'Why isn't this thing like luminous yellow or something for cases like this?' I asked as we pulled up outside the preserve.
The journey there had been filled with Scott giving us a play-by-play of his lacrosse skills. Every so often Stiles would cast a quick glance in the rear-view mirror and shoot me an amused smirk before we hastily looked away, trying not to smirk. There was a silent agreement that Scott had been fantastic at practice, one which we were now glad of as he seemed to swell with pride at the prospect of being through to the elimination – but it was currently all he could talk about. We'd praised him as much as we dared without letting his head grow too big – the odd knocking remark from Stiles helping with this. I'd also teased him about his current infatuation with Allison, so much so that he blushed and stopped talking about lacrosse for all of three seconds so as to look dreamily out of the window, his attention not focused on anything else but his thoughts.
'Duly noted,' Scott said, grinning at me as we wandered towards the fence into the preserve, 'I'll make sure to spray paint it when we find it.'
'Can we put pink dots on it, too? Just so it stands out, of course,' said Stiles, smirking as he caught up with us, pocketing his car keys.
Scott looked over at him aghast. He began to splutter his protests.
'C'mon, Scotty-boy,' I said, draping an arm around his shoulders. 'It's that or we chain it to your wrist so you don't forget it.'
'And then spray paint it,' said Stiles, grinning evilly.
Scott merely rolled his eyes, a small smirk on his face though. 'Let's get going, the sooner we find it the sooner we can leave.'
'You know, if a squirrel's got drunk off it I'm not getting it back for you, dude,' said Stiles, rubbing a hand over the nape of his neck.
'They get drunk on pumpkins,' I said absently, scanning the ground for signs of the inhaler. 'Dunno how an inhaler'd affect them… or how they'd use it for that matter.'
'Pumpkins? How'd you know that, Aim?' asked Scott.
I looked up slowly, glancing between the two, slightly smirking boys. I shrugged. 'Heard it somewhere. Anyway,' I said, turning to face Stiles, 'I kept my bag on me all day. When can I expect a wedding announcement from you and Lydia?'
The colour rose quickly to Stiles' cheeks and he turned away mumbling darkly. I noticed that Scott was grinning, managing not to laugh though as he hastily turned his attention back towards the floor.
'Did you enjoy English with Matt? Learn lots about camera lenses?' Stiles asked sharply, causing me to pause.
'Oh yeah, I had a nice little chat with the silent boy. He and Isaac are now my best friends, I'm merely here to watch you flailing about in the forest,' I said, rolling my eyes as Stiles scoffed though, grinning back at me.
I'd imagined that traipsing through the woods was going to be a lot more entertaining than it actually was. While it was good being with the boys, listening to Scott trying to explain how he'd suddenly gotten so good at lacrosse, you literally could not make hide nor hair of anything littered amongst the dark brown leaves covering the floor… OK, so it wasn't that difficult, but I was beginning to lose hope of ever finding the inhaler. It also didn't help that Scott was having some difficulty trying to remember where he'd been
'Hey, it was really dark and I was kind of terrified of the things attacking me!' he'd said when I muttered some annoyance about the whole thing.
If I was honest I was kind of regretting not having forced the boys to let me dump my stuff at home. I could've tried snooping in the office for some information about the body; or the basement… I cut that thought short though. No, this was a new start and I wasn't letting that thought into my head for the moment. Not until Mum forced me to it, anyway.
'You know what?' said Stiles, pulling me from my thoughts and back towards the conversation at hand. 'I actually think I've heard of this. It's a specific kind of infection.'
Stiles winked over at me, an amused grin on his face as I noticed the look of panic crossing Scott's features.
'Are you serious?' asked Scott, looking between the two of us.
'Yeah,' said Stiles, nodding gravely.
I tried my best to look serious, too, despite a slight niggling worry at the back of my mind. What was Stiles up to?
'Yeah, I think it's called lycanthropy.' Stiles' comment made my heart skip a beat.
Surely it wasn't that extreme. Scott had just been bitten by a common wolf – though, even I knew that was a pathetic idea. And surely, if this was a worst case moment, Dad would've found out, told me so that I could try helping my best friend through it rather than dancing around the idea that it might all be fine.
But then again, who knew what was going on with the werewolf population in Beacon Hills at the moment. If there was enough happening to bring Dad back here…
'…the body, the deer came running. I dropped my inhaler,' said Scott, looking around the little clearing and pointing to different areas as he ran through the events.
I blinked slightly, pulling myself back to the task at hand. Everything else was speculation and could wait. Right now I needed to help Scott find the inhaler.
'Maybe the killer moved the body,' suggested Stiles, moving a pile of leaves with his toe.
'Maybe they thought the inhaler belonged to the victim,' I suggested, crouching slightly in an attempt to help look for the thing. 'Needed to get rid of any evidence.'
'I hope not,' said Scott, frowning around at the ground as if hopeful that the inhaler might just jump out at him. 'Those things are like eighty bucks!'
'Why the hell are they so expensive?' I asked, looking up at him sharply.
Before Scott could answer, however, someone stepped into the clearing with us. Stiles stumbled backwards slightly, giving a small 'Oh' as he fell in line with us. I balled my hands by my sides, fear pumping through me. How had the guy snuck up on us? The leaves had been crunching under foot so much previously, how was that–
'What are you doing here?' the guy asked, surveying us coolly.
There was an air about him that I didn't like, the kind that bad guys have in kids TV shows. It was a quiet kind of superiority that set my teeth on edge. He was very pale, though that probably wasn't helped by the black hair and the leather jacket he was wearing. His eyes were narrowed on us, his jaw clenched slightly. It was almost as if he was sizing up his prey.
His attention lingered on me for a moment, the briefest look of confusion flickered across his features. I tried my best not to wilt under the glare, feeling my heart pounding worriedly against my ribs.
A slight smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth before he turned his glare upon Scott.
'Huh?' the guy continued. 'This is private property.'
'We, um, we got lost, and didn't–'
'Uh, sorry, man, we didn't know.'
Stiles and I awkwardly spoke over each other, fading out as Scott stepped forward slightly. He maintained eye contact with the guy somehow. I cast a wary look at Stiles, feeling a slight blush rising to my cheeks as he shifted his weight awkwardly between his feet.
'Yeah, we were just looking for something, but…' Scott explained, surveying the incredulous expression of the man though. He sighed. 'Uh, forget it.'
Just then the guy shifted quickly. I wasn't sure what was going on, but flinched slightly. It wasn't until I dared a glance back towards the others, Stiles chuckling awkwardly at my reaction, that I noticed the inhaler clasped firmly in Scott's hand.
The guy shot us all one last glare before skulking back into the woods.
'What the hell was that about?' I asked breathlessly once he was out of sight.
'Who knows,' said Stiles, shrugging as he surveyed Scott slightly.
'Come on,' said Scott, glaring at the space where Mr Mystery had been for a moment before looking at his watch. 'I gotta get to work.'
'Dude,' said Stiles, looking around at us before Scott could dart off; there was a quiet curiosity behind his voice which interested me, 'that was Derek Hale.'
I didn't pay much attention to the ensuing conversation, merely glanced at the woods where he'd disappeared. My head was spinning.
Hadn't all the Hale family died in the fire? If Derek was alive though, did it mean that Cora could be, too? If that was the case what on earth did I tell Teddy? 'Oh yeah, by the way your best friend might still be alive, just ignoring you.' Yeah, that'd be a brilliant conversation to have.
But there was also the fact that I'd heard Oscar and Dad talking about them before. By the sounds of things they were a born werewolf family, however that worked! In that case was Derek the new Alpha? Had he been the one to bite Scott? Was it Mr Moody-Hale that had quite possibly turned Scott's life upside down?
'Come on,' said Stiles, clapping me lightly on the back.
I blinked around dumbly, noticing that Scott had already begun to pick his way back through the forest.
'You all right?' asked Stiles, frowning at me as I push my hair off my face, my mind still swimming.
'Huh? Oh, yeah,' I said absently, following Scott. 'Just wasn't expecting to see Derek Hale around. D'you think–?'
'I wouldn't get Teddy's hopes up,' said Stiles, falling into step with me. 'No one knows exactly what happened. Just because one of 'em's shown up out of nowhere, doesn't mean the rest will.'
I sighed. 'Yeah, I guess this isn't some zombie film. Just Beacon Hills.'
He chuckled, nodding slightly. 'Exactly. Now, come on, we'd best make sure Scott doesn't get bitten by a vampire this time!' And with a quick wink Stiles darted off after Scott, clapping him on the back when he reached him.
Stiles dropped Scott off at home first, his parting comment merely being 'Remember to show those dogs who's boss, Mr Werewolf!' before he drove away to a rude hand gesture from Scott but a slight chuckle.
'D'you really think he was bitten by a wolf?' I asked tentatively, glancing out the window absently.
Stiles scoffed slightly. 'I doubt it – unless he's been outside of California somehow… or ended up in the zoo,' he said, causing me to turn towards him sharply. He cast me a quick glance before focusing on the road again. 'There haven't been wolves here for like sixty years. He's gonna be all right, you know that, don't you?' he added soothingly, mistaking my silence for concern.
'Hey, d'you reckon you could drop me off at Car's?' I asked, a wave of inspiration crashing down on me.
Stiles raised an eyebrow. 'How come?'
'There's something I need to check with him,' I said. I mean, it wasn't exactly a lie – I did want to talk to him, well, mainly Pat – but it wasn't the whole truth either.
Stiles sighed. 'Sure thing. Know the address?'
I nodded, I'd checked out the address book during one of my bouts of sleeplessness, wondering if I could viably call someone from back home.
The journey to the Coopers' apartment was longer than the one home. It turned out they were living on the edge of Beacon Hills, closer to the preserve than I'd been expecting ('Sheesh, why didn't you say so before?' Stiles had mock complained at me, winking though). Stiles mainly drummed his fingers on the wheel in time to the music crackling out of the radio, an otherwise comfortable silence between us.
'You know,' said Stiles as he killed the engine, 'Scott can cope with a little bite. He's been through worse than this.'
I sighed, nodding slightly. 'I know, I just worry about you boys is all,' I said, smiling over at him sheepishly. I rested my hand on top of his, gave it a weak squeeze and then jumped out of the car. 'Thanks for the lift, Stiles, see you tomorrow.'
'Bright and early, Aim,' he agreed, nodding slightly before I turned around and moved towards the apartment.
I watched Stiles drive off only once I was safely in the entrance of the building.
The place was bigger than I'd expected. There was something about it that reminded me of the old hotels from films. There was an array of post-boxes on the wall opposite me, each labelled with a number and the name of the family living in the apartment. There was another door leading to the left, numbers lining the wall beside it so you knew which addresses were down there. A call box sat on the other side of the door; some of the papers with names were intricately designed, it was as if they were already trying to make a good impression on anyone calling, while others were just sun stained, tattered cards.
The Coopers' apartment was one labelled on the wall next to the lift, the paper looking slightly more professional than any of the others. They were on the floor below the studio.
I took a deep breath before ringing the bell.
'Hello?' Patrick asked sharply, and even through the slight static I could hear Oscar scolding him.
'Sorry, hello?' came the chirpier voice of Oscar, making me smirk.
'Hey, Car, it's me.'
'Hello me,' he said, causing me to roll my eyes and chuckle sarcastically at him. 'Let me buzz you up, Aim.'
There was the sound of a door unlocking and the lift doors opened.
'Thank you,' I said brightly, before wandering towards the lift.
The doors clanged shut just as I pushed the button. My stomach dropped at the movement, but I tried to ignore it. I needed to sort my thoughts out, my questions about the whole werewolf situation and my worries about Scott.
The lift clanged to a stop, an eerie voice letting me know that I'd reached the right floor, before the doors slid open. A man in a suit hurried past me, his nose buried in a newspaper. I slipped out of the lift as he fumbled for the right button, not looking up.
Glancing down the corridor I noticed that Oscar was already waiting for me. He was leaning casually against the doorframe into his apartment, his arms folded across his chest as he surveyed me carefully. As soon as he noticed I was looking at him though he grinned broadly at me – there's something to be said for the supposed charm of the Irish when it came to Car – and waved me over.
'Good to see you, Aim,' he said, pulling me into a hug as soon as I was close enough. 'How you finding America?'
'It's all right, I guess,' I said, pulling away and starting off into the apartment. 'Good to see old friends. Actually,' I said all of this rather quickly, knowing that he'd try and stop the line of inquiry if I didn't persist, 'Scott's the reason I'm here. I wanted to ask a few questions. Is Pat in?'
'No, I slipped down the fire escape when I heard you were coming, Amy,' came the slight drawl of Patrick, making me roll my eyes.
Patrick was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, his arms folded across his chest in a way that proved he'd been working out lately. His expression was the usual scowl as his pale blue eyes flicked across me, as if trying to second guess whatever I was here for.
'Trying to impress your new lady friend?' I asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.
'Oh ha, ha,' he said drily, his scowl seeming to deepen.
'Come on through, Amy,' said Oscar brightly, resting a hand on my shoulder and steering me towards the living room. 'Can I get you anything before you start the interrogation?'
I shook my head as Patrick settled himself into the armchair by the window.
Oscar sighed, wiped a hand wearily across his stubble covered chin, and sat down on the sofa, indicating that I sit, too.
'So, what can I help you with?'
'Actually, it's Pat I wanted to talk to,' I said, casting a sideways glance towards the scowling young man. 'About…'
'Spit it out, Aim,' spat Pat, but something about his expression shifted as he caught Car's eye. His scowl seemed to soften slightly and his features contorted into a look that resembled concern rather than his usual indifference. 'What's up?'
I took a deep breath; this was going to a more difficult conversation than I'd anticipated.
'I wanted to ask about how you turned into a werewolf,' I said in a small voice, hastily looking towards a stray thread in the sofa.
Pat exhaled slowly, but otherwise we all remained silent.
I cautiously glanced upwards. Oscar was frowning over at his nephew, his dark brown eyes seeming to gleam slightly. Patrick's expression was gloomy. He ran a hand through his black curls, focusing on the edge of the coffee table sitting between us.
'I – I'm so sorry, Pat, I didn't–' I started babbling, suddenly feeling terrible. Why hadn't I just spoken to Dad? – surely he and Mum knew all the details.
Patrick, however, waved a dismissive hand at me, cutting me short. My eyes widened in alarm as I heard Oscar shifting in his own seat. I kept my eyes on Pat though, trying to figure out if he was annoyed at me or what.
He gulped; I saw his Adam's apple shift slightly before he looked back up at me.
'Is this about Scott or just idle curiosity?' His voice was slightly hoarser than normal, but I tried my best to ignore it for his sake.
'Merely speculative at the moment,' I said, frowning slightly.
'So it's about Scott then?' said Oscar, causing me to look towards him sharply.
I sighed, nodding though.
'I was eight,' said Patrick in a small voice, pulling my attention quickly towards him once more. His attention was now on his hands, which he was wringing in his lap. 'I was bored and decided to go out on a little adventure to the preserve because apparently there was a wolf there.' He gave a slightly mirthless chuckle. 'I wanted to be the boy who tamed the wolf, keep it as a pet. Then I wouldn't have been bored again.'
He paused for a moment, licking his lips. He seemed to wring his hands tighter around each other, making his knuckles burn slightly white.
'I tripped when I was in some little clearing though – sprained my ankle, actually. I remember crying,' he said, his voice sounding slightly distant now. 'Then a twig snapped. I jumped, tried to stop crying and stand up, but it was all too much. Next thing I knew there was a sharp pain in my side. I'd been bitten.
'Rich found me the next day. Apparently the bite in my side was fading, so much so that all they did was give me a plaster and send me home. I was grounded for a month after that. I sat in my room, scared of the shadows and thinking about how utterly unfair it all was.'
There were tears glistening in the corners of his eyes and I hastily turned my attention towards Oscar. It was only right to give him his privacy after I'd dragged this all back into the light.
'He'd been bitten by an Alpha,' Car explained in a small voice, slowly turning his attention away from his nephew. 'It's the only way someone who's not got the werewolf gene can become one. Course, as soon as I heard I went over to visit them. I looked at the bite, spoke with your mam and pieced together what had happened.'
He rubbed a hand across his stubble again, surveying me slightly.
'D'you think Scott's been bitten?'
'Well he's definitely got a bite mark, and he thought it was a wolf,' I said, a feeling of dread washing over me.
I'd never wanted anyone else to be pulled into this supernatural hell. From what I'd heard of Patrick's transformations from Mum, and all the information which I'd been bombarded with since the age of eight myself, I'd made a vow to protect those I cared about from it. Never in a million years had I expected mild mannered and moral compass Scott McCall to be dragged into it like this! In a way that I couldn't stop however hard I tried.
'The Alpha'll try to get him on side after the full moon, once he knows that he's turned,' said Patrick, his voice suddenly stronger than before.
I looked over to him quickly. He was sitting a little straighter in his seat, his eyes now tear free and his old scowl stuck on his face.
'How do we stop that then?' I asked, looking quickly between the duo, hoping desperately that I'd be able to at least keep Stiles and Lucy out of this all.
'Move around for years on end and hope it gives up,' said Pat coolly.
My jaw dropped. 'Surely there's another way.'
'If you've heard of one through your little Sabbaths I'd be–'
'They're not Sabbaths!' I said shrilly, but Patrick continued as if I'd not spoken.
'–I'd suggest you try – merely for the entertainment value.'
I glowered over at him, wanting to snap back at him but half knowing I'd feel terrible for it after he'd just bared his weaknesses with me through his little story.
I exhaled slowly, mentally counting to ten.
'Can't you help him?'
'And risk angering this Alpha?' asked Car, frowning slightly. 'Look, Aim, you know enough to be able to help him through this – if it is this of course. It might just be a bite, possibly a mountain lion.'
I felt irritation bubbling under the surface. How were they being so blasé about the whole situation?
'Is this about the body?' I asked suddenly, my curiosity about our move suddenly coming to the forefront of my mind.
'You – I – what?' spluttered Oscar, looking shocked as he swivelled his head so as to glance between me and Pat.
Things felt as though they were clicking together in my head. Things that seemed logically linked despite them having no proof. One day with Stiles and I was already determined to solve this case before his dad did!
'It's Derek Hale, isn't it?' I asked boldly.
'Derek Hale's back?' asked Pat, sounding genuinely shocked by the revelation.
'That's why we're back here, isn't it?' I asked, ignoring Patrick and focusing solely on Oscar. 'But why? I mean, he can't have been the one to bite Pat. But then–'
'That's quite enough, Amelia-Jane,' said Oscar waspishly, causing me to shrink back in my seat slightly.
His expression was darker than I'd ever seen it before. His eyebrows were nearly knitted together in a scowl that rivalled Patrick's. His cheeks were slightly alight with an irritated flush.
'Look, I am sorry if Scott has been bitten but… how did he get bitten anyway?' His tone had been a terrifying calm, but he added the last with a hint of curiosity that sounded more familiar to me.
I rubbed the back of my head awkwardly. I'd forgotten that we weren't meant to be in the preserve. The stern, adult-look from Oscar, however, made me certain that nothing but the truth would do here… or at least part of it.
'We found out about the body. We went investigating; Rich caught me and Stiles, but…' I paused, realising that at least one of us could get out of this without a shouting at; I carried on, pretending as if Lucy hadn't been there. 'But Scott had to run for it.'
Oscar sighed, rubbing his eyelids wearily. 'Look, I'm sure it'll all be fine. Just… just head home, Aim, I'm sure your mam'll have something to teach you that could help–'
I stood up quickly, wanting to steer clear of that subject. 'I'm sure I'll figure out a way of helping Scott,' I said hastily, before starting towards the door. 'Thank you.'
I strode out of the apartment before either of them could say anything else. My mind was reeling. Could Scott have really been bitten by an Alpha? Did Stiles really suspect the supernatural or was he just messing around 'cause Scott had no clue? Could I even keep Stiles out of this is he really did think there were supernatural roots in all this? In fact, did I really want to keep him out of it if his two best friends were a part of that world? This move had suddenly got a lot more complicated!
The following day I avoided the boys, not quite knowing how to deal with them now the threat of the supernatural taking over their lives was looming ever closer. I busied myself with work in the library, trying to hide myself in a corner so that I could avoid everyone. Luckily the boys were busy with lacrosse – though there had been a few texts which I avoided for as long as my willpower would allow.
Was it my fault that Scott had been dragged into this? Had the world I'd grown up in tainted the lives of my friend purely because I was back? And what about–
'Here you are,' said Lucy lightly, slipping into the seat beside me, closely followed by a blushing Allison and a smirking Lydia. 'I've been looking for you all over. Stiles said–'
'Did you hear?' Lydia cut across her, flipping her hair slightly over her shoulder and casting a dramatic glance towards Allison.
I raised an eyebrow, being glad for the conversation to move away from the others. 'Hear what?'
'Our little new girl's already set her sights on a boy!' Lydia said excitedly.
'I – it was just – I only agreed,' Allison spluttered, her blush deepening as she looked pleadingly towards Lucy.
'A certain Mr Scott McCall has swept our dear Allison off her feet. He was her knight in shining armour…' she paused, cast a sideways glance at a beaming Lydia, and changed her mind. 'OK, so more her shoulder to cry on in scrubs or whatever he wears at the clinic.'
'Something finally happened?' I asked, looking towards Allison how was fiddling idly with her hair.
'He just asked me to the party,' she said in a small voice, trying to sound casual about it. The gleam in her eyes and the smile lingering on her face, however, gave her happiness away.
'It starts off as "just asking" to the party and then…' Lydia cast a dramatic glance around our little group. 'Well,' she continued, settling back in her seat and digging out a few of her books, 'we all know what happens next.'
'Anyway,' I said, making a mental note to congratulate Scott on finally doing something rather than shooting puppy-eyes back at Allison's doe-eyes in classes, 'why're we all here.'
'It's a study period,' said Lydia, shrugging slightly as she opened her book.
What shocked me about Lydia Martin's notebook was that it was an ordered, colour coded note heaven. By the looks of things she'd filled most of the pages. There were little diagrams of the molecular formulas of certain solutions and mathematical equations that made me wonder what I'd missed in lessons.
'When did we do quadratic equation balancing?' I asked, pointing to the notes that Lydia was skipping over.
'We didn't,' said Lydia absently, poking my hand away from her book so as to get to what we were looking at, 'I just got bored.'
I gaped at her, noticing that Lucy was chuckling slightly.
As soon as the bell rang we stuffed our things in our bags before wandering towards the lacrosse field – I'd basically been dragged there against my will by an excited Lydia.
'Hey, hey, Aim!' came Stiles' voice before we'd reached the bleachers.
'We'll leave you to it,' I heard Lydia sing before I could pretend to have not heard Stiles. She quickly ushered the others off, Lucy shooting a wink my way before Stiles rested a hand on my shoulder.
'Scott might've been bitten by a wolf!'
I blinked at him, uncertain as to what to say. He motioned for me to follow him as he pulled his gloves on.
'And if he was then there are wolves here again! I mean, I have no idea what – Scott! Scott, wait up!' he said, noticing Scott wandering across the pitch and darting off after him.
My mind was reeling. If Stiles knew it was a wolf then surely it was only a slight jump to werewolf?
I shook my head firmly. No, Stiles wouldn't jump to that. Surely he was just joking yesterday.
The eliminations went by in a bit of a blur. Scott was on top form again, making shots that Stiles kept muttering were impossible. I was sat on the bench beside him, listening to his worries and watching Scott with bated breath. I didn't know a lot about lacrosse but I knew the shots Scott was making were impressive. Even Jackson looked a little taken aback. Coach, however, seemed to be thrilled with the apparently new attitude of Scott.
'This has got to be that bite,' mumbled Stiles as Coach began praising Scott.
'You what?' I said, looking around at him quickly. There was something serious about his expression that made my hackles rise.
'I know we were joking,' said Stiles, looking slightly shocked that I was there, 'but d'you think he might've been bitten by a werewolf?'
I tried to scoff at the idea, trying to push the worry aside, but my throat was dry.
'Can't have been,' I said, trying to keep a nervous waver out of my voice. 'I mean, it wasn't a full moon.'
Stiles seemed to deflate slightly. 'Well it definitely did something.'
'Anyway, have you been teasing him about Allison?' I asked, desperate to move the conversation away from dangerous waters. Despite all my worries I was glad to be with Stiles again, perhaps it would be better to protect him if I was closer…
'What?' asked Stiles, looking slightly baffled. He blinked a few times before a familiar smirk slipped easily onto his face. 'Oh, yeah. He hasn't shut up about it since first lesson. Are you and Teddy going to the party?'
I nodded. 'Yeah, some girl asked Teddy already – according to Mum his moody good looks and English accent have got all the girls pining over him,' I said, smirking at the mere memory of an irate Teddy last night at dinner.
Stiles chuckled. 'So is it only you that needs a lift then?'
'Na, Ted's refused to arrive with her – Mum tried telling him that pushing them away was only gonna make matters worse, but you know Teddy.'
Stiles nodded, grinning as a celebration appeared to be taking place on the pitch. 'I'll pick you both up when you're ready if you want.'
I nodded, but was distracted by the sound of applause behind us. I looked around at Lucy. She looked utterly dumbfounded but was clapping along with everyone else. Allison was looking affectionately at the pitch, clapping enthusiastically. There was a slightly calculating look behind Lydia's eyes, despite the bright smile as she applauded, too.
'What's going on?' I asked.
'Scott made first line,' Lucy said, not keeping the note of shock out of her voice though.
I shared a wide grin with Stiles, unable to get through the crowd to congratulate Scott.
'Let him know I say congratulations, will you?' I asked Stiles as he began to jog over to the others who were making their way back to the locker room.
'Will do!' he called over his shoulder. 'I'll tell you what I find out tomorrow, yeah?'
I forced a smile, nodding as Stiles got lost in the sea of players. Surely it wouldn't be that easy to find out much truth behind werewolves on the Internet, right?
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