As Addison was swapping out her books in her locker in between classes, Bucky and his ever-present entourage walked up to her. "Hey Addison." Bucky called out.
"Hi, Bucky, what's up?"
"Have you heard the rumors about those new kids that started school yesterday? I heard they were," Bucky paused to glance around nervously. "werewolves."
Addison kept an even smile on her face. "Yes, Bucky they are but don't panic they're just like us and the zombies. Different isn't a bad thing."
"How do you know that?"
"Because Zed and I met them in the woods when the bus crashed, I'll admit they can be a little scary but they aren't dangerous. They just want to join our school."
"You believe that? Why would they suddenly show up now?"
"I don't know, probably because no one from Seabrook ever saw them until the bus drove into their forest, and we told them how much things have changed for the zombies so they know its safe for them to come now. They really aren't so bad once you get to know them."
"Seriously? You're all buddy-buddy with them too? What is it with you and monsters? Should Zed be jealous?"
"Bucky." Addison glared at him.
"I'm sorry, the zombies aren't monsters, I know that now."
"They're my friends Bucky. Zed and I have been helping them learn about Seabrook so they can fit in. I'm sure if you get to know them, you might like them."
"Somehow I doubt that, what if they get hungry? I'm always looking like a snack."
"Bucky, it's like they told me, they're werewolves, not animals. They don't eat people."
"Wait a minute, you saw them when the bus crashed? Were they near us? Were they hunting us down? Did Zed use his zombie strength to fight them off like when he was cheating in football? Do I owe Zed my life?"
"No Bucky, we just talked to them, none of us were ever in any danger. They're actually pretty nice, if a bit fierce when you get to know them."
"Alright then Addison, I'll trust you. But just confirm for me again. Werewolves are real?"
"Yes." Addison sighed, in slight exasperation.
"By chance did you see any vampires or ghosts or anything else in the woods? I mean I'm fine with zombies, they make admittedly decent cheerleaders, but I don't want every day to be Halloween."
"No Bucky, it's just them and we are in no more danger than we were before we found them, hopefully, our community is just getting bigger."
"OK Addison, so what's the plan for practice today?"
"Same things we have been doing, I want everyone to be able to perform the routine in their sleep for next week."
"Don't worry. I know we've all got it down. See you later. Aceys let's go," Bucky snapped his fingers as he marched down the hall. "English awaits."
Addison finished grabbing her books and she traveled down the hall in the same direction, where she found Willa reading a book near the trophy case.
"Hey Willa, what are you reading?"
Willa looked up, "Just another mostly useless history book. It doesn't have what I'm looking for."
"That's too bad, are you researching something for a class?"
"No, it's a…personal project. I'll see you later, looks like I have Choir with Bonzo next."
"Oh that sounds cool, you joined choir?"
"Yeah, singing is always fun, and it was better than any of the other electives Principal Lee gave us to choose from even though I have never done anything other than howling to the moon and having fun with the pack, it's been pretty fun so far. I'll admit Mrs. Haacke knows her stuff."
"I really like singing too, but I've always been so focused on cheer, I haven't done music class since elementary school. I hope it keeps going well, and you can find whatever you're looking for."
"Thanks, Addison, what class do you have next?"
"English class, we just started our next paper so not the most fun, I don't even have a topic yet."
"Good luck then, I have zero experience writing papers."
"I think you're the lucky one, are you going to eat lunch with us again?"
"Of course, who else would I eat with? Your friends have been so welcoming to us."
"Thanks, well, I better get going, I only have like a minute before the bell. Bye!"
Addison started rushing off down the hallway, while Willa continued on in a more leisurely stroll, she liked Choir for sure, but she had no problem being fashionably late to class, especially when she was still working on more important matters, she abandoned the book she was reading on a nearby bench as she walked away, that one really was just as useless as all the others.
"I am so fired up for practice today! Together we can do anything!" Addison took a breath to continue her opening pep talk, but most of the cheerleaders were staring past her and Bree with grimaces of fear instead of their normal cheertastic smiles.
Addison and Bree turned around and Bree let out a small gasp of surprise.
Sitting in the bleachers were Wyatt and Wynter, just sitting there, quietly watching them.
Addison calmly walked up to the wolves. "Sorry, but this practice space is for cheerleaders only."
"Huh. Just try to get us to leave." Wynter threatened, standing up straight and tall.
"Wynter." Wyatt once again cautioned, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Some respect."
Addison shook her head. "No I don't want you to leave. I want you to stay."
Most of the cheerleaders looked around at each other nervously in shock.
"Show us what you can do." Addison challenged the wolves. "The cheer team is for everyone."
"Um Addison, no it isn't the cheer team is only for perfection." Bucky interrupted her.
"Bucky, need I remind you who the captain is?" Bree told him.
"It's you two," Bucky groaned quietly, "but sure, the zombies are part of the squad since they earned their place on the team, you can't just let these mangy mutts join on a whim. We have an important competition to prepare for. As captain, it is your responsibility to prepare us for victory without any distractions."
"If they want to join us for today they can. This isn't a commitment to joining the team or a tryout or anything, but I think we can all have a lot of fun. Together." Addison turned back to the wolves. "Are you in? Even if its just for today?"
"Alright. We're in." Wyatt and Wynter both nodded, and walked down to join the squad on the gym floor.
As they started, the wolves spent a few moments awkwardly trying to follow along with the cheer squad, but they quickly got into the groove, even though most of the cheerleaders were nervous to get too close to them. After the first run-through, Wyatt and Wynter were able to follow most of the dance moves almost perfectly. Addison was actually pretty impressed, maybe they would make good cheerleaders.
As the practice continued, everyone's nerves quickly disappeared, and all the wolves were able to learn the cheer routines in a snap, and Addison even encouraged the cheerleaders to learn some of the wolves' dance moves.
For the final routine of practice, they worked on their showstopper and with everyone working together Addison thought it looked better than ever. Especially when she got some height being lifted by Wyatt and Jacey. At the very end, she vaulted up and was expertly caught by Wyatt and Jacey, although she landed a little off balance so instinctively wrapped her arms over Wyatt's shoulders.
When he let her down a moment later everybody was cheering, clapping and sharing hi-fives all around. Wyatt pulled her into a hug in excitement and she happily returned it, smiling and laughing in happiness over his shoulder.
"That was so amazing. You are all natural cheerleaders." Addison congratulated the now expanded team.
"We work well together." Wyatt told her.
"Thanks, I never thought about werewolves cheering but I guess I shouldn't be surprised considering what zombies can do."
Addison heard labored coughing ahead of her and scanned the room with her eyes as Wyatt turned around.
"Wynter?" He asked.
Wynter had latched onto Bree's arm as she collapsed to the floor, sounding like she could hardly breathe, her eyes glowing a sickly green.
"What's wrong, are you OK?" Addison ran to her side.
Wynter shared a look with Wyatt, unable to speak.
"She'll be fine, for now at least." Wyatt reassured Addison and Bree as the green glow faded from her eyes and necklace. "But we do need your help."
"With what?" Addison asked.
"I need to find Willa. If Wynter's getting sick we need to move up the timeframe." Wyatt whispered under his breath. Low enough that only Bonzo's keen ears could hear it.
After a few more labored coughs, Wynter's eyes returned to her natural hazel shade and her breathing returned to normal.
"Are you OK Wynter?" Wyatt asked.
"For now." she nodded.
"Don't worry we still have time."
"Time for what? Should we call the school nurse? She still might be here." Addison glanced nervously at her watch.
"No, no nurse. Don't worry. Wynter will be OK for now. We need to go find Willa. Maybe we'll catch you guys later." Wyatt swiftly led Wynter out the gym doors.
"OK then." Addison shared a worried glance with Bree and Bonzo, while most of the other cheerleaders just looked confused. "Let's take it from the top one more time and then we'll call it a day." Addison announced as everyone got back into their starting position again.
After practice was done, Bree, Bonzo, and Addison were the last ones in the gym cleaning up when Zed and Eliza walked through the doors.
"Ready to go home?" Zed asked.
"Actually, have you seen any of the wolves? They came to our practice and we had lots of fun but Wynter got sick or something and her and Wyatt left to go find Willa."
"Wait, that super handsome, scruffy looking, fine smelling Wyatt is a cheerleader too now?" Why do you people have to spread your glitter everywhere?" Eliza grumbled.
Zed quirked his eyebrow at Addison, with an expression of shock. What? He mouthed.
Addison couldn't help her laughter spilling out at Zed's expression. "It was just for today but both of them were great cheerleaders." Addison told Eliza.
"Do you think we should look for them?" Bree asked, shouldering her backpack, ready to go. It seemed like only Zed and Addison registered Eliza's statement.
"I have no clue where they could have gone, maybe they went back to where they live in the forest?" Addison guessed
"We could check the safe room again."
"Oh, real original Zed. But if you really want to look for them in the safe you aren't allowed to go with Addison." Eliza ordered.
"Why not?"
"I think we all know that you two will get pretty distracted if you two go in there alone."
"Fine, where do you think we should look then?"
"Well they were hanging out in the library a lot looking through history books, or maybe they'll be in Zombietown again." Bree suggested.
"I no buzcar Willa zince carmidaz." Bonzo reported.
"I had class with her at the end of the day, but she didn't say where she would be after school." Eliza added.
"Alright then, Bree and Bonzo can search the school and Seabrook for them. Addison, Eliza, and I will go look in Zombietown." Zed suggested.
"Sounds like a plan." Bree agreed.
"Let's go Mighty Shrimp break, on five Huh!" Zed shouted, all the cheerleaders happily joined in, while Eliza just rolled her eyes.
"Willa!"
Willa turned her head behind her, she was sitting in the library, still fruitlessly searching for any reference to the Moonstone, but none of the books said a word about it, plus all the lies about the battle that drove the wolves out were a constantly growing annoyance. But she could detect the worry in Wyatt's voice.
"What is it?" She asked as she stood up, Wyatt and Wynter coming to a stop in front of her.
"Willa, we went to the cheer practice and we were having so much fun with Bree, Addison, Bonzo and all the other cheerleaders, Addison even let us join in their routine and-"
"Wynter. Focus. How is this important?"
"Because after we finished, Wynter's necklace started to fail." Wyatt explained.
"Are you OK Wynter?" Willa raised her hand to feel Wynter's forehead, thankfully she didn't have a fever. Yet.
"I'm fine, I just started coughing and I could hardly breathe for a few minutes. But I'm OK for now. I'm still wolf strong." Wynter nodded.
"Willa, we're running out of time, if Wynter or we get sick, our chances of finding the Moonstone will fall to zero. We don't have a choice, we need to tell them now. Before any of us get worse, and I really believe they will want to help us." Wyatt told her again.
"OK I agree. We can tell them. I believe they'll help us too. But where should we tell them? I don't want to risk anyone but those five knowing about how desperate we are."
"We can bring them to the Den, show them our secrets to prove we can be trusted, and if they see how close we are to…extinction, they'll want to help us even more." Wyatt said.
"I hate that we're taking this risk, but you're right, we don't have a choice. Wynter are you still good to travel?"
"Don't worry Willa, I still have a lot of bite in me." Wynter reassured her, letting her eyes glow faintly gold for just a moment.
"Just what I like to hear. Do you know when the cheerleaders are done?"
"No, I do not." Wyatt admitted.
"OK then, for safety's sake we should go wait in Zombietown, I'll trust our friends, but I still don't trust the Z-Patrol. So we can find Eliza and Zed and they can call the rest of them. Plus it's closer than Seabrook to the forest."
"Let's get going then." Wyatt agreed.
"I know it's only been a few days, but I miss home already." Wynter sighed.
"Me too Wynter. It will be good to make sure things haven't gotten any worse."
"Don't worry Willa, I know Mother and Father still have time."
"How did you-?"
"Because I'm your brother Willa, I'm just as worried about them as you are, plus Weston said he would send a messenger if they took a turn for the worse. We still have time, and who knows, maybe we'll figure it out tonight and by tomorrow morning everything will be saved."
"Somehow I don't doubt it will be that easy. All we can do is hope."
"And sometimes hope is all you need."
"You know this would be so much easier if we had phones." Wyatt mused as the trio began walking to Zombietown.
"What's a phone?" Wynter asked.
"It's those shiny glass and metal boxes that all the humans are constantly staring at. Apparently, they let the humans talk to each other over long distances and stuff."
"And how do you know this?" Willa asked.
"Eliza told me, turns out she's really good with electronics and she even made her own phones for herself, Bonzo, and Zed so they can talk to their human friends easier, or as Eliza says, so they can all send goo-goo eyes and heart emojis to each other twenty-four hours a day."
"So they just let you talk over long distances? That's what howling is for." Wynter added.
"Well not just that, all their technology is connected by this thing called the internet their phones can access, and they have games, and you can watch movies, listen to music, and pretty much anything."
"Well, it could be that they don't want to look us in the eye, but it seems like most of the humans prefer to stare at their screens rather than see what's actually in front of them." Willa laughed.
"Yeah, I agree, but they sound cool, I bet Eliza would love to make us some." Wyatt said.
"And just why is that? Besides all the zombie history what really happened on your little date last night?" Willa asked, her tone turned teasingly.
"It wasn't a date, I'm just learning about our allies, and I know Eliza will be one of our strongest supporters when we tell her."
"And that's the only thing you talked about? Zombies and wolves, and phones?"
"Yeah some other stuff, I guess, but that's nothing you have to worry about."
"I'm sure it won't be." Willa said as they passed through the main gate. "Hey Eliza!" Willa waved.
"Where?" Wyatt looked around excitedly, unconsciously smoothing his hair
"You're way too easy Wyatt." Willa chuckled.
"Ha ha very funny, maybe you should go check out a fire hydrant."
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know I'm guessing it has something to with dogs cause Eliza said that to me last night."
"And just what else did she say to you? Since you have been following her around like a puppy."
"I have not. I'm just getting her on our side."
"Sure you are Wyatt, keep telling yourself that."
The wolves sat outside the same shop they met Zed and Eliza at yesterday and waited. By this point, most of the zombies had heard the rumors floating around about the wolves in their midst from their kids, and quite a few did a double-take as they walked past. Wyatt and Wynter smiled in response, while Willa usually growled just loud enough for them to get the message and keep moving on.
"There you guys are." the wolves perked their ears at the sound of a familiar voice walking towards them, Addison walking side by side with Zed like always, with Eliza on her other side.
"Wynter are you feeling better?"
"Yes, I'm good for now. Thanks for your concern."
"Of course, you're my friend." Addison smiled.
"Speaking of friends, where are Bree and Bonzo?" Willa asked.
"Oh they're looking for you around Seabrook, I'll call them to let them know we can call off the search." Zed pulled his phone out of his pocket and began dialing.
"Actually, can you tell them to come here? There's something we need to tell you. All of you." Willa asked.
"Absolutely." Zed raised his phone to his ear. "Hey Bonzo, we found them, we're outside the Grozery Store in Zombietown. Yeah, they're all ok, but they want you and Bree to get here. They have something they want to tell us. I don't know, wolf secrets I guess. Alright, see you soon buddy. Later Bonzo."
Zed put his phone away, "They'll be here in about twenty minutes."
"Good." Willa sat back down to wait, and Zed, Addison, and Eliza pulled some chairs over to sit at the wolves' table.
"So…what is it Fido?" Eliza asked.
"Not here, there are too many ears around here." Wyatt said.
"Why? Is it dangerous?" Addison asked.
"Not for you, we promise you all will be perfectly safe, it's the safety of the pack we're worried about." Willa reassured the group.
"OK, whatever it is, thank you for trusting us Willa, but I promise Seabrook and Zombietown are safe places to be in." Addison reassured her.
"Again, I know we aren't in any danger here…let's just say, our problem is bigger than just the three of us."
About twenty minutes later, Bonzo and Bree jogged up to the table. "Sorry we took so long, we were still checking the saferoom."
"Really Bree, why'd it take you two so long to search the saferoom?" Eliza asked teasingly.
"Hey! We aren't Zed and Addison."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Addison asked, smiling.
"I think even we know that means," Wyatt laughed, "seeing as we got a front-row seat the last time you were in there."
Addison blushed fiery red in embarrassment while Zed rubbed gentle soothing circles around her back. She noticed even he was chuckling too.
"Why are you laughing?"
"It's not like its some secret how we feel about each other, especially in the saferoom. I'm not ashamed."
"Of course, I'm not, but I'm pretty sure you don't want every person in Zombietown to know, what if a Z-Patrol passes and they tell my dad?"
"Then I might as well dig my own grave."
Eliza laughed, "I see two options with that, either your parents finally remove the saferooms, or we all get sent back to Zombie only school, or at least Zed does."
"Ha ha, very funny."
"Anyway." Wyatt butted into the conversation. "Back to this, we waited for you here because we have something to tell you."
"Something no human, or zombie, has ever been told before. But I'm giving you a choice, come with us now, and you can't tell a soul without the Alpha's permission. Or you can leave, and we won't bother you again." Willa warned them.
"OK that was a mood change." Zed laughed nervously. "So what do you need?"
"Agree to listen to us, and keep our secrets, or leave now." Willa repeated herself, deadly serious.
"I'm in. I'd love to learn more about my fellow monsters." Eliza nodded, not noticing both Addison and Zed cringe beside her at her word choice.
"I'm in too." Addison agreed, "If you need help I want to help you."
"Where Addie goes, I go, but I'm in whatever you need, I'll do whatever I can."
"Iz in." Bonzo said, "Screwzywolves brrave, ztrong, zimpaticagh."
"I'll help you out too, in any way I can." Bree said, squeezing Bonzo's hand in reassurance and excitement.
"Alright then, follow us." Willa stood up.
"Where are we going?" Addison asked.
"To the Forbidden Forest. We're going home, and bringing you with us. You get the honor of being first humans and zombies invited to meet the pack."