Wyatt led Zed and Bonzo back to the Den as the lavender of the evening was quickly surrounding them, or at least as much as they could see through the thick cover of the trees. All three had excited smiles on their faces because they knew every step was bringing them closer to the ones they loved most.
They hiked over one more hill and then before them was the tall gray cliff that held the wolves' home within its stone walls.
"Awwoo!" Wyatt howled in greeting right before they entered the dark tunnel that would take them inside.
"Awwoo!" Another wolf howled back.
"Alright, we're good to go."
"Wait, is that something you always do?" Zed asked.
"Yeah, it's like knocking on the door, letting everyone know who we are and that we're not sneaking in or anything." Wyatt nodded and led them inside.
When they finally made it to the central space inside the cavern, even though the moon wasn't full, it was shining brightly down in the center of the cave, with the addition of various torches, crystals, and paintings designed to catch the light, the space was entirely lit up.
Willa walked up to them. "Welcome home little brother." She reached out and ruffled Wyatt's hair affectionately, "Mother said you never came home last night."
"Yeah, that's because we had the best guys' night ever. Right boys?"
"Gra."
"You got that right Wyatt. Bamm!" The three of them shared a quick fist bump with each other.
"So what did you girls get up to? I don't suppose you got any Seabrook swag?" Wyatt teased her.
"Maybe I did, but I make it look good." Willa promised, "And just what are you two looking for?"
Zed and Bonzo had been continuously glancing around them, each looking for a certain cheerleader, but neither of them could see any sign of them, so they finally brought their attention back to Willa.
"Oh, you can probably guess." Zed grinned, "where's everyone else at?"
"Don't worry zombies, your girlfriends are perfectly fine, in fact, I would say they're fiercer than ever."
"What does that mean?" Zed asked.
In answer, Willa howled out, her voice echoing around the whole cavern. "Awawawoooo!"
Right behind them, jumping up to stand on the arch over the tunnel the boys had just entered through, Wynter crouched down and howled out in answer. "Awwooo!"
The boys had just enough time to turn when their attention was captured again, by another wolf jumping up on a ledge to their left, and letting loose her own howl. "Awwooo!" But this wolf had green hair, and Wyatt couldn't look away.
Then on their right side, another wolf executed a perfect back flip off another stone edge, landing perfectly and revealing a brilliant cheer tested smile, the light glinting off her pink framed glasses giving them the only clue who was really under all that fur. "Awwwwooo!"
"Breezka." Bonzo said in awe and absolute wonder.
And finally, standing up proudly beneath the open ceiling with moonlight shining all around her, was the most gorgeous, white haired, blue eyed girl that Zed had ever seen. "Awwwoooo!" Addison released a howl that nearly matched Willa and Wynter's in intensity. Zed just stood frozen, nothing but his eyes moving as he took her all in, from her new leather boots to her fur-covered vest.
All three guys were just standing frozen for a few seconds until Willa brought out her phone and took a quick pic of each of them, the flash from the camera finally getting them to snap out of their trances.
"Holy Moonstone, you three should see the looks on your faces." Willa was almost cackling with delight.
"Not cool Willa," Wyatt said, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes until his eyes started once again following Eliza's progress down from the rocks.
"So, how do I look Fido?" Eliza grinned, her curly green hair that was usually kept mostly contained by a bun, now almost looked like an emerald green version of Willa's mane that flowed onto her shoulders.
"You look wild, absolutely wild Eliza." Wyatt smiled at her, he glanced down for a moment, taking in her outfit, he could tell she still had her normal boots, probably because of their orthotics he was sure. She was wearing dark purple pants and shirt, with a dark gray vest, that he could tell was lined with rabbit fur. Thanks to her new hairstyle, he couldn't get a great look at her ears, but he was pretty sure he saw the white glint of bone, which most likely meant she even got some knew earrings.
"Thanks, Wyatt, trust me when I say this is much better than the pink monstrosity Bree and Addison convinced me to buy today."
"I can't wait to see it. You'd look great no matter what you wear."
"Oh, I don't think so. The only way I'm wearing that thing again is if I add some zombie chic to it, I need to keep at least some of my dignity intact."
"So I understand why you'd hate Seabrook clothes, but how do you like this? I'll say it again, you look absolutely wild."
"Yeah I like it, I don't know how much I'll wear it, but I'll definitely wear it again. I don't know about the hair though." Eliza ran her hand through her new mane.
"I think you always look great, every day, and right now. I love your werewolf look, but I know you'll always be a zombie down to your undead heart."
"You got that right. Maybe I'll come back to Willa every once in a while. And I will definitely come back for Wynter's nail expertise." Eliza held up her hand, her nails, were now polished black with a tiny purple Z inscribed on each one.
"If that's the result, how could I disagree? You look beautiful Eliza."
"Thanks, Wyatt. Now all I have to do is find you some Zombie Chic and we're all set."
"Really? I figured you would have had enough shopping today to last the whole summer, now you want to drag me around too?"
"Please, I know I don't need to drag you around on a leash, I know you'll heel to me."
"Oh still on the dog jokes train even when you look like that? You know, turnabout is fair play right?"
"Oh, I can always take anything you can dish out Fido," Eliza said confidently.
"While you may have the hot werewolf look down." Wyatt pulled himself closer, placing one hand on her shoulder, and brushing some of her hair away from her ear, indeed revealing a dangling carved bone hanging from her ear. He whispered in a growl. "Your howling needs some work, I hope there weren't any werepups around, cause you'd owe the swearwolf jar about twenty pebbles minimum." Before Eliza could react, he quickly darted in to kiss her cheek and then backed away from her, laughing at her lost face.
Eliza shook her head to clear her thoughts "Wait, a minute, what did I say?"
"Oh, don't expect me to repeat it. Let's just say, you said some very specific things about what you'll be doing tonight." He grinned.
"What are you talking about? Wynter was telling me how to say, Hey Wyatt, Look at me!"
"Well, you got part of that right." Wyatt laughed, "I won't tell you which part." Wyatt smirked and jumped away before Eliza could grab him.
"Wyatt!" Eliza shouted, but he was still pretty sure it was Eliza's normal amount of rage as he kept jumping around her, just out of reach. This was actually a pretty fun game, and as long as she wasn't zombied out he could assume he wouldn't be in too much trouble once she caught him.
Zed slowly walked over to Addison, his eyes never left her own as he climbed the stone steps to reach the ledge she was standing on. She reached down to pull him up to her over the last steps and Zed happily took her hand in his own.
Addison smiled down at him. "So how do I-?"
She was interrupted when without warning Zed pulled her close to him and captured her lips in a searing kiss, so full of love and passion, Addison felt like she was melting from the inside out. His arms held her tightly against him, which was a good thing since her legs were feeling a little shaky, but she knew she was always safe and secure as long as she was in his arms. After the initial heartbeats of surprise, she put her all into it too. She wanted to send all her love for Zed right back to him, just like he was showing her without any words at all. So she caressed his face with one hand, while the other gently ran her newly sharpened claws over his shoulder.
She could tell when he shivered from the feeling and then pressed himself even closer. Addison was deaf and blind to everything else around her. The only thing that mattered was Zed, right in front of her.
They broke apart after a moment, Zed still leaning forward to rest his forehead against hers. They spent another long moment just staring into one another's eyes before they both broke down in laughter. They each took a step away from each other, just enough space to be able to take one another in, but still holding one another for dear life.
"I missed you." Zed grinned down at her.
"Really? It's only been a day."
"And it's only been a handful of days ever since we met that I couldn't see you at all. Don't get me wrong, I had the greatest fun ever with Bonzo and Wyatt, but no one will ever be able to compare to you."
"I know, no one will ever be able to compare to you either Zed. So, I'll ask you again, how do I look?"
Zed scanned her outfit, from her purple jacket lined with gray fur, resting over the brown shirt underneath, perfectly matching the brown leather pants she had on, along with some durable looking boots, plus a few accessories, besides her normal silver charm bracelet, it looked like she also had several new bracelets made out of stones and leather, plus of course, her moonstone resting against her neck. Zed finally made his way back to her face, while she was always beautiful, the purple eye shadow really brought out her blue eyes.
And finally her hair, the greatest outward sign that Addison was the most special person in his universe. He was honestly surprised Addison had let the wolves do their thing, but it looked great. It had been braided into thick dreads that added more volume and made her hair look much longer, and indeed much wilder than her normal hairstyles. It was different, but different was never a bad thing.
Zed pulled her close once again. "You are Addison, that's all that matters to me. From your hair to your toes, you are absolutely perfect."
"Do, do you really like the hair though?" Addison asked, sounding a bit nervous.
"It's beautiful, you're beautiful, end of story. I promise nothing will ever change the way I see you. And this was just for fun right? You did have fun, right? I'm happy you value my opinion, but the only one that really matters is you. Do you feel like you?"
"Yeah, I did have fun." Addison nodded, "and I'm glad to be part of the pack and try something new, but I know, no matter how much Eliza would complain, I know I belong in Seabrook, but, I know who I really am. And that's me."
"Whatever you want to do. You do what makes you true to yourself and makes you feel good."
"Thanks Zed, so do you think I'm werewolf material?"
"Yeah, cheerleader, or werewolf, you are always amazing, there is no other word I could possibly use to describe you. Except…" Zed grinned. "Girl you look delicious, oh I mean gorgeous."
"Now you're getting fearless."
"If you own the night, I'll never be afraid of the dark again. Call me impressed, all of you girls look great. Although I am of course biased. I may have gotten whiplash from all you howling to the moon, but if you had jumped out first, I would have no clue what anyone else looked like. But do you like it? That's the most important thing."
"Yeah, I feel like such a part of the pack, completely honest, when the wolves gave you your jacket for your birthday, I was kind of jealous."
"Well, you could have just borrowed it, oops, I mean stole it like your zombie chic collection." He teased her.
"Are you complaining?"
"Of course not, you could rob me blind and I wouldn't complain."
"Good to know." Addison stood up on her tiptoes quick to give Zed another quick peck. "But for your information, I'll have you know I have my own zombie chic now."
"Oh do you?"
"Yep. Eliza helped me pick it out, and everyone agreed."
"Agreed on what?"
"As Eliza said, you'll go brain dead when you see it." Addison giggled.
"Well considering what werewolf Addison looks like, I can't wait to see you rocking it zombie style. In fact, I'll probably need a Z-band to keep me contained."
"No you won't, and who says I want you contained? You were doing just fine a few minutes ago."
"Oh was I?" Zed raised his eyebrow in question.
"Yeah, obviously I had lots of fun today and last night, but I missed you too. Also, don't tell the girls, but literally the whole time, I was thinking about what you would say to everything."
"I'll always say the same thing, Girl you look delicious."
"Hey, you already used that one." Addison giggled.
"Well, my brain can only do so much when I've been deprived of my vitamin A all day, and when you look as fierce as that."
"You really think I look fierce?"
"Oh yeah." Zed brought her hand up to closer to his face to study her new purple-painted nails tipped in silvery glitter. "With claws like these, I bet you could shred a football dummy just as good as Wynter."
"No way, I want to keep these bad boys as long as I can." Addison waved her nails in his face.
"No complaint here. But as I was saying you look delicious, in fact, I think I need another taste."
"I don't know, I think I'm the hunter now. You'd better run if you know what's good for you."
"I know what's good for me, and I would never run away from her. You'll never have to hunt me down."
"I know," Addison said, looking up at him through her lashes. "Now enough talking." She pressed herself closer against Zed once again.
"Oh I get it you want to howl to the moon again right?"
"Guess again," Addison said before she threw her arms around his neck to pull herself up to his level, smashing her lips against his once again. She felt the sparks flying through her body as Zed gently lifted her up off the ground around her waist, so they were pressed flush against each other. Addison was lost in Zed, the only good thing about being away from him, was that it was always such a rush to see him again.
On the other side of the cave, once Bree stood up from her landing, she was immediately picked up off the ground and spun around in a circle, but she wasn't worried, she knew who those cool, strong, and gentle hands belonged to.
"Breezka." Bonzo said softly looking down into her eyes after setting her down. "Grutiful."
"Awe, thanks Bonzo, you really think so?" Bree asked as she wrapped her arms around Bonzo's torso.
Similar to Eliza, Bee's hair was now just as voluminous as Willa's the only thing missing was a streak of white, and a few inches of height, and Bree and Willa could have been twins. She was wearing new, werewolf-crafted brown leather boots, that perfectly matched the sepia of her jacket, providing a nice contrast with the cinnamon color of the pants and shirt she was wearing. And the final accessory was the black fur that lined the vest, so it looked even more like her hair was spilling down from her shoulders.
This was one of only a handful of times Bonzo had ever seen Bree in something that wasn't pink or blue, and this new palate complimented all of her features perfectly.
"Breezka, ez grutiful." Bonzo repeated.
"Thanks so much, Bonzo. I'm glad you like it." Bree smiled up at him. "But just wait and see what else I got today."
"Gratevarr ez, gru grutiful." Bonzo promised her, leaning down to kiss her softly for a few seconds.
"Thank you Bonzo, just as much as you're always super handsome. But there's also something else I want to do tonight."
"Grat?"
"You know how I never charged my necklace?" Bree asked, taking one hand away from around Bonzo to lightly tap the necklace sitting at the base of her throat, she had worn it almost constantly ever since she got it all those months ago, but unlike the wolves', that always at least had a spark of blue, or Bonzo's which always had just a lick of green emanating from it, hers was still pale ivory and lifeless.
"Well, I did plenty of research and I'm 99.9 percent certain that there is no way there are any werewolves in my family. And so I want to charge it up, to show that I am a member of the pack, and so I can share something more with you." Bree said, setting her own necklace back against her neck and reaching out to lightly touch Bonzo's. Causing its green glow to flash brighter for an instant, "Do you think I'm making the right decision?"
"Gra, gru do gru Breezka. Gru ziempre grutiful. Grutiful greeleadarr, agr grutiful screwziwolf." Bonzo smiled down at her.
"Awe, thank you Bonzo. I know you're right. I know nothing will change, and even more important, nothing will ever change us, even if it did."
"Gru ahorra?"
"Yeah, I will do it right now." Taking one of his cool, gray hands in his, Bree and Bonzo walked over to Willa and Wynter, who were both laughing, watching Eliza chase Wyatt around the Den, trying to corner or grab him, but he always jumped just out of her reach.
"Willa?"
"Yeah, what is it Bree?" Willa asked, managing to tear her gaze away from the hilarious chase scene Eliza and Wyatt had created.
"I'm ready to do it," Bree said, simply holding up her necklace. "Do I need to do anything special for it?"
"No, you're already a full member of the pack, so thankfully I don't have to give any speeches again." Willa joked motioning to the continued chase on one side, while Zed and Addison were holding each other closely in front of the moonstone. "If you want, I can grab the four lovebirds' attention with a howl so we can all watch you."
"Yeah, I would like that." Bree smiled.
"No problem. Awwoooo!" Willa howled loudly, making Zed and Addison come up for air and break away with the smallest space possible while they looked down at Willa. and Wyatt froze and turned toward Willa instinctively, giving Eliza the opening she needed to latch onto Wyatt's arm and pull him close to her.
"Do you give up? What did I say?" She demanded, only a few inches separating their eyes.
"I'm not telling, I don't have any pebbles for the swearwolf jar." Wyatt still had the confidence to grin back at her.
"You little-"
"Ahem, we have something important going on you two." Willa walked up to them, but her voice was teasing. "If you two are that moonstruck, its probably best if you take it outside. Same with you two! Willa shouted at Zed and Addison as they walked hand in hand back down to the rest of their friends, you're lucky the werepups are all in their caves already."
"Of course Willa." Eliza unceremoniously let go of Wyatt's wrist, but whispered in his ear, "We are finishing this later."
While Addison blushed cherry red, Zed just grinned, "This is what happens when you keep a zombie away from his girlfriend. I have nothing to apologize for. What?" Zed asked, seeing Addison's face.
"You know I love you, but yeah, maybe we should tone it down, we are in the wolves' home after all."
"Or I'm all for heading out to the woods." Zed suggested instead
"Enough you two, this is important." Willa snapped.
Willa walked back to Bree, who already had all the rest of her friends surrounding her. "Well, Bree, the floor is yours, and don't worry, I know you're only doing this now because you know you aren't a werewolf in blood, but you will always be a wolf where it matters most, in your heart. You will always be a member of our pack. Always. No matter what happens, if by some chance you really are one of us, you will always have a home here."
"Thank you Willa." Bree nodded. She gave one more tight squeeze of Bonzo's hand and looked up into his always gentle and kind-hearted eyes. "Gar Gar Gaza Bonzka."
"Gar Gar Gaza Breezka." Bonzo whispered back. He knelt down low to give her one more tender kiss before standing up again.
Bree let go of the hand she was still holding and unclasped the necklace from around her neck. Holding the crystal nervously in her right hand, she took a few steps closer and closer to the violet Moonstone. When she was finally in front of it, she pressed the necklace against the Moonstone and watched as a purple spark jumped into the necklace, when she pulled it away, the necklace was now shining a brilliant blue color that matched the rest of the wolves.
Bree took a deep breath to calm herself, now that the fully charged necklace was in her hand, her heart started racing. She turned around to face her friends for a moment, and her eyes met his. She could tell Bonzo could hear her heart pounding in her chest, but all he had to do to calm her down was give the adorable lopsided grin that she loved more than anything in the world, and his wonderful artistic eyes that saw the beauty in everything, she knew she would always be the most beautiful thing in his world, just as much as he was in hers.
She tied the necklace back around her neck and felt its warmth as it hit her throat. She waited, one, two, three, four, five beats of her pounding heart, but she never felt any different, she tried to remember everything the wolves had talked about when they were figuring out the moonstones for the zombies, but she didn't feel any different. But she had one more thing to try.
She closed her eyes and then jumped up just enough to leave the ground, spreading her hands like claws and bearing her teeth at her friends she released her best growl, but nothing came out except her normal voice. "Arrgh."
Bree's face fell just for a moment before she was engulfed in another ginormous hug from Bonzo.
"Breezka. Gru arg grutiful, ziempre."
"I know Bonzo. This is great. It's what I knew was going to happen anyway."
"As I said, you'll always be a member of our pack Bree," Willa said, walking up to her. "While you do rock the werewolf look, you have always been the greatest when you're yourself. That's one of the most important parts of our culture, always be true to yourself. And you do that every single day. You have the heart of a wolf Bree. Awwooo!"
"Thank you Willa. Awwooo!" Bree howled loudly and then broke away from Bonzo's embrace to give Willa her own hug that she happily returned. Then before either of them knew it, the rest of their friends had all joined them in a group hug.
"Alright, that's enough sappy stuff, and enough lovey-dovey stuff. All of you." Willa ordered.
"Come on Willa, what do you expect from us?" Wyatt asked.
"I expect you to be strong, fierce werewolves, that are scared of nothing."
"But we wolves always work best as a pack, and our pack has been divided and now we're all united once again," Wyatt added.
"Whatever, what does everyone want to do now?"
"Oh can how about we have a campfire and smores, and then we can have another sleepover here! Werewolf style!" Wynter cheered.
"I will always be up for smores," Wyatt said.
"And I am always up for sleepovers." Zed grinned down at Addison.
"Of course you are." Addison laughed at him.
"Yeah, that's a surprise." Eliza was rolling her eyes at both Wyatt and Zed in equal measure.
"I'm inz." Bonzo nodded.
"You are?" Bree asked, "even with a campfire?" She whispered.
"Iz gru, I'm grood." Bonzo squeezed her hand in reassurance.
"Then I guess I'm in too." Bree smiled brightly.
Addison pulled her phone out of her pocket, again werewolves had amazing pockets. "If we're having a sleepover we better all tell our parents before they all call my dad and he sends out the Z-Patrol to look for us."
"Good idea Addison." Zed pulled his phone out as well to call Pops.
After everyone got permission they all walked the short distance outside the Den to the wolves' main firepit and a few minutes later, they had an impressive, but still contained bonfire crackling happily while Wyatt started handing out the smore ingredients to everyone.
After everyone had roasted their first round of marshmallows, Wynter shared her next idea for the night. "How about we have more story time. Its always so fun!"
"Sure, so what kind of story do we want to hear?" Zed asked.
"How about a human story? And something not cheer-related. Give us something none of us have ever heard before." Willa challenged the two humans in attendance that were currently both curled up on a log surrounded by the cool embrace of their boyfriends.
"Um sure…let me just think for a minute." Addison racked her brain, trying to think of something both interesting about Seabrook, but whose moral of the story wouldn't be anti-monster or pro-normalcy. Something just purely fun or entertaining. "Oh want to hear about the time Bucky got attacked by a flock of seagulls?"
"Oh I can just see him now, someone save my jazz hands!" Willa laughed.
"So last summer we were at the beach one day and we just got our lunch…" Addison began her story, much to the laughter of the rest of her friends.
"Well, they do say animals are good judges of character." Eliza joked, everyone else was laughing at the story as Addison wrapped it up.
"I know he was a jerk for a while, but trust me guys when I say he wasn't always like that, and the last few months of cheer have been like I've gotten the Bucky I always knew back, with some improvements obviously, a bit more empathy and humbleness, and more…"
"Friendly to werewolves and zombies?" Zed supplied to her.
"Yeah."
"We know Addison, we wouldn't have given him a moonstone for no reason. Besides cheer what else does he do in the summers? I don't think I've seen him since school got out." Willa asked.
"He works at the Seabrook Museum, he's a tour guide, but I've heard him talking about trying to fix some of the werewolf history and his family's history. And to think he got the job last year just so he could talk about how great Seabrook was at cheerleading and how great he is." Addison laughed.
"I guess that was kind of entertaining, and I would totally pay to see it in person." Bree laughed.
"I basically did when I almost ate him." Zed joked.
"And that was his own fault anyway." Addison reminded him.
"I know, we all know that, and we also know he has changed for the better. Besides practice do you still see him a lot?"
"Yeah, we have family dinners with his parents every once in a while. Besides cheer though, not really. We both have work, and he and the Aceys always hang out, plus I have our whole gang. We've just drifted apart but it's fine, he'll always be family."
"And as we werewolves say, family is forever. He's part of our family with you all too." Willa said, "even if he doesn't visit as often, we won't forget what he did."
"Thanks, Willa, I know that will mean a lot to him, and beyond just his normal Bucky ego."
"So anyone else have any other stories?" Zed asked.
So they spent the rest of the night sitting around the campfire, telling each other stories. Both Bree and Addison had to admit, that the zombies' and wolves' stories were so much more entertaining and interesting than anything they could think of doing before this year started changing things for everyone.
After a few more hours of fun and friendship, and pretty much everyone was yawning after their long days, so they headed back into the Den to get some sleep. Addison was curious just what the wolves' bedrooms were like since like last night, they were always perfectly fine just sleeping on the floor.
Willa led the group down one of the tunnels off the main den, the tunnel itself was almost pitch black, only lit up every few feet by the faint light spilling in from the caves that branched off.
"And here we are," Willa announced proudly, leading them into one of the caves.
After everyone crowded in Addison glanced around, trying to take everything in.
It was a fairly large space, at least two or three times the size of her bedroom. It was roughly circular but appeared to be naturally formed, though she could see plenty of shelves and cubbyholes carved into the walls filled with who knows what. There were torches flicking to light up the space on the three other walls from the entrance. The floor though looked to just be a big pile of animal pelts and blankets covering nearly the entire space.
"So welcome to our sleeping cave," Willa announced spreading her arms wide, make yourselves at home.
As she did that, Wyatt went to one of the shelves and dug out three small copper lanterns and a candle. He gave one each to Wynter and Wayde and using the flames from one of the torches, lit the three lanterns and hung them on hooks attached to the ceiling. After they accomplished that, Wyatt took out a long stick with a metal bell shape on the end to extinguish the torches, dampening the cave for a moment before the lanterns took over, shining dozens of pinpricks of light all around the room like stars.
"There, that should be better for everyone, so the humans can still see, and the zombies will be able to sleep better."
"Thanks Wyatt." Addison nodded appreciation. "So, where do we sleep?"
"Anywhere you want." Wynter threw herself down on the pile of blankets. "It's usually just the four of us in here, but as you can see we've got plenty of room."
Everyone sat down, and Addison was surprised, she expected to feel the hard, cool stone beneath all the blankets, but she couldn't feel anything. It wasn't as soft as her bed at home, but she thought she could still get comfortable.
"How is this so padded?" Eliza asked, seems like she was sharing Addison's thoughts. "I swear this feels softer than my house's carpet."
"We've got plenty of layers of fur to keep us warm at night, and beneath it all, there's a giant layer of dried grass and straw. Trust us, we may sleep in caves, but we don't use rocks for pillows or anything." Willa laughed.
"Sounds great Willa. So you four have this room?" Addison asked.
"Yeah, usually its us. After wolves are a few years old, we sleep in groups of our own age, we all have our assigned caves, but we're no strangers to sleepovers, there's usually about ten of us in here total, but everyone else is spending the night somewhere else."
Addison shook her head. "Wait you don't have to do that."
"It's no problem Addison, and everyone else that's usually with us is totally fine with it. You aren't making any trouble at all. Besides, we invited you to stay. We want you all here."
"OK Willa, thank you."
"No problem. Now normally we all just sort of lay down and circle up together but you guys do whatever, I don't care. You do you."
"Don't need to tell me twice." Zed smiled, hugging Addison close to him.
"Hey, remember all the rest of us are in here too Zeddison." Eliza reminded them.
"No need to worry, we're just going to sleep right?"
"Of course we are." Addison nodded her head beside him.
"Anyway, do whatever, grab a blanket or fur if you need it, but yes, remember to quiet down soon if we're really planning to sleep," Willa ordered.
"Good night everyone!"
"Goodnight!" Everyone took turns chorusing back as everyone chose their sleeping spots.
Wynter, Wyatt, Willa, and Wayde all circled up together and then laid down, their backs all just barely touching, each of them cuddled up with a blanket over their shoulders and resting their heads on their arms.
Zed and Addison both happily laid down beside each other, hand in hand. Zed pulled a few blankets over to wrap them up, while Addison gathered a couple of others to roll into pillows beneath their heads.
"Well, when I woke up today, I didn't think I'd be sleeping on a pile of fur. Or that I'd get to spend the whole night with you. It almost makes up for missing you yesterday." Zed smiled at her once they got settled.
"Come on, we both had lots of fun yesterday, right?"
"Of course I did, but I'm choosing you every time."
"Every every time?"
"Yep." Zed popped the P' sound, making her giggle. "I love you Addie."
"I love you too Zed." Addison scooted herself closer to Zed so they were only a few inches apart, their noses practically touching, so Addison gave him a quick nose kiss that made him laugh.
"I would say it's been too long since we last did this, but every time is too long in between."
"I know, but as long as I'm with you, I know I could sleep out in the middle of the den, or the middle of the woods and it would still be the best night ever because I'm with you."
"I know. Trust me, I feel the exact same way. You know, summer isn't going to last forever, we should really do this more often."
"Yeah, we should." Addison agreed with a yawn.
"Um. Look." Zed said, looking right into her eyes. "I want to talk to you about something."
"What is it Zed? You know you can tell me anything." Addison asked, picking up on the seriousness in his tone.
"I know, and I know you had lots of fun last night and today, and I'm happy for you. I always have fun with all of our friends too, but it's just with our jobs…I feel like the last two or three weeks we've only really had time to hang together on the weekends, and I want to spend more time with you than we've been getting lately."
Addison studied him for a few heartbeats and then leaned closer to press a kiss to his cheek. "I'm sorry you've felt that way Zed. But obviously, I always want you with me as much as possible too."
"You aren't mad or anything, right? I'm not acting crazy?"
"No, of course not." Addison hugged him tighter. "I know we've both been so focused on our morning practices and jobs, it isn't like school where we can still have a few hours together every day without even trying. But yeah, I want that too. How about we make sure we make time during the week for each other, like say…I'll come over to your house for dinner on Tuesdays and you can come to my house on Wednesday or Thursdays, or we can at least try to meet up on our lunch breaks a few days a week?"
"Yeah, that, that would be great actually." Zed smiled.
"You will always be my top priority Zed, I'm sorry if you haven't felt that way the past few weeks." Addison reached up to comb her hand through his hair.
"I've never doubted that for a second." Zed brushed his fingers against her cheek.
"Are you mad at me though about today and yesterday?"
"No of course I'm not mad." Zed shook his head, "Do I wish I was there with you? Yes, but I'm just happy to have you with me now."
"Thank you Zed, and thank you for telling me about this. I've felt it too, but I'm always used to being busy, so I just took what we could get for granted. I'm sorry I let you slip through the cracks."
"There's nothing to apologize for, as long as we're together, nothing can stop us."
"I know Zed, I hope you know you can always tell me anything."
"I do, just as I know you know you can do the same with me."
"Gar Gar Gaza Zed."
"Gar Gar Gaza Addison."
They shared a long, slow kiss for a few drawn-out moments, and then Addison laid her head down on Zed's arm, while his other arm surrounded her waist to pull her close to him. Pressed against his chest, and feeling the steady rise and fall of his breathing, they cuddled for a little while but she soon drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face.
Zed just looked down at her, this was all he needed, Addison's heart beating next to his, and his life was complete. They belonged together, and now they would make sure they still were as much as possible.
Bree and Bonzo both walked over to one of the corners closest to the wall. They sat down, but then they awkwardly scooted away from each other. Both looked anywhere else they could instead, but that didn't really help, watching the wolves circle up and then Zed and Addison cuddling together like two peas in a pod. Only Eliza seemed to be like them, Bree almost could of sworn she was feeling the same thing she was.
But then she glanced down at herself again, in her new werewolf fashion. She could be fierce, she could be brave. She knew who she was, and she knew what she wanted.
She turned back to Bonzo to see he had actually scooted a few inches away, pulling a few blankets over himself, and with his tall frame, he needed quite a few, but he still seemed to be avoiding looking at her, and she knew why.
"Bonzo." Bree whispered.
"Gra Breezka?"
"You know what would be nice?" she asked, she could feel the heat rising to her cheeks
"Grat?"
"Well, if you're ok with it…I wouldn't mind…you know…spending the night with you. You know there's no one I would rather spend the night with than you."
"Breezka." Bonzo said softly. "Gru zure?"
"Yes I'm sure, but only if you're OK with it."
"I'g gaza." Bonzo said, gently pulling her closer to him, and Bree happily scooted herself over to rest under his arm.
They had a few awkward moments as they pulled the blankets around themselves and got into a comfortable position, but then they just looked into each other's eyes, and like always they knew they had nothing to be afraid of.
"Gar Gar Gaza Bonzka."
"Gar Gar Gaza Breezka."
They shared one more goodnight kiss, and then Bree rolled over and set her glasses off to the side, feeling Bonzo's arms circle her waist, but not quite pulling her closer to him, but that was enough for Bree, feeling his cool arms surrounding her, combined with the surprisingly soft blankets and fur, she was soon out like a light.
Eliza went near the opposite wall from the cave opening, she bunched one of the blankets into a pillow under her head. With her zombie hearing, she tried her best to block out all the sickly-sweet nothings her friends were all whispering to each other. She assumed the wolves were doing the same, either ignoring or pretending to ignore them, with the sound echoing in a cave like this, she could literally hear everything. But once they all finally stopped, she tried to drift off to sleep, but she could never get quite there. She didn't know what it was, maybe it was her zombie senses surrounded by heartbeats? Sure she had slept fine last night, but one of them, in particular, was practically pounding in her head, and it was keeping her awake. She quickly figured out which one it was, but she refused to do anything about it, no matter what her zombie side was telling her. She always tried to listen to her zombie side, but this time it was being ridiculous.
She had no clue what time it was, but at some point in the night, she could tell, the heartbeat was moving closer to her. It was only a few more moments before she heard his voice.
"Eliza, I know you're still awake."
"So I am. So what Wyatt?" Eliza turned herself over to face him, he had crawled over to her on all fours, still covered by his own blanket.
"Can't sleep? Can I get you anything?"
"No, I don't need anything, just can't get to sleep. I don't know what it is."
"It's not the bedding is it?"
"No of course not, this is great Wyatt. Just…don't make me say it." Eliza groaned.
"Say what?" She could see the flash of his smile in the half darkness.
"You say it first, I bet I know what you're dying to ask me."
"Fine, I will," Wyatt grinned down at her. "You know, we wolves always sleep in packs, maybe it would help if you weren't alone."
"And there it is. It's my werewolf costume isn't it?"
"While you are insanely fierce and strong, and beautiful, it is no more than you always are, but if I have to admit it, you're part of my pack, and I can't sleep if I know you can't sleep."
"Sure, if that's what you want to call it, but I suppose I'll allow it, just this once," Eliza admitted.
"Thanks, and don't worry, it's just us, it doesn't matter what anyone else says."
"Yeah, you're right. I want this, and you obviously want this, so let's do this. I'm not afraid to be myself, least of all around my friends."
"Exactly."
Wyatt knelt down beside her. "Goodnight Eliza."
"Goodnight Fido." Eliza smiled at him. She leaned her head forward to swiftly kiss his cheek and then rolled herself back over. She could hear him roll himself back over too, so they were both back to back with a few inches between them, which Eliza was happy with, and thankfully, her zombie side seemed to be happy with too. Hearing his heartbeat drift off into the easy rhythm of sleep, she was soon lost in dreams too.