Running with Wolves

Chapter 7

Daddy got hurt at the parent teacher thingy, and Stiles isn't happy with Scotty right now.

Scotty came into the class, he saw Stiles, Stiles was mad, Scott sat down behind us.
He said" Still not talking to me? Can you at least tell me if your dad's okay? I mean, it's just a bruise, right? Some soft tissue damage? Nothing that big? You know I feel really bad about it, right? Okay. What if I told you that I'm trying to figure this whole thing out, and... that I went to Derek for help?"
Stiles said" If I was talking to you, I'd say that you're an idiot for trusting him. But obviously I'm not talking to you." Stiles made a face when the bell rang, then turned around in his desk, since I was standing next to him. He looked at Scott," What did he say?" Scott smiled, I scooted onto Scott's leg, smiling at him, laying my head on his shoulder.

We walked out of their class,
Stiles said" He wants you to tap into your animal side and get angry?"
Scott said" Yeah."
" All right, well, correct me if I'm wrong, but every time you do that, you try to kill someone, and that someone's usually me."
" I know. That's what he means when he says he doesn't know if he can teach me. I have to be able to control it."
" Well, how's he gonna teach you to do that?"
" I don't know. I don't think he does either."
" Okay. When are you seeing him again?"
" Just told me not to talk about it. Just act normal and get through the day." Stiles stopped Scotty,
" When?"
" He's picking me up at the animal clinic after work."
" After work. All right, well, that gives me to the end of the school day then."
" To do what?"
" To teach you myself." He lifted me up as he walked away, sitting me on his hip.
——
We were at lunch, Scotty was hiding behind a book,
Stiles said" I think the book's making it more obvious. Besides, she's reading, anyway."
Scott said" So did you come up with a plan yet?"
" I think so."
" Does that mean you don't hate me now?"
" No. But your crap has infiltrated my life, so now I have to do something about it." Scott peeked out from behind the book, I giggled," Plus I'm definitely a better Yoda than Derek."
" Okay, yeah, you teach me."
" Yeah, I'll be your Yoda."
" Yeah, you be my Yoda."
" Your Yoda I will be." In a silly voice, I giggled, Scott shook his head, I giggled more," I said it backwards."
" Yeah, I know."
" All right, you know what? I definitely still hate you. Uh-huh. Oh, yeah." Stiles took the book Scott was hiding behind and got up, I followed him, giggling as Scott rushed out.
——
Stiles stole things, but he told me to never tell anyone so I won't tell anyone. We walked onto the lacrosse field with Scotty,
Stiles said" Okay. Now... put this on."
Scott said" Isn't this one of the heart rate monitors for the track team?"
" Yeah, I borrowed it."
" Stole it."
" Temporarily misappropriated. Coach uses it to monitor his heart rate with his phone while he jogs, and you're gonna wear it for the rest of the day."
" Isn't that Coach's phone?"
" That, I stole."
" Why?"
" All right, well, your heart rate goes up when you go wolf, right? When you're playing lacrosse, when you're with Allison, whenever you get angry. Maybe learning to control it is tied to learning to control your heart rate."
" Like the Incredible Hulk."
" Kind of like the Incredible Hulk, yeah."
" No, I'm like the Incredible Hulk..." I laughed,
" Just shut up and put the strap on?" I smiled at Scotty, he smiled at me, then put the monitor thingy on.

Stiles duct-taped Scotty's hands behind his back,
Scotty said" This isn't exactly how I wanted to spend my free period."
Stiles said" Alright, you ready?"
" No." Stiles walked away from Scotty, I followed him, sitting on the ground next to the bag.
" Remember, don't get angry."
" I'm starting to think this was a really bad idea." Stiles threw a lacrosse ball at him, he groaned, I covered my eyes, Stiles laughed. He threw again," Okay, that one kind of hurt."
" Quiet. Remember, you're supposed to be thinking about your heart rate, all right? About staying calm." He threw another,
" Stay calm. Staying calm. Staying totally calm. There's no balls flying at my face..." He groaned as Stiles threw another, I laid my head down, not looking, I don't like this idea!," Son of a bitch!"
" You know what? I think my aim is actually improving."
" Wonder why."
" Ah, buh, buh. Don't get angry."
" I'm not getting angry." Stiles kept throwing balls at him, I could hear the landings." Stop. Just wait. Wait, just hold on." Stiles threw one, I rubbed my eyes, Scott groaned, I heard the beeping from the phone.
" Scott?" I rubbed my eyes, running to Scott, Stiles followed me," Scott, you started to change."
" From anger. But it was more than that. It was like, the angrier I got, the stronger I felt."
" So it is anger, then. Derek's right." I laid my head on Scott's back,
" I can't be around Allison."
" Just because she makes you happy?"
" No, because she makes me weak."
——
Stiles said" All right, so you stay away from her for a few days. You can do that." I looked at them, laying my head on Scott's shoulder since he was carrying me.
Scott said" But is it a few days, or is it forever?" Scott put me down on the bench, I looked at both of them,
" You know, this whole women make you weak thing is a little too spartan warrior for me. It's probably just part of the learning process."
" Yeah, but you've seen Derek. I mean, the guy's totally alone. What if I can, like, never be around her again?"
" Well, if you're not dead, that could be a good thing."
" I'd rather be dead." Something smelled funny,
" You're not gonna end up like Derek, all right? We'll figure it out."
" Okay."
" Come on. Let's get out of here."
" Something smells terrible in here, anyway."
" Really? In a boys' locker room?" Stiles held my hands as I jumped off the bench, then held my hand as we started walking." That doesn't make any sense at all."
" No, it's like something's rotting or dying." Stiles ran his hand through my hair, I yelped as it got tangled," When is the last time you brushed his hair, dude?"
" Uh..." Scott lifted me up, I wrapped my arms around his neck,
" Want me to brush your hair, little dude?"
I said" Stiles forgot."
" Of course he did, he's Stiles." I giggled,
Stiles said" Okay, you can stop being rude, you know." Scott rubbed our noses together, I giggled, scrunching up my face." He's too cute, have you learned anything about him? I help you, you need to help me." I played with Scott's hair,
" Well, he's a born wolf like Derek is, and Derek says he was probably abandoned because of it. Some people just can't handle their kid being something different."
" Alright, how about control?" Scott shrugged," Great, just great... guess we're still on step one."
——
We walked into Coach's class,
Scott whispered" Hey, Stiles, sit behind me." Stiles tried to but Allison beat him, Stiles sat down, pulling me onto his lap. Scott and Allison were talking, I yawned, rubbing my nose, playing with Stiles' shirt.
Coach said" Let's start with a quick summary of last night's reading. Greenberg, put your hand down. Everybody knows you did the reading. How about, uh... McCall."
Scott said" What?"
" The reading."
" Last night's reading?"
" How about the reading of The Gettysburg Address?" Some people laughed,
" What?"
" That's sarcasm. You familiar with the term Sarcasm, McCall?" Scott looked back at Stiles, Stiles smiled, shrugging.
" Very."
" Did you do the reading or not?"
" Um... I think I forgot."
" Nice work, McCall. It's not like you're not averaging a D in this class. Come on, buddy. You know I can't keep you on the team if you have a D. How about your summarize the previous night's reading?" I heard the beeping phone," No? How about the night before that?" I held onto Stiles' shirt, staring at Scott," How about you summarize anything you've ever read in your entire life?"
" I..."
" No? A blog?" I looked at Stiles as the beeping got louder," How about... How about the back of a cereal box? No? How about the adults-only warning from your favorite website you visit every night? Anything? Thank you, McCall, thank you. Thank you, McCall!" I rubbed my eyes, Stiles pushed my face into his shoulder, I nuzzled my face into his shoulder, scared." Thank you for extinguishing any last flicker of hope I have for your generation. You just blew it for everybody. Thanks. Next practice you can start with suicide runs. Unless that's too much reading." I rubbed my eyes, I looked at the phone, it wasn't beeping loud anymore. I looked at Scott, then I saw he was holding hands with Allison.
——
Stiles was holding me as we walked out doors,
Stiles said" It's her."
Scott said" What do you mean?"
" It's Allison. Remember what you told me about the night of the full moon? You were thinking about her, right? About protecting her."
" Okay."
" Remember the night of the first lacrosse game? You said you could hear her voice out on the field."
" Yeah, I did."
" Well, that's what brought you back so you could score. And then after the game in the locker room, you didn't kill her. At least not like how you were trying to killed me. She brings you back, is what I'm saying."
" No, no, no, but it's not always true, because literally every time I'm kissing her or touching her..."
" No, that's not the same. When you're doing that, you're just another hormonal teenager thinking about sex, you know? You're thinking about sex right now, aren't you?"
" Yeah. Sorry..."
" That's fine. Look, back in the classroom when she was holding your hand, that was different, okay? I don't think she makes you weak. I think she actually gives you control. She's kind of like an anchor."
" You mean because I love her."
" Exactly."
" Did I just say that?"
" Yes, you just said that."
" I love her."
" That's Great. Now, moving on..."
" No, no, no, really. I think I'm totally in love with her."
" And that's beautiful. Now, before you go off and write a sonnet, can we figure this out, please? Because you obviously can't be around her all the time." Stiles put me down, I held onto Scott's hoodie,
" Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry. So what do I do?"
" I don't know. Yet." He spun around, then made his thinking face,
" Oh, no. You're getting an idea, aren't you?"
" Yeah."
" Is this idea gonna get me in trouble?"
" Maybe."
" Is this idea gonna cause me physical pain?"
" Yeah, definitely. Come on." He walked away, Scott looked at me then started walking, holding my hand.

Stiles stopped me,
He said" Stay." They started walking away, I tilted my head, sitting down, playing with Tigger. They walked a little aways from me, I saw Stiles scratch a truck with his keys and Scott holding up keys... uh-oh.
Stiles yelled" Hey, hey, dude! What do you think you're doing to that truck, bro!"
A guy yelled" What the hell?" He walked to Scott, Scott was punched, I squeaked, then Scott tried to fight back but that didn't work. I ran to Stiles, looking at him,
Stiles said" Come on, stay calm. Stay calm. Oh, that's not okay. Scott. Come on, buddy." The beeping got louder, then it stopped beeping so loud, I sighed.
Their teacher said" Stop! What do you idiots think you're doing?" Stiles held up the phone, smiling.

They got detention,
Scott said" Excuse me, sir? I know it's detention and all, but, I'm supposed to be at work, and I don't want to get fired." The teacher ignored him, he looked at Stiles," You knew I would heal."
Stiles said" Yep."
" So you did that to help me learn?"
" Yep."
" But partially to punish me."
" Yeah. Well, that one's obvious."
" Dude, you're my best friend, and I can't have you being angry with me."
" I'm not angry anymore. Look, you have something, Scott. Okay? Whether you want it or not, you can do things that nobody else can do. So that means you don't have a choice anymore. It means you have to do something."
" I know. And I will."
The teacher said" All right, both of you, out of here."
" Thank you." We walked out of there, Stiles lifted me up onto his hip.
——
We were going to the school, it was dark out now, Scott said Derek took his boss. Stiles parked and got out with Scott, Stiles unbuckled me and put me on his hip. We walked to the back,
Stiles said" This is a terrible idea."
Scott said" Yeah, I know."
" But we're still gonna do it?"
" Can you think of something better?"
" Well, personally I'm a fan of ignoring a problem until eventually it just goes away."
" Just make sure we can get inside." Stiles put me down, and opened the back up, he grabbed something weird," He's here. Where's my boss?" Derek got out of his car,
Derek said" He's in the back."
Stiles said" Oh, he looks comfortable." Scott grabbed my hand and we started walking inside,
" Wait. Hey. What are you doing?"
Scott said" You said I was linked with the alpha. I'm gonna see if you're right."

We walked into the office,
Stiles said" Okay, one question. What are you gonna do if the alpha doesn't show up?"
Scott said" I don't know."
" And what are you gonna do if he does show up?"
" I don't know."
" Good plan."
" All right. You said that a wolf howls to signal his position to the rest of the pack, right?"
" Right, but if you bring him here, does that make you part of his pack?"
" I hope not."
" Yeah, me too. All right. All you." Scott made a really weird noise into the microphone, I covered my ears, looking at him.
" Was that okay? I mean, that was a howl, right?"
" Yeah, technically." I shook my head quickly,
" Well, what did it sound like to you?"
" Like a cat being choked to death, Scott."
" What do I do? How am I supposed to do this?"
" Hey, hey. Listen to me. You're calling the alpha. All right? Be a man. Be a werewolf, Not a teen wolf. Be a werewolf. Do it."
" Okay." I rubbed my eyes, Scott howled again, and this time it didn't sound bad.

We walked out of the school,
Derek said" I'm gonna kill both of you. What the hell was that? What are you trying to do, attract the entire state to the school?"
Scott said" Sorry. I didn't know it would be that loud."
Stiles said" Yeah, it was loud. And it was awesome."
Derek said" Shut up."
" Don't be such a sour-wolf."
Scott said" What'd you do with him?"
Derek said" What?" Scott's boss was gone," I didn't do anything." Then Derek was bleeding, I saw the monster from the forest. Scott grabbed Stiles arm, then grabbed me, they ran, we got into the school. I buried my face in Scott's shoulder as they held the door crouching down.