𝚍𝚛𝚞𝚐𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚢 | 𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚘𝚕𝚏 [1]

the alpha

—

It had become apparent that Stiles wouldn't be showing up the game. So, instead of thinking about how he'd scold him later, Coach moved on to what was happening now.

"Now, this is what I like to see, rivals turned allies. You know there's no "me" in "team," right, boys?" He boasted to both Scott and Jackson.

Scott tilts his head in confusion, "Yes, there is, coach."

"Okay, smartass, how 'bout this - No "A" in econ if no win on field? Good? Huh? Perfect. Good." The man walks away after threatening Scott with his grade, turning back to the rest of the team, leaving Scott and Jackson to converse amongst themselves.

"So what are you gonna do?" The McCall nervously asks Jackson.

"Well, I'm gonna give you a chance to give me what I want. What's three days, huh?" The question was rhetorical, Scott knew that, so he chose not to respond, "72 hours. That's all you get, Scott. 72 hours."

"What if I can't?" The lacrosse player begins to grow worried.

"Oh, come on, McCall." The Whittemore teases, "That's not a winning attitude."

"Let's go. Huddle up! Let's go! Big night! Big night!" Coach Finstock shouts, the lacrosse players moving into position.

•••

"That one. That's Jackson." Allison pointed out to her aunt.

Kate gasps, "Holy hotness. Oh, if I was in high school again - Maybe just a substitute teacher."

Allison scoffs jokingly, giggling with her aunt, completely unaware of the disgusted eyes she was receiving, "You are sick."

•••

"You should be all over that."

"That is absolutely disgusting." Ryder muttered, her soft words getting caught by Austin.

"What's disgusting?" He asked, confused on her sudden statement.

"That." She points, not really caring if the Argent family knew she was talking about them or not. "They're feening over Jackson Whittemore. No respectable woman does that. Especially if he's sixteen and you're over the age of thirty."

"That is weird and disgusting." He nodded his head, agreeing with her words, while he was a bit
closer to them, he hadn't heard a thing they said.

Austin didn't even think about how the Argent's were sat too far away from where they were for her to pick up on a thing that came out of their mouths.

The girl had been sat, not so patiently, waiting for the lacrosse game to start when she over heard Kate Argent expressing how she would transfer as a substitute teacher just to get with Jackson. Whether or not her words were meant to be a joke, the Miller girl still thought it was bizarre.

She wanted to tune out the rest of their conversation, truly not having the heart to listen to anything else, only for Kate's next words to shock her.

"Chris, remember how we were talking about a second beta - a younger one?"

Ryder noticed the way her moms head perked up at the question, her head tilting slightly in their direction, so she could clearly hear what they were speaking about.

"Yes."

"Can you get turned by a scratch?"

"If the claws go deep enough. Maybe." Chris Argent responded, narrowing his eyes.

Ryder and Romona's eyes wander to where her head nudges,

"Wonder how deep those went."

"Mom." Ryder whispered, suddenly panicked, leaning down to the woman's ear, "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Aaron wondered.

"I'll tell you later." The girl responds, turning back to her mom, only for the woman to give her a look that spoke wonders. She knew that Romona had just nonverbally told her to leave it alone and ignore their words.

Believe her, she wanted to ignore it, but they had just practically screamed in her ear that they thought Jackson was the beta.

Austin was aware of the girls unexpected feeling of anxiousness. He has no clue as to why she was acting so strangely, but he didn't want to say anything around everyone. He would speak to her about it either whenever she was ready, or when he figured it was best to bring the conversation up.

"Hey." Austin whispered, startling her a bit to the point where she unknowingly taking hold of his hand, "The game is starting."

•••

The game was finally over.

Beacon Hills won and everyone could finally go home.

Austin stood tall behind Ryder as they waited for everyone to leave the bleachers. He glanced around the area, vaguely noticing the way Allison completely blew Scott off. He also could have sworn he saw Derek Hale and a man he's never seen before sneakily enter the boys locker room.

Then again, it was almost past ten and he didn't get much sleep the night before.

Ignoring the weird feeling he got, he continues his walk forward, his hands making their way around Ryder's waist as he gently pushed her forward. The girl barely reacted, simply walking ahead and wrapping her arm around moms once they reached the bottom.

She didn't fail to notice the way her mother tensed, she didn't understand why. She thought that maybe she made her uncomfortable and went to pull away, only for the woman to tighten her hold.

"Mom, what's wrong?" She asked in a hushed voice, not wanting to draw attention to either of them.

The woman's eyes darted quickly, her heart pounding frantically in her chest. Ryder didn't really know what to do, the grasp her mom had on her wrist was strong enough that she couldn't pull away. She knew that woman didn't want her to call anyone, hence why they were off to the side while the others spoke to each other.

"Mom, seriously." Ryder tried, moving her head so she could look into her birth givers eyes.

Suddenly, her palm is being then towards the sky, her moms finger tracing words over it.

'He is here.'

"Who's here?" Her brows furrow in both shock and confusion.

'the alpha.'

Ryder nods, "The alpha. Who's the alpha, mom? Do you know?"

'Peter.'

The older woman's vague responses weren't doing much for her, it only added to Ryder's worry, "Peter who?"

'It's Peter Hale.'