The episode opens where the last one ended, in the basement with Peter and Derek being violently electrocuted.

A man appears to be the culprit who kidnapped them, and he makes a comment about the equipment being too old to be accurate when telling how much power it's emitting. Peter tells him it's a bit high, but the man just turns it even higher and tells the two men that sometimes they don't even know when someone is dead because they shake so much after their hearts have stopped. However, Peter and Derek are still breathing, as the man tells them it can all be over if they just tell him where "la loba" is.

"We don't know what a 'la loba' is," Derek insists, the man suggesting they just need a different method of persuasion, like cutting one of them in half so the other will talk. Peter tells him he would love to talk, but they truly don't know, and accuses the man of having a taste that's a little medieval when it comes to his torture method with a broad sword. The man says that they're not savages, as another man steps forward with a chainsaw.

Derek glares at Peter, as the man says he's always been curious about how much a werewolf is able to heal. He notes that they can probably grow back their arms, but not their heads, as the second man holds the chainsaw up to Derek's neck. Derek looks more annoyed and angry at Peter than anything else, as a woman steps in to stop the man from chopping Derek's head off.

The woman, Araya Calavera, steps into the room and says "No tiene que ser tan duro" which translates to "it doesn't have to be that hard."

Derek (in Spanish) tells the woman that he doesn't speak Spanish, to which she replies "Tu hablas muchos idiomas, Derek Hale" (you speak many languages, Derek Hale). She informs him that she's certain he knows what she's saying, and that he knows what they want. She approaches him with a knife, asking sharply where the "She-Wolf" is. Derek insists that he doesn't know a She-Wolf, and she tells him that she knows he won't talk, calling him "lobito" (little wolf) almost mockingly. She then rounds on Peter, saying that she knows he'll talk, because he loves the sound of his own voice.

Peter tells her she should hear him sing, but the man says he wants to hear him scream. Peter laments to Derek about no one wanting to hear him sing, Derek looking absolutely done with his uncle. Araya asks Peter what she can do to persuade him, putting the knife up to his face as his claws extend reflexively. She asks him once more where the She-Wolf is, and when Peter refuses to talk, she chops one of his fingers off and relishes in his screams.

"Think about it. I'm only going to ask you nine more times," she says threateningly, stabbing his finger onto the table by the claw and walking out of frame as the intro begins.

—

After the intro, we cut right back to the woods from the previous episode, Scott and Noel running together after Malia. After a few shots of them running together and keeping pace with one another, they run into Stiles, who says he thinks he found something. "So did we," Scott says, a bit out of breath, Noel just the same beside him.

Stiles leads the two werewolves in the next scene, up a small hill illuminated by Stiles' flashlight. Stiles arrives to their destination, a small den with a stuffed bear inside and some clothes, including a blue jacket that the boys had previously seen on her in a photo. Scott picks up the bear briefly before setting it down, saying that they shouldn't be here. Stiles asks why, Scott explaining "She's not going to come back now, we just invaded her home. Our scent's going to be everywhere."

"Well if she's not coming back here, where will she go?" Stiles asks, Noel answering "Probably some other den, there's no way to say for sure."

Stiles asks if they can track her by scent, both boys saying that they probably have her scent, but Noel notes halfheartedly "I'm a pretty weak tracker, though. Scott, you've always been better at it than I am."

"But I'm better at it when I'm full wolf. And I'm still worried that if I do it, I won't be able to turn back," Scott says, Stiles remarking almost like he forgot that the door to their minds is still open. Scott then looks to Noel, asking "Are you sure you can't get a hold of Derek? When was the last time you tried?"

"About ten minutes ago, not a single text or phone call answered since he left. I'm starting to get actually worried, he's never been like this before now, not when we've needed him," Noel says, pulling out his phone and checking just to be sure Derek hadn't responded in those ten minutes.

"If we can't get to Derek then we'll have to find someone else that can help," Scott suggests, Stiles looking contemplative before Scott says "This is basically a crime scene, isn't it? I think this might be a little out of my boss's league."

"And more in my dad's," Stiles completes for him, and we jump cut to the sheriff crawling out of the coyote den with two deputies in tow. He walks over to the trio and asks if they're sure it was her, Scott saying "I looked her right in the eyes. And they glowed, just like mine and Noel's." Noel nods along, Stiles insisting that it makes sense, but the sheriff still seems skeptical, asking "But it wasn't a girl, it was a four-legged coyote, right?"

"Well, okay. But see, that's the point that we don't exactly have figured out yet," Stiles says, Noel tacking on "If it was a full moon and she changed while her mom was driving, there's no way she could have controlled herself at that age. Anything could have happened."

"Horrible things could've happened. Ripping, tearing, shredding things," Stiles emphasizes, Scott adding " Which is probably what caused the accident." Stiles asks his dad to envision it, the Tates driving and Malia starting to change before losing control and causing her mom to crash, killing everyone except her. He then explains that she feels guilty and disappears into the woods, blaming herself as she gets trapped in the body of a coyote. The sheriff says that that makes sense, Stiles looking relieved and proud of himself until the sheriff continues "in a Chinese folktale!"

Stiles pulls a face, the sheriff telling them that this is insane, and when they shift uncomfortably, he tells them that he needs all of this to be kept quiet. He tells the three of them not to breathe a word to anyone, especially not Mr. Tate, as Scott has a vision of himself standing over Malia against a rock poised to cut into her. The sheriff snaps him out of it, and Scott apologizes as agent McCall shows up, Mr. Tate in his car.

The sheriff greets him politely, and Mr. Tate comes over to the sheriff and takes what's in his hands. He looks at it and confirms that it was Malia's, as McCall tells Scott he'd love to know what his mother thinks about him being in the woods this late at night.

The next scene is the sheriff and McCall arguing about bringing Mr. Tate to the scene, McCall assuring the sheriff that not knowing what happened to your child is the hardest part and that concrete evidence can only be helpful.

We then see a few shots of Malia running in the woods, going to stand on a cliff and overlooking the full moon.

—

The next day at school, the boys are standing at the back of their classroom, showing Allison the location of the den on Stiles' tablet. Allison informs them that coyotes travel on fixed trails, and that they're right about her not returning to the den since coyotes don't like wolves.

After a brief discussion about coyotes being able to tip-toe, Allison asks them to send her the location of the den as she goes to her own class. The boys go to their seats, Scott having a small exchange with Kira where her father reveals knowingly that she has a crush on Scott. Scott seems pleased about it as he sits at his own desk, Mr. Yukimura launching into his curriculum for the day. He asks for a volunteer reader, and when no one responds, he picks Stiles. Stiles is hesitant, but is forced to comply, going up to the podium to read from Yukimura's textbook.

As he stands there struggling, letters start to seemingly fall off the page, and he starts breathing heavily in distress. Scott stands, followed immediately by Noel, who asks "Stiles? Are you okay?" Stiles continues to breathe heavily, both boys catching him before he topples over as Noel quickly says "We'll get him to the nurse's office."

Mr. Yukimura nods, Kira watching with concern as Stiles is lead out of the room.

—

Stiles enters the bathroom quickly, Noel and Scott right behind, Scott asking him if he's having a panic attack. Noel answers for him, saying "Stiles, breathe. Focus on us and breathe."

Stiles takes hold of a sink, insisting out loud that he's just dreaming. The two boys watch with concern, Scott assuring him that it isn't and that everything is okay and they're with him. Stiles doesn't seem convinced, insisting that he can't read, and Noel asks him "Stiles, how else do you know when you're dreaming? You can't read, but what else?"

"Y-You count your fingers, you have extra fingers in dreams," Stiles says, struggling to catch his breath. Scott holds up his own fingers, telling Stiles to count them and catching his attention. Stiles looks at Scott in the reflection of the mirror, Scott counting his fingers out loud as Stiles turns around. Stiles counts with him, hesitating at three, but Noel says "Come on Stiles, count, you can do this." Stiles continues to count, struggling all the way up to ten.

When he gets there, the panic has subsided, but Stiles is understandably weak as he sinks to the ground against the back wall of the bathroom. Scott and Noel kneel in front of him, Stiles asking them what the hell is happening to him.

"We'll figure it out. You're gonna be okay," Scott says reassuringly, Stiles asking "Am I? Are you?" Scott doesn't have an answer as Stiles continues "Scott, you can't transform, Allison's being haunted by her dead aunt, and I'm straight up losing my mind. Noel can't do this all by himself, we can't do this, we can't... We can't help Malia. We can't help anyone."

Noel and Scott look at each other then at Stiles, Scott assuring him "We can try. We can always try."

—

After a brief scene back in Mr. Yukimura's classroom, Kira notices that all three of the boys backpacks are still in the room. She takes the backpacks and intends to return them, but as she enters a hallway, a coyote stands at the opposite end. She breaks into a run to escape, ducking into the locker room and hiding behind the row of lockers furthest from the door. The coyote bursts in through the window, prowling the rows of lockers in search of her. Before it can have the chance to do what it wants, however, Scott appears, and pushes the lockers on top of the coyote to incapacitate it. It narrowly escapes, however, as Scott notices Stiles' backpack and sees that inside is the baby doll they had found the previous night in Malia's den.

—

Back with Peter and Derek, Peter eggs the Calaveras on, asking them to put his severed finger on ice or at least give him some antibiotic ointment. As the man guarding them rolls his eyes, movement is heard overhead, and before long shots are being fired. The door is slammed open and in walks Braeden, who quickly incapacitates the guard and smiles at the Hales.

"You're the one who saved Isaac," Derek realizes, as she admits "I'm the one that was hired to save Isaac." Peter asks if she was hired to save them, and she clarifies that she was only sent for Derek and is therefore happy to leave Peter for dead. As she frees them, Derek asks who hired her, Braeden telling him it was Deucalion to Peter's audible shock. Once he's free, he reunites with his finger, Braeden saying "Lets get you out of here. You have people worried about you."

"We're not leaving without it," Derek protests, Braeden asking what "it" is as the scene promptly cuts to the school hallway.

—

The sheriff walks with Stiles down the hall, explaining that though Malia didn't hurt anybody in the school, she'll be put down if she does. Stiles reminds his father that there's a girl in that coyote body, but the sheriff proves to still be skeptical that that's the case. The sheriff asks if he's 100% sure that Malia's in the coyote body, and Stiles assures him "Yes, I'm sure. Because they're sure."

Down at the opposite end of the hallway stands Scott and Noel, watching Stiles and the sheriff silently. Stiles asks quietly if they've been listening, and Scott gives a subtle nod of his head while Noel's nod is much more noticeable. The sheriff watches them before turning back to Stiles, suggesting they go work things out as they walk offscreen.

—

Kira and her dad have a scene where Kira assures him she's okay and that she was just trying to be nice and make friends by returning Noel, Scott, and Stiles' backpacks to them. Scott listens in from where he sits beside Noel until Stiles comes over and pulls the doll from his backpack.

Scott looks disappointed, as Stiles confirms that he took it from the crash site so Scott and Noel would have a chance to use it to scent Malia. Before either of them can comment on his idea, Mr. Tate rushes in the room and snatches the doll, telling them it belonged to his daughter.

The sheriff comes over and tells him that he can't be there, and finds a gun on Mr. Tate's person. Mr. Tate assures him he has a permit, but the sheriff informs him that California schools are gun-free zones regardless of permits. He insists that he leaves the premises, as Mr. Tate demands that he find the coyote before storming away.

—

Allison takes a tranquilizer gun from her father's office and texts Scott once it's in her possession, cutting to the clinic where Deaton places three bottles of horse tranquilizer on the operating table. Deaton points out that they only have three, so whoever uses it needs to have good aim. Noel points out that Allison's a perfect shot, Isaac correcting that she used to be a perfect shot. Scott insists she can do it, Isaac again correcting that they'd have to find "the thing" (Malia) first.

"Okay, what is the point of him?" Stiles asks, pointing at Isaac. "Seriously, I mean, what is his purpose? Aside from the persistent negativity, and the scarf."

Isaac smiles pointedly, as Noel offers "Well, what was the point of me? In the beginning. I mean, at least Isaac's already a werewolf."

"You earned your place with us, and then some. I still feel really bad about that point in time sometimes. But him, seriously, what's up with the scarf, it's 65 degrees out," Stiles says, as Isaac defends "Maybe I'm asking the question here that nobody else wants to ask. How do we turn a coyote back into a girl when she hasn't been a girl for eight years?"

After a tense pause, Scott says confidently "I can do it." Stiles and Noel look confused at his confidence, as he explains "Remember the night that Peter trapped us in the school? In the gym, he was able to make me turn using just his voice. Deucalion did the same thing in the distillery."

"This is a werecoyote, Scott," Deaton points out. "Who knows if it'll even work, if you can find someone who can teach you."

"That's why you've been having me call Derek," Noel realizes, as Scott confirms "I didn't know if he'd listen to me, but I knew he'd listen to you. But he doesn't seem to be available, so I can try it on my own. I'm just too scared to even change into just a werewolf."

"You need a real alpha," Stiles elaborates, getting a look from Scott as he quickly corrects "You know what I mean, an alpha who can do alpha things. An alpha who can... Get it going, you know, get it-"

"Up?" Isaac finishes for him, Noel snorting once and suddenly turning completely serious in an attempt to hide his laugh. Stiles awkwardly tells Isaac that's right, as Scott says "I'm an alpha with... Performance issues."

"Is there anyone else besides Derek who could help?" Deaton asks, and Scott sends a look Noel's way. Noel looks confused for a second, before processing and asking "Who, Laura?"

"Maybe," Scott says almost shyly, as Noel shakes his head. "I'm sorry, I wish I could, but I really think she's gone. Since I did the ritual with Derek to save Cora, I've felt... Lighter, I guess. That's how I know she's really gone, since I haven't felt this light since around the time she died and we became linked."

"Well, if Laura's out, I wouldn't trust Peter," Isaac contributes, and Stiles asks if the twins could help. Deaton reminds him that since Jennifer almost killed them, they aren't alphas anymore, but Stiles insists they may still be able to help.

"Nobody's seen them for weeks," Scott says dismissively, but Stiles corrects him that that's not entirely true.

—

A quick jump cut takes us to Derek's loft, where Noel opens the doors with a soft jingle of his keys and stands off to the side to let Lydia and Stiles in. The two enter while Noel and Scott stand in the doorway, Lydia's voice confused as she insists that they said they'd meet them there. Suddenly, a fist hits flesh, as either twin grabs Noel and Scott and shoves them into the loft. There's a brief uneventful fight, until one of the twins shoves Noel away toward Stiles and Lydia as the other locks Scott in his arms. Noel finds his footing and growls, Lydia putting a quietting hand on his stomach as the twins begin to mercilessly punch Scott as a duo.

—

After a break, Scott is shoved to the ground, protesting his treatment by pointing out that the twins were supposed to teach him how to roar. They tell him that gaining control is about giving in to his instincts and letting go, and Stiles jokes that he tried all this once before with lacrosse balls and a heart monitor to no avail. Noel looks on, fiercely protective as the twins inform Scott they're going to make him turn since he seems afraid to.

"Just look at Noel over there, halfway turned and we're not even teaching him," Aiden says, and sure enough, Noel's eyes blaze yellow in outrage at Scott's treatment. "Maybe we should muzzle your pup, see how fired up that gets you," Ethan teases, as Noel growls and Lydia steps in front of him.

"Noel, stop, it's not about you," she says, both her hands on his chest. He doesn't take his eyes off Scott and the twins, but they fade back to green as he keeps his expression the same and takes a single step back. Stiles pats his shoulder comfortingly, as Ethan says "Easy, Noel, once Scott shifts he's free to kick our asses."

"And then he roars," Aiden adds, before roaring. Noel immediately flinches as the twins begin to egg Scott on, pushing him to provoke him. He throws a few punches as they insist he has to "unleash the beast" and give in to gain power. Scott fights them but ends up on the ground, as Stiles urges him to fight back.

"What if I can't control it?" Scott asks the twins, blood dripping from his lips. "What if I can't turn back?"

"Then it takes over. You become Malia, you get further and further away from being human, you turn into an animal. Or worse."

"You turn into Peter," Ethan says, and that finally gets through to Scott. He lets out a yell of anger, launching into Ethan but being quickly pinned under him. Ethan begins to wail on Scott, Lydia looking away as Noel quickly rushes in to stop it. But Aiden proves more capable at calming his brother by stepping in first, telling him he's helped too much as Noel puts a hand on Scott's shoulder. Scott shrugs the hand off, staring at the wall ahead of him as we cut to Mr. Tate's front porch, where he's setting up a trap.

—

Allison and Isaac share a scene in which Allison hallucinates herself being operated on (and subsequently devoured) by a pack of shifters which includes her aunt Kate. Isaac snaps her out of it, and insists he can help her before we cut to the next scene.

—

Stiles, Lydia, and Noel step out of the jeep, Scott dismounts from his motorcycle, and Isaac and Allison exit Allison's car as they all meet up in the preserve. Scott shares a look with Stiles and Noel, as Lydia asks if anyone thinks they may be doing more harm than good.

"We're trying to keep a father from killing his own daughter," Scott says, as Isaac corrects "Actually we're trying to keep a guy from killing a coyote, who is actually his daughter, who we don't know how to change from a coyote back into his daughter."

"And again with the not helping," Stiles quips, as Scott changes the subject by asking Allison if she brought "it." Allison reaches into her car and pulls out her loaded tranquilizer gun, as the scene cuts to the sheriff slamming a coyote trap onto Mr. Tate's desk.

—

He explains to him that a jogger almost stepped on it while running that morning, and Mr. Tate refuses to answer. The sheriff goes to investigate and finds a room full of empty boxes, which are implied to have all contained traps. He tells Mr. Tate a kid could easily step in one and die, but Mr. Tate makes the argument that his kid died, which he seems to think justifies his impulse to trap the coyote. The sheriff isn't easily convinced, ordering that the two of them go out and disarm every trap no matter how long it takes them. The two of them look to the back door and see a huge hole broken in the glass, as Mr. Tate says it's in the house and grabs a gun. The sheriff follows, as Tate spots Malia in his yard with the doll her father took back at her feet. Shots are heard being fired as the three werewolves perk their heads up at the sound, and we cut to commercial with the sound of a final gunshot.

—

Scott immediately revs up his bike and drives off as Noel and Isaac race after him, the sheriff ordering the woods be cleared immediately as he gets a call from Stiles.

"It took the doll again? What the hell is so important about this doll?" Stiles asks, as the sheriff tells him about the traps and warns him to stay away from the woods. Stiles lowers his phone, saying like he's made a groundbreaking discovery "It's the doll... It's the doll?"

—

Scott continues to drive his bike with Noel, Isaac, and Allison in hot pursuit. They stop to look around, as another gunshot is heard and they rush off toward the sound. Stiles then is seen thinking out loud, asking "Why would it go all the way to the school and then all the way back to the house just for a doll? One that was in the car wreck in the first place, we didn't find it in the coyote den."

Lydia, obviously stressed beyond belief, reasons "It likes the doll, who cares?"

"Yeah, it likes the doll a lot," Stiles says as Lydia asks what kind of doll it is. Stiles describes the doll, then remembers that he took a picture and shows it to Lydia. Lydia points out that Malia's not the one holding the doll, her sister is. Stiles takes a minute to process before announcing that he knows what she's doing, and at Lydia's prompting, he says he also knows where she's going.

—

We cut to Isaac and Noel, running too fast for Allison to keep up, as Isaac steps right into one of Tate's traps and falls to the ground with a cry of agony. Noel skids to a stop and doubles back to help him, kneeling by his side as Scott crashes his bike at the sound of Isaac's cry.

Allison struggles to catch up before coming into view of Isaac, who's trying to pry the trap open with the help of Noel. She rushes in, as Isaac points out that they can see Tate from there. He looks up at Noel, instructing in a pained and nearly gasping voice "Go catch up to Scott, I've got this." Noel is incredibly hesitant, unsure of what to do with his hands as Isaac repeats "Go, I've got this!" Noel nods and launches off in the opposite direction, eyes firmly on the ground and stepping only in dirt to avoid getting himself caught in a trap as well. Isaac tells Allison to tranquilize Tate, but she struggles to steady her hands. She misses with one dart, as Isaac reminds her to breathe. She lines up another shot, reciting the new Argent code to herself ("Nous protégeons ceux qui ne peuvent pas se protéger eux même") before firing and successfully tranquilizing Tate. She quickly moves to get Malia as well, but finds her already gone.

—

Stiles is on the phone in the next scene, urging Scott to call him as soon as he can. "It wasn't Malia's doll, it was her sister's, Malia left it at the car for her sister. It's like bringing flowers to her grave, okay, and we stole the flowers. So that's all she's trying to do, bring the doll back to the grave, to the car wreck. That's where she's headed, the car wreck!"

As he finishes speaking, Lydia nervously says Stiles' name, as we see that she's stepped on one of Tate's traps. Blackout. When we come back, Lydia instructs Stiles to check for disarming instructions on the trap. He asks why there'd be instructions, and she says it's because animals can't read. After finding the instructions, Stiles only sees jumbled text, and sadly reports that he can't read either.

—

We're then back to Scott, who's broken into a full sprint, but he's pursued closely by Noel. The two are close behind Malia, and in a few shots, Noel just about falls into step with Scott as they chase the coyote.

—

Quickly back to Lydia and Stiles, Lydia takes deep breaths before launching into a speech to Stiles.

"You don't need the instructions, when is the last time you ever used instructions, am I right? You don't need them, because you are too smart to waste your time with them, okay?" She says this all with mock optimism, as Stiles listens, and she assures him that he'll figure it out because he's the one who always figures things out. He seems invigorated by her words, slowly working out the mechanics of the trap while Lydia stays as still as she can manage.

Stiles turns the knob on the device clockwise, as Lydia steps off as quickly as she can and the trap closes just a second after. She collapses into Stiles' arms and they both breathe long sighs of relief, as we return to Scott and Noel.

—

The two boys race after Malia, Noel always a few steps behind as he fights to keep up. Scott brandishes his claws and lets out a roar, one that doesn't affect Malia or Noel. Noel breathes hard, insisting "Come on, Scott, feel it!"

Scott continues to follow Malia with Noel a few feet behind, and once Scott sees Malia headed for the car wreck site he follows her. Noel pursues as well, still human as Scott slips into his shifted form. Scott leaps over the ravine with ease as Noel once again skids to a stop on the other side, watching as everything happens before him.

Malia roars at Scott fiercely as she stands her ground, but Scott lets out a guttural roar that nearly shakes the Earth in response. Immediately we see Isaac, eyes glowing yellow, rip the trap open and free himself with a scream of determination. Stiles perks up when he hears the roar and says with excitement "That's what I'm talking about."

We see Noel's legs, just on the other side of the ravine, as he falls down to his knees and his yellow eyes fall into the frame with him for all to see as he stares at Scott in disbelief.

Malia's eyes glow briefly blue as she's usurped, and she lowers down to her belly before we see her, finally in her human form, marveling at her hands as she looks around in complete disbelief before turning back toward Scott.

—

We fade into the next scene, as Stiles watches the sheriff with Malia on Tate's porch. Tate is in shock, embracing his daughter with a sob as the sheriff and Stiles share twin looks of pride in one another. Stiles relaxes back into his seat, looking in the mirror to his right, and realizing with relief that he can read the text there perfectly.

—

In the next scene, Braeden and the Hales find a box made out of mountain ash wood and filled with the unmistakable black powder, Peter noting how someone really doesn't want the two of them getting their hands on it. Suddenly Derek's phone buzzes, as he pulls it from his pocket and takes a look. Noel's name flashes across the screen, a simple text, reading 'Thanks for nothing.' Peter winces as he reads over Derek's shoulder, saying "Ooh. That's gotta hurt."

"That's not important right now," Derek says and shoves the phone in his pocket, looking to Braeden then back to the box of mountain ash. Braeden sighs as she plunges her hands into the ash, pulling out a box with the Hale triskele on it and turning it over a few times with curiosity.

—

The episode ends as thousands of fireflies fly out of the nemeton, forming three humanoid figures.