Since the discovery of Seth's true identity, everyone was in shock.  Chris never heard of such a species.  Myths, yes, but never believed it to be true.  It looks like it is.  Josie and Scott had another check up with Carol.  Since Seth's growth is expanding, they want to keep an eye on how much he's growing.  Right now, he looks like he's reaching 24 weeks and Josie's belly continues to grow.  To prevent questions, Josie decided to wear larger clothes to prevent exposure.  Chris' worry for Josie continues to grow because if Seth was a target to the Ghost Riders till his birth, Josie's life was on the line.  Everyone needed to protect her.  Her and Seth. 

The murders, however, were worrying Chris.  Another couple were missing, possibly dead.  He learned that the couple were last seen biking in the woods.  With the new werewolf out there, his gut was telling him that it struck again.  But, who was the werewolf that was killing people for the pineal glands?  Why even?  He needed to find out. 

Deep in the dark woods with the moon shinning through the trees, Chris presses himself against a tree as he hears twigs snapping and getting closer.  He grips his rifle and moves from his hiding spot, holing it up to aim at whoever was coming.  Footsteps were beginning to draw nearer.  Coming up from around the trees, he sees a flashlight waving around and a familiar face approaching.  Melissa. 

He sighs in relief and lowers his rifle.

"You might want to think twice before you sneak up on a man holding a loaded M-24." He says.

Panting out of breath, Melissa stands in front of him, "I wasn't sneaking up on you.  I was catching up with you." She explains breathlessly. 

"I know.  I heard you a mile back." He says.

Looking away in embarrassment, "I found a low branch with my face." She mutters.

Chris couldn't help but chuckle, she was enthusiastic, he had to give her that.  And determined.  He liked that about her.

"How do you even see anything out here?" Melissa asks as she squints in the darkness.  With the moon covered, it was hard for her to see.

"Practice."  He says.

"Okay."

"What are you doing, Melissa?"  He asks.

"I thought maybe you could use some backup.  Which way?" She asks as she looks around with an owl hooting nearby. 

Chris giver her an incredulous look.  He couldn't believe she wanted to help him.  An experienced hunter with a nurse.

Seeing his disbelieved and unsure look, she wanted to prove him wrong, "You can leave me out here alone with a stun gun and a box of Band-Aids, or we can just keep going.  It's up to you."

She takes out her stun gun and holds it up, electricity crackles as she shows him she was armed and ready.

He gives her a smirk and she returns one. 

He had no choice anyway, they were close to the site where the couple were last seen.  Chris walks silently with Melissa trailing behind him as he holds his rifle close to him.  Melissa waves her flashlight as she looks around with him.  She couldn't help but feel nervous being out there. 

"You're probably wondering why I'm out here when I could be nestled at home reading a book.  And that's because I'm sick of seeing people that I care about wheeled past the nurses' station on a gurney.  All of you are out here, risking your lives, and It's about time that I do something too." She says softly.

Chris frowns in annoyance, why was she talking when he was hunting?  He quickly stops and turns towards her, still frowning.

"In my experience, when tracking homicidal supernaturals, it's best to be quiet.  Okay?"

"Yeah." Melissa nods in understanding.

Chris turns and walks again, but stops when he sees something up ahead.  He grunts softly when Melissa bumps into him from behind.

Startled, "Oh! What is it?" She asks.

He sends her a glare.

She drops her voice into a whisper, "What is it?"

He turns back and points his gun at the sight, turning on his light.  Up ahead were two abandoned bikes and a body of a man lying beside one. 

They rush towards the man and Melissa kneels close, checking his pulse.  Chris kneels next to the man, hoping for a sign of life.  But, he couldn't help eye that very familiar wound on the man's head.  Same bite.  He assumed the glad was missing, too.

Panting softly, Melissa shakes her head, "He's dead."

Frowning in disappointment, Chris shakes his head, but he perks up as he sees blood dripping on to the man's face. 

"Oh, no." Melissa whimpers.

Chris slowly takes her flashlight and points it up.  They both look up and see the body of a woman up in the trees.  Melissa gasps in shock, jumping to her feet with Chris.

Suddenly, the woman snaps her eyes open, looking down at them with fright.

"It's okay.  You're gonna be okay." Melissa tries to calm the woman down as she was squirming in fear on the branch. 

The woman vomits up blood and falls off the tree, landing hard in the dirt. 

Melissa rushes to her and see her bicycle helmet torn with a gaping wound that matched the man's. 

She checks her pulse, but Melissa shakes her head.

"How long could she survive like that?" Chris asks.

"One, maybe two minutes." Melissa sighs sadly.

Chris lets out an anxious sigh and draws his gun, "It's still here."

Melissa gets up quickly and looks around with caution as Chris uses his scope to look around.  He suddenly snaps his rifle to an area as he senses something coming. 

"Exactly how much training have you had for a situation like this?" Melissa asks nervously.

"Remember the part about being quiet?" He asks.

"Yeah." Melissa says, getting the hint.

From far away, Chris could see someone coming their way.  Running very fast.  Chris' eyes widen as he sees a very familiar person.

"It's a werewolf?" Melissa asks.

"Werecoyote." Chris corrects.

"Malia?" Melissa asks incredulous.

"And she's coming right at us." Chris adds.

"Oh.  You're not gonna shoot her, are you?" Melissa asks, hating the idea, but if Malia doesn't stop...

"No, I'm going to wing her." Chris says as he aims his gun as Malia draws closer and closer.  His gun goes off and Malia is down. Chris cocks his rifle and ejects his shell. 

Melissa and Chris rush over to Malia who was on the ground, growling and snarling as she squirms in pain from the gunshot.  They could see he got her in the leg, so she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.  Malia snaps up towards them, letting out a ferocious scream as her eyes glowed angrily and her sharp fangs snapping at them. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, Liam, Mason, and Corey went over to Josie and Scott's place.  They filled in the rest that they didn't tell Scott about that night.  About the storm suddenly appearing out of nowhere and hearing the lightning strike as if it was right above them.  They looked up and see the black streaks on the ceiling. 

"That's how he got in?" Corey asks, as if he couldn't believe it.

"What is it?" Liam asks.

Seeing how familiar it was, Mason knew, "It's a point of impact from a lightning strike.  Usually you'd find charred spots like that on the ground after a violent thunderstorm."

"That's how the Ghost Rider got in." Josie gasps.

Scott's eyes widen, "He rode lightning."

"If they can use lightning to get past the mountain ash..." Liam trails off.

"No place is safe." Scott says in dread as he pulls Josie closer to him. 

"What about the others? It's my fault they're marked." Corey says, guilt laced in his voice. 

"We'll find a way to protect them." Scott says determinedly. 

Josie nods at Corey, "All of them." She assures him.

"Josie, you saw him as well."

"I've seen the Ghost Rider that night at the library, and I'm still here. They can't touch me, not while Seth is still in my womb.  Remember what Deaton said." She says.

Corey nods and sighs, still feeling so guilty.

"Seth can also hurt them.  What if..." Mason was cut off by Josie.

"No, Mason.  I'm not risking my son's life.  To protect me alone, it took everything he had.  He's just a baby." She says softly.

Scott holds her tight, feeling his son squirm against his hand, "We'll figure something else.  There has to be another way."

Liam started to become hesitant as he faces Scott and Josie, "Um, there's something else."

Scott and Josie turned to look at him, confused with his tone.

"Hayden told me this yesterday.  When Josie was being held by the Ghost Rider, she saw something." He said.

"What?" Scott asks.

Liam was about to say, but, he sighs, "Look at her, Scott.  Look at her with your Alpha eyes."

Scott frowns and turns to look at Josie who moves away so he could see her.

Scott sighs and closes his eyes, but when he opens them, seeing his love with his wolf eyes, he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Covering Josie's body was a beautiful shield of fire.  Sapphire fire.  But it burned brighter around her belly. 

"What?  What do you see?" She asks him worriedly.

Scott's breath catches in his throat, he realizes that he was seeing his son.  Seth protecting his mother.

"Scott, what is it?" Mason asks.

Liam frowns and closes his eyes, calling forth his wolf and opens to see what Scott was seeing. 

"Oh, my god." He gasps.

"Ok, please, you're scaring me." Josie begs.

"Is that...?" Liam stutters as his wolf is pushed back.

"Yeah." Scott grins and turns into a full smile as his red eyes fades back into his chocolate brown eyes.

He walks over to her and pulls her into his arms and caresses her belly, "I saw him." He says softly.

"Him?" Josie scrunches her brows in confusion.

"Him." He smiles big and places his hand on her belly.  "Deaton was right.  His essence is protecting you.  It's beautiful."

Josie gasps softly and places her hand on his, sighing softly as a smile begins to grow.  She suddenly moves to the hall mirror, "I wanna see." She says and calls for her Alpha and gasps in shock.  Her entire body was engulfed in flames.  Without her Alpha side, she wouldn't be able to see this. This shield her son, her little boy, created to protect her. 

Tears mist in her eyes and she cradles her belly in her hands, "I love you so much, Seth.  So very much.  Mommy loves you.  I promise to do everything in my power to protect you.  Always and forever." I whisper softly to him. 

"Daddy, too.  Daddy loves you so much.  We both do and we will protect you." Scott comes up behind her and wraps his arms around her tightly, kissing Josie neck. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After that incident in the woods, Chris managed to knock Malia out long enough for them to bring her to the hospital to fix her leg and get the bullet out so she could heal. 

Melissa was digging into Malia's leg while she was out, but the pain must have woken her up.  As soon as she snaps her eyes open, horrible pain shoots through her.  She screams and sits up fast, but Chris pushes her down and holds her down.

"Keep her still." Melissa warns and continues to work.

Malia squirms around in pain, but Chris holds her down as tight as he could.  Breathing heavily, Malia looks around and sees the familiar setting.

"The morgue? I'm not dead yet." She grits her teeth as sweat coats her face.

"You're a werecoyote.  It's private down here, and this is going to hurt." Melissa warns and starts to dig deeper, "Try not to roar."

Malia grips on to Chris' arm, digging her nails into and through his jacket. 

Chris lets out a loud groan, "You got anything for the pain?" He winces at Melissa.

"No, I can take it." Malia grunts in pain.

"It's for me." Chris points out. 

Malia frowns, but sees she was gripping him way too hard, but she needed the leverage.

"What were you doing in the woods?" Melissa asks.

"Running." Malia says.

"At 2:00 a.m.?" Melissa asks incredulous.

Malia grunts in pain again, "Coyotes are nocturnal.  I heard screams.  Like someone-being-murdered type screams."

Chris groans, "Did you see anything? Catch a scent?" He grits his teeth as she grips his arm harder.

"Just blood." Malia grunts and sighs, "And that's all I remember until someone shot me!" She growls at Chris and grips his arm tighter, making him groan in pain.

"You were about to tear us apart." Melissa points out.

"It's not her fault.  When a coyote smells a fresh kill, its senses are overcome.  The blood drives it crazy." Chris groans.

Malia lets out a whimper as Melissa continues to dig into her leg.

"Sorry.  It's pretty deep.  I'm trying not to damage..." 

Malia cuts her off with a yell, shoving Chris away as he yells in pain and crashes against the table behind him.  Malia pushes Melissa away and grabs the tool from her hands.

Malia lets out a pained grunt as she digs into her own leg, searching for the bullet herself.  She grits her teeth and finally pulls out the bloody bullet.  She places it into her hand and slaps it into Chris' hand.

"Here's your bullet back." She says strongly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ever since that night, Gwen has been extremely alert.  She still couldn't believe everything that she has seen.  That face of the...Ghost Rider.  The roaring from Josie's mouth, seeing her light up like a human torch.  She opens her locker, trying to control her heavy breathing.  She stiffens when she hears the thunder again.  She's been hearing it since that night.  Does it mean she's next?  Was she safe?  She takes a deep breath, she knew what she had to do...

She shuts her locker and jumps when she sees Hayden leaning on the locker next to hers with a big grin. 

Gwen rolls her eyes at her, "You don't have to follow me around everywhere."

Hayden shrugs, "I'm just trying to keep you safe."

Gwen scoffs and walks away with Hayden fallowing her, "What? You're gonna sit through all my classes? And what about after school? What about all night?"

"Wherever you go, I'll be there." Hayden says determinedly as she stops when Gwen stops and turns to look at where they were...the ladies room.

Hayden stands there awkwardly, "I'll just stay here."

Gwen nods and heads inside to do her business with Hayden guarding the door. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"'The K-index quantifies disturbances in the horizontal component of earth's magnetic field'." Liam reads from his book as he sits at a table in the library with Mason on his computer.  Tapping his chin with his pencil as he takes it all in.  He frowns and turns towards Mason, "What's a 'K-index'?"

"It's a scale that meteorologists use to measure thunderstorm activity.  So, a K-Index value less than 20 means no activity, and above 35 is severe." Mason turns to face Liam as he explains.

"Well, how bad's 'severe'?" Liam asks.

"Well, your average storm has about 1,000 lightning strikes.  In the past three months, the average storm in Beacon Hills had 5,000." Mason says.

"And what's it reading now?" Liam asks.

Mason presses a button his laptop and checks the scale, "Uh, 14.  We're clear."

Liam begins to understand now, "Okay, so if a spike in the K-Index means more lightning, then we can tell if they're coming." Liam says, smiling.

"Yeah. Maybe even before Seth starts kicking." Mason nods, smiling in triumph.

"This is good." Liam says happily.

"Yeah." Mason grins, but his grin soon drops when he turns back to his laptop as it begins to beep rapidly and he sees the scale begin to climb up past 14 and still climbing.

"Actually...This is really bad."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scott, Josie, and Malia decided to go talk to Lydia.  Liam recently  showed Scott and Josie the library card they found of the boy who was taken by the Ghost Riders.  Liam claims it was blank when they found it, but as they started to remember, the information reappeared.  They had no idea how and why this happened, so maybe Lydia knows.

"It's a relic." Lydia says as she looks over the library card.

Malia frowns in confusion, "What's a relic?"

"An object with a fixed association to the past." Josie explains before Lydia could. 

Lydia nods in approval, "Jake's ID was left behind after he was taken.  And Gwen found her sister's bracelet on her bedroom floor." She says.

"How can someone be erased, and still leave something behind?" Malia asks, frowning in confusion.

"A conservation of mass." Lydia says, but Scott and Malia both had confused looks.

Josie sighs, "The total mass of any isolated system remains constant." She explains and rubs her belly.

"So, even the Ghost Riders have a weakness." Scott says in realization.

"A relic would be proof that Stiles existed." Malia smiles and takes the library card.

"And maybe we can bring him back."  Scott grins. 

Josie smiles in triumph, this was good.

Josie jumps and feels her cell vibrate.

"It's Mason.  He wants us at the Library." She says, meaning her and Scott.

They said their 'laters' to Lydia and Malia and take off to the library to meet up with Liam and Mason. 

As they arrive, they see Liam and Mason leaning in together, having a hushed argument.  The argument grows louder as they approach the table.

"We need to hide them." Mason says

"We need to fight them." Liam argues.

"We need to hide them." Mason argues.

Liam sighs in desperation, he needed Mason to listen to him.  But, before he could argue again, Josie and Scott lean into the argument.

"Who's 'them'?" They ask in unison.

Mason and Liam turn towards them,

"The Ghost Riders." "The kids at the party." They say.

Liam grits his jaw while Mason scoffs.

Josie and Scott both look at them in confusion.

"Got it." Scott says, but obviously not getting it.

"Can you guys...hmm...explain exactly what you mean?" Josie asks.

Obviously, Liam means to fight the Riders and Mason wants to help and hide the kids who were at the party.

"We could get a lightning rod.  Attract the Ghost Riders and catch them off guard." Liam explains.

"But since everyone from the party is in danger, all we need to do is find a safe place to hide them until the storm passes." Mason says.

Liam waves him off, "The Ghost Riders ride the lightning.  Nowhere is safe." He protests.

"It is, if we're underground.  The Earth can ground the lightning's electrical charge.  Everyone would be safe." Mason protests.

Josie and Scott both sigh, "Okay..." Scott moves to help Josie sit and he sits next to her, facing both of them, "Here's what we're gonna do.  We take everyone into the Argent Bunker."

Liam's face already says he hates the idea. 

Josie nods, "That could work.  It's underground." She points out part of Mason's theory.

"It's lined with mountain ash." Scott says.

Liam waves Scott off, "We stopped the Ghost Riders last night.  We can do it again." He says.

Josie shakes her head, "You didn't stop them.  They just retreated.  Somehow.  And I don't think it was Seth.  When Seth hurt the Rider, he didn't seem like he was going to stop unless he was dead.  Well, you know what I mean." She stutters.  "These Riders are determined to kill Seth.  And they will stop at nothing."

Scott nods, "Now, we don't know why they retreated, so until we figure it out.  We need to get everyone who was there at the party into the bunker."

Liam lets out a frustrated exhale, he knew they were right. After a moment of silence, Liam had no choice.

"Okay.  How do we get everyone inside the bunker?" He asks. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mason, Liam and Josie went to talk to Nathan and try to explain everything.  Starting with the truth, but getting him to believe it...that's the hard part. 

Nathan holds the picture of the Ghost Riders in his hand as they wait for his reaction. 

He gives them a disbelieved look, "Is this a joke?"

"No." Liam stammers, "And you got to take this seriously.  Once we're all in the bunker, we'll be fine."

Nathan and his teammates scoff, "I'm not gonna miss the first game of the year so that you can make captain." He slaps the picture into Liam's chest and begins to walk off.

"They're a supernatural forces of nature coming to erase your soul." Liam says, stopping Nathan to turn and look at him like he was out of his mind.

"It was a man in a hat with a gun." Nathan says and turns to leave.

"And he's coming back to shoot you in the head." Mason stops them again.

"Yeah, because YOU all saw him." Josie points at them as they turn to look at him.  "He was there to kill a student who saw him, too.  Something she wasn't suppose to see and he crashed the party and now all of you are witnesses to seeing him.  He's not the type to believe in witnesses."

Nathan and the teammates look at her nervously.

"So, what's it gonna be?  Go to the game, out in the opening for him...AND his friends to shoot at all of you...or be somewhere safe and live for another day?" She crosses her arms over her chest, waiting for the answer.

Nathan looks at the others and they nod at him.

"Where's the bunker?"