[...]

Gabriella lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling as sleep continued to elude her. Erica was at her parents’ house for once, fulfilling their demands to spend more time at home, and Isaac was crashing at Allison’s. The house felt eerily quiet, a rare moment of solitude Gabriella wasn't quite enjoying. 

Her bedroom door creaked open, and Gabriella sat up, startled. Standing in the doorway was Scott, flashlight in hand and a determined expression on his face. 

“Come on,” Scott said, stepping into the room. “You, Stiles, and me—we’re going out to find a body. A dead body.” 

Gabriella stared at him, unimpressed. “No.” She flopped back onto her bed and pulled the blanket over her head. 

Scott sighed and yanked the blanket off her. “Please. We owe it to Stiles’s dad...he needs it, one more case, please” 

Gabriella sat up again, glaring at him. “Who are we finding?” 

Scott hesitated, then said, “Malia Tate.” 

Gabriella blinked, processing the name. “Malia Tate? Isn’t she... the one who—” 

“Yeah,” Scott interrupted, cutting her off. “We think her body might still be out there, and if it is, we have to find it. Stiles is already waiting outside.” 

Gabriella groaned, rubbing her face. “You realize how insane this sounds, right?” 

Scott shrugged. “It’s not the craziest thing we’ve done.” 

With a resigned sigh, Gabriella swung her legs off the bed. “Fine. Let me grab my jacket.” 

Scott grinned. “Knew you’d come around.” 

As she slipped on her boots, she muttered under her breath, “If I die because of this, I’m haunting you, McCall.” 

“Fair deal,” Scott said with a grin, leading her out the door.

[...]

Scott, Gabriella, and Stiles trudged through the dark woods, their flashlights barely cutting through the eerie shadows. The air was crisp, the silence only broken by the occasional rustle of leaves underfoot.

“You know,” Stiles began, breaking the quiet, “if my dad's right, that means there's another werewolf in town we haven’t met yet…” 

Scott sighed, keeping his eyes on the map on his phone. “I know.” 

“And if it turns out to be something like, I don’t know, triplets that morph into a three-headed hound of hell, I’m seriously not up for that,” Stiles continued, glancing nervously around. 

“Yeah, me either,” Scott muttered. 

Stiles turned to Gabriella. “Speaking of giant werewolves, what happened to Aiden and Ethan?” 

“They’re still in Beacon Hills, last I heard,” Gabriella replied. “They don’t have a pack anymore.” 

“What about Deucalion?” Scott asked. 

Gabriella rolled her eyes. “He’s been trying to talk to me, claiming he’s changed and wants to have a relationship with me. But I know it’s all crap.” 

Scott frowned, glancing at her. “You okay?” 

“I’m fine,” Gabriella said firmly. 

A sudden coyote howl pierced the air, and Stiles jumped, knocking Scott’s phone into a puddle. 

“Sorry, buddy,” Stiles said sheepishly. “I hate coyotes so much. They always sound like they’re mauling some tiny, helpless little animal.” 

Scott retrieved his phone from the puddle, shaking off the water. “It still works.” 

Stiles grabbed the flashlight and pointed it toward the distance. His eyes widened. “I think we found it…” 

Ahead of them was the abandoned Tate car, rusting and overgrown with weeds. 

“Uh, why wouldn’t they move it? Isn’t it evidence?” Gabriella asked. 

Stiles shrugged. “Probably too much of a pain in the ass to tow out.” 

They approached the car cautiously. Stiles pointed out claw marks on the door. 

“Look at this—see those? Animal claws would be closer together, right? A lot closer,” Stiles noted. 

Peering inside the car, they spotted a doll sitting on the passenger seat—the same one Malia was holding in the photo. Stiles reached in, grabbed it, and pressed a button. 

“I’m hungry!” the doll chirped. 

Scott and Stiles both screamed, jumping back, while Gabriella stared at them, unimpressed. 

“We went against a pack of Alphas, a Darach, and Peter Hale… and a doll scares you?” she said, crossing her arms. 

Before they could reply, Scott and Gabriella stiffened, their enhanced hearing picking up the low growl of a nearby predator. Turning, they saw two glowing blue eyes shining in the darkness. 

“It’s here!” Scott whispered. 

Without hesitation, Scott and Gabriella took off after the creature, leaving Stiles alone by the car. 

They chased it through the woods, leaping over a ravine, and landed gracefully on the other side. In the dim light, the creature came into view. It looked more like a coyote than a wolf, its fur bristling and its blue eyes glowing. 

It snarled, baring sharp teeth, but Gabriella’s eyes glowed red as she locked eyes with it. The creature froze, its aggression wavering under her commanding gaze. 

“Malia?” Gabriella asked softly. 

The creature’s blue eyes seemed to flicker with recognition. But before they could get any closer, it turned and darted into the shadows, disappearing into the woods.