Edit: I just fixed the spelling of Aiden's name. Apparently IMDb lied to me.

I should have known this would happen, Ethan mentally berated himself for the thousandth time as he desperately tried to stem the blood flowing far to quickly from his brother's limp body.

How had he not seen it coming? He knew Aiden had been increasingly restless of late, especially since Ennis' suspicious death, but Aiden had always been somewhat uncomfortable with following Deucalion's leadership. It wasn't easy for any alpha to accept anything other than their natural position of dominance, and Aiden had always found it particularly difficult. Still, Ethan had never expected his brother to do anything as monumentally stupid as challenging Deucalion alone.

But then, Ethan was supposed to be the smart one.

Ethan was the one who should have anticipated this.

He'd thought that making it clear that he wouldn't assist in any attempt to overthrow the goddamn alpha of alphas would be enough to dissuade Aiden. He should have realised that common sense was nothing in the face of his brother's temper.

Ethan's keen ears picked up the sound of an engine, and he barely dared breathe as he waited for the vehicle it belonged to to come into view. When it did, he breathed a sigh of relief. Not only had Deucalion and Kali not found them yet, but, miraculously, Danny had responded to his frantic plea for assistance despite how insane he must have sounded on the phone.

"Oh my god," Danny gasped in horror as he dashed out of the car and saw the state Aiden was in. "We have to call an ambulance-"

"-No!" Ethan's hand closed over Danny's as the Hawaiian boy pulled his phone out of his pocket. "The hospital can't help him. We need to take him to someone who can. Trust me. Please."

Danny hesitated, but concluded that arguing would only slow them down. He helped Ethan load his brother into the back seat of the car as quickly and carefully as possible.

"Alright, so where are we going then?" Danny asked once they were out on the road, glancing into the rear-view mirror to observe Ethan, who was protectively cradling his brother's unconscious form in his lap.

"Take a left at the next intersection," was Ethan's only reply. Apparently he'd decided that Danny wasn't going to find out where they were going until they actually arrived there.

When Ethan finally told his boyfriend to pullover, Danny understood why he hadn't been informed of their destination upfront. "The vet clinic? No way; we're taking him to a hospital."

Ethan reached forward to clasp Danny's shoulder desperately. "Danny, please. I need you to trust me. Deaton's the only person who can help him."

"Are you insane? He heals animals not people."

A look of resignation diffused across Ethan's features. "Well Aiden and I aren't entirely human." The words were muttered so that Danny only just caught them.

"What did you just say?"

"You heard me. I know you did. And I know you know there's something different about me. You've seen how fast I can heal. You know that I'm involved in something I haven't been able to tell you about. Aiden and I are werewolves. I'll explain everything later but right now we don't have time."

"That's... that's not possible." Even to his own ears Danny's words lacked conviction. He'd seen far too many strange things in the past couple of years to completely discount the possibility.

Ethan took a deep breath. "Danny..." A pained expression distorted his face. "Look at me."

Danny turned, compelled by the fervent plea in his boyfriend's voice. As he watched, Ethan's eyes transformed from their normal brown to a fierce, glowing red. His teeth elongated, the canines forming terrifyingly sharp points. And then, as quickly as the changes had appeared, they reversed themselves, and all that was left was Ethan, terrified for his brother and terrified of being rejected by Danny.

There was a part of Danny that told him he should run away as fast as his legs could carry him, but it was minuscule compared to the part that told him that told him that his boyfriend needed his help more than he ever had or probably ever would again, and in the face of that, how could anything else possibly matter?

"Come on, let's get him inside."

It wasn't until they got inside the clinic that Ethan realised how little he had thought this plan through. Deaton may have been most likely the only person in Beacon Hills capable of healing Aiden, but whether he would be willing to was an entirely different story. The vet observed them impassively from behind the mountain ash barrier.

"Please, you have to help him," Ethan implored. "I'll tell you everything I know about Deucalion's plans. I'll do anything. Just help him. Please."

It wasn't clear if it was mercy or the desire for information that swayed Deaton, but either way he opened the gate and allowed them into the clinic.

The next hour was a flurry of activity as Deaton did what he could to treat Aiden's wounds with expert clinical efficiency. Ethan and Danny couldn't do much more than hand him surgical instruments or suture material when he asked for them. Most of their time was spent watching helplessly as the vet worked. Danny's hand quietly found its way into Ethan's, grounding him.

Eventually Deaton finished and, after stating that Aiden stood a reasonable chance of recovering, left the room. Ethan pulled a stool over to the side of the operating table his brother had been placed on to sit vigil. Danny joined him without hesitation.

"You don't have to stay if you don't want to," Ethan assured his boyfriend.

"Do you want me here?"

"Of course, but-"

"-Then I'm staying."

"I completely understand if you don't want anything to do with me after this."

Danny scoffed. "Well that's not going to happen. In case you haven't noticed, I'm kind of in love with you."

"I love you too." With a sigh, Ethan leaned against Danny, resting his head on his boyfriend's shoulder. "God, I've got no idea what's going to happen next. Deucalion's not going to rest until Aiden and I are both dead, I can't imagine the other pack is going to forgive and forget anytime soon even if I do help them, and if by some miracle they do, Aiden's going to be pissed that I effectively made an executive decision to switch sides."

None of that made much sense to Danny, so he stuck the one thing he was sure of. "Well whatever happens you're not going to have to deal with it alone. I'm going to be here, okay?"

"Okay."