff, some Deputies and Lydia were preoccupied with different tasks, Odessa and Stiles took advantage of the darkening office and quiet atmosphere to take what they liked to call: a necessary nap.

There are many kinds of naps in the world. Power naps, a snooze session, and of course, a full-on nap. But the couple named their own nap session that gave them an excuse every time. A necessary nap. Because sleep was necessary and needed. That was their excuse if they ever got scolded for sleeping at a time when they shouldn't be. Like at the Sheriff Station while trying to find Mason and keep safe from the Desert Wolf.

But, of course, sleep was necessary.

So when Odessa fell asleep, quite literally, on top of her boyfriend, she knew it was necessary and very much needed. But it didn't last as long as she hoped.

She was woken up by her boyfriend almost jumping awake from beneath, "what? What happened? Who's dead?"

Lydia pursed her lips, almost not surprised to find her friends in the position they were in, "no one. Well, at least not yet."

The couple sat up to let Lydia join them on the couch. Sitting up fully, Odessa let herself stretch obnoxiously before leaning on Stiles' side, her head on his shoulder as she watched him go through his phone aimlessly. After seeing the lack of notifications, Stiles and Lydia sighed simultaneously before putting away their phones.

Even with her head on his shoulder, Odessa could still almost feel Stiles' wheels turning in his head with just watching him fidget in his seat, "are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm still thinking," Stiles answered her, not surprised at how she could observe and know him so well, "still trying to figure out why Mason? I mean, he wasn't even on the Genetic Chimera list."

"He is now," the three teens watched Melissa walk in the office in surprise, not expecting her to show up since they didn't get any texts from her telling them she was on her way. Melissa placed a file on the Sheriff's desk as she explained, "Mason was born with twin embolization syndrome."

Lydia raised her brow as she and the couple walked up to the desk to look at the file, "you mean fetal resorption?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"He had a vanishing twin in utero?"

"Which accounts for two sets of DNA."

Odessa, tired of the back and forth that she didn't understand, raised her hand, "hello, not so smart people here."

"Can someone please say it with words that have less than three syllables," Stiles motioned to her and added incredulously.

Melissa blinked, putting it simply, "he ate his twin."

The couple then recoiled, letting out their usual, "oh, God," and "lovely," at the information they both wanted. Now they wished they hadn't asked at all.

"But did it help," Lydia asked, refraining an eye roll at her two friends.

"I don't know," Melissa almost stammered, shifting in her stance, "but it's just bizarre enough to sound like it might be important, right?"

The Martin nodded determinedly, "it has to help. There has to be something," this was the first big lead they had gotten all day. They needed something to work with.

As Melissa folded up a piece of paper in the file, it revealed a picture. The three teens looked closely and widened their eyes at the image before them. The picture was a sonogram that pictured not only Mason in the womb, but a small fetus along with him.

Odessa could only guess that was before Mason ate them in the womb. Again, lovely. The blonde exchanged a knowing look with her boyfriend, knowing where they have to go with that file.

Without a second to waste, Odessa and Stiles were on their way to the Animal Clinic to talk to Deaton with Lydia staying behind at the station in case she heard anything from anyone.

If only Odessa knew what was going to happen at the station while she was at the clinic. If she did know, she wouldn't have left. And most of all, she wouldn't have let Lydia get hurt.

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i love writing cliffhangers <3 the next chapter will be posted within the hour so keep a look out for it! hope you guys enjoyed.. comment & vote babes!!