Allison Argent

Allison had to go back to work and school tomorrow, and she was terrified.

Since the morning she'd woken up as a werewolf, Allison hadn't spoken to a soul. She'd skipped school and work, claiming she was sick, and stayed in her apartment, trying to get a grip on what was happening. She'd told no one, though she was fairly certain Stiles knew because of Derek, and anyone Stiles might have told.

She didn't actually care who knew, she just worried they would come try to check on her, and she wasn't going to see anyone until she had a grip on this...an anchor she could rely on.

Derek was the only person she'd seen, the only one she trusted. The wolf was angry, even hurting, making her half crazy as she fought the urge to go see Derek and Stiles, to find Scott or Melissa or the sheriff...she even had to stop herself from calling Newt or Kate, or go looking for Jason...

The wolf wanted pack, but most of her pack was human, and the rest (i.e., Scott), she wouldn't allow herself to hurt, no matter if it could be endured. She ached for them, a soul-deep hurt to seek them out and lose herself in the safety of being near them, but she couldn't trust herself not to lash out. She had no idea what she would do around people, and after that first night...no, Derek was her alpha. He could stop her, and as much as it rankled to be so dependent on anyone, just knowing he was there, a phone call or a howl away soothed her wolf enough to keep control.

But...she had to go back to work, and to school, and she had been struggling for two days to find her anchor. She didn't think it was inside her, but she was terrified to look beyond herself for anything. She couldn't even look to be her own anchor, because she was the one person in the world she absolutely did not trust.

Allison finally decided she had to try something, so she compromised with the two halves of herself: she went to the park.

It was relatively quiet, and being out under the open sky, with the grass and the trees, made the wolf happier. She could feel it, a knot loosening deep within as she breathed in the dirt and leaves, the scent of a gopher burrowing just below the earth and people halfway across the park, a mixture of soaps and colognes and individual bodies that made her a little bit sick if she focused too hard. That much she had discovered: she could dull her hearing if she wasn't concentrating too hard on any one thing, and if she regulated her breathing, she could handle the scents until she found one to focus on.

Finding a relatively deserted patch of grass under a large oak tree, Allison sat cross-legged on the grass, dressed for a workout in sneakers, black leggings, and a sports bra under a loose grey t-shirt with a wide collar that hung off one shoulder. Pulling her hair back off her neck into a messy knot atop her head, she settled in comfortably and looked around for a moment, taking in the people around her...distant, at least a few dozen yards all around, but there. The wolf didn't seem to mind...even when she pulled voices out of the crowd, honed in on the scent of citrus shampoo on the blonde man who was walking his dog, or the vanilla clinging to the two women pushing strollers along a paved path, the wolf was simply there, growling peevishly in the back of her mind and growing restless for pack once again.

So far, so good.

Shutting her eyes, Allison took a few deep breaths to center herself. She knew some very rudimentary meditation techniques, collected during her archery lessons over the years to improve focus and concentration. She'd added a few during her summer in France, and she was hoping a little discipline might help her get a handle on the wolf. If she couldn't find an anchor, then damn it, she was going to cage the bitch up.

And if she couldn't...then she was going to ask Derek to lock her up until he either did what she wanted, or...

Pushing that dark thought from her head, Allison focused on relaxing. She tried to still her thoughts, to find a calm place within filled with white noise and breath. Focusing, she allowed the world to narrow to just that: air in, air out, nothing but the beat of her heart and the draw of air into her lungs.

The twig snapped behind her, and it rang out like a shot in her ears.

Heart racing, she lost control and twisted around, rolling fluidly to a predator's crouch, claws buried in the dirt and coiled to spring. Her eyes were wild, lupine gold as her lips peeled back from her teeth in a low, warning growl as the wolf prepared to fight...and the girl fought as hard as she could to freeze, to wait, to see the threat before she ended up killing someone.

(Either find Allison during a lull in her meditation, or be the poor sucker that was unlucky enough to sneak up on her from behind. Either way, werewolf Allison is a werewolf. Tag, play, profit! Open until plot's end. :P)