Chapter 1: Wolf Moon
"As you all know, there indeed was a body found in the woods last night." Their teacher ranted on, writing on the chalkboard. I turned around and looked at my boys as Stiles winked at Scott and had an adorable little smirk on his face. I smiled slightly before turning back around and facing the teacher.
"As I am sure, your eager little minds are coming up with various macabre scenarios as to what happened. But I am here to tell you that the police have a suspect in custody." Cue confused Scott and Stiles. "Which means you can give your undivided attention to the syllabus which is on your desk outlining this semester." The teacher went on as I twirled my pen in my hand. Many groans and sighs were heard and I'm pretty sure someone hit their head on their desk.
I laughed lightly at everyone's hatred of school. I didn't hate school, I was actually very smart and so was my sister, holding a 4.5 and 5.0 GPA average. Lydia just didn't like to show it. She didn't like to show anything she was good at because of Jackson. I'm pretty sure the only time she would show her smarts would be in a life or death situation.
I looked down at the paper, reading over it and realizing I already knew about most of these things, and the others I just needed to brush up on. I'd certainly already read Othello.
Looking up as the door opened, I noticed the principal and a very pretty girl walk in. "Class this is our new student, Allison Argent. Please do your best to make her feel welcome."
The principal walked away as Allison shyly walked to an open seat, keeping her head down. I smiled at her as she passed and she returned the favor.
I looked to where she sat down; right behind Scott. Scott turned around and handed her a pen, causing both Allison and I to give him looks of confusion. Allison said a quick 'thanks' as Scott turned around with a smile on his face. I smiled too, noticing the look on Scott's face. I was going to have to help him out with this one.
"We'll begin with Kafka's Metamorphosis, on page 133." Mr. Anderson began as I opened up my book to start the lesson.
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Walking down the hall with my sister, I led her over to Allison before lacrosse practice, seeing her and Scott smile at each other from across the hall. I grinned until Lydia interrupted the cuteness.
"That jacket is absolutely killer. Where'd you get it?" Her voice raised, arm held up. Her jacket was now gone, where I couldn't guess. She held herself in such a typical popular girl form when she was at school, it was honestly sickening. She didn't like to show her emotions. Or her brain. Or her talents. Or really much of anything that made her...her. She was so different under the false persona she put up and I wish more people knew it.
"My mom was a buyer for a boutique back in San Francisco." I could tell she was slightly uncomfortable, so I gave her a warm smile and stuck out my hand, she grabbed it.
"Rae Martin, I hope we can become really good friends." My sister, of course, had a different approach.
"And you are my new best friend," Lydia said, pointing at Allison. I rolled my eyes at her. Jackson then walked up and placed an arm around her waist.
"Hey, Jackson." Her voice was automatically higher as they started kissing. I noticed Allison was uncomfortable still, which was understandable, so I stood next to her.
"You'll get used to it. She's a little hard to manage at first but once you get past the layers she's an amazing person." I told her, hoping to help. Allison smiled a bit and turned towards me.
"Thanks. You guys are so different." She said softly. I laughed a little.
"Actually we're not. Lydia just puts up a persona. For some reason, she thinks she can't be popular if she's not a cliche. She really is amazing. You'd be surprised at how smart she really is." I told her, smiling. Allison just smiled back and turned back to Lydia as she started talking again.
~Stiles POV~
"Can someone tell me how new girl is here all of five minutes, and she's already hanging out with Lydia and Rae's clique?" A darker-skinned girl asked Scott and me.
"Because she's hot. Beautiful people herd together." I replied, looking over at Rae, she was talking to Allison and her eyes looked so bright. She was so beautiful. "I mean just look at Rae." I let slip out, blushing slightly. I didn't mean to let that slip. Everyone was supposed to think I was head over heels for Lydia, not her sister.
Scott just let out a knowing smile and a slight chuckle as he looked at Allison.
~Rae's POV~
"So, this weekend, there's a party." Lydia started.
"A party?" Allison asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Yeah. Friday night. You should come." Jackson said as I rolled my eyes at him. Typical.
"Uh, I can't. It's family night this Friday. Thanks for asking." She said kindly. I could totally tell she was lying, trying to put Lydia down easy.
She could be quite overwhelming.
"You sure? I mean everyone's going after the scrimmage." God Jackson, give it up. If the girl doesn't want to go, the girl doesn't want to go.
"You mean like football?" Allison asked, turning towards Jackson. I smiled slightly, looking down at the ground.
"No lacrosse. We don't really play football here." I told her, smiling. It was a common mistake, lacrosse wasn't usually the main sport in a school.
"Football's a joke in Beacon. We've won the lacrosse state championship for the past three years." Jackson said cockily. He was such an asshat.
Lydia messed with his hair as Allison awkwardly fixed her own. "Because of a certain team captain." Lydia boasted, Jackson's ego inflating even more as I scoffed at both of them.
I get that my sister loved him, but she could do so much better. I could only stand him 2/10 of the time. Ya know, the few times he actually showed he was human.
"Hate to burst your ego bubble Jack, but did you forget you haven't even gone to this school for that long?" I asked him, honestly curious. I wouldn't be surprised if he had forgotten in his air of self-righteousness.
"Sometimes I seriously hate you, Martin," Jackson replied, his usual air of testosterone and cockiness still very much present.
"Right back at cha oh captain, lacrosse captain." I mock saluted him with a stern face before breaking out in a short fit of giggles. Jackson simply rolled his eyes. (If someone doesn't get the reference I will be so upset.)
"Anyways, we have practice in a few minutes. That is if you don't have anywhere else..." He trailed off.
"Well, I was going to-" Allison was cut off by Lydia being Lydia.
"Perfect. You're coming." She said, grabbing Allison's hand and dragging her along. I quickly turned and gave Scott a knowing smile and a nod towards her as she also sent a look towards him. I looked at Stiles for a split second and flashed a Rae Martin smile before turning around and walking away.
()()()()()()()()()()()
~Scott's POV~
"But if you play, I'll have no one to talk to on the bench." Stiles began as we jogged onto the field with our equipment. "Are you really gonna do that to your best friend?" Stiles asked, trying to get me to see reason.
"I can't sit out again." I turned towards him, trying to show him how serious I was being." My whole life is sitting on the sidelines. This season, I make first line." I told him, confident in my plan.
Grabbing my lacrosse stick I started onto the field. I turned and saw Allison, Rae, and Lydia climbing onto the bleachers, Allison shooting over a slight smile. I was in awe of how beautiful she was. I could look at her all day and never get tired of it.
"McCall." Until Coach interrupts me, I grumbled in my head.
I turned around and looked at him. "Yeah?"
"You're on goal." Oh no. Come on Coach.
"I've never played." Oh god. I was going to embarrass myself so much in front of Allison. More than I would if I was shooting. I wouldn't catch a single ball, and Coach seemed to know that.
"I know." He stated cheerfully. "Scoring some shots will give the boys a confidence boost. It's a first day back thing." Coach slapped my shoulder. "Get 'em energized, fired up!" Coach exclaimed in his usual mood.
"What about me?" This was horrible. Why did he have to do this today of all days? With Allison right there?!
"Try not to take any in the face." Coach further proved his point by lightly slapping me. Great motivation coach.
"Let's go! Come on!" Coach yelled at the other players, signaling that practice was about to start.
I got in the goal and waited for the whistle to blow as I rolled my shoulders back and somehow managed to hear the girls' conversation.
"Who is that?" Allison asked, sounding curious and intrigued.
"Him? I'm not sure who he is." Lydia said with the usual air of her words.
"Oh come on, Lydia." I heard Rae say. "He's only been one of my best friends since third grade." She looked at Allison. "His name is Scott McCall, he is a sweetheart, and is totally into you," Rae said point-blank. I turned and blushed a bit at what she said. Was it that obvious?
Lydia scoffed. "Why?" She questioned, tone indicating I was on a lower caliber than she.
Allison shook her head lightly with a smile as they both looked at me. "He's in my English class." She said simply as she watched me.
All of a sudden, a shrill noise pierced my ears and I half dropped to the ground, clutching my head. As I was still swaying around from the pain of the whistle, a ball flew and slammed straight into my face, making me fall on my back inside the net.
The team and our coach laughed as one of the players called out, "hey, way to catch the ball with your face, McCall." I sighed and saw Stiles grunt and make a face and movement that indicated he felt what I was going through. He was rooting for me to do well, even if he didn't want to be on the bench alone. (Side note: I originally put 'do good' and remembered Stiles fixing Malia's mistake and changed it to 'do well.' Carry on.)
I got ready for the next player, figuring I wouldn't catch the ball. I watched him slightly run and then throw the ball and then I watched as the ball flew...straight into my net.
I stared at it in shock, looking up smiling at the confused team and Coach as I threw the ball back. I heard Stiles give a little 'yeah' from the bench.
I just kept catching the ball. Every single one that flew towards me, I caught it. It was amazing. It was like I had all the time in the world to catch them.
The coach kept a very confused face as students cheered. I heard a, 'yeah buddy. You got this,' from the stands where the girls were sitting; Rae. I just kept catching them.
"He seems like he's pretty good." I heard Allison say.
"Yeah. Very good," Lydia replied, sounding surprised and intrigued. I was amped, jumping up and down smiling. Then Jackson pushed to the front of the line, pushing back the player in front with his lacrosse stick.
"Oh god."
It seemed like everybody, including me, was holding their breath as Jackson ran and hucked the ball as hard as he could...and I caught it. I caught it.
I looked at the ball and smiled as Stiles jumped up and whooped from the bench. "That is my friend!" Even Lydia was cheering in the stands. I threw the ball over my shoulder and it landed perfectly in someone else's net. The people in the bleachers cheered.
It felt good.
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~Rae's POV~
"I-I don't know what it was. It was like I had all the time in the world to catch the ball." Scott explained, splashing as he walked through the small creek in the woods.
I knew that I already saw everything that was going to happen, but I still changed my clothes in Lydia's car and came out here with them. I walked through the creek, Stiles holding onto my hand to make sure I wouldn't fall. My stomach flipped when he grabbed onto it, and I was surprised when he didn't let go.
"And that's not the only weird thing. I-I can hear stuff I shouldn't be able to hear. Smell things." He continued, looking back frantically but excitedly at Stiles and me, looking down at our hands and smiling. I looked down and grinned slightly.
"Smell things?" Stiles asked. "Like what?" We continued to walk behind Scott, Stiles looking at him, waiting for an answer that I already knew. Scott looked back at him while still walking.
"Like the mint mojito gum in your pocket." He answered, completely serious.
"I don't even have any mint mojito gum-" Stiles cut himself off as he used his free hand to pull an old piece of gum out of his pocket, the wrapper slightly pulled out at the sides instead of right around the piece of mint gum. I laughed lightly at his expression of shock and bewilderment. Looking back up at our shaggy-haired friend, he watched Scott shrug before turning back around and continue looking for his lost inhaler.
"So all this started with the bite." He stated, starting up the joke I already knew the end to. It was weird to sit here and converse with them when I already knew everything they were going to say. I mean, I've done it before, but I don't think it would ever stop being weird.
"Right. Well, what if it's like an infection?" Scott began, looking slightly concerned and scared. "My body's flooding with adrenaline before I go into shock or something." Scott turned to look in front of him since he'd been glancing back at us, trying not to trip over any stray branches or tree roots.
"You know what, I actually think I've heard of this. It's a specific kind of infection." Stiles explained, trying not to laugh. Scott looked back wide-eyed with an agape mouth.
"Are you serious?" He asked after a short pause.
"Yeah," I answered back immediately. "I think I know what he's talking about. I think it's called...Lycanthropy." I said, taking Stiles line from him. I held my breath at the end and looked at Scott with the most serious look I could muster, compared to his majorly worried one.
"What's that? Is that bad?" Scott started throwing questions at us, glancing back and forth between us.
"Oh yeah, it's the worst." Stiles had placed his hand on his hip and was leaning slightly forward, talking. "But only once a month." He continued the statement with a wave of his hand, placing it back on his hip. Scott looked so freaked, it was honestly hilarious.
"Once a month?" Scott asked, confused as hell and wanting answers.
"Mhmm. On the night of the full moon." Stiles waited a second before we both pretended to howl at Scott.
Scott pushed Stiles back as he realized what we were getting at, disconnecting our hands slightly but Stiles realigned them, making me smile. I wondered if he even realized what he was doing.
Probably not.
Stiles and I just laughed at the joke. "Hey, you're the one that heard a wolf howling," Stiles stated, throwing his free hand up in submission.
"There could be something seriously wrong with me," Scott shouted slightly, a little angry at Stiles' antics.
"I know. You're a werewolf." Stiles said, making hand motions as he spoke, his voice rising slightly. "Rrrr." He tried and failed to growl and pretend to be a werewolf with a stupid grin on his face as Scott looked at him straight without laughing. I just laughed at the whole situation and giggled at Stiles. Giggled. I literally giggled.
"Okay." He coughed out a laugh. "Obviously we're kidding. But if you see me in shop class trying to melt all the silver I can find it's because Friday's the full moon." Stiles said lightly, following behind Scott. Scott suddenly stopped and looked down, looking back up and gesturing to the ground with his hand.
"No. I-I could have sworn this was it. I saw the body, the deer came running." He explained to us, confused and in disbelief. Scott dropped to the ground in a crouch, moving leaves around. "I dropped my inhaler."
"Maybe the killer moved the body," Stiles suggested, hand once again on hip, looking down at where Scott was digging.
"That's not nerve-wracking," I said sarcastically, glancing over at Stiles to see him already looking at me. I looked down at our hands and then at the ground, embarrassed.
"Well if he did, I hope he left my inhaler. Those things are like 80 bucks!" Scott exclaimed, strangely more worried about the cost of his inhaler than the missing half of a dead body or the mysterious bite he had recently obtained.
Still looking at the ground, Stiles suddenly hit Scott and I's shoulders, trying to get our attention. We looked up to see a man dressed in all black, and might I say, he was attractive. I might be all for Stiles, but any girl would drool over this man.
I looked him up and down, wondering what he looked like with his shirt off. Stiles squeezed my hand and I looked up to see him glaring at the guy. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion as the man in black starts walking forward.
"What are you doing here?" The man has a scowl on his face and his attitude automatically trumps his beauty. "Huh? This is private property." He stated, stopping in front of my two frightened friends, and looking over at me and down at Stiles and I's hands. Stiles rubbed the back of his head and gestured to Scott.
"Uhmm, uh, sorry man, we didn't know." He said, not looking directly at him, putting his spastic hand back onto his hip.
"You know you don't have to be such a dick about it. People go in these woods all the time and we didn't know it was private property," I told him, turning my bitch act on.
"You should watch who you're talking to missy." The mysterious man said to me, clenching his teeth.
"Oh, is that supposed to scare me? You could be the hulk for all I care and you wouldn't scare me. I've seen things you would never dream of. So don't try to intimidate me. And never ever call me missy. I'm not a doll and I'm not six." I hissed out, Stiles pulling me back before I could do anything else.
"Yeah, we were just...looking for something but, uh, forget it," Scott said before the man could reply to me. Suddenly, something is pulled out of the man's pocket and thrown at him and Scott catches it in between his hands easily, noticing it's his inhaler.
When I looked back up, the man was walking away and was soon gone. Stiles' mouth is agape. "Alright, well I, uh, gotta get to work," Scott says, going to turn around but is stopped by Stiles rapidly moving hands. In his moving around I'm pretty sure my arm popped out of socket.
"Dude. That was Derek Hale." He said, reminding me of the mysterious man in black's name. "You remember right? He's only like a few years older than us." Stiles tried to trigger a memory in the shaggy boy's brain.
"Remember what?" Scott asked, not catching on.
"His family? They all burned to death in a fire like 10 years ago." He finished, putting his hand in his pocket and looking concerned but worried.
"Wonder what he's doing back." Scott wondered aloud, turning to us. Stiles scoffed and began to walk away.
"Come on," Stiles said quietly, walking away quickly, dragging me behind and leaving Scott to catch up.
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~Scott's POV~
I was going through my locker when suddenly it slammed shut, making me jump.
"All right, little man." It was Jackson. No wonder. "How 'bout you tell me where you're getting your juice." He looked pissed.
"What?" I asked, completely confused. Why did he want to know where I was getting juice from?
"Where. Are you. Getting. Your juice." He spelled it out like I was stupid, but honestly, I thought he was pretty stupid right now.
I gave him a strange, confused look. "My mom does all the grocery shopping," I told him. If he really needed to know, I could ask her, but I was still really confused.
"Now, listen, McCall." He clenched his jaw. "You're gonna tell me exactly what it is and who you're buying it from because there's no way in hell you're out there kicking ass on the field like that without some sort of chemical boost." A look of realization passed over my face as I soon understood what he was talking about. And I was shocked.
"Oh, you mean steroids." I thought about Jackson for a second. "Are you on steroids?" I asked him, genuinely curious.
He slammed me up against a locker by my jersey and my heart raced. "What the hell is going on with you, McCall?" He yelled in my face. I just snapped.
"What's going on with me? You really wanna know?" Jackson pulled his arm down. "Well, so would I! Because I can see, hear, and smell things I shouldn't be able to see, hear, and smell." I shouted, speaking quickly. "I do things that should be impossible, I'm sleepwalking three miles into the middle of the woods, and I'm pretty much convinced that I'm totally out of my freaking mind!" I finished, sighing and feeling like a weight was lifted off of my chest. Jackson just chuckled in my face.
"You think you're funny. Don't you, McCall?" Jackson sneered. "I know you're hiding something. I'm gonna find out what it is. I don't care how long it takes." Jackson slammed his fist into the locker next to my head, making me flinch and let out strangled breaths.
()()()()()()()()()()
"Scott!" Stiles high pitched voice rang out. "Scott, wait up!" Stiles called, running up to me.
"Stiles, I'm playing the first elimination, man, can it wait?" I asked, not exactly in the mood to listen to whatever he had to say.
Stiles grabbed my shoulder. "Just hold on, okay? I overheard my dad on the phone. The fiber analysis came back from the lab in L.A. They found animal hairs on the body they found in the woods!" Stiles exclaimed, slapping my chest as I picked up my equipment.
"Stiles, I gotta go," I told him, running out on the field.
"Wait, no! Scott!" He raced after me slightly.
If I would've stayed I would've heard his next sentence, which would undoubtedly change everything. "You're not gonna believe what the animal was! It was a wolf."
~Rae's POV~
I walked up to Stiles and overheard him saying something about a wolf.
"What wolf?" I asked him, confused. Stiles spazzed out and then looked back at me.
"Holy crap. You scared the living hell out of me." He freaked, sighing afterward and calming down.
"Well, I guess that's a good thing. We don't need any evil spirits in that body of yours." I blurted out, blushed when I realized what I said, Stiles' face became red as he turned away.
Oh god.
What do I do?
Do I just play it off?
Oh god.
"No. No, we do not." He said awkwardly, playing with his gloves as I toyed with my rings. It was silent until we heard Coach's voice.
"Stilinski get your ass over here and stop flirting with your girlfriend." We both turned dark red at his insinuation. I heard Stiles grumble 'she's not my girlfriend' under his breath before he ran off and it made my heart stop.
I turned around and saw Allison sitting on the bleachers so I decided to go sit with her, my embarrassment written all over my face.
"Well, that was awkward," Allison said, tightening her scarf around her neck. I just nodded my head. "Especially when it just so happens that you like him." She stated. If I had water in my mouth, the person's hair in front of me would be soaked.
"What?!" I squeaked. How did she know? Was it that noticeable? I had to tone it down.
"You don't have to beat around the bush with me like you do Lydia. I see how you two look at each other and I honestly think you two would be cute together." Allison told me with a soft smile. I smiled back at her, glad that I had someone now that I could talk to about this. At least, someone other than Scott.
"Thanks." I blushed before looking back down at the game. Scott was currently sliding passed one of the players before continuing to run, swerving around another person. He then side jumped next to another player, racing forward. 'What the hell was going on with him?' I wondered.
Scott then swerved around another person before front flipping over three players and making a goal.
He was surrounded by players and Allison and I stood up to clap, but I couldn't help but slowly clap as I wondered what the hell was going on with Scotty.
"McCall! Get over here!" Coach yelled. "What in God's name was that?" He shouted. Oh no. "This is a lacrosse field. What, are you trying out for the gymnastics team?" He asked sarcastically.
"No, Coach." Scott shook his head quickly.
"What the hell was that?" Coach exclaimed, pointing in between him and Scott.
"I-I don't know." Scott panicked. "I was just trying to make the shot." He explained.
"Yeah, well, you made the shot." Coach smiled. "And guess what?" He asked Scott. "You're startin', buddy. You made first line." Coach finished his sentence, grinning wide at Scott as he started smiling like crazy and everyone in the stands cheered after the suspenseful wait.
I cheered along with them, but couldn't get the thought out of my head; what was wrong with Scott?