It was only once Sara and Eric were positive that enough time had passed for all the tents to be pitched that they were being herded out of the water. The group had grown over the course of the day and by the time Liam was walking in squelching shoes back through the forest in the iridescent red glow of sunset he felt a lot like he was on a field trip.

Sara was the teacher, the youngest teens crowded around her were the teacher's pets, spouting off stories of things she'd been there to witness, not that she seemed to mind. Laughing long to the retelling's of the afternoon like she'd never heard them before.

Behind them was the mass of the group, tired and just ready to get home, take a warm bath and eat some real food because the pb&j their parents packed wasn't enough. At the back was the group of troublemakers, those who still somehow had enough energy to be throwing cans and paper airplanes at each other.

Liam, well Liam wasn't in any group, he'd managed to find himself stuck between the main mass and the 'bad kids' stomping along sullenly wet jeans chaffing uncomfortably and shoes squelching with every step.

Theo let out a silky laugh behind him making his eyes roll in his head for the umpteenth time that day. Still, he itched to look round, head tilting just enough that he could spot the last dregs of people through his hair. Theo, of course, was right in the middle of them, wet clothes clinging to his skin in a way that must have bothered him, but he didn't show it. Just continued to swagger along, smiling wolfishly and chatting with Eric, Guns and Moe like they'd been friends for years. His eyes shifted to Liam.

Liam's scowl darkened, eyes snapping back to in front of him as an ugly feeling burnt in his chest that Liam knew he couldn't quite blame on the moon. Shoving his hands into his wet pockets Liam trudged on, glaring at the ground in earnest.

It wasn't that he'd wanted people to hate Theo, or that he thought Theo should actively shut everyone out and just play the role of a nice normal werewolf. He just hadn't expected Theo to be so open with them.

Theo laughed again and Liam fought the urge to groan. It was a real laugh, a genuine laugh, the same kind he did when Liam had freaked out on the skywalk and that was his problem. Liam wasn't faking anything, he wasn't making polite conversation and hiding behind fake smiles and sure, maybe he was being evasive to any personal questions, he hadn't even told anyone that he was part coyote despite them asking what exactly him being a chimera meant but he was still genuinely laughing at their dumb jokes and seemed every bit just like a normal part of the group.

He knew it was petty and stupid, but well, he'd worked hard to get Theo to laugh with him like that, they literally had to travel across state lines for Theo to actually start opening up to him and yet within a few hours of being with the pack he was all buddy buddy with them, and had left Liam's side to do so.

Not that he had to be at Liam's side it was just...disconcerting to see how easily Theo veered off the moment other people were around.

Liam could see the appeal of the group behind him, they were nice and unlike everyone in beacon hills they didn't hold the same underlying tension at talking to Theo and if Liam hadn't been being irrationally petty he was sure he'd be right there with them. Liam wasn't about to grovel for Theo's attention. He'd been stuck with nothing but it for nearing two weeks. He could survive a few hours with Theo being distracted.

He continued in silence, gritting his teeth against the soft sound of Theo's voice.

Theo had made him come to the pack. He'd pushed him into the water. It was his job to babysit him and make sure he didn't lose his control. It was totally reasonable that Liam was feeling pathetically dejected at not being the centre of Theo's attention. Hell, it was irresponsible of Theo to not be keeping a closer eye on him.

Liam let out a surprised yelp as he was suddenly yanked back a few steps.

"Why are you ignoring me?" Theo asked bluntly.

"I'm not ignoring you." Liam lied.

"Alright." Theo said slowly. "You gonna come slow down a bit and walk with us then?" Liam looked forwards to hide the smile breaking across his face.

"You could always speed up." Theo, it seemed, disagreed. Grabbing Liam's shoulder and forcing him to stop until the other three were catching up.

"Nice to see your face again, I was becoming far too familiar with the back of your head."

"You were looking at his head? In those jeans?" Guns muttered.

"So why Guns, guns?" Theo asked, voice just a smidgen too loud to be considered normal.

"Sara called me it to annoy Eric when we realised my muscles were bigger than his." Guns said with a wide smile. "It stuck after that."

"yeah, whatever, you're basically a twig." Eric snorted.

"She's better than you in every way!" A voice, that sounded a lot like Sara's, called from the front of the group. Eric rolled his eyes.

"Honestly, never let your friends and sibling hang out. They only team up against you." Eric muttered bitterly. "Remember when you used to hate her?"

"That was before she let us in Casa del cool." Guns said.

*

The clearing was far more packed than they left it. It looked like the first people arriving at a festival, the energy high and buzzing with anticipation, a sea of tents flowing out all set far too close to one another.

Liam and Theo settled themselves on a log across from Dodo, still sleeping, leaves piled to his chin, a few would flutter off every breath. The others had disappeared to change out of their wet clothes. Theo was ringing out his top while Liam had set his shoes by the small fire crackling away between them and Dodo.

"You boys are lucky werewolves can't get colds." Sammy said, wandering over, her dress flowing in the wind. "Eric said you two didn't bring a tent, or something to eat?"

"We didn't bring anything." Theo corrected.

"Well, unfortunately I can't do much on the tent front, everyone pretty much brings their own but there's food."

"Food?" Liam asked eagerly. Sammy laughed.

"Yeah. In the main tepee, everyone brings a little bit of something. Help yourselves, we'll be having a real dinner later but it won't be for a while so feel free to pick. If you need anything else ask Eric and he can help you."

"Why. Where will you be?" Theo asked

"Those of us who can do a complete transformation go running."

"Complete transformation?" Liam asked.

"Full shift." Theo mumbled. "Like Malia when she turns into a Coyote. What do you mean you go running?"

"Exactly what it sounds like." Sammy said. "We spend most of the night together, eating, having a few drinks but well, There's nothing better than running on a full moon." Liam eyed Theo who's feet bounced against the floor as if he were picturing it. Sammy's eyes zeroed in on it too. "You can come if you'd like." She suggested.

"Liam can't do a full shift." Theo said.

"But you can?" Liam asked. Theo turned to him, eyebrows furrowed.

"Yeah. You didn't know that?"

"No. What's it like?"

"Awesome." Theo said.

"Do you want to come?"

"No." Theo said. Despite his heartbeat being steady Liam could tell he was lying. Sammy frowned, eyes flickering towards Liam.

"He'll be fine here. Eric can't shift either so he'll have someone he knows and I never go so far away we wouldn't be able to hear what's happening here."

"You should do it." Liam said.

"What?" Theo asked, brows pinching. Liam gave a small shrug in return.

"It sounds like it'd be fun. And you know, we can be more than five feet from each other." Liam said, pushing selfishly. But really, he couldn't just find out that Theo could turn into a wolf and then not see it.

"You getting bored of me Pumpkin?" Theo asked.

"No I'm just using this as a means of escape. The second you leave I'm running back to the car."

"Well, at least I'll finally be rid of you. Are you leaving now?" Sammy nodded, waving for Theo to follow her as she walked off. "Don't kill anyone while I'm gone. Stay near Eric and howl if you need me." Theo murmured, slapping Liam's thigh softly before he followed Sammy into the tree's. Liam watched as people followed. Dipping through the branches until they were hidden, Guns and Sara among them.

He turned back to the camp, Moe and Eric stood outside the large Tepee paper plates in hand. Eric gestured wildly as he talked only stopping to shovel a few bites of food into his mouth. Moe was listening, eyes never leaving Eric as he switched between sucking food off of his plate and toking on a cigarette. Dodo's pile of leaves had finally toppled off of his knee's spilling out around him, the kids were back to it, little hands grabbing at them and shoving them back into place. He let his eyes wander back to his shoes. Steam slow slithering out of them.

He looked up again as an excited cheer came from somewehre in the camp. The children yelled right along with it. Everyone had turned, their conversations forgotten as they looked to the trees. Liam span back round watching as large grey wolves emerged. They spilled into the clearing bounding across the grass towards them. One lowered into a crouch, growling playfully as the children left Dodo and tried to 'sneak up' on them. He watched as other wolves allowed the children to plunge their fingers into the fur. One was rolling around in the dirt, some were doing laps, others just picked their way across the clearing and stopped to wait at the other side.

He saw Theo the moment he stepped out from beneath a tree. Black fur a stark contrast to the light grey wolves that were moving around. He walked slowly, paws landing feather-light against the moss packed grass, cool blue eyes flickering across the clearing. A grin stretched across Liam's face as he looked at Theo's wolf form. His fur looked unfairly silky, a little patch of white on his chest, Liam found himself wanting to do the same as the children were doing and touch.

"Woah." Liam said, voice a wisp of breath. Theo's eyes still settled on Liam the moment the hushed words left his lips. Liam had never known a wolf could strut but in that moment he found out apparently they could. Theo's tail swaying and head held high as he moseyed to Liam's side somehow managing to look smug.

Liam thanked the petty part of him when he found it in him to turn away, pretending to move his attention back to the other wolves. If Theo was going to act like a smug bastard then Liam was going to make it hard for him. He made sure he could still see Theo from the corner of his eye, taking a seat beside him, eyes burning into the side of Liam's face as he waited for attention. After a few moments, when he realised he wasn't getting any he shifted another few inches to the right so he was closer to the centre of Liam's vision. Liam petulantly turned his head further away, watching a grey wolf lick a stripe up a giggling girls face. He felt vindicated knowing he wasn't the only one who had a problem not being the others centre of attention.

He heard Theo's soft sigh. Another thing Liam hadn't been aware wolves could do. He refused to look back. He wouldn't give Theo the satisfaction. A grin crept onto his face as Theo shifted again. Inching back into his line of sight. Liam turned his back, uncaring he was stuck facing a wall of dark trees when Theo let out an irritated growl. His shoulders shook with laughter as the growl turned into a whine. Theo crept in once more but before Liam could move again he was dropping his muzzle onto Liam's knee, looking up at him with literal puppy eyes. Liam tried to glare down at him but he was sure the way his lips were wavering in a smile made it lose any heat.

"Fine, you make a very pretty wolf." Liam huffed. Theo let out another huff as if to say 'damn right I do'. Liam picked up a hand and ruffled the fur on top of Theo's head. "You feel like a cloud." Liam murmured, carding his fingers down the silk soft fur. "Do you go to the groomers once a month or something?" Theo rolled his eyes and shuffled far enough away to tell Liam that he didn't appreciate the comment but still close enough that Liam considered shifting closer to dig his fingers back into the midnight fur. Theo looked out over the camp, ears twisting like satellite dishes and eyes flickering across the crowds.

It was a good few minutes before Sammy was letting out a low howl, no doubt signaling time to leave. The grey wolves scattered, rushing into the woods on quiet feet, Theo bounded after them but unlike them he came to a stop at the edge of the clearing, eyes moving back to Liam, tail twitching as he looked from Liam to the rest of the camp again before he was turning and finally chasing after the others.

Liam kept his eyes on the trees long after Theo had disappeared from them. He could hear them, if he strained past the hustle and bustle of those remaining at the camp. The pitter patter of feet and the occasional bark.

"Eat up." Liam jumped as a plate was shoved into his hands and Moe and Eric fell onto the log either side of, forcing his attention from the far-off wolves. "Quickly, we gotta set the bonfire up."

"The fires already-"

"That's an ember." Moe said, tapping a cigarette from his packet. He held them out to Liam after putting one between his lips.

"I uh..I'm good." Liam said, looking to the paper plate now in his lap, stacked with what looked like macaroni cheese. "I don't smoke."

"Why?" Moe asked.

"It kills, it smells bad and I play lacrosse so kinda need my lungs."

"We're werewolves, Liam." Moe said, voice muffled by the cigarette dangling between his lips. "We heal all the damage it does."

"You gotta give him the smell one though." Eric said, snatching a piece of pasta off of Liam's plate like it was an acceptable thing to do. Liam shoveled the mound of food into his mouth before Eric could steal anymore.

"I don't hear you complaining."

"Low blow man."

"Eric can't smell." Moe said, holding the cigarette over Liam. Eric took it happily taking a slow drag. "Sara broke his nose when we were what...fifteen? And man, she screwed it right up. He looked like a pug for about three years."

"And even so I was still prettier than you." Eric hummed. "You done eating?" Once again Eric didn't wait for Liam to actually answer. "Great, let's go. We gotta light the fire."

"The fire's already lit." Liam said.

"Please that's not a fire." Eric said, standing up and popping his joints in a large stretch. "I'm talking a real bonfire. The stuff of legends."

"Last year he tried to build a giant wooden wolfs head to burn. How many people almost died when it collapsed? Was it three or four?"

"Do you ever shut up?"

"Yes, quite often. You usually never let me get a word in edgeways."

"So the bonfire?" Liam prompted. Eric's attention snapped back to him, smile stretching across his face nose crinkling in the same way Liam had seen Sammy's do.

"Bonfire." He exclaimed. "Let's go!" Liam took one last look at the tree line before following Eric and Moe through the maze of tents. They stopped no more than a minute later, at a tepee hidden just off of the corps of tents, shaded by towering trees. The three boys ducked inside.

The tepee smelt like damp wood and rot, the floor stacked with a criss-cross of large logs and branches

"Alright, grab a pile and lets go." Eric said, digging into the mess eagerly.

"You always get your guests doing manual labour?"

"Pretty much yeah." Moe said, taking a single bowing branch and wandering back out. "Just pretend you're helping, it's what I've been doing for years."

Building it was actually quite...well, fun definitely wasn't the word, but interesting. The moon was creeping higher and higher in the sky and Liam, despite not wanting to admit it. Could feel it's pull tugging beneath his skin, egging him on every time someone stepped in front of him while he was trying to haul logs to the pit. He couldn't be sure whether it was the exercise that was helping or the constant jab of splinters in his forearms but either way building the fire gave him enough to distract himself from the moon.

He was thankful the others didn't seem to notice, or, at least, didn't know him well enough to put the forced smiles and the tense set of his shoulders together. Moe and Eric kept up a near constant stream of conversation, even when they were on different sides of the camp Eric could be found muttering under his breath, continuing the conversation they'd been having before Moe disappeared with his meager bounty of logs.

By the time they'd finished creating the hulking skeleton to a fire that was as tall, if not taller than Liam the sky had turned an inky black, broken only by stars and the silver glow of the moon. The smell of fresh cooked meat was wafting through the camp and the sound of bottle and cans being cracked open was audible from seemingly every direction.

Even Dodo had woken up. Pulling himself from his chair and shaking off the leaves. He gave three rattling coughs that left Liam worried he'd crack a rib before he was puttering towards them. He came to a stop between Liam and Eric.

"Bout time." He gruffed. "Get the gasoline so we can get on with it won't you Moe?"

"I'll get right on it Sir." Moe said, back straight, hands clasped behind him and chin jutted like he were talking to an army general. He walked off, complete with a little salute that made Liam snort. Dodo's eyes turned on him, brow crinkling.

"You're new." Liam had a moment to think he didn't look unlike an old basset hound. Especially when he tilted forwards, uncomfortably close to take an obvious sniff.

"Dodo, no sniffing people." Eric sighed.

"Bugger off." Dodo scoffed turning back to the unlit fire. "Telling a werewolf not to sniff people is like telling a cat not to piss on a leather couch."

"I have literally no idea what that means." Eric said cheerfully. Before anyone else could speak Moe was back, hauling cans of gasoline with a smile, he flung one to each of the three waiting men. Liam stood, clutching his to his chest watching as the other three merrily doused the wood as people begun flocking around them.

"Come on Liam." Moe sung.

"Uh..Three canisters kinda seems like enough. I mean, it seems kinda dangerous?" Liam said, watching as a kid walked close enough to be hit with a splash of gasoline before their Mom managed to yank them back away.

"No one asked your opinion choir boy." Dodo snorted. Liam grit his teeth.

"I was just saying-"

"Kid. I've been doing this for years. Just pour the damn gasoline." Dodo said. "Chop Chop." Liam scowled but did as he was told, unscrewing the cap. A hand suddenly grasped his shoulder, pulling him back.

"Really? I leave you for an hour and you become an arsonist?" Theo drawled. Liam felt his shoulders droop, even as Theo yanked the bottle of gas from his hand as if Liam had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Dad, I told you about using gasoline." Sammy sighed, stomping through the crowd. "What did we agree on?"

"One cannister." Dodo said with a bitter sigh. Theo shoved Liam's pilfered cannister of gasoline into an onlookers arms.