Pack Mentality // s. stilinski

One (2)

It turned out that Cadmus didn't need to worry about not having anything to say, because when Stiles arrived it was clear that he was neither alone nor expecting conversation- it turned out that Stiles had already been with Scott when Cadmus had called. This led to Cadmus was wedged awkwardly in the back of the jeep, Stiles having been adamant about Scott having the front seat- best friend rules, or some farce like that. 

Scott was moping about some lost tattoo, stroking his bicep mournfully. Stiles was not moping about the tattoo. "Honestly, Scott," he sighed, squeezing the steering wheel earnestly. "It was God awful. Like, the universe did you a favor, bro."

The werewolf looked at his best friend, wounded. "I paid so much money for that." Cadmus bit back a snort at the words. Something inside of him still laughed, and he felt a little cruel for finding humor in Scott's misfortune. But watching Scott suffer through a mundane struggle was a little like watching a puppy with it's head stuck in a bucket- pitifully sad, adorably hilarious. 

"Well, Derek has a tattoo," Cadmus put in helpfully. "He could probably help."

An odd silence settled in the car, until Scott said, tentatively, "He has a lot on his plate right now."

Cadmus did snort this time, rolling his eyes. "Like what?" he asked dryly. "He isn't turning tweens again, is he?"

Scott bit his lip. "Actually, uh, Boyd and Erica are- missing."

"Missing?" Cadmus bolted upright in his seat. "The fuck does that mean?"

Stiles winced at the contained anger in Cadmus' voice. "There's an alpha pack," Scott said. "They lured Boyd and Erica in, caught them before we could do anything. We've been looking for them since."

"The whole town's been looking," Stiles amended. 

Cadmus blinked at the pair of them. "And neither of you thought to like, text me this?"

"You were busy ignoring everyone from France," Stiles bit, the words falling out before he could help himself. Cadmus tensed. He could feel his anger boiling under his skin, and he forced himself to stay calm.

"Sorry, my mom kind of died in case you didn't notice," he grumbled, clenching his fists tight. Neither boys had a response to that, and Stiles felt guilt grip its cold hands around him.

"Sorry," he whispered. His knuckles were white as they gripped the wheel.

Cadmus took a deep breath. This was not how he'd wanted the night to go. "It's fine," he managed to wave off the incident. He forced his mind to go calm, despite his body's aching to punch something. "Just... tell me when you go looking for them next. So I can come."

"You're human," Scott argued, his brow creasing in worry for his friend. Cadmus kicked the back of his seat in response.

"I'm a hunter," he corrected him. "And I take care of myself." He noticed Scott wince at his words, thought he couldn't imagine why. "I can't just sit around while my former pack mates are- I don't know."

The werewolf nodded, though he seemed distracted now. "Do you think Allison's doing okay?" he asked. It wasn't addressed to anyone in particular, but Stiles was the one who took the burden of answering. 

"I don't know," he said wisely. "She's been in France with family the whole summer."

Cadmus rolled his eyes. "As the said family," he answered, giving Stiles a deadpan look, "I can confirm that I know zilch about her happiness. But I assume it's there as she's hanging out with Lydia right now."

Scott asked, "She's contacting people?" at the same time that Stiles blurted, "Why the hell wouldn't you know if she was happy?"

Cadmus nodded distractedly at Scott, before turning to Stiles. "I-" he winced at his own voice. "It's kind of complicated." Stiles raised a disbelieving eyebrow in his direction, and Cadmus caved. "After I found out that she went darkside, and that my dad had been lying to me, it was just- it was hard to be around them. I didn't think I could trust them. And it's gotten better, over the summer, at least with Ally, but- I don't know. It's been so long that we don't really know how to talk to each other anymore."