Skirts weren't ideal wolf-wear. Only alphas had access to them because they weren't ideal for hunting or running. But, it was Addison's first day of human high school. She'd heard people dressed nicely for their first day. So Addison dressed in a simple cotton, dusty yellow skirt and top, covering her shoulders with her leather vest. Winona touched up the pack's markings before they went off to school.

School.

Just the thought of it had her more giddy than she should've been. Addison would sneak out every summer and watch the school kids of all ages come to the woods. They always talked about classes and cute boys and girls, and going to parties or staying up all night to cram. Addison loved the elders with her whole heart, but they didn't offer much to learn. And now they were all too sick to offer any source of learning. So yeah, she was pretty stoked to be going to a real high school.

Her pack, on the other hand, wasn't.

They walked through the school doors and several heads turned in their direction. Willa looked around at them then growled, flaring her fangs and scaring the humans and zombies away. Wyatt looked over at her as they made their way down the hall, shaking his head. Addison watched the exchange with interest. Most of the time, Wyatt was the voice of reason when it came to Willa, and Addison still didn't know how he did it, or mastered it in the first place for that matter.

"These sheep just let us in?" Willa said, her voice nearly a growl. "Baaaad idea."

"We agreed to play nice," Wyatt defended from where he was walking beside her, Addison a few steps behind them. He looked over at his sister in expasteration, his eyebrows raised.

Willa challenged him, "Oh, this is me being nice."

She reached out and stuck her claws into the row of lockers beside them, tearing through pastel metal and pulling her hand back just in time, barely missing maiming a human and a zombie standing together.

Wyatt offered no comment, instead directing his attention back on the students around them and taking in their shocked, and slightly horrified looks, as the group of wolves made their way to the end of the hall.

"Now let's find that moonstone."

Addison figured it's best not to speak up and remind Willa that they're no closer to finding it, but at the angry look still lingering in her eyes, she decided otherwise.

Wynter staggered behind the group, stopped at the water fountain. Behind her, Zed and Eliza entered the school. Neither of them paid any mind to the wolves in front of them, their attention drawn on Eliza's virtual checklist.

"Okay, here's our platform," Eliza said. "We fight for zombie toppings on pizza in the cafeteria."

Zed nodded. "Right."

"Get Zombie tongue taught as a second language."

"Grut."

"And a 'How-to-Overthrow Your Oppressors' after school club."

Zed stood, giving her an exasperated look. She smiled shamelessly. "Sorry, right. Don't over promise."

Zed rolled his eyes. "More importantly, we allow zombies at Prawn."

Eliza nodded her agreement. She locked her tablet and the two of them started down the hall again. "Step one to progress, right," she said. She paused, bobbing her head from side to side. "If you win."

Zed sighed, though she was right. He was moderately well known, but going against Bucky would be tough. He was so popular even adults knew of his legacy. And Zed was just a freshman.

"With cheer fans in Bucky's camp, and zombies and the football team in mine, the school's split right down the middle," he voiced. He glanced down the hall, the wolves standing at the other end. They growled at passing students, looking as if they were going to attack. Zed sighed and added, "Werewolves are the swing vote."

Eliza nodded her agreement. "Wolves are key to winning this election," she said. She glanced back at Zed and added, "But you know winning over the wolves is going to be hard."

Zed nodded slowly. His eyes wandered to the white haired wolf in the front, flipping through a binder and saying something to her pack. While the rest of the wolves looked ready for a fight, she looked soft and approachable, bouncing a little in her leather boots.

She almost looked...excited to be there, her lips pulled into a smile, her eyes bright and almost welcoming. He found himself staring before he could stop himself, his eyes moving from face down to the carefully picked outfit she's wearing, and she—

Looked really, really pretty.

"I mean," Zed started off slowly, his eyes still on the white-haired wolf. "The wolves can't be so bad. Not when they're so...pretty and nice-looking and—"

His ramble got cut off by the wolves taking off in the direction of the library, some of them growling as they went, but not the white-haired wolf. She lead them patiently, a spring in her step, even though there's a scowling wolf right at her back.

Eliza rolled her eyes as she watched her best friend ogle over one certain wolf, socking him in the arm long after they had gone. "Ouch!" He grumbled, rubbing at his arm and looking over at her. "What was that for?"

"That," she exclaimed pointedly, "was for getting distracted when we have a campaign to run!"

"I wasn't getting distracted!" He defended, and at the look she gave him, he groaned before finally giving in, slumping his shoulders and admitting the truth quietly. "Fine. I was getting a little distracted."

"Thank you."

"But maybe it was a good kind of distracted," he continued, an idea forming in his brain.

Eliza knew that look, where it looked like all the gears were turning in his head at a mile a minute, spinning and cranking and sputtering. Most of the time, that look meant he's either about to say something absolutely genius, or absolutely not genius at all.

This time, she was not so sure which it would be.

"Excuse me?"

Zed turned to her excitedly, grabbing at both her shoulders. "I have an idea, and I think it could work. Wolves work on pack mentality right? So if I can convince one wolf to vote for me, that wolf will convince the rest!"

Eliza sighed, "Zed I don't know if this is a bad idea or a horrible one. Getting close with the wolves just to get an edge up in the voting room? That doesn't seem like you."

That's because it's not, a voice hissed inside his head, but he shoved it away. Besides, this was not only a way to finally change things for zombiekind, but to also have a valid excuse to talk to that pretty wolf he couldn't take his eyes off of.

"Trust me, E, I got this. We're going to win the wolves' votes, and more. We just have to show them how to fit in, like us. Easy."

Addison guided the pack to the library, and then split them up by section, sending different wolves to search for different things. She suggested Willa and Wyatt look towards the back, which the former grumbled at before the latter reminded her how Addy's the Great Alpha, she'll take care of it before pulling her away.

Wyatt's trusting words made Addison's stomach turn. She had no idea what to do, about the moonstone, about her place in the pack. About that zombie.

She had noticed him staring in the hallway, and knew he was the one who had seen her in the forest. She wouldn't forget that face or those eyes anytime soon.

He had watched her like she was something worthwhile in the hallway and it took all of her not to look back or walk away from the pack and towards him instead.

With a heavy sigh she pushed those thoughts away and made her way over to where the zombense books were located, figuring maybe the zombie history books will have a better version of the correct history than the human ones. She ran her clawed finger across the spines of books before stopping and pulling one that looked interesting out, only to find a prying zombie on the other end.

Quickly, and clumsily, he grabbed a random book from the same shelf and lifted it to hide his face and make it look like his eyes weren't following hers through the empty gaps in the bookshelf.

Addison rolled her eyes with a smile before making her way around the bookcase and carefully pulling the book down, revealing a sheepish zombie face looking down at hers.

"So," she said, eyeing him curiously, "why is a handsome zombie like yourself spying on me?"

The zombie opened and closed his mouth a few times, stuttering for something that actually sounds like a good answer.

"Uh, um, I'm uh—"

Addison gave him an innocent, knowing smile, her eyebrows raised. "Following me?" she supplied easily, watching as his brows raised and he jumped to say otherwise.

"No, no! No. I'm just, uh," he placed the book on a random shelf beside them and held out his pale hand, urging her to take it. "I'm Zed, Zed the Zombie, though uh," he cringed, "no one calls me that."

She stared at his hand for another moment before taking it, and he shook hers and she just followed the motion, having trouble bringing her attention away from his eyes.

"I'm Addison," she introduced, taking joy in the way his eyes lit up, and the way he didn't let go of her hand.

"Hi, Addy, I'm—" He cringed again, cursing himself quietly before stopping and shaking his head. "I'm sorry, is it okay if I call you—"

"It's perfect," she replied earnestly, and he chuckled, finally letting go of her hand so he can reach up and rub at the back of his neck.

There were only some members of the pack who had called her Addy, and besides Wyatt, that number was small. She likes the way Zed says it, even if he stumbles over it a little more than necessary. The thought made her smile.

"Anyway," he barreled onwards, "I promise I wasn't following you. Or, well, I was, but it wasn't for the reason you think." She raised an eyebrow. "I'm running for president, and since it's looking like the wolves will be the swing vote, I was just wondering—hoping—I could count on your vote."

He smiles, awkward and clumsy. Addison's blue eyes burned a hole through him, like she could see him for who he truly was, could see him without the Z-Band, could see him just as flesh and bone. She looked at him like she already knew him, and the thought sent shivers down his spine.

Did that mean she thought he was a monster too?

"Tell me," she said stepping closer, her voice quiet. He shivered at the closeness. "Why would I vote for you?"

His eyes scanned over her face, the gears in his brain turning out of control. She was close, so close, they were nearly touching. She made it hard to concentrate on his campaign, on anything.

"I, uh, I can help you," he offered. Her eyebrows jumped in surprise and he quickly added, "That book—it's all wrong. I can be your zombie tutor! I mean, I have no idea why you'd even want the history of zombietown broken down in a poorly written research book, but you can ask me anything. I'm always around, I'm always trying to help."

Addison blinked, slowly processing the words he'd just rushed out. She's silent for what feels like forever to Zed, when in reality, it's only a few seconds. Her head tilted to the side, eyes scrutinizing his every feature. Finally, she smiled, a small, soft smile that eased his nerves. "You'll really help us?"

"Of course," he said, "but honestly I'm sure any sane person would do anything to even talk to someone as beautiful as you."

Her eyes widen a fraction, her spine going rigid in surprise. But just as quickly as it had happened, she was back to smiling, saying, "Or just a crazy zombie, flirting with a wolf." She lifted a hand and twirled a strand of her hair around her finger, swaying slightly. "Aren't you all supposed to be scared of us?"

"Well that depends." They got closer, his head arching down and her head tilting up so they were staring in each other's eyes. The only thing between them was the book cradled in Addison's arm. Zed dropped his voice, saying only for her to hear, "Should I be scared of you?"

"Should I be scared of you, zombie?" She countered breathlessly.

"Well I'm nothing compared to an alpha."

Addison faltered, her breath hitching in her throat. He thought she was the alpha, that was the only reason he had even approached her. He just wanted her to convince the pack to vote for him. But…it didn't explain all the flirting, or the way he was looking at her. There was no way this was strictly political.

She licked her lips then said, "Lucky for you, I'm not the alpha."

He frowned at that. He was sure she was the alpha; they always listened to her, not to mention she had a full head of white hair as opposed to just bangs. Add in the markings on her cheek—two lines that formed an A, with a crescent moon acting as the bisector. The mark was the most different from all the wolves. They'd spent a few days learning about the "mythical" beasts back in January, and Zed remembered that the alpha had the most unique markings of the whole pack.

"Wouldn't the alpha have these markings?" he asked. "Your markings are different from everyone else's."

Addison giggled a little. "Why are you paying so much attention to our pack, Zed the Zombie?"

Zed gave her a slightly shy smile, eyes flitting away bashfully. "I kinda wanted to impress you, win you over," he admitted. "And not just for the election. You just seem…nice, and different. A good different."

"You've only just met me."

Zed took a deep breath, steeling his nerves. He forgot about the election, about needing the wolves vote or them being in the middle of the shelves of the school library. None of them mattered when he was talking to her. Werewolf or not, he just likes being near her.

"Right from the start you caught my eye," he whispered. His hand came up and cradled her jaw. "Something inside me…came to life."

Her eyes flickered over his lips, her eyelids drooping ever so slightly. "Addison." The two of them jumped apart, the book falling from Addison's hand in her surprise. Zed whipped around, slamming back into the shelves. Both their eyes landed on the other werewolf, the one with the wild hair that was now glowering at them, marching down the aisle.

She stopped, standing between them, looking back and forth between the recently separated pair. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked, her attention on Addison.

She had to be the alpha.

Zed glanced at Addison, who had picked up the book. "Doing some research, Willa," Addison said. "My new friend Zed was helping me." She put the book back on the shelf. "He also warned me that this book was useless. Have you guys found anything?"

Willa narrowed her eyes at Addison, then glared at Zed. Zed in turn looked away, unable to stop the heat from rising in his cheeks. Was he going to kiss Addison? Was she going to kiss him? Whatever, it didn't matter. What mattered was that Willa caught them about to do whatever it was they were going to do.

Willa looked back at Addison and said, "Wyatt found a selection of settlement books. Come on."

Willa turned to leave, but stopped and snarled at Zed, forcing him further back into the shelves. Okay. Wolves were scary. He should be a lot more careful around them.

Willa stalked out of the aisle, Addison following behind her. Zed watched them leave, taking several calming breaths. He needed to relax.

Then, of course, Addison turned back and smiled at him, sending his heart in another frenzy. He was not okay, he was so not okay. She was going to be the death of him.