The last thing James "Jay" Hale ever imagined was to begrudgingly return to Beacon Hills, find out his older sister was murdered, and then be forced to go on a wild goose chase after an enigmatic Alpha that seemed to have a particular interest in ru...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
CHAPTER THIRTY:
Face Your Fears, Failwolf!
✧✧✧✧
"Just so you know, if you happen to fall, I will not be the one catching you. I will actually be the one pointing, laughing, and maybe even filming it happen."
"You're literally in charge of my safety line, Jay. The whole point of being partners is that you catch me."
Scott stifled a laugh, rolling his eyes and sharing a look with Allison as they watched Stiles and Jay bicker back and forth. They were lined up for the rock-climbing wall, paired off in their respective duos. Allison initially wanted to team up with Jay, not fully trusting Scott not to kill her accidentally—which was a very real possibility, somehow more so than Jay being the one with the control, which was a feat in itself considering the blonde had a clear motive to want to kill her. Scott was quick to direct her to Lydia instead, who was much more trusted, so Stiles could swoop in with Jay.
Well, so Stiles could swoop in after Scott also convinced Danny to tell Jay they couldn't partner up together like usual. It was a whole ordeal, and now he owed Danny something that would probably be outrageous, but it was worth it. Scott had never quite seen Stiles in action flirting before—aside from the occasional blurted-out compliments as Lydia passed by—but whatever he and Jay had going on sounded a lot like bullying. It was a bit concerning, but also highly entertaining, so much so that Scott also willingly paired up with Greenberg just to watch the chaos unfold.
Jay shrugged in response to Stiles' deadpan, putting a hand to his forehead to make a show of gazing up at the expansive wall. He leaned into Stiles' side to tease, "Maybe you should've asked someone else then because you're definitely gonna fall. You have weirdly sweaty hands—you'll slip right off and go splat!"
He stomped his foot on the wooden flooring of the gym to create the splat sound effect.
It made Scott and Allison laugh.
Stiles, however, only glared.
"You're gonna be the one going splat," Stiles scoffed with his own dramatic stomp sound effect, poking a finger into Jay's ribs to get him to jump. "Don't think I haven't noticed your weird twitching every time Coach mentioned the rock-climbing module this past week. James Hale—the supposed 'big bad scary werewolf'—is afraid of heights. Don't try to deflect or deny it, I see right through you!"
"You must be blind, then." Jay scowled, dropping his hand and trying to discreetly shake out the tingling feeling in his fingers from staring up at the huge rock wall (no, he wasn't exaggerating). The school had a little too much faith in a bunch of stupid teenagers sharing one brain cell to rig themselves up properly. But despite the pull of anxiety and immeasurable doubt he was feeling, he still rolled his eyes and puffed his chest out because if there was one thing he refused to do; it was back down to a challenge. "I'm not scared of heights. I could climb this in my sleep! It's a rock wall, not Mount Everest."
