CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE:
THERE'S THINGS I WANT TO SAY TO YOU
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After the fight with the Beast, Brett drove himself and Elena to the Calavera's apartment. He carefully helps the brunette upstairs, opening every door for her and leading her to the bathroom. A wince escapes the brunette's lips as she sits on the counter, removing her jacket and leaving her in a white tank top with blood staining her left side.

The werewolf gathers a few first aid supplies before standing in between her legs. His eyes flicker with concern as he gently lifts the hem of her tank top, revealing the torn skin beneath, already bruising around the open gash. He lifts his gaze to connect eyes with the Calavera girl before murmuring, "This is probably going to sting."

Elena slowly nods her head, taking a deep breath as he moves the antiseptic onto her wound. She hisses through her teeth when the burn hits her skin, her fingers curling tightly around the edge of the bathroom counter, "I've had worse." She jokes, trying her best to lighten the mood after the night they just had.

Brett's eyes speak louder than any words ever could which the brunette instantly picks up on. She places one of her hands onto the Talbot boy's cheek, the warmth of her palm makes him instantly close his eyes as he takes a deep breath. His breath shakes as he exhales, grounding himself in her touch — the only calm he's known all night, "What's wrong?" She asks, making the werewolf inhale sharply before opening his eyes to meet hers.

He slowly shakes his head, keeping eye contact with the huntress as he spoke, "Tonight just brought back some bad memories." He explains, earning softened eyes from the Calavera girl since she instantly knows what he's talking about — the night she 'died' in his arms.

Elena drops her hand, breaking eye contact as she thinks back to that night. The Talbot boy's eyes instantly soften, knowing the huntress still had felt bad about everything that happened when she had no memories of him, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make things weird. We just haven't had a chance to talk about anything."

Silence falls over the two, mainly due to the face Brett was trying his best to not say something while the huntress was trying to figure out anything to say. After a couple minutes, the Talbot boy decides ask the one question that has been on his mind since she got her memories back, "Did anything happen between you and him?"

The question hung in the air like a blade, sharp and trembling. Elena's eyes shot up to meet his, full of surprise, guilt, and a flicker of confusion. Her lips part, but no words come out at first. She blinks slowly, as if searching for the right answer — or maybe the courage to say it out loud. But the silence was an answer in itself.

"Do you have feelings for him?" He asks, causing the huntress to instantly shake her head before taking his hands in hers.

"No," Elena says firmly, her voice steady despite the storm in her chest. "Not like that. Not the way I—" She stops herself, eyes dropping to their intertwined hands. At first, she didn't know if now was the right time to say anything, but then she remembered how she had to confess her feelings before when she was dying. And she didn't want to do that again.

Her thumb runs gently over the back of his hand before lifting her gaze and connecting eyes with the werewolf, "It's not like how I feel about you." She tells him, her voice quiet but full of certainty. Brett's breath catches in his throat and for a moment, he says nothing — just stares at her, as if trying to memorize every detail of this moment, every nuance in her voice and the way her eyes didn't flinch when she said it.

Slowly, almost cautiously, his hands tighten gently around hers. A small smile forms on the Calavera girl's lips before she adds, "I meant what I said that night." She pauses, catching the Talbot boy's attention almost immediately and making him think back to that night, "It's always been you."

As soon as those words left her mouth, Brett closes the space between their lips as if pulled by a gravity he could no longer resist. It wasn't rushed or fiery, but something softer — a promise, a homecoming. Elena melts into it, her hands moving to grip his shirt as though anchoring herself to him, to this moment that felt both fragile and infinite.

When they pull apart, Brett rests his forehead against hers, eyes still closed, as if he needs just one more second in the silence to make sure it was real. Elena's fingers stay tangled in the fabric of his shirt, her breath warm against his face as she whispers, "After we defeat the Beast, you and I deserve to finally have our first official date."

"Couldn't agree more," The Talbot boy says, a soft smile on his lips as the huntress lets out a quiet laugh, her eyes glinting with affection and a hint of something deeper. Maybe it was relief, or maybe it was hope. But whatever it was, it wraps around them like a shield — fragile, yes, but shining just enough to guide them through the darkness still ahead of them.

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Most of the McCall pack circles around the alpha's kitchen counter, all debating ways on how they could save Mason, who they had just found out is the Beast of Beacon Hills and who has been taken the night before by Corey, "My dads got an APB out." Stiles announces, causing everyone to slowly nod their heads as Kira asks.

"For a 5'8 sixteen year old?"

The Stilinski boy cocks his head to the side before replying, "I recommended nine foot tall rampaging werewolf."

"It still might not be him," Liam mumbles, earning sympathetic looks from everyone which causes him to drop his head as he shakes his head before speaking, "But, Hayden's at the school looking."

Malia motions towards herself and Marcos as she adds, "We can keep checking the woods."

"My mom can check all the hospitals in the county. We can find him," Scott tells them, startling the pack as he appears from around the corner, his wounds from the Beast all healed up and looking much better compared to last night.

Elena smiles softly at the McCall boy's signature optimism, the wound on her side aching slightly but not as much as it did when it first happened. Liam slowly nods his head before questioning back, "What happens then?"

"We figure out a way to save him," The alpha announces, noticing the fear and worry radiating from his beta.

Everyone nods their heads as the banshee glances towards the McCall boy with furrowing eyebrows before asking, "Okay, where else could we look?"

Scott slightly shrugs his shoulders, "Let's ask Corey." He says, reaching his arm towards the wall behind him and pulling the Bryant boy by his shirt to make him visible for everyone else to see.

The pack stares in shock, causing the chimera to instantly throw his hands in the air, "Wait. Wait. It's not my fault. They took him and I couldn't do anything. They took him." He frantically announces, catching everyone's attention as Elena steps closer to him.

"Who?" She asks, however, deep down she had a feeling who he was talking about. The way his eyes widened with fear, the tremble in his voice, and the way he instinctively took a step back when she stepped forward — it all pointed to a certain group of supernatural rule breakers.

And lo and behold, the Calavera girl was right, "The Dread Doctors." Corey answers, making the pack look around at one another in panic and fear. They all knew this wasn't going to end well, especially if the Dread Doctors had the Hewitt boy, it either meant that they were killing him or strengthening him — which both options weren't good for Elena.

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"How stupid are we to be doing this?" Liam asks, following behind Scott and Elena as they wander through Beacon Hills High School in search for two people that the huntress was dreading to see again. She hadn't spoken to Theo since the night she'd gotten her memory back. The Raeken boy had tried calling and texting her to check in and make sure she was okay. But Elena didn't answer.

She couldn't bring herself to. Every time his name lit up her phone, a rush of emotion — grief, anger, guilt — froze her in place. She remembered too much now. Remembered the way he'd lied, manipulated, hurt people she loved. All because he wanted to build the perfect pack. Snapping the Calavera girl out of her thoughts is the alpha as he corrects the Dunbar boy, "We're not stupid. We're desperate."

Elena raises an eyebrow, turning her head slightly to look at the McCall boy on her side before questioning, "How desperate?"

"Incredibly desperate," Scott answers, opening the door to the boy's locker room, the three of them being met with the smirks or Theo and Tracy. The two Chimera's stare at the trio sinisterly as they walk into the room and quickly shut the door.

"I told you we'd end up on the same side," Theo remarks, his eyes glued onto the huntress as she stands in between Scott and Liam. He notices the way her jaw tightens, the flicker of hesitation in her gaze before she masks it with a colder, unreadable expression.

Elena doesn't respond — not yet. She keeps her arms folded across her chest, body rigid with unease. The Dunbar boy steps slightly in front of her, the protective instinct unspoken but clear, "How about I punch you in the balls to remind you we're not?" He snaps back, earning a small laugh from the Calavera girl in response.

Theo lets out a quick laugh before motioning towards the beta, "I love this kid." He adds, not taking offense to Liam's comment and noticing the small curve on the huntress's face.

"I don't," Tracy adds, earning an eye roll from the Calavera girl before she furrows her eyebrows when she notices a missing Chimera.

"Where's Josh? I thought you two were attached at the hip?" The huntress questions back, clueless to the real reason that the Diaz boy wasn't there which was Theo had killed him for his powers.

The Stewart girl flashes her talons, snarling at the other brunette before moving to step forward. However, Theo holds her back, earning another laugh from Elena at Tracy's attempt to hurt her. Scott slowly shakes his head, quickly changing the subject which makes all eyes fall onto him when he spoke, "We know you're not on our side, Theo. You said you wanted to help Lydia, but you left Eichen with something else, didn't you?"

"You mean the mask and the crown? Are you worried about that?" The Raeken boy taunts, avoiding the glares from the huntress as she realized what he was doing.

"Did you put the mask on? Who did you see?" The McCall boy frantically asks, knowing that once you put the Dread Doctor's mask on, you'd see the true identity of the Beast.

Theo shakes his head before vaguely answering his question, "Not Mason."

Liam furrows his eyebrows, "What's that mean? It's not him?" He asks, causing the Calavera girl to place a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort as well as calm him down.

"It probably means he's a lost cause," Tracy adds, another unnecessary comment which causes the huntress to grow frustrated at the Stewart girl's unhelpful remarks.

A sigh escapes Theo's mouth before bringing the topic back to the Hewitt boy, "We all want the same thing. We want Mason back." He states, the same cocky smile that he always wore was plastered on his lips.

"Okay, but the difference is that we want him back alive," Scott corrects, taking a step forward out of anger as the Raeken boy did the same.

"Well, I'm open to compromise," Theo begins before moving back to where he originally stood as he continues, "You still got the map with telluric currents on it? Bring it to the operating theater in two hours." He instructs, earning slow nods from the trio before they all decided to exit the room.

Theo takes a deep breath as he watches the brunette disappear from his sight. Of course, there were things he wanted to say to her. But the words never made it past his throat. Not with Elena standing there like a wall — distant, armored, and so unlike the girl he grew to know.

She didn't flinch, she barely even looked at him. That, more than anything, hurt. Once the door shuts behind the trio, Tracy scoffs after noticing the guilt written on his face, "You're still into her?" Theo didn't respond immediately. He tilts his head back, running a hand through his hair, trying to ignore the bitter twist in his gut.

"I told you that she would hate you after finding out you were the one who set this all up," The Stewart girl tells him, reminiscing on the night he had brought the teenagers back to life.

Theo doesn't meet her eyes. Instead, he stares at the locker across from him — blank, dented metal, a poor substitute for the reflection he doesn't want to face. He doesn't respond because he knows she's right. Elena does hate him, and she has every right to. The girl he manipulated. The girl he pretended to protect. The girl who once trusted him, now can't even look him in the eye.

The locker room door swings shut behind Tracy, leaving Theo alone with the ghost of everything he's lost. For a moment, he lets the silence sit. He exhales slowly and digs into his pocket, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper — it was Elena's phone number she had given him. Back when she thought he was some harmless new kid trying to be apart of the pack.

His hand clenches around the paper before he shoves it back into his pocket. He thought how things could've been if he didn't come here for revenge, if he truly just wanted to be apart of Scott's pack — how and if things would've been different. But this is how things were, and he needed to accept that. He needed to let her go.

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"Guys, I told you. We are fine. We're gonna bring Mason back. I promise," Elena speaks into her phone, walking along a trail in the woods with Scott, Liam, and Theo as they search for where the Dread Doctors were keeping the Hewitt boy captive. The two werewolves led the group while the Chimera's follow behind.

"That's not why we're calling," Her brother states, causing the huntress to furrow her eyebrows as she waits for him to continue. A sigh escapes from Marcos's lips while he glances towards their older sister, motioning for her to take over.

Adriana grabs the phone, inhaling sharply before she finally speaks, "Lydia told us she has a feeling...A banshee kind of feeling." She explains, causing Elena's heart to sink into her stomach. The Calavera girl slows her pace, nearly stopping altogether as the weight of her sister's words settles over her.

The forest around them, once filled with the steady rhythm of footsteps and rustling leaves, now seems eerily quiet. Theo instantly notices the huntress had slowed down, causing him to turn around and see her frightful expression. Elena tries masking her fear with a small smile which he instantly doesn't believe.

However, instead of asking her what's wrong, he decides to listen in on the rest of the Calavera girl's conversation, "Did she say who it was for?" Elena questions back, her voice lacing with concern and worry for her and her friends.

"No, all she said is that it's like a feeling she felt when the night Allison died," Marcos answers this time, causing Elena to slowly nod her head as she thinks about her dear friend. "We just wanted to let you know, so you can be careful out there." He tells her, causing the huntress to slowly nod her head.

"We will," She reassures him, though the words feel hollow on her tongue. Elena then begins to think back on the night she had gotten her memories back — the night she saw her mother again. She takes a deep breath, catching her siblings attention as they hear her through the phone, "Listen, things have been chaotic lately and I haven't had a chance to tell you all this but..."

She pauses, her throat tightening as the words threaten to catch before they even form. Her hand clenches around the phone, and she forces herself to keep walking, eyes fixed ahead even as her past looms over her like a shadow, "Mom's here in Beacon Hills."

"Wait what? When did you see her?" Adriana asks, her voice sharp with disbelief that their mother would be here.

Elena swallows hard as she thinks back to that night, "The night you guys saved Lydia and I in Eichen House. She helped Valack give me my memories back." The call falls silent, none of them knowing what to say until something pops into the huntress's head, "It may sound weird, but I think she did all of this for a reason."

"When she was talking to me she called herself a Seer. She said that she was trapped in Eichen House for almost seven years because she has the ability to see and predict the future. It's why she knew she had to turn me into The Scarlet Witch. Because if she didn't, we would've already been dead." Elena explains, causing her siblings to slowly nod their heads as they listen.

"We'll get Brett and Lori to see if we can try and find her while you guys are looking for Mason," Adriana states, her voice steadying with a purpose before letting a sigh escape her lips, "Just be careful, Elena. And if anything happens, call us."

The words create a soft smile to appear on the huntress face, "I will. I love you guys." She tells them, earning a quick 'I love you too' before hanging up and leaving Elena with nothing but Theo by her side.

"I think I saw your mother once when I was younger," The Raeken boy announces, causing the Calavera girl to instantly turn her head to look at him. "It was in the Dread Doctors lair. I remember hearing arguing coming from the main room, and I had decided to go and check it out."

"That's when I saw her — your mom. She was yelling at the Dread Doctors about how they were tampering with fate — how her daughter should be the one to decide which destiny she falls under," Theo keeps his eyes ahead, his tone unusually serious when he spoke.

Elena slowly nods her head, finally piecing together the puzzle of why her mom did what she did, "What if my mother had a vision of the Beast returning in Beacon Hills? And what if she manipulated the Dread Doctors into giving me these powers to not help the Beast — but defeat it."

"And when they found out about her plan, they locked her in Eichen House and fulfilled their plan of turning you into a weapon for the Beast," The Raeken boy adds, putting the rest of the story together which causes the huntress to continue nodding her head, "Which would also explain why she gave you your memories back — because Rosanna had seen it all."

"Well, let's just hope Marcos and Adriana can find her and see how this story ends," Elena finishes, a hint of hope lacing in her voice. A small smile forms on the Raeken boy's face when he turns to look at the huntress, trying desperately to keep his mouth shut — which somehow he manages to do.

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After Liam got a whiff of Mason's scent, the four teenagers had found an abandoned wooden shed, and none of them hesitating before sprinting inside to search for the Hewitt boy. They quickly head down the steps, and into what looks to be one of the Dread Doctors labs.

Elena's eyes widen when she sees Mason, who was sat up against a test tube that is filled with some sort of monster drowned in green acid, "What is this thing?" Liam asks, causing everyone to slowly shake their heads as they stare at the device in front of them.

"I don't know," Theo mumbles which instantly makes chills run down the Calavera girl's spine. Something about this didn't sit right with her, especially with Lydia's premonition lingering in the back of her head.

Mason breathes heavily, not even able to look up at the group since he was so weak and even if he tried to move he would be in agony, "Liam, I can feel it. It's in my skull." The Hewitt boy announces, making Elena's eyes soften as flashbacks to when she and Hayden were kidnapped pop into her head.

"What are they doing to him?" Liam questions, mainly towards Theo since he knew the most about the Dread Doctors.

However, the Raeken boy slowly shakes his head as he spoke, "I don't know." He says, his tone harsher than last time. Elena moves to kneel down in front of Mason, giving him reassurance that everything would be okay.

"Guys, let's focus," Scott announces before shifting his attention back towards the Hewitt boy, "Mason, we're gonna get you out of here. Hold him still. Okay, alright. I'm going to try to pull it out. Let me know if it hurts," He continues, causing the huntress to switch places with Liam and Theo as they hold him down.

The McCall boy grips the device, barely moving it before Mason begins yelling and screaming in pain which causes Elena to instantly close her eyes as she winces, "It hurts! It definitely hurts." The Hewitt boy cries, making the three boys stand back to where the Calavera girl stood.

"I barely moved it," Scott whispers, the room falling silent until a familiar sound of heavy metal clinging on boots head towards them. The four of them knew that sound from anywhere, it was the Dread Doctors, and they knew they were here. As their footsteps get closer, the teenagers can hear a witch-like-chant — the same word, same name, being announced over and over again.

Elena.

"They wanted us here," Theo states, the pack watching as the Dread Doctors slowly emerge from the shadows — all of their attention focusing on the huntress.

"No," Elena pauses, swallowing the nervous lump that has formed in the back of her throat, "They wanted me here." She corrects, glancing towards Scott to see if he had any idea on what to do.

"Liam, try to get that thing out of Mason's neck," The alpha instructs while Theo and him move to stand in front of the huntress.

"Elena must be terminated. She is a threat to our entire plan," The Dread Doctors announce, their distorted voices blending with the hum of their archaic technology. Their glowing eyes fixate on Elena, each step calculated and menacing as they approach.

Theo clenches his fists, instinctively stepping closer to Elena, "Back off." He instructs, protecting the girl he had grown fond of over his time in Beacon Hills.

"Theo...Theo Raeken. Failure," One of the Dread Doctors spoke, shifting their attention from Elena towards Theo. "Not a complete failure. We learned from you," It adds, causing Scott to look over at the Raeken boy and instantly noticing the anger radiating off of him.

"Theo, he's trying to get to you. This is what they want, don't give it to them. We can't beat them," The McCall boy pleads, and it had almost convinced him until the group heard a yelp escape from Elena. One of the Dread Doctors had snuck up from behind her, holding her up from around her neck.

"The mark of a true failure. Repeating the same mistake again and again," They taunt, putting even more pressure against Elena's throat — not enough to kill her but enough to bring tears to her eyes.

Theo's face instantly showing the emotion he had been trying to hold back as he steps towards the Dread Doctors, "We're taking Mason. Then I'm taking what's mine." He demands, his eyes turning yellow while he changes into his werewolf form, "Let them go."

"She has the ability to destroy everything we've worked for. And you have the entitlement and narcissism typical of your generation. In that, you are a profound success," They snap back and at the same time, a scream escapes from Mason's mouth as Liam tries pulling the device out again which catches everyone's attention.

"Scott, I... I can't get it out. I don't know what to do," The Dunbar boy tells him, causing Scott to immediately kneel down to try and help.

"But your failure taught us one thing. The banality of evil. That you were and would always be an ordinary evil," One of the Dread Doctors add, loosening its grip on Elena's neck to allow her to catch her breath. However, once she does, they go back to squeezing it.

A scoff falls from the Raeken boy's lips as he eyes the Dread Doctors up and down, "You think I'm ordinary?"

"We believed that to resurrect the perfect killer we had to start with the perfect evil. From you we learned true evil only comes by corrupting something truly good," They explain, causing the alpha to slowly shake his head before turning towards Liam.

"Not something," He begins, motioning towards the Hewitt boy who was still sat up against the tank.

"Someone," The beta finishes and once those words left his mouth, the Raeken boy charges at the Dread Doctor that was holding Elena. It instantly drops her, causing her to fall onto her knees as she begins coughing to catch her breath.

Shortly after the Raeken boy throws a few punches, Liam quickly joins in and goes after another Dread Doctor. During the chaos, the group became oblivious to Mason as he slowly stands to his feet to rip the device from the back of his neck.

"Transformation. Transformation without frequency." A Dread Doctor spoke as the group watches black mist surround the Hewitt boy, his eyes shining a familiar blue while a growl escapes from his mouth.

Theo moves to help Elena to her feet as Liam shouts out towards his best friend, "Mason!"

"That is not my name," He answers back in a distorted voice, everyone stands in complete fear as the once innocent Mason Hewitt transformed into the horrifying Beast. It lets out an ear-deafening roar as it steps forward, throwing a Dread Doctor across the room and tearing the head off of another.

It storms past Theo and Elena, striking the Raeken boy with his claws and sending him flying  backwards as he grips his wounds in pain. The Beast went to move towards the Calavera girl, but instantly stops in its tracks when it sees her face — looking as if he's seen her before.

Instead, it grabs a hold of a Dread Doctor and drags him out into the woods which causes Scott, Liam, and Elena to follow after it. The Beast raises his arm to kill the Doctor, but is stopped by Jordan Parrish who appears out of nowhere in his Hellhound form. Shortly after, the Argents emerge from the woods, shooting their guns in the air to catch everyone's attention.

"La Bete Du Gevaudan! I know your name," The eldest Argent man announces, causing the Beast to morph into a man, someone completely different from Mason. The stranger looks back to the group, a smirk resting on his face as he waits for Gerard to continue, "Do you remember mine?"

"Argent," He answers, growling as he takes off in the opposite direction which instantly causes Parrish to chase after him.

The teenagers sprint over towards the Argents, confusion all over their faces as the alpha questions, "Who the hell was that?"

"You've seen the Beast of Gevaudan That was the man," Gerard replies, looking in the direction where the Beast and Parrish had disappeared in.

"Sebastien Valet."

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AUTHORS NOTE

Hey guys and welcome to the thirty-first chapter of Howl !! I can't believe we only have one more chapter until season 6A, I hope you all are excited for the last season cause I know I am !! Now, I did look over this chapter before publishing, but if there are any mistakes I should know about please let me know.

And thank you guys so much for all of the love and support, it means the absolute world to me !! Please don't forget to vote and comment, it helps me out a lot, and it gives me even more motivation to continue writing <33

— Brooke

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