Seventeen year old Sadie McCall had been making a lot of bad choices during the last half of her senior year of high school.
She'd been fired from her part-time job at the Human Bean coffee shop after a customer had tried to sexually harass her. She retaliated in a very calm and totally sane way of throwing a hot cup of coffee through the drive thru window and into their car.
Then she sold her used car that had been a gift from her Dad to both her and Scott after their Father called to wish her Happy 18th Birthday six months too early, so now she and Scott both had zero car to use.
Her Mother would say her worst choice so far would be deferring her acceptance to UCLA. She'd received a partial scholarship for swimming and another one that would have covered the remainder for her grades. Unfortunately neither of those would be waiting for her if and when she decided to finally attend.
Sadie would like to think it all stemmed from Matt breaking up with her over Christmas break. After nearly a year of dating and almost as long with him hitting her, something in her snapped and she'd had enough. She'd given Matt a solid black eye and the next day, he'd broken up with her, spreading vicious lies on social media. Even with Lydia and Jackson refuting his claims around school, everyone looked at her differently. She went from being on top of the high school food chain to barely hanging on with Lydia as her lifeline.
That is what Sadie was using to justify her current bad choice: flirting with her younger brother's best friend. Sadie had known Stiles had wavered back and forth on crushes between herself and Lydia Martin for years. She was lonely and it felt nice to be fawned over again, especially with how most of the boys at school treated her after returning from back. Stiles never mentioned it or even hinted like he'd heard any of the rumors. He knew them of course, but put zero stock in what he'd heard. He was too nice of a guy. And nice was what Sadie was looking for right now.
Which is what led her to sitting in the passenger seat of Stiles' Jeep as he drove her around Beacon Hills at five am on a Saturday morning. When Stiles had called her asking her for help finding Scott, she'd thought it was the perfect opportunity to make her move. They'd maybe make out a little, Sadie would get a confidence boost and at some point they'd find Scott. Sadie's night did not go as planned. That had been hours ago, including one tank refill and a stop for curly fries to be specific.
She sighed heavily, her head turning lazily from staring out the passenger window to looking at Stiles, "Tell me again. How do we know Scott's a werewolf?"
Stiles gripped the steering wheel in annoyance before casting a glance at one of the objects of his unreturned affection, "To start? He was bitten by a wolf almost two weeks ago. The bite is completely gone. You've seen him at lacrosse practices lately right? And according to my deep dive on Google-"
"Are you sure it's not just drugs? Are you on drugs?" Sadie asked, raising an eyebrow at the boy beside her.
Stiles gaped at her, blurting out, "Do I look like I'm on drugs?"
Both of her eyebrows raised that time and Stiles shook his head at her, "Not that kind! If you don't believe me, why are you still out looking for him with me?" he snapped at her.
It was a valid question and Sadie hesitated a moment before answering. "Because you don't seem like the kind of guy to lie about something like this. You're too nice. You wouldn't lie when it comes to Scott's safety."
"Too nice? I'm too nice," Stiles muttered to himself in frustration, turning back into the entrance for the Preserve. It had been a few hours since they'd done the several mile loop of road that ran through it.
"There's nothing wrong with nice Stiles. Sometimes nice is just what a girl needs," Sadie reassured him, giving him a sly grin, putting her left hand on his shoulder with a squeeze.
It turned out to be another one of Sadie's bad choices and Stiles nearly jumped out of his skin, veering the Jeep nearly into a tree.
"Jesus! Sadie, you can't just-" he took a deep breath in through his nose as Sadie withdrew her hand, bracing it on the dashboard as Stiles swerved back onto the main road. Just up ahead Sadie could see someone walking. She leaned forward in her seat, squinting at the figure in the early morning light just as Stiles spotted him.
"Scott! That's Scott!"
"Why is he shirtless?" Sadie wondered, looking behind her into the backseat for anything Scott could use to cover up with.
It was mid January and freezing. Seeing the worried look on her brother's face as he turned to the approaching Jeep kicked her into big sister overdrive as she leapt from the barely stopped Jeep, pulling Scott to her in a tight hug. His skin was ice cold and he was shivering.
"Scott! What the fuck!" she admonished as they both climbed into the Jeep, Sadie now taking the backseat.
She found a gray suit jacket on the seat beside her and she flung it over Scott's shoulders, rubbing them to add warmth. Scott looked absolutely exhausted, but confused at Sadie's presence.
He looked at Stiles in shock, "Dude! What is she doing here?"
Stiles wasn't having it, "After you disappeared from the party I didn't know what to do! I called her for help, so sorry I was concerned about finding your ass!"
Scott's eyes widened, remembering the night before, "The party! Allison-"
"She got home safe. I went to her house."
"Um, hello? I have some questions if you two can shut up for a second," Sadie interrupted.
The boys looked at each other for a moment, silently arguing before Scott turned to face her. He nodded for her to continue.
"So Stiles says you're a werewolf. Are you on drugs that make you think that or is this like a role playing thing and you clip on a tail to run around in the woods at night?"
Scott's face wrinkled in disgust, "No! I mean…yes. I am a werewolf! God!" he slammed his hands on the dashboard.
The action alarmed Stiles, who lovingly patted the dash in front of the steering wheel, almost speaking softly to it. Maybe he was more than Sadie could handle, she thought for a moment, watching him apologize to his car. Even Jackson didn't talk to the Porsche.
Scott looked at Stiles in apology for his outburst. Sadie leaned forward on her arms between the two, "Okay, so let's say I suspend my rational thoughts and go with this werewolf nonsense. What were you up to running around in the Preserve last night?"
"I got shot by a crossbow," Scott sighed way too calmly for Sadie's tastes.
Stiles swerved the Jeep again and Sadie slapped him on the arm, "Pull over if you are going to freak out at everything! Scott, show me right now."
Scott offered the completely unblemished arm to his sister, "I healed. It's something apparently I can do now. Derek said-"
"Derek? Who the fuck is Derek? Are you sure you're not role playing-"
Stiles had pulled the car over a few blocks from the McCall house and Sadie was grateful, because Scott gave what only could be described as a roar, flipping around in his seat to look his sister straight on. Stiles and Sadie both jumped, the latter pressing back into the seat at his outburst.
"Sadie! I'm telling the truth! I am a werewolf! Derek Hale said I would heal fast, be stronger, a bunch of stuff! See?" Scott reached into the backseat for the Swiss Army Knife that Sadie had been nearly sitting on, popping open one of the tools and sliding it along his forearm. Sadie screeched, clapping her hands on instinct over the cut he'd just caused.
"Scott! Holy shit! Stiles, call 911 right now. We need help," Sadie demanded, keeping her hands pressed firmly to Scott's arm. Stiles didn't move and neither did Scott, he just looked steadily at his sister.
"Move your hands Sadie."
She shook her head no, the curls that had fallen from her messy bun flying back and forth. Sadie looked at Scott, shock etched across her face. The two had grown apart over their teen years, but she thought she'd known him better than this!
"Absolutely not. I'm not Mom, but I know to put pressure on a wound! What is wrong with you? You just cut open your-" she wasn't fast enough, which was a first when it came to Scott. He'd pulled his arm out from her grasp and lightning speed, holding his arm in front of her face.
"Look at it Sadie!"
Her heart was racing as she forced her eyes to move from Scott's brown eyes down to his arm, her mouth dropping open in shock when she realized he was right. His arm was completely fine, smeared with a little blood, arm showing zero signs of where it had come from. She quickly flipped up her palms, seeing the blood that was still wet on her hands, eyes darting back to Scott's arm. Sadie was suddenly very afraid. She scrambled over the backseat into the trunk space of the Jeep, eyes wide as she looked between Scott and Stiles in shock.
"Sadie, it's okay. It's still me, I'm still me," Scott told her calmly, realizing he'd gone too far and had scared her.
She shook her head, wiping her bloody palms on the sides of her pajama shorts, shakily pointing between the two boys, "I'm pretty sure now I'm the one that's on drugs."
Stiles gave a half shrug, "It was odd you agreed to come help me look for Scott."
Sadie let out a short, semi hysterical laugh, "Yeah! I thought we were going to make out and find Scott being a delinquent somewhere. Not find out my brother is a fucking werewolf!"
Scott's head swiveled to Stiles as the boy in question absolutely floundered at her statement, literally falling over in the driver's seat, honking the horn of the car. "You uh, we were going to-you want to-"
Sadie pressed a hand to her forehead, feeling a headache coming on as she waved her other hand dismissively at the two.
"This has been illuminating…I'm pretty sure this isn't real. I'm going to walk home."
Her hands fumbled with the latch before swinging open the back door, stumbling out onto the pavement. She'd jumped into Stiles' Jeep in an oversized cross country hoodie, pajama shorts and slippers and was now regretting not putting real clothes on as she stood in the middle of the neighborhood in her pajamas. If this was truly real, she looked like a total mess. If Lydia saw her now she'd have more than a werewolf brother to be afraid of.
"Sadie, let me take you both home," Stiles tried to reason, his face still red from her rambling admission.
She laughed, waggling a finger at him, "Ah ah! Hallucinations can't drive! Maybe I did go to the party last night and I'm just wasted on Lydia's couch and this is a dream."
"Do you, uh, dream about me often?" Stiles asked, receiving a punch to the arm from Scott.
When the two looked to the back of the Jeep, Sadie was already gone. She'd kicked off her slippers, breaking into a sprint the second they'd looked away from her. Being on cross country was finally paying off for something other than staying fit. Sadie was cutting through several yards and hurdling herself into her own backyard with ease. She lay there panting as she flopped on the grass of her backyard, listening for the familiar noise of the Jeep coming down the street. Pushing to her feet, Sadie burst through the backdoor just as Scott came in through the front. Standing between both of them was their Mother, who eyed them both suspiciously.
Sadie clenched her teeth as she looked at Scott, ready to blab everything to their Mother. Scott's look was pleading and pitiful. He was truly scared she'd say something.
"Sadie? I asked what you both were doing out so early and I want an answer right now!" Sadie's eyes snapped away from Scott to her Mother.
She had her hands on her hips and was in her scrubs. Sadie couldn't tell if she was coming or going from work and with how her schedule had been lately, it could have honestly been either.
"Running, right Scotty?" Sadie said finally, shooting Scott a tight smile. Melissa McCall wasn't buying it.
"You took him running with you? He hates running."
Sadie opened her mouth to lie further, but Scott beat her to it, stepping into the kitchen and drawing their Mother's attention.
"It's true. I asked if I could go on her morning run with her since I need to build my endurance. I forgot to mention it, but I made first line," Scott said with a sheepish grin that was too genuine to be a lie.
Melissa McCall all but forgot the suspicious scene of her children arriving home in various states of dress at seven am, squealing with joy and throwing her arms around her son.
"Scott! That's amazing, I knew all that extra practice would pay off!"
With her Mom distracted, Sadie snuck up the stairs, locking herself in the Jack and Jill bathroom that she shared with Scott. She leaned heavily against the bathroom door, hands pressed to her chest as she tried to calm herself down. Scott really was a werewolf…and Sadie thought she had problems.