The Alpha's Keeper

The Championship Game

Well guess what? Jackson has been at lacrosse practice as if nothing has happened. And that means he's going to be at the championship game tonight. Fantastic! Which means something terrible is going to happen. I decided to skip the Independence Day speech that I know Coach gives every year – it's the only one he knows – in favor for the stands. I sat in the bleachers, watching and waiting. I was so tense, it felt like the theoretical fur on my back was bristling. When the players came out onto the field, Coach immediately put Scott on the bench. One of his star players was being benched during the biggest game of the year – and the deadliest. I couldn't help but have a feeling Gerard had something to do with it.

I maneuvered myself down from the rest of the crowd to where Stiles sat next to Scott on the bench. "Hey, is your dad coming?" I asked Stiles, squeezing between him and another player. That player instantly scooted over to give me some room. "Yeah, he's already here." Stiles told me, pointing to where Sheriff Stilinski was climbing into the bleachers. "You see Allison?" Scott asked as he scanned to crowd for her. "No. You see Lydia?" Stiles replied, searching for the redhead. "Not yet." I replied, helping them search the crowd. "You know what's going on?" I asked my brother. "Not yet." He repeated with a heavy sigh. "It's going to be bad, isn't it?" Stiles asked, the fear and anticipation clear in his dark eyes. "I mean, like people screaming, running for their lives, blood, killing, maiming kind of bad?" he finished, scaring himself even more. "Looks like it." Scott replied just as I said, "Probably". "Guys," Stiles started, his voice heavy. "The other night, seeing my dad get hit over the head by Matt, you know, while I'm just lying there and I can't even move, it just – I want to help, you know? But I can't do the things you can do. I can't..." Stiles trailed off, shaking his head. "It's okay." I insisted, wrapping an arm around Stiles' shoulders. "We're losing, dude." Stiles sighed.

"The hell are you talking about?" Coach snapped, making all of us snap to attention. "Game hasn't even started. Now put on your helmet and get out there. You're in for Greenburg." Coach insisted, gesturing to the field. "What? What happened to Greenburg?" Stiles asked, confused and slightly dazed as he grabbed his helmet. "What happened to Greenburg? He sucks. You suck slightly less." Coach informed. "I'm playing? On the field? With the team?" Stiles asked, getting to his feet and almost bouncing in his skin with excitement. "Yes, unless you'd rather play with yourself." Coach snapped as a joke. "I already did that today, twice." Stiles said, completely unaware that his verbal filter was off. "Get the hell out there!" Coach shouted in annoyance. Stiles nodded and ran onto the field with the rest of the team. "Well, I guess we can always take one good thing from tonight." I started, bumping my shoulder with Scott's. "What's that?" he asked with a small smile. "Stiles finally gets to play." I told him just as I heard Sheriff Stilinski shout out with pride and shock.

"Scott, Evelyn, can you hear me?" Gerard's voice raked against my heightened hearing. I glanced at Scott who nodded before we turned our gaze onto Gerard at the edge of the bleachers. "Ah, you can. Good. Then listen closely because the game is about to get interesting." Gerard told us. I let my gaze flicker to the field where I saw the starting position breaking, signaling the start of the game. "Let's put a real clock on this game. I'll give you until the last 30 seconds. When that scoreboard clock begins counting down from 30, if you haven't given me Derek, then Jackson is gonna kill someone." Gerard told us from over the distance.

"So tell me, who's gonna die tonight? Should it be your mother, who so bravely came out to support you?" Gerard asked. I glanced back at my mother whose eyes were locked on the field. "Or the sheriff, your best friend's father?" he continued, making me look at Sheriff Stilinski. His eyes were filled with pride for Stiles. "Or how about the pretty little redhead who managed to survive the bit of an alpha?" My eyes snapped to Lydia who was cheering on Jackson, completely oblivious to the danger surrounding us. "Or maybe one of these innocent teenagers with their whole life ahead of them?" I looked around at all the players on the field and their friends in the crowd. People were going to die tonight – people who never got to live. "Or should I do everyone a favor and kill that ridiculous coach?" My eyes snapped to Coach who was watching his players and yelling out at them.

"Or how about you, Evelyn? Would you sacrifice yourself for your boyfriend? It's up to the two of you. But you are going to help me take Derek down. Because if you don't... I'll have Jackson rip someone's head off right in the middle of the field and drench everyone you love and care about in blood." He finished. I felt myself shaking as fear and panic built up inside me. I barely noticed Scott try to get on the field only to be rejected. Everyone around me could die tonight and what could I do? absolutely nothing. "You came to help." Scott's voice called out in surprise. I looked up to see Isaac wearing his gear with a wide, cocky smile. "I came to win." He said with a cocky smirk. "Oh!" he started as if he forgot something. "And Derek sends his love." He added to me with a wink. I couldn't help but smile. Isaac started talking with Scott while I thought of where Derek could possibly be. In my thinking, my gaze went to Gerard and my smile fell. He smirked knowingly at me and a shiver ran up my spine.

Isaac was put in but was quickly taken out by Jackson after taking a few of his teammates with him. "He said it's not broken." Scott told me when he came back to the bench and the EMTs carried Isaac away. "But he can't move it. He thinks Jackson nicked him." I groaned, letting my head fall into my hands. "You want to play chess, Scott? Then you better be willing to sacrifice your own pawns." Gerard said from the other side of the bleachers. "McCall." Coach snapped. "Either you're in or we forfeit." Coach said. Scott nodded and I quickly moved up the bleachers to my mother. Her worried expression made me feel even more grim. "Hey, something's happening, isn't it? Something much more than a lacrosse game?" she asked me when I finally reached her. "You should go." I insisted, glancing back at the game. "Oh, I'm not going anywhere. And everything that I said before, forget it. All of it. Okay? If you can do something to help, then you do it. You have to." she told me adimately, grabbing my hands and giving them a squeeze. "I will." I promised her. She smiled sadly and nodded. "I'm so sorry, honey." She told me. I nodded, a knot forming in my throat.

"Don't you know what you're really bargaining for, Scott?" I heard Gerard's voice. My head snapped in his direction but he didn't notice me because his eyes were on the field. "Haven't you guessed what the real offer on the table is? It's Allison." Gerard said, making my stomach drop. There was nothing Scott wanted more than Allison. "I'ts always been Allison. You give me Derek, and I'll let you have Allison." Gerard insisted. "Eve?" Mom called, snapping my attention back to her. "Mom, I know you don't want to leave but promise me you'll stay near Sheriff Stilinski. I have to go." I told her. She nodded, letting me go. "Scott." I called out, knowing he could hear me as I moved behind the bleachers. "Evie, what is it?" he asked me, worry in his voice. "I have to leave. I think I know where he is." I told my brother as I kicked myself for not thinking of this sooner. I should have known where he was this whole time. "Be careful." I heard Scott's voice before I disappeared into the woods.