Scott stepped through the shadow portal, dragging the unconscious Belasko behind him. A moment later, Allison and the others drove their cars through the portal as well, parking near the pack house.
In front of the house, Melissa and the rest of the adults were sitting in chairs around a fire pit.
Melissa looked up as Scott approached, dragging a slime-covered man across the grass.
"Scott." She said, raising an eyebrow. "Who's that?"
Scott dropped Belasko in front of them with a thud.
"He came for me. Said he wanted to absorb the True Alpha's powers. When Lydia tried to read his memories, we found out he was sent by someone—someone who sees me as a threat and wants me eliminated. Looks like another evil plan is brewing in Beacon Hills."
Chris frowned. "Did you find out who sent him?"
Lydia, who had just arrived with Stiles and the others, shook her head. "No. Whoever's behind him made sure we couldn't trace anything back. When I tried to read deeper, he had a seizure and started leaking silver liquid from his mouth."
Scott looked at Melissa. "Mom, what do you pick up from his scent? And what's the feeling you get from him?"
Melissa crouched beside Belasko, studying him closely.
"He feels wrong. And why hasn't he shifted back to human form even though he's unconscious?"
Scott said. "I don't know exactly what's going on, but one thing I'm sure of—he's not a natural werewolf. Doc, take a look and tell us what you think."
Deaton knelt beside Belasko and began examining him. Victoria started to approach as well, but Chris stopped her with a hand on her arm.
"Don't get too close to that thing."
"Don't worry too much, I'll be fine." Victoria said. "We're immune to poisons and viruses, remember?"
"You might be." Chris replied. "But the baby isn't. Please, stay back."
Victoria didn't argue—she was worried about her baby too. "Alright. I'll stay back."
Deaton stood up a moment later. "No need to worry about infection. The silver liquid is mercury. And Scott's right. This man isn't a natural shapeshifter. Look at his claws. Those aren't claws… they're talons."
He continued. "Remember when we talked about chimeras? This man is one—a man-made monster."
Stiles tilted his head. "A chimera? Like those creatures we fought last year—Frank-01, 02, and 03?"
"Frank-01, 02, and 03 were shapeshifters who were modified." Deaton explained. "But this guy? He was just a normal human—transformed by science or some unnatural process."
Peter crossed his arms. "So what's the difference?"
"The Franks were still real shapeshifters. That means they had the usual weaknesses—wolfsbane, mountain ash, the like. But this guy? He might not have any of those weaknesses. He's not real. He's synthetic."
Stiles added. "By the way, his talons can absorb powers, just like our claws."
Melissa's expression darkened. "What? Then we can't keep him around. Scott, burn him and his talons to ash. And by the way, what happened to the dagger you took from the Cerberus Pack?"
"I destroyed it." Scott said.
Melissa nodded."Good. Then kill this guy and burn him now."
"Wait." Lydia interjected, stepping forward. "Let me try something first."
She stepped forward and stared at Belasko, focusing. Soon, Belasko jolted awake and screamed in agony. His chest tore open grotesquely, and seven black crows burst out of his torso and flew into the sky. Then they circled down and hovered silently around Lydia.
Liam immediately turned to the side and started retching.
Stiles blinked. "Damn, I knew you were mean, Lydia, but I didn't know you were this cruel. This is nightmare fuel. When did you even put your crows inside him?"
Lydia rolled her eyes. "I didn't. Someone already put these little ones inside him. I just felt something familiar about him since we first saw him, so I focused—and this happened."
She held up her arm, and one of the crows landed gently on it. It was slightly larger than a normal crow.
Lydia examined it and said. "These aren't ordinary crows, they're supernatural. Like the giant frog we found in the woods… remember?"
Scott stepped closer to Lydia and looked at the crow perched calmly on her arm.
"What are their powers?" He asked.
Lydia gently stroked the crow's feathers. "Possession. They can possess other creatures—like Stiles' fireflies."
Scott raised an eyebrow. "So… can you control them?"
Lydia nodded. "Yes, and if they possess someone, then I'll be able to control that person through them."
Scott smiled. "Then keep them, and take care of them."
"I will." Lydia said, smiling back.
Scott turned and walked over to Belasko's body. He opened a shadow portal to the woods, stepped through with the body, and after burning it to ash, he returned.
He then walked to Liam, who was still a bit pale and shaky from witnessing Belasko's gruesome death. Scott patted his shoulder and said gently. "You should get used to it. This is our world, and you're part of it now. One piece of advice though: try not to watch Stiles fight. He does… creepy things to his opponents."
"Hey!" Stiles protested. "I'm not creepy. And if you're talking about that horse guy, that was an accident! I didn't know he was going to… you know… shit himself."
Liam blinked. "What?"
Isaac laughed. "If you think crows bursting out of someone's chest is bad, wait until you see a guy die from explosive diarrhea."
Stiles groaned. "Come on, guys! That was just an accident!"
Allison chimed in. "And what about Mr. Harris?"
Stiles huffed. "Harris was just a coward who peed himself from fear. Not my fault."
Allison smirked. "If you say so."
Scott cleared his throat. "By the way, we met another chimera tonight. A werewolf."
Derek raised an eyebrow. "Another one? Is he still alive?"
"He didn't attack us, so we let him go." Scott replied. "But if there's a second, there are probably more chimeras in Beacon Hills."
Noah groaned. "Great. Just what I needed."
Scott grinned. "Look at the bright side—more chimeras means more abilities for us. So… it's officially chimera open season, guys."
Liam tilted his head. "Open season? What's that?"
Stiles smirked. "Open season means the annual period when restrictions on killing certain types of wildlife are lifted."
Liam frowned. "So… we're just gonna hunt people who are like that Theo guy now?"
Stiles shook his head. "Only the bad ones. If we find any good chimeras who need help, we'll help them if we can."
"Oh." Liam nodded. "Okay."
Chris crossed his arms. "More importantly, we need to find out who's creating them. Since they see Scott as a threat, that means they're planning something big in Beacon Hills and they're afraid Scott will stop them."
Stiles sighed. "That's going to be a little hard."
Scott nodded. "We'll figure it out eventually. We always do."
Noah said. "Parrish, Braeden, and I will try to find any chimeras in town. Hopefully, they'll lead us to whoever's behind them."
Scott put an arm around Allison's shoulders. "Alright, good night everyone. Time to get some rest—we've got school tomorrow. Liam, don't stay up too late."
Scott and Allison left, heading to the lake house.
Liam muttered. "Like I'll be able to sleep after what I saw tonight…"
Stiles slung an arm around his shoulder. "You want me to tuck you in and sing you a lullaby?"
Liam shoved him away. "No. But I would appreciate it if you didn't moan all night and kept the rest of us awake."
Lydia added with a sigh. "He's right, Stiles. You're very annoying."
Malia took Stiles' hand. "Don't listen to them. You can moan all you want."
Stiles grinned. "You're right, babe. I'm not going to listen to the haters. Let's go to our room and have some fun." Then Stiles and Malia went inside the pack house.
Chris shot a glare at Noah. "Noah, we need to have a serious conversation about your shameless, stupid son."
Noah coughed. "What son? I don't have a son. Agisa, let's go home."
He quickly grabbed Agisa and made a hasty retreat, leaving Chris grumbling as Victoria dragged him toward their own house—while the rest of the pack burst into laughter.
To be continued... 😊