Gerard and Chris search a network of tunnels while discussing the Beast. Gerard finds black soot on the tunnel wall and says it's like a fingerprint. He explains that there were a lot of descriptions of the beast. Witnesses described everything from a red-furred giant wolf to a cloven-hoofed panther the size of a horse. Gerard's grandfather told him the body was oil-black, solid but shapeless at the same time. It was like a shadow pretending to be real. Hearing this, Chris holsters his pistol and takes out a much larger weapon.

Gerard says, as far as legend goes, the only weapon proved effective against the beast was a simple spear wielded by a young woman. Chris realizes this is The Maid of Gevaudan.

The men split up. Chris hears a scurrying, scuttling sound rustling somewhere in the tunnel. Gerard meets the Dread Doctors in a different tunnel. He whips out one of the ultrasonic emitters and embeds it into the wall. The doctors seem unable to advance. Gerard says he knows their frequency. He wonders aloud what their reason for being in the tunnels might be. He walks away leaving the Dread Doctors motionless.

Chris follows the scurrying sound to its source, a grate in the floor of the tunnel. He drops a flare into the grate and the thousands of insects, the source of the noise, scatter from the flame revealing a pile of dead bodies.

~~~

Deputy Parrish watches as 23 bodies are wheeled into Beacon Hills Hospital morgue. The sheriff, walking with a cane, tries to reassure Parrish that his dream is not coming true and tells him to get back to the station and go through recent missing person reports.

Parrish nods nervously and walks away, and once he's out of earshot, Sheriff sighs. Just then, the elevator dings loudly, and Sheriff turns to see Scott, Selene, Brett, Kira, and Stiles running out of the elevator toward him to get an update. Like Parrish, they all stop in their tracks and stare in horror at the line of orderlies continuing to wheel the bodies found in the sewers into the morgue.

"Who found 'em?" Stiles asks grimly.

"Argent. And he said the Doctors were down there. He also said you guys might know what this thing is" Stilinski says. Scott's expression looks equally grim in response to this news.

"We've got a theory..." Selene says. Stiles makes a face as he turns to address his father.

"It's a slightly terrifying theory..." Stiles adds.

"Well, the M.E. said that the victims were killed somewhere else and then dumped in those tunnels" Stilinski explains.

"What if the Dread Doctors are hiding the bodies?" Brett asks.

"Why would they do that?" Kira asks.

"Maybe they're covering for it. Protecting it-" Stiles says.

"-like a parent would" Selene realises. Sheriff looks at them exhaustedly, and it's obvious that he doesn't even want to know the answer to his next question.

"Protecting what?" He asks. Selene licks her lips anxiously as everyone shares a worried look before turning to the Sheriff.

"A werewolf." Scott answers.

"It's called the Beast of Gevaudan" Selene adds. When Sheriff makes a face at this news, Stiles shrugs in understanding.

"We know. Horrifying" He says.

"We better figure out what we're gonna call Parrish... Because it looks like his dream is coming true" The sheriff says after a sigh.

~~~

In her dream, Meredith is trying to teach Lydia to use her voice as a weapon. Meredith says she should user her hands to direct her scream. Lydia complains that none of what's happening to her is real. Meredith screams and shoves Lydia to the back of a cell. The door, bullet-resistant polycarbonate slides shut locking her inside. Meredith says Lydia will need to make her voice like a bullet to break it.

~~~

Theo says he'll help Malia find Deaton, Cheryl and Reed. He says there is something in the Doctors' lair that can help but he needs to inject her with Wolfsbane to weaken her so that she can't figure out the location of the lair. He says the Doctors used it on Liam when they took him there. She allows herself to be injected.

~~~

The voice on the PA at Beacon Hills High School announces a curfew is in effect starting at sundown by order of the Sheriff. After school activities have been canceled and students are told to go home at the end of the school day. Several sheriff's deputies roam the hallway with shotguns. Stiles mentions to Deputy Strauss (Aaron Thornton) that it seems a bit much in terms of firepower for a high school. Strauss says the Sheriff issued the weapons but wouldn't say why. When asked about his theory about it he asks Scott and Stiles if they believe in the supernatural.

~~~

Kira's father takes her sword away. She protests that she is useless without the sword. He quotes Napoleon, "There are only two forces in the world, the sword and the spirit. In the long run the sword will always be conquered by the spirit." She says she thought she was supposed to conquer the fox spirit. Her father explains that he means her own spirit will prevail and says she is still stronger than the fox. She protests that she is useless to her friends without a weapon. He says the sword is a gateway to the fox and the fox is too dangerous. He says her mind is a weapon and that she should trust herself. He says she can outfox the fox. He then releases a clasp on the sword's hilt and it breaks into its component parts which fall to his desk.

Malia awakes in the Dread Doctors' Lair. She is strapped to an examination table. Theo says the restraints are to keep her from hurting herself or him. He says they'll need to attach a pair of spiked goggles to her face. He explains that all supernatural creatures vibrate at certain frequencies. The Doctors gave each of their chimaeras a different frequency and, with the goggles, they could find them easily. Theo says Malia will need to concentrate on the Desert Wolf in order to make them work.

Theo places the goggles over her eyes and flips a switch. The spikes shoot out and embed themselves in the soft tissue just below Malia's eyes. She screams. Blood streams down her face. Theo urges her to focus and to open her eyes. Once she does, she can see Deaton and the Desert Wolf at a military base called Fort Jewett. She is duct-taping him to a chair and he's trying to explain that whatever she is planning has to be on the full moon. Malia looks around and sees Cheryl and Reed unconscious.

Theo removes the goggles and Malia explains what she saw. She says her mother is in Beacon Hills.

~~~

Malia enters the boy's locker room at school. She tells Liam to tell Scott that he was right about the tunnels. She explains that, by scent, she's figured out that the Dread Doctors operating theater is down in the tunnels.

~~~

Braeden isn't thrilled about the idea of going into Fort Jewett without better recognizance. She is even less thrilled about Theo being part of the plan. Malia says he has to come. Braeden points out that he tried to kill Scott. Theo points out that, technically, he did kill Scott. Braeden thinks they should kill him. Theo claims that he did what he had to do to survive. He claims the Dread Doctors wanted everybody dead but he convinced them that they should just kill Scott.

Braeden says they should tell Scott and Selene. Malia says they might try to stop her from killing her mother. Theo says he's planning to helping. Braeden says the Desert Wolf carries pretty heavy firepower. She explains that, at some point, the werecoyote lost part of her powers so she is not as fast or as strong as she used to be so she started using guns and became a perfect shot.

~~~

Liam wanders around the tunnels lost. He gets a text from Hayden asking if he is free tonight. He runs into Scott who admits he's been following Liam and has been watching him as he made the wrong turn in the tunnel five different times. Liam explains that Malia says the tunnel smelled like the Dread Doctor lair.

~~~

Fort Jewett looks abandoned. This makes Braeden nervous she says she's not going in with so much uncertainty. Malia isn't backing down. After some more hemming and hawing, they decide to proceed.

~~~

In her dream, Lydia is exhausted. She begs Meredith to just tell her how she learned to use her voice as a weapon. Meredith says her way gets people hurt and Lydia must find her own way. She relates the story of her first experience using her voice as a weapon. She was in chemistry class and the voices in her head were screaming so loudly that she couldn't stand it. She says everyone everywhere was screaming, dying.

She slammed her hands down on her desk and screamed. Her voice caused all the windows to explode and injured her classmates. It was explained as a chemical explosion but everyone knew it was Meredith. She knows her voice is like a bomb and says Lydia needs to find a better way. She needs to make her voice like a bullet.

Lydia hears a slide-action shotgun. She turns and the back of her cell disappears. She sees a cave and Malia cowering in fear. Meredith says it is a Banshee premonition. Lydia realizes Malia is going to die.

~~~

Stiles visits Lydia, still in a catatonic state in the real world, and explains that he checked on her classes and picked up assignments for her. He says they're going over the Riemann hypothesis, non-trivial zeros and Zeta functions. He says it all went over his head. He urges her to wake up and explain it to him. He holds her hand and begs her to come back. He says they won't make it without her.

Natalie Martin shows up and says Stiles has to leave. He notices that someone has shaved a patch on Lydia's head. He thinks it might be for trepanation. Natalie claims it is for Electroconvulsive Therapy or ECT. She says it requires that they shave small portions of the scalp. She claims it's done under general anesthesia and that it is perfectly safe. Stiles claims the head shaving isn't for ECT.

(ECT is an acknowledged treatment for "life-threatening catatonia" for patients who do not respond to other treatments. However, the shaved spot on Lydia's head does not correspond with the most common electrode placement used for ECT.)

Natalie tells Stiles to go or he won't be allowed back. Nurse Cross (Mandy Levin) says it's time for Lydia's shower.

Exiting the ward, Stiles bumps into an orderly and steals the man's access card which is necessary to open the various locked gates in the hospital.

~~~

Scott and Liam feel a vibration in the tunnel. Liam says it's coming from everywhere. He has a heart to heart with Scott about trying to kill him. He says just saying "sorry" won't do. Scott says he hasn't even done that. Liam explains that when he was at he got into a fight and knocked out another boy's teeth. He was forced to write a letter to apologize but he knew, and the other boy knew, that they didn't really mean it. He says he feels like he needs to save Scott's life to make up for what he did to him. Scott says he'll probably get the chance.

Liam is frustrated that they've been wandering in the tunnels with nothing to show for it. All he's managed to find is a snake sculpture on the wall. Scott turns the snake and the vibrations wind down. A door appears in the wall of the tunnel. However, they both freeze in shock when they walk inside to find Argent aiming a gun at them, expecting them to be the Dread Doctors. The three of them gasp in shock before Argent sighs and lowers his weapon, putting it back in its holster. Scott and Liam both sigh in relief as they make their way further into the room, but when Scott catches a familiar scent in the air, his eyes narrow as he looks at Argent incredulously.

"You didn't" Scott says in disbelieve. Argent gives him a look that says he's just as unhappy about it as Scott is, just as Gerard saunters into the room with a smug smirk on his face."Hello, Scott" Scott's eyes immediately flash red in warning, and Gerard looks genuinely surprised at the sight of Scott's recent ascension to True Alpha. Meanwhile, Liam scowls at Gerard, clearly confused as to why Scott is so on edge around him and assuming he must be bad news. "I haven't seen that colour on you," Gerard says. He pauses for a long moment before smiling weakly at Scott. "It suits you." There is an awkward silence before Liam finally speaks up, though he continues to eye Gerard warily."Who's the old guy?" He finally asks. This comment makes Gerard chuckle."Uh, at the moment... they would call me a "necessary evil." But you can call me Gerard"

"Wait, isn't he the guy-" Liam starts, remembering the time he heard what happened to Selene's dad.

"Yes" Scott replies, knowing what Liam was going to say. Scott gives Argent an exasperated and incredulous look. "What were you thinking??""That we need him" Argent replies after a sigh. Gerard continues to smirk smugly, clearly enjoying the drama his return to the fold has caused. "He's right. If you want to catch a werewolf, like the Beast of Gévaudan, you're going to need more than one Argent" Gerard explains. Scott continues to give Argent a look, but Argent mainly just looks exhausted as he walks toward Scott to look him in the eye."He knows all the stories. All the folklore. Everything written, and everything passed down" Argent explains."And you're sure about this?" Scott asks."Take a look" Scott turns back to give Liam a nervous look as Argent leads the three of them into the next room, where the fresco behind the broken wall that the Dread Doctors revealed in is located. They all stare at the painting, with Scott and Liam looking shocked at the sight of it while they try to figure out what it means. "The one on the right is the Beast of Gévaudan. Do you know what the other one is?" Liam looks anxious as he turns toward Scott, who shakes his head, clearly not looking forward to finding out what the fiery creature is. Gerard answers the question for their benefit."The Hellhound. The guardian of supernatural places. They're both creatures of the night, but you may know them as ordinary people during the day" Gerard says."And, most likely, neither of them know what they are" Argent adds. Scott and Liam's eyes widen in surprise as they turn and share a knowing look, which does not escape Argent and Gerard's notice."What is it?" Argent asks."We found a message in Latin..." Scott sighs nervously. "Damnatio memoriae" Argent, stunned by this revelation, turns to Gerard, who looks intrigued by this new information.

"They want it to remember itself," Gerard thinks out loud. Argent, still shocked, thinks about this for a moment before he speaks."That might give us time" Argent realises. "Time for what?" Liam asks."To prevent this"

Argent walks toward the fresco and presses his palms against the painting to brace himself as he kicks at the tile wall still covering the bottom of the painting with his boots. The tiles break and crumble onto the floor as Argent continues to kick it until the rest of the fresco is finally exposed, revealing that the Beast and the Hellhound are fighting over a huge pile of bodies. Scott looks horrified as he walks toward the painting to get a closer look, but Liam just looks confused.

"Who are they?" Liam asks. "Us. It's all of us" Scott realises.

~~~

Inside Fort Jewett, Malia, Braeden and Theo creep around. Malia senses something is wrong. They find Deaton duct taped to the chair and Theo attacks Braeden, knocking her unconscious. He takes her shotgun and shoots Malia in the guts. Theo says Malia picked up a chemosignal from him and that it was probably regret. He kicks the gun to the Desert Wolf and she tosses him a jar with some glowing blue Garuda claws inside.

~~~

Deputy Parrish explains about his role in Afghanistan with the military. He was part of an EOD team (Explosive Ordinance Disposal). They show him a picture of the hellhound. Chris presses him to remember his experiences in Afghanistan. He's shown in his uniform attempting to disarm an IED as his fellow soldiers run away. He cuts a wire and the device explodes. He walks away mostly unharmed with most of his uniform burned off.

Gerard reminds him that he came to Beacon Hills because he felt drawn to the town, that he hid the bodies of the Chimera and have a resistance to fire. Gerard lights a blowtorch and says they're wondering just how flame retardant he is. Chris grabs Parrish and Gerard puts the blue flame close to his face. Parrish's eye flashes orange, he roars and shows a set of double fangs. He catches sight of himself in the mirror and draws back. He reverts to his regular form and shouts at Gerard. He asks if they were prepared to burn his eye out if they'd been wrong. Gerard says yes.

~~~

(At this point we have caught up to the first scene of the first chapter of Season 5a.)

Lydia stands under a steaming shower there is an angry red scar or bruise on her side just below her ribs. Nurse Cross stands nearby with a towel waiting. She is impatient and says she believes Lydia is faking catatonia and is just waiting for the staff to drop their guard.

~~~

In her dream, Lydia is still in the cell. She is pacing, worried about Malia. Meredith urges her not to get lost. She says Lydia can help them but she has to get out of Eichen first. She can see Malia with her gunshot wound and hear the Desert Wolf explain that her real name isn't Malia.

~~~

At FORT JEWETT, the Desert Wolf is taunting Malia, who is still recovering from her gunshot, while Deaton desperately struggles against his restraints to try to help Malia. The Desert Wolf grabs Malia in a choke-hold and squeezes her throat tightly, causing Malia to gasp and choke for breath.

"You don't have a name. Talia Hale took you away from me before I could give you one"

[The Desert Wolf rears her hand back, still gripping Braeden's shotgun, and slams the butt of it in the centre of Malia's forehead with such force that she's thrown flat on her back. Deaton looks horrified and desperate as he continues to fight to break out of his restraints as the Desert Wolf throws the gun aside and stands to her feet]

"What you do have is power-- strength, speed, and the capacity to heal. You know where you got it from, Malia?" The Desert Wolf slams her boot-clad foot into Malia's stomach where Theo shot her and grinds her heel deep into her abdomen as she sneers at her daughter."You know who you stole it from? Me." The Desert Wolf grinds her heel even deeper into Malia's stomach and smirks when Malia screams in pain. Meanwhile, Deaton has managed to move forward enough that he can use his restrained hands to remove his gag while she continues to torture the young werecoyote."Tell me when it hurts. Tell me when it really hurts." The Desert Wolf quickly pulls her foot off of Malia and kneels next to her, pulling Malia into a seated position by the front of her shirt and rearing her free hand back as she extends her claws and prepares to kill Malia. "And after I'm done with you, I'll find your brother and I'll kill him too" Malia, realizing she's too weakened to fight back at the moment, closes her eyes and prepares for death. Before the Desert Wolf can do anything, Deaton finally rips off his gag and yells out at her, causing her to freeze in place.