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EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED

CHAPTER FOUR

OH THE LIES WE WEAVE

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"What do you mean you didn't tell Scott?" Stiles asked, pulling Meilani aside before she could make her way onto the lacrosse field. They were hidden by the girls' locker room where luckily no one was at the moment.

"You know those hunters I told you about?" Meilani asked and Stiles nodded in response. "Allison's father is one of them."

Stiles' eyes widened so big that Meilani thought his eyes were going to fall out of his head. "Allison's father?"

"Shot me. In the arm. I can't tell Scott. He finally found a girl that makes him happy and I can't ruin that for him by telling him that his girlfriend's father is hunting me because I'm a werewolf. It'll ruin everything," Meilani explained, running a hand through her hair which was starting to stick up everywhere from the amount of times she ran her hand through it that day in anxiety.

Stiles rubbed his face. "This just keeps getting better and better doesn't it?"

Meilani sighed and fiddled with her lacrosse stick. As much as she hated lying to her twin, keeping him in the dark would keep him safe. She didn't even know what was happening as of yet since the whole werewolf thing was still pretty new to her. Of course Scott would want to be there for her and help both her and Stiles out, but she just couldn't endanger her brother. Allison's father being a hunter only just made Meilani feel like she had to keep it from Scott even more. At least for now.

"I hate lying to him."

Stiles pulled Meilani towards him, hugging her tightly. "I know, babe, but don't worry, okay? We'll work this out together and then tell him once we have full details."

Meilani just nodded and took a minute to enjoy the feeling of being in Stiles' arms. "What would I do without you?"

"Probably die," Stiles joked, earning a playful shove from Meilani.

Picking up her lacrosse bag, Meilani grabbed Stiles' hand and began dragging him towards the field. "Let's go practice some lacrosse."

☾☽☾☽☾

Practice had been going pretty well so far. Finstock had the team do a few warm up drills at the beginning and then had them practice catching and throwing the ball back and forth. Now they were lined up, Jackson in front of the net acting as defense. They had to try and get around Jackson and throw the ball into the net.

Meilani was, of course, up first because she was the first line. Jackson was smirking at her from where he stood, practically taunting her. Just the sight of him made her blood boil but she tried to calm it down so she wouldn't do something she would regret.

Hearing Finstock blow his whistle, Meilani charged towards Jackson. When she went to spin around Jackson and throw the ball into the net, Jackson rammed into her which sent her flying to the ground with a heard thump.

Groaning, Meilani slowly pushed herself up as she started to lose control of her slowly rising anger and annoyance. She heard Finstock yelling at her that his dead grandmother could do better than that, which didn't help her spiking anger. He told her to run it again and she walked back over to the line, her eyes flashing yellow.

When Finstock blew the whistle a second time, Meilani charged at Jackson and when she got close enough she rammed him the way he did to her, just harder. He sailed through the air to the ground. Meilani fell to her knees as she felt her body starting to shift. She was trying to pull back her anger, but it was useless. Nothing was working.

Feeling arms go around her, she looked up to see Stiles, whose eyes widened at the sight of Meilani's yellow eyes. "Stiles, it's happening," she growled.

"Here?! Now?!" Stiles quickly looked around them, seeing Scott making his way over to them to check on his twin. Grabbing Meilani and pulling her up, he rushed the both of them over to the locker room. Once they were inside, Stiles silently thanked the Lord for making it empty of anyone but them two. "Babe?"

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Meilani yelled, looking up at Stiles with yellow eyes and her canines fully grown in.

Stiles cursed to himself before scrambling away from his rabid girlfriend. He kept his eyes up as he kept watch as Meilani jumped from the top of the lockers to get closer to him. Running around the locker room, Stiles was looking for something that he could use to get Meilani to transform back to her normal self.

Noticing a fire extinguisher, Stiles grabbed it and fumbled with the hose since his lacrosse gloves were still on. As Meilani jumped towards him to attack, he pulled the handle and the force of the blast sent Meilani back onto the bench behind her.

Letting go of the handle, Stiles was grateful to see that Meilani was herself again and not some rabid werewolf.

"Stiles... what happened?" Meilani whispered, feeling both confused and disoriented.

Stiles started to rip off his lacrosse gloves. "You tried to kill me," he explained and walked over, sitting in front of Meilani on the floor. "It's like I told you before. It's your pulse rising."

"That's lacrosse though. It's a pretty violent and physical sport if you haven't noticed," Meilani said, her heart finally back to its normal pace.

"Well it's going to be a lot more violent if you wind up killing someone on the field," Stiles countered. "You have to back out of the game on Saturday. You can't play first line."

Meilani went to try and fight back but Scott appeared in the doorway of the girls' locker room. "There you guys are. Are you okay, Mei?"

Meilani stole a glance from Stiles before looking towards her brother. "Yeah I'm fine. Jackson just kind of pissed me off I guess. Needed a minute to breathe."

"Oh good," Scott sighed in relief that his twin wasn't injured. "Coach called practice so we can head home."

Meilani nodded and stood up. "Uh yeah okay. I'll meet you both at the Jeep. Just have to grab my stuff."

Stiles leaned down to kiss Meilani. "It's going to be fine. Promise," he whispered to her before making his way to Scott.

Meilani watched as her boyfriend and brother left the locker room. She couldn't believe she had to give up the one thing she worked really hard to get. Yeah, her new wolf powers helped her a bit but she still got on the team and is finally able to prove to the guys she can play just as well, if not better, as them.

God this really sucks.

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Meilani laid in her bed, her face buried into her pillow. She's been sulking ever since Stiles had dropped he and Scott off home. It was bothering her still that she had to talk to Finstock the next day and withdraw herself from the first game of the season. It was just her luck that it would happen.

Hearing a knock on the door, Meilani pulled her face away from the pillow and looked over to see her mom standing in the doorway, her nurse's outfit on. Even in her scrubs her mom managed to look beautiful still. She envied her and Scott looked like their dad because Meilani would give anything to look like her mom. She had black curly hair, big brown eyes and a smile that could light up a whole town if it were possible.

"I have another late shift tonight, so you and Scott have to fend for yourselves," Melissa McCall told her daughter. "However, I have Saturday off to come to your first ever game."

Meilani groaned and buried her face back into her pillow. "No, mom, you can't."

"I can, and I will. What kind of mother would I be if I missed my baby girl's first ever lacrosse game?" Melissa asked, walking over to Meilani's bed. "One shift isn't going to break us, Lani. Not with all the overtime I've been doing."

Meilani just kept her face pressed into the pillow. She couldn't dare look at her mom because she knew if she did, she would break and not talk to Finstock in the morning like she promised Stiles she would. She hated that Stiles was right in the fact that she shouldn't play because she really could get someone hurt if she got angry enough. Hell, Jackson had almost got buried six feet under just because he pissed her off during practice. Games were a whole other ball park when it came to getting aggressive and rowdy.

Melissa gently lifted Meilani's head from the pillow so she could look at her. "Hey, what's wrong with your eyes? You look like you haven't slept in days."

Meilani relaxed because she thought for half a second that her wolf eyes had come out for whatever reason. "Oh, um, it's nothing. Just been stressed with making first line and school I guess."

"Just stress right? It's not like you're on drugs or anything right?" Melissa laughed, knowing fully well neither one of her children would ever do that kind of stuff.

"You mean like right now?" Meilani questioned, knowing it would freak her mom out.

Melissa crossed her arms and stared Meilani down. "Right now? Have you done drugs before?"

"Have you?" Meilani asked, earning an eye roll from Melissa as she caught onto her daughter's antics.

"Get some sleep," Melissa said, walking out of Meilani's room to go say goodbye to Scott before she left for work.

Meilani put her face back into her pillow, actually deciding to take her mom up on the whole sleeping thing. She could probably nap for a good hour or two before Scott came to bother her about being hungry and that he wanted to go out to eat.

However, just before Meilani could drift off, her Skype was going off with a call from Stiles. Pushing herself up from her bed, she walked over to the desk and sat down in front of her laptop before accepting Stiles' call.

Stiles spun around his chair and pretended to shoot Meilani with his plastic, green gun, the end flashing red and making an oddly warped version of a shooting sound.

Rolling her eyes at her boyfriend's antics, Meilani just decided to ignore what just happened. "So, what did you find out?"

"Well, you separated Jackson's shoulder," Stiles answered, not looking the least bit sorry about it either. If anything, Meilani thought he actually looked a mixture of proud and amazed that she had done that much damage to Jackson by just shouldering him to the ground.

"So he can't play in the game now?" Meilani asked, not believing that she could actually do that to someone. Being a wolf was still new to her and she didn't realize her strength until just now.

Stiles shrugged as he fiddled with the toy gun in his hand. "I don't know. Now they're counting on you to play in the game on Saturday."

Meilani sighed at Stiles' response. Now she really did have to play in the game, which she knew was making Stiles nervous. She was a little nervous too, but she was trusting herself to pull through and not wolf out. When Meilani looked up to say something to Stiles, she noticed he was frozen with a confused look on his face as he looked over her shoulder.

"What?"

Stiles unfroze, and he moved to type something to Meilani, not wanting to say it out loud.

It looks like someone is behind you

Meilani clicked on her box so it could enlarge to make herself bigger and Stiles smaller. She gasped when she saw a dark figure standing behind her. Before she could turn around, she was grabbed and pushed up against the wall. Noticing a leather jacket first, Meilani trailed her eyes up the intruder's arm to his face.

Derek Hale.

"I saw you on the field today," Derek snapped, holding Meilani in place with his arm against her throat. He didn't push hard enough for her not to breathe but hard enough to keep her in place.

"What are you talking about?!" Meilani's voice shook, which made her sound more scared than she was. She was more shocked than anything else that Derek was even able to get into her house without Scott knowing.

"You shifted in front of them," Derek seethed, pressing a little harder but still not hard enough to choke Meilani. "If they find out what you are, they find out about me. About all of us. It won't just be the hunters after us. It'll be everyone."

Meilani tried to struggle against Derek's hold but he was too strong for her to move more than a few inches. "No one saw anything, I swear!"

"And they won't because if you even try to play in that game on Saturday, I will personally destroy you myself," Derek warned, shoving Meilani against the wall and exiting her room.

Meilani blinked and he was gone. He was like a werewolf with vampire speed or something. She dropped down to the ground, sitting against the wall. She was really starting to see this werewolf thing becoming more and more of a problem.

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Finstock laughed as Meilani and Stiles followed after him into his office. Meilani had tried to tell Stiles she could talk to Finstock alone, but he wanted to be there for moral support. "What do you mean you can't play in the game tomorrow night?"

"Exactly what it means, Coach. I can't play tomorrow night," Meilani replied, not knowing how else to make it clear to Finstock that she wasn't going to be playing. She kind of liked being alive and if she played, Derek would be after her ass. Meilani also knew it was the right thing to do since she still didn't know how to control the changes just yet being a new werewolf and all. Even with Jackson being out for the game, it was something she couldn't allow to happen and possibly endanger others.

"You can't wait to play the game tomorrow night," Finstock corrected, crossing his arms and sitting on the edge of his desk as he faced the couple in front of him.

"Coach, Lani really shouldn't play tomorrow night," Stiles spoke up, trying to help his girlfriend get through Finstock's thick skull.

"I'm not following," Finstock said, looking at the two as if they were crazy.

Meilani sighed, trying to think of how to tell Finstock it was a horrible time without telling him she was a werewolf. That would go over really well. He'd probably laugh in her face and tell her she was crazy. If only he knew. "I'm just... having some personal issues."

"Personal issues?" Finstock questioned, side eyeing Stiles. "What? Are you pregnant?"

Meilani gaped at Finstock. Who even asks that kind of question? She shared a look with Stiles before turning to Finstock and replying, "What? NO! I wouldn't be playing lacrosse if I was, Coach. It's too physical unless you forgot."

Finstock nodded, as if agreeing his suggestion was absolutely mad, which it was. "Is it drugs then? Are you doing meth? Cause I had a brother who was addicted to meth. You should have seen what it was doing to his teeth. It was disgusting."

Meilani rolled her eyes, first it was her mom asking if she was doing drugs and now Coach too? Did she really look like someone who would do drugs recklessly like that? "I'm not doing meth, Finstock. Never have and never will."

"Then what is this about?" Finstock asked, trying to figure out why one of his best players were trying to bail on him.

"I'm having some problems with aggression," Meilani replied, praying to whatever god was out there that it would get Finstock off her back.

"Well, here's some good news!" Finstock stated, leaning forward. "That's why you play lacrosse. Problem solved."

Meilani groaned as she began to become frustrated with Finstock. This guy really didn't know how to give up did he? She couldn't play tomorrow. She just couldn't. It probably wouldn't end well for anyone to be honest.

"Coach, she really can't play tomorrow," Stiles butt in so Meilani wouldn't have to repeat herself for another time. He could see her getting frustrated and he didn't need her going wolf on Finstock. He wouldn't know how to lie their way out of that one and Stiles is usually good with bullshitting his way out of anything.

"Look, kids," Finstock leaned off his desk and moved closer to the two. "The whole part of being first line is playing no matter what happens. If Meilani can't do that then I'll have to bench her until she's ready to take on the commitment."

Meilani's eyes widened at Finstock's warning. He had to be joking right? "You would really bench me for not playing in the game tomorrow?"

"McCall, play the game!" Finstock said with finality before walking out of his office, leaving Meilani and Stiles behind.

Meilani turned as she watched Finstock retreat into the locker room where his office was attached and exited. "I'm a dead wolf."

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Meilani strolled through the halls to her first class. She was upset that her talk with Finstock didn't go so well. Now she had to play tomorrow and she wouldn't care about playing if Derek wasn't going to be up her ass about it. She would just have to figure out how to control herself on the field so she wouldn't wolf out on anyone.

Seeing Allison across the hall, she smiled at the girl as she approached. "Hey, Al."

"Hey, I was looking for you, but Scott said you were in a meeting with Coach. Is everything okay?" Allison asked, concerned that the girl would be in trouble for what had happened at practice the other day.

"Oh yeah it's cool. He just wanted to give me a pep talk for tomorrow's game," Meilani lied swiftly.

Allison grinned, happy that everything was okay for the other girl. "Oh good! So, I'm coming to your game tomorrow. I'll get to see you in action. Plus, we're all going to go out after. It'll be a triple date with your brother, Lydia, Jackson and me."

Meilani inwardly groaned. It was bad enough she had to deal with Jackson during practice, now she had to spend even more time with him. "Sounds great. I can't wait to tell Stiles."

"I have to get to French, but I'll see you at lunch okay?" Allison said, before walking away to her classroom.

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"So why is there a rumor that you're not playing tomorrow night?" Lydia questioned Meilani, blocking her entrance to the classroom.

"Because kids like to talk?" Meilani tried, hoping it would get Lydia off her back.

"Well, you better play. Jackson's not going to be playing at his peak potential because of the accident. I think you owe it to him to lead the team since you broke him by barreling into him at practice," Lydia stated, crossing her arms.

Meilani scoffed and placed her hands on her hips. "Your boyfriend barreled into me, Lydia. He broke himself. Not my fault he doesn't know how to handle a hit."

"See, I'm dating the captain of the winning lacrosse team. If they start off by losing, then I'll be dating the captain of the losing lacrosse team. I don't date losers."

Meilani couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips. "Losing one game won't kill anyone. You can't win everything you know."

"Well, if you don't play I guess we'll still win anyways. Jackson can prove that he deserves to be captain just like always," Lydia gave Meilani a fake sweet smile.

Mr. Harrison, the girls' science teacher, stopped in front of them. "Ladies, you can solve your problems later. We have a class to start."

"I wish I could solve my problems later. I can barely solve them now," Meilani mumbled before brushing past Lydia into the classroom.

☾☽☾☽☾

Stiles ran over to Meilani who was currently at her locker before dragging her away towards the stairs. "Stiles, what are you doing?"

"Tell me what they're saying," Stiles ordered, pointing his dad talking to their principal.

Meilani glanced at Stiles who gave her a come-on-just-do-it look. Turning her attention to Mr. Stilinski, she focused her ears on the conversation.

"We need you to make an announcement over the system saying we're effecting a curfew immediately. Everyone must be in their homes by nine o'clock every night," Mr. Stilinski said to the principal who was nodding his head in understanding.

Meilani turned away from Mr. Stilinski and over to her eager boyfriend. "They set up a curfew. Probably because of the body they found in the woods."

"Unbelievable. My dad is out looking for a rabid animal while the jerk off who actually did it is just hanging out. Doing whatever he wants. Infecting my girlfriend," Stiles ranted.

"We can't exactly tell your dad about Derek," Meilani reminded, leaning against the wall behind her.

"No, but I can do something," Stiles countered, looking determined to do whatever it took to get Derek behind bars.

Meilani gave Stiles a look. "Like what, Stiles? There's nothing either one of us can do."

"Like finding the other half of the body," Stiles replied before rushing off down the hall. Not giving Meilani any time to argue that he was being a real idiot by doing that.

Scott walked up to Meilani. "Hey, Mei. Why do you look like you want to kill Stiles?"

"Because he-" Meilani cut off her sentence when she noticed her brother wearing the jacket he wore to the party at Lydia's. How was that even possible? It was hanging in the woods on a tree branch. How could he have possibly gotten it? Unless-

"Scott, where'd you get your jacket? I thought you lost it at the party."

Scott glanced at the jacket as if he forgot he was wearing it. "Oh, it was in my locker. I thought you or Stiles put it in there."

"Did Stiles say he put it in there or did you just assume?" Meilani asked, starting to freak out. Derek Hale was in their school. He was in her twin's locker. God knows what else he could have done if he was able to get into their school.

"How much did you talk to Derek on the way to the house?" Meilani questioned, failing at hiding her growing anxiety.

Scott stared at Meilani oddly. "Uh, not much. It was mostly quiet," he responded. "Mei, is something going on?"

"I have to go," Meilani rushed out before running out of the school.

She needed to talk to Derek. Now.

AUTHORS NOTE

originally posted: december 2017

edited: june 2019