"How'd it go with Allison?" Stiles asked while they were getting ready for lacrosse.
"Great," Scott seemed a little dazed. "It went…great."
When on the field, Jackson was determined to make Scott regret getting onto first line. The coach didn't help matters by insulting him every time something happened, even if it wasn't his fault. Stiles could feel Scott's control slipping and caught a glimpse of yellow eyes on the field just before he rammed into Jackson.
Quickly, before anyone could see, Stiles dragged his friend into the locker room and sat him down on the bench. Scott was breathing heavily, but he didn't lose control. It looked like all the training they'd done had paid off and having knowledge about anchors was helping him out.
"Are you okay?" Stiles questioned once he seemed to have calmed down. As soon as he'd seen that Scott was losing control while playing, he'd strengthened the bond between them in an attempt to keep him grounded. He guessed it worked since Scott was calming down and – from what they'd read – newly bitten werewolves usually struggled a lot harder to keep from attacking people.
"Yeah," Scott panted, lifting his head to look up. Stiles was relieved to see that his eyes were back to their normal colour again. "I think you helped…I could feel the connection. I just kept thinking that I was with my pack and it was enough to stop me wolfing out."
Well, that's good," Stiles grinned, slinging an arm around Scott's neck as they stood up. "Now we just have to make sure you don't wolf out at the game on Saturday."
They didn't have time for training that night, but once all their homework was done, they both switched on their webcams so that Stiles could fill him in on everything. Scott looked a little amused when Stiles fired a fake gun at the screen, which was good because Stiles had been trying to cheer him up a bit.
"What'd you find out?" Scott demanded immediately.
"Well, it's bad," Stiles warned him, hoping he didn't take the news too badly. "Jackson's got a separated shoulder."
"Because of me?" Scott looked genuinely distressed at the thought.
"Because he's a tool," he corrected. In his opinion, it was Jackson's own fault that he got injured, if he hadn't tried to make Scott look bad then he'd have never gotten hurt.
"But is he going to play?" Scott asked.
"They don't know yet," Stiles answered helplessly. "Now they're just counting on you for Saturday." There was a pause in conversation. "By the way, it looks like the werewolf welcoming committee has arrived."
"What?" Scott turned around to see what Stiles was staring at and let out a startled gasp as he was lifted out of his seat and slammed against the wall by none other than Derek Hale.
"I saw you on the field," Derek told him angrily. "You shifted in front of them! If they find out what you are, they find out about me. About all of us. And then it's not just the hunters after us, it's everyone."
"They didn't see anything!" Scott denied. "And I didn't shift! I stopped myself!"
Derek looked surprised for a second before going back to anger. "Just because you stopped yourself once, doesn't mean you can do it again," he growled out. "If you even try to play in that game on Saturday, I'm going to kill you myself."
He disappeared before Scott could say anything. Once his heartbeat had calmed back down, Scott sat back down at his computer to see what Stiles thought of what Derek had said. Stiles offered him a small smile while a sense of reassurance flowed through their link.
"Hey, come here," Stiles called out to Scott the next day at school. Scott obediently walked over to see what his pack mate wanted. "Tell me what they're saying." He pointed at a group of people that included the Sheriff and the principal.
"Curfew because of the body," Scott informed him after listening for a while.
"I wish we knew who did it," Stiles muttered in annoyance. "My dad knows what to look for, but he can't take down an Alpha, even if he can find out who it is."
"We'll find him," Scott assured him. "Now, let's go get some training done so I don't hurt anyone."
Stiles accepted the idea with a sigh, leading the way to the empty lacrosse field where they could practise. Since his transformation was linked to his heartbeat, Stiles strapped a heartbeat monitor that he'd 'borrowed' from their coach to Scott's arm.
"Right, now just get angry," Stiles said once he had the monitor screen up. "Wolf out, and then think about your anchor, whether it's Allison, your pack, or both."
Scott nodded and began to think about how he'd felt when he'd wolfed out the last time. It was hard to concentrate on feeling angry, but he needed to know how to change whenever he wanted if he was to learn how to control it. Eventually, he manager to transform and – by focusing on his anchor – remained in control. The only problem was he wasn't sure if he'd be able to resist shifting when he played on Saturday. No matter what Derek had said, he was determined to play the game. If he could just prove that he wouldn't shift then Derek would leave him alone.
"Let me try something," Stiles spoke up. While Scott had been focusing on keeping control, Stiles had been practising tapping into the werewolf's power. It had taken a lot of concentration, but he was able to enhance his senses and even sharpen his nails into claws. "Wolf out for a second."
Once Scott was in wolf form, Stiles closed his eyes and concentrated on their bond. He could feel the difference; Scott was ruled more by his instincts when transformed. Frowning slightly, Stiles projected how the bond had felt before Scott had shifted. He wanted to know if he could affect Scott's shift; if it was somehow possible to counteract it.
Hearing a gasp from Scott, Stiles opened his eyes and let out a cheer at what he saw. Scott was back in fully human form and looked a mixture of excited and confused. Stiles was relieved since it meant that if Scott shifted during the game, then he'd be able to pull him back if he concentrated hard enough.
They were both more nervous than usual while getting ready for the game, which meant that Stiles filled the silence with babbling and Scott worried about the fact that Allison was in the crowd, along with her dad. Apparently, when he'd found out that she was coming to watch him play; her dad had decided to tag along with her.
"Just try not to worry too much while you're out there, okay?" Stiles instructed. "Or get too angry. Or stressed. I might be able to pull you back, but let's not risk it, yeah?"
In the end, Scott did end up using some of his new powers to win the game, but he managed to do so that he was still mostly in control. Stiles thought it was just good that he hadn't growled at anybody and that the only part of him that changed were his eyes. It had been tricky, but Stiles had been able to pull him back a few times and Scott changed his eyes back on his own by thinking of Allison.
The crowd rushed out of the stands to congratulate the team once the game was over. Allison reached Scott before anyone else and they spoke for a little bit before kissing. Stiles glanced over to her dad and thought that he didn't look pleased. Ignoring the foreboding feeling he got, Stiles pasted a grin onto his face and tackled the new couple into a hug that nearly knocked them over.
They waved goodbye to Allison before her father could come over and collect her. Scott was over the moon with joy about kissing her and the fact that he'd kept in control – with help. They'd kept an eye out for Derek, but neither of them had seen him at the game. Stiles then had the unfortunate privilege of telling Scott that their suspicions had been right: the body had been identified as Laura Hale and had been classed as an animal attack.