𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

𝘞𝘈𝘓𝘓𝘚 𝘊𝘓𝘖𝘚𝘐𝘕𝘎 𝘐𝘕

━━━  FOR ONCE, A PLAN THAT MEILANI MARIE MCCALL ACTUALLY PLAYED OUT THE WAY IT SHOULD HAVE. Rafe was still in town, but he was under the impression that Meilani and the pack were out of town, far away from the drama that was circling around Monroe and her ragtag pack of hunters. She'd even successfully plotted out a way to make Nolan and the hunters think that her and the pack were hiding out in the zoo in town that had been permanently closed for years now. No one had even bothered to touch around that area, some speculating that it was now haunted.

With what? Meilani wasn't sure, but she would rather see the ghost of giant elephants than have to deal with a group of hunters . . . again. Seriously, Meilani thought she was done and over with the drama that hunters liked to bring around with them, thinking they were God's gift to the Earth because they took out things that never even bothered to touch them in the first place.

No offense to Chris, of course. Meilani loved him. His father, however? Not so much.

"It worked!" Lydia sighed in relief, her phone beeping with a text from Liam to let her know that he, Theo and Mason had successfully trailed off Nolan to the zoo, two other hunters having showed up to meet him. It would give them an open opportunity to scope out the abandoned building that Gerard used to house his weapons.

"It's about time," Malia huffed in annoyance, reaching across Meilani to try and open the door that the Alpha currently used to prop herself up, legs thrown over Malia's lap while Isaac absently played with the laces on her red converses.

"Wait," Meilani snapped her hand out, gripping lightly onto Malia's wrist. Her ears perked up to the sounds around them . . . hearing more heartbeats than she had when they first arrived around fifteen minutes ago. "You guys hear those heartbeats, too, right? Or did I finally go fucking crazy? There's like ten of them."

Isaac moved his ear closer to the window on his side of the car, as if moving the three inches he did would help him hear any better than him being in Meilani's presence who heightened all of his abilities to begin with. "No . . . there's gotta be more than that."

Lydia puffed out her cheeks, rolling her green eyes and glancing over her shoulder from the front seat of Chris' Jeep and looking at her friends. "Are we breaking in or not?"

"Not!" Chris denied instantly, shifting in his seat so he could properly shoot a stern expression to every teenager in the car. "The armory should be empty by now."

"We can take down a few hunters if we have to," Malia waved off Chris with a small scoff, not a single ounce of fear or hesitance in her tone.

"Malia, we are dealing with a dozen well-armed hunters who have orders to kill you on sight," Chris reminded the werecoyote, shooting her a look to seriously think about what kind of trouble she'd really be getting herself and the rest of the pack into if they just stormed out of the Jeep right then.

Malia slapped her hands to Meilani's shins in her lap and looked annoyed that they would probably be stuck in the car for even longer than they already were. "Then how are we supposed to get inside?" She startled slightly when Chris switched on the Jeep, having every intent to just peel out of the desolate parking lot but Malia shut it off not even two seconds after he'd switched it on. "Gerard thinks we're gone. It's a good plan! It's our only plan."

Chris banged his forehead lightly on the leather steering wheel with a frustrated groan. "Yeah, and it's not working. So I don't think so, Malia."

"We can still do this!" Malia argued back with the older man, collapsing back in her seat and pouting. "Why can't we just vote on it?"

"Listen, I'm usually all for positive pep talks and going in guns blazing . . . but we need to give Liam and Theo more time. Let them work everything out before we do something drastic," Meilani announced to the occupants of the car, brown eyes sweeping around all of them.

Chris pulled his face away from the steering wheel and checked over the watch around his wrist, tugging back the sleeve of his leather jacket. "We have ten minutes. Ten minutes before Gerard's people flag this vehicle. Once that happens, we'll be seen as a potential threat. Then they'll pay us a visit."

Meilani hummed, eyes then shifting to Lydia who had a distant look on her face with her hand stretched out towards the windshield. She furrowed her eyebrows in soft concern, gently placing her hand on Lydia's shoulder to snap her out of whatever trance she was in. "Lyds, you okay?"

Lydia blinked rapidly a few times, grounding herself back on planet Earth once again. "Uh . . . yeah. I — I think so."

"We should call off this mission," Chris said, shaking his head as Meilani's hand fell from Lydia's shoulder. 

Meilani scooted over a bit and poked her head around Chris' seat, fixing him with a defiant look. One that he's gotten many times from the alpha and one that he dreaded every time because it only meant chaos and angst was to follow it. "Brett and Lori are gone and we still don't know what happened to Jiang and Tierney after they left the station the other night. Gerard's always one step ahead of us. We have to do this now."

Chris frowned and exhaled heavily at the teenager, silently hating that he had to let her down but he had to. If he just let the pack go in without thinking of the consequences and they got hurt, he'd never forgive himself. And neither would Melissa. "We're too exposed, Mei."

Malia popped her head in over Meilani's and flashed Chris a scheming grin. "You did say we had ten minutes."

Chris checked his watch again and stared deadpanningly at the two girls. "Nine."

Meilani winked at Chris and made a joke about being able to do it in five, but was stopped short when Lydia whipped around at the sound of Meilani going to step out of the car. "What? I'm gonna lure them away so that we can go inside. We need a new plan!"

Isaac offered Meilani an exasperated look, reaching over to pull her back from the door while Malia locked it. "Not a dumb one. You know, you really need to stop blocking me out from the mind thing so I can stop you before you do dumb shit. Your fiancé would thank you for it later."

"Wha — I can bring the thermite charges," Meilani countered, motioning to the trunk where a bunch of Chris' weapons sat just waiting to be used.

"Which we need to get into the armory," Malia reminded Meilani who huffed and collapsed back against the door again with a dramatic pout.

"Mei, explosion will buy you time, but not enough to get in and out safely. Tunnels are also off limits because we can get underneath the building, but we'll still need to be able to sneak in undetected. Ventilation system serves the same problem."

"Guys!" Lydia shouted over the commotion that the pack started with each other, apparently having been trying to get their attention for a few moments now judging by the annoyance etched into her face. "They're leaving."

Much to Lydia's words, two car engines turned over and the occupants of the Jeep all glanced over to see two SUVs pulling out of spots near the ramp that lead up to the entrance of the building and out of the parking lot. Looks like they just got their way in.

With most of the hunters parading around the building gone, the pack and Chris didn't need much force to get inside. Malia was able to knock out the one hunter they saw patrolling the corridors they'd been running down and she merely dragged him behind her as if he were just a sack of potatoes. It was almost too easy, but Meilani tried not to think about it too much before it freaked her out and made her start to over think. Well  . . . overthink more than usual.

"The thermite charges will take care of the weapons," Chris informed Meilani as they all stepped through the door that lead to even more corridors that broke off into different sections, motioning to the duffle bag full of weapons over Meilani's shoulder. She was beginning to feel like Sam and Dean Winchester again. "Just make sure you're clear before they detonate, okay?"

"I'll try my best," Meilani assured Chris before she jerked her head to the side, signaling for Isaac and Malia to follow after her down the corridor that would lead to the armory room. 

The three supernatural teens made their way through the looping corridors, bright white beams of light patched to the wall every few feet to give the fully concrete area some light. They had been having a good run up until the hallway leading up to the door for the armory where Meilani heard another hunter's heartbeat. Though, the heartbeat wasn't strong for long as Malia whipped around the corner and knocked him out in two seconds flat. Meilani didn't even get a chance to tug Malia back and she merely sighed, just grateful there was only the one hunter and they could get into the armory.

Stepping into the room, it was dimly lit, the only light coming from the sun through the industrial fans in the ceiling. The tall, metal shelvings along one side of the room were basically vacant save for a few wooden boxes that were also empty. A few crates littered the space that were closed over, a random worktable thrown into one corner of the room where the hunters probably worked on their weapons.

"Okay . . . where are all the guns?" Malia questioned out loud, voicing Meilani and Isaac's own mirroring thoughts. 

Meilani threw her head back and huffed out an annoyed breath, tugging a hand through her hair. "They knew we were coming." She stalked over to one of the crates and propped it open, seeing it empty like she'd expected. Of course . . . their luck would only go so far. It got them in, but their luck surely would not have lasted long for them to actually get in around Gerard.

Static sparked over the intercom on the wall and Meilani, Isaac and Malia all snapped their gazes over to the small box as Chris' voice filtered out. "Guys, get out there now."

Malia took tentative steps backwards towards the exit and jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "He's right. We should go before they all get back."

Before Meilani and Malia could get too far, Isaac tugged them both back with his eyes focused somewhere outside the door. Almost like he was fixated on trying to figure something out. "Guys, you don't smell that? It's Jiang and Tierney."

"Guys, you need to leave now!"

Meilani paused when she finally caught the scent that Isaac had picked up on, her brain instantly kicking into overdrive as she worked through how they could save the two wolves. She followed the scent towards the massive, steel door just to the right of where they came in and Meilani jerked her head towards it, telling Isaac and Malia to help her pull it open. Together, the three supernatural teens wrapped their hands around the handle and grunted as they tugged on the massively heavy door. Just when Meilani began to worry they wouldn't be able to get it open . . . the door finally slid open a crack.

However, the second it did . . . it set off alarms throughout the entire building. A loud, blaring sound that pierced Meilani, Isaac and Malia's ears as the door they came in through flew shut with a loud slam. Effectively locking in Meilani, Isaac and Malia to the room and Meilani had never been grateful that all the hunters had left to go off wherever they did.

While Malia ran to the door with Isaac to try and get the door to open, Meilani slowly stepped into the room the massive door lead to. It was a tiny, rectangular shaped room with a map on the wall with a few red pins already stuck into certain sections of it. A shelf beneath the map held a skull of some animal along with two fangs from a werewolf and a tiny fur patch. On the right wall Meilani noticed a wolf paw and a small patch of flesh in a glass casing. The sight alone was enough to make her want to vomit. Especially when Meilani realized that . . . these were taken from Jiang and Tierney. If the three circles stacked on top of each other on the piece of flesh was anything to go by.

They were dead . . . and now in pieces.

"Did you find Jiang and Tierney?" Isaac asked, running over to Meilani after their attempts to get the door to break open failed them.

Meilani's ghostly pale face and horror struck expression alerted Isaac and Meilani as the alpha stumbled back a few steps. "This . . . is them. It's — it's what's left of them."

Meilani needed to get out of that room as the walls seemed to be closing in on her the more she stood around the decimated pieces of Jiang and Tierney, a morbid and horrific sort of museum displaying them. She went to stumble out of the room, going to push Isaac out of the way when Isaac suddenly wrapped his arms around her middle and tugged her back. She opened her mouth to ask him what happened, when her eyes caught on the red line trailing along the floor like they did all the high security places late at night to stop intruders from getting in. 

"What is that?" Malia inquired, shoving herself into the small space left in the doorway to peer down at the red laser beam scooting around the room. 

"It's a motion sensor," Meilani informed the Tate girl, deflating against Isaac with a sigh as they now had a new obstacle in their way. Not like they could really get out in the first place with the door being sealed shut. 

Malia's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and she tore her gaze over to Meilani and Isaac. "If they already know we're here, then what do they need a sensor for?"

Isaac snorted and raised his own eyebrows in Malia's direction. "Malia, I really don't think that's a question we want answered right now."

A banging sound was heard next, causing the trio to glance up towards the industrial fans that had suddenly stopped spinning around and around. Meilani hadn't even taken notice to the lack of sound coming from them as she'd been so focused on the fact that Jiang and Tierney hadn't only been killed but brutally torn up afterwards as if they were animals. 

"DON'T TRIP THE SENSORS!" Chris' voice came, low and would have been inaudible had it not been for the trio's wolf hearing.

"Guess we're going parkour," Meilani mumbled, pushing away from Isaac and ducking and leaping over the two sensors. She clambered up on top of the shelving and motioned for Isaac and Malia to join her. It was a point that the sensors couldn't reach and they'd be safe up there until they somehow got a way out of there.

Once Malia and Isaac got their own ways up onto the shelving next to Meilani, it gave the alpha a chance to sort of relax as the beams no longer touched them. Though a third one now kicked on, looming a few feet above their heads, making the trio have to keep their cheeks pressed to the top of the shelving unit they brought themselves onto.

Malia's eyes drifted to something on the ceiling, her head tilting as if in thought. "Okay, I think I have a plan. Might have found our way out."

Meilani followed Malia's eye line of sight to window in the ceiling, a tiny lock hooked into it to keep the window from flying open and letting in leaves or the weather. Moss and leaves coated the entire window and . . . it also just so happened to be in a spot where they couldn't reach it because it was over open air and not over one of the shelves. "And how do you expect us to reach that, Lia? You might trip a sensor even attempting to do it."

With a nonchalant shrug, Malia somehow managed her way over to the metal siding of the support beams in the room. She'd narrowly missed the third sensor as she leapt onto the beam and hauled herself up onto the beam along the ceiling that was right next to the window. Malia's hand struck out with her claws already grown, swiping at the lock. However, the first two times didn't work and she dipped her head back to glance at Meilani and Isaac who gave her encouraging thumbs up. Thankfully, on the third try . . . Malia was able to break off the lock and send it sailing to the ground.

Unfortunately for the trio, the broken piece of the lock fell right onto the sensor beam and alarms blared, shooting out white mist all around the room. Meilani and Isaac grunted as they both got knocked off the top of the shelving unit and right down to the concrete flooring, Isaac landing on top of Meilani with thump while Malia yelped and crashed next to them on the floor.

It took Meilani only two seconds to realize that the mist shooting out wasn't smoke . . . but wolfsbane.

Almost instantly, a cold sweat began to break out on the three teens as Isaac limply rolled off Meilani's back and whined when his now aching body hit the cold concrete floor. The trio all laid next to each other with Meilani in between them, chests heaving up and down as their bodies circulated the wolfsbane throughout their bodies. Meilani could feel her body growing weaker and weaker by the second, Malia and Isaac's heartbeats stuttering in their chests on either side of her. Her brown eyes fluttered dizzily as her body reacted harshly to the wolfsbane.

"I'm — I'm not dying like this . . ." Malia rasped, words stuttering and gasping as she coughed weakly.

"Lia, don't talk," Meilani whispered, squeezing her eyes shut as she internally begged her body to not shut down on her. "The more you talk the more oxygen you — "

"I don't care," Malia huffed weakly, slowly shaking her head side to side. "I was supposed to go to France. I'm eighteen! I haven't been anywhere. There's still so many things I want to do. I don't wanna die here. Not here. Not like this."

Meilani's heart ached in her chest and her hand reached over limply to lay over Malia's, her fingers curling around the werecoyote's the best she could in her weakened state. Her other hand was encompassed by Isaac's hand when he noticed her go to take Malia's hand. For once, Meilani had no encouraging words and she didn't know if it was because her mind spun from the lack of energy or if because she secretly thought the same as Malia.

She didn't want to die here. Not before she got to marry Stiles. Not before she got to have mini Stiles and Meilani's running about, adorably calling all of the pack their aunts and uncles. Not before she got to see Stiles again and hear him call her the prettiest girl in the world. The term he used just to get her to stop being mad at him . . . which she secretly loved more than anything on the Earth even though she always told Stiles she didn't.

Before Meilani's thoughts could go any further than it already had, a Banshee scream was heard on the other side of the door just moments before the door burst open and Chris and Lydia rushed in. 

Meilani had never been more happy to hear an "I told you so" from Chris Argent in her life.

Once Meilani, Isaac and Malia got dropped off back at the McCall house, Meilani excused herself for five minutes to shower. Sweating made her feel absolutely disgusting and the wolfsbane alone made her feel like she'd need about seven showers after just to remove the smell from her brain. No one stopped her, though, and Meilani was in and out of the shower quickly since Chris had stolen the map from Gerard's armory room and brought it to the house to look it over.

As Meilani came downstairs to go over the map with everyone, she froze in the archway of the kitchen when she noticed Rafe stood in the kitchen with everyone. The kitchen door was wide open to the outside which indicated the Rafe male only just entered the premises. She rolled her lips into her mouth at the sight of him as he was supposed to think she and the others were out of town, though he didn't look necessarily confused on seeing her. 

"Dad? What — what are you doing here?" Meilani questioned, slowly entering the room as she tugged her wet hair out from Stiles' lacrosse hoodie that she'd scooped up from her bed on the way out of the shower. 

"Gerard's guns, they've been legally handed out to the citizens of Beacon Hills. All of them and at no charge," Rafe explained, actually appearing to be worried and nervous for the occupants of the room.

Meilani's heart flew right to her feet and the nausea she'd felt before thanks to the wolfsbane was now back full force. "What, he just gave them out?!"

Chris gulped quietly, shaking his head as he gravely raised his head. "No, he's building his army."

"Get down!" Lydia screamed, grabbing onto Mason's arm and throwing them both to the floor.

Not even a moment later did two arrows fly through the kitchen window and plant themselves into the wall on the other side of the room. Gasping, Meilani grabbed onto Malia and Isaac, throwing the three of them to the ground and protecting all three of their heads from the flying arrows and bullets that rained through the now broken kitchen window. Glass shards rained down from the kitchen window and Rafe dropped to his knees, gripping onto his own gun as he readied it in case someone tried to leap through the window.

Meilani wasn't sure how long the bullets carried on for, but she didn't move her protective stance over Isaac and Malia until she was sure that the bullets and arrows had stopped. She slowly raised her head and stared at the kitchen window, half expecting a second round to come through but nothing followed. She didn't get the time to relax, however, when the scent of blood heavily infiltrated her senses.

Slowly turning her head from the window, Meilani noticed a pool of blood racing its way towards her, Malia and Isaac. Her brown eyes followed the trail and a broken sob burst out as she fell onto her ass when she saw that the pool of blood lead directly to none other than Melissa McCall.

Melissa had been shot.

word count: ( 3.9k )

CHAPTERS REMAINING: 4

— I LOVE ENDING CHAPTERS ON ANGST! ellis, you better be fucking proud of me because i just thought "what would ellis do?" the whole time i wrote that last bit. so . . . VALIDATE ME! but also . . . we get to see jackson and ethan next chapter so i'm vibing so hard right now ya'll don't even knoooowww.

— i'm also gonna say this now because i'm gonna hit once i post this chapter but . . . THANK YA'LL SO MUCH FOR 10K READS ON THIS BAD BOY! i am so honored that you are loving my queen as much as i do. meilani is my actual baby and i will die for her any day of the week. she deserves better than what i give to her but it's alright because im gonna yeet stiles back at her in a few chaps so !!!

THE LUNAR CHRONICLES FACT OF THE CHAPTER:

so i've gotten asked this a few times so i thought i'd make it a fact but . . . these chapters generally take me anywhere from 2 to 4 hours to write. it usually depends on fight scenes and how much description i need for each scene. sometimes i fully skip a scene and kinda just describe it if it kinda blends into the scene after that to make it easier. but at this point, all of my chapters are usually anywhere from 3k to nearly 10k so these bad boys really do take me some time.

so i thank everyone who takes the time to comment on these chapters because they're my motivation to keep going and actually work the 2 to 4 hours on these bad boys that i do. it's all for you guys and i just love that you guys are vibing with this like i am. still sad there's only four chapters left but i ain't thinking about that right now to save myself heartache. thank you.