The next morning, Scott, Allison, Cora, Erica, Boyd, Isaac, and Aiden drove to school, where they met up with Lydia, Stiles, and Malia, who hadn't stayed at the ranch overnight.
As they greeted each other, Scott walked up to Stiles with a smirk, shook his hand, and suddenly sent a jolt of electricity through him.
Stiles yelped as the shock hit him, his hair standing on end. He jumped away from Scott and stared at him, wide-eyed.
"You... you have a thunder ability?!"
Scott grinned. "Yeah. Cool, right?"
Stiles glared at him. "I'm not talking to you today."
Then, without another word, he turned and left.
Scott laughed and followed him. "Oh, come on, Stiles! Wait for me, man."
Stiles flipped him off over his shoulder without turning around. As he walked, he grumbled while trying to smooth down his hedgehog-like hair, then headed to class.
Just as Stiles and Scott disappeared into the school, Kira arrived, spotting Allison and the rest of the pack laughing.
"What's so funny?" She asked, tilting her head.
Allison smirked. "Stiles being stupid, as usual. More importantly, how do you feel?"
Kira beamed. "I feel amazing! I'm stronger, my senses are sharper, and..." She flexed her fingers, extending her claws. "I have these now."
Lydia's eyebrows rose. "So, you're a shapeshifter. Do you know what kind yet?"
Kira said. "No, but… I think I still have my thunder abilities."
Erica asked. "How do you know?"
Kira sighed. "Well… This morning, when I tried to use the toaster, I felt a weird electric current in my hand. I got curious and… well, I accidentally short-circuited the house. The toaster caught fire, almost burned the place down, and my mom freaked out."
Allison chuckled. "I'm surprised she even let you come to school."
Kira shook her head. "She didn't want me to come. She was worried I'd electrocute someone by accident."
Lydia smirked. "Then how did you convince her?"
Kira scratched her cheek. "I told her that when I was about to use the toaster, I felt something… like an energy inside me. I was just trying to understand what it was, and..." She winced. "well, the whole thing exploded."
Cora said. "So, it wasn't an accident after all."
Kira held up her hands defensively. "In my defense, I didn't think following that feeling would make me shoot lightning out of my hand and set the toaster on fire."
The pack laughed, and as they continued chatting, they headed to class.
The day passed quickly, and by nightfall, the entire pack gathered at the pack house for dinner. They ate together, shared stories, and enjoyed each other's company, strengthening their bond.
---
Meanwhile… Somewhere in the Beacon Hills Preserve
The night breeze rustled the leaves as a lone RV sat parked deep in the woods. Inside, three figures—a father, a mother, and their young daughter—slept soundly.
They had just arrived in Beacon Hills that night, choosing to rest in the cover of the trees.
When morning came, the mother stirred first, stretching before glancing at the small bed where her eleven-year-old daughter had been curled up the night before.
Her breath hitched.
The bed was empty.
"Darling, wake up!" She hissed, shaking her husband roughly. "She's gone."
The father's eyes snapped open as he sat up abruptly, panic flashing across his face.
"Damn it." He growled. "She was probably too hungry to wait and went hunting."
His wife's breath came out in short, uneasy gasps. "Do you think she went into town?"
"I don't know." The father's expression darkened. "This is bad. She's too young. If she loses control, she'll attack anyone she sees… and if there are hunters or other creatures here…"
Before he could finish, a faint metallic scent filled their noses.
Blood.
The two bolted from the RV, following the trail of fresh blood with inhuman speed. They raced through the trees until they reached a small clearing, where a gruesome sight awaited them.
Their daughter stood in the middle of the clearing, hunched over a mutilated corpse of a man.
Blood dripped from her lips. Her fingers were buried deep in the ruined flesh of her prey. She looked up at them, her face smeared with gore, her blue eyes glowing with satisfaction.
The mother sighed in relief. "Lucky. She hunted in the forest and didn't go into town."
The father smirked, stepping forward and ruffling his daughter's hair. "As expected from my girl. You even got us breakfast."
The girl grinned, licking the blood off her fingers. "Hey, Dad, since I caught breakfast, how about you reward me by catching a baby for me? I love their soft bones the most."
The father chuckled. "Sure thing, sweetheart. But promise me you won't go hunting alone again. You're still young."
The girl pouted. "But I'm eleven now, and I just hunted a man all by myself."
The mother knelt beside her daughter, stroking her bloodstained cheek. "There are a lot of dangerous creatures out there. You shouldn't hunt alone. But next time, when we go hunting, I'll let you make the kill, okay?"
The little girl's face lit up. "Okay!"
With that, the family knelt beside the lifeless body and began to feast. Their teeth tore through warm flesh, the scent of death thick in the air as they indulged in their unholy hunger.
But before they could finish, their supernatural hearing picked up faint voices and approaching footsteps.
"People are coming." The mother whispered, her ears twitching.
The father snarled, wiping the blood from his face. "Damn it. Let's go. We need to clean up."
They vanished into the trees, moving with inhuman speed. Reaching a small stream, they washed every trace of blood from their skin. Once satisfied, they returned to the trailer, burned their clothes, and sat around a fire, acting as if nothing had happened.
Not long after they left, a group of five hikers arrived at the clearing.
"Oh my God…" one of them gasped, stumbling back in horror. Another screamed, and a woman vomited.
The shredded remains of the man lay sprawled in the grass, his body unrecognizable.
Panic set in as one of them reached for their phone. "Let's call the cops!"
Another hiker swallowed hard. "What kind of animal did this? Do you guys think it's still here?"
That question sent a wave of terror through the group as they anxiously scanned the woods.
The one dialing the cops tried to reassure them. "Don't panic. The sheriff will be here soon. And I'm carrying a gun."
Not long after, Noah arrived with Parrish and several deputies.
The scene was grim, blood soaked the earth, and the air carried the pungent scent of raw meat and blood.
Noah frowned, inhaling deeply. His Werebear instincts stirred within him.
Parrish, standing beside him, narrowed his eyes. "This wasn't an animal attack."
Noah exhaled. "No. It was something worse."
After questioning the hikers and sending them on their way, Noah and Parrish followed the scent. Their enhanced senses led them through the woods, deeper into the preserve, until finally…
They stood before an RV.
A small fire flickered outside, where a family of three sat quietly, pretending to be unaware of the chaos they had left behind. But to Noah and Parrish, the stench of blood still clung to them, no matter how much they had washed.
The father looked up at the two of them and gave a polite smile. "Can I help you, officers?"
Noah's eyes darkened. "You three are under arrest."
The father's expression turned to one of feigned confusion. "For what? Camping here?"
Noah stepped forward, his tone ice-cold, his eyes glowing red. "No. For killing a man and eating him. You might have cleaned yourselves up, but I can still smell his blood on you."
The father's own eyes flashed red, his lips curling into a smirk. "So, you're a shapeshifter? Then you know you have no evidence. You can't exactly tell a judge that you 'smelled' blood on us. So unless you're here to fight… I suggest you leave."
Noah's canines lengthened slightly, his growl vibrating in the air. "Are you sure you don't want to confess and spend the rest of your lives in prison?"
The mother sneered. "Confess? We didn't commit any crime."
Noah clenched his jaw, considering his options. Then he sighed and turned away. "Believe me… if you knew what's coming for you, you'd regret not confessing."
Parrish hesitated. "Are we really letting them go, just like that?"
Noah nodded. "Even if we take them in, we don't have real evidence, and we can't keep something that dangerous in cells even if we wanted to. And… I don't want to kill little girls. We'll leave them to Scott."
Parrish frowned. "And the dead man?"
Noah exhaled heavily. "We'll say it was a mountain lion."
The family watched as the sheriff and his deputy disappeared into the trees.
The mother turned to her husband. "Should we leave? The sheriff is an Alpha, and he likely has a pack. This town could be dangerous."
The father scoffed. "If he's an Alpha, so am I. And he's a coward. You heard him—he doesn't want to kill little girls."
A dark smile spread across his lips. "So let's stay. If he doesn't make a move against us tonight, how about we catch some people tomorrow and use them to threaten him? If he wants them alive, he'll have to let you absorb his Alpha spark… then we eat him."
His wife's eyes gleamed with hunger. "Oh, I love that idea. We haven't eaten a shapeshifter in years."
Their daughter tilted her head curiously. "Is a shapeshifter's meat delicious?"
The mother pulled her into a loving embrace, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
"Yes, my darling. It's the most delicious of all."
The little girl's smile was innocent, yet filled with something far darker.
"I can't wait to eat that uncle."
To Be Continued... 😊