Chapter 9: new friends and lacrosse tryouts.
It's weekend, a few days after Scott invite Isaac, Boyd, and Erica to sit with them at lunch. The last few days have been fun to Scott and his friends. He offered to help Isaac, Erica and Boyd to improve their marks. Lunchtime as being more lively since they get in his group and little by little the 3 seem to get more confident near Scott and the rest. Right know Scott, Cora, and Emily was sit in front of Derek who had a stunned face, and Talia who seemed curious.
"No! Absolutely No! won't happen" said Derek with a serious tone but a stunned face.
"why not?" asked Scott with disbelief on his face.
"because they are a bunch of stupid teenagers and I'm not even an Alpha" said Derek this time with a scowl on his face.
"Oh, come on. it's not like you were never a teenager. Besides, you will need a pack once you become an Alpha, and the Hale family needs allies, you heard Deucalion, they will come in the future, and I'm pretty sure that outside must be even things more dangerous than him" said Scott with a serious expression.
"Scott, listen to me. I won't be a babysitter for a bunch of teenagers, and I won't have my own pack, I'll stay with my family" said Derek with a dangerous growl coming from him. Scott seemed to get irritated like never before since he started to rub his temple.
"Derek, I understand how you feel about stay in the family, but Scott is right, we are not as strong as we used to be, and all of us almost die against the Alpha pack. We need to get stronger, we need more allies" said Cora with a serious expression.
"if we are not strong enough then we train to get stronger, if we need more betas then we make them, I don't understand why you are right with me separating from the family" said Derek with a defiance tone of voice to his sister.
"you are not even listening. We don't ask you to separate from the family, we want you to form your own pack in the future, and be an ally to our family" said Cora getting irritated by her brother.
"Honestly I don't understand why you don't see it. Just by having a second Alpha on our side we are already getting stronger, now imagine 2 packs against one. If the Alpha pack comes back, then we'll be facing 5 Alphas, 2 of them can combine into a bigger and stronger Alpha, and one of them, who by the way we don't even know how strong he is, apparently is strong enough to make other Alphas to follow him. 1 new Alpha and 3 new betas could be what we need to beat the Alpha pack" said Emily as a matter of fact. She has been replaying the whole fight against the Alpha pack in her head, she wasn't the only one, but since she heard Scott idea, she has been putting an extra effort to understand the whole point of his plan.
"we also need to think about the possibility that they get a new Alpha before they come here. I mean, it's not like we haven't fight some packs that came here trying to get the Hale territory. So it's highly probable that Deucalion will get more members to his pack" said Cora with a tired expression.
Derek seemed to start to analyze a little more their situation.
"I think they are right Derek. We do need more help, and you know the rules of our pack, we don't turn the ones who don't want to. For what Scott has told us, those kids are perfect to be turned into werewolves, if we get closer to them, we could offer them the bite when the right time comes" said Talia with a serious expression. She was already thinking in ways to deal with the Alpha pack, she, Matthew and Peter were actually trying to decide the best course of action. However, no one of them thought about making a new Alpha and a new pack to be their ally.
"Okay, I understand. A new pack is necessary, I don't like it, but it seems like is our only choice" said Derek a little reluctant.
"don't look at it as a new pack, but look at it as a branch of the Hale pack, instead of seeing it like the Hale pack getting smaller, look at it like the Hale pack is actually getting bigger since your pack will be an extension of the Hale pack" said Scott with a little smirk. Actually, the idea sounded good for both Derek and Talia. She has never seen it like it, a branch of her pack, instead of having just one big pack, they could have a group of packs that would all belong or be part of the Hale pack.
"sounds good. One moment... what about uncle Peter or Laura, wouldn't they be better options than me to become an Alpha?" asked Derek with curiosity. Talia gives a heavy sigh.
"I'm afraid that Laura is impossible as a choice since she must become the new Hale Alpha in case something happens to me, and Peter on the other hands wouldn't be a good option either, he is too unpredictable to give him that sort of power, it's already hard to keep him under control right now so imagine what would happen if he becomes an Alpha and forms his own pack" Talia loved her brother, but she knew just how hard to deal he could be. Also, Peter has been even more strange since the fire, so she was worried he would do something stupid and dangerous that could put their family at risk.
"fine" said Derek, he didn't want to discuss anymore, he just started to see a few papers that Scott handed to him with information about four kids.
"Hey Scott, you name 3 students of your generation. But here is the information of 4 of them" asked Derek with confusion. Emily and Cora were surprised since Scott never tell them about a fourth member. Then they saw who this person was and looked at Scott like he was insane.
"Jackson? Did you lose your mind? He is a complete douche, and he doesn't even like you, or anyone actually, he only likes himself" said Cora with a look of disbelief on her face.
"I can't believe you choose that jackass and you didn't tell us. Plus, he doesn't fit in any of the criteria that you gave us" said Emily also a little angry because Scott didn't tell them.
"look, I don't like the idea either. But we need him" said Scott with a tired tone.
"why? Why would we need him?" asked Cora. Emily and Derek were looking at Scott waiting for an answer.
"Okay, this might sound weird, but I think that Jackson would be really powerful. I know that he is not our kind of people, and we aren't in good terms with him, But he still fits the criteria somehow" said Scott, Cora, and Emily seemed like they didn't buy it.
"try again, because I'm pretty sure that Jackson is not a good person, he is not a loyal person and he doesn't want to improve himself and be better" said Cora in a demanding tone.
"except that he is, kind of. Jackson is certainly a selfish person, but once he lets you in, he is a very loyal friend, he might not seem like it but he does appreciate Danny's friendship. He does want to improve himself, even if it's for the wrong reasons. I bet that if he discovers that werewolves exist and what you can do, then he would want to become one no matter what, even with the danger of being hunt down by hunters. Of course, his overconfidence and selfishness might play against in this decision, also he probably will be more willing to be an Omega even if it's more dangerous for him, but he still could be a great addition to Derek's future pack. The main problem, for now, is that he won't listen to anything that we have to say, and he won't be nice to us from one day to another. We might need to wait until the situation calls for it" said Scott a little tired. He has a lot of other reasons to choose Jackson, but he couldn't explain them to the Hale family, especially since most of the reasons come from his previous life. The young Hales only looked at Scott trying to figure things out.
"Scott, are you sure that he would be a powerful ally?" asked Talia with curiosity.
"yes, it's like a feeling, I'm pretty sure that he could be a really powerful member of Derek's pack. Actually, of the four I choose, he probably will be the strongest. So, if Derek is able to dominate him, then he certainly will be his best offensive" said Scott with confidence, Talia smiled at the boy and then looked at her son.
"if you will become an Alpha, you will need to be prepared and learn how to do it correctly, and more important, how to face your pack members," said Talia putting her hand on Derek's head and softly rubbing his hair. Derek looked at her mother and then nod his head.
"I have an idea for that. Tomorrow we have training right, and also is the day you help me with the lacrosse practice, so I thought that maybe tomorrow we could bring everyone" said Scott with a smile. Cora and Emily already hear this idea and were a little reluctant about it, but it wasn't a bad idea, the main problem would be Derek's behavior.
"everyone? Like who?" asked Derek a with a confused expression.
"you know, Isaac, Erica and Boyd, I'll even bring Stiles to make things more natural. The objective with this is that you get to meet them and you need to try to get closer to them" Derek wanted to protest about Scott idea, but his mother interrupted.
"that's is not a bad idea. You could get to know them, don't stop being yourself, but at least show yourself as a more caring and happy person. This is also an opportunity to see for yourself if they have the potential to be a part of your pack" said Talia.
"fine, bring them to play and the training. But seriously, don't expect me to become a babysitter" said Derek with a serious voice and a scowl on his face. Scott only smiled and nodded.
The next day, hale territory.-
Scott, Stiles, Isaac, Erica, and Boyd were walking through the forest, heading to the Hale property.
"so, what are we doing here again?" asked Isaac with a serious expression while looking his surrounding.
"today is a training day," said Scott with a smile. Erica, Boyd, and Isaac seemed confused by that statement.
"every few days, Scott come to the Hale property to train in self-defense and also to practice lacrosse. He has been training how to fight for a few years now. The older hale siblings also help him with lacrosse practice" explain Stiles at seeing how confused the others seemed.
"today I want us to do something together. So I thought that we could play lacrosse a little, have a talk and get to know each other better" said Scott ahead of the group.
"I don't even know what to say about it" said Boyd with a serious expression.
"don't worry, Laura definitely will be happy to see more people there. She is like the greatest girl ever, aside from Lydia Martin of course, and she will go easy on you. The one I'm worried about is Derek" said Stiles with an excited expression that changes to a scowl. Scott only rolled his eyes at his best friend words. Boyd and Isaac only nod their heads, and Erica seemed to get a little uncomfortable at listening to Stiles talking about other girls.
"and who is this Derek again?" asked Isaac with some curiosity, in the few days they have spent with Scott, he as hear that name a lot.
"Oh, Derek is just..." when Scott was about to talk, he sensed something. Then someone falls from a tree straight to Scott direction. Scott quickly evades the attack.
Derek was now in front of Scott and Scott couldn't help but smile. Derek tried to kick Scott, Scott was able to dodge the attack and tried to kick Derek. Derek took Scott leg and tried to move him, but Scott quickly impulses his body and was able to use his other leg to hit Derek face making Derek stumble back and release him. Derek went again to hit Scott, he tried to punch him but Scott evade every hit, then Scott himself send two blows to Derek's face, Derek uses this chance to kick Scott in the chest and to make him step back, then Derek gives him two punches in the face. Scott was bleeding, he lunges against Derek and was able to knock him down, but Derek quickly gets on his feet and kick Scott again making him fall to the ground. Once Scott hit the ground, Derek got over him and started to punch Scott on his face, he gave him 3 quick punches, and just when he was about to punch Scott again, Scott was able to block the fourth hit and punch Derek 2 times before grabbing Derek's shirt and use his head to hit Derek's nose. Derek groans in pain and stumbles back. Scott impulse himself and get to his feet. Derek was about to get up when Scott jump a little and spin on the air before he kicks Derek's face.
"what the hell?" said Isaac while everyone looked in awe the fight between Scott and the other person.
"oh my god, what is happening?" said Erica freaking out a little.
"of course this would happen," said Stiles with a tired tone but apart from that, he seemed to be weirdly calm at the sight of his best friend fighting an older person.
"shouldn't we be going to help him or something?" said Isaac looking at Stiles. Stiles only shrug his shoulder before giving a heavy sigh. Isaac scowl at his reaction.
"Boyd, help me!" said Isaac looking at the big teenager. Truth is that Boyd was a little reluctant, he was big but he wasn't a fighter, anyway, he still nodded his head and started to walk behind Isaac who seemed pissed off.
"that won't be necessary" they hear a familiar voice, when they looked to their side, they saw Cora and Emily walking to their direction.
"are you not seeing what is happening?" asked Boyd with a little of concern and confusion, he has seen how overprotective the girls seem to be about Scott, so it didn't make sense that they were so calm looking at the fight.
"believe us, we see this kind of things all the time" said Emily with a little smile.
"they must be about to end, just wait here and watch" said Cora with a calm and confident tone. Boyd, Isaac, and Erica share a look of worry and confusion, but they just obey at the end.
Right now they already exchange a few blows, Scott, of course, was the one who looked worst since he can't heal. Derek seemed angry and he lunges against Scott tackle him down again, the only problem was that Scott was faster so he punches Derek bleeding nose again. Making Derek fall on his back again.
"seriously? Two times in my nose" said Derek in an irritated tone while holding his bleeding nose. Usually, he would heal in a matter of seconds, but Derek improves his control over his own powers so he was holding back his healing abilities as well as his strength.
"do you want me to punch you a third time?" said Scott with a big smile. Derek started to laugh at Scott comment and both were now sitting on the ground.
"that should be enough fighting training for today" said Derek while standing up followed by Scott who takes out his inhalator and use it.
"wow, dude, that was awesome! but you seriously get your ass kicked by the sour superman" said Stiles with a mocking grin on his face. Scott only rolled his eyes at his best friend comment. Stiles walked to them followed by the rest.
"sour superman?" asked Derek to Scott with a scowl.
"it's one of the many nicknames he as for you, apparently you are like a sour version of Superman" said Scott with a playful tone. Derek only nods and didn't mind it anymore.
"Scott, are you okay?" asked Erica with concern.
"yes, thanks for asking" said Scott with a big smile.
"what was that?" asked Isaac giving a glare to Derek before watching Scott.
"that was training. Scott has been training how to defend himself since a few years now" the one who answer was Derek, he had a calmer expression than usual, of course, the blood on his face and shirt didn't help much.
"training? Seriously? Look at him, you barely are injured but Scott looks like a mess" said Isaac with more anger than he wanted to show.
"no offense," said, Boyd, after he saw Scott expression at Isaac comment.
"guys, don't worry, I been doing this for a few years now and I've improved a lot" said Scott with a reassuring smile.
"yeah, because getting your ass kicked constantly is a great improvement" said Stiles with a little smirk.
"just for you to know, both of us were holding back right now, and last time I did beat Derek," said Scott with a grin full of confidence. Derek gives him a look with a scowl. And the 3 new members of Scott group were surprised to hear that Scott and Derek were holding back.
"Yeah, I seriously doubt that" said Stiles not believing that Scott beat Derek.
"you didn't beat me" said Derek still with a scowl on his face, Stiles on his side use his hand to signal Derek's words about him not being beat.
"Oh, but he did, don't you remember, you were on the ground and I was the one who saves your ass" said Cora with a smile that was mocking her brother and also showing how proud she felt.
"Oh please, that fight wasn't finished, and the only thing you did was push Scott to the ground, then got over him and both started to flirt like no one was looking" said Derek with a roll of his eyes. Cora on his side started to blush and her eyes wide open. Scott was trying to suppress his laugh at the memories of the events of that day and at Cora's reaction.
"we we... weren't flirting... and don't try to change the topic, you did lose to Scott" said Cora a little nervous at the beginning but then she was back to her confident self.
"speaking about changing the topic" said Stiles with a low voice directed to Isaac, Boyd, and Erica, who were kind of lost in everything that they were listening. Once they listen to Stiles words, they couldn't help to chuckle a little at Cora's behavior and Stiles comment.
"then, what do we do now?" asked Boyd after a few seconds of silence.
"I wonder if we should play a little of lacrosse or just talk for a while" said Scott out loud. He was only thinking what would be the best decision.
"umm... I can't play lacrosse" said Erica a little nervous.
"don't worry about that, usually we take turns and do only 2 vs 2 or 3 vs 3, so we'll be with you during the practice and we can talk" said Cora reassuring Erica with a pat on her shoulder. Erica smiled and nodded her head to Cora.
"let's see, we have Scott, Derek, and Stiles, Laura probably will come in a while, and we also have Isaac and Boyd. So, I suppose that I'll change place with whoever gets tired first" said Emily with a smile while walking to Erica, taking her hand, and started to walk to the place they usually practice.
"what do you say? do you want to play?" asked Scott starting to walk to the practice place.
Boyd and Isaac give each other a glance, then they smile and nod.
"I'm not physically strong, but I always wanted to try to play lacrosse" said Isaac while jogging to Scott direction.
"I suppose trying wouldn't hurt" said Boyd with a smile following Isaac. Derek only smiled at the comment.
"Believe me, it will hurt," said Derek following the group of teenagers.
Behind the Hale house, there was a little and improvised lacrosse field. Emily took Erica to some seats they already had prepared. Laura was sitting there, and once she notices the group of Scott she immediately stands up and went to greet them.
"Hello everyone, my name is Laura, I'm Cora and Derek holder sister," said Laura with a big smile on her face, Erica shakes Laura's hand a little nervous, while both Isaac and Boyd were out of words.
"nice to meet you, I'm Erica Reyes" said the girl with a nervous smile.
"nice to meet you too. Mm... it seems like your friends get lost in their minds" said Laura with a smile while Cora rolled her eyes at the behavior of the boys and Erica was trying to make them focus.
"Hey Laura, my team this time or opposite teams" said Scott taking a lacrosse stick from one of the seats. Laura walked to him and hug him from behind.
"mm... I don't know, pup. You kind of bring newbies to practice with us, so it would be unfair if the both of us are in the same team, and we know that Derek won't be in the same team as Stiles" said Laura with a big smile, Scott looked at her and also smiled, then he gives her a stick to prepare herself.
"Laura is right, I'm not playing in the same team that Stiles, he is a terrible player and can't even catch a ball" said Derek with a serious expression while taking his own stick.
"said the man who wasn't able to catch me last time we practice together" said Stiles in a low voice but Derek still was able to hear him.
"you mean after you fall and started to crawl to the goal" said Derek in a mock tone but with a scowl on his face.
"Derek, stop being a sour wolf for a minute. Stiles, you will be On my team, Isaac will come with me, that way every team will have a newbie" said Scott with a calm tone. Derek, however, didn't like the sour wolf comment so he glares at Scott.
"excellent idea, and excellent nickname, it sounds much better than sour superman" said Stiles while patting Scott back.
"sour superman?" asked Laura with curiosity.
"I'll explain later. Now, let's play" said Scott with a smile and then both teams reunite.
It could be considered a really good day. To Derek surprise he actually had a really good time, to be honest, everyone had a really good time. They played lacrosse for a long time, changing players continuously. The first going out was Isaac, he was fast but he wasn't accustomed to playing lacrosse so he gets tired rather quickly, Emily took his place. Then Boyd changes places with Cora. After a few minutes, Scott decided that he should stop playing for a while so he changes places with Boyd and Laura decided to change places with Isaac. The players were continuously changing from one team to the other, and almost at the end of the "practice" Scott and Laura were able to convince Erica to play a little. The most aggressive players had to sit while the rest played with Erica and help her to have a good time. The afternoon in the Hale property was full of laughs and conversation among all the people in the place. Thanks to that, Isaac, Boyd and Erica get closer to each other, while at the same time get closer to Scott and Stiles, surprisingly for most of them, the 3 future Betas get along with Derek pretty well, Derek and Boyd didn't talk much, but Derek could feel like he understood Boyd, and the fact that Boyd was really quiet and calm only make thing easier for him. Erica, on the other hand, was definitely a good girl, and Derek somehow felt a kind of protective instinct to her. finally, Isaac was the one who Derek find the easiest to communicate with, the only problem was that Isaac show an obvious preference for Scott, in the beginning, Isaac was even reluctant to speak to Derek due to the fight Derek had with Scott, but after Scott convince him to speak to Derek and try to know each other, things went up. After the practice, everyone went inside the Hale house to eat something, there were Talia and Matthew who talked with the kids and prepare them something to eat. They had a good talk and the big table was full of people smiling and laughing at almost anything that was said. Derek had to admit that he enjoys the day and the 3 teenagers that Scott choose were exactly the kind of people he would have chosen if he was the one recruiting.
A few days later, tryouts for the lacrosse team.-
Scott and Stiles were getting ready for the tryouts, right now a lot of students were on the field, and some students were even watching the tryouts from the bleachers. Scott could see Lydia and some friends of her and Jackson, also, he could see Erica and Boyd who just sit next to Cora and Emily that were there to watch and support Scott during the tryouts.
"oh my god, Lydia is watching, I need to do it alright, I need to do it like best than anyone else" said Stiles to himself freaking out a little, Scott only chuckle and rolled his eyes a little.
"dude, relax. Just play the best you can and don't lose focus" said Scott to his best friend. Stiles only nod and then he continues muttering things to himself.
"Scott!" Scott turn around and saw Isaac with a smile running to him.
"Isaac? What a surprise, what are you doing here?" asked Scott with a goofy smile.
"Well, remember that I said I always wanted to try lacrosse... I decided to try to get in the team" said Isaac a little nervous. Scott with a happy smile patted both Isaac's shoulders.
"that's great, that way the 3 of us could play as a team. Just a little advice, you are really fast in comparison with most of the students doing the tryouts, use that on your favor, I know that you get tired easily, but just try to use your speed to your advantage" said Scott with a reassuring smile. Isaac was happy for the support of Scott so he nods his head with a smile. Just a few seconds after, Isaac look to the side and saw Stiles going back and forth while muttering something to himself.
"what is wrong with him?" asked Isaac with a little scowl, Scott only chuckle.
"Lydia Martin is watching the tryouts, so he can't make any mistake because he wants to impress her" said Scott with a calm voice. Isaac looked in the direction that Scott indicate and the strawberry blonde was watching her boyfriend, she then looked in their direction. Scott notice this and he quickly hit Stiles shoulder making him wince in pain, then Scott indicates Stiles to look in the direction of the bleachers where Lydia was watching them. Both Stiles and Scott wave their hands to her and she replies with a short wave of hands.
"she notices me, oh my god... she notices me!" said Stiles with a big smile on his face.
"yes she did, now you need to focus on the tryouts if you want to impress her and get on her radar" said Scott with a reassuring smile and a gentle pat on Stiles' shoulder. Stiles now more motivated than ever, furiously nod his head and then walked to the place where everyone was gathering.
"he is definitely a weird person" said Isaac next to Scott. Scott only laughs a little before signaling Isaac to follow him.
The tryouts were divided into 5 parts, shots, defense, attack, goalie, and finally a short game. During the whole process, Scott and Jackson were leading the best positions in the coach's eyes. Scott scored 7 out of 10 shots, he was holding back of course, but still, he was only surpassed by Jackson with 8 out of 10 shots. During the defense part, Scott stopped every player that was trying to get a shot. Jackson was good at this, but he couldn't stop them all, especially when he was meant to stop Scott. During the attack practice, Scott made sure to do it just slightly better than the rest, actually, Jackson and Danny were the better in this part of the tryouts, followed by Scott, Stiles, and Isaac. When it was the turn of the goalie part, Scott easily catch 8 out of 10 shots, and he left 2 shots to pass him, Danny was the second who catch more shots followed by Stiles and only then Jackson. Then the big test came, a short game in which the coach would see the performance of every player on the field. In some moments he would stop the game just to tell something to the players and mock them, or to tell them what was wrong with them. Right now, Stiles was running straight to the goal, dodging every player that was trying to stop him.
"you can do it!" Stiles heard Lydia voice cheering him up. Stiles looked only for a moment to Lydia direction with a smile on his face and then 2 players knock him down.
"Stiles!" said Scott running to see his friend on the ground.
"what happened?" asked Stiles a little confused.
"you didn't pay attention and 2 players knock you down" said Isaac with a calm voice.
"Well, well... Bilinski, what kind of weird name is that? For a moment you could have made it, sadly it seems like you can't focus on the field" said the coach with a mocking smile and writing something on his pad. Stiles and Scott immediately tense up at the coach words.
"wait for a minute coach, Stiles can do this play, I know he can, he just lost focus for one moment, he can do it, just let him do it again" said Scott while taking off his helmet.
"you can't do that, we are in the middle of the tryouts, if he gets the chance to do it again then everyone will want a second chance" said Jackson with a serious expression getting close to Scott and next to the coach.
"Jackson is right. This is a practice game McCall, and the objective of this short match is to see which players are ready to be on the field. There's nothing like do over in a practice match, if he lost focus during a match then he is not useful" said the coach with a smirk but a serious tone of voice.
"ten bucks that Stiles can do the play, he will dodge every defense and will make the shot" said Scott with confidence, Jackson snort and the eyes of Isaac and Stiles wide open at Scott words. The rest of the players only started to laugh at Scott words.
"deal, Bilinski! Stand up and get in position. we are repeating the last play" said the coach with a loud voice surprising some of the players, especially Stiles and Jackson who looked pissed off.
"come on, you need to do the play" said Scott helping his best friend to stand up.
"Scott, are you nuts? there's no way that I'll do the play and make the shot" said Stiles with an expression of concern on his face. He was terrifying with the idea of repeating the same play and fail, again.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but he's right, there's no way he can do it" said Isaac from behind Scott. Scott only smiled and started to move Stiles body with a soft pat on his back.
"listen to me, Lydia was cheering you up, that's a good sign, that means you are finally on her radar, now you need to do a great play to impress her. Stiles, don't mess this up" said Scott with a reassuring smile.
"I'll try" said Stiles with a heavy sigh, he wanted to impress Lydia but the play was hard the first time, now the other players would go even harder on him.
"just remember, if you were able to play against Cora, Emily and Laura, and Derek who rarely holds back, then you can against this students" said Scott giving the last push to Stiles to take his stance.
"BILINSKI! we don't have all day, speed up" said the coach with a loud voice. Stiles repeat the same play and this time he only focus on the play, still, he could hear Lydia cheering him up again. He was so happy that when he scored he yelled in victory and give Lydia a kind of signal to thank her for the cheers. Lydia didn't mind it, but she would still not give her full attention to Stiles, she wanted him to try to go for her. During the rest of the match, people from the grandstands could be heard cheering their friends and getting excited by some of the plays. Finally, the tryouts get to an end and the players would be called.