Howling to the Heart || Isaac Lahey

49.

It felt so good to watch Stiles play after so many years of sitting on the bench with him, and I was honestly over the moon for him.

I sat up straight as the whistle blew. Like every time, my eyes followed the ball, but this time, it landed in Stiles' net. I jumped to my feet, watching him look at the ball in amazement, only to get tackled and I cringed, covering my hand with my mouth.

"Come on, Stiles," I whispered, sitting back down.

After a few ball passes, the ball landed in front of Stiles again and I crossed my fingers, cringing again as he struggled to scoop it into his net only to get tackled.

Beside me, Scott groaned, rubbing his head. "What is he doing?"

I slapped his arm with a scowl. "He's just warming up."

"Riah, I love him like a brother, but this is painful to watch," he remarked, throwing a hand out toward the field and then his mouth dropped.

I snapped my head back around to see a ball hit Stiles' helmet. "Okay, um, okay." Speechless. Stiles had me speechless.

The whistle blew again, and Scott suddenly got up, only for coach to pull him back down.

"Sit down, McCall," coach said to him.

"But, coach, we're dying out there," Scott argued, throwing a hand toward the field.

"Oh, I'm aware of that," he grumbled, patting Scott's shoulder. "Now sit."

I waited for coach to walk away before I turned back to Scott, only for my jaw to drop at Isaac sitting down beside Scott in his gear.

"He's back!" I cheered with a smile. "Now get your ass on that field," I said with a serious tone. Seriously, we needed him out there.

Scott shoved his hand in my face, pushing me back on the bench as I punched his arm. What the fuck was he doing?

"Ignore her," Scott said to Isaac, moving his hand away and I quickly sat up, sending him a glare. "You came to help."

Isaac sent us a cocky grin, tilting his head. "I came to win."

"Good," I said, shoving gloves into his lap, but then I furrowed my brows at the pair looking behind me. I turned around, seeing Gerard sneering right at us from the other end of the field. "Goddamn it," I muttered, looking away.

"You got a plan yet?" Isaac asked us, putting on his glove.

"No, right now it's pretty much just keep Jackson from killing anyone," Scott answered.

"Great plan," I sarcastically remarked. "That'll work because we totally know how to take him down."

Isaac chuckled at me and then looked at Scott. "Well, that might be easier if you're actually in the game. We have to make it so coach has no choice but to play you."

"How do we do that?" Scott asked. "He's got a bench full of guys he can use before he ever puts me in the field."

The three of us looked over to coach and the other players as the crowd behind us booed.

"Can you do it without putting anyone in the hospital?" Scott asked and I whipped my head back to them.

"You're gonna injure the other players, aren't you?" I asked Isaac and his smirk was his only response as he put his helmet on and then ran onto the field. "Why do I feel like this isn't gonna end well?" I groaned, leaning back just as the whistle went.

"This whole night isn't gonna end well," Scott reminded me.

I shook my head and then groaned as Isaac knocked out one of our players in a tackle. Coach called in one of the boys off the bench and I laughed at how the plan was actually working.