"We're surrounded by…werewolves!"

"I always, always knew the stories of monsters in the forest were real. And no one believed me!"

"I always thought werewolves were just myths…"

"There are blood thirsty werewolves circling us right now waiting to attack!"

"Somebody has to do something."

Zed groaned, leaning onto his dad's side. Zombie Patrol had shown once the cheerleaders started posting about the werewolves, escorting them all back to Seabrook. They'd given him some ice and told him he was fine, though he'd complained about hurting all over. Typical Zombie Patrol.

Now though, they all had gathered in City Hall to share what had happened with Mayor Wells and the City Council. All the noise was making his head buzz harder than it already was.

"Please can I have one?" Zoey pleaded. "I'm the only zombie in my class. A werewolf friend would be great. I'll feed him and walk him."

"Yeah, werewolves ain't class pets, Zoey. And they certainly ain't friendly." Zevon said.

Eliza sat down next to him, providing him with a second ice pack. Zed muttered his thanks and slipped it under his arm, pressing it against his ribs. And moaning in appreciation because of the slight relief it brought him.

"Thanks Eliza," he groaned.

"You feeling better?"

"Lots, I just wish it weren't so—" Mayor Wells banged her gavel on her podium and Zed jumped and winced. "Loud," he finished, bringing a hand to his head.

Zevon chuckled and patted Zed's shoulder. "You'll be okay, Son," he said. "We'll go home right after."

Zed just rolled his eyes in response, turning his attention to Mayor Wells. Like every member of the council, and a good portion of the humans in Seabrook, she was dressed head to toe in pink. Her husband, the chief of Zombie Patrol, took his seat at the end of the table. And, of course, to round it all off, the cheer captain and resident asshole of Seabrook High was their nephew. Bucky Buchanan, the guy who hated all things zombies and different, was related to the two most powerful people in Seabrook.

The same Bucky who accused Zed of lying about seeing a werewolf in the woods. At least until they all heard another howl and Bucky practically threw himself into Zed's arms for protection.

Bucky Buchanan, the whining little twerp on the other side of the room, huddled behind his cheerleader bodyguards dubbed the Aceys, even though only one's name actually contained Acey.

"By order of City Council," Mayor Wells announced, "effective immediately, all anti-monster laws are reinstated."

The room burst into noise: anti-zombie humans cheering and applauding (especially Bucky), while the zombies around the room groaned. Zed closed his eyes, focusing on the cold on his forehead.

This was all his fault. If he'd just kept quiet, none of this would've happened. He was the only one to have even seen the werewolf, if that's even what it was. It was just like Bucky had said: he'd hit his head and was under a lot of stress, he probably just imagined the whole thing.

Plus, werewolves didn't have all white hair. All the books showed them with dark hair with white streaks, razor sharp claws and fangs. Not goddess like white haired angels that shined under the sparkling sun.

Girls like that weren't real. They were fantasies that dumb fifteen years olds imagined after flying through the forest and bruising every part of their body.

He was just being dumb. And now all zombies were being pushed back a million steps because of him.

He could really go for some frozen yogurt.

"Attention all citizens. Monster laws have been reinstated. All curfews will be strictly enforced."

People ran through Zombietown, screaming and rushing about in a panic. Shops were closing down, froyo carts running off and away because, although zombies liked froyo, "werewolves like human flesh. Maybe with sprinkles. Everybody likes sprinkles."

Even the demolition crew had been evacuated for the day, humans running back to their side of the barrier while zombies ran home, afraid of the 'Forest Beasts.'

"Attention all citizens. Werewolves have been sighted in the area. Take cover immediately. Keep children and pets inside."

Deep in Zombietown, a little girl with green pigtails hammered away at a bus stop. From a house a little ways down the road, a man shouted, "Zoey, come on home. It's not safe out here with these werewolves on the loose."

Zoey paused, calling back, "Just one sec."

A demolition worker came to a stop beside her, squinting confused at the sign she was hanging. The little zombie looked up at him and asked, "Have you seen a werewolf? I'm looking for a were-friend."

The worker scoffed. "Silly kid, there's no such thing as werewolves."

"But we heard it howl."

"Maybe it was a hiker saying, 'howl's it going?'"

Zoey glared. "It was a werewolf," she insisted. She fought the urge to cross her arms, scanning over his features. "My, what big eyes you have," she noted petulantly.

Behind her, the old man called, "Zoey!" She turned to look at him and he ushered her over. "Come on!"

She turned, giving the suspicious worker a final once over before running home, leaving the worker standing beside the coloring.

The worker watched her disappear into a house, then his eyed landed on her silly little flyer. "Werewolf friend wanted" was scrawled around a picture of a standing wolf. The worker scoffed, ripping it off the post. No one else needed to see that.

He jogged away from the bus stop, hurriedly making his way back out of Zombietown.

He followed the old, beaten path back to the forbidden forest, ducking through a broken fence and speeding up once the trees covered him. He pulled down the zipper to his suit as he turned the corner to meet back up with the other wolves, and when his sister saw him, she called for the rest of the pack.

"Wolves!"

They emerged from the shadows, all coming to attention, some perching on rocks, others crouched low to the ground. Willa stood bravely at the front, ready to greet her brother.

Wyatt ripped the workers outfit off before standing in front of one member of the pack and receiving his moonstone necklace, followed by his beta markings from a different wolf.

Willa watched him carefully as he received his markings and as soon as the markings were in place he turned to face his sister, baring his fangs with a low growl and eyes that flashed yellow.

"What did you find out?" Willa asked.

He wasted no time as he directed his attention to his sister, "They saw you howling."

Willa scoffed, crossing her arms. "So? I only said 'awoo!' It's like saying 'ciao,' or 'aloha.' Or 'I'll rip your throat out.'"

Wyatt rolled his eyes. "Not you," he stated. He gave her shoulder a light shove, his eyes landing on the slightly smaller, white haired wolf beside Willa. "Addison."

The wolf in question hardened, glowering at him. "We howl all the time, Wyatt," she reminded him.

"We're exposed," Wyatt hissed, shoving a paper into her clawed hands.

Addison took the picture with a chuckle before Willa grabbed it from her and looked at it herself. Addison shot the alpha of the pack a glare, taking the drawing back.

"It looks nothing like us," Addison said, confident. "Besides, we have way better hair than that." She flips the paper around as she says it, pointing to the poorly-drawn wolf in the center of the paper.

"Stop being such a worry-wolf—"

"Maybe he has a right to be worried," Willa interrupted, crossing her arms as she moved to stand next to her brother. Addison's cocky grin dropped then. "We don't have the power to go against the humans."

Addison looked in disbelief between the two of them, fire building behind her irises. "I can't believe this," she muttered before raising her voice and looking directly at Willa, and then Wyatt. "I do something you've done millions of times and suddenly it's my fault that we've been exposed? When we weren't?"

"But we are," Wyatt growled, taking a step forward. "Don't you understand what you've done?"

Willa followed after her brother. "We don't have time to be running from hunters, Addison. Need I remind you, more and more of our pack is getting sick. Our necklaces are almost out of power. It's your job to lead us to the moonstone."

Addison's anger fizzled away, her eyes falling to the ground. Right, of course, she was the legendary 'Great Alpha.' She was supposed to lead her pack to the hidden moonstone, saving their race. Which she had yet to do or even come close to. Which Willa loved reminding her about.

Another werewolf turned, standing in the midst of the standoff. "And when you do, we can recharge our necklaces and stay wolf strong for another 100 years," she said, sounding just like the Elders who first translated the prophecy.

Willa gave the wolf a gentle smile. "That's right, Wynter."

Addison looked from Wynter back to Willa, who fixed her with a steely gaze. She was going to taunt Addison, question if she was truly the Great Alpha or just another werewolf with a full head of white hair who'd never amount to anything.

It wasn't her fault. There was no way for Addison to know where the moonstone was or even how to find it. They'd all been cooped up in the den their whole lives, occasionally going out to hunt or check on strange noises, like the bus crash from Seabrook High. But Willa refused to let Addison take some pack members and go explore and search for the moonstone, because humans were dangerous.

Sooner rather than later, Willa would have to let them out.

Addison ignored Willa's gaze and turned her attention to Wyatt. "You said we were exposed?" He nodded. "How so? What happened?"

"They're increasing their Monster Patrol, reinstating some Anti-monster laws." Wyatt shook his head. "The zombies weren't too happy about getting their curfew back."

"I don't see how this is relevant," Willa interrupted.

Addison shot her a glare, crossing her arms. "Isn't it my job to find the moonstone?"

Willa growled under her breath but stood down. She wasn't one to cave unless she was desperate. Just that morning, four more pack members had fallen ill to the moonstone sickness. It was only a matter of time before they were all too sick to do anything.

"There was a zombie in the forest this morning," Addison said. "And that bus crash came from Seabrook High. That means zombies are at the school."

The wolves stared at her blankly, not following her train of thought. "Look, we're already exposed. We can go to that school and—"

Willa startled and immediately said, "No, absolutely not."

"We need to find the moonstone," Addison protested. "Last I checked, I'm the Great Alpha. It's my job to find it, and I say we need to start our search there."

The pack stood in a standstill. This wasn't the first time Willa and Addison argued, especially about leading. Every idea Addison gave was shut down by the alpha, but she constantly reminded Willa of the prophecy. There were barely a dozen of them left standing now. They needed to find the moonstone.

"Fine," Willa conceded. "We go to the school and then what?"

"High schools are known to have a variety of research tools," Addison said. "We'll have to ask around to get a good lead."

Willa rolled her eyes but Addison ignored her, lifting her head to address the pack. "We go in the morning."

"We go tonight!" Willa countered.

Addison glared but caught Wyatt's movement beside Willa. "Tonight works," he said, eyeing Addison. She relaxed and nodded, conceding.