"Stiles, what's wrong?"

"You should have believed me." Stiles stared at his father with something bordering on hatred in his eyes.

"Son, what's going on?"

"You don't get to call me that right now. We came to you for help and you took his side." He dropped Scott's bloody sweatshirt on the desk before walking to the door. "Jackson did that to him and now he's missing."

"Stiles!" The sheriff rounded his desk, launching in the direction of the front doors just in time to see Stiles pulling out of the parking lot and away from him. He looked down at the bloody sweatshirt in his hand and prayed it wasn't the bad omen he feared. "I need an evidence bag now." The Sheriff watched intently as one of his deputies pulled a bag up around the sweatshirt and sealed it inside. "Get it tested and get someone over to Scott McCall's house. Be ready to put out an Amber Alert. Someone find me Jackson Whittemore!"

"Scott's gone." Stiles wasn't even sure how he managed to drive his jeep to the subway station from his father's office in the throws of a panic attack. As it was, all of his energy went to forcing that damning sentence out of his mouth in the presence of someone who might not even care.

"What are you babbling about?" Derek snarled at the pale teen on the stairwell.

"Jackson took Scott." Stiles shuddered, feeling his knees give out. "So much blood."

The broken whisper stabbed the alpha with fear and Derek grabbed his chest as he collapsed on the floor. His body rippled through the change as he allowed the feral beast loose. Fierce red eyes turned on the messenger, growling a warning at the trembling human.

Stiles could feel the unspoken order for details in the growl. "They have him. Jackson took him over an hour ago but I don't know where they went. We were on the phone and I heard a car door, but there was nothing when I got to Scott's house but blood." Stiles felt black closing in around him in a heavy fog. "I know you don't get along, but please Derek. Find him."

Derek roared, streaking out into the night in search of the most trusting idiot he'd ever met. He knew one day that Scott's benevolence would get the better of him. Hunters would use any tool at their disposal to destroy a werewolf, including their compassion. He knew it was coming, warned Scott to be careful about trying to save Jackson, but he also knew, somewhere deep in his soul that Scott wouldn't learn, not until he was forced. Launching over the logs to the ledge, he stood on the boulder, howling a desperate call and hoping he wasn't too late but he was met with silence.

It took four agonizing days to get the test results back from the country DNA lab in matching Scott's blood to the fingerprints in the bedroom. The fingerprint analysis three days ago had been enough for a search warrant, but the Sheriff had to stand by cooling his heels while they hunted for the missing suspect. All they could find in the house was the strange toxin in Jackson's bathroom but when the teen was located two day later, along with his car, they hit the jackpot. Lawyer or not, even Whittemore Senior was having trouble refuting the evidence listed with the arrest warrant for his son. He sat in a stupor at the table in the interrogation room, looking at his son as if he never met him.

"Where is Scott McCall?"

"How should I know?" Jackson glared at the Sheriff. "I filed a restraining order against him, remember? We don't hang in the same circles."

"Yeah, I remember. Funny thing about that, we found these finger prints in Scott's room." The Sheriff threw a photo on the table. "They are a match to you, but the blood is Scott's. Can you tell me why, if Scott was such a danger to you, that you would be in his room, where he was last seen, leaving finger prints in his blood when you don't have so much as a scratch?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Jackson looked at his father, expecting him to stop the proceedings, but his father was frozen beside him.

"Then there's this." Stilinski put an evidence bag containing Scott's sweatshirt on the table. "You see these slashes?" He pointed to the long tears in the fabric. "We found the same paralytic on them that was present on the bodies of Joseph Lahey, Bennett Herbt and Drew Stevenson. We matched it to a sample taken from the sink in your bathroom, your shower and the floor of your car."

Jackson started to feel fear dancing up his spine. "I don't know how that got there."

"Did I tell you that when we searched your car we found Scott's blood all over the trunk?" The sheriff stood, hovering over the scared teen. "The day you filed that restraining order, Scott told me that they were just trying to stop you from hurting people, hurting him. I didn't believe them and now I have to live with a sixteen year old kid being abducted with all the evidence pointing to you. You better pray that we find him alive, Jackson, because not even your father will be able to save you from me if he isn't."

Jackson sagged in defeat. "Principal Argent."

"What?"

"I took him to Principal Argent." Sheriff Stilinski grabbed the evidence from the table and slammed the interrogation room door on the way out.

Scott curled into a ball in the back of his cage, trying to shield his muscles from the cold. He could feel immediate relief as the fur started to spread across his skin, bathing him in warmth, even as he fought the pain of the wolfsbane binds. He wrapped his mind in the warmth, insulating it from the world around him and retreated into a cave of safety. Scott didn't even flinch anymore when they electrocuted him in search of information on an Alpha that wasn't coming for him. The omega had chosen, and he turned down the security of a pack. He was alone and the knowledge that no one would come for him broke him faster than the cattle prods. After eight days there was nothing left inside of him that could respond to the pain. Cold dead eyes gazed in the direction of the floor, not really seeing anything. He didn't respond to his name, wasn't even sure what it was anymore. The sixteen year old boy was gone and in his place was the empty shell of a wolf.

Stiles had been driving to every abandoned cabin in Beacon county, crossing them off the map one by one for the last nine days. He was starting to lose all hope of ever finding his friend when his ever silent companion barked out an order to stop. He didn't hesitate to throw the car in park as Derek hopped out, practically ripping the door from its hinges. "Do you smell something?"

Instead of answering, Derek took off from the road into the woods, barely acknowledging Stiles pulling the old Jeep down the dirt path behind him. The smell led him to a old barn house a couple miles off the road and he immediately raced inside the building calling Scott's name. Derek tracked the foul stench into the basement and snarled at the sight. Scott had never transition to full wolf, never allowed the beast enough control, but the sick and injured timber wolf curled in the stench of its own waste was definitely Scott. Carefully, he sniffed at the wounds, angry to find the animal wrapped in wolfsbane soaked ropes. With a growl, he wrapped the body in a tarp and lifted it in his arms, burying his nose in the blood stained fur under the wolf's chin.

"Derek? Is that," Stiles couldn't seem to finish his question.

"Yes." Carefully the alpha set the wolf into the back of the Jeep and slumped into the passenger seat. "Get me to the clinic."

Stiles nodded, his throat closing in sadness. "Will he ever, I mean can he change back?" He jumped when Derek put a fist through his dashboard. "I'll take that as a no."

Derek growled, glancing over his shoulder at wolf whining pitifully in the back. "It's possible, but the damage they did to him, it could take months. I've seen it before in others rescued from hunters. He shut down to survive the pain and now he doesn't know how to be human anymore or want to be."

Stiles sighed when he walked in the door of his house. It took six hours to get Scott patched up and it was only possible after Derek held him down so Deacon could sedate him. Even the sight of another human sent the animal into a feral rage that almost took the vet's hand. Derek managed to get the wolf settled in his subway car before he woke from the surgeries, but Scott freaked out again when Erica got too close to the nest they created next to the alpha's pallet. Not wanting to leave his friend, Stiles was tempted not to go back home, but he'd been hiding out with Derek for over a week while they looked for Scott and his father deserved to know that he was still alive. He wasn't sure how he was going to make amends for the words said in his office, angry remarks meant to inflict as much pain as Stiles was feeling at the time. As far as he was concerned Scott was as good as blood and the adults in their lives, the ones they were supposed to trust had failed them. "Dad?"

The sheriff launched off his chair and pulled Stiles into a hug, one shyly returned. "I've been worried sick about you. Where have you been?"

"Looking for Scott."

His father flinched and pulled away, half expecting to see the same hatred in his sons eyes, instead there was a resigned weariness. "No luck?"

"We found him."

The fact that Stiles wasn't more excited brought up all sorts of horrid images of bodies in ravines to the veteran police officer. "Is he alive?"

"In a matter of speaking." Stiles sank down in the chair. "He's not human anymore."

"Did you take him to the hospital?"

Stiles shook his head emphatically. "No, we took him to the clinic. I mean it, he's not human anymore. He shifted and now he's stuck."

"Stiles what are you talking about?" Anger started to curl in his gut with every cryptic answer.

"You saw the photos from the video store, the animal attacks, heard the howling, you telling me you didn't put two and two together and figure out werewolves were involved?" Stiles snorted. "The man responsible for all the Hale house murders was Derek's uncle. He turned Scott."

"And you didn't think I needed to know any of this?"

His son's normal sheepish expression was missing as he shot his father a hard glare. "We tried to tell you but you were too busy reading us a restraining order." Stiles stood heading for the back of the house. "Look, Scott's alive, but stuck as a wolf, possibly for years until he calms down enough to turn back. Derek said he shut down his human brain to deal with the torture."

"Torture?"

Ignoring his father's horrified whisper, Stiles pushed on. "And now I have to figure out whether to tell Scott's mom that he's alive when she won't be able to see him. He won't let any other humans within ten feet of him without taking a limb. Even Derek's pack was almost flayed."

Stiles looked over his shoulder at his father, seeing the defeat in the set of his shoulders. He seemed to gather some energy before looking at Stiles. "I know it doesn't make it right, but Jackson Whittmore and Gerard Argent are in custody. Jackson's not going anywhere for a very long time, but I don't think we have enough to hold Argent, especially if Scott can't testify."

"There's a cabin six miles south east of the preservation by Hixon bluff. That's where we found Scott." Stiles turned without looking at his father as he walked up the stairs. He was asleep before he even hit his pillow. For now his enemies were in jail and his best friend was alive and his father would figure out how to deal with Scott's mom. The poor woman hadn't slept in over a week and Stiles wasn't sure what condition she would be in other than broken. Based on the desperate texts he received on the hour to see if he had news about Scott, Stiles knew that she wasn't going to take the news well. Derek was pretty sure that Scott wouldn't be turning back any time soon, but he had faith in his best friend. Scott would fight his way back. He had to for them.

The alpha never explained where the injured wolf came from when he returned from his week long absence, but his pack understood that the animal was sacred and not to be harmed in any way. There were enough rumors flying around school about Scott McCall's kidnapping and the absence of Stiles for them to put two and two together. For the first two weeks, the lupine hid in Derek's subway car curled in a bed of the alpha's old clothes, healing from a myriad of injuries. When he finally did venture out of the nest, it was only to go as far as lying at Derek's feet. The only person the wolf responded to other than Derek was Stiles, who was allowed the rare privilege of feeding him without getting his arm ripped off by the skittish monster. Stiles was often found sitting on the floor by Derek, running calming hands through the wolf's ebony fur. If Derek left the security of the station, the wolf was with him, snarling warnings to anyone who came within ten feet of the alpha. Surprisingly it made the man smile and rub the wolf behind the ears.

The wolf's reaction to the girl's scent was immediate and it took all of Derek's strength to hold back the beast before the jaws snapped around her throat. "Move it you want to live." He should have known better than to return to his family's home while the hunter's were prowling, but he was surprised to see her with Chris. "Scott, back off!"

"Scott?" Allison shook with grief and fear as he father pulled her away from the threat. "What happened? Why is he a wolf?"

"Ask your father." Derek sank his claws into the scruff of the wolf's neck, holding him slightly behind his body.

"He needs to be put down Derek." Chris Argent stood protectively before his daughter, holding a crossbow.

"Finishing what your family started?" Derek growled, eyes red, as he crouched in the ready position.

"He's not human anymore." Chris raised a hand, emphasizing his point, but the combination of his aggressive move and the familiar scent of his torturer's pack sent the wolf into a tailspin of rage. Only the sound of Derek's warning growl held the animal in its place. Scott crouched, ready to pounce the moment the elder wolf gave him permission.

"He's what you made him." Derek sneered at the hunter. "Everyday you'll hear his howl and have to live with what you did to a innocent kid. Where was your code when your father tortured him and you stood by to watch?" Derek placed a hand on Scott's head. "Scott is under my protection and I will kill anyone who so much as breathes on him." He shoved Scott to the side, indicating that he wanted him to leave. Scott snarled his irritation at being forced away from his prey, but followed the order. The Alpha waited just long enough to ensure that the wolf was out of weapons range before he took off behind him.

"Dad, what happened to him?"

Chris flinched at his daughter's angry question, not sure how to answer her without losing her forever.

Derek ran through the woods, a black wolf on his heels when he came across the scent of bear. Pleased when the wolf kept pace, he took off after the animal in the need of a hunt after the stress of the meeting with Argent. They flanked the large brown bear, fangs sinking into either side of the massive throat. It was a short five minute clash of claws and teeth before the great predator succumbed to the wolves. Derek felt a buzzing in the back of his mind as he feasted on the bear, the same sensation he felt with every addition to his pack, as Scott finally accepted him. He relished the closeness as he ran his hand along the wolf's flank, feeling a surge of peace and safety through the bond. He smiled down at the lost soul. "Yeah, Kid. You're safe now." Scott nipped at him affectionately and rested his head on the alpha's thigh. Derek studied the lupine features, knowing someday Scott would find his way back to his human form, though he suspected Scott would always prefer his wolf form. He suspected there would be many nights that he would be found hunting with the great sable wolf.

Melissa McCall broke the day she saw the Sheriff walk into the hospital looking for her. If not for the hope of seeing her son again, she wouldn't have bothered to crawl out of bed each morning, dejectedly passing Scott's room on the way to the shower. After ten long days with no answer, the Sheriff was once again at her door, Stiles at his side with a crazy story about werewolves and hunters. If Stiles hadn't been so absolutely desolate, she would have chucked the pair out the door in a rage for daring to make light of her loss. Her heart broke even more when she realized she might never see her baby again. After three months, she was practically a zombie, attentive only in her duties at work, her sleep and diet had suffered to the point her coworkers were considering intervention.

She half expected to see an army of nurses at the door when she heard a knock on a rare day off. The tall man with angry eyes stopped her breath and she stepped back into the security of the house. About the slam the door in his face and call the police, the whimper of an animal stalled her hand. Melissa peeked around the mass of muscle to see a large ebony wolf, cowering on her porch. "Is that Scott?"

Derek nodded, stepping out of the way.

"We were hoping something familiar would bring him back." Stiles voice made her jump and she turned to see him crouched beside the wolf. "Just be careful. I'm pretty sure he will recognize your scent, but so far Derek and I have been the only ones allowed to touch him."

Her hand trembled as she covered her lips, trying to hold back a sob. "Scottie?" She knelt down, unable to hold back the tears as she reached timidly for the animal. The wolf whimpered, scenting the air before crawling forward on his belly bumping his nose against her hand. When he crawled forward, resting his head in her lap and curling his body around her, Stiles felt lead drain from his spine in relief. "Baby, please, tell me you're still in there."

Derek leaned against the railing, watching on with a slight grin as Scott nuzzled against his his mother. He dropped to sit on the floor, his eyes suspiciously moist when the body began to ripple through the change, lengthening into human musculature. Scott barely whimpered at the pain of the transition as his mother held him cradled in her arms.

A.N. I was all set to try my hand at the Scott trapped as a wolf challenge but as I started to develop the idea, I decided it would take a lot for Scott to give the beast inside enough control to fully transform. I kept getting flashes like a trailer for a movie and this is what became of the idea.