Wynry was so happy that she practically floated home.

He had told her he loved her! Of course she knew that he cared about her a lot, but this was big! REALLY big!

"I take it that you had fun?" Willa's voice said from the shadows in the direction of the trees as Wynry approached the den entrance.

She smiled bashfully "Is it that obvious?"

Willa leapt lightly down from the nearest tree, her face harboring a grin.

"Yeah ... Kind of obivous." She replied

"He told me he loved me, Willa! And I ... And I said it back!" Wynry said

"Wow ... This is really getting serious with you two, isn't it?" Willa said

Wynry shrugged. "All I know is I am crazy about him."

"So he just said that he loved you? Just out of the blue like that?" Willa quipped, sensing that there was more to the story than she was being told.

Wynry blushed

"Well ... No ... Not exactly ..." She said as she told Willa what had happened earlier that evening.

"Caught by his parents?! Oh my gosh Wyn! " Willa exclaimed as she covered her mouth in an attempt to stifle a fit of laughter

"It's probably a good thing that they came home when they did ... Because if they hadn't ... Well ..." Wynry trailed off as her face turned a deep red.

Willa's eyebrows drew together and her expression turned serious.

"You need to be careful about the possible consequences that could have, Wyn, you saw what Zed and Addison had to go through."

"True, but look at them ... Their life is amazing!" Wynry countered

"That's because they were willing to work for it, to fight for it, and to give up EVERYTHING for it ... And I'm not implying that you're not." Willa said as Wynry opened her mouth to object.

Wynry blew out a breath.

"It's so hard! It's like the monster side of me takes over ... If you know what I mean... And I know I should be able to control myself... But I can't." She said as her cheeks flushed.

Willa's expression softened, this thing between them must be serious if the primal side of her was reacting that strongly.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for you guys, all ll I'm saying is to think it through and be ... You know... Responsible." She said as she put a hand on her shoulder.

Wynry suddenly pulled Willa into a tight hug.

"Thanks."

"Hey ... I'm the alpha, it's what I do." She replied with a grin.

Wyatt drew in a deep steadying breath as he knocked on Eliza's door, she had told him that she had something 'special' planned for them, but she wouldn't tell him what... Which made him feel excited and nervous all at the same time.

Mrs. Zambie answered the door, and her face melted into a kind smile.

"Hello, Wyatt! Come on in! " She said as she ushered him in without waiting for a response from him.

"You make yourself at home, Eliza will be down in a minute. Would you like something to drink or eat while you wait?" She asked kindly

"No thanks, Mrs. Zambie, I'm good." He replied with a smile.

He liked Eliza's parents, they reminded him of his parents. A sharp stab of pain drove it's way though his heart as he thought of them. Their parents had fell ill and died a few years before the moonstone could be found. He still missed them terribly.

He caught sight of Eliza jogging lightly down the stairs and all thoughts of his parents... Or otherwise evaporated.

She wore a dark green ankle length skirt with a black long sleeved shirt, a black leather bikers jacket rounded off her look. The patches that adorned it told him that it, like so much of her other stuff had probably once been discarded.

She looked AMAZING.

"Wyatt? Did you hear me?" He suddenly heard her say

He realized that he had been gazing at her like a lovesick puppy.

But that's exactly what he was.

"I'm sorry ... What?" He said embarrassingly

"I said are you ready to go?" She asked again

"Oh! Yeah ... Yeah!" He said as he leapt off the couch and followed her out the door

Yep, he was a lovesick puppy all right ... And he was PERFECTLY okay with that.

"So... Where are we going?" He asked as he slid into the passenger side of her jeep.

She grinned "you'll see."

After a short drive, they pulled into the parking lot of a huge building

"What is this place?" He asked as they got out.

"It's a VR theme park! You can do anything here! Come on! You'll love it!" She said as she grabbed him by the hand and pulled him inside.

"Whoa!" Wyatt said as he turned in a circle and tried to look at everything at once.

"I know right?! I did the same thing the first time I came here too, I was so happy when I ... you know ... finally COULD come." She said, referring to when Addison's mother had abolished all the anti monster laws and had made it illegal for businesses to discriminate against non humans.

"What do you want to do first?" She asked

Wyatt shrugged.

"I ... don't know, there's so much cool stuff! So you pick."

"Let's do that one! It's a virtual roller coaster ride!" She said excitedly

He smiled at her, he had never seen her so outwardly happy before ... and it was adorable, and he found himself hoping he would see this side of her more often.

They both had the time of their lives, riding all the rides, some of them multiple times until all too soon, it was late afternoon.

Wyatt's stomach suddenly let out a long, low rumble

"I guess I worked up more of an appetite than I thought. " he said with a laugh

"Wanna go to Mazy's?" She offered

His grinned widened

"You read my mind!"

"Eliza! So nice to see you again! And you brought that very handsome boyfriend of yours I see!" Mazy said with a wink.

"We'll have the usual. " Eliza said, choosing to ignore her statement, and feeling thankful that zombies didn't have the ability to blush, because otherwise, her face would be as read as a tomato right now.

"Did you hear that? She said I was handsome. " Wyatt said as he wagged his eyebrows and at her.

Eliza shrugged.

"That's cause it's true." She said, her tone casual.

He looked at her in mild surprise for a moment before a wide grin spread across his face.

"You think I'm handsome?" He quipped

"Well ... yeah ...I mean ... obviously. " she said becoming flustered as she fiddled with her napkin.

"Good ... because I think you're absolutely GORGEOUS. " he said as he pinned her with those intsnse dark eyes of his.

She smiled shyly at him as Mazy brought out their order, which was a pizza with half zombie toppings, and half meat lovers, which was Wyatt's favorite.

"You two enjoy now." She said as they dug in.

"Zed's right, this place is the best pizza place in Seabrook. " He said as they climbed into her jeep and pulled out of the parking lot.

"Make a left up here." Wyatt said at the stop sign at the end of the street

"Where are we going?" She asked as the houses and businesses gave way to trees and forest.

He grinned at her "you'll see "

They made another turn onto a rough dirt road that came to an abrupt dead end.

He slid out and walked around and opened her door for her

"Come on, I want to show you something. " he said as he held his hand out.

She smiled as she put her hand in his

"Okay."

They walked for some time up the mountain on a narrow mountain path until they came to the top and the trees gave way to a bare rocky outcropping

"Oh ... wow!" Eliza breathed as she walked out of the treeline and up to the edge and took a seat. Below were Seabrook and Zombietown, both were bathed in the red light of the setting sun.

"Pretty cool right? I found it by accident when I was out hunting. " he said as he sat next to her.

"It's amazing! " she said as she watched the sun slowly sink down into the horizon. He found himself mesmerized by how the light of the setting sun danced across her face..

"Yeah ... she is." She heard him say. She turned towards him and she felt her slow zombie pulse quicken at the heated look he was giving her. It might have been the light from the setting sun, but she could have sworn that she saw fire burning in his dark eyes.

He cupped her face in his hands, his thumbs gently stroking her cheeks.

And then, he kissed her.

Eliza wrapped her arms around his neck as she returned his kiss with a passionate one of her own, but unlike her, Wyatt was still fully alive, and his need for air came before hers and with a frustrated growl, he broke off the kiss.

He let out another feral growl as he scooted back a few paces.

Eliza couldn't take her eyes off him as he crouched on his haunches, fangs beared and eyes glowing brightly against the fading light.

HER wolf ...

Her heart gave a joyous leap at the thought of him being hers.

He suddenly gave his head a firm shake as he struggled to calm down

"I'm sorry... the monster side of me got a little ... riled up." He said apologetically

She quickly leaned forward and her lips met his again

She pulled back slightly and dark grey and black veins snaked their way across her face as her eyes glowed crimson.

"Not the only one with a monster side." She said, her voice deep and gravelly.

She paused and took a few slow deep breaths as the veins slowly disappeared back into her skin, and her eyes returned to their normal color.

Wyatt pulled her against him

"Two monsters make a good match. " he said as his lips found hers again as they wiled away the hours kissing, cuddling and just enjoying their time together, the sunset long since forgotten.

Time flew by and before they knew it, it was dark.

"I really need to get home ... my parents are going to be worried." Eliza said, though neither made any moves to leave, they remained entwined in each other's arms, Eliza's head nestled in the crook of his shoulder, Wyatt's cheek rested against the top of her head as they gazed out at the twinkling lights of Seabrook and Zombietown.

"I wish you didn't have to go." He said, not even bothering to hide the vulnerability and the sadness in his voice as he pulled back slightly so he could look at her.

She gently caressed his cheek, and his eyes fluttered closed as he leaned into her touch.

"I wish I didn't, either, but it's their house, and their rules, and the last thing I want is to be grounded and not be able to see you." She said

"Yeah... I don't want that, either for SURE." He agreed as they stood and walked back down the mountain, their hands entwined with their fingers laced together.

"Don't you want a ride back home?" She asked once they had reached where her jeep was parked.

"What do you mean? I am home, the den's about five miles that way. " He said as he pointed behind him with his thumb.

"Oh ... yeah ... that's right, I keep forgetting. " She said sheepishly.

"Can we ... hang out again tomorrow?" He asked hopefully, she hasn't even left yet and already, he missed her.

Her face fell

"I can't, tomorrow is Zed and Addison's date night, and I always babysit their kids." She said

"Great! I can help! I watch the younger wolf pups all the time when their parents are out hunting." He said

She smiled. "I'd love the help, and I'm sure Zed and Addison wouldn't mind." She said

"Great! So ... I'll see you tomorrow?" He said

She suddenly rushed to him and kissed him.

"Tomorrow." She said as she gave him one final kiss before reluctantly hopping into her jeep.

Wyatt swore he caught a glimpse of a rare, genuine smile on her face as she turned the Jeep around and drove away into the night.

The grin on Wyatt's face was so big that it hurt his cheeks and he threw his head back and let out a long, loud joyous howl.