Chapter 13
The next morning however, Theo woke up to an empty bed.
He shot up, looking around his room, finding that empty as well, as well as the bathroom attached. He swung his legs over the side of his bed, grabbing sweats on his way out of his bedroom door. He couldn’t hear Liam anywhere in the house, couldn’t hear him in the building. He made his way down the stairs, seeing that the living room was a mess, the couch cushions torn up, claw marks embedded in his couch.
That was his favorite couch.
He looked around, found that glass had shattered in the kitchen, littering his floor.
How had he not woken up?
That’s when he smelt it.
It smelt of… electricity, and a foreign Alpha.
Fuck.
Ennis had gotten to him. Ennis had gotten to Liam. Ennis took what was his.
“Fuck!” He yelled into the open space of the living room, hands coming up, grabbing his hair.
He looked around the rest of the house. Liam had put up a big fight, he could tell. His boy had always been able to take care of himself, but he should’ve been there. Should’ve been awake. He looked outside of the window, looking down at the street. He saw that there was almost no one, the sky gloomy, a rain storm coming to take over the town. Fitting for the situation at hand.
He made his way back to his room, grabbing his phone, practically ripping it off of the charger. He fumbled with trying to unlock it, having to put the passcode in instead of using his thumbprint. He pulled up Derek’s contact, and was met with a grunt.
“Derek. Ennis, he’s back. They’re all back.” His voice sounded distant, unlike his usual authoritative tone.
“Did they get to Liam?” Derek asked, sounding more alert than when he first answered the phone.
“Yes.” There was rustling on the other side of the phone, Derek saying something to someone, it sounded like Stiles, and then reassured Theo he’d be over in about fifteen minutes.
Theo hung up, phone dropping and clattering against the hardwood of the floor, Theo bringing his hands to his hair again and tugging at the strands, tears filling his eyes. He didn’t know what he would do if Liam died. He didn’t know what he would do if Liam didn’t survive. Liam was his everything. Liam was almost everyone’s everything.
Ennis was ruthless when he found his target. He would torture, maim, and then kill the victim. He’d leave their body parts on doorsteps of people that they loved, would taunt their loved ones with pictures, videos, letters. Anything that would destroy family, friends, and loved ones.
He hadn’t realized that someone was knocking on his door until Derek had broken it in, eyes wide, searching. They locked eyes, and Derek moved forwards, crushing Theo in a bear hug. He gasped softly, light hands going around his shoulders. That was Stiles. The two sandwiched him in a hug.
“We’re going to find him, and we’re going to get him back, Theo. I promise.” Derek said, and he nodded.
He had never been weak like this in front of someone before, never showing this type of emotion.
He pulled away, ducking out of their grasps, wiping at his eyes. He nodded again, picking up all of the tattered remains, Derek and Stiles helping.
Stiles started on the kitchen, bending down to pick up the glass.
“Ouch!” He yelled, and both of them were over in an instant, crouching down in front of him.
Stiles had cut his hand open, blood seeping from his palm.
“I think I’m gonna faint, I can’t look at this.” Stiles did look pale, and Theo looked at Derek.
“Baby, you’re going to be fine. I just gotta stitch it up.” Derek said, and Theo grabbed the first aid kit he kept in the cabinet under the sink, handing it over.
Both men worked on cleaning and stitching the wound, Stiles flinching at the press of the needle against his skin.
“Talk to me baby, about anything.” Derek said, wiping away some more of the blood off of his palm.
“Used to have to stitch Liam up almost all the time…” Stiles said, and Theo looked up. They locked eyes.
“Why?” He asked.
“His father. And when he would fight.” Stiles answered, and Theo raised an eyebrow.
“My baby. Fighting? That doesn’t sound like Liam.” He said, and Stiles smiled a little, most of the pain having been gone by now.
“There’s still a few things you don’t know about him.” He said, and Theo nodded a bit.
He was right, Theo didn’t know. But he wanted to. He wanted to learn every fact and part of Liam. Wanted to learn the odds and ins of him. Wanted to know what made him tick, what made him smile the brightest.
He wanted to know everything about Liam.
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The first day was planning.
They found a few of the routes that Ennis had taken, the dumbass. They tracked the plates, tracked the routes, seeing if they led anywhere.
They came up with nothing. Utter shit.
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The second day was much of the same.
Derek had to hold Theo down when he went into a rage, his wolf angry at everyone.
Theo had to be put into a room with a solid steel door, no wolf able to get out of it from the inside.
Theo cried.
He cried, and cried, and cried. Crying out for Liam, crying for the people he’s lost, crying for not protecting anyone well enough.
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The third day is when Derek came crashing down.
Ennis had, in the middle of the night, gotten to Stiles.
Ennis had taken Derek’s mate.
Theo was the one to hold Derek back now, Derek snarling and growling at everyone, even his own mother.
“They took him!” He yelled to the group, and they all flinched back, the boom of the Alpha’s tone frightening.
“They took him.”
Theo understood.
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The fourth day is when they had gotten a hit.
Ennis had sent a photograph.
The envelope had smelt strongly of pine and oak, all signs of being in the woods. Deep in the woods.
They had opened it, seeing that both of their boys were bleeding, Stiles having cuts and scratches on his stomach, Liam faring much the same, left eye bruised, purple powder sitting on his cheek.
Wolfsbane.
Fuck.
Theo and Derek slammed their fists down onto the table.
They wanted blood, and they wanted it now.
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Day five and six passed by slowly, nothing new coming in the mail, no new signs of Ennis. Theo and Derek had barely slept, barely eaten unless their families forced food into them.
Theo had to talk to Katherine, Lily and Lauren, telling them that their nephew and brother wasn’t going to be coming home any time soon.
Katherine had yelled at him, Lily had cried, and Lauren had stayed silent.
Lauren was the first to inflict anything physical on him.
“You piece of fucking shit! I fucking hate you! You needed to keep him safe, you promised!” She punched him in the chest, kicked, flailed.
“Lauren—” He started, but she cut him off with a strangled sound, a mix between a yell and a sob.
“My baby brother is out there, and he could be dead because of you!” Theo already knew this.
He already knew all of it.
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Day seven was one of the worst days they had gone through.
Ennis had sent a video this time.
It showed both of their boys, tied up, weak, malnourished.
Ennis had shown Liam first, grabbing him by his throat, pressing a knife against it. Liam showed no emotion, something Theo had told him to do.
Never show weakness to your enemy.
Ennis had cut Liam up a bit, growling and yelling at him, Stiles flinching in the corner.
They were both so strong, it was scary to see.
Ennis moved onto Stiles when he was done with Liam.
Stiles did the same as Liam.
Showed no emotion.
Theo felt his claws pop out, heard Derek’s come out as well.
Then both of them screamed.
Derek and Theo looked up again, and they saw that Ennis had embedded a knife into Stiles, shoving wolfsbane into Liam.
They covered their mouths, shock and anger coursing through them. They needed to do something, and they needed to do it now.
If they didn’t? They’d lose their mates. Their lifeline.
Their home.
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The Hale and Raeken family came together as one, all past and present qualms thrown out of the window. Talia and Ms. Raeken found the main area that Ennis was in.
He was deep into the woods, deeper than anyone would ever dare go in.
Oh, but they didn’t care. They’d get them back, no matter what it took.
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Day eight was extraction day.
They had found the cabin in the woods, hearing the staggering breathing of Stiles and Liam, hearing Ennis taunt them, telling them that no one was coming for them, that they were going to wither away alone.
Like hell.
Derek broke down the door, Ennis whipping around, movements too slow to register anything remotely close to a fighting stance. Theo moved past them, Derek knocking him out in one solid punch.
Theo fell to his knees in front of Liam, grabbing his face in both hands, Liam’s eyes distant and cloudy.
“Baby, baby, I’m right here. I’m right here, don’t worry. We’re going to get you out of here.” Liam attempted to nod, but his head fell back, revealing bruises littered all over, finger indentations wrapped around his throat like a vice.
Theo looked over to Derek and Stiles, Stiles bleeding out in several places, fading in and out of consciousness.
They both got Stiles and Liam out and to the cars, Derek having his mother drive the SUV, and Theo having his uncle drive his BMW. They weren’t letting them go, weren’t letting either of them out of their sight.
They were just lucky to have their boys back.