[fourteen]
more bad than good

ALEX GASPED AS she jolted up into a sitting position in her bed. She blew out a few breaths as she let her body relax from the shock she just experienced.

As usual, the girl couldn't sleep.

"For fucks sake." Alex mumbled annoyedly as she checked her phone, which was on her nightstand next to her bed.

She received a text from Scott letting her know that they were coming to pick her up in two minutes, despite it being in the middle of the night.

Alex frowned but got up anyway, getting ready.

••••

Stiles, Alex, and Scott walked in the woods, Stiles holding the flashlight.

The trio came across a coyote den, all three teens climbing in.

There, they found a stuffed animal, along with jackets and other items.

"It's a coyote den." Stiles spoke.

"Werecoyote." Scott corrected him.

Stiles grabbed one of the jackets. "This is Malia's, remember? It was the same one she was wearing in the photo." He shone the flashlight on the jacket.

"We shouldn't be in here." Alex spoke, glancing around the den as Scott picked up the stuffed animal.

"What do you mean?" Stiles frowned.

"She's not gonna come back now, we just invaded her home." Alex released a breath, Scott nodding. "Our scent's gonna be everywhere."

"Well, if she's not gonna come back here, where is she gonna go?" Stiles frowned.

"No idea." Alex replied as she glanced at Scott to see if he knew. Scott shook his head.

"Can you guys track her now? You think you got her scent?" Stiles questioned.

"Maybe." Alex spoke, frowning.

"Yeah, I'm better at this when I'm a full wolf." Scott added. "And I'm still worried that if I do it, I won't be able to turn back."

Alex nodded as a way to say 'me too'.

"The door's still open..." Stiles spoke quietly, referring to what Deaton had said about the door in their minds.

"If I can't get to Derek, I'm gonna have to find somebody else to help." Scott replied.

Alex glanced at Stiles. "This is basically a crime scene, right? I think it might be a little out of Deaton's league."

"And more in my dads." Stiles finished as he glanced at the girl.

••••

Noah walked up to Scott, Alex, and Stiles. He was holding Malia's scarf. "You're sure it was her?"

"I looked at her right in the eyes. And they glowed, just like mine and Alex's." Scott responded.

"I saw it too." Alex nodded.

"It makes sense, dad." Stiles added.

"But it wasn't a girl, it was four-legged coyote, right?" Noah clarified with a frown.

"Okay, but- well, yeah, you see that's the part that we don't exactly have figured out...yet..." Stiles responded awkwardly.

"But if it was a full moon and she did change while her mom was driving, then anything could've happened." Alex spoke, Noah glancing at her.

"Horrible things could've happened." Stiles added. "Ripping, shredding, tearing, things-"

"Which is probably what caused the accident." Scott cut him off.

"Think about it, dad, alright?" Stiles started. "They're driving. Malia starts to change, she goes out of control, the mom crashes, and everybody dies."

"Except for Malia." Alex finished.

"She blames herself, right?" Stiles continued. "Goes off running into the woods, and- and eventually becomes trapped inside the body of a coyote."

"That makes sense." Noah spoke, Stiles releasing a relieved breath, Alex and Scott raising their eyebrows in surprise. "In a Chinese folk tale! Kids, this is...this is insane! I need this kept quiet. The three of you, not a word. I don't want anyone hearing about this."

The trio shared glances, however, Scott noticed something in the distance.

"I especially don't want Mr Tate hearing about this." Noah continued. Noticing how Scott was glancing elsewhere, Noah frowned. "Scott?"

"Sorry." Scott replied, his attention falling back onto Noah. "What did you say?"

Before Noah could respond, a police car pulled up, Mr Tate and Rafe McCall coming out.

"Oh, hell." Noah sighed exasperatedly, annoyance lacing his tone. "Mr Tate." He spoke as Mr Tate and Rafe approached the four. Mr Tate took the scarf Noah was holding and glanced at it with a frown.

"It's hers." Mr Tate spoke quietly as he continued to glance at the scarf.

"Alright...wait here." Rafe spoke to Scott.

"Dad." Scott frowned.

"I'll talk to you in a minute." Rafe responded, glancing at his son. "I wouldn't mind hearing how your mom's okay with you running around in the woods this late."

••••

"Here's where we found the den." Stiles spoke as he showed Allison his tablet, which had the location of the den on it. "It's right in the middle of the hiking trails."

"Well, that could narrow it down." Allison spoke. "Coyotes travel on fixed trails. But I think you're right about her not going back to the den." She glanced at Alex, who nodded.

"Coyotes don't like wolves, and they're really smart. If they don't wanna be found, they actually walk on their toes." Allison added, glancing between the three.

"Coyotes tip-toe?" Stiles frowned.

"They tip-toe." Alex sighed.

The bell then rang, signifying the start of the next class.

"I gotta go, but send me the pinned location." Allison spoke to the group.

"Okay." Stiles nodded as Allison walked off, Scott, Stiles, and Alex going over to sit at their normal desks.

••••

Stiles glanced at the page he was supposed to read to the class, the words not making sense to him.

Stiles frowned, his vision beginning to go blurry. "Come on. Come on." He whispered to himself as the words got blurrier and harder to understand. Stiles closed his eyes tightly, his hands gripping onto the side of the lectern.

Alex and Scott shared a glance as they noticed Stiles struggling. Stiles glanced at the class, his vision still blurry and hazy.

"Stiles?" Alex spoke, standing up, Scott standing too. "You okay?"

Stiles began to breathe heavily, and Alex immediately knew what was happening. A panic attack.

Stiles stumbled a little, Alex and Scott both rushing to get to his side.

"We should take him to the nurses office." Scott spoke to Mr Yukimura, who nodded, Scott and Alex immediately guiding Stiles out of the classroom.

••••

Stiles stumbled into the locker room, Scott and Alex following behind.

"Stiles, look at me man, is this a panic attack?" Scott asked as Stiles began to breathe heavily.

Alex suddenly felt a sharp pain shoot through her head, the girl gasping and holding a hand over her head.

Stiles stumbled over to the sink, his hands tightly gripping the sides of it as he tried to keep himself steady.

Alex groaned in pain as she slid to the floor, her back leaning against the wall next to the sink Stiles was leaning on.

"Alex?" Scott frowned.

"I'm- I'm fine." Alex spoke in between gasps as she groaned, her hand still over her head as she tightly closed her eyes. "Stiles...help- help Stiles." The girl groaned again in pain as she began to hear ringing.

"It's just a dream." Stiles gasped as he looked in the mirror. "This is just a dream."

"No, it's not." Scott shook his head, glancing between Stiles and Alex. He didn't know who to help first. "This is real. You're here. You're here with me. And Alex. Okay, um..."

Alex groaned again, this time, both her hands going to the sides of her head and over her ears in an attempt to stop the ringing. Alex tightly shut her eyes, however, she gasped as she opened them again, her werewolf eyes glowing.

Scott glanced at her with worry, however, Alex managed to shake her head, insisting that Scott help Stiles first.

"What do you do?" Scott spoke as he glanced at Stiles, doing what Alex had asked. He didn't want to put her through any more stress than what she was already experiencing. "I mean, like, how do you tell if you're awake or dreaming?"

Alex groaned again, the ringing in her ears getting louder. Alex's werewolf eyes stopped glowing as she tightly shut her eyes.

"Your fingers." Stiles replied in between breaths. "You count your fingers. You have extra fingers in dreams."

The ringing got so loud that Alex couldn't even hear Scott and Stiles anymore.

Suddenly, the ringing stopped, Alex taking her hands off her ears slowly. She opened her eyes once it stopped, realising Stiles was sitting next to her.

"What the hell's happening to me?" Stiles asked between breaths. "What's happening to Alex?"

"We'll figure it out. You're gonna be okay. Both of you." Scott spoke, glancing between the two.

"Are we?" Stiles frowned as he glanced at Scott. "Are you?"

Alex released a few breaths as she began to calm down.

"Scott, you can't transform, Alex can't sleep or transform either, Allison's being haunted by her dead aunt..." Stiles continued. "And I'm straight up losing my mind. We can't do this. We can't- we can't help Malia. We can't help anyone."

Alex frowned as she glanced between Scott and Stiles.

"We can try." Scott replied softly. "We can always try."

••••

"Allison's a perfect shot." Scott spoke as Deaton explained the part of the plan that required someone to shoot Mr Tate with a tranquillising dart.

"She used to be." Isaac added. Alex crossed her arms.

Scott glanced at Isaac. "She can do it."

"If we manage to find the thing." Isaac replied, frowning.

"Okay, what is the point of him?" Stiles spoke annoyedly, gesturing to Isaac. "Seriously, what is his purpose? Aside from the persistent negativity...and the scarf. What's up with the scarf anyway? It's sixty five degrees out."

Alex covered up her chuckle with a cough.

"Look, maybe I'm just asking the question no one wants to ask." Isaac glared at Stiles as he moved on. "How do we turn a coyote back into a girl, when she hasn't been a girl for eight years?"

"I can do it." Scott spoke quietly.

"You can?" Alex raised her eyebrows.

"You guys remember the night Peter trapped us in the school?" Scott spoke, glancing between Alex and Stiles.

The two nodded.

"In the gym, he was able to make me turn using just his voice." Scott explained. "Deucalion did the same thing in the distillery."

"This is a werecoyote, Scott." Deaton replied. "Who knows if it'll even work if you can find someone who can teach you."

"That's why you called Derek first." Alex realised.

"Yeah. I can try it on my own." Scott blew out a breath. "But right now I'm too scared to even change into just a werewolf."

"We need a real alpha." Stiles sighed. Scott and Alex glanced at him, Alex frowning. At the glances, Stiles continued. "You know what I mean. An alpha who can do alpha things, you know? An alpha who can get it going, you know, get it-"

"Up?" Isaac finished with raised eyebrows, Alex widening her eyes.

"Great." Scott sighed. "I'm an alpha with...performance issues."

"Is there anyone else besides Derek who could help?" Deaton changed the subject. Luckily for Alex.

"I wouldn't trust Peter." Alex replied.

"Maybe the twins?" Stiles asked.

"They're not alphas anymore." Deaton replied, Alex frowning. "After what Jennifer did, almost killing them? It broke that part of them."

"Alright, but what if they know how to do it?" Stiles spoke.

"Nobody's seen them for weeks." Scott frowned.

"Well, actually, that's, uh, not totally true..." Stiles replied.

••••

Stiles opened the doors to Derek's loft, him, Alex, Lydia, and Scott walking in.

"They said they'd meet us here." Lydia frowned.

Suddenly, one of the twins punched Scott in the jaw roughly, Alex, Lydia, and Stiles immediately turning around in surprise.

The twins both grabbed Scott and threw him to the floor.

Stiles guided Alex and Lydia to the side quickly.

The twins continued to beat up Scott, Stiles cringing.

Scott groaned as he spat out some blood to the side. "I thought you guys were gonna teach me how to roar." He spoke raspily.

"We are." Aiden replied. "You do it by giving in."

"Giving in and letting go. That's how Deucalion taught us control." Ethan spoke as he grabbed Scott's collar, pulling him up.

"You know what, that's funny, I actually tried something just like this one time using a heart rate monitor and lacrosse balls, but you're right, beating the living crap out of him is probably a lot better." Stiles spoke sarcastically.

"That's actually the plan?" Scott frowned at the twins. "You kick my ass?"

"You're afraid to turn. We're gonna make you." Aiden replied.

"You turn, then you kick our asses." Ethan added.

"And then you roar." Aiden spoke before roaring, his blue werewolf eyes glowing and his canines baring.

"You don't think you can let go with us?" Ethan questioned.

"What, you think you're gonna hurt us?" Aiden added as he turned back to his human form, pushing Scott.

"Come on McCall." Ethan spoke. "Give it your all. We can always heal."

Scott then tried to punch Ethan, Ethan blocking it and punching him in the gut roughly, Scott groaning.

Alex cringed. "That's gotta hurt..."

"You're an alpha." Aiden spoke as he punched Scott in the face. "You wanna roar like one, you've gotta give in full throttle. You've gotta be the monster. Become the beast, become everything you're afraid of."

"That's what gives you power, gives you strength." Ethan added.

Scott swung at the twins but missed, Aiden elbowing his back, sending him down to the floor.

"Giving into it doesn't mean you're the bad guy." Aiden spoke as Scott spat out more blood.

"So long as you can control it." Ethan added.

"Sometimes control's a little overrated." Aiden finished as he kicked Scott in the stomach. Scott groaned.

"Come on, Scott, fight back." Alex spoke with a frown.

"What if I can't control it?" Scott spoke raspily. "What if I can't turn back?"

"Then it takes over. You become Malia. You get further and further away from being human. You turn into an animal. Or worse." Ethan explained.

"You turn into Peter." Aiden finished.

Scott stood up slowly, wiping some blood off his mouth with his sleeve as he charged at the twins. Aiden immediately pinned him to the table, Lydia looking away.

Aiden began to punch Scott in the face repeatedly, Alex widening her eyes at the sight.

Ethan lunged at Aiden, holding his fist to prevent him from hurting Scott even more than he already did.

"What?! I thought we were helping him." Aiden spoke between breaths.

"You help too much." Ethan responded.

Aiden glanced down at Scott, only to find him hazy, blood coating his mouth.

Scott spat blood out to the side of him.

••••

"Anyone else think we might be doing more harm than good?" Lydia asked as she glanced between Alex, Stiles, Scott, Allison, and Isaac.

"We're trying to keep a father from killing his own daughter." Scott explained.

"Actually we're trying to keep a guy from killing a coyote." Isaac corrected, to which Alex sent him an annoyed glare. "Who's actually his daughter, who we don't know how to change from a coyote back to his daughter."

"And again with the not helping." Stiles spoke sarcastically, raising his eyebrows at Isaac.

"Sometimes I wonder why I ever dated you." Alex spoke to Isaac, crossing her arms.

"Let me remind you it was me who broke up with you, okay?" Isaac replied with a frown.

"Oh, yeah, that's great, remind me of the night I cried myself to sleep." Alex replied sarcastically, raising her eyebrows.

Before Isaac could respond, Scott changed the subject as he glanced at Allison. "Did you bring it?"

Allison pulled out the tranquilliser gun.

••••

"Alright, but why would it go all the way to the school, and then all the way back to the house just for a doll?" Stiles frowned as Alex and Lydia paced around behind him. "One that was in the car wreck in the first place, we didn't find it in the coyote den."

"It likes the doll." Lydia responded. "Who cares?"

"Yeah, it likes the doll a lot." Alex frowned.

"What kind of doll is it?" Lydia questioned.

"I don't know- it's a doll, you know? It's got little arms, a big baby head...dead soulless eyes." Stiles replied with a sigh.

"Stiles, you took a picture." Alex spoke.

"Right." Stiles blew out a breath as he showed the girls his phone.

"That's Malia?" Lydia asked as she pointed to one of the girls in the picture.

"Yeah, and that's the jacket and the scarf we found at the den." Alex spoke.

"Stiles, Alex, she's not holding the doll." Lydia frowned.

"That's Malia's younger sister." Alex replied. "It was her doll."

"I know what she's doing." Stiles realised.

"What?" Lydia frowned.

"I know where she's going." Stiles added.

"You guys go ahead, I'll catch up with you later." Lydia spoke, facing the two.

"What?" Alex frowned. "Why?"

"I heard something." Lydia replied with a frown.

"I'll go." Alex frowned.

"No, you go with Stiles. I'll catch up with you guys soon, I promise." Lydia reassured the girl as she began to walk away.

••••

"Stiles." Alex released a shuddering breath as she stopped walking, her foot trapped in a bear trap.

"Yeah?" Stiles frowned as he glanced at Alex. His eyes widened.

"Stiles!" Alex exclaimed as she began to panic.

"Alex, don't move, okay?" Stiles spoke, glancing at Alex as he walked over to her.

"Look for a warning label." Alex released a nervous breath.

"Warning label?" Stiles frowned.

"Instructions on how to disarm it." Alex blew out a breath.

"Why the hell would they put instructions on a bear trap?" Stiles frowned as he released a nervous breath.

"Because animals can't read dumbass!" Alex replied panically.

Stiles went on his knees and glanced at the trap, trying to find a warning label. He found one, however, the words didn't make sense to him. He still couldn't read.

"Lex, we've got a problem..." Stiles spoke.

"Huh?" Alex frowned, trying to stay calm. She then remembered that Stiles couldn't read either. "Shit."

••••

"Okay...Stiles, you don't need the instructions." Alex started, trying not to move. "When was the last time you have you ever used instructions, am I right?"

Stiles glanced up at her.

"You don't need them because you're too smart, and you don't need to waste your time with them." Alex continued. "I know you can figure it out. Stiles, you're the one who always figures it out. So you can do it. I know you can."

Stiles noticed a wheel hidden in the grass. "Okay...okay, here we go." He spoke nervously as he inhaled a shaky breath. "Ready?"

Alex released nervous breaths as she glanced down at her foot in the trap. She nodded.

"Okay, here we go..." Stiles spoke, then quickly turned the wheel and standing up.

Lydia ran over to them, frowning at the sight.

Alex let out a squeal as she lifted her foot out of the trap, falling into Stiles' arms. She gripped onto his shirt tightly, her other arm going around his neck, as Stiles' arm wrapped around her shoulders.

The trap closed tightly.

The two released a few breaths, Stiles turning his head to glance at Alex, Alex glancing at him too. Lydia ran over to them.

"Are you okay?!" Lydia exclaimed, widening her eyes at Alex.

"I'm- I'm fine." Alex breathed as she nodded, not letting go of Stiles.

••••

A loud roar sounded across the forest, Alex's werewolf eyes glowing as her, Lydia, and Stiles stopped walking. The group knew it was Scott.

"That's what I'm talking about." Stiles spoke, Lydia smirking.