Sheriff Stilinski arrives at the home base for a search party in the woods at night. There are already other officers on the scene, and at least one K9 unit. The officers sweep the through the trees.

 

Scott McCall is in his room, lacing up his lacrosse stick. After he's satisfied, he does some chin-ups on the bar above his bathroom door and gets ready for bed. While brushing his teeth, he hears a suspicious sound outside the house. Scott quickly gets dressed, grabs a bat, and goes out on the porch to investigate. He hears another sound, and then suddenly his best friend, Stiles flops over the edge of the porch roof upside down. They both scream in terror, and Scott nearly beats Stiles before realizing that it's him. Stiles complains that Scott wasn't answering his phone and demands to know why Scott has a bat. "I thought you were a predator." Stiles lets this go on account of how stupid it sounds.

 

Instead, he tells Scott that every officer and even some state police have been called in to investigate a body that two joggers found in the woods. Stiles drops down from the roof, and Scott asks him if the body was dead. "No, a body of water. Yes, dumbass, a dead body." Scott is confused as to what the police are looking for if they already found a body, and Stiles can barely contain his excitement at telling him that they only found half of a young woman in her twenties. He declares that they're going to check it out.

 

Stiles drives them to Beacon Hills Preserve. Scott and Stiles argue about the wisdom of being out there, with Scott complaining that he wanted to get a good night's sleep before lacrosse practice the next day. Scott has decided that he's playing first line next year instead of being relegated to the bench. Stiles tells him that everyone should have dreams, "even a pathetically unrealistic one." Scott lets Stiles's cynicism slide. Instead, he asks which half of the body they're out there looking for and what they'll do if they run into the killer. Stiles admits to not having thought about either of these things, apparently a common enough character flaw that Scott isn't surprised.

 

As they climb a hill, Scott starts to have an asthma attack and takes out his inhaler. The boys throw themselves to the ground and spot the police officers in the distance. Stiles is overjoyed that they've found the action and takes off, leaving Scott, who is still wheezing. Scott hurries after him, and they both run through the woods. Stiles finally stops when Scott calls his name, and then he falls to the ground in terror as a police dog barks at him. The dog's partner tells Stiles to stay where he is, but the Sheriff is there and tells his man to stand down.

 

The Sheriff asks if Stiles listens in on all his phone calls, and Stiles replies, "No. Well, not the boring ones." Sheriff Stilinski also asks where Scott is, but Stiles covers for him and tells his father that Scott is at home sleeping. The Sheriff doesn't believe this and calls out for Scott anyway. Scott hides himself behind a tree, and eventually the Sheriff decides to walk his son back to his car, where they will have a talk about invasion of privacy. This is unfortunate for Scott, because if Stiles is forced to drive away, then he won't have a ride back home. Helpfully, it starts to rain.

 

With no alternative, Scott starts wandering through the preserve. It's unclear if he's attempting to get back to Stiles's car or not. He does, however, hear strange sounds in the woods. When he stops to use his inhaler, a herd of deer come thundering out of the darkness. Scott loses his inhaler as he falls to the ground and tries not to get trampled. After the herd is gone, Scott uses his cell phone as a flashlight to look for his inhaler, but instead finds the top half of the murder victim. Startled, he stumbles back and falls down the hill. At the bottom, he gets to his feet but doesn't get very far before he hears growling behind him. Something large, black, and with glowing yellow eyes attacks him. It knocks Scott to the ground, bites him, and lets him go. 

 

Scott runs, clamoring through the woods, and stumbles onto a road into the path of an oncoming car. The SUV swerves to avoid him and continues on. Panting, Scott lifts his shirt to examine the bleeding bite wound on his right abdomen and then looks mournfully up the road as the rain comes down more heavily. 

 

The next day, Scott arrives at school on a bicycle. As he's taking off his helmet, Jackson Whittemore pulls up in his Porsche and parks next to him. Jackson opens his door into Scott and then admonishes him to "watch the paint job." Jackson's friends call to him, and he walks away, shooting Scott threatening looks. Scott doesn't reply.

 

When he meets up with Stiles, Stiles asks to see the bite mark from the previous night. Scott pulls up his shirt to reveal a bloody gauze pad. Stiles is impressed but keeps himself from touching. Scott tells him he thinks a wolf bit him, but Stiles just laughs. He informs Scott that he couldn't have been bitten by a wolf or heard a wolf howling because California hasn't had wolves in sixty years. Scott tells him that if he doesn't believe him about the wolves, he's really not going to believe that he found the body. Stiles flails a little and is pleased and excited by this news. He claims it will be the best thing that's happened to Beacon Hills since "the birth of Lydia Martin." Stiles says hi to her as she walks past, but she does not acknowledge him.

 

Stiles accuses Scott of dragging him down to his nerd depths and making them both unpopular. "I'm a nerd by association. I've been scarlet nerded by you." 

 

School starts, and we next see Scott and Stiles in English class. Their teacher writes "Kafka's Metamorphosis" on the board as he talks a bit about the body found in the woods. Mostly, he tells them that the police have a suspect, so they can stop inventing scenarios on their own and focus on the syllabus in front of them. Groans rise from the students, and then Scott flinches at the sound of a cell phone ringing. He looks around for the source, but doesn't see anyone with a phone out nearby. When Scott glances out the window, he sees a girl near the parking lot on a bench with a phone pressed to her ear. She tells her mother than calling three times on the first day is overdoing it, and then she complains that she forgot to bring a pen. 

 

The girl hangs up her phone, but Scott can still hear her conversation with the vice principal as they enter the school building. She explains that she's not from San Francisco but lived there for over a year before coming to Beacon Hills. Scott tracks their conversation through the wall and watches as the girl is led into the classroom. Her heart beat is loud in his ears. The girl is introduced as Allison Argent. She sits down behind Scott, and without saying anything to her he turns and offers her a pen. She gives him a curious look and a smile, but when he turns away, she is clearly confused about how he knew she didn't have one.

 

After class, Scott watches Allison when she goes to her locker. She smiles at him, but he fails to smile back. Before either of them can do anything further, Lydia approaches Allison and compliments her on her jacket. Allison explains that her mother was a buyer for a fashion boutique in San Francisco. Lydia declares Allison her new best friend. Jackson comes over to give Lydia a kiss.

 

A girl who knows Stiles and Scott asks them how Allison is already hanging with Lydia and her friends. "Because she's hot," Stiles replies. "Beautiful people herd together."

 

Lydia and Jackson invite Allison to a party on Friday night, but she demurs saying it's family night on Friday. Jackson asks if she's sure she doesn't want to come, because everyone on the team is going after the scrimmage. Allison asks if he means football, and Jackson tries not to laugh at her as he tells her that the sport at Beacon Hills is lacrosse.  Jackson brags that they've won the state championship for the last three years. Lydia implies that this is all Jackson's doing, since he is team captain.

 

If Lydia merely meant that Jackson is continuing the winning tradition, he could be a sophomore like everyone else, meaning he was made captain his freshman year, in order for this to have become such a part of his identity.

 

Lydia and Jackson bring Allison with them to lacrosse practice, but Allison gives Scott a smile as she walks away. 

 

At practice, Stiles confronts the actual possibility that Scott will get to play this year and asks if Scott would really abandon him. Scott insists that his whole life is sitting on the sidelines and he's done with it. He notices Allison climbing onto the bleachers and gets lost in smiling at her. Coach Bobby Finstock shocks Scott back to the present and tells him he's playing goalie. "I've never played." "I know. Scoring some shots will give the boys a confidence boost." Scott asks about himself, and Coach advises him to try not to take any in the face. 

 

Scott takes his place in the goal and tries to make himself ready. He hears Allison ask Lydia who he is, and Lydia responds that she isn't sure. Allison says she was asking because she recognized him from English. Scott has been using his super-hearing to listen in on their conversation, so when a coach blows the whistle, he is overwhelmed by the sound. Scott grabs his head in pain, and while he's struggling one of the players launches a ball at him. It hits him squarely in the face cage, knocking him over. Even Coach Bobby Finstock laughs.

 

Another player shoots, but this time Scott catches the ball effortlessly. He's stunned, and the rest of the team shows a bit of surprise as well. Stiles makes a proud call from the sidelines, and the Coach takes an interest. Scott catches every ball thrown at him. "He seems like he's pretty good," Allison comments, and Lydia agrees. Scott smiles, bouncing in place.

 

Jackson cuts in line, clearly done with this upstart of a nobody. He runs and shoots, and Scott catches that one as well. Stiles leaps to his feet, cheering. Even Lydia gets up and cheers, much to Jackson's annoyance. 

 

Scott twirls the lacrosse stick behind his back and passes the ball over his shoulder to one of the coaches. 

 

Later in the Beacon Hills Preserve, Scott tries to explain to Stiles what happened at practice. It felt like he had all the time in the world to catch the ball. He explains that he can hear things he shouldn't be able to and smell things. "Smell things. Like what?" Stiles asks, unimpressed. "Like the mint mojito gum in your pocket," Scott replies. Stiles is about to tell him that he doesn't have any gum when he finds a single stick and shoots Scott a look. 

 

Scott suggests that maybe he's got an infection and these weird powers are the result of his body flooding with adrenaline. Stiles tells him that he thinks it's a specific kind of infection. "I think it's called lycanthropy." "What's that, is that bad?" "Yeah, it's the worst, but only once a month." Stiles makes a howling sound, and Scott finally realizes that he's jerking him around about being a werewolf. Stiles continues to make jokes, commenting that if Scott catches him melting silver in shop class it's because Friday is a full moon.

 

Scott comes to a stop where he remembers the body being, but there's nothing there. Stiles suggests that maybe the killer moved the body, and Scott hopes he left the inhaler because they're $80.

 

Suddenly, a young man in a black leather jacket is standing in the woods with them. Stiles notices the newcomer first and smacks Scott to get his attention. The man approaches them and demands to know what they're doing there. "This is private property," he says. Stiles looks guilty and apologizes. Scott starts to say that they were looking for something, and the stranger throws his inhaler back to him and then stalks away. Stiles then turns to Scott and tells him that that was Derek Hale, who is a few years older than they are. "His family, they all burned to death in a fire like ten years ago," Stiles says. Scott wonders why Derek is back.

 

Scott leaves the woods and goes to work at the Beacon Hills Animal Clinic. After his shift, he locks up and goes to clean his bite wound. The wound, however, has healed. Stunned, Scott tries to finish his duties around the clinic, but the cats freak out in his presence. They hiss and snarl and try to swipe at him through their cages. Scott hurries out of the room, only to hear frantic knocking on the door.

 

Allison is standing out in the rain, and when Scott opens the door she starts crying and explaining that she only took her eyes off the road for a second but a dog ran out in front of her. Scott tries to calm her down and offers to get animal control to go pick up the dog. She tells him that she has the dog in her car, and they go out to get it. When Allison opens the hatchback, the dog barks at her, but Scott tells her that it's is just frightened. "That makes two of us," Allison replies. Scott attempts to approach the dog, and as he looks into its eyes, his own eyes glow gold for the first time. The dog immediately submits, and Scott is able to bring her inside.

 

The dog's leg is broken, but Scott has observed enough that he can set a splint himself. Scott notices that Allison is cold from being in the rain and offers her his shirt. She tries to demur, but he hands it to her anyway. She leaves the room to change, but Scott watches her through the glass door as she switches shirts. The dog seems to give him some attitude, and Scott tells her defensively that he didn't see anything. 

 

Scott is done with the split when Allison comes back, and she thanks him again for staying late to do this. She says she feels stupid for freaking out "like a total girl." Scott replies that she is a girl, but she meant "a girly girl, and I'm not a girly girl." "What kind of girl are you?" "Tougher than that. At least I thought I was." Scott admits that he'd be pretty shaken up, too, and would probably cry "like the biggest girly girl ever," which makes Allison laugh. Scott is adorable, and Allison lets herself find him cute. Scott suggests she pet the dog, and while she does, he watches her. Allison has an eyelash on her cheek, and Scott takes the opportunity to touch her face. The give each other interested, embarrassed glances.

 

As Allison is leaving, Scott gets the courage to ask her if it's really family night on Friday or if she'll go to the party with him. She admits that it was a lie and says that she'll go.

 

Scott flops down on his bed that night happy, even a little blown away that Allison seems to like him. He falls asleep and wakes up in a pile of leaves. He's in a cave by the river somewhere in the preserve. Scott seems more bewildered at finding himself in the woods than freaked out and starts wandering toward home. The woods are foggy, but he sees the outline of the beast that bit him in the distance. Scott starts to run, but the creature keeps pace with him. 

 

Scott vaults a white picket fence and lands in someone's pool. He comes to the surface to find the homeowner staring at him, slackjawed. 

 

Later, at school, Jackson confronts Scott at his locker. "How about you tell me where you're gettin' your juice?" Scott gives him a dumb look and doesn't know what he's talking about. "My mom does all the grocery shopping," he says, and Jackson looks at him like he's a moron. Jackson demands to know who Scott's dealer is, and Scott finally realizes that he think he's taking steroids. Jackson wants to know what's going on with him, and Scott enthusiastically agrees that he'd like to know what the hell is going on too and lists out all the weird things that have been happening lately. Jackson smirks at him and vows to find out what Scott is hiding.

 

At the game, Stiles runs up to Scott to give him a report on the fiber analysis from the crime scene. "They found animal hairs on the body from the woods." Scott has to join the team on the field and hurries away without letting Stiles finish telling him that the hairs were from a wolf. 

 

The players all gather around Coach Finstock, who tells them that if they don't make the cut they're sitting on the bench for the rest of the season. If they make the cut, "You play. Your parents are proud. Your girlfriend loves you! Everything else is cream cheese." As they start to play, Jackson makes it a point to knock Scott down and get in his way. Scott gets angry, and his anger seems to sharpen his abilities. He's faster than the other players and weaves around them like he's dancing. He does a backflip over a line of players to make a scoring shot, and everyone but Jackson and Stiles cheer. Nearly all of Jackson's self-worth is tied up in being the Cyclones team captain, and Scott is suddenly a serious threat. 

 

Coach Finstock calls Scott over and demands to know what he thinks he's doing pulling gymnastics moves on the lacrosse field. Scott defends himself by saying that he was just trying to make the shot, and Coach smiles at him, telling him that he's made first line. 

 

Stiles watches all of this with more concern than joy. After he gets home, he dedicates himself to researching werewolves in earnest. He googles lycaon, wolfsbane, and silver bullets among other things. Scott knocks on the door, and Stiles hurries him in, explaining that he's been up all night researching. Scott grins at him and asks how much Adderall he's had today, implying that Stiles has ADHD. "A lot. Doesn't matter." Scott asks if this is about the body in woods, and Stiles tells him that the police are still questioning people, even Derek. Scott still doesn't understand why he's here. "Remember the jokes from the other day? Not a joke anymore. The wolf, the bite in the woods." Stiles tries to show him his research, but Scott is annoyed with what he considers Stiles's foolishness. He says he's picking up Allison in an hour. 

 

Stiles insists that people can't just suddenly do what he saw Scott do on the field. "Don't even think that I didn't notice that you don't need your inhaler anymore." Scott argues that he can't deal with this craziness tonight. His life is finally going right and he has a date with a girl who he can't believe wants to go out with him. "Why are you trying to ruin it?" he asks Stiles. Stiles replies that he's trying to help, because tonight is the full moon. He explains, defeatedly, that Scott's bloodlust will be at its peak during the full moon. 

 

Scott can't believe what he's hearing, but Stiles presses on, insisting that Scott cancel his date because Allison "raises his pulse" and that's one of the things that can bring on the change. Stiles rifles through Scott's bag for his phone to cancel the date, and Scott grabs him. He throws Stiles against the wall and then knocks over his chair in anger. After a second, his anger recedes, and he's embarrassed at his violence. Scott apologizes and gets his things. The air is tense between them, and Scott apologizes a second time, but Stiles hasn't moved from where Scott threw him against the wall.

 

After Scott leaves, Stiles picks up his chair and stares at the slash marks across the back.

 

Scott's showered and is getting ready to pick up Allison when his mom comes by to ask him if this is a party or a date. "Maybe both," he admits. Mrs. McCall is pleased to hear that her son has a date, and she hands him the car keys. "We don't have to have a talk, do we?" And Scott tells her that he's not having a safe sex talk with her. "Oh my God, no, I meant about keeping the tank full." She demands her keys back, and Scott cannot believe his life right now.

 

Mrs. McCall relents, because Scott pulls up to Allison's house in a sedan.

 

The party is at Lydia's house, and Scott and Allison head outside to the pool area. Scott catches sight of Derek Hale being a creeper at the dark edge of the yard by the back gate. Scott stares back at him, but when Allison gets Scott's attention, Derek takes the opportunity to vanish. Allison reaches for Scott's hand, and they start dancing together.

 

While they dance, Scott sees Lydia and Jackson making out. Lydia keep watching him, and this seems to give Scott some ideas. He gets close to kissing Allison, but his racing pulse starts forcing a transformation. He's in pain and feeling sick and tells Allison he has to go but he'll be right back. He stumbles through the house. Stiles spots him and asks him if he's okay, but Scott ignores him and heads for his car. His vision is doubled and blurry, and he appears to itch everywhere.

 

Allison follows Scott out of the house, but she doesn't catch him before he gets in his car and drives away. Derek introduces himself as a friend of Scott's and offers to drive her home.

 

Scott manages to get home safely and into his room. He's sweaty, and the moon looms impossibly large outside his window. He puts himself in the tub and turns on the cold water, trying to cool down and calm down, but everything still hurts. He watches his fingers shift into claws and then looks in the mirror to watch his teeth enlongate into fangs. His eyes glow gold.

 

Stiles knocks on the door, but Scott won't let him in. Scott tells him he needs to find Allison, but Stiles assures him that she got a ride home from the party. Scott tells Stiles that he knows that Derek is the Werewolf that bit him and that killed the girl in the woods. "Scott, Derek's the one that drove Allison from the party."

 

Scott slams the door in Stiles's face and jumps out his own window in search of Derek. As he lands, he fully transforms and howls.

 

Scott heads toward the Beacon Hills Preserve, pouncing on Derek's car for no reason. 

 

Stiles heads for Allison's house. Victoria Argent answers the door, and Stiles quickly explains that he's Allison's friend. Mrs. Argent doesn't let him ramble long before calling Allison to the door. 

 

Scott is drawn to a particular spot in the woods by the scent of Allison's jacket. "Where is she?" Scott demands. "She's safe. From you," Derek tells him. Derek then tackles Scott. Scott asks what he did with her, but Derek tells him to shut up so he can hear. "Too late. They're already here. Run." Scott gets up to run, but an arrow with a flash bomb explodes near him, blinding him. Another arrow pins his arm to a tree. 

 

Three hunters come into view. The leader tells his men to take Scott, but Derek attacks before they can move. He pulls the arrow from Scott's arm, and they run. Eventually, Scott falls against a tree and asks who those men were. "Hunters, the kind that have been hunting us for centuries," Derek replies. Scott accuses Derek of turning him into this thing. "Is it really so bad, Scott? That you can see better, hear more clearly, move faster than any human could ever hope?" He tries to convince Scott that the bite is a gift. Derek tells Scott that he's going to need him to learn how to control his gift, and that this makes them brothers. 

 

Derek leaves Scott in the woods to his own devices. 

 

When morning comes, Scott is still walking home, holding the arm that was shot. Stiles picks him up. When they're in the car, Scott says, "You know what worries me the most?" "If you say Allison I'm going to punch you in the head." Scott doesn't say her name, but he whines that she probably hates him now. Stiles gives a long-suffering sigh and tells him that he doubts that's true. He does suggest coming up with a good excuse, if not going straight for the supernatural truth, which Stiles personally finds pretty awesome. 

 

Scott sulks, and Stiles tries to cheer him up by offering to chain Scott up on full moons and feed him mice. "I had a boa once, I could do it." Scott finally laughs. 

 

On Monday, Scott apologizes to Allison for leaving her stranded. His awesome excuse is that she's "going to have to trust that I had a really good reason." She tries to get more of an explanation out of him, but Scott won't budge, playing on cuteness that she'll just trust him. He makes her laugh, and she gives him a second chance. 

 

Allison's dad, Chris Argent, arrives to pick her up, and Scott recognizes his scent, it's the leader of the werewolf-hunters. Chris doesn't recognize Scott, though.