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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑

𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘢

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To say Meilani had fucked up would be a major understatement. She had done the one thing that she never wanted to do. Isaac tried to make her feel better as they rushed a passed out Liam to the McCall residence and say she did it to save Liam from falling to his death. As if the bite wasn't sealing Liam's faith on its own. Now Meilani had a beta that she had to look over and protect like he was her own child. Another person that Meilani had to try and save on a daily basis.

Not that Meilani had anything against Liam because she didn't. She just couldn't stop mentally kicking herself for throwing Liam to the wolves ( pun intended ) like this. A life that no one should get thrown into unless they actually wanted it and asked Meilani to do it. Liam didn't ask for this and Meilani sure as hell didn't ask for it with everything else going on with the Berserkers. 

While Meilani handled the passed out Liam upstairs, Meilani had Isaac and Scott wait downstairs and make sure Melissa nor Rafe came in the house. Meilani could maybe explain it to Melissa but there was no way she could explain this to Rafe. He still didn't know about the supernatural and Meilani was trying really hard to not have him find out. She wasn't ready to have that conversation with him just yet even though Meilani knew it was always easier when they knew. 

The sound of Roscoe's tires on the gravel of the driveway outside alerted Meilani to Stiles' arrival. She had called him on the way back to the house to inform of what she could so far about Liam and had him call Noah before he came to the McCall residence. She desperately needed her boyfriend's brain right now because she really didn't know what to do about Liam. Did she just rip the band-aid off and tell Liam he was about to be a monster that he had to learn to control? Or did she slowly ease into it all?

"I told my dad everything I could," Stiles informed Meilani a few minutes later when Meilani lead the boys back through the house to show them where she kept Liam for the time being.

"But you didn't tell him about Liam?" Meilani questioned, stopping near the bottom of the steps.

"Babe, you barely told me about Liam."

Isaac rose his eyebrows and crossed his arms, his eyes drifting up the stairs where Meilani had rushed up when they first arrived. "What is he doing up there anyway?"

Meilani awkwardly cleared her throat and turned away from the boys, too embarrassed to verbally tell them what she'd actually done with the freshman. "You know, just . . . lying down."

The boys weren't given a chance to respond as Meilani started up the steps with the trio following behind her in confusion. She lead the boys towards her room and into her ensuite bathroom and she pulled back the shower curtain to reveal a now awake Liam who had been tied up black tape. He had jumped slightly at the sudden movement of the curtain and he looked up at the four with wide blue eyes. He tried to voice something to the group but it was a muffled by the tape around his mouth.

"You never tie me up like that, babe," Stiles feigned a pout and quickly scrambled away from Meilani when she flashed her red alpha eyes at him. He mumbled a sorry, I was joking to her and slowly closed the shower curtain, stepping back into Meilani's room wearing the same calculating look that Isaac and Scott as Stiles and Scott dropped onto Meilani's bed. 

"I just have to ask, where the hell did you get all that tape?" Isaac asked, turning to Meilani who flinched slightly.

"Deaton left it here after Stiles was possessed by Void. I just didn't have any rope so I used what I had," Meilani sheepishly explained, gesturing to the bathroom where Liam was. "I didn't know what else to do."

"And you just had the tape lying around in your room? For what?"

Meilani rocked back on her heels while Stiles merely smirked to himself, scratching the back of her neck. "For the Jeep. You know how Stiles is always breaking down."

"But how would you use the tape if it's not in Roscoe?" Scott piped in with raised eyebrows, an amused grin on his face.

"I just can't believe you tied him up. That sounds like something Scott would do in this situation," Isaac intoned, earning him a fake laugh from Scott who glared at him.

"This isn't going to end with us burying the pieces of his body out in the desert, is it?" Stiles remarked, bringing everyone's focus back to what they were really here for. His attention snapped over to the bathroom where Liam's muffled cries grew louder and he threw his head back with a groan. "As a reminder, babe, this is why I always come up with the plans. Your plans suck."

Meilani sighed and slapped her hands to her sides. "I know, okay? I know. That's why I called you so you can tell me what to do."

"God, you're lucky I love you," Stiles grumbled, pushing himself up from the bed and motioning for Meilani to bring out her desk chair to the middle of the room. He went into the bathroom to grab Liam and struggled slightly as he brought him over to the desk chair. He stepped back to stand with Meilani, Scott and Isaac who surrounded the chair. "Liam, we're going to take the tape off your mouth. If you scream, it goes right back on. If you talk quietly, it stays off. Got it?"

Liam's eyes bounced between the four older teens that stood before him and he looked like he wanted to jump at all of them. However, he did eventually nod to let Stiles know he wouldn't scream. A scream of pain erupted from his mouth when Stiles ripped the tape off his face and his chest heaved as he glared at Stiles.

"You wanna do it a little easier next time, Stiles?" Meilani quipped at her boyfriend who sheepishly smiled at her.

"Okay, Liam, now you've seen a lot of confusing things tonight. More confusing things are going to happen because of the confusing things that happened tonight. Do you understand?"

Liam stared at Stiles for a long moment as if he had sprouted an extra head from his shoulders, shaking his head. "Uh . . . not really?"

Isaac chewed on the inside of his lip as his eyes drifted from Liam and over to Meilani. "Lans, maybe you should tell him."

Meilani puffed out her cheeks and let out a long, shaky breath. How did she tell this poor kid that she had just singlehandedly made his laugh one big drama filled disaster? She'd never had to deal with her own beta before. Isaac was still technically Derek's beta since he'd been bitten by him, but the two just acted like that part never happened. Now Meilani stood face to face with her own beta ━ something that she promised both herself and the Calaveras she'd never even do ━ and she was just at a loss of every coherent thought.

"Um, okay. Liam, what happened to you, what I did to you, which I had to do in order to save you, it's going to change you."

"Unless it kills you," Stiles chimed in, earning him a swift punch to the shoulder from Scott. "Yeah, shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry."

Meilani felt her heart strings tug harshly when she heard Liam sniffle and noticed the tears glistening in his head before he ducked his head to hide from the gazes of the four older teens. She squatted down in front of Liam and squeezed his knee through the tape that covered it. "Liam, you're going to be okay. You're not going to die."

"Probably not."

"Stiles, I swear to God . . . "

"Seriously, still wonder how you're dating him, Lans."

Stiles flashed Isaac a dark look and pointed a finger at him. "Listen, pal, just because you're Meilani's best friend doesn't mean that I won't hesitate ━ "

"Boys!" Meilani snapped, her annoyance showing in her tone at the two boys behind her. "I love you both, but you sound like an old married couple. Now can you just help me untie Liam?"

The two boys knew better than to argue with Meilani, so they stepped forward to help Meilani and Scott rip the tape from around Liam as Meilani apologized to the freshman boy for restricting him like that. He had his back turned to the four for a moment and they had given Liam the minute he probably needed to try and wrap his head around everything that had happened that night. However, none of them expected Liam to grab the back of the chair and swing it around, hitting Isaac and Meilani hit the chair and blind-siding Stiles and Scott.

Meilani grunted as she pushed herself to her feet just as Liam dashed out into the hallway. She stumbled out into the hallway with the boys to see Liam had already made it to the stairs at the end of the hallway.

"Get him!" Stiles yelled and he and Isaac barreled at the freshman boy. 

Meilani rolled her eyes as she watched Isaac and Stiles tumble down the steps with Liam and exchanged a look with Scott before the two walked over to the steps. At the bottom, Stiles and Isaac were in a heap on the floor while Liam was already a step out of the door and running away from the McCall residence. Stiles and Isaac continued to grab at the other's legs thinking it was Liam as Meilani and Scott descended the steps with unamused expressions.

Stiles and Isaac had both froze when they realized they gripped onto the other's foot and they both pushed away each other's feet as they scrambled up again. Their gazes snapped over to Meilani who stood with her hands on her hips and looked between the two looking anything but happy with them.

"Hey, Stiles?"

"Yeah, babe?"

"Your plan sucked."

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The next day, Meilani and the boys had all agreed to hunt down Liam once again so Meilani could try talking to him again. She really didn't want Liam to go around not knowing the dangers that came with the bite, but also the good he could bring to it if he just stuck with her and listened to everything she said. He now had a massive target on his back to both the supernatural and the hunters, but Meilani hoped that Liam would stick around long enough to listen to her and let her teach him to control his shifts and emotions.

Meilani and all the boys had split up to find Liam that day after she had found him on campus and he had ran off in the opposite direction at the sight of her. She had checked just about every corner of the school building until she heard Stiles shout Liam's name and she burst through the double doors that lead to the back of the school where the boy's and girl's locker rooms were. Isaac and Stiles blocked Liam on one side while Scott skidded to a stop behind them.

"Liam, we need to talk," Meilani announced as she approached the four boys before her. 

"No, you need to back the hell up, okay? All of you!" Liam snapped angrily at the four that surrounded him. 

"Can you please just listen for one minute? Please?" Meilani pleaded, not wanting to take no for an answer. Liam was her responsibility now and she wasn't going to let this poor kid go through this new part of his life alone. He was her beta and she had spent a good portion of the night trying to convince herself that she'd be the best alpha to Liam she could be. "Liam . . . we're family now."

Liam's face scrunched up in confusion as he stared at Meilani for a long, tense moment in silence. Almost like he was trying to figure out how she'd broken out of Eichen House or something. "What are you talking about? We just met and you bit me!"

"The bite . . . the bite is a gift."

"Oh for the love of . . . baby, please stop," Stiles begged, circling Liam with Scott and Isaac so they all stood behind Meilani and faced Liam. "You, you, we're trying to help you, you little runt."

"And for the record, never forget that I was here first, you little puppy," Isaac added in, poking a finger in Liam's direction. 

Liam decided to ignore Isaac's very obvious jealousy moment and crossed his arms as he kept his focus on Meilani. "By kidnapping me?"

Stiles opened his mouth to form an argument, but there was really no skirting around what they had done to Liam the night before. Definitely not the best thing the pack had ever really done and Meilani knew that tying up Liam was wrong. She felt awful for doing just that, but now Meilani could make up for it. She could protect Liam and help him get through his first few months that were always the worst.

"Well, actually . . . these three kidnapped you. I just aided and abetted."

"Liam, Isaac and I have both gone through this before. Something is happening to you," Meilani cut in before Stiles could say anything else while Liam sarcastically smiled at the Stilinski boy. "Something big."

Liam's tongue poked into his cheek while he shook his head defiantly, clearly not believing a word. "Nothing is happening to me." He gripped the bandage that covered where Meilani had bit him and ripped it off to reveal smooth skin. A for sure sign that the bite was taking to Liam and he was already changing. "Nothing."

"Oh for fucks sake," Meilani sighed as Liam turned to walk away from the four of them.

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Later that day during one of the pack's free periods, they had all met up outside in the back of the school where the buses usually parked to discuss what to do with Liam. Lydia had suggested that they bring Liam to the lake house where they usually brought Malia on the full moons. The pack typically kept Malia in the basement tied up in chains to keep her dormant until the full moon's effects wore off and she wasn't ready to rip anyone's throats out. 

"I am not sharing my basement," Malia argued when the pack brought up that they would be having an extra member at the lake house later that night.

"Actually, it's my basement and my mom noticed how you tore it up last time," Lydia retorted to Malia who shifted uncomfortably at the mention of the last full moon.

"She's still learning," Stiles defended, patting Malia on the back to let her know it was okay.

"Look, we're going to use the boat house for Liam. It's got support beams so we can chain him to one of them," Meilani explained to the pack before anyone could argue about anything. "It's the best place to keep him on his first full moon when he has no control."

"But how do we get him out to the lake house if he doesn't trust us?" Kira queried, bouncing on the balls of her feet nervously.

"I say if it keeps him from murdering someone we chloroform the little bastard and throw him in the lake," Stiles suggested, earning vocal agreements from both Malia and Isaac.

Meilani shot Stiles, Mali and Isaac an unamused expression and crossed her arms. "As much as I love that Stiles and Isaac actually agreed on something, we aren't maiming, killing or kidnapping anyone! We need to be smarter than that."

Scott nodded in agreement with his twin, jerking a thumb in her direction. "Mei is right. We can just tell him that the famous Lydia Martin is throwing a party. I know the perfect person to play a trick on someone . . . a certain trickster."

Kira's eyes widened when she noticed everyone's eyes cut directly over to her at Scott's suggested idea. She took a step back and shook her head in denial. "Me? No way! Not me."

"Yes, you. You know what they call a female fox? A vixen," Lydia encouraged, sending Kira a wink to boost her ego more.

"Me?"

"You can do it, Kira. Be a vixen."

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Meilani had taken a much needed nap when she got home from school that day. She didn't really plan on changing out of her outfit of a cream knit sweater, light blue jeans and white Adidas sneakers since it was just them and not an actual party. Plus, she didn't have to worry about herself shifting at all that night so her outfit would be fine for the night while she was at the lake house with the pack.

Meilani had arrived at the lake house a few minutes after Stiles, Malia and Lydia had with Isaac on the back of her bike and Scott on his own bike. Scott had a short conversation with Kira to check in on how she was doing with Liam. His emotions and senses would be heightened now that it was dark out and the moon was slowly shining down on the Earth. It was only a matter of time before Liam started to lose control to the effects of the moon. She took in the nervous gazes of her best friend's faces and furrowed her eyebrows, kicking the kick stand down as she removed her helmet. "What? Scott just called Kira. She's on her way with Liam. She said it's all going fine."

"It's not that, babe. I have to tell you something," Stiles sighed, standing before his girlfriend's bike where her and Isaac still sat. "I asked around about Liam. I know why he got kicked out of his last school."

Meilani frowned and slumped back against Isaac with a low groan. "Tell me this is more bad news."

Stiles flinched slightly and removed his phone from his back pocket, pulling something up on the screen to show Meilani, Isaac and Scott. "He kind of got into it with one of his teachers and . . . the kid's got some serious anger issues. This is his teacher's car after he took a crowbar to it."

Meilani took Stiles' phone that he held out to her and she glanced down at the photo that was displayed on the screen while Isaac leant his chin on her shoulder to get a look at it also. It was a photo of a blue car with a massive impact crack in the windshield. The passenger side window and the back window both had massive holes in them. The back one specifically looking more like it was about to fall out its frame than the passenger one. Meilani couldn't make out what was spray painted onto the hood of the car but on the side of the car she could see the words THIS IS YOUR FAULT. 

"You gave the bite to a ticking time bomb," Isaac commented as Meilani squeezed her eyes shut.

Cue Meilani's already increasing anxiety to shoot up even more.

Noticing Meilani's increasing stress, Stiles suggested they just talk about it later and took his phone back before the pack moved into the lake house to wait for Kira and Liam. They had just finished setting up the chains on the coffee table in the open living room when the sound of Kira's car approaching sounded outside. The pack had all just lined up on the other side of the coffee table when Kira and Liam entered the house.

Liam paused in the foyer when he saw the group of older teens, Stiles being the only one way to send him an awkward wave which Isaac quickly slapped down before the Stilinski boy could embarrass himself more. His eyes scanned the area before he quickly turned to try and make a run for it, but Kira blocked the exit. She offered him a sorrowful smile as she stayed put in front of the double front doors. He let out a sharp exhale through his nose and turned back around to the pack that stood in the living room.

"What is this?"

"Think of it like an intervention. You have a problem, Liam," Stiles answered.

"And we're the only ones that can help."

Meilani had all but dove head first into the supernatural and explaining what everyone in the room was, excluding Scott and Stiles who were the only humans besides Liam. She figured that the ripping the band aid off method was the best way to go. She needed to do things right by Liam so she could make sure her beta didn't get hurt and understand how important this all was. How his life was completely turned on its axis now because of what she'd done in an attempt to save it in the first place.

If it were possible, Liam's head probably would have been emitting smoke from the top of it as he stared at Meilani once she'd finished. His arms had crossed at some point during her long winded breakdown of everything and he didn't look all too convinced on any  of it. "Werewolf? Werecoyote? Banshee." He glanced over his shoulder to Kira who had moved away from the door and into the archway between the living room and foyer. "Fox?"

"Kitsune," Kira corrected with a small shrug. "But fox works, too."

Liam made a small noise of frustration and turned to Scott and Stiles who both stood  awkwardly since they were the only non-supernatural beings in the room. "And what are you two supposed to be?"

"Meilani's twin," Scott sheepishly replied, shrugging lamely. "I'm not really anything but human so . . . "

"Uh, for a little while, I was possessed by an evil spirit. It was very evil," Stiles informed, scratching the back of his neck. His heart beat raised slightly at the mention of it and Meilani and Isaac both knew that the boy really would rather talk about anything else but what happened two months ago. "I'm better now though . . . obviously."

Liam diverted his attention to the chains on the coffee table and gestured to them with a sarcastic look. "Oh and those are for me now, too?"

"No, they're for me," Malia corrected, flashing her blue werecoyote eyes at Liam.

That seemed to spook Liam because he stumbled back a step at the sight. He still appeared to be apprehensive about the whole thing, but seeing Malia's eyes definitely shifted something inside of Liam. Something that the freshman boy really didn't want to let himself believe. "How did you do that?"

"You'll learn," Meilani assured Liam, taking a step closer to her beta with raised hands to show she wasn't going to hurt him. "But first, you need to get through the full moon."

"The moon's already out," Liam growled, pointing to the large moon in the sky that shined directly into the living room.

Noticing the way Liam's heart beat skipped every now and then, Meilani knew that he was feeling the effects of the moon already. She just needed to get him to trust her enough to let her help him through this. "And you're feeling something right now, aren't you?"

"I feel like I'm surrounded by a bunch of psychotic nut jobs. You guys are out of your freaking minds. I don't know how you did that eye thing and I don't care! I'm walking out the door right now! If any of you try to stop me, I swear to God I'm gonna . . ." 

Liam suddenly cut himself off as his eyes squeezed shut in pain, his hands going up to his ears to block out whatever was penetrating them. Meilani knew that he was extra sensitive to everything since he wasn't in control and took another timid step towards Liam who groaned and whined in pain. "You guys don't hear that?!"

As if on cue, Meilani heard the distant squeal of tires before headlights illuminated the living room. She could see dozens of cars pull into the lake house driveway and a bunch of kids already getting out of their cars, chatting excitedly about the party they were about to go. Lydia Martin's party of all parties. 

Not good. Definitely not good.

"Did you tell someone about this?" Lydia asked, her eyes focused outside while Meilani dropped down in front of Liam who had just collapsed to the ground in pain.

"My friend Mason," Liam panted, his head bowed between his shoulders as he leant forward on his hands. His breathing was ragged and irregular as he tried to rein in the boiling anger that flared inside of him. "You said it was a party!"

"Who did Mason invite?" Scott questioned, even though he could already tell the answer from the amount of students that began to swarm the driveway.

"Everyone."

Lydia gasped when she noticed Liam's claws beginning to create cuts in the floorboards. "Meilani, honey, you need to get that boy off my floorboards. My mom will have a fit!"

"Kira!" Meilani shouted, stumbling to her feet when Liam flashed his yellow eyes at Lydia and roared at her. She mentally cursed as she and Kira hauled Liam up to his feet with his arms wrapped around their shoulders. "Kira, we gotta get him to the boat house."

"What about us?!" Isaac called after Meilani, causing the girl to pause just before the back door that lead to the boat house.

"You and Stiles help Malia while Scott helps Lydia. I don't know! You boys can put your brains together for once," Meilani huffed before rushing out of the house with Kira and Liam.

The two girls forced a thrashing and growling Liam into the boat house, shoving him down to sit in front of one of the support beams. Kira fumbled with the chains that they had thrown there before setting Malia's up in the lake house and got them to wrap around Liam's torso who fought hard against Meilani's grip. Meilani was just grateful for her alpha strength at this point. 

"Kira, I got him! Just do his hands!" Meilani shouted over Liam's growls and roars as he continued to thrash and fight against Meilani.

Before Kira could get far into tying Liam's hand to the support beam, Liam suddenly overpowered Meilani and sent the true alpha onto her back. He hissed and growled as he swung his claws at her face as she tried to block her face. She choked slightly when Liam's hand locked itself around her throat and Meilani tried to use her alpha strength to get him off, but she couldn't get the right leverage to help her out of the situation.

Kira had come to Meilani's aid and she whacked Liam in the back with one of the spare wooden oars that were leant against the walls of the boat house. She dropped the oar when Liam flew off Meilani and onto his back effectively knocked out. "Oh my God. I didn't kill him, did I?"

Meilani smiled gratefully at Kira and pushed herself up so she could crawl over to Liam's side. His chest moved up and down steadily and she could hear his heart rate at the rate of one that was asleep. "No, you just knocked him out cold."

Kira puffed out a breath of relief and dropped to the ground next to Meilani, laying her head on the McCall female's shoulder. "I hope Stiles and Isaac are having better luck with Malia."

"I'm pretty sure they would kill each other before Malia gets to either one of them," Meilani mused, patting Kira's knee so the girl knew she was standing up. She grunted softly when she lifted Liam and moved him back over to the support beam where she finally chained him up properly now that he wasn't thrashing at her and trying to kill her.

"He looks so young," Kira commented when Meilani finally plopped back down to the ground next to her. 

"He is. He's only a freshman," Meilani replied sadly, playing with the sleeves of her sweater. "A whole year younger than when I got bit by Peter. I'm going to help him the best that I can. I never bit anyone before so this is new for me, too."

Kira frowned as her eyes flickered back over to Liam whose head drooped slightly as he still slept. "What if he doesn't want our help, Lan?"

"I think he'll want it after tonight."

The two girls had stayed in a comfortable silence for a little while as they just enjoyed the sounds of the crickets outside. Meilani could still hear the music bumping from inside the house and the excited chatter and laughter of the partygoers. She tried to listen in for Stiles and Isaac to make sure the two of them hadn't killed each other just yet, but the bass of the music was too loud to hear anything else but that and the mumbled voices and laughter of the others.

"So how do you stay so in control on the full moon?" Kira asked, breaking the silence as she stretched out her legs before her.

"Um, it's mostly about makings sure my pulse doesn't get too fast and that it doesn't go up past its normal rate," Meilani responded, crossing her legs beneath her and slouching forward slightly to try and make herself more comfortable. "I also try to focus on something, kind of like an anchor. Mine is Stiles or Scott, but mostly Stiles. Derek thinks it's because we have a special connection since we love each other."

"Aww, I think that's really sweet," Kira grinned at Meilani, tapping her feet together as she rested her hands in her lap.

The side of Meilani's lips tweaked up as a thought came to her head and she tilted her head at Kira. "So, speaking of love, what's up with you and my brother? He told me about the kiss in the hallway before he ran out to come to the hospital with me. Did you guys finally make it official?"

Kira's face flushed darkly as her heart rate spiked at the thought of Scott. She tried to hide her face from Meilani, but they both knew that Meilani heard and smelt her reaction loud and clear. "I don't know about official just yet. I think we're in a nice place right now, though. I just . . . I don't know. I do really like him." She giggled and clasped her hand to her mouth as she shifted her eyes to Meilani. "I'm sorry. That's probably weird because he's your twin."

"Why are you sorry? My brother's like my best friend and I'm just really glad to see him happy again."

"You didn't growl just now?" Kira balked, her eyes widening slightly in slight worry.

Meilani's eyes slowly diverted from Kira's face and over to Liam who was now wide awake and transitioned back to his wolf side again. The two girls bolted to their feet and took a few steps back with Meilani making sure to keep Kira right behind her in case Liam were to do anything to break out of the chains. The same ones that rattled together as Liam growled and tugged against them. "Oh, shit."

"Are those chains gonna hold him?"

"Uh. Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Definitely. I mean . . . how strong can he really be?"

As if Meilani spoke to soon, Liam let out another low roar and broke free of the chains, sending little bits flying in different directions. Meilani swiftly tugged Kira to the side when she noticed Liam prepare himself to take off. They had both moved out of the way just in time for Liam to break through the massive window behind them and take off into the wood surrounding the boat house.

Meilani grimaced and stared off in the direction that Liam ran off in. "Oh, man, that really can't be good. Kira, stay here."

Kira opened her mouth to respond and offer to help, but Meilani was already leaping through the broken window and dropping to the dirt ground below. She took off in a steady sprint in the direction that Liam ran in and tried to follow his scent the best she could. He had ran pretty quickly for a new wolf, but Meilani could feel the scent get stronger the further into the woods she got. She skidded to a stop near a steep hill when she smelt Liam as if he was right there.

Meilani took a second to pause and try to scan the area for Liam when she tackled from the side, sending her tumbling down the steep hill with none other than Liam on top of her. Once they hit the bottom, Meilani was lifted up and shoved up against the tree trunk behind her while she kept her strength on Liam's biceps to keep him at a distance from her face. "Liam, Liam! Stop!"

"What did you do to me?" Liam yelled in Meilani's face, his expression filled with anger as his yellow eyes glowed dangerously at her. "This is your fault! It's all your fault! This is your fault!"

Meilani eyed Liam's hand that raised to slash her warily, preparing herself to catch the wrist when the sound of an arrow whizzing through the air alerted the two wolves. The arrow struck the tree just above Meilani's head and a bright white light emitted from the arrow, blinding Liam and causing Meilani to hide her face in the crook of her arm. 

Once the bright white lights finally stopped, Meilani slowly lowered her arm again to see Liam had ran off again. Her eyes snapped over to the right when she caught a certain scent she hadn't smelt since Allison died. She scrambled up to her feet when she saw Chris Argent slowly slide his way down the steep hill to get to her.

"Chris!" Meilani gasped and rushed over to him, wrapping her arms around the man tightly. She nearly cried at the sight of him and she relaxed slightly in his arms when he ran a hand over the top of her head as he pulled away from her. He had grown in a full beard and that had little patches gray here and there and his hair was slightly longer than it had been before he left for France. "What are you - how did you know?"

"I got your text," Chris replied, patting Meilani's shoulder in greeting and slowly lowered his arms back to his sides. "So, I missed a lot, didn't I?"

Meilani scoffed and tugged a hand through her hair, hissing slightly when her hand scraped against a twig that had gotten tangled in her hair. She smiled lightly at Chris when he reached out to help her remove the leaves and twigs from her now tangled hair. "You have no idea."

"Well, there's a clearing just north of here. All you have to do is corral him there. The rest is taken care of."

"What are you going to do?"

"He's your beta, Meilani. The better question is what are you going to do?"

Meilani puffed out her cheeks and slapped a hand to her side. "I don't know. He won't listen to me. It's like having a small child."

Chris chuckled and ducked his head, shaking it for a moment before lifting it to look back at Meilani. "Well, he will if you start using your own words." He paused when Liam's screams echoed through the woods and he handed the switch to Meilani that would turn off the light emitters that no doubt just caught Liam. "Here. Take this and I know you can do it."

Meilani gently took the switch from Chris and squeezed his hand gratefully before she took off in the direction that Liam's screams came from. She had made sure to avoid any of the low hanging branches so she wouldn't ruing her hair any more than it already was and she came to the clearing Noah mentioned to see Liam in the middle of two rows of emitters on either side of him. She slowly approached him and clicked off the emitters so Liam could have some peace.

Liam slowly shifted back to his human form and he cried quietly, lifting his head to look up at Meilani who stood over him with a guilt filled expression. He looked so small and innocent that Meilani itched to just wrap him up in her arms and tell him everything was going to be okay. Which, she guessed, it kind of would be but not okay in the sense that he'd never have to worry about anything. He'd eventually be okay when it came to the shifts and the heightened senses. 

"What's happening to me?"

"The same thing that happened to me last year," Meilani admitted, taking a seat in front of Liam who stayed hunched over on his knees. "I can help you through it, if you'd let me."

Liam whimpered quietly and the sound nearly tore Meilani's heart in half. It only made her guilt for turning the boy without consent even worse. "They can't know about this. My mom, my step dad, I can't do this to them again."

Meilani already knew what Liam hinted at but Liam didn't know that she had found out about the reason he got kicked out. She had to hear it from Liam and she leant forward with her hands rested in her lap. "What do you mean again?"

"I got kicked out of school and I deserved it," Liam sniffled, keeping his head bowed so he wouldn't have to look Meilani in the eye. Not that she needed him to look her in the face to know he was telling the truth. She could hear his heart beat just fine and she already knew what happened regardless. "The way they looked at me when they saw what I did to that car . . ."

Meilani frowned when Liam broke off to let out a broken sob over what he had done. She reached forward to wrap her hand around one of Liam's and squeezed it assuringly. "Liam, it's okay."

Liam didn't remove his hand from Meilani's and a few of his tears hit their joined hands as blinked the tears away from his eyes. "They can't see me like this, Meilani, they just can't. Like a . . . Like a . . . "

"Like a monster?" Meilani filled in for him, knowing that was the first thing that always came to anyone's mind when it came to wolves. She pushed herself to her feet when she saw Liam's small nod and that thought alone pushed Meilani to prove to Liam he was more than the animal that lived inside him. He could use his werewolf side for good and Meilani would die before she let Liam berate himself any longer. "You're not a monster, Liam. You're a werewolf, like me."

Liam slowly raised his head to finally look at Meilani properly and he physically relaxed his shoulders when he saw Meilani's red alpha eyes. She knew that this was going to be a rough start, but Meilani was ready to take on the new responsibility no matter the doubts she previously had. She had to be strong and be there for Liam and protect him like a good alpha usually did.

She wouldn't fail Liam. She just wouldn't.

AUTHORS NOTE

Hi hey hello

FIRST OFF, UM??? THANK YOUSO MUCH FOR 1K READS ON THIS ALREADY. LIKE WHAT? WE'RE ONLY FOUR CHAPTERS IN AND YOU GUYS ARE ALREADY GIVING THIS BOOK ALL THE I LOVE. I COULD CRY I LOVE YA'LL SO MUCH!

Fun fact: When Stiles and Isaac were keeping an eye on Malia, they only fought ONCE. Meilani would be proud of her two best boys getting along better than usual. Round of applause pls?

ALSO, BUCKLE THE FUCK UP BECAUSE WE ARE OFFICIALLY IN DEAD POOL TERRITORY! This book about to get REAL fun. I am so ready for it, yall. Oh and, Mama Meilani is here in full swing and I am just so excited to write her and her favorite son, Liam Dunbar.

Kira and Meilani are officially girlfriends and I love them. Goodnight!