It took almost an hour for the entirety of the pack members to join Scott at the hospital. Most of that hour, however, was spent waiting for the dust to settle after Kali had showed up alongside Derek. Questions were asked, protests were made, and concerns were raised.

"I actually wanted to gather all of you here because... Well, we may have an interesting lead," Scott seemed to almost cough out his words the moment everyone went quiet.

"No shit...," the others could not disagree with Erica's comment. In fact, all eyes were understandably on Kali at the mention of a lead.

"We should probably take this as a sign that the universe approuves of our intentions." wasting no time, Stiles brought the attention of the room onto himself, "Yeah, instead of shooting in the dark and praying to whatever gods would listen that the lead Hayden found isn't a trap. We can actually crisscross it with the information that Kali has to offer," he finished explaining.

Liam stepped in after that to keep the meeting as short as it needed to be, "Right so, Hayden and I were out on a walk around the entrance of the preserve and...,"

But he didn't get to finish what he had to say. Allison had interjected before he'd gotten to the important part of it, "Stop! I want to hear what Kali has to say first," she stated in a dry tone, her eyes transfixed on Kali.

Once again, everyone's gaze traveled from Allison to Kali. Up until then, all she'd done was show up; she hadn't contributed with anything to win their trust yet, and they knew that Allison was right. Even Derek who seemed to have no reluctance towards letting her be with them, had decided to let things play.

"That sounds pretty fair to me. Shot in the dark or not, I don't trust this woman," said Malia.

A few seconds of uncomfortable silence, which everyone had to resist the urge to break, settled in the room. Realizing there was no avoiding it, Kali finally spoke up, "Fine, I guess it is fair," she stated, pressing on the word ''is'' as she uttered it, "I know that the apprentice, or the master as they like to call him, is on his way to Beacon Hills; don't know when he's showing up, but he's definitely on his way. I also know that apart from me and Anas, there's Kate, Matt, Jennifer and the nogitsuné in their ranks; these are the higher ups that are already in Beacon Hills, and I am not talking about the lower rank soldiers, like the berserkers and the long tails. I have no idea how many of them there are out there, around the world,"

"Wow! That... Actually, does... Not help us at all. Do you have any important information that we have yet to hear," Daniel popped from behind Isaac where he stood to voice his thoughts.

"I intensely and heavily agree with his statement," said Isaac sarcastically, his arms crossed against his chest.

Kali rolled her eyes at them before asking, "What about their hideout? Does that sound like an important information?"

"I'd say it would be a great start," said Lydia.

"They're staying in a mansion up north, very close to the border of town," she said.

Everyone looked at Hayden all of the sudden; all waiting for her to confirm Kali's words, "So? Does it add up with what you found?" said Stiles.

To which Hayden replied with a very clear, "It does, yes," an answer that was seconded by Liam who kept nodding his head as she spoke.

"Alright so... What now?" Brett asked when he thought that the silence ate more of their time than it should have.

All of their gazes shifted destinations once again; they went from looking at Hayden and Liam to Scott and Stiles, who stood next to each other, "So... I'd say we strike them as fast as we can," said Scott.

"Especially if his majesty the apprentice is on his way here," added Stiles.

"You wanna go there tonight?" Derek was taken slightly aback by Scott's decision; the true alpha had always refrained from hastiness.

"No, not tonight, not exactly but...," he looked at Kali as he said that.

"You're afraid I'll go back and tell them all about your plan to strike?" said Kali. She didn't seem particularly offended, more so exasperated than anything else.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"Well, can't really blame him, can you?" it was Boyd's turn to speak up.

"Look, guys, I am usually the paranoid skeptic around here, so none of you can call dibs on that role. But... Today, right here, right now, we can't afford that. I am sure you noticed how fast of a pace they moved at; they struck as soon as we entered town, and I don't need to remind any of you that most of us here, would have been dead by now without much needed helping hands," Stiles spoke quickly and with much avidity. He'd managed to catch their complete attention and simultaneously leave them no room to argue, not because they couldn't speak but because they had nothing to add; they all knew he was right.

"That is the most accurate assessment of this shit show that I've gotten to hear so far. Anyhow, what's your plan Stilinski? That is of course, if you have one," said Jackson.

"We should split up," Scott threw those words out there and took everyone by surprise.

"Wait, yeah, sure we can split up but... After establishing a plan, right?" said Ethan.

"Well, we need a plan of the mansion, which Kali can provide, yes; after that we split up into multiple groups and each group establishes its own plan the way they see fit," said Scott.

"I also think each group should designate a leader and only the leader should be informed of the plans of other teams, just so that we don't step on each other's toes," said Allison.

"I like the idea of staying in my lane but, doesn't that sound a little too draconian?" said Malia. The moment she spoke, the atmosphere in the room became denser and heavier. The way Scott, Allison and Malia stared at each other, seemingly made everyone else uncomfortable just by being there.

"No, as long as we have Kali in our ranks, we cannot sleep on both ears. If she runs back to the enemy and informs them of our plans, we're dead ducks. It's not that complicated to understand," Allison's sentence did not help soothe the already inflammable air around them.

"Well, maybe if you...,"

Malia had stepped a little forward towards Allison, but Stiles swiftly interjected between them, "I think we all need to take a few steps back in order to get the full view over what we have. While I agree with Malia that doubts and lack of trust can hold us back, I also have to agree with Allison's take; it really does sound like the best for both case scenarios,"

Immediately after his words, Liam stepped in to share his suggestion, "I think I should go with Hayden and I want Brett and Lauri to join me if that's ok with them,"

"Sounds good for me," said Brett.

"I have an idea and I would need the help of Jackson with it," said Deaton.

"I'm in, but I don't think that the three of us should go in alone," Jackson had motioned at Deaton as well as Ethan and himself when he spoke.

"It's alright, Deucalion and Aidan should go with you; they were a bit busy, that's why they couldn't show up here," said Scott.

"Aidan? Aidan as in my brother Aidan?" Ethan leaped out of his calm state, understandably outraged; nobody had thought of taking the time to inform him that his dead brother was one of the revenants.

"What? Really? Aidan is back too?" Lydia seemed shocked by the news as well.

"I know, I am really sorry, I just didn't find the right time to tell you about it yet, I just...,"

But Ethan did not wait for Scott to finish his excuses, "I think I've heard enough, and our group is set anyways, so I might as well get out of here," he exited the room right when he finished speaking. Jackson followed after his fiancé; he gave one last glance at Scott and the others before disappearing behind the wall as well.

Sheriff Stilinski took it upon himself to break the new fallen silence, "I think I should go with Parrish, Fisher and Rafael; I think we'll work better as a team, if that's alright with all of you,"

"Me and my father should go together and...," Allison made an awkward pause, before looking towards Isaac and adding, "Isaac should come with us, if he wants to,"

"Yeah, sure," he said sheepishly.

"Can we tag along with you three?" Daniel asked Allison, referring to himself and Alec.

When neither Allison nor Chris said a thing, the rest took it as a sign of agreement and they moved on, "You three can come with me if there is no objection from you?" Satomi addressed Mason, Corey and Nolan.

"Sounds good for me," said Mason. Nolan and Corey simply nodded.

"Right, I think me, Scott, Lydia and Malia should go together," said Stiles.

"I'll go with Peter. We can take Braeden and Theo with us,"

Malia had immediately intervened, leaving no time for Peter to prepare his words. He uncrossed his arms and let them fall by his sides, surprised by his daughter's decision. Stiles looked at her and then at Scott; his best friend seemed to lack any sort of response at what he'd just heard. Lydia was looking between the both of them as well and it wasn't long before Stiles noticed that everyone else was stuck doing the same. If the atmosphere was heavy until then, it was becoming unbearably thick, Stiles felt like he could slice it if he had a scalpel in hand.

Thankfully, Derek cleared his throat at that point, "I'll go with Erica, Boyd and Kali as well," Erica snapped out of whatever thoughts she was having; she turned towards Derek so quickly that it didn't go unnoticed by the others. Although, there were no comments about Derek's decision whatsoever.

"I guess this leaves me, Hilldon and Maylee, we... Wait," Rosalie paused and scanned the room with her eyes, "Where's Maylee?"

"Maybe she wasn't informed about the meeting," said Stiles.

"Impossible. She was right behind me when we were on our way here," said Rosalie.

As if on cue, and at the mention of Maylee's name, Scott's voice was heard in the room again, "Lydia, what's wrong?" he had asked while supporting Lydia's figure. Her body had leaned to the side, and she looked like she was struggling to stand on her own legs.

"Lydia?" inquired Stiles as he slowly walked her way.

She held her head in her right hand and shut her eyes tightly, "Something..., I am not sure but... Something is really wrong, I can feel it. I think it has to do with Maylee. I think wherever she is, she's in trouble," she said.