"𝙈𝙚𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙞, 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙪𝙥 𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚? 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩. 𝙒𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝙆𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙩𝙧𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙇𝙞𝙖𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙃𝙖𝙮𝙙𝙚𝙣. 𝙄𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚'𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙙𝙤, 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙪𝙥. 𝙀𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪."

Meilani barely inhaled a breath before she'd taken off from the locker room in search of Liam and Hayden. Their scents had both ended fairly quickly after leaving the locker room and Meilani's first thought was to check through the Beacon Hills Preserve with Malia taking off after her in offerings to help. Isaac had stayed back with Lydia to help her look around the town and keep her protected in case something were to happen. Her feet pounded heavily against the dirt ground as she pushed herself faster than she'd ever gone to run through the preserve. The anxiety and fear only grew the longer and further she went with no scent of sound of either Liam or Hayden anywhere.

Meilani's feet skidded to a halt the cliff's edge that looked over the town, lights on every building as it lit up the ground below beautifully. If it were any other time, Meilani would have admired the sight, the lights glistening in her eyes as she stared in awe with the stars above completing the whole scene. At this time, Meilani dropped to her knees and let out a loud, guttural roar that shook the ground and was met with complete silence, nothing from Liam like she had hoped.

"There's no scent," Meilani cried as Malia stopped short next to her, her hands and knees pressed to the ground as she bowed her head. "No tracks. No way to find 'em."

Malia frowned deeply and dropped next to Meilani, placing a soft hand on Meilani's back as she knelt next to her. "But Liam can howl back, right?"

Meilani shook her head as she slowly lifted it to look at Malia with watery eyes. "Only if he heard me. Judging that he hasn't howled back, I don't think he did."

As if Meilani's never ending lists of worries for the night weren't enough, Meilani had gotten a frantic call from Kira that she had been taken the station because they believed her to be the one to kill the next body. Her parents had showed up and Ken had saved Kira by saying it was him instead since it was his sword in self defense. She had barely registered what she was doing before she had Malia continue the search while she ran off to try and help Kira next, wishing she could clone herself into two at this point with the way she was needed in every single direction. 

Cue her anxiety only tripling by the minute.

Meilani arrived at the sheriff's station, throwing open the side door and rushing in to see Kira stood with Scott's arm wrapped around her shoulders and she hugged his side. Noah spoke to both of Kira's parents inside his office while Kira and Scott stood near by to try and listen in on what they said. Meilani's feet hurried her over to the couple and exhaled heavily as she stopped before them, her sneakers squeaking loudly as she stopped short.

"Kira, they're not really gonna arrest your dad, are they?" Meilani pleaded, hoping against everything that something would just go right for once and Noah could let Ken walk free without anyone batting an eyelash.

"They have to. My dad basically confessed in front of everyone," Kira informed with a  deep frown on her face as her sad, worried eyes stared up at Meilani.

Meilani puffed out her cheeks as she crossed her arms across her chest, her own face falling as she tried to fight through the tightness in her chest. "And you don't remember anything, right?"

Kira licked her lips and shook her head, rocking back on her heels. "No. It was like I was sleepwalking. Suddenly I'm just standing out in the middle of the road."

Meilani rolled her lips into her mouth and flickered her gaze over to Scott who shrug lamely. She could see the worry over Kira clear in his eyes and the way his forehead wrinkled with the furrow of his eyebrows as he tried to internally figure everything out himself. Scott could fool everyone around him, but never Meilani. No matter how cool and collected he appeared to be on the outside, Meilani knew he was struggling inside. She didn't need her werewolf hearing or scent to tell her that. "Okay . . . don't worry, Ki. We'll figure it out. I promise."

"What Liam and Hayden?" Scott questioned, hand rubbing soothingly up and down Kira's arm as she continued to cling to his side. His brown eyes flickered between Meilani's as they widened slightly at the realization that they were still missing. "What are you gonna do about them?"

"We're gonna meet up at the house to come up with something. The longer they stay missing . . . " Meilani gulped as she cut herself off, shaking her head rapidly. "Um, I don't want to leave you both here alone, but . . . I have to find them. I - "

"We know, Mei," Kira whispered, offering the true alpha a reassuring smile. "You can't be in fifty places at once."

Meilani sighed heavily and tugged a hand through her hair, wishing more than anything that she could be in fifty places at once. Unfortunately, cloning was not apart of the werewolf ability list. "I wouldn't leave you guys, you know that."

Kira reached forward and squeezed Meilani's hand that wasn't stuck in her hair and shook it gently. "Mei, my parents are going to take me home when they're done here anyway. We have to talk to a lawyer. There's nothing anyone can do right now. You should go and find Liam and Hayden."

Meilani's eyes flickered to the bloodied sword that rested on the table, her brain kickstarting with realization as she knew there was another chimera running around. The same kid that Mason had mentioned to her at the school.

Corey.

Meilani pushed through her house with determination set in her bones, ignoring the calls of Malia, Stiles and Isaac as she stormed past them in the living room. She took the steps two at a time and walked to her bedroom where Corey - a junior with brown hair and brown eyes - sat on her bed with a printed copy of the Dread Doctors in his hands while Mason and Lydia stood off to the side. He'd apologized to the duo about only being on chapter two so far and they went to tell him it was okay when Meilani stormed in. 

"Hi, yeah. Sorry - unfortunately, we don't have time for that," Meilani cut in as she flicked out her claws, shoving them into the back of Corey's neck as her eyes glowed alpha red. She closed her eyes as she focused on Corey's memories to try and see what the Dread Doctors had down to Corey once they'd taken him. 

Flashes of Corey being dragged limply through Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital and what looked like an underground piping system towards the other Dread Doctors. A panicked scream erupted from his lips when he realized where he was and tried to fight back against the two doctors holding him while the other doctor stood near a small table with medical tools on it, held up a long syringe.

Meilani pulled her hand back with a loud gasp as she stumbled back, Stiles instantly rushing forward and catching her under the armpits and holding her up. He hauled her up and helped her lean against the dresser next to him, his hands staying to her back as he rubbed it in a soothing motion. "Is Corey okay?"

"What the hell did you do to me?!" Corey barked, stumbling up from the bed as his head spun dangerously and his hand rubbed at where Meilani's claws had plunged into him.

"You'll be alright," Meilani panted, ducking her head as she tried to stop the spinning in her own head. "You'll heal."

"Lani . . . "

"He'll be fine!" Meilani barked, finally pushing up from dresser as the room finally went quiet and she could think properly. She pressed her hands to the side of her head as she closed her eyes, trying to focus her mind on one thing at a time instead of the fifty directions that everyone kept trying to pull her in. "Listen . . . I think it worked. I saw something. There were tunnels. Pipes along the walls. There were these huge blue pipes at the entrance. Two on both sides."

Stiles' dropped his hands to Meilani's biceps as she stood up and blinked as if recognizing the place she'd mentioned. "I know that place. I've seen it before. That's one of the tunnels I used to skateboard in, remember? My dad caught me one time and told me to never go back?"

Lydia snapped her fingers as she nodded along with Stiles. "It's the water treatment plant."

Meilani's eyes slowly fluttered open and they eyes bounced between the group that currently huddled into her room. "I - that's where they are. That's where we will find Liam and Hayden." She pushed away from Stiles' hold and flew out of her room to run her way back down the steps and towards the kitchen door.

"Babe, can you hold on for thirty seconds?!" Stiles yelled after her as he and the others tried to keep up with Meilani's fast pace. "Mason should be going."

"Liam's my best friend. I'm going," Mason chimed in, no room for argument clear in his tone as he stopped next to Stiles in the kitchen.

"Oh, did you suddenly get super wolf powers?" Stiles retorted at him. "I wasn't aware of that development, Mason."

Meilani shrugged and gestured to Mason who shot her a pleading look. "Well, if you're not going or Isaac, I could use the help, Stiles."

"No. I'm coming as soon as I talk to my dad. They're moving the body and he wants to make sure that this time no one steals it," Stiles informed, waving his hand in the air as he spoke.

"How's he going to do that?" Malia questioned in confusion, arms crossed over her chest as she sat on the kitchen counter with one leg crossed over the other.

"I don't know, but whoever took the last one was strong enough to flip my Jeep."

Malia's eyes scanned around the faces of the pack and pointed at Theo who stood off to the side. "We can take Theo. He can help."

Theo glanced to Meilani warily and stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets, rocking back on his heels. "Maybe I should stay here. You know, in case the Doctors decide to make a house call for Corey."

"Lan, Stiles is right. We need to slow down and think," Lydia piped in, leaning against the archway to the kitchen with a heavy sigh. "We can't just jump head first into this one."

Meilani scoffed softly and slapped a hand to her side in slight irritation, the ticking time bomb in her head only getting louder the more the seconds ticked by. "I am thinking . . . about how Liam and Hayden could already be dead. I have to find Liam."

Stiles instantly reached out to grab Meilani's wrist before she could move to rush out with Malia and Mason who had already turned to run out. "Hey, if you need anything, just text me, okay? Anything at all."

Meilani offered Stiles the best smile as she could muster as he bent down to press his lips to hers sweetly. She pulled away after a moment, squeezing his hand in assurance before she turned sharply on her heels and rushed out after Malia and Mason. The only thing on her mind: saving Liam and Hayden.

Meilani pushed her body to move through the never ending maze of tunnels to find Liam and Hayden. She shouted at the top of her lungs for them, trying to keep her nose and ears out for any hint of their sound or scent. As her luck would have it, she'd gotten neither one or even a response back from either one of the teens. She was about thirty seconds from having a mental break down when she suddenly smacked into Malia who had come from the opposite direction of tunnels to the side and she grasped Malia's shoulders when they both stumbled. "Anything, Mal?"

"No, nothing," Malia breathed, hands gripping to Meilani's with a heavy frown. "I don't like the sound of this."

"Me neither," Meilani agreed quietly just as Mason came in from the left and his face fell when both girls shook their heads at him to show they had gotten no response either. "Okay, we need to make sure that we're not covering the same area." She froze when a sound to her right was heard and she strained her ears to listen for the sound again. "Wait, I think I hear something."

Malia's eyes turned up to the ceiling above them where the lightbulbs buzzed and hummed with faint electricity. "It's just the lights, isn't it? I've been hearing it the whole time we've been down here."

"Come on. This way," Meilani whispered, grabbing Malia and Mason wrists to follow after her in the opposite direction down the tunnel they currently stood in. She motioned for them go down the right and left tunnels while she took the middle one. Her sneakers squeaked over the wet pavement floor as she continued to call out for Liam and Hayden, but was still met with nothing but dripping pipes and the buzz of the lights. Her chest only becoming tighter and tighter with anxiety as their window to save them alive closed further and further.

Mason jogged over to Meilani when they met back up in the middle with Malia joining a second later. "I'm telling you guys. We've been down this tunnel before. I think we're going in circles."

Meilani tried to gulp down air that suddenly refused to enter her lungs as she tugged both of her hands stressfully through her mess of curls. Small wheezes left her lips as her chest heaved in anxiety and her lungs screamed desperately for air. "What the fuck are we doing? We're running up and down this place. Up and down tunnels and there's no way . . . there is no way that we're gonna find . . ." 

Malia quickly fumbled in her pockets when Meilani dropped to her knees suddenly, gasping and panting for breath as her eyes blew wide in anxiety. She pulled out the spare inhaler that Scott had shoved into her hands the night prior to have in case Meilani needed it again since she'd needed it a few days prior at the school. It was for emergencies, but he still wanted his twin to have it in the chance that another attack came with how stressed she'd been. Since Malia had been around Meilani the most lately, he'd entrusted her with it and Malia had never been more glad that Scott had handed it to her. She pushed the pump into Meilani's mouth and pressed down on the button, sending the air rushing back into Meilani's lungs all at once.

Meilani coughed weakly as the oxygen regulated through her lungs again and her head bowed between her arms that braced on the cold, wet pavement beneath her. Tears welled in her eyes as her thoughts all focused on how they were losing more and more time to find Liam and Hayden. "This is all my fault. We are never going to find Liam and Hayden and it's all my fault."

Mason shook his head and squatted before Meilani with his hand held out to her, causing the true alpha to lift her head to look up at him. "Meilani, since when did you ever give up on anyone? You can't. We should keep looking. Keep trying to find Liam and Hayden. If there's one thing this pack doesn't do, it's give up. Especially not you."

Meilani sniffled and nodded her head in agreement, whispering an okay as she took Mason's hand and let him help her back to her feet before they continued their search for the two teens.

Thankfully, their search didn't need to last for much longer as Theo had texted her that he'd found Liam and Hayden in the plant and already was en route to bringing them back to her house. Her body had been slammed with such instant relief that it nearly brought her to her knees again, but she pushed back enough to coherently tell Malia and Mason that they were okay and that they could head back.

Meilani had pushed into the house to see Lydia sat there on the chair across from the couch where Liam and Hayden slept, curled up into each other with a blanket draped over them. Stiles was nowhere in sight and Scott was still gone at Kira's while she took notice to Isaac's heart beat upstairs. She barely had a second to process that Liam and Hayden were breathing before Theo pushed away from where he leant over the back of Lydia's chair and hugged Meilani tightly as she slowly hugged him back, not expecting it. She was even more surprised when she pulled away and both Mason and Malia hugged him in appreciation of getting to Liam and Hayden before the doctors could do any more damage.

A weird sort of feeling hovered above the pack and Meilani couldn't even begin to figure out what that feeling was. Not like she had much time to figure it out as Malia and Mason both excused themselves once they saw Liam and Hayden were okay and Theo offered to drive Lydia home so they both could get some sleep after the long few days they'd all had. Lydia had already texted Liam's dad from Liam's phone that he was staying at Meilani's and had done the same to Hayden's phone with her sister. 

Meilani had trudged her way to her room and faltered slightly when she saw Isaac spinning lazily in her computer chair, already dressed in plaid pajama pants and a black long sleeve shirt. She exhaled heavily when he slowly lifted his head from where it had been tilted back and his blue eyes instantly softened when they landed on her. "Hey . . . you didn't - you didn't have to wait up."

"Say that again and I'm kicking your ass," Isaac tried to joke lightly, though it fell flat as he could feel Meilani's mix of emotions. He sat up in the chair as Meilani walked over to him and collapsed onto the floor next to the chair, leaning her back against the end of her bed with a deep frown. "I know I can read your mind, but I'm still gonna ask you any way and make you talk. What's wrong?"

Meilani chewed on the inside of her lip as Isaac slid to the floor next to her and patted her knee in silent reminder that he was there with open ears. Her fingers absently played with the moon necklace around her neck from Stiles and licked her lips. "You - you don't feel the change in the pack? I don't even know what it is, but . . . something's different between all of us. Something's changed, Isaac. I think it's because of me and i don't know how to fix it."

Isaac was quiet for a long moment as he seemed to process what Meilani had said. After a moment, his arm wrapped around her shoulders and hugged her into his side with a frown. "Lans, you haven't done anything but protect everyone in this pack. If any of them have even the slightest issue with you, I'm going wolf on them myself. I don't care who it is. You do so much for all of us and not a single one of them could ever hate you. Things are just tense right now, Lans. Once we figure this Dread Doctor shit out and get rid of them, things will settle back down."

Meilani sighed and absently pulled at a string on Isaac's sleeve as she focused on it instead of her best friend's face. "Yeah, but all of this happening because I couldn't save anyone properly. I mean . . . what kind of alpha am I if I can't even do this? Everything just piles up and everyone's got shit from every angle. I can't even keep up anymore and I might actually start to go insane soon. You'll be putting me in Eichen House next."

"You just need to take a deep breath and relax for one night. Liam and Hayden are asleep downstairs, yeah? You can relax for tonight knowing that they're back home and safe. That's what's important. We can worry more about the doctors tomorrow," Isaac said softly, rubbing her shoulder comfortingly. "I dare you to do  it for one night."

Meilani playfully rolled her eyes, laying her head on Isaac's shoulder in a form of a half hug. "Thanks for keeping me from exploding. I guess you do have purpose to me after all."

Isaac feigned a look of hurt as he attacked Meilani, throwing her over his shoulder as he walked out of the bedroom. "Yep, you're gonna fucking relax tonight. Oh, yeah."

Meilani groaned as she tried to push at Isaac's back and push herself down from his shoulder. "Isaac Lahey, I am stronger than you! I am not afraid to use it!"

"Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that, Lans. Still gonna make your alpha ass relax, sister."

Meilani huffed and hung from his shoulder as her arms fell limp, face pressing to his back as he walked to his room. "I hate you."

"I love you, too!"

AUTHORS NOTE

Hi hey hello

So enjoy that soft ending because we won't be getting another for a while. Welcome to the shit show, lads. It was fun while it lasted.