The last thing James "Jay" Hale ever imagined was to begrudgingly return to Beacon Hills, find out his older sister was murdered, and then be forced to go on a wild goose chase after an enigmatic Alpha that seemed to have a particular interest in ru...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Chapter Seventeen: The Half-Functional Bodyguard
✧✧✧✧
"Can you, like, relax with all the heavy breathing, Darth Vader? You're scaring everybody."
Jay broke his unsettling staring match with Scott to glance over at Stiles, who looked as though he was approaching a wild animal. His brown eyes were wide as he cautiously tried to navigate the bomb of fury in front of him. And by navigate, he meant poking the end of his lacrosse stick into Jay's side and hoping for the best.
Stiles jerked his head to all of the players behind them, and it was only then that Jay realized that, yeah, he was breathing really hard. The lacrosse stick in his hand was also creaking loudly on the verge of snapping. It was only when he forced the tension to leave his body that Stiles thought it was a good time to ask another thing.
"Also, did you beat up Jackson? Why is everyone saying that you beat up Jackson? And why didn't you invite me to watch?"
"I didn't beat him up," Jay scoffed, turning a sharp eye to the group of boys behind them who immediately looked away and pretended like they weren't staring. "I just told him that if he messed with Scott I'd kill him and then alluded to hunting him down in a similar way as the Alpha." He shrugged, and Stiles gasped dramatically.
"Jay," Stiles deadpanned, leaning closer to his side to whisper. "You can't just threaten him. He's Jackson! He's gonna try to make your life hell now, and by extension, mine too!"
"If it makes you feel any better, if he tries to make your life hell, I'll kill him then too."
Stiles stared blankly at Jay because that was not at all what he was supposed to be taking out of the conversation. But after a moment, he began to smile. That same freaky smile that set Jay's teeth on edge.
"What are you doing?" Jay asked, watching in disgust as the smile only grew wider. "Stop doing that."
"Friends defend each other, Jay. You, me, and Scott, we're friends." Stiles drawled, wiggling his eyebrow to really sell the point.
"We're not." Jay denied, although it was without the usual bite in his tone. Not when the mention of Scott had him once again on edge with an immediate scowl twisting across his face. He turned back to where he assumed Scott was walking over, but instead, his eyes landed on none other than Isaac Lahey. Because now that Jay had come face to face with him, he couldn't seem to not notice him throughout the day. They had almost every class together which felt like both a punishment and a reward.
Stiles followed his gaze, confused by the sudden mood shift. When he found that it was once again the unknown blond boy he'd seen Jay talking to during the test, his eyebrows furrowed once more.
Jay doesn't just talk to people. Stiles would know this fact very well considering he'd been forcing his way into becoming one of the few people whom the younger Hale did actually interact with on a daily basis. It took a hell of a lot of work to do, and there was absolutely no way some dork got into the inner circle in a matter of a day. No way.
