Melissa McCall tries - she tries very hard - to not stifle Ares. She knows, for the most part, what her niece went through with her stepmother, and she knows Ares is a big girl that can take care of herself. She's grown from the hollow-eyed girl that appeared at her doorstep one summer morning. She laughs, and jokes with the boys, and the first time Ares had finally looked at Melissa and carried a conversation without the distrust and warriness that came with years of being torn down, Melissa knew she could never afford to lose that trust her niece put in her.

And so Melissa likes to take a step back from her and let her have her space. Lets her have her two jobs, lets her have her bedroom door shut, lets her drive Scott around, lets her hang out with that Hale boy who seems so obviously smitten with her.

Melissa lets Ares have her freedom. So when Ares doesn't answer her phone the first time, Melissa didn't worry. It might just be off, she had thought. I'll see her at the game.

Ares doesn't show up to the game. And then Scott's girlfriend, Allison, walks up and lets Melissa know Ares was over earlier and said she would be at the game after getting something. That had been hours ago.

Melissa started to worry then.

"Ares, mija," she says into her phone, trying and failing to keep from tapping her fingers against her arm nervously. "You're not in trouble and everyone is fine, but please call me back. Or text me. Just… just get in contact."

She ends the voicemail before she could say anything that would worry her niece. She'd gotten better since coming to live with them, but the anxiety of getting in trouble still came back to Ares sometimes. It had especially flared up after the incident at the school last Wednesday.

Melissa chews her lip anxiously as she glances around the stands, hoping against hope she'd catch sight of a familiar sweatshirt. Her gaze falls on Stiles, standing on the sidelines. He seems to do the same - scanning the crowd for someone. He catches her looking at him, and adopts a lopsided smile and waves in a way that Melissa has since come to realize he was hiding something. Before she could move down the stands to question him - he always seemed to be in Ares' business - the coach called him, and into the game Stiles went.

Melissa sighs in irritation before glancing down at her still phone.

Come on, Ares.

It isn't until the game is over - after Jackson has given Scott only 72 hours to get him the bite or he'd tell Allison, after Scott overhears the Argent's consider Jackson as the second beta, after timid Isaac Lahey, of all people, made the winning shot - that Scott realizes he never saw Ares in the stands.

He realizes this, and dread fills the pit of his stomach. He tries to recall as he's pushed and jostled into the locker rooms if he had heard the Argents mention her. Stiles had said they would probably think she was the second beta since she stayed with Derek so much, and Scott had- Scott had sent her to their home. And he hadn't heard from her since she confirmed that the locket didn't have any useful information.

Panic welled in his chest. Stiles. He needed to find Stiles. He had probably talked to Ares since she left the Argents. Or Allison! She must have seen Ares leave. If she left -

"Scott."

He blinks, and his anxiety dissipates as he takes in the girl standing in front of him. Allison smiles up at him, and god, he loves her smile. How it gives her dimples and reaches her eyes. All around them, sweaty players chant statestatestate. It falls in the background, though, as she leans forward and kisses him. It's quick, and over before he wants it to be, but he'll take anything from Allison.

"You were pretty amazing out there," she compliments, and he smiles, answering without thinking.

"You too." She draws her head back with a confused smile, and he realizes what he said. "That… that's not what I meant."

"Oh, no, I did some awesome cheering, you can thank me." Scott relaxes as she gives him an out to his blunder. She catches his hand and swings it between them. "Ares came over. And Lydia. We ate ice cream and then she left pretty quick. She seemed… worried." She glances around. "I didn't see her here."

"She left your house?" Scott asks, remembering just why he had wanted to find Allison. "You saw her leave?"

Allison frowns at his anxious tone. "She wouldn't let me walk her out, but yeah, I saw her leave from the stairs." She pauses. "Is she okay?"

Scott flounders, because honestly, he doesn't know. He hopes she is. She promised to come to the game, but she hadn't, and it takes a lot to get her to break a promise like that. She needs to be okay. He can't do this werewolf thing without her. Allison might be his anchor, but Ares? His older cousin, always watching his back, leading him in the right direction, constantly getting him and Stiles out of trouble?

She's his Alpha.

"State! State! State! State!" Greenberg chants, slipping in between Allison and Scott, forcing them to drop hands. Scott levels him with a glare - and if he's tempted to growl and flash his eyes at him, well, Ares would be proud that he doesn't. Greenberg realizes he made a mistake, eyes going wide before he slips back out, his chant never wavering. Allison is gone.

Scott looks to the door, where she's being ushered out by her father. Chris doesn't spare Scott a glance, not until Allison calls out, "Let me know when you find Ares, okay?"

Chris stops short, his eyes snapping to Scott. Scott, for what it's worth, holds his gaze, lifting his head to show he wouldn't back down. The interaction ends as quickly as it begins, and then they're gone.

"Your cousin missing, McCall?" Scott feels a growl catch in his throat as Jackson stops in front of him. "Shame. She's hot." Scott makes to shove at Jackson, who holds his hands up in defense, before realization dawns in his eyes.

Scott knows this is going to be bad.

"Wait… is she… She's one too, isn't she?" Jackson lets out a laugh, almost manic in nature. Scott draws back in alarm. "No wonder she's always with Derek Hale! God, that makes so much sense!"

"She isn't a w-" Scott catches himself before he can say it out loud. He lowers his voice, but it still comes out an aggressive growl. "She isn't like us," he snaps. "She's human. Leave her out of it."

"Seems to me like she's already a part of it." Jackson tilts his head to the side. "You know what, McCall?" Jackson reaches out and pats Scott's arm good-naturedly. "I decided I won't tell the Argents about you." Scott stares at him, any hope he might have had immediately snuffed out by Jackson's next words. "I'll tell them your pretty cousin is. And if anything happens to her because of it, well, that's on you, now isn't it?"

"Jackson-"

"Three days. Should be enough to get me what I want. And to keep your cousin safe. Human or not."

Scott thought he knew what bloodlust was. But what he had felt before on Wednesday night, that hadn't been his own. This. This raging feeling in the pit of his stomach, the flashes of red in his vision, the familiar ache in his fingertips and jaw, this is all his.

Jackson gives him a smirk before turning to join the rest of the team in the locker room.

"Scott, whoa, watch the eyes, man, what's wrong?"

Stiles appears, seemingly out of nowhere, and thumps a hand on Scott's shoulder, pulling his attention away from Jackson's retreating form.

"He says I have to get him the bite in three days or he'll tell the Argents Ares is a werewolf." Stiles draws back in shock.

"She's not though!"

"I know!" Scott snaps. "I told him that. He doesn't care." He rubs his face with a hand before looking at Stiles. "Have you seen Ares?"

There's a stutter in Stiles' heart. "See-seen her?" He swallows. "Nah. She didn't show up?"

Scott narrows his eyes at his friend. "You know she didn't. Do you know where she is? Last Allison saw her she was leaving their house."

Stiles shrugs, and Scott's been his friend long enough to know he's not saying something. "I'm sure she's fine, dude. She's probably with Derek, and if what you told me about Monday is true, I don't think he'd let anything happen to her."

Stiles had a point. But last Scott knew, Ares and Derek were being… weird around each other. He didn't know if they made up yet - if anyone asked him, he would have said Derek didn't deserve Ares' forgiveness for making her cry, the asshole. But if they had (or even if they hadn't yet) and she was with him, then yeah. Stiles had a point. Derek wouldn't let anything happen to Ares anymore than Scott would anything happen to Allison.

"Come on, man, hit the showers. You stink."

There's still something off in Stiles' tone, but Scott leaves it.

Stiles is one of the first to finish getting ready after the game. "Hey, I'll catch you outside, alright?" he says, jerking his head back to the exit of the locker room. Scott nods absent mindedly. After he leaves, one by one the rest of his teammates follow his lead. Danny is one of the last to leave.

"Hey, McCall. Apology accepted."

Scott looks at him in confusion. "I didn't apologize."

Danny smiles knowingly. "Everytime you got the ball, you passed it to me."

"Every time I passed it to you, you made a score."

"Apology accepted," Danny reaffirms with a smile before heading out. Scott smiles, having done at least one thing right recently.

He basks in his victory, letting his mind wander away from the Jackson situation.

The lights go off.

"Danny?" Scott calls cautiously, looking around. He doesn't hear anyone else in there with him, and the room smells too much like postgame teenager for him to catch any other scents. Unease creeps up on him as he makes his way across the room to the light switch. He flicks it, but nothing happens. He swallows thickly, looking around. Movement out of the corner of his eye catches his attention, and he turns to see a ball roll out from the shower stalls. He approaches cautiously, scooping up the ball as he goes. He turns the corner and there-

Derek Hale.

Scott throws his arms up in annoyance. "Dude, what the hell are you doing here?" He demands, walking up. Derek doesn't move, and Scott notices how he favors his left side. He shakes it off, knowing that if anyone knows where Ares went after seeing Allison, it would be Derek. "Where's Ares? She was supposed to come to the game."

Even in the dark, Scott notices how Derek's expression warps, a combination of shame and rage, and he looks past Scott.

Scott blinks in surprise, turning, hoping maybe he'd see his cousin behind him. He hadn't heard anyone come in.

A man steps out, holding a crosse stick in his hand. "She wasn't feeling very well," Peter Hale says flippantly.

Terror - and shock and rage - flood Scott. "It's you," he says, voice catching in his throat. Then, Peter's words register, and Scott snarls, taking a step forward. "What did you do to Ares?"

Peter looks up, annoyance flashing in his eyes. "She's fine. Derek took her home, didn't you, Derek?"

Scott whirls on Derek. "You're with him?! What did you do to Ares?!" Scott feels his claws come out. "She trusted you-"

"She's safe, Scott," Derek says, the hint of a snarl in his voice. As if the fact Scott would ever believe Derek could hurt Ares was the worst thing he could ever do. "I'm protecting her."

"We're protecting her," Peter cuts in, and Scott turns back to look at him. "But I need your help to resolve a little… conflict of mine."

Scott narrows his eyes at him. "I am not helping you kill people."

"Well I'm not trying to kill all of them." Peter shrugs. "Just the responsible ones. That doesn't have to include…" he looks past Scott to Derek.

"Allison."

"Are you kidding me?" Scott shouts, and Derek gives a barely there wince at how he borrows Ares expression. "It's not enough he killed your sister?"

Derek's face stays neutral. "That was a mistake."

"What?" Scott's voice reaches an octave he wasn't quite sure he was capable of reaching.

"Scott," Peter says, regaining the boy's attention. "I think you're getting the wrong impression of us." He tilts his head to the side. "We really just want to help you reach your full potential."

"By killing my friends and family."

"Sometimes the people closest to you can be the ones holding you back the most," Peter says softly.

Scott glares at Peter, the weight of his words sinking in. "If holding me back keeps me from becoming a psychotic nutjob like you, I'm okay with that."

Peter's soft expression never wavers as he walks up to Scott. The boy takes a step back, glancing back at Derek, who offers no help. And if what he said about protecting Ares - if turning on Scott is the only way he has to keep her safe - Scott can't blame him.

After all, he'd do the same to him for Allison.

"Maybe," Peter says, holding up a hand and watching with a tint of unhinged delight as his claws grew, "you just need a little help to see it from my perspective."

And he lashes out, digging his claws into the back of Scott's neck.

As soon as Scott gets home, he all but runs to the stairs to Ares' room.

His mom had asked on the drive home if he had heard from her, and he sensed her anxiety. He wasn't the only one who noticed Ares' absence. He told her that she had told him she wasn't feeling well, and stayed home. He prayed she was home. Peter said Derek took her home, but there was still a sense of anxiety. After seeing what Peter had gone through - the physical and emotional pain of the fire - Scott knows he can't trust anything the alpha says.

But he hears Ares' heart beat before he even reaches her room, and he lets out a relieved sigh before pushing the door open.

She's on the bed, in a deep sleep. Scott walks up, quiet as to not wake her. She doesn't seem hurt, and Derek had taken care to cover her and make her comfortable. Scott grabs her desk chair and drags it by her bed, dropping into it. He doesn't care that Peter promised her protection. He would protect her, at least for this night. Slouching down, he reached into his hoody pocket for his phone, and frowns at the feeling of a paper in there. He pulls it out, unfolding it, and reads a note in unfamiliar handwriting.

This is the only way we can kill him. She can't know. Delete the messages on her phone.
-D

Scott stared at it. God, he hated Derek right now. Hated.

But.

But he was doing this to protect Ares. To get rid of Peter. And if he got rid of Peter, then he'd be safe to everyone, Allison included. Scott balls the note in his hand, eyeing Ares' phone where it sat on her night stand. What messages?

He reaches for the phone, absentmindedly tossing the note at her wastebasket. He doesn't notice how it falls just past it, hidden half beneath her desk.

Okay, so a short chapter, but I felt it was important to get Scott's reaction to all this. Not to worry though, we'll be back to Ares next chapter. Thank you to everyone who left reviews - I really appreciate them. Thank you to the new fav/followers! I'm glad you're enjoying the story! I can't promise quick updates, but I'll try my best to get the next out soon.

Stay schway, my dudes!