Calculatingly Wise

43

6B

Tessa walked up to the lacrosse field, seeing Scott acting as Assistant Coach. A boy ran past and Scott said, "Hey! Nice work, Diaz. Nolan, you stay in there. You can take him. Nice work. That's the best shot of preseason."

Nolan said, "Thanks, Coach."

"Assistant Coach," Finstock corrected, frowning at Scott. "What exactly are you doing?"

"Drills."

"You're giving them hope. When did I ever give you hope?"

Tessa glanced between Coach and Scott. "Never."

"Exactly. Nothing motivates more than withering criticism. Speaking of, um, losers, where's your, uh, where's your little protége?"

Scott glanced at his cousin worriedly. "Um..."

""Um"? Is... Is "um" a location? Is "um" behind me?"

Tessa smiled. "He'll be here, Coach."

Scott nodded. "He's the backbone of this team. He's stepped it up in every way possible. A born leader who can handle anything that you throw at him."

Coach ran a hand down his face. "I swear to God, McCall, if you don't get Dunbar out here in three, this'll be your last day as assistant coach. Goes for you too, Moore."

"This is my last day as assistant coach. Tessa isn't part of this."

Coach narrowed his eyes. "I can still dock your pay."

Scott smiled at him. "I'm a volunteer. You want my whistle?" He held it out.

"Who gave you a whistle?"

Tessa's wry smile went unnoticed by Coach, who had turned back to the field.

Scott sent a text asking where Liam was.

Diaz dodged the other players and weaved his way down the field. He flung the ball towards the goal and a boy backflipped onto the field, blocking the ball with his arm.

Coach rushed to the edge of the field. "Now that's how you play lacrosse, McCall! Who is that kid? He's spectacular."

The demigoddess frowned. "That's Liam."

Coach shot her a look. "Well, how the hell am I supposed to tell them apart? They're all wearing the same thing."

"They've got numbers on their jersey, Coach," Scott said.

Liam ran down the field full speed and was knocked to the ground by Diaz. His eyes flashed yellow and Tessa and Scott ran to his side.

"Liam, your eyes," the blonde hissed.

He nodded and flicked them to his normal color.

"McCall, Moore, what the hell was that?" Coach cried. "That wasn't a foul. That's called winning."

A gray wolf with matted, bloody fur stepped onto the field. It growled at them and Scott said, "Everyone back."

A boy stepped closer and Tessa grabbed his arm. "Nolan, right?" He nodded. "Get back right now."

Nolan quickly stepped back, suddenly feeling scared.

Scott flashed his werewolf eyes to the woods and the wolf walked back into the woods.

Scott, Liam and Tessa made their way to the woods and Liam turned to his friends. "You think it's a wolf-wolf or..."

"I think it's just a wolf," Scott replied.

A wolf was lying dead on the ground.

"Scott, Tessa," Liam called quietly.

Tessa looked around and saw dozens of dead wolves with spiders coming from their mouths and eyes. Her eyes widened and she darted from the field as quickly as she could, thankful that she hadn't frozen in panic. She uttered a silent prayer that the spiders wouldn't find her.