—

"Guys, I'm fine. Help Tracy. Find Tracy. Go." Lydia whimpered out as Austin knelt down by her side, Isaac hesitant to do the same as he didn't want to do anything wrong.

Theo spoke up, "It's okay. She's all right."

"Come on, Stiles."

Much to her dismay, Ryder ended up leaving Austin to help Theo save Lydia so she could make sure that Malia was alright.

"Is anyone wearing a belt?"

She heard her boyfriend's voice fade out as they made it to the basement. She, Scott and Stiles stopped in their tracks as they noticed Malia hovering over Tracy's unconscious body.

"It wasn't me."

Stiles kept his distance as he asked, "What the hell happened to her?"

"There were these people...They had masks. Um, there...There were... Three of them. I think there were three."

Ryder went to walk forward to possibly comfort her sister, only to flinch the second Scott's hand grabbed her wrist to stop her from moving forward. She jerked her hand away from him, eyeing his weirdly before she continued.

"What... What are you talking about?" Stiles asked.

Malia stammered, "They were strong, Stiles. They had a weapon. Stiles, I didn't do this."

"Okay. She's not changing back. We're going to need to get her out of here." Deaton spoke up.

Sheriff Stilinski walked up, "What, hey... Absolutely not. This is a crime scene. We call the coroner."

Ryder rolled her eyes. While she respected the man, now definitely was not the time to finally start doing his job.

"I think the coroner might be very confused by this girl's severed reptilian tail." Deaton said.

Stillinski shrugged, "I don't care..."

"You should. Unless you're prepared to hold a press conference announcing the presence of supernatural creatures in Beacon Hills."

Stiles stepped up, "Dad, he's right."

"Maybe at the clinic we can figure out how to change her back, then call the coroner?"

"There's a line...There is a line that we have to draw."

"Dad, you've already crossed it."

"More than once." Ryder spoke under her breath, but due to the silence, her words were heard clearly.

"Sheriff, please. Let me help. I've dealt with things like this before."

"Just do it fast."

•••

Even though she knew the chances were slim, Ryder hoped the last time she'd be in the hospital was when her baby brother was born and any time she would be bringing Aaron lunch. Unfortunately, being apart of the supernatural meant that even the most innocent people would get hurt.

While Lydia Martin was far from innocent, the girl didn't deserve the treatment she received from Tracy. Then again, she was almost certain Lydia knew what she was getting herself into.

Currently, the girl sat in the uncomfortable hospital chairs with Austin and Isaac on either side of her, the Lahey picking Lydia's blood from underneath his fingernails while Austin fiddling with the rings on Ryder's fingers.

Stiles paced in front of the three, anxiously biting his nails as he awaited the results,

"Stiles." Melissa's voice caught their attention.

"How bad is it?"

"Could have been worse. Theo, nice going on that tourniquet. You probably saved her life."

Isaac's brows twitched at the sentence, easily remembering how it was Austin's idea to use the belt. He wanted to speak up but it didn't seem like the George teen was too bothered by the credit going to someone else. He did happen to notice the slightly smug look that Theo held.

"All right. She's about to go into surgery. So it's going to be a while. Any other supernatural details that I need to know about or do we just stitch her up and hope for the best?"

"It was the tail." Kira told the woman.

"Yeah, Tracy cut her with the tail, if that makes a difference."

"Okay."

Malia inhaled sharply, "But it wasn't just Tracy. There were the others. The guys in the masks."

She looked around in hopes of someone believing her. Her shoulders dropped as she watched Stiles, Kira and Scott give her looks of pity. Isaac didn't seem to show whether he believed her or not and the tired bags under Austin's eyes were the only thing she saw.

One thing that caught Malia's eye, however, was the look of understanding that Ryder held.

The Anders girl sent her a firm nod. No words needed to be said, yet Malia understood clearly,

I believe you.

•••

"If 99.9% of our DNA sequence is the same as other humans, what could account for the missing 0.1% difference?" Mrs. Finch asked, looking around for a volunteer to answer, "Theo?"

"Um, nucleotides."

Ms. Finch nodded, "That's right. Yes, Kira?"

"Can there be more than one species in the same DNA?"

"No, but there can be multiple sets of DNA in the same individual. We call that a chimera. Anyone know where that term comes from?"

Austin narrowed his eyes in thought, adjusted his seating a bit as he took a quick glance at the back of the class, locking eyes on Theo who sent a smile in his direction.

Sydney raised her hand, "Greek mythology. It's a lion with a goat coming out of its back and a tail that ends in the head of a snake."

"That's right, Sydney. Do you want to read us the full Wikipedia entry off your phone?" The girls head dropped in embarrassment, "But that does get us into the next topic of mutation.As you know from the reading, DNA is a fragile molecule. Isn't it, Scott? Or did you miss last night's assigned reading?"

Scott winced, "Kind of."

"Kind of or yes?"

"Mostly yes."

"Well, then thank you for another helpful transition in topic. Drop forms. All those now acutely aware that they do not belong in this class, you should fill one out. The rest will be on my desk."

•••

"Did you get in to see Lydia?"

"No. I tried using my free period but she's still in the ICU and no one outside family is allowed in."

"That's usually how it works." Ryder hummed.

"We got one thing."

"Anything in here about half-werewolves, half-Kanimas?" Kira asked.

"The Chimera."

Stiles frowned, "Um, what?"

"Chimera."

"It's a creature made of incongruous parts." Austin voiced, earning an even more confused look from Isaac.

"I failed chemistry." He shrugged,

"It's advanced biology." Ryder's face morphed into a look that he could only describe as disappointment.

"And if Liam said he found two burial sites, it means Tracy's not the only one." Scott finished.

"Who's the second Chimera?"

"And why would they bury them?"

"Deaton thinks it's part of their process.

Malia cleared her throat, "The people in masks."

Once again, her words got sighs from her friends, only this time, she saw that Austin seemed a lot more interested in what she had to say.

•••

"Malia! Hey, Malia!"

The girl turned at the sound of her sister's boyfriend's voice. She wanted to huff and walk away, but the urgency in his tone allowed her to slow down.

"What?"

"Uhm..." He trailed off, breathing heavily, "Give me a minute."

She stared at him with a blank expression, rolling her eyes slightly as he stood up straight,

"Okay, sorry. I noticed that the others weren't too convinced about what you said about the masked men." He watched her jaw clench, "But I want to know."

"No, you don't." She continued her walk,

"No, I do! I swear I do. Ryder's been trying to explain to me everything you've told her but you know how she is with remembering things."

She did know. Anyone who took five minutes to speak to Ryder knew how horrible her memory was.

She scoffed, pursing her lips slightly, "Fine. They were..."

•••

"Can you put your phone away for five minutes? Scott can howl if he needs you."

"I just feel like I should be doing something." Liam nearly groaned

"You are. You're my wingman tonight. And considering the state of my dating life, I need a wingman, co-pilot and a really hot flight attendant."

"I'm definitely not your hot flight attendant."

"Of course you're not." Mason scoffed, "Josie is. Choices are limited, but at least here, you can get drunk."

He failed to notice the way Liam avoided looking at the Anders girl, his cheeks flushing red as the door opened,

Hayden opened the door, the smile on her face falling the second she locked eyes on Liam, "I said I'd let you in. Not him."

"You said I could have a plus one."

"I didn't say plus Liam." She sassed, "And this looks like a plus two."

"But Josie's Josie." Mason grabbed the girls hand to pull her forward,

"And I'm his flight attendant." Liam said.

"What?"

"Wingman. Forget it. I don't have to go in."

Mason removed his hand from Josie's to grip the Dunbar's wrist, "No, you're coming. Okay. How about me, Jo and him...Plus 50?"

"Welcome to Sinema."

•••

The baby on her chest has been sleep for a while now, but Ryder couldn't find it in herself to get up.

Her parents were finally getting sleep, Josie had texted that she was on her way home, Isaac and Austin were at their house and she had decided to spend her night with Jesse.

Unknown to him, he was now filled with knowledge on everyone in the pack. From who she liked the most to least, what they had going on with their families, whether or not they were supernatural.

Jesse had been told all of it.

He was blissfully unaware of the ranting his older sister did, far too busy snoring away and drooling on her chest. The boy probably slept best when Ryder was around, neither of the Anders knew why.

In fact, it was an ongoing joke in the household. They found it funny how the least kid friendly of them all had fallen into Jesse's trap.

Ryder was snapped out of her thoughts by her phone buzzing against the couch cushion. Assuming it was Josie, the girl reached over to respond, only for the content beating of her heart to stutter,

Stiles (sometimes ignore)-

i need help
it was an accident
he was attacking me
ryder please

The last text sent a shiver down her spine,

i killed donovan

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A/N: updates are gonna be slow because damn near every movie/show app has taken teen wolf off 🤦🏾‍♀️