The whistle blew, and Scott was off like a shot, the ball in his stick. Dodging defender, he spun and whipped a shot, but the goalie pulled a terrific save. Scott blew out his breath in frustration. They were one of the conference's top teams, but most of their wins had come against inferior competition. Davenport Prep was the consummate top team in the district and they were showing it tonight.

His thoughts were interrupted by the furious yelling of Coach Finstock. "McCall! If you're gonna mope like your girlfriend dumped you, then sit your ass down and mope on the bench!"

Kira tapped him on the elbow. "Um, Coach? He didn't get dumped. We're still dating." Stile shot her a look. She suddenly felt very stupid.

Apparently Finstock did too. "Shut up Yukimara! Get on the field for Greenberg! Wait, you two date? How on earth did McCall manage to scoop you?" The referee whistle blew and Kira gratefully ran onto the field, leaving Finstock looking confused.

"Coach, I'm totally with you on this one," Stiles added helpfully. Finstock glared.

"Shut your mouth Stilinski, or I'll fail you in Econ. Oh that's right, you're probably already failing."

Stiles clammed up, and Finstock returned his attention back to the field, where Davenport had just scored. The coach kicked at the ground. "Dammit! I'm failing you if we lose, Stilinski!"

…

Xavier sat on the bleachers and tried not to roll his eyes at Finstock's tantrum. He had invited Cora to come to the game with him, but she had smirked and refused, citing that she didn't want to spend an evening cheering for "stupid teenagers." Xavier had pointed out that he was in their grade, but she had dismissed his words. Come to think of it she was a lot like Finstock, without all the volume. So she had stayed in the house with Chris.

They had spoken to Derek and he agreed to allow Cora to remain temporarily with the hunters, if anything to keep her away from the Calaveras.

So instead, he found himself next to Malia. Excluding the obvious derision, Malia was just as disinterested in the game as Cora would have been. Truly a Hale indeed. Xavier popped her a question, if anything, just out of curiosity. "Malia, do you like basketball?"

Malia raised her head from the math textbook she had her head buried in, a red highlighter in her mouth. Spitting it into her open book. "Yeah. Best sport in the world. LeBron for life. And I don't even understand lacrosse. The hitting is sometimes cool."

Xavier tried to hold in the scoff he felt coming up, but he only ended up choking. "LeBron…cute," he gasped out. Malia looked offended. "I was just curious. But I don't like Bron."

Malia sneered. "So you're a Lakers fan."

Xavier shook his head no. "Not important. But I'm not a Lakers boy. I said I was curious."

Malia dropped it. "So what's the score?"

"Can you read it?"

Malia scowled. "Just because I'm bad at math doesn't mean I can't read numbers."

Xavier faked a laugh. "Could've fooled me. Or maybe all that red highlighting is giving you away. Head's up. Your boyfriend got subbed in."

Malia raised her head to watch Stiles run onto the field, then run back off of it to get his helmet, which he had forgotten on the bench. Finstock was fuming, but Stiles was still a much better player than Greenberg.

…

Despite Scott's reluctance to wolf out, Isaac and Kira combined to score four goals and Stiles tripped in front of the opposing goalie, scoring the game-winner when the ball rolled into the net. The bleachers roared, and even Xavier clapped.

Finstock was bounding up and down. "That's my boy! That's my son! Perfect execution of the game plan!" He ran onto the field, both arms held to the sky. "The bigger they are, the bigger they are!"

"What? Did something happen?" Malia asked. Xavier pretended not to hear.

…

Scott, Isaac, Kira, and Stiles found Xavier lounging in the parking lot after they had changed out of their gear. "Yo! Congrats guys!" Xavier greeted them them with a huge grin. He slapped palms with Scott, Stiles and Isaac and gave Kira a big hug.

Scott grinned back. "Thanks dude. So what's up?"

Xavier was careful to make no mention of Calavera or her intention to target Derek. "Not much. Plans?"

Isaac shrugged his shoulders. "There's an after party celebrating the win. I think it's at Danny's place.

Stiles grinned, smacking Xavier in the chest. "Danny digs me." Xavier rolled his eyes. "He also throws the best parties."

Before Xavier could reply, Stile's face paled. "Crap."

The group turned around. Four guys were approaching them, all from the Davenport Prep lacrosse team. "Hey! This ain't over. We'll see you in the district tourney, and ya'll are dead meat."

Scott held his hands up in a gesture of peace. "Hey guys, it was just a game. You guys played really good. Calm down, and we'll see you later."

The leader of the group shoved Scott hard, catching the alpha by surprise. Scott stumbled back, almost tripping. The Davenport Prep guy laughed. He was a muscular one, with dark brown hair and almost as tall as Isaac. He wore a letterman jacket and brand-new jeans. The other three boys were dressed the same way. They were seniors, by the looks of it.

Another boy, this one more slender, with a head full of spiked blonde hair stepped forward. He smelled strongly of Axe body spray and the smell of it was making both Scott and Isaac gag. Negative perk of being a werewolf. He sneered at them, sticking his chin out at them. "We know all about the party at your queerbag teammate's house. Don't worry, we'll see you all soon enough." He flicked his eyebrows tauntingly at Scott while his three teammates threw back their heads, laughing uproariously.

Sties could feel the anger bubbling. Everyone liked Danny. He saw Isaac's face contort and he began to step forward. Xavier was faster. His hand lashed out, fingers straight, palm up. He thrust his hand right into the bulging adam's apple of the leader.

The bigger boy dropped like a stone, landing on three while his other hand reached up to massage his throat. He stayed down, coughing like he was sick. The other three boys were stunned for a few seconds. Two of them recovered and reached for Xavier.

The hunter retreated but Isaac stepped forward to defend him. He shoved one guy to the ground and grabbed the spiky-haired guy by his jacket. He raised his fist as if to punch him, his face a mask of fury. "If I see you at the party, I will break you in half." He let go of the boy and pushed him away, back towards where the visiting team's bus was. "Now get outta here with your loser team."

The four boys made a hasty retreat, glancing back over their shoulders to see if Isaac was following them. Isaac didn't move, but neither did his death stare. "What a bunch of punk-asses."

Xavier cracked his neck. "Hey, now you'll win your playoff game with them. Just give the ball to Isaac all day."

They all laughed. Scott and Kira then climbed into Stiles' jeep, along with Malia. Xavier caught Isaac's arm when he attempted to follow. "Ride with me."

…

"That's crazy," Isaac said for at least the fifth time. "So there's basically like, a hit list with Derek's name on it."

"Well, Derek is the hit list," Xavier corrected. "But yeah, and now some pretty dangerous guys are coming after him."

As Xavier pulled up to Danny's house, he took stock of the situation. Danny had a really nice house; around the same size of Chris Argent's. There were some strobe lights, pounding music, and a lot of teenagers. He turned to Isaac, who was still looking at his seriously. "Before we go get boozed, tell me something. Why did you tell me all that? Especially since you and Chris agreed to keep it from Scott."

Xavier shrugged. "I trust you. And I know you won't tell anyone. Its called reliability, Isaac."

"What are you going to do, when you find them?"

Xavier had opened the car door but after hearing Isaac's question, he re-shut it. He regarded his new friend. "I'm going to kill them."

"What about the code?"

Another shrug. "Do I look like an Argent? C'mon, I've never been to a school party before."

Isaac sighed and followed the Chinese hunter, getting out of the passenger side and shutting the car door. "Its nothing special," he yelled over the pounding bass. "Just don't get a girl pregnant."

He didn't think Xavier heard him, but it was probably a safe bet that the guy wasn't going to let that happen.

…

Xavier stepped into the house, and he was momentarily stunned by the sheer amount of activity happening. Students were throwing a football indoors. Girls were grinding on each other, most of them wearing revealing swimwear and some even dancing on tables. The air was thick wit the smell of chips and booze.

Isaac had disappeared. He must be in the back. Xavier waded through the mostly drunk crowd to the back door. The backyard was bigger, but not much less crowded. There was another football game being played, and guys were tackling each other. Danny had an in-ground pool and there were guys and girls already swimming, or making out. He though he saw a chicken fight tournament going on.

"Sup bro?" Danny greeted Xavier with a handshake and a hug. He liked Danny; he was one of the smartest classmates he had and he was mature and tech-savvy. "You digging this thing?"

Xavier screwed a smile on his face, though in reality, he was a little out of his element. "Yeah. Yeah, man, its pretty awesome. I didn't know you had a pool."

Danny grinned at him. "Parents had it installed last summer. They're in Europe right now. You want a drink? Or something else?"

Xavier's eyes wandered over the half-dozen kegs neatly arranged in a table near the pool. "I'll pass for the first hour, dawg. I'll talk to you later, alright?" But just talk.

Danny slapped his back, winking at him. "Totally dude. Enjoy the party!" He went inside to join in the dancing. Danny had to know he had just been rejected; he was just too smooth and polite to make it obvious.

Thank god for guys like him,Xavier thought. Humanity has hope after all. "Thanks, I'll try," he murmured after Danny. He really was tempted to leave on the spot. He could relax with Chris, or watch something with Cora. Or do something with Cora.

…

For having been so disconnected from human society for the majority of her life, Malia was a pretty good dancer. Stiles had hoped to just get through the night, drink, maybe relax a bit. Not a chance. His aggressive Were-Coyote had hauled him into the living room and grinded with him for so long, he began to wonder if he was going numb.

Danny clearly liked electronic; the party soundtrack was nearly exclusive to the genre. The energy of the music, coupled with the power of booze and marijuana seemed to influence the crowd of teenagers. They danced with reckless abandon, laughing and screaming. Malia was fitting right in. Stiles finally pulled himself away from his girlfriend and staggered outside, where he collapsed on the backyard lawn, cooling off in the grass and staring into the sky. There were so many stars, but the moon was notably absent. It was funny; if his friends weren't werewolves, there was no way he would have ever given something like the moon so much thought.

He saw Malia emerge from the house, but when she saw him, she merely waved and smiled. She then turned and went back into the house. That. That was why he loved her. She wasn't needy, just loyal.

"Rough night?" Stiles twisted his head to see Isaac sit down next to him. He welcomed the werewolf's presence. When Isaac had apologized to him for his previous behavior, the two had talked everything out. It was at the point where Stiles didn't think twice about Isaac being his friend.

Stiles forced a laugh. "Yeah. Malia dances like she fights."

Isaac's mouth formed an oh. "Perks of being single." His face suddenly turned into one of horror. "Dude, I am so sorry. Fuck!"

Stiles quickly moved to assuage his friend. "Don't worry about it dude. You're fine. We should remember her, not forget her." Isaac flopped onto the grass a few feet away, nodding his head in relief and agreement.

Isaac jerked his head up. "Stiles, its Xavier." Stiles looked up and saw the hunter shuffling away from the house, his phone held to his ear. The guy was in a hurry, and he was animated.

"Isaac, what's he saying? Who's he talking to?"

Isaac looked at him strange. "Not our business man."

Stiles leaned over and hissed into Isaac's ear. "I don't care, dude. Whatever's going on over there, it's important. I want to know."

Isaac sighed, but he closed his eyes, trying to pick out Xavier's voice. A few moments later, Xavier took the phone from his ear. He pounded to the screen for a few seconds, then turned and hurried into the house. Moments later, Isaac's phone vibrated.

The tall boy looked down to check his device. He read it out loud. "Something came up. No big deal. Sorry man, you'll need another ride." Isaac shook his head. He knew why Xavier had left, but he remembered not to mention anything aloud, not with Stiles within earshot.

Stiles was thinking. "Brief texter," he mused. "But you're right. I'm just naturally curious." He rose to his feet, turning to head back to the house. "Gotta go back in and find my girlfriend."

…

Xavier yanked the transmission stick and his car reacted accordingly, roaring off away into the night. He wasn't upset about leaving the party behind him; it wasn't his scene.

Chris had called him, which had encouraged him to leave Danny's house. The older hunter had found something; transit bus records had revealed the departure of four Latino men from an airport in Dallas. Chris believed the airport was merely a cover; the men were only there because of the bus station. The airport was an extra precaution to throw off any potential monitors.

Xavier pressed harder on the gas petal, accelerating his car. He was excited. Something was about to go down.