Sorry for the longer wait, it's been quite a crazy few days. I am planning on finishing the story though, so stay tuned.

A big thank you to everyone who's been keeping up with the story and those that have only recently found out.

A favourite and/or review would mean a lot, I appreciate all feedback.

Don't be afraid to ask any questions, I always try to reply.

Enjoy!

Chapter 10: Wolf Den

"Where are we going?" Addison asked as she followed the wolf pack through the dense forbidden forest.

"It's a wolf secret." Wynter snapped as she walked up next to Addison. "If we told you, we'd have to kill you…"

"Then why are you taking me there?" Addison asked. "Will you kill me when we get there?"

"No." Wyatt piped in as he started walking on Addison's other side. "Wynter, would you cut it out!?" He then hissed.

"What? Too much?" Wynter inquired.

"Obviously." Wyatt mumbled.

"Okay… Okay…" Wynter hastily nodded.

"This is serious though." Willa interjected, not looking back at Addison. "This is an honor for you, and we expect you to not tell anyone of what you see here."

"I-I won't…" Addison quickly replied as she steadily walked over more moss-covered ground. "But what is it that I'm supposed to see?"

"We'll explain when we get there." Wyatt told Addison. "There's no need to panic."

Addison felt reassured, and so she stayed quiet for now as she kept following the wolves.

"How did things go with your, ehm, zombie friend?" Wyatt suddenly asked, soft enough that none of the other wolves heard him.

"His name is Zed." Addison replied. "And things have been better…"

"I heard you yelling." Wyatt added. "Not that I was eavesdropping or anything… It was just hard to miss…"

"Yeah, no, I get it…" Addison mumbled. "We're both just under a lot of stress at the moment…"

"I'm sorry." Wyatt said, moving a little closer to Addison. "I know that you two were close…"

"We're together." Addison corrected him, feeling a slight blush creep up on her cheeks again. "We're still together... It's just a rough patch…"

"Okay…" Wyatt nodded, though to Addison it seemed as though he feigned some of his interest. "I'm here if you want to talk about it…"

"Thanks." Addison curtly replied before continuing on her mysterious journey.

Both the conversation she just had with Wyatt and the fight she'd had with Zed echoed in her thoughts. She had previously dismissed Zed's accusations, which to her sounded nothing less than paranoid. Now that she paid more close attention to Wyatt's actions, she hated to admit that Zed may have actually had a point.

Addison liked Wyatt, as well as most of the other werewolves. They had been extremely nice and welcoming, as well as willing to confide their problems to her. But in retrospect, it was true that the werewolves had not even attempted to get closer to anyone else or fit into Seabrook society.

Wyatt had been the first werewolf to come to Seabrook, and he had made it perfectly clear that he had come especially for Addison. He had also said that the werewolves needed help, and that she was the key to all that. Addison thought that Wyatt had believed that she could somehow help connect the werewolves to Seabrook society, but that didn't appear to be the case.

Aside from participating in cheer practice, the werewolves had not gone to any classes or connected with any other people or zombies. Really, the werewolves acted as if they wanted nothing more than to get out of Seabrook again.

"Are you finally going to tell me what's going on by the way?" Addison asked.

"What do you mean?" Wyatt questioned.

"I want some specifics…" Addison said. "You told me that your pack needs help, and you say that I am the one to help you… I get that… But you still haven't exactly told me what's wrong or how you want me to help…"

"We'll clear everything up tonight." Wyatt promised her. "No more secrets…"

"Thank you." Addison mumbled in reply, still heading deeper into the woods.

After what felt like hours, Addison and the wolves finally reached their destination, a large cave at the side of a clearing.

"What is this place?" Addison asked.

"This is our den… Our home…" Wyatt answered.

"Welcome!" Wynter enthusiastically squealed, spreading her arms.

Wyatt and Willa again stared at Wynter somewhat accusingly.

"B-but not too welcome!" Wynter added, raising a supposedly threatening finger at Addison.

Addison raised her eyebrows, more amused than frightened by Wynter's behavior. She then followed the rest of the werewolves into the cave, only to then find herself in a place unlike any she had ever seen.

"The wolf den…" Wyatt announced, grinning at seeing Addison's reaction.

"Wow…" Addison exclaimed, her eyes wide as she took it all in. Never in her wildest dreams had she even considered a place like this could be real. The cave was large, and the reflected moonlight basked everything in a strange, but beautiful blue glow. On both sides, the cave walls were covered in drawings and strange runes. The rest of the werewolf pack stood on the sides as well, and Addison was astounded that there were so many others. Most were about her age, bus she also saw many that were much younger than her.

"It's okay to be impressed." Wynter smirked.

"I am impressed." Addison admitted, still trying to take everything in.

All the werewolves looked at her, but they did so with more interest than disdain. As Wyatt escorted her further into the den, some of them introduced themselves to Addison, who got more and more excited as she shook their hands.

"This is our language." Wyatt explained, pointing to the runes on the cave walls. "Awooo, Addison! That means welcome…"

"Awooo!" Addison tried out, causing all the wolves to start snickering. "What?" Addison blushed.

"Not quite there yet…" Wyatt snickered. "I think you meant to say; Awooo!"

"Awooo!" Addison repeated, again causing the wolves to smirk.

"What did you mean with that?" Wynter grinned.

"Okay, sorry… Ehm… Awoooo!" Addison tried again, this time a little longer.

Now all the werewolves raised their eyebrows in apparent shock, some looking incredulously at her.

"Whoa, whoa…" Wyatt smirked. "Watch your language… There are were-pups around…"

"I'm so sorry." Addison squeaked.

"She needs to put a pebble in the swear-wolf jar." Wynter added.

"I might need some practice…" Addison admitted.

"Let's show you how it's done." Wyatt smirked before gesturing to all the wolves.

At that moment, all werewolves started howling. Addison was somewhat taken aback, but was also extremely fascinated. All werewolves wore similar necklaces, and Addison watched in awe as they all started glowing, only enhancing the almost magical feel of the place.

After a few seconds of howling, a few of the wolves suddenly started coughing. Wynter was one of them.

"Are you okay?" Addison asked, putting a hand on Wynter's shoulder.

Wynter looked over to Willa and Wyatt, who nudged their heads. "My necklace is losing its charge…" Wynter then said.

"What?" Addison asked. "What does that mean?"

"Every day, more and more of our pack become sick because their moonstones lose power." Willa explained. "We need our necklaces to become our werewolf selves, but we also can't survive without them…"

"All of our elders are too sick to travel…" Wyatt added, with the entire pack looking on in earnest. "Which leaves…"

"Which leaves taking care of the pack to us… To me…" Willa concluded.

"Oh my god…" Addison muttered, feeling her heart get heavy.

"You'll be fine, Wynter. I promise…" Willa said, also rubbing Wynter's back. "And you better be right about this." She then told Wyatt.

"Addison…" Wyatt began, making Addison turn around to look at him. "We need you to lead us to the moonstone…"

"The what?" Addison inquired.

"The moonstone." Wyatt repeated. "Our pack's most sacred relic, which was stolen from us by Seabrook settlers generations ago."

"The only way for us to charge our moonstone necklaces is by transferring energy from the moonstone." Willa added. "In other words, we need the moonstone for our pack to survive…"

"But we don't know where it is." Wyatt jumped in. "We don't know where the humans took it."

"B-but… But…" Addison stammered, almost overwhelmed by this amount of new information. "B-but why do you need me?"

"There is a prophecy…" Wyatt immediately began explaining, leading Addison to one of the largest drawings on the cave wall. On it, Addison saw an image of what appeared to be a half-human and half-wolf, raising up its head and howling at a large, shiny rock. The one thing that immediately stood out to Addison was the great emphasis put on the creature's long, white hair. "The prophecy of the great alpha… One of our elders once foretold that one day a great leader would step up… A leader with hair as white as snow… A leader who would lead us to the moonstone…"

"Y-you… You think?" Addison stuttered, still unsure if she could actually believe what she was told.

"Addison, I believe you will lead us to the moonstone…" Wyatt said, again reaching out to take her hands in his. "I believe you're the great alpha…" He added, gently squeezing her hands. "I believe you're a werewolf…"

Addison had trouble keeping her thoughts straight. She felt as though her mind was buzzing, both with excitement and complete astonishment. Surely Wyatt was joking, right? There was no way that she could be a werewolf…

"You're kidding, right?" Addison practically whispered.

"I'm not." Wyatt tried to reassure her. "What's written on the cave is prophecy! You are the great alpha! Look at the drawing! It looks exactly like you! It's uncanny! You are meant to lead us to the moonstone!"

Addison started panting, feeling as though everything was spinning around her. "N-no… I-I'm not a wolf…"

"You can't be sure…" Wyatt went on. "Who knows, maybe you have some wolf blood in you."

"B-but… But I don't know anything about the moonstone… I don't know where it is… I don't even know what it is…" Addison rambled, basically panicking.

"There is time…" Wyatt interrupted her. "Time for you to become a werewolf, join our pack and locate the moonstone."

"Now hold on!" A voice boomed from behind Addison. Turning around, she saw Willa strut over to her with a determined, almost angry expression. "Wyatt, before you say or promise anything else, I need to have my say…"

"Willa…" Wyatt groaned, but the girl talked right through him.

"No, Wyatt!" Willa snapped. "This girl… This girl is a cheerleader, not an alpha!"

Addison felt herself starting to blush, somewhat embarrassed at Willa's harsh words.

"Willa!" Wyatt yelled.

"Wyatt, she needs to earn my trust." Willa retorted.

"Then what do you want me to do?" Addison spoke up, silencing both Willa and Wyatt. "How do I earn your trust? I already told you that I want to help, what more do you want?"

"Only a wolf can be the great alpha!" Willa stated, getting closer to Addison. "Are you a wolf?"

"I-I don't know…" Addison muttered.

"She could be!" Wyatt interjected. "Give her the necklace!"

"She is not worthy of the necklace!" Willa snapped.

"She wants to help us, right?" Wyatt turned to Addison.

"Yes!" Addison resolutely answered.

"Is that not enough!?" Wyatt spat, turning to Willa again. "She has the white hair and she wants to help us! Who are we to turn her down!?"

"She just admitted that she doesn't know where the moonstone is." Willa retorted.

"And neither do we." Wyatt pointed out. "Addison gives us a better chance of finding the moonstone than we've ever had. And remember the prophecy…"

Willa kept on looking between Wyatt and Addison, obviously still not sure of the entire proposition. "Do you actually 'want' to be a wolf?" She then asked.

Addison blushed again, feeling incredibly small with the eyes of every werewolf on her. To be honest, she was still unsure of the entire situation. Sure, she really did want to help the werewolves in any way she could, but to actually become one was another question entirely.

In the back of her mind, Addison was secretly thrilled at this opportunity. Really, who wouldn't be thrilled to join a pack of werewolves!? Also, this rare chance came on the same day that she and Zed had fought about the fact that Addison did not have her own 'crew'.

These thoughts had plagued Addison for a while, and her fight with Zed had actually been the very first time she had told anyone about them. It was true that Addison felt very alone at times. Yes, she had great friends, Zed and Bree included, but there was really no particular group where Addison didn't feel somewhat out of place.

This was mainly the case in the cheer squad. Not a day during cheer camp went by where the Aceys didn't make fun of her hair or her relationship with Zed in one way or another. Bucky was another case entirely. Addison had often tried to lay out some of her plans to him, but Bucky had always resolutely disregarded any aspirations she'd had. All this made her feel as though the cheer squad was not a place where she belonged. She loved cheering, but the backstage drama was something she definitely wouldn't miss.

Then there were her zombie friends. Sure, Addison liked spending time with the likes of Eliza and Bonzo a lot more than most of the cheerleaders, and she loved Zed, but again there were complications. Addison wasn't a zombie after all, and there were fundamental differences that she was unable to overcome. And now there were the added complications of Zed's sort of rivalry with the werewolves, something Addison had not seen coming.

And then there were her parents, her own family. These were possibly the people that Addison felt like she had the least in common with. These were the people who had forced her to wear a wig for fifteen years. These were the people who were more concerned with preserving their image than to let their daughter be who she was. These were the people who still looked down on zombies and werewolves as if they were nothing but beasts.

And then there were the werewolves? Could Addison finally find her place with the werewolves?

"I want to be a wolf." Addison resolutely stated.

"You do, eh?" Willa replied somewhat skeptically. "And why would a perky little cheerleader want to become a wolf?"

"Because…" Addison began, looking through the den at the faces of all the other wolves, who all stared at her expectingly. "Because I see a real community… I see a pack that is confident and unified… You're like one big family… You know exactly who you are and you're not afraid to show it… There's nothing I respect more than that…"

Even Willa looked somewhat gob smacked by Addison's heartfelt answer, while Wyatt looked at her like she was the most amazing thing he had ever seen.

"I have always been an outsider where I'm from…" Addison went on. "If you'd consider letting me join your pack, I'd be honored…"

"Well…" Willa eventually mumbled. "Alright… You want to be one of us? Then show me what you got!" She challenged, squaring up to Addison, raising her head and howling loudly.

Addison was a little startled by this and took a step back, looking around in utter confusion.

Willa kept up her howl for several seconds before lowering her head again and smirking at the still obviously distraught Addison. "Well? What you got?"

"What?" Addison inquired, almost panicky.

"Show her." Wyatt whispered, nudging Addison.

"What?" Addison repeated, still unsure.

"Howl." Wyatt advised.

Addison's eyes widened and she again started blushing. Really? She had to howl for a cave filled with werewolves!?

"You want to be a wolf, right? Wolves howl!" Willa snapped.

"Wolves howl…" Wyatt confirmed. "Just do it…"

Addison looked back at Wyatt, who stared at her expectingly.

"Okay…" Addison mumbled, turning back to Willa and scraping her throat. She looked around at the other wolves a little more, feeling incredibly nervous. She breathed in one more time, raised her head and started howling at the top of her lungs. The sound echoed off the cave walls, and a euphoric feeling started spreading through Addison's stomach. She kept up her howl for a few more seconds before lowering her head, panting slightly as she examined the reactions of the werewolves.

Wyatt grinned broadly, obviously happy. Wynter had her eyebrows raised, seemingly surprised but impressed. Willa, on the other hand, had started squinting and looked at Addison a little more approvingly.

"Okay…" Willa mumbled. "Acceptable, but you need to be better." She added, before again raising her head and starting to howl. This time she howled louder and longer, impressing both Addison and the other werewolves. After she finished, some of the wolves hollered and applauded. "Come on, whitehair…" Willa then challenged.

Addison was feeling fired up at this point, and took a couple more deep breaths before raising her head and howling like she never howled before. It felt incredible! Addison had been slightly embarrassed at first, but the wolves only encouraged and supported her, causing her to smile broadly in the middle of her howl. She eventually stopped after over ten seconds, and stood back with a broad smile as the other werewolves erupted in cheering and hooting.

"Well, well…" Willa contemplated, stepping in closer to face Addison directly. "Perhaps there is some wolf in you after all…"

"Thank you." Addison enthusiastically replied.

"You accept her?" Wyatt asked Willa as he put a hand on Addison's shoulder.

"Perhaps…" Willa pondered. "But not like this…"

"Excuse me?" Addison questioned.

"You look human…" Willa stated. "Disgustingly human…"

Addison looked down at her outfit, which did make her stand out easily among the werewolves. "Ehm, I didn't bring anything else…"

"We have some spare furs lying around." Wynter interjected.

"Come along whitehair, let's fix you up good." Willa added, actually smiling kindly at Addison.

Addison looked back at Wyatt one more time, and he nodded approvingly. And so she followed Willa, Wynter and some other female wolves to a back part of the cave, where they spent over half an hour changing her hair and outfit, and even painstakingly painting some runes on her arms.

When Addison stepped into the main part of the cave after her make-over, she saw Wyatt's eyes nearly bug out when he spotted her.

"Wow…" He muttered, looking her over.

Addison blushed and giggled, also admiring her new apparel. The wolves had given her new pants, a new shirt and a vest in traditional werewolf colors, as well a patch of fur around her neck. New bracelets adorned her arms alongside the strange runes she still couldn't read. Her hair was braided back over her head and cascaded down her back in purposefully messy strands. This was a big change in appearance for Addison, but she loved it.

"Now this is a proper werewolf." Wynter smirked.

"This is a look I can get behind." Willa added.

"This is our great alpha." Wyatt chimed in before directing himself to the other werewolves. "I will follow her, what about you?"

They all cheered loudly before starting to howl, with Wyatt, Willa and Wynter all joining in as well.

Addison looked on ecstatically, her heart thumping audibly in her chest as she followed along and howled to the best of her ability.

"This is it!" Wyatt enthusiastically yelled out when they were finished. "We waited for years, but now we have our great alpha, and we will get out moonstone back!"

"Yeah!" The werewolves applauded.

"Us werewolves will rise again!" Willa added, with the werewolves applauding again.

"We own the night!" Wyatt shouted, pumping his fist up in the air.

"We own the night!" All werewolves repeated, raising their hands.

"We own the night!" Addison concluded, also raising both arms as she celebrated with the werewolves. Her new family…