I hurried up to the bleachers as people began to arrive, and the teams flooded onto the field. I noticed Stiles sitting at the bottom, watching closely as the game started. I made my way up to the back section of the bleachers, before looking into the forest. A human's vision would be too poor for them to see Derek's tall stature just behind the clearing of the lacrosse field, leaning against a tree. As I sat down, I made sure no one is looking before pulling the container of liquefied wolfs bane out of my pocket to examine it. Holding it made me nervous, given that if the cap were to fall off I'd be as good as dead. But it seemed to be a necessary evil. Tomorrow night, when we drew out the plan, we would each take one syringe full of wolfs bane, and wait for the Kanima to shift. Depending on who the Kanima really was, we might be able to inject it with enough wolfs bane to incapacitate it. But it would be one hell of a miracle if it actually worked.
I noticed Jackson moving out onto the field, along with Scott, as they pulled on their gear. "Let the games begin." I muttered, watching as each team took their positions. As the game got under head- way, I watched the crowd cheer when Scott made a goal. As the next term began, I looked for Jackson, seeing him move across the field. He ran hard and fast, catching the ball when Scott passed it to him. He tossed it into the goal, and the crowd screeched their applause for him. Another term began, and I watched as once again Jackson got the ball. As he ran toward the net, another member of the opposite team charged him, clothes- lining him with his lacrosse stick. Jackson fell backwards, falling onto his leg. "Damn it." I muttered loudly, as the crowd in the stands began yelling at the opposite team. I ran from the stands, noticing as Derek began to make his way toward the field. I waved him back, hoping that if I got to Jackson first, we could avoid catastrophe.
I raced onto the field, along with Stiles who wasn't too far behind. I burst through the crowd, made up of Scott and the rest of his teammates, the coach, and a tall man I assumed was his father. I managed to work my way past them, kneeling by his side. "Hey you can't be on the-" Some one began. I found who the voice belonged to and glared at the boy, immediately shutting him up. I looked back down at Jackson, who seemed to have been knocked out on impact. "Someone get me the smelling salts!" The coach wailed. A moment later someone broke through the crowd with the smelling salts the coach had asked for. He pulled off Jackson's helmet, not seeming to care that I was on the field. He held the salts in front of his nose, and after a moment, his eyes fluttered open. "What the hell…" He muttered, sitting up. I looked down at his leg, noticing that it was in a different position that when he'd first been knocked down. It'd looked as if it were broken. Now it was simply stretched out in front of him. He got to his feet, ignoring the coaches pleas for him to stay down. "I'm fine." He grumbled, picking up his helmet. The coach looked at him. "How many fingers am I holding up?" He asked, holding up four. "Four." Jackson said, looking at him as if he were insane. The coach smiled. "He's okay!" He yelled, and the crowd cheered wildly. I looked up to see Derek standing back beside the tree. I gave him a nod, and he responded in kind- a sour expression on his face. 'So he'd seen it too.' I thought, as I made my way back up to the bleachers, sitting in my previous seat. I was sure Jackson's leg had been broken. But he'd gotten up as if it were nothing. It just wasn't right.
The rest of the game went off without a hitch, and our team won. At the end of the game, I walked onto the field and looked over at Stiles and Scott as they talked heatedly with one another. 'I wonder if they saw it too?' I thought, looking back toward the forest. Derek stood in wait, obviously wanting to talk to me about what happened out on the field. I glanced back to see that in fact most of the crowd had already begun to dissipate. I headed into the forest, meeting Derek at his side. "You saw what happened out there, didn't you? Tell me you saw it." I said, my breath ragged because I'd run over to him. "Yeah. I saw it." He said. Before we could continue, I noticed a dark figure standing a few feet away, and the glimmer of what looked like an arrow set in a bow. "Run!" I yelled, grabbing his arm and dragging him in the opposite direction as an arrow flew past his head. I felt something sharp penetrate my shoulder, and I bit back a scream of pain. I kept running, my breath escaping me with each step. More arrows whizzed past our heads, but eventually we lost them. I stopped momentarily, leaning against a tree, propped against my good arm. "Derek," I said, looking up at him. He looked at me, and that was when he noticed that arrow. "I need you to pull the arrow out." I said. He moved toward me looking at the arrow. It hadn't come out on the other side of my shoulder, so I took it that this was going to hurt. He looked at me and I nodded, telling him I was ready. He took hold of the back of the arrow, slowly pulling it out. Tears inevitably rolled down my cheeks, and I fought back the urge to scream. He finished pulling out the arrow, but I could tell the wound had yet to heal. "They'd used wolfs bane on the tip of the arrow." I muttered, my legs giving out on me as I fell to my knees. I looked over at Derek who kneeled beside me. My head swam with pain as I tried to catch my breath. I felt his finger wipe the tears that had fallen on my cheeks. "C'mon." He said, wrapping his arm around my waist and helping me to my feet. Before I had a chance to try and walk he lifted me into his arms, and started through the forest. "Well, when I pictured you sweeping me off my feet I didn't think it'd be like this." I murmured against the hollow of his neck. I closed my eyes, hearing him chuckle.
I breathed in his scent, my head against his shoulder. It gave me something other than the pain to think about. I couldn't help but smile, listening to the sound of his heartbeat. When I opened my eyes, we were somehow in the parking lot, standing before my car. "Where are your keys?" He asked. I reached into one of my pockets and pulled out the keys, handing them to him. After a moment, I felt myself being lowered into the car. I opened my eyes and saw that I was in the passenger's seat. He climbed in next to me, shutting the door and putting the key in the ignition. He started the car and glanced at me. "You'll be okay." He said after a moment, pulling onto the road. I curled up in the seat so that I was facing him. I was barely able to keep my eyes open, but when I could, I would watch him closely, analyzing his features. Dark, attentive eyes, with long. Straight nose. Full, warm lips. I smiled for a moment, before I felt myself fall into unconsciousness.
I woke up in my bed. My head and my shoulder heart. I couldn't tell which one hurt more. I sat up, propping myself on my good arm. I looked around the room for a moment. My throat was dry, and kind of burned. I pulled back the covers, and saw that I was in a pair of blue cotton pajama bottoms, and a white tank top. 'How the hell did I end up in these clothes?' I thought, hoping Derek wasn't the one to have gone and put them on me. I got up from the bed and went into the bathroom, grabbing the glass I kept by the sink and filling it with water. I took a sip, and dumped the rest down the drain, leaving the bathroom. "Derek?" I called, walking down the stairs. As I reached the bottom, I saw him sitting at the kitchen table. He looked up when I called his name. "Your up." He said. I nodded. Given he was alone, I assumed Louise had already gone to bed. "How'd I get into these clothes?" I asked. "I put you in them." He said matter of factly. I looked at him in disbelief. "Your dress got in the way of the bandaging." He said simply. I touched my shoulder and found a patch of gauze over the wound. "Oh." I said after a moment. I sighed, pulling my hair out of its pony tail. Then I remembered the wolfs bane.
"Where's my jacket?" I asked, my blood starting to rush. He nodded toward the couch, and I glanced at it to see it draped over the back side. I walked over to it, reaching into the pockets and pulling out the vile of wolfs bane along with the syringes. "Selene, what the-" "I got it from Deaton." I said, cutting him off and joining him at the kitchen island, sitting down next to him. "The vet?" He asked. I nodded. "I did a little research on the website, and found out about that case with the deer a few years back. The one with the triskelion marking on it." I explained. "I have a plan. See, the one thing we have yet to try on the Kanima is wolfs bane." I said. He looked at me for a moment. "If this thing is a shape shifter, that means that on some level, it has to abide by the same rules that we do, right?" I said. He nodded. "Well, what if it's weaknesses are the same as ours? Wolfs bane? Arrows?" I said, looking up at him. "Tomorrow night, the will Kanima will shift. If we can inject it with wolfs bane, we might be able to incapacitate it." I explained. He took the vile of wolfs bane in his hand, looking it over. "If your right… we might actually be able to capture this thing." He said, putting the vile back on the counter.
After a moment he sighed. "Lemme check your wounds." He said. I nodded, turning my injured shoulder toward him and moving my hair to the side so it was out of the way. I felt him peel back the tape and move the gauze out of the way. "You'll be healed by the morning." He said, pressing the tape back into place. I nodded. "Thanks." I said, turning back to him. I could see in his eyes how tired he was. He didn't look like he had anything left. "Stay here tonight." I said, looking up at him. He looked down at me. "Please." I said. "You're exhausted. That much I know." I murmured. After what seemed to be an internal conflict by the look on his face, he nodded. I leaned up and kissed him gently, letting my hand grip the collar of his shirt. After a moment, I pulled back to look into his eyes. While I could hear his high paced heartbeat, I could also tell that he was tired. I slid my hand into his and led him upstairs. As we walked into my room, I looked over at my bed, thankful that it just so happened to be queen sized. "I'm sure it's better than the couch." I muttered, watching as he pulled off his jacket and kicked off his converse. I climbed into the spot I'd been in earlier, waiting as he climbed in beside me. He lay on his back, looking down at me with his hands laced behind his head. I curled up against his side, my head on his chest. I listened to him breathe for a little while, glancing up at him every now and then. Eventually when I looked up at him, I saw that he was asleep. I smiled to myself, and decided it would be best if I did the same.