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Scott knows fear. He knows exactly how to wrap his claws around someone's mind and squeeze just enough — not too much that it breaks the fragile thing, but enough it makes them squirm.
However, fear is dangerous to play around with; despite his thousands of years of experience, human minds (in this specific case, he does still consider the mind in question to be human) all work so differently. One's deepest fear is something another seeks out willingly, one's chance to flee is another's to fight. It's up to him to learn these patterns. Each human mind is another thing to study and dissect, learn what makes each person jolt or tremble and how much he's able to pull their fears like a bowstring before they snap.
Then the bow is useless.
Much like the bow, if he pulls too hard, his subject of choice will become useless to him.
Which is why Scott doesn't typically prefer to work with fear in delicate situations such as this. It has its time, it's uses - in cases it proves the more entertaining route - but he typically prefers something far more manageable — charm. He's just as good as that too, and it's much harder (though not impossible) to go too far with it. Charm makes people like him, and when people like you they give you what you want (it helps if you have piles of riches, lavish beds, servants for your every whim, but in current times he can make do).
Charm and fear also have their places right beside each other, when the situation calls for it. Charm can loosen that pull on the bowstring, keeping it taught, but not too close to snapping. Perfect. The combination can make things complex at times of course, but Scott has plenty experience in complicated situations.
Despite his experience, he still needs to tread carefully when it comes to his favourite new tool, his most recent project.
Pyro.
They are afraid of him, it was bound to start off that way due to the circumstances of their turning but perhaps Scott can convince himself that was all under his careful planning (perhaps his plan had previously included Owen, a fellow victim for Pyro to bond with over the experience eliminating some of the fear in place of a sort of bond- but really Scott was just hungry). With Pyro, this balance is fragile, sculpting the fledgling's mind into something unquestioningly loyal is art and of course, all art takes time.
Scott is used to having all the time in the world. He does not have that now.
If he lets the bowstring - perhaps the leash in this case - fall slack, Pyro will get too curious or he will step out of line or, he will make his way back to the human side. On the other hand, if he pulls the leash too tight, his newest project will choke, he'll run to humans regardless, and ask them to cut the rope from his neck, and his power over him is gone regardless. In that situation Shelby is likely to follow as well, maybe even be the one to help cut the rope that chokes them. Scott can't have that.
Maybe he wouldn't have to keep pulling the leash so tight if Pyro just behaved.
Alas, the fledgling will get there in time. Pyro might not have chosen this path but Scott can certainly play a hand in making him blame themself for going down it. Even when he humans in town make it so difficult. He has no issue with massacre but the fledglings aren't keen, and he can't risk scaring away the only few that have decided to stick around. He needs to take away that choice, typically the humans would do it for him, enough fear from the whole town would make them shun anyone trying to escape his care, if not deliver them directly back to him. That isn't viable currently, not with the beacons, and these abilities the humans have been finding. They're bold now, too much for their own good.
They're likely to take in even Pyro if he went running to them. No care for the wrongs he's done, losing himself to blood lust already, fighting teeth and claws beside Scott and Owen when it comes down it. He knows the town would accept him back, but perhaps Pyro doesn't have to be convinced.
His newest project is such a conflicted one (it's a good thing he likes a challenge) they have their fears: Scott, pain and death, most notably. Their response to his threats is typically to fawn - to placate and apologise and promise he will never repeat his mistakes. He can tell they also want to run, he can see it in every twitch of their body, how they inch away from him, the way they glance over their shoulder to note the distance of the nearest exit, how they're always ready to run if Scott should push too far - if they begin to choke.
That one tends to be constant, alarm bells that begin going off the moment the two are alone, the moment there are no witnesses. Perhaps the isolation reminds the pitiful thing of being turned.
Scott doesn't like to linger on the past, but if he did he'd consider how Pyro's turning was much more violent than he could have hoped - the water made it much worse than a typical chase, he dragged them under a couple times to keep them from getting too far, some human minds would have developed a fear of drowning after that, it's convenient (or inconvenient, depending the lengths he'll need to go with this project) that Pyro no longer needs to breathe.
Scott knows he can keep Pyro right beside him, they want to be useful, he can see it in their eyes, their words, his apologies. He just needs a little more direction, a little less curiosity, and a lot more guilt over those they have hurt.
He can work with that.