Wyatt didn't take his eyes off her, but nudged Wynter, and nodded at the pompom.
Wynter narrowed her eyes before widening them and let out a little cry.
"A—"
Willa placed her hand over Wynter's mouth, avoiding the drama. Wyatt sighed in relief, and Addison had to make a superhuman effort not to laugh out loud. Wynter hadn't changed in ten years.
The other wolves looked puzzled by the attitude of their leaders, but said nothing. Addison only smiled at their solidarity, until she found herself brutally pulled back. Willa, Wyatt, and Wynter's eyes turned amber for a moment, before they regained control.
Addison turned and found herself face to chest with Zed. He watched the wolves anxiously, and bent down to whisper in her ear, forgetting the super-fine hearing that all canines have. "What are you doing, Addison? They are bloodthirsty monsters!"
Addison pulled away and crossed her arms, her eyes dark. "As you are a brain-eating monster?"
Zed looked hurt, and lowered his arms close to his body. "You know it's not the same thing…"
"Really? Yet you are treating them the same way humans treated you just a few months ago. I wonder where the difference is."
Addison was aware that silence was gradually growing around her, and she could feel the wolves' gaze on her, hotter than a tin rod. But she didn't look down. On the contrary, she straightened up, and despite the fact that Zed had a good head and a half on her, she seemed to have taken up all the space on the small platform.
"I don't see why we could not give them a chance, when we have given you one."
"Technically, Addison isn't wrong."
"Eliza!"
"What Zed? Remember how we had to fight to be recognized as citizens of Seabrook? And I can't stand injustice! I won't treat wolves like humans treated me." Eliza turned to Willa, and held out her hand. "Welcome to Seabrook. You're going to meet a lot of racist and intolerant idiots, but there are some people who stay pretty cool."
Willa glanced at Wyatt, then at Addison who nodded, before gently taking Eliza's hand in her. "Thank you," she said simply.
Eliza got her hand back, and shrugged. "Between monsters, we have to help each other."
Addison was smiling the biggest smile in the world right now. Her friends got along, and that was the best thing that could happen for her. Although, between Eliza and Willa and their character, Seabrook perhaps had a little to worry about. They were frankly capable of starting a revolution.
From there it all happened very quickly. Wyatt tried to come over to Addison, but Principal Lee was quicker. She gathered all the wolves together and began to explain the school's rules to them, all the while heading to her office to register them as a student and give them a timetable. The wolves seemed puzzled by this little good woman leading them like an alpha, but once Willa started to follow her, they let it go. Wynter gave her one last look, and Addison smiled at her, before the wolf ran to catch up with the others.
The assembly was over, and now classes began. The teachers dispersed the students, urging them to go to class, when all they wanted was to discuss this incredible new development.
"I don't understand why we're making a big deal out of it," Eliza whispered to her during chemistry class. "It looks like they've never seen a monster in their life."
Addison smiled, gently stirring the solution in front of her. The CO2 that was formed in the erlenmeyer could cause the stopper to pop, and the solution was very volatile. You needed to be very focused to avoid losing products unnecessarily, especially when they were rated on percentage.
"Yet it was you who tried to break your Z-Band to attack them, right?"
Eliza paused for a moment to write their report, before resuming slowly. "Your speech has a lot to do with it. A few months ago, we had class in the basement, and we couldn't mix with you. I would be a hypocrite if I made them go through the same thing I went through, all because they have fangs and claws."
Addison smirked when she saw that her friend refused to look her in the eye.
"And, they smell excruciatingly good. A super pronounced natural smell. Like you, you smell like hibiscus and lilies, but with them, you can smell the literal forest on their skin," she mumbled.
"Besides, it helps that Willa is super pretty, doesn't it?"
Addison had to stop laughing when she saw Eliza jump a good meter off the ground. It was so easy to read it was even funnier. Except that she realized her stupidity too late. Eliza was already turning to her, a raised eyebrow.
"They didn't give their name, did they?"
Addison turned away, and shrugged a shoulder, continuing to stir the solution, and wincing as the stopper popped out, twisting her thumb a bit. "I heard it from the boy. If you hadn't been busy trying to destroy your bracelet, you surely would have heard it too."
"Addison, I don't know when you became such a good liar, but you can't fool me."
The human met the zombie's green eyes, and sighed a very serious look on her face. "You better believe what I just told you, Eliza. You won't get anything more from me."
"But why ?"
"Because I promised it to my grandmother on her deathbed."
Eliza stared at her for a little while and must have realized that this topic was closed, because she just nodded, and went back to her report. Addison sighed, and put a hand on her shoulder. "One day I will tell you, but not today."
Then she started to stir the solution again, before pouring it into the separating funnel. For now she will focus on her chemistry, later she will think about the wolves.
The end of the morning passed more calmly, Eliza relaxing with her as the time passed, and it was already lunch time. Leaving math class, Eliza took her wrist to stop her, her eyes lowered.
"Addy, I'm sorry. It's your choice to tell me or not, and I shouldn't insist like that." She gave her a small smile. "When you want to tell me about it, I'll be there to listen."
Addison did nothing other than smile back at her, then put an arm around her shoulder and lead them to the cafeteria. They were laughing and chatting on the way, and Bree joined them halfway, coming out of her literature class. They entered the cafeteria, and parted. Addison went straight to get her lunch, as Bree and Eliza walked over to the table where Bonzo was, who seemed to be writing something. Addison sat down at a table alone, and motioned for the other three to join her once their lunch was collected.
"Hey!"
Addison looked up from her plate to see Zed literally hunched over her table in front of her. He gave her a small smile, and looked a little nervous.
"Look, even if I run for president, there's a chance I won't win… so would you like to go out with me this weekend?"
Addison opened her mouth to answer 'no', and a classic 'it's not you, it's me' when the cafeteria door smashed open to reveal the wolves, stepping confident, and not afraid of teasing poor humans and zombies. Wynter bared her teeth and Wyatt stole Bucky's mirror to brush his hair before throwing it back to him. Addison only smiled and shook her head.
She didn't know wolves like to be dramatic, but oddly, that didn't surprise her. She took advantage of the fact that Zed seemed obsessed with the pack to run away and go to the table they had requisitioned.
She wanted so badly to hug her friends, but no one here knew about them. And she couldn't make the same mistake she made with Eliza. The zombie had been understanding enough not to push the question, but Zed, or Bucky, God forbid it, they'll be so insistent that she'll surely ask Willa if she couldn't scratch them a bit for her.
There, she had the perfect opportunity to avoid all kinds of awkward questions. She walked over to Wyatt first, Willa and Wynter busy chatting quietly, and held out her hand.
"Hi ! My name is Addison, welcome to Seabrook!"
Wyatt looked at her puzzled, until Addison looked around. He gave her a small, undetectable nod, and gave her a big smile as he took her hand. He squeezed her gently.
"My name is Wyatt, happy to meet you Addison."
He brought her hand to his lips and gave her a kiss that made Addison blush to the tips of her white hair. He didn't have to go that far! Willa and Wynter finally seemed to have noticed, and stood up to her just as Zed approached.
"I hope my brother doesn't bother you," Willa told her, a small smile on her lips.
She also extended a hand to her.
"My name is Willa, and I am the alpha of the pack. This is Wynter…" Addison had to bite her lip to not coo when she saw Wynter's sad look, who couldn't pounce on her like she really wanted. Wynter might have seemed to be the fiercest, but she was just an adorable wolf.
Willa turned to her table where five other wolves who eyed them, puzzled. Addison thanked heaven that she had thought of hiding her necklace under her cheerleading top. It was not question time.
"Willy, Wyver, Wendy, Wylen and Wade." She pointed to a boy who had crested hair, a girl with long braided hair and a small part of which was gathered in a bun on the side of her head, a girl with squared hair, another with braids. who gathered into a large ponytail, and a boy whose white lock was also braided towards the back of his head.
"Wow, that's a lot of names. I'm not sure I remember them all from the start," Addison exclaimed.
Willa gave him a smirk. "I'm sure that within time, you will remember them… Addison, is that it?"
Addison nodded, her own smile on her lips. Eliza approached her, Bree and Bonzo on their heels.
"I'm Eliza. The super excited girl next to me and the giant zombie next to her are Bree and Bonzo. We're Addison's friends."
Willa nodded, as Wyatt grabbed her hand again and helped her sit down at their table. Addison only shook her head, but a wave of sadness washed over her heart. She had never known that Wyatt was a little charmer and gentleman, or that Willa had taken over command of the pack. She had missed so many parts of their life. Wyatt seemed to realize her sadness and squeezed her hand a little more, giving her a small smile.
That is true. Even if she had missed parts of their life, they were there now, and she would do anything to get to know these new people, hoping they would agree to learn to know her.
Wynter sat down at her other side, and Willa leaned back on the table, as if protecting her pack from harm. Eliza sat down by the alpha's leg and struck up a conversation about her role in the pack, while Bonzo and Bree chatted with Wyver, who was the youngest of the pack present about her first day at school.
Addison just looked at everyone more or less happy, one hand in Wyatt's, and Wynter's head on her shoulder. She ate with the other hand and ended up mixing in the discussions around her. She wasn't paying attention to Bucky's glares, or Zed's confused look. She was just enjoying the present moment, because she knew that this time of calm would not last long.
The wolves were there for a reason, she was sure. Now she just had to figure out which one, and help them as best she could.
Zed was a few feet behind them, watching them laugh and have fun, despite the distance the wolves kept. He finally turned on his heel, and left the cafeteria. Addison noticed, frowning.
She couldn't understand why he couldn't just give the wolves a chance. She had given him one, right? So why was he refusing to prove to the world that he wasn't as intolerant as Bucky?
"Addy?"
Addison looked away from the cafeteria door to Wynter, who was watching her, a question mark in her eyes. She smiled at her and patted her head.
"Nothing, Wynter, I'm fine."
She didn't see the looks Wyatt and Willa were exchanging, and didn't pay attention to Eliza who had raised her eyebrows at the exchange. She just contented herself with chatting cheerfully with Wynter, enjoying the calm before the storm.
Okay, I'm too short in time, I have to go out in like 15 minutes, so I will come back later with my author's note !
I hope you have enjoyed my chapter even so, and see you later !
Kiss&Love !