From what I have heard, Devenford Prep is a Mecca of hot boys and Mason shares my interest in this as we drive there.

"There's this one guy that Liam knows," he tells me, "Brett, his name is. Absolute god."

I look through my mirror into the backseat. "Is this the boy we're going to talk to by any chance?"

Liam looks insanely uncomfortable and I have to bite my lip to stop from laughing. "Yes," he grumbles. "And can you stop discussing boys in front of me?"

I look over at Mason in shotgun. "He's jealous," I whisper just loud enough so Liam can hear.

Liam buries his face into his hands.

We arrive at the school and I follow Liam through the labyrinth of buildings through to the lacrosse field.

I am not disappointed by the sight in front of me. Mason nudges me. "That's him," he says.

Let's put it this way, Mason was not overreacting. This Brett guy was so tall that I would probably only go up to his chest and looked like he was strong enough to carry all three of us in one shot.

It didn't help that he was playing lacrosse shirtless, frolicking on the grass like a real life fairytale prince.

"So he's a werewolf, too?" Mason asks.

"Yep," Liam mumbles and folds his arms over his chest.

"This just gets better and better," Mason says.

I decide that I need to book in a sleepover ASAP with Mason so we can talk about all the hot werewolves we've just encountered.

As we get closer, I can distinguish Brett's facial features better, and that isn't a let down either. His features don't seem to fit together perfectly. He has an unusual face, but nonetheless a beautiful one.

"You never told me you actually have friends who are girls, Liam," he says monotonously. His voice seems to be stuck on a tone that sounds like he actually doesn't care about anything and is bored by the whole thing.

"Yes, well, I do, Brett," he says. "And I didn't come here for you to tease me again, Brett. We need help."

"What kind of help?" he asks in his again bored tone. Maybe it's Liam that he's bored of. Liam does seem to have a quality about him which seems to nag you-but in a good way, a friendly way.

Liam brings up a picture on his phone of Tracy. "Do you know her?"

"Cute," Brett says. "But I don't know her."

Liam sighs. "Could Satomi have turned her without you knowing?" I'm guessing that Satomi is his alpha's name.

Brett bends down to shove his lacrosse stick in his bag. "After the deadpool, Satomi isn't exactly doing much recruiting," he says.

"That's how it works?" Mason says. I can feel his nerves from here. "Alpha werewolves just go around biting people?"

"Or you could be like me and my sister. Satomi took us in after our parents died," he says.

Liam looks up from his phone. "Guys," he says. "I think I just found something."

I look over at the screen to see he's enlarged the picture to her necklace. "When I went with Stiles to follow Theo-"

"You followed Theo?" I cut in.

"Yes," he said. "Anyway, this necklace was in a hole I fell in." Brett's looking at him curiously. "We need to go back there," Liam says.

I hold up my keys. "Let's go."

Brett is riding shotgun, but is no longer shirtless. I suppose this is for the best or I probably would've distracted myself from driving and killed us all if he hadn't.

"You go to Beacon Hills, as well?" he asks.

I look over at him. "Yeah," I say.

"How do you know Liam?" he asks.

I look back at Liam and I can see he looks like he's trying to shoot lasers through the back of Brett's head.

"I'm a Siren," I say. It feels good to finally say that confidently.

"Ah," he says, but he still sounds bored. I don't think he's trying to sound so careless, but his tone of voice makes me wonder if he wants me to stop talking. "What year are you in?"

"Senior," I tell him as I turn the wheel. "You?" God, I mentally curse myself for giving such conversation ending answers.

"Same," he says. "I thought you were in Liam's year level. I don't usually go that young, but I was going to make an exception." I am a hundred and ten percent sure my cheeks are aflame with blush.

"I don't usually go this cocky, but I'm willing to make an exception." I smile, but keep my eyes on the road. My smile drops when I'm remembering where I am going. It feels wrong saying this on the way to stalk Theo.

I look in the back mirror. Liam is performing a great act of fake gagging. "I think they're too young to be hearing this," I whisper to Brett.

He chuckles. "Sorry, Liam."

Mason leans over my chair. "Get his number!" he whispers, but his whispering isn't very good. Brett looks over at Mason. "She wants your number!" Mason mouths. Brett is looking chuffed at the recent advance.

"Hey, Brett," I ask, looking sidelong at him. "Can you enter your number in my phone?"

Mason is smiling. "Yes, yes, yes," he's saying. "Aren't you proud of her, Liam? She just bagged one of the hottest guys I've ever seen!"

Liam's face is in his hands. Brett is smirking. I can't tell if he's enjoying the audience or not. I consider kicking out Liam and Mason and making them walk the rest of the way.

"Where's your phone?" Brett asks. He's smiling but looking sort of surprised as well. I doubt any girl has been as straightforward as that.

"My jacket pocket," I tell him. "I can't get it. Crappy Beacon Hills roads never go straight."

"This is horrible, guys, please stop," Liam says, anguished.

Brett's hand reaches over, but instead of going straight for the phone, he places it on my upper thigh and slides his hand up.

I swerve out of the lane and slam on the brakes suddenly. Brett pulls his hand away quickly. "Oh my god," I yell.

"Oh my god," Mason yells.

"Oh my god, what the fuck?" Liam is screaming in the backseat. "You were not just going to have sex in the front seat of a moving car. No way. I'm never going in a moving car with you two ever again. Nope. Not doing it. Control your hormones."

Brett just sits there, tipping his head back and laughing. "If I knew you were going to react that badly, I wouldn't have risked it."

"I'm driving a car, you asshole!" I yell, but I'm laughing too.

I pull my phone out of my pocket. "Here," I tell him. "We can hang out sometime without these two children in the back."

Liam is shaking his head. "We're the children here," he says. "I don't know about you, Mason, but I think we're more responsible than these two...horny teenagers here."

I can't stop laughing as Brett hands my phone back. "Calm down, Dunbar," he says to Liam

Once the hysterics die down, I start up the car again and ask Liam for the rest of the directions.

We finally arrive at our destination with no more near-crashes.

As we walk through the thick foliage, Brett asks. "Do you know where we're going?"

"Yes," Liam grunts.

"So do I," Brett says, holding up his hands. "The middle of nowhere."

I hear a groan and the ruffling of leaves. "Guys," Mason calls. "I think I found it."

"See the necklace?" I ask.

Mason turns on his phone flashlight and rummages around in the leaves for the necklace. "Nah, I don't see it."

Brett pulls Mason out. "I thought you said this was a sinkhole," Mason says. "It's just a hole."

"What's the difference?" Liam asks.

"Look at all the handprints," I say, kneeling down and running my fingers over the imprints on the side of the hole. "Look at all this dirt."

"She didn't fall in here," Brett says. "She was buried."

We all look around at each other in silence. "Intense," Mason says.

Liam jumps down into the hole. "Why isn't it here?"

"She probably came back for it," I say.

He sighs and pushes himself out of the hole. "I don't think this is the one."

"What do you mean?" Brett asks.

"It was closer to the bridge," Liam says. "Much closer. This is a different one."

"Then who crawled out of this one?" Mason asks.

No one seems to have an answer to Mason's question, so we all stand in silence as if in respect for whoever it was.

I wrap my jacket tighter around me. "It's getting late. Maybe we should go."

Brett nudges me. "Scared?"

I shake my head but inside I'm terrified and tired and want to go back to before Saturday night before all the distress and confusion.

"Whatever, I'm going to go sit in the car, stay here if you want," I say and start heading back. I don't look to see if they follow.

I wonder where Theo is. Is he with the others?

I can't see in the dark and stumble several times. I turn on my phone's flashlight and trek through the forest floor which is laced with hazardous tree trunks.

I decide to call Theo. I'm not sure what I'm going to say. I want to talk to him, but I'm not sure what about. The line rings once, twice, and eventually rings out.

"Hey, it's Theo," his automated voicemail says. "I'm busy right now, but please leave a message after the tone and I'll get back as soon as I can."

The tone sounds. I am giving an impromptu excuse for calling him and it's a horrible one. "Hey, um, it's Arden. I was wondering if you heard what Liam said at school today? Anyway, I'm currently in a dark forest alone at night and some human company is appreciated. Please call back."

That is probably the lamest message ever left in someone's voicemail. I swear under my breath. I don't even know why I want to talk to him, considering the suspicious holes associated with him.

Something rustles in the thick shadows of the trees. I speed up my walking, almost tripping multiple times. I hear footsteps behind me. A rustle to the left in the trees.

Thick arms wrap around my waist. "You're going the wrong way," Brett whispers into my ear. His lips graze over my ear.

I turn around. "I just want to get back to the car," I tell him. "Look, I'm not that good at directions, so you show me the way."

We start going left and probably walk in silence for five minutes until we finally find the car. I unlock it, the only sound in this damned forest other than leaves rustling.

Brett is already in the car as I get in, checking my phone. No calls from Theo. I wonder what he's doing.

"What are you checking for?" he asks, looking over my shoulder.

"A call. From Theo," I say. "I'm sure you've heard of him. The big bad wolf that no one trusts."

"I have," he says. He throws his head back. "Boyfriend?"

I shake my head. "No, no. Just wanting to talk."

He nods, his head still tipped back. He looks over at me. "Sounds like you need a distraction."

And then he's on top of me and we're kissing. It's a collision of lips, tongues and teeth. His hands are under my shirt and touching all over the bare skin at my hip. His lips move down my neck, and I go rigid.

This doesn't feel right. It feels like I'm doing something I'm not supposed to.

His hands are moving up the skin on my waist. It's too much. It doesn't feel right.

The door opens suddenly. "Oh my god," Liam shrieks as he pokes his head in the doorway. Brett pulls away quickly.

"Don't you knock?" I ask Liam.

"Well I'm sorry I'm not used to walking into cars and seeing two people getting it on," he says. "Can you just drop me off at Mason's?"

"Anyone else need a ride home?" I ask, looking into the backseat.

"I do," Brett says.

They tell me their addresses and I punch Mason's into my GPS.

The car cruises along freely, since there seems to be no cars on the road. I drop Liam and Mason off first before resetting my GPS to Brett's place. As I'm driving, my phone starts buzzing on my dashboard. I've learnt my lesson of keeping it in my pocket. I answer without reading the caller ID.

"Hello?" I ask.

Theo is on the other line. "Arden, where are you?"

Brett raises his eyebrows at me. "I'm driving. Why? Where are you?" I bark out.

"By any chance are you driving towards the police station?" he asks.

I swerve the car around and the tyres screech noisily against the road. "I am now," I tell him.

The car is zooming to fast for me to be focused on the phone. I run the red light. "Maybe you should slow down," Brett says quietly.

"Can you put it on speaker?" I hand him my phone.

"Uh, hi," Brett says into the phone.

"What?" Theo asks. "Who is this?"

"This is Brett," he says. It's actually paining me how awkward they sound while I'm here trying to be a kickass action-movie driver.

"Okay, can we please just get to the point," I snap. "Do you know what Tracy is?"

"A kanima," he says.

I look over at Brett and furrow my eyebrows, saying into the phone, "What the hell is a kanima?"

Theo pauses. "Don't worry about that. Just focus on getting to the station." And he hangs up.

I take a wide turn into the police station's parking lot. I get out of the car, slamming the door and look over at Brett. "I have a feeling this is a stupid idea," I tell him.

"So was going through that red light," he says. "But you still did it." And then we run.

The station is in complete chaos. Lydia is down on the floor, bleeding at a rate that hints if she doesn't get help soon, she could be in serious trouble. Kira seems to be handling the situation with Malia. Because I don't know how to fight and have no idea how I could be of any help, I go over to Lydia.

I kneel down next to her and almost faint at the sight of so much blood. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," I say, studying the wound. I am not equipped to deal with this. I let out a string of swear words. I'm probably not the most calming person to have around in a critical situation.

I take her hand and squeeze it, gripping it like a lifeline. "Please stay with me, Lydia," I say quietly. Her eyes are determined and strong-willed. I wish I was as strong as her in moments like these.

"Arden?" Kira calls. "I may need a little help." She looks over at me with a worry in her eyes.

"Lydia, are you going to be okay?" I ask. She nods and smiles through the tears. "Just...I'll be back soon, alright."

Why the hell am I doing this? I ask myself for probably the tenth time today. Something Theo didn't mention on the phone is that a kanima has a freaking lizard tail and I jump every time she swishes it.

Tracy is dodging every blow from Kira's sword and Malia stands off to the side growling menacingly and occasionally taking a swipe at Tracy with her claws. Brett is snarling at it and baring his fangs, dodging the arcs of claws that Tracy sends at him.

I take a deep breath and charge at the lizard-girl. To my surprise, I actually leave the mark of claws raking down her forearm. I look down to see my talons have shot out like an extension of my nails. She snaps her head around at me. That is not a good look. Her eyes are yellow and slitted like a reptile's. She whips her tail back around at me, but I duck just in time. She bares her teeth and growls. "Shit," I mutter under my breath. I stand with my feet apart and push my shoulders back as I go in for the kill.

I draw my arm back and leap, trying to get a height advantage. I bring my arm down across her face, but it never meets Tracy's flesh, because before it has a chance to, Tracy's claws scrape down my forearm.

A spike of pain moves up my arm, but stops abruptly. I can't feel anything. My legs fold beneath me and I plunge to the ground, my cheek striking the ground hard.

I groan. Is this normal? Am I dying?

I try to wriggle my fingers, but I can't. The world is on its side. Kira is slashing at the kanima with her sword, and with a swift slice, Tracy's tail falls to the floor with a thump. I blink hard as the tail falls a few centimetres from my face.

Tracy scurries off into another passage, and Malia goes after her, hot on her heels.

I can feel the blood from her tail dispersing so near to my face that I can smell the metallic stench of gore. Kira kneels down next to me. "Lydia needs you more," I tell her.

The warm wetness of blood seeps under my face. I can't help the tears that run silently down into the blood. I can't do this. It's too hard. I'm scared and I hate myself for it. Brett comes to check if I'm alright. I don't want him or his stupid werewolf powers. "Just go check on Lydia," I tell him, but he stays.

I hate this blood on my face. I hate that I can't move. I hate this stupid supernatural world. I hate being a Siren. I hate being the weak one. Always. Even as a supernatural Siren, I'm still the weakest of them all.

His is stroking my cheek, wiping the tears. I can't push him away since from the neck down I'm pretty much useless. He gathers me up in his arms. I don't want him here. I just want to lie here alone forever and not ever have to get up. I close my eyes.

Sometime after, seconds or minutes - I can't tell - the door bursts open and in pours Scott, Stiles, Theo and Deaton.

I silently thank them as Brett scoots back a little. Theo kneels down beside Lydia and unbuckles his belt. He pulls it around her and tightens it in what I guess is a makeshift tourniquet. Stiles blocks my way for the rest of it. When he finally goes to look for Malia, I've never seen Lydia look so vulnerable and weak.

Theo pushes himself back up and starts walking towards me. "What happened?" he demands.

"I'm fine," I say, but my voice cracks. The tears come down. "Oh my god, I can't believe I'm crying. There's nothing wrong. I'm just...I hate this."

He lightly nudges Brett out of the way. "It's okay." He slides a hand under my face, elevating it a little. "It's okay," he repeats. He turns to Brett. "How about you be of some use and carry Lydia to the car." Theo holds up his keys.

Brett looks taken aback - offended, even - of being told what to do. He looks cold and hard at Theo, but finally admits defeat and snatches the keys.

Theo's thumb strokes the side of my face in circular motions. "Does it hurt?"

"I can't feel anything," I tell him quietly. "Am I dying?"

He shakes his head. "It's just the kanima's venom."

He scoops me up into his arms. My head lays limp on his chest. He exits the station and the cold air bites at me.

"Where are your keys?" he asks.

I look at him. "Are you going to steal my car since I can't move?"

"Yes," he says seriously. I almost believe him until he says, "No, dumbass, I'm going to drive you to the hospital. I thought you were the only one who trusted me." I think he's being lighthearted about the last part, but I hear an underlying coldness to his tone.

"I do trust you," I tell him. "And my keys are in my jacket pocket."

He props me up against the car, holding my waist so I don't fall. His breath is smoky in the chill night air and I can feel his warm breath tickling my neck as he looks for the keys. He produces them and rattles them in front of my face. "Found 'em."

He leans me against him and my cheek is painfully squished against his shoulder. I feel like a rag doll. He opens the door and just drops me on the seat. Drops me. I am bleeding and paralysed and he just dumps me there, my head crashing painfully into the centre console.

"Ow! What the fuck was that for?" I would usually use offending hand gestures to demonstrate my point, but my hands are beyond useless.

He grimaces. "Sorry, sorry," he says. He pulls me up by my armpits and sits me up. He tugs on the seatbelt. It's stuck. "Okay, I'm going to need two hands for this."

And he sits on me.

Theo sits on me.

I obviously can't feel how heavy he is, but I find this so unorthodox that I can't help cringing. "You are sitting on me," I tell him stupidly.

"Right," he says. His chest is up against my chest, holding me up in the seat. "But with good reason."

"I'm the girl," I say with disgust.

He shrugs. "Excuse you, I'm breaking down gender barriers here," he says.

"You don't need to sit on me," I tell him again.

"Oh, yes I do," he says. "You were the one complaining when your head hit the centre of the car."

"But-"

"You whine too much," he tells me. He finally gets the seatbelt to pull out and clicks it in. He closes the door and crawls over to the driver's seat, elbowing me in the face in the process.

He turns on the car and starts driving out of the place. "Aren't we going to wait for the others?"

He doesn't answer. He turns on the radio to some crappy 80s track. "Brett is an asshole," he says over the guitar solo.

I frown at him. "That's a bit of a presumption, isn't it?"

"No," he says. "I know it."

I startling thought hits me. "Did you know him before?"

"No," he says.

"Then how do you know he's an asshole, Theo?" I ask him, sighing.

He glances over at me for a second and then fixes his eyes on the road. "He was in the forest with you, right?"

I look down at my limp hands. "Yes," I say quietly.

"He let a girl walk through that dark forest all alone," he yells, his voice strained.

"Relax, Theo," I tell him. "He was behind me all along. I just didn't know."

He slams on the brakes. "But when you were both alone, you didn't just walk, did you? It wasn't no nice stroll in the woods, was it? It was much more than that!"

I open my mouth to speak, but I don't know what to say. "I don't know who you think you are, Theo, but I can do whatever I want to, with whoever I want to." I'm screaming now, as well.

He stays silent after that. We drive in silence. I'm so livid at everything and everyone. I don't want this stupid supernatural life. I groan in annoyance.

"What's wrong?" Theo asks.

"Are you sure you want to know? Or will you yell at me again?" I say bitterly.

He sighs. "I won't yell," he says quietly.

"I'm angry," I say blatantly.

"At me or...?" he trails off.

"I'm annoyed at you. Not angry. Big difference." He scowls at me, but I continue. "I just wish I was more like all of you. Strong. Good under pressure. I'm probably the stupidest supernatural creature ever. Like, ever."

His mouth twitches up in the corner. "I think Brett beats you at that. Just." He pauses. "But seriously, you just need practice. You made a guy die with just your voice. That's pretty damn awesome to me."

"Yeah, I agree," I say, ignoring how cocky I sound, "but in situations like these where I need to fight, admit it, I really suck."

He presses on the brakes as we approach a red light. "I can teach you, if you want," he says shyly.

I feel a smile tug on my lips. "When are you free?"

He looks over at me, his mouth turning up at the sides. "I'll meet you at the school lacrosse field at three."

"Sure," I say and fight back a smile.

I peer out the window. "Hey, I'm pretty sure we've passed that house three times now," I questioned suspiciously. "I think we're going in circles."

He smiles sheepishly. "Would you forgive me if I say I just like talking to you?"