Stiles thought he was getting better at controlling himself, but of course, just his luck, some klutz had to fall down when they were running a mile.

He had right behind him, being extra careful not to use his vampire speed by mistake.

He could smell the blood before the boy even got up.

When Scott spotted his friend, he knew exactly what was happening, taking stock of Stiles' dark gaze fixating on the boy as he got up.

There was a cut on one of his palms and he'd scraped both knees, blood dripping from all three wounds.

Stiles tightened his jaw, doing everything in his power to prevent his fangs from extending. He was getting so close to losing it.

Scott immediately came to Stiles side.

Stiles hardly even registered what was happening around him outside of the fresh human blood that was calling to him. He heard Scott make up some bullshit about the sight of blood making Stiles sick and needing to take him to the nurse.

He let himself be led inside, eventually sitting down on a bench in the locker room. Scott knelt down on the floor in front of the vampire.

"Hey man, are you okay?" Scott asked.

It took Stiles a moment to reply, now looking at Scott with the same dark, hungry gaze from before, his senses now focusing on the alpha.

"You should go," Stiles panted heavily, tips of fangs showing from under his top lip as he spoke.

He didn't even look his best friend in the eyes, instead he was stuck staring at his throat. He gripped the sides of the benches beside him tightly with his hands, trying his best to restrain himself. This worked for a little while, until he accidentally did it too hard, causing a piece of the bench to break off in his right hand.

"It's okay, just breathe," Scott said.

Stiles took deep breaths, inhaling his friend's scent. It wasn't helping.

Scott took out his phone and began texting.

"What are you doing?" Stiles asked, concerned.

"Calling for backup," Scott replied, not looking up from his phone.

Stiles shook his head vigorously.

"No, no, don't do that. Just go," he said. He didn't want anyone in the Pack to see him like that, nor did he want to put any of them in danger. He'd already done enough damage.

Scott looked up Stiles, placing a hand on his knee gently.

"Do you trust me?" he asked.

Stiles clenched his jaw and exhaled through his nose as he nodded sheepishly.

After a few minutes of Scott unhelpfully reminding Stiles to stay in control as if he wasn't trying, the door to the locker room opened.

Stiles head shot up to look at the person entering. It was Theo.

"Seriously, Scott? What do you - Stiles?" he said, his tone immediately shifting as he noticed the distressed vampire.

Theo ran forward toward Stiles, Scott getting up and stepping aside to make room for Theo.

"Stiles are you okay?" Theo asked frantically.

"Both of you...get out of here," Stiles warned.

Theo shook his head.

He placed a hand on Stiles' face. Despite the words "both of you", the chimera immediately forgot about Scott's presence, already feeling as if it were just the two of them in there.

"Stiles, it's okay," Theo said softly.

Stiles shook his head.

"No, no..." he said.

"Shhhhhh, I'm here. I️ got you. I'm here," Theo replied.

Stiles gaze went to Theo's neck and then up to his eyes, those soft, beautiful, green eyes.

He exhaled as his fangs retracted.

Stiles nodded slowly.

"I'm okay," he said, beginning to feel like himself again.

Theo sat down next to Stiles on the unscathed side of the bench.

Stiles turned to Theo, and the two just looked at each other for a while.

Scott studied the pair curiously before clearing his throat, reminding them of his presence that they had clearly entirely forgotten about.

"I'll give you two a minute," he said before stepping out.

~~~~~~~

Scott went to Deaton's by myself after school. He didn't tell anyone about it, not wanting any of the Pack members knowing about what he was investigating.

When he got to the vet's office, he asked the man a question. "Can vampires have anchors?"