"Are you sure?"

"Throat, ripped out. Blood everywhere.It's like The frickin' Shining over here. If two little girls walked out and asked me to come play with them forever and ever I seriously would not be surprised"

Gabriella, Scott, Erica, Derek and isaac were in the woods looking for boyd and cora

Erica and Gabriella brought Lucas's body to deaton to help Lucas reunite with his family so they could have a proper funeral for him

Gabriella clenched her jaw, trying to keep herself together as they trudged through the dark woods. Lucas's loss weighed heavily on her, his last moments a haunting image burned into her memory. But she couldn't break down now—not with Boyd and Cora out there, unleashed under the full moon. They couldn't afford any distractions, even though every step reminded her of the friend they had just lost.

"Can't say I'd be shocked," Isaac muttered, his own face tight with fatigue and grief. "This whole night's been one big horror show. Why not throw in some ghostly twins?"

Derek's gaze was sharp as he scanned the area. "Stay focused. We don't know what shape they're in right now, or if they'll even recognize us."

Gabriella gave a bitter laugh, though her eyes remained fixed on the forest around them. "Great. Werewolves on a rampage, no clear plan, and who knows how many Alphas lurking around. What else could go wrong?"

Erica shook her head in confusion "This doesn't make sense. The public pool is on the other side of the woods. We haven't tracked them anywhere near there"

"... they killed someone" Scott said looking at the four werewolves

"But how are they moving so fast?"

"Derek--"

"They can't be that fast on foot"

"They killed someone. Someone totally innocent is dead and it's our fault" Scott said

Derek paused "It's my fault"

Gabriella shook her head "it's Allison's fault she let them out"

"She was trying to help us" Scott defended

"And how'd did that turn out"

Scott's jaw clenched as he tried to meet Gabriella's glare, frustration clear in his eyes. "She didn't know this would happen, Gabriella. She thought she was saving us."

Gabriella scoffed, her voice tight with barely contained anger. "Saving us? She just unleashed two unstable werewolves on the town. And now, an innocent person is dead."

"Look, blaming Allison isn't going to change anything," Derek interjected, his tone hard but calm. "What matters now is finding Boyd and Cora before anyone else gets hurt. This is on me—I should have planned better"

Erica crossed her arms, the usual confidence in her expression shaken. "So, what's the plan, then? If they're moving this fast, they'll be in town before we know it."

"we tie them up. Find somewhere to keep them..." The sentence dies in his throat. The futility of the situation bearing down on derek "Maybe it would be easier to just kill them"

They look at him in disbelief "like hell, I already let lucas die there is no way boyd is dying too" Gabriella yelled at Derek.

"Yea am on her side there is no way am killing boyd" Erica said

"Killing them isn't the right thing to do" Scott said

Isaac sighes "What if it's the only thing? If we

don't know how to catch them, what else do we do?"

"We find someone who knows what they're doing" Scott said

"Who?"

"Someone who knows how to hunt werewolves" Scott looked at Gabriella with a knowing look

"No!"

"Gabriella-"

"Am not talking to chris I haven't talked to him since Jackson turn into a werewolf"

Scott stepped closer, his tone gentler but firm. "I get it, Gabriella. I know you're angry with him, and you have every reason to be. But he's the only one who knows how to track them, and right now, we don't have any other options."

Gabriella clenched her fists, struggling with the idea. "He's just going to see this as another chance to kill them, Scott. I don't trust him to do this without..." Her voice trailed off, and her gaze hardened.

Derek stepped forward, his voice low and calm. "I'll make sure he knows that isn't an option. We're finding them alive. I'll handle Argent if you won't."

Erica placed a hand on Gabriella's arm, her voice barely above a whisper. "We owe it to Boyd and Cora to try everything, Gabs. I know you don't want to ask him for help, but we don't have time to waste."

Gabriella's jaw tightened, her gaze fixed on the ground as she wrestled with her own frustration. Finally, she looked up, her face a mix of determination and anger. "Fine...why do I have to be related to two bloodlines of assholes"

[...]

Heading down an aisle of cars, Argent fumbles with an armful of groceries while trying to get his keys of his pocket.

One of the bags slips from his grasp and he winces as it hits the ground with a CRUNCH.

He clicks open the hatchback on his SUV and loads the bags inside.

When he reaches to close it, he pauses. Slowly, his right hand slips inside and--

Argent whips the barrel of a Glock around to point at Gabriella

"trying to eradicate the gerardo pack?"

Chris looked suprise Gabriella was here talking to him "Gabriella-" he puts down the gun

Gabriella folded her arms, her expression unyielding as she held his gaze. "I'm only here because we're out of options. Boyd and Cora are on the loose, and I need you to track them. Alive."

Chris nodded slowly, the weight of the request settling on him. "You know I'll help, but you also know the risks. If they're out of control—"

"I don't want to hear it, Chris." Her tone was icy. "They're not expendable, and I'm not here for another Argent lecture on 'necessary sacrifices.' You'll do this without casualties, or I'll make you regret it."

Chris met her gaze, his own face set in a hard line "I quit the hunting game, I lost my sisters, my wife, my father...why would I get back to it"

"you kidnapped him and tortured him you owe him Chris"

Chris sighed, his resolve softening just a bit as he looked at Gabriella. "I did what I thought was necessary, Gabriella. But you're right. I owe it to him, to you... to make up for it."

Gabriella's expression didn't change, her arms still crossed tightly. "Then you're in?"

Chris nodded, then held up a finger. "On one condition." He paused, watching her reaction. "If I do this, you start talking to me again. No more avoiding me. I get daily updates. About your life, your safety, everything."

Gabriella's eyes narrowed. "You want a family reunion in exchange for helping me?"

"I want to make sure you're safe," Chris replied, voice steady. "We may have our differences, but you're still my family. And I need to know you're okay."

After a moment's hesitation, Gabriella sighed, clearly torn. "Fine. But don't expect any happy bonding moments, Chris."

He gave her a small, understanding smile. "That's more than enough."

[...]

In a small clearing underneath the full moon, a group of unlikely werewolf hunters gathers.

Argent drops an EQUIPMENT BAG on the ground in front of Gabriella ,Erica, Scott, Isaac and Derek. Then kneels to examine the numerous prints in the dirt "You've been tracking them by print?"

"Trying to"

"Then you've been wasting your time. The only creature on earth that can visually track footprints is man And if you're not trained like me you have no idea that this print is Boyd's and these--"

"Are Cora's?" Erica guesses

"No, they're yours. You trampled Cora's when you first walked over here"

Erica lifts her foot to back up then doesn't seem to know where to step making Gabriella smile at her

"I know the five of you are probably focusing half your energy on resisting your own urges under the full moon. But that puts you at

a severe disadvantage to Boyd and Cora who have fully given in. They've got the pedal to the floor, while you three are barely hitting

the speed limit.

"So what do we do?" Gabriella asks

"Focus on your sense of smell. Actual wolves are known to track their prey for up to a hundred miles a day by scent. The trained

hunter can use scent to trap them...If the wind is with them, wolves can track a scent by a distance of two miles Which means we can draw them to us. Or into a trap..."

From the equipment bag, Argent pulls out a NET and tosses it to Scott. He gathers it in his hands, pulling at it to test its strength

"Which makes them easier to spot with infrared" He tosses goggles to everyone but gabriella and Derek gave theres back

"Thanks, but we've got our own" Gabriella and derem flash there eyes RED.

"Just remember we're not hunting wild animals. Underneath those impulses are two intelligent human beings, Don't think they can't rely on that human side. It's suppressed but it's there. Reminding them how to mask their own scent. How to cover their tracks...How to survive."

Stepping toward the edge of the cliffside, Argent and the others look out to the brilliant lights of the town, Chris turns to derek "When was the last time you saw your sister?"

"Not in years. I thought she died in the fire"

"You feel like you have a lock on her scent?"

Derek shakes his head.

Chris turns to his niece "Gabriella, how confident are you in your skills?"

"Pretty confident"

"All right, our real problem is when they breach the woods and hit the residential areas. Once they're past the high school they're right in the middle of Beacon Hills"

"They're not going to kill everything they see, are they?" Isaac said

"No. But there's an important difference to recognize. Wolves hunt for food. At a certain point they get full. Boyd and Cora are hunting for the pleasure of the kill. For some primal, apex predatory satisfaction that comes from ripping a warm body to bloody shreds. And who knows when that need is satiated. The warning quiets them all."

"We can't kill them" Erica said

Derek sighes "What if we can't catch them?"

"Then maybe we just need to contain them"

Chris turns back to the city below them, thinking "There's no one in the school at

night, is there?"

"I don't think so. I'm pretty sure they've had trouble hiring a new night janitor since Peter kind of killed the last one"  Gabriella said

Derek turns to chris "You want to trap them inside?"

"If there's somewhere with a strong enough door. No windows or access to the outside"

"What about the boiler room? It's one big steel door" Erica suggested

Chris turns to Gabriella "You're sure the school's empty?"

"It has to be. There can't be anyone there this late. Right?"

Chris grabs somthing from the back of his suv and drives a METAL DEVICE shaped like a rail spike into the ground. At its tip a soft light FLASHES on and off "These are Ultrasonic Emitters. It's one of the tools we use to corral werewolves, pushing them into a direction we want them to run. It gives off a high-pitched frequency only they can hear"

He looks up and smiles as he sees Gabriella, erica,Scott, Derek and Isaac all pressing their hands to their ears.

Chris smirked slightly, amused at their reactions. "Consider it a test of your resilience."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, muttering, "A heads-up would've been nice." But there was a small, grudging smile tugging at her lips.

He smiles bedore he hands out half a dozen of the Emitters from his trunk. Two for each of them.

"These will point them to the school?" Derek asks

Chris nods "And then it's up to you to get them into the basement"

"Anybody else want to rethink the plan where we just kill them?" Isaac said

"How about we kill you instead of them" Erica said to isaac

Isaac raised his hands defensively, a smirk on his face. "Hey, just saying! I'm all for not getting torn apart tonight."

Erica rolled her eyes but smirked back. "Then stop complaining, and maybe we'll all get out of this in one piece."

Gabriella watched the exchange with a faint grin before looking back at Chris, the hint of anxiety hidden under her determined expression. "So, we set up these emitters, get them in range, and drive them to the school's basement. And once they're contained... then what?"

Chris glanced at her, his expression serious. "Then, we wait them out. Sunrise should lessen the aggression, at least for now. But if they're still in this state by morning, we may need to find another solution."

Derek's jaw tightened, understanding the unspoken possibility. "Then let's make sure they're back to normal by sunrise."

Scott nodded, glancing around at everyone. "We're all in this together. No matter how hard it gets, we're not giving up on them."

Isaac sighed, muttering, "Famous last words." But there was a spark of determination in his eyes as he looked at his friends.

Chris gave one final nod, then motioned toward the tree line. "Let's spread out and set up the emitters along the perimeter. Once they're all in place, we guide them to the school. And remember, no unnecessary risks."

Argent slams the hatchback closed with a sound like a STARTING GUN.

A moment later, one hunter and five werewolves are off and running.

[...]

By the edge of the parking lot, Argent places his last ULTRASONIC EMITTER in the ground. Gabriella approaches, noticing Argent focused on something.

Gabriella follows his eyes to a soft GLOW moving about the shadows.

"You see that?"

"It's a firefly"

"I know"He keeps a curious eye on the glowing bug "It's just really unusual.

California fireflies aren't  bioluminescent...They don't glow."

"Then they must be Virginia fire flys and there hear on vacation" Gabriella said Sarcastically

Chris gave her a dry look, a hint of amusement in his eyes. "Very funny. But seriously, I've never seen one around here that glows before."

Gabriella shrugged, glancing back at the glowing insect with mild curiosity. "Maybe it's a sign? Or just another weird Beacon Hills thing. We're kind of used to strange by now, aren't we?"

Chris's expression softened as he looked at her. "Guess you're right. Just feels like everything's getting stranger by the day."

Gabriella smirked. "Welcome to my life."

He chuckled, then grew serious again. "i used to remember, when you were a nine I used to watch you when you chased around fire flys...you never could catch them..."

"They have wings I dont- wait how'd you know I used to chase fire flys I didn't know you when I was younger"

"Before you moved away I used to watch you from afar to make sure everything was okay...that you were ok"

Before Gabriella can respond, they hear a wolf's HOWL.

A signal.

"They're coming"

both of them start running to the car

Erica and Isaac glances about the shadows, tensing as the SOUNDS of RAPID MOVEMENT come closer and closer.

TWO BODIES hurtle into the lot. Boyd and Cora, racing at each other's side, eyes darting about for something, anything to kill.

They're eyes set on Isaac.

"You know I bet blondes taste better than brunettes"

But Argent's SUV ROARS past them, LIGHTS BLAZING. He pushes down on the HORN, pressing them back, driving them like

cattle toward the front of the school.

Hands opening to reveal his claws unsheathed, Derek stands ready, poised to defend his ground.

Through the open doors, he sees the two werewolves turning away from Argent's SUV. Coming fast and right for him. But just as they reach the steps--

Both Cora and Boyd veer off to the sides, disappearing out of his sigh

Gabriella rushes past Argent to look up "They're not going through the

school...They're going over it"

Argent and gabriella race up the steps to join Derek, isaac and erica, all of them glancing about the roof for Boyd and Cora.

"The rear doors--we need to get them open"

With a nod, Derek disappears back into the school

"Someone has to drive them inside" Erica said making argent pulls a STUN BATON from his jacket.

"I'll go"

"I'm faster" Whirling around, Gabriella tears off for the other side of the building as Feet hitting the pavement, Cora and Boyd land on the rear of the high school.

They start forward, intent on breaching the

residential area of Beacon Hills. Both of them rising up to race forward when--AN ARROW soars past Cora's head.

IT EXPLODES IN A BLINDING FLASH against the side of the school.

Cora blinks in confusion as Boyd spins trying to find their attacker.

But another arrow hits the ground near him and BURSTS INTO BLINDING RINGS OF LIGHT AND SMOKE.

Hands shielding their eyes, Cora and Boyd fall back toward the school.

FLASH BOLTS burst all around them, sending them right through the open doors and into the school.

Bow hooked over her shoulder, Allison KICKS the doors closed.

Moving fast, she wraps the chains back over the handlebars and engages the lock.

Breathless and trying not to let a triumphant smile spread too wide on her face, she turns to see-- Gabriella Standing nearby and having witnessed the whole thing.

They stare at each other for one nerve-wracked moment.

Gabriella give a weak smile "thanks"

Allison gave a small smile before  Allison raising a finger to her lips.

A silent plea for her not to say anything. When Gabriella nods, she turns and runs for it, disappearing into the night.

Gabriella ran into the school and straight to the boiler room and when she got there she saw Scott SLAMS the DOOR shut as Derek

shoves a steel desk in front of it.

"Did that actually just work?"

"It worked"

Gabriella made it down the stairs but pauses as she heard somthing

Derek and gabriella glance to each other, noticing the look on Gabriella's face "What do you hear?"

"Heartbeats"

"Both of them"

"Actually... three of them"

Scott and Derek look suprise as they heard the third heartbeat too

Derek shoves the desk aside and reaches to open the door. Scott grabs him, trying to stop him "What are you doing?"

"Shut the door behind me. Keep it shut:

"You go in there alone and you're either going to kill them or they're going to kill you"

"That's why I'm going alone"

"Like hell you are I'll hold them back, you get who ever is in there out" Gabriella said Leaving no room for discussion as she yanks the door open.

As the door closed behind them they saw Ms. Blake slowly pushes the storage room door open to look out.

Past an array of pipes, air handlers and water pumps, she sees something that takes the breath out of her...

Two feral looking teenagers with glowing eyes and shockingly large teeth, approaching her with murder in their