Calculatingly Wise

35

Scott, Lydia and Tessa attempted to find 'Stiles' in the dictionary. All they found was 'Stile'.

Scott read the definition aloud. ""Stile, an arrangement of steps that allows people, but not animals, to climb over a thing.""

Lydia frowned. "Yeah, somehow I don't think this is the Stiles we're looking for."

Scott looked at his friends and cousin hopefully. "Maybe Malia's found something."

Tessa shook her head. "No, Malia's been in a make-up test all morning."

They heard howling and Tessa sighed. "I don't think it's going well."

The teens made their way to the basement.

Scott said to a shifted Malia, "Malia, it's okay. You're safe. I'm not gonna hurt you." She growled.

Sheriff Stilinski glanced at Scott. "Maybe you should growl back? Scott, you're the alpha. Can't you just make her a little docile?"

Tessa looked between her friends. "Back up, guys. She isn't the problem. We are. We're in her space. This is her territory. Let's get out of here."

Lydia nodded to her friend as they made their way to the locker room entrance. "Smart call, Tessa." She raised her voice. "Malia used to come here to get through the full moons, before we started using the lake house."

Ms. Martin narrowed her eyes at her daughter. "I thought you said a wild animal got in the lake house."

Lydia shrugged. "Just be happy about all the things I don't tell you."

Malia let out another small growl and her coyote form stalked towards the group as she shifted back into a human. She smiled lightly. "It's all right. I'm okay."

Ms. Martin handed Malia her clothes as the sheriff asked, "Any idea what made her shift?"

"She's under a lot of pressure," Scott replied. "School, her life after graduation."

"Her mom trying to kill her," Lydia added.

Scott glanced at her. "That shouldn't make her shift."

"Could it be connected to Stiles?" Tessa asked, smiling slightly at the name.

Scott shrugged. "Hard to tell since we don't know what a "Stiles" is."

"It's a "he"," the sheriff said.

"Who?"

"Stiles. It's a family nickname. I never used it, but, uh, my father did."

Scott and Tessa made their way to the sheriff's house to speak to the sheriff and his wife. The sheriff grabbed a photo from the mantle and held it out to the teens. "He was an Army engineer. Ended the war one bridge at a time."

"And he went by Stiles," Scott said, reading the name in the corner of the picture.

"So what's all this got to do with the Wild Hunt?"

Tessa looked up at the sheriff. "We think someone was taken from us."

"Any idea who?"

Scott shook his head. "Uh, the Ghost Riders would have erased our memories."

"Well, now, that's convenient."

Tessa fiddled with her camp necklace. "We did find a clue. The word Stiles."

"And that's why you want to talk to Elias?" Claudia questioned.

Scott rubbed a hand up and down Tessa's back as he said, "Yeah. We think he might be able to help us figure it out. Maybe he knows what we're looking for."