The Huntress {Stiles Stilinski}

Second Chance at First Line - Saturday's Game

  Raelynn's P.O.V.

I didn't get much sleep last night; I got a couple hours, but I'm not sure about the boys. I was tossing and turning in fear of being linked to the murder somehow, even though we'd technically done something illegal by digging up Derek's land. Me and Scott are leaning against the Jeep while Forensics are taking pictures of the one half of the girl. Sheriff Stilinski comes out of the Hale house first, followed by Derek, who's arms are clasped behind him in handcuffs, and then the Deputy escorting Derek to the cop car. Derek glances over and fixes his stare on Scott before climbing into the car, and I glance up at Scott. Stiles comes out from the trees and slips into the cop car while Sheriff's back is turned, and my eyes widen and I put my palm to my forehead, hiding the car from my view.

"Did he really just-" I say, and Scott grimaces and turns round to face me so his back is to the car.

"He did," Scott replies.

"He's such a dick," I answer, shaking my head and chuckling slightly. When Sheriff looks over to me and Scott briefly, I let my hand fall back to my side and face Scott, engaging him in a conversation so it looks like we're not doing anything wrong. "So . . . You're playing the game tonight?"

Scott nods. "I thought about what you said, and you were right. If my mom can take a shift off of work to watch me play this game then I have to play it."

I nod in understanding and my eyes widen as Sheriff reaches in and grabs Stiles by his jacket, effectively yanking him from the car. They start talking and I know Stiles has done something wrong when he hangs his head in frustration and Sheriff points to me and Scott without turning, and Stiles makes his way over to us.

"Let's go," he says, and me and Scott look at each other, trying to compress our laughter. Stiles gets in the driver's side, Scott in the passenger side and I climb into the back, resting my elbows on the two seats beside me. While we're driving, Stiles takes his cell phone out of his pocket and hands it to Scott. "Here, look up what wolfsbane means about burial in werewolf communities."

Scott nods and I look over his shoulder as he browses the Internet. Finally he sighs, dropping the phone in his lap. "I can't find anything about wolfsbane being used for burial."

Stiles clicks his tongue and nods, but it's more neck movement than head movement. "Just keep looking. Maybe it's like a ritual or something. Like, maybe they bury you as a wolf. Or maybe it's a special skill, you know? Like something you have to learn." He looks back at me and nudges me with his arm, shoving me to the side.

When I sit back up, I shove him, giggling. "Don't look at me. I hunt werewolves. So long as I know how to kill them and what to kill them with, that's where my knowledge ends so far."

"So far?" Scott asks, and I nod.

"My dad is still training me."

Scott sighs again. "I'll put looking for a reason on using wolfsbane for burial on my to-do list, right underneath figuring out how the hell I'm playing this game tonight."

"Maybe it's different for girl werewolves," Stiles suggests, his face focused. I smile and roll my eyes but I see Scott's fists clench.

"Okay!" he shouts, making me and Stiles jump. "Stop it!"

"Stop what?" Stiles asks quickly, and my eyes are locked on Scott, my brain thinking about the ring dagger stashed in the waistband of my jeans.

"Stop saying 'werewolves'! Stop enjoying this so much!" Scott shouts angrily. I place my hand over the dagger, just in case.

"Are you okay?" I ask carefully.

"No! I'm so far from being okay!"

"You know, you're gonna have to accept this, Scott, sooner or later."

"I can't-"

"Well, you're gonna have to," Stiles says, glancing over at his friend while managing to keep his eyes on the road.

"No," Scott gasps. "I can't breathe." He makes a sudden growling noise and I pull the dagger from my jeans, holding it in place in my hand. "Pull over!" he shouts aggressively.

"Why?" Stiles questions. "What's happening?"

Scott opens the bag that's in between him and Stiles, and I gasp, staring at Stiles.

"You kept it?" I say loudly, and Stiles makes a confused movement.

"What was I supposed to do with it?" Stiles replies. Everything's become a big shouty mess and we're really not getting anywhere.

"Stop the car!" Scott shouts, and when he turns to look at Stiles I see his eyes are now a glowing yellow. I grip the dagger harder and look at Stiles, who's face is slightly white.

"Stiles-"

"Okay, okay," Stiles says quickly, pulling over to the side. I grab the bag and Stiles jumps out with me, taking it from me and launching it into the forest. I run my hand through my hair and let out a shaky laugh. Stiles claps his hands. "We're good, you can - " But when we turn round, Scott's door is open and the seat is empty. "Scott? Scott?"


Stiles' P.O.V.

Me and Rae are driving along the roads of the Preserve as the sun is setting fast, and she's watching out for Scott while I call dispatch. Hopefully no one's seen Scott running round like a dog but if they have they'll have called dispatch.

The operator on the other end of the line sighs. "Stiles, you know you can't call the dispatch line when I'm on duty."

I shrug as Rae looks over at me with a confused expression; my phone is on speaker, so she can hear everything. "I just need to know if you've gotten any odd calls."

"Odd how?"

"Uh, like an odd person or . . . a dog-like individual roaming the streets," I say, and Rae covers her mouth when she hears me say that. I know I sound ridiculous but there's no other way to say it, unless I say werewolf.

"I'm hanging up on you, now."

"No! Wai - wai - wai - wai - wait!" But the line is dead. I mutter a curse and throw my cell on the spare space beside me.

"Well, that was smooth," Rae says, staring out the window, scanning the trees for Scott.

"Please tell me how else I was meant to say it, Shorty," I say, purposely adding 'Shorty' on the end.

She whips her head to face me, brown curls flying everywhere. "I told you not to call me Shorty."

"But it suits you," I say, keeping my eyes on the road. From the corner of my eyes I see her smirk. "Because you're short."

"No, you and Scott are really tall," she protests, shoving me slightly.

I laugh. "Hey, are you watching everything?"

"Yes, I am," she huffs, looking out her window again. "But I really don't think he's here."

I sigh and nod. "You're probably right."

"We should go," she says, looking at her watch. "You've got a lacrosse game to get to."

I drop Rae off and take her up on the promise she makes to be there on time, and then I drive to the school. It's dark out now, and when I go into the changing rooms I see Scott sat on one of the benches in between the lockers. I walk up to him and make a small smile.

"You gonna try and convince me not to play?" he asks while he tightens his ropes on his stick.

I sigh. "I just hope you know what you're doing."

"If I don't play, I lose first line and Allison," he protests, and I roll my eyes.

"Allison's not going anywhere," I answer. "And it's one game you really don't need to play."

"I wanna play!" he says loudly. "I wanna be on the team. I wanna go out with Allison. I want a semi - freaking normal life. Do you get that?"

"I get it. Just try not to worry too much when you're out there, okay? Or get too angry."

"I got it."

"Or stressed."

"I got it."

"Don't think about Allison being in the stands. Or that her father's trying to kill you. Or that Derek's trying to kill you," I say, almost counting the points off on my fingers, one by one. "Or the girl he killed. Or that you might kill someone. If a hunter doesn't kill you first -" When he gives me a stare I shut my mouth. "I'm sorry. I'll stop. Good luck."

I walk out to the bench while everyone is taking their seats, and I see Lydia walk up to Scott and say something. He looks scared but looks over and gives me a thumbs up through his gloves, and I nod nervously. My dad comes over to say hi, and when he's gone Rae appears.

"Hey," she says happily.

"Hey," I reply, turning round to face her. "Your dad here?"

"Yeah," she sighs, pointing him out in the stands stood with Lydia and Allison. Allison gives us a small wave, and Rae waves back. "I hope this goes okay."

"Me, too," I say, and then the whistle blows behind me, indicating the game is starting. "I'll find you after the game."

Rae nods with a smile. "Good luck."

I smile and watch her as she rushes to her seat beside her dad. Then I focus my attention on the field and on Scott, not on the game. It goes okay, until someone throws the ball towards Scott, who tries to catch it, but Jackson jumps in first, catching it and knocking Scott to the ground. I hear Lydia's encouraging screams and turn round to see Allison and Lydia holding up a sign that's completely for Jackson. Rae catches my eye and shakes her head worriedly, and when I look back at Scott he's breathing heavily.

"Brutal," I say quietly. Then I rub my forehead as Rae scratches hers. "Oh, this is not gonna be good." Suddenly, Scott catches the ball and takes off running, dodging all the opposing players and even Jackson who tries to take the ball, scoring in the goal. Everyone screams and cheers, and when I look round Allison is cheering, but Lydia isn't. Rae is shouting, too, like she was during practice. Mr. Argent is watching both his daughters with a puzzled expression.

I keep my eyes on Scott and start biting my gloves in anticipation as the opposing team member throws Scott the ball deliberately, and Scott runs and makes the shot. Coach sits beside me, and points to the player that threw our team the ball.

"Did the opposing team just deliberately pass us the ball?" Coach asks.

"Yes, I believe so, Coach," I reply through chewing my gloves.

"Interesting," he says, and I nod in agreement. Scott gets the ball again, and he throws it so hard at the goalkeeper that the ball goes straight through the net of the goalkeepers stick. "Goal!" Coach shouts, and I hear Rae screaming happily from behind me. "Yes! Yes! There you go. Wha - Way to go, McCall! What?" Coach asks as the referee comes over to us, questioning the shot Scott just made. "The ball's in the net."

"Ball's in the net," I agree, and the referee looks down at me.

"That's the aim of the game, the ball is in the net," Coach explains, picking up the whistle around his own neck. "We got it!" He blows the whistle, indicating that we got the point.

The players reset and then I see Scott with his head down, breathing deeply. "No, no, Scott. No, no." He manages to make the shot without looking too suspicious, and everyone in the stands erupt into cheering and applause. "Yes! Ha! Oh, my God." People start streaming onto the field and lifting players onto their shoulders, and I see Rae running to me.

Her arms are around my neck and mine are around her waist, and I spin her round in relief. "He did it!" she squeals.

"I can't believe it," I say happily, and when I set her down she has a bit of color in her cheeks. Then I realize what we've just done, which is so different to something I'd normally do. "Uh - where is Scott?"

She does a nervous laugh and looks around the field. "He might have gone back to the changing rooms. Shall we go?"

I nod and we start walking after I've spoken to my dad, and we're talking about how Scott managed to keep cool during the game, even though he had moments of worry. When we're in the changing rooms, Rae puts her arm out, hitting my chest, stopping me. We can hear voices, and it sounds like Scott and Allison. We peep round the lockers to see Allison and Scott kissing each other. Rae makes a small 'oh' noise and turns away, shaking her head, and I copy her, trying to ignore the noises coming from behind us. It's only small lip noises, but when the lockers echo and are silent, it's not the best thing to hear. Then the noises stop and we look back round to see Scott, alone, grinning from ear to ear.

"I kissed her," he says, almost as if he's in a dreamworld.

"We saw," I say, and Rae half smiles.

"She kissed me."

"Saw that, too." I pat his shoulder and Rae just smiles and shakes her head. "That's pretty good, huh?" Rae elbows me and I wince, clutching my ribs.

"I - I don't know how, but I controlled it. I pulled it back," Scott says. "Maybe I can do this, maybe it's not so bad."

"Yeah, heh. Talk later, then," I say, turning to walk away with Rae, but Scott takes our arms.

"What?"

I look down at Rae and she rolls her eyes, opening her mouth to speak. "The, uh medical examiner looked at the other half of the body we found."

"And - "

"Well, I'll keep it simple," Rae says, and I scratch my forehead nervously. "Medical examiner determines killer of girl to be animal, not human. Derek's human, not animal. Derek let out of jail."

"Are you kidding?" Scott asks, making a small groan afterwards.

"No, and here's a bigger kick in the ass," I add, and Rae clasps her hands in front of her. "My dad I.D.'d the dead girl. Both halves. Her name was Laura Hale."

"Hale?" Scott asks, his eyes flickering between me and Rae.

"Derek's sister," Rae answers, and Scott's mouth drops open. I look down at Rae and her eyes are worried, as they should be.