RRRRTTT!
Zed heard the whistle blow and he was ready to go, Cade, the quarterback hiked the ball, and Zed shot off down the field. He kept one eye on Cade behind him, who was looking for an opening, and the other eye on the defender right on his heels.
Cade threw a perfect spiral that flew straight and true through the air. Zed jumped up to grab it, he was once again thankful for his height advantage and then he really started sprinting down the field. He ran as fast he could, but he quickly had two linebackers ready to get in his way and take him down, but Zed wasn't worried, right when he needed her most, Wynter ran up beside him and threw herself in front of him, blocking one defender and knocking him to the ground without even slowing down, giving Zed the room he needed to smoothly juke step around the second guy and then they were home free the last ten yards to the end zone.
RRRTTT! The whistle blew again, ending the play and Zed and Wynter shared a fist bump before jogging back to the huddle where Coach was standing.
"Wynter, Zed, great job out there, that's the teamwork I like to see!" Coach shouted happily, "I'm glad to know we have the best of the best on the team this year! When you two work together, it's like you always know exactly where the other one is, and even anticipate each other's movements. Now before we finish practice for the day with our final drill, I have one quick announcement to make."
"While I think we all agree we have a pretty great captain here." Coach clapped his hand on Zed's shoulder. "I don't think it would hurt us to have a co-captain, and to me, there is only one obvious choice." Coach paused for a moment to build anticipation.
"She's rough, she's tough, when she has a target, she's like a dog on a bone. And she even gives Zed here a run for his money every day. I can think of no better co-captain for our team than Wyner Barkowitz." Coach announced proudly and patted her on the shoulder.
"Awwooo!" Several werewolf players howled while the humans and zombies gave cheers of encouragement.
"What do you think Zed?" Coach turned to him.
Zed motioned to all the other players with a smile, "I think you have your answer right there Coach." Zed turned to Wynter. "Wynter, you prove every single day that there's no such thing as too much when it comes to football. I would be honored to lead this team with you."
"Thanks Zed. Aaawwwoooo!" Wynter howled loudly. We are going to own every single Friday night this year because this pack…I mean team is stronger together and nothing can bring us down. I know we are going to have the first back-to-back football championships in Seabrook history because no one can run from destiny when we're on the prowl. Awwwooo!"
"Yeah!" The rest of the team cheered her on.
Coach clapped his hands to bring everyone's attention back to him. "Alright team. Now the last thing we have before calling it a day is go one more round against the tackling dummies. So line up!"
"Let's Go Mighty Shrimp! Break!" Zed called out and the team all ran to line up in front of the dummies ready to go. Zed glanced over at Wynter and she was glancing over at him too. He could see her eyes glowing golden beneath her helmet and she growled lightly at him.
In response Zed let his true power flow through him too, he felt his breathing turn slightly ragged while his senses sharpened further and a few dark veins trailed down his arms. He let out a growl of his own and then they both turned their heads to focus on their targets 20 yards away.
Coach's whistle blew one more time and both Zed and Wynter tore loose with everything they had inside themselves, they hit their dummies at exactly the same time, and they were going hard enough that neither stopped running until they both lifted the dummies over their shoulders and tossed them down the field with a crash.
Zed glanced over at Wynter again, and while he was still panting slightly as he brought his zom side back into himself she wasn't even winded, and in fact, he knew her enough by now to recognize the playful gleam in her eye.
"Hey Zed, I think I went farther than you today." Wynter was looking down the field.
"You think so?" Zed looked down the field, "I don't know, I think mine's still farther, plus mine ended still upright."
"That's just luck, and it doesn't even matter. Co-Captain. But you better watch your back, I'm fine with having two alphas on the team, but you better keep your game up."
"Bring it on Wynter, bring it on." Zed just shook his head at her and they both finally took off their helmets, both of their heads soaked in sweat from the practice. Wynter couldn't help shaking her head like a dog to try to cool off a bit, which made Zed flinch away a bit and get a hurry to rejoin the huddle.
Coach was still smiling at the team, "I said it once, I've said it hundred times, another great practice everyone. Remember to get plenty of water, food, and rest this evening, and in that order. This whole week has been great, when we have our season opener against the Eels, we're going to kick their butts. Assuming you know, eels have butts. Anyway…captains? Anything to add?"
"Nope, just that I couldn't be more proud of all of you. We all put in the work nearly every day of this summer, we started something new last year, and we aren't quitting. We are going to make a new tradition, and we'll prove that tradition never graduates!"
"Yeah!" The rest of the team cheered.
"Captain Wynter?" Zed turned to his new co-captain.
Wynter spoke up proudly, not phased in the slightest by all the other players focusing their attention on her. "Our pack has a saying. That the strength of a hunting patrol relies on every member doing what they need to do for the good of the patrol, and the good of the pack. From what I've seen, this team is the exact same. We've had lots of fun, and we've all competed against each other, myself included, but we all share the same goal, to be the best team we can be, and bring home victory, and I know nothing will ever taste sweeter than that. Awwooo!"
"Awwooo!" The other wolves howled.
"Well said Wynter." Zed clapped her shoulder. "Coach, got anything else?"
"Nope, take it away Zed."
"Wynter? Would you like to do the honors?"
"Would I ever!" Wynter jumped up excitedly, and then she made sure everyone circled up. "Let's go Mighty Shrimp Break! On Five! Huh!" She led the team in their breakdown and after clapping, everyone else broke apart and as they made their way back to the locker room all the other players took turns congratulating Wynter on her new position. Until it was only her and Zed left on the field, helping Coach gather up all the footballs and everything else left from practice.
"See Wynter, I told you, you belong on this team, and even better now you're leading it with me."
"Thanks Zed, but I never doubted, I just had to prove that a girl could be on the team to a small handful of malchds."
Zed looked at her confused, "is that a wolf word? And do I want to know what it means?"
Wynter thought for a moment, "No, you probably don't, let's just say if there were any pups around I'd need to put a pebble in the swearwolf jar." Wynter grinned and showed her fangs.
"Well, I'm proud of you Wynter. Now that we're done with practice what else do you have going on today?"
"I don't know, I'll probably have to drag Willa and Wyatt home to the Den. The cross country team is having their time trial today, and they both agreed to run without their moonstones for today even though with the zombies wearing them now, you know how Coach was negotiating to get them classified as medical devices, which means I can still be wolf strong in games too. But beyond the big City Council meeting tonight I don't have any plans.
"I know, I really hope it works out, not that we need it, powers or not, our team is already wolf-strong, zombie strong, and human-strong all together. Well see you later Wynter, you may be headed to XC but I need to go meet up with some cheerleaders." Zed continued on to the locker room while Wynter turned to head back to the track.
Meanwhile, Willa was straining with everything she had, running her heart out, but she wasn't chasing down any prey this morning. No, this time she was the one being chased, and her challengers were right on her tail. Even without her moonstone, she could clearly hear them panting behind her.
They had about 400 meters left, Coach Schwark was standing right beside the finish line, stopwatch in hand ready for them to finish run through.
Willa suddenly noticed all three guys suddenly trying to make their move as they all moved in a pack beside her. She could only see them out of the corner of her eye, but that was all the warning she needed. She dug deep inside herself, she may not have her moonstone to draw on, but she was still an alpha, and she wouldn't let anyone say otherwise.
Using the last dregs of her energy, she sprinted forward even faster until she was all but flying over the grass, the toes of her shoes touched the ground for barely a moment before she took the next step. Her lungs were really starting to burn, but her eyes never lost focus on the finish line in front of her. She quickly surpassed the three guys running beside her and zoomed across the finish line so fast she didn't even hear Coach Schwark call out her time.
Once she crossed the finish line she quickly decreased her speed until she slowed to stop and bent over putting her hands on her knees. By the time she turned around, she could see that her three competitors holding themselves in a similar state.
All four of them were panting, trying to catch their breath.
"Goo- good job boys." Willa panted and held up her hand so they could all share a quick round of hi-fives with each other. "All three of you gave me some competition today. Call me impressed."
"Glad we could help." Ryan managed to smile, "I'll say you and Wyatt are the ones making us better. We haven't even started the season yet, and I'm pretty sure Riley and I have to be close to our PRs from last year." Ryan glanced down at his watch.
Riley joined in. "I know we've been chasing after you two all summer but having you two here is making the whole team better, and that's not even mentioning all the rest of our new teammates."
"We get it you love us." Wyatt grinned and walked over to his bag to grab two familiar moonstone necklaces and handed one to Willa before putting his own around his neck. His eyes flashed golden for a moment and he growled while instantly perking up.
Willa tied her necklace around her own neck too, and once the stone made contact with the base of her throat, she felt a spark of warmth and new energy flow through her so that all the fatigue and shortness of breath she had felt moments ago disappeared. She looked up at the bright blue sky scattered with clouds and howled loudly. "Awwoo!"
Ryan shook his head at both of them. "You know I love you guys on the team, but I am so jealous of your magic instant recovery after races."
"Well," Wyatt grinned back at him, and unclasped his necklace, as he did, he seemed to deflate a bit, if he didn't wear it after expending himself like that, it still took some time before he was completely back in fighting shape again. "Who knows maybe it'll work for you guys." He held out his necklace. "You two certainly run like you have wolf blood."
"No thank you." Ryan held up his hands while both he and Riley backed a few steps away. "You guys are way cool, but I have no desire to be a werewolf, and I doubt it would even work on me anyway."
"Really?" Wagner and Witt sound like wolf names to me.
"Yeah, definitely not, we'll just cool down the old-fashioned way. By jogging around and cheering on the rest of our teammates. You ready to go Swags." Riley asked.
"You bet Riley."
"Hold on you guys, don't you want to know your times? I have a really good feeling about this season now, even more than I did before." Coach Schwark ran up to them.
Sure thing Coach Schwark, how did we do? Wyatt asked and the four of them circled up around her.
"Well, Willa won with a time of 18:56. Ryan is first for the boys with 19:01, and then Wyatt's was 19:02, and Riley 19:02.5."
"Ooh better luck next time man." Wyatt turned to Riley with a grin.
"Oh I will be, half a second is nothing I'll catch you next time for sure. And same with you Swags."
"Bring it on." Ryan said confidently, "but I think the real challenge for all three of us is going to be catching Willa's times this year."
"Just like you said, I welcome the challenge but don't get your hopes up. Moonstone or no moonstone, we are going to make this team just as big of a deal as cheerleading and football are." Willa declared
"Definitely. We'll all be bringing home the gold this year." Riley nodded his head.
"And we have two of the best alphas, I mean captains, we could ask for." Wyatt patted both Willa and Ryan on the back.
"Anyway, ready for the cooldown?" Riley asked again, "Even if you two don't need it."
"Of course we need it, we need to go cheer on our team don't we? Awooo!" Willa howled and then all four of them started running back the way they came, stopping to cheer on all the rest of their teammates as they finished, While not all of them were werewolf fast, all of them had decent times that only grew their enthusiasm for the upcoming season.
When everyone was finished running, cooling down, and stretching out. Coach Schwark ended practice for the day, and reminded them all to drink plenty of water. So they grabbed all their bags and water bottles to head back inside the school to get cleaned up and changed.
As Willa, Wyatt, Ryan, and Riley were walking back, suddenly Wynter jumped out in front of them from around the corner, making Ryan and Riley flinch back for a moment, while Willa and Wyatt just rolled their eyes playfully.
"Woah, don't scare us like that." Riley warned her, "and are you ok?" He asked as he and the rest of them noticed her jumping up in down like she had way too much energy to contain.
"Sorry. Too much right? I'm just way too excited to share my awesome news!" Wynter shouted, still jumping up and down.
"What is it Wynter?" Willa asked.
"Yeah, the big news isn't supposed to happen until tonight," Wyatt muttered under his breath. Thankfully his sister was too distracted by Wynter bouncing around to notice.
"I just got made co-captain of the football team! First werewolf and first girl in Seabrook history to do so!" Wynter howled to the sky.
"Congratulations Wynter, in that case, you could never be too excited about that. Plus you can join the captains' club with Willa and all our other friends now." Wyatt grinned back at her.
"I know, I'm super pumped to be a leader."
"And I know you'll be a great leader Wynter, take it from one alpha to another. Besides from what Zed says, you're the only one that really keeps him on his toes and keeps him sharp."
Ryan laughed and shook his head, "don't tell the rest of the football team that, I don't think they'd take that very well."
"I wouldn't worry about that, Zed and I together are the perfect combination of zombie and werewolf strength. No one can get past me when I'm blocking for him and always knows exactly how to slip past anyone who comes for him. It's like he can predict their movements before they do. Now I don't know for sure if that's part of his heartbeat powers or if Zed's just that good, but I don't care. I can't wait for our first real game!"
"And we can't wait to cheer you on from the stands Wynter," Wyatt promised her as they started walking back to the locker rooms again.
"And I also can't wait to watch you guys all race. From what I hear you're ready to blow every other school out of the water even without your powers."
"Oh yeah, it's going to be just like track season but even better with the longer races and we get to run on grass and on trails instead of just a big circle." Willa laughed.
"I know! XC is the best. That's what I always say. Plus no shame on any of the other teams I'm on, but by the end of the season, nothing will be able to break our team up." Ryan declared proudly.
"I feel like all the teams at Seabrook are like that though. Everyone else seems like they enjoy everything they do." Wyatt said.
"I know, but personally, I'm proudly biased toward XC. Football and cheer and everything are great don't get me wrong, but I wouldn't change anything about our upcoming season." Ryan said.
"You're right there is no need to change." Wyatt agreed, "accept us getting into something else a bit less sweaty."
"I'm all for that Wyatt. Let's head inside." Willa led the way through the school doors, Wynter still bouncing up and down beside her.
At the same time all the other teams were finishing up their practices for the day, and the cheerleaders were still hard at work in the gym. Seeing as it was the final practice before school started again and tryouts would take place, everyone was feeling the pressure, no matter how much Addison and Bree promised the tryouts wouldn't be anything like last year under Bucky alone, they were still a looming specter on everyone's minds.
Now that she was a captain, Addison was both excited for it, and also a little nervous, mostly because it would now be up to her, Bree and Bucky to cut the team down to the proper size. With all the drama that went on last year with Bucky cutting and them rebuilding the team with zombie cheerleaders had been complicated enough, but their success last year had attracted lots of potential recruits, and as much as she wanted everyone to cheer their hearts out, there were a few rules even her and her friends couldn't change.
Addison just did her best to make sure everyone was as confident and sure of themselves for next week at possible. She gave plenty of tips and suggestions to anyone who needed it, Bree was doing so too, and thankfully, Bucky and the Aceys were making sure to keep their criticism constructive.
Addison finally blew her whistle to signal practice was over and call everyone together one last time.
"Great job everyone!" Addison smiled brightly, "I know we are all ready for the season to really start going, and I know this season is going to be great. I know we have to get past tryouts first, but if all of you new recruits work hard I know we can have the best squad ever. All I can ask for is that every single one of you does your best. I know this is going to continue to be the greatest squad in Seabrook history because we are all united!"
"Yeah!" Everyone cheered, one thing every cheerleader could agree on, was that Addison always gave the best pep talks.
"So everyone enjoy their last weekend of freedom before school starts on Monday, and remember to be fired up at 3:30 on Monday!" Bree cheered. "Go Bottom Feeders!"
"Go Bottom Feeders!" The team repeated, over the summer Bree's personal cheer had been a great way to break up the tension whenever the anyone, or the whole team got a bit too fired up about something, and more genuine smiles revealed themselves again.
"And most importantly…" Bucky paused dramatically, and everyone waited with bated breath to see just what he had to say. "Loosen up a little guys. A little pressure is fine, but to be the best cheerleaders you can be, you need to feel the shish boom bah flowing through you so that the cheer spirits will smile brightly down on you."
"OK Bucky I think that's enough, but good point. Now, Go Seabrook!" Addison cheered again.
"Go Mighty Shrimp! Hey!" Everyone cheered back and then they all started packing their stuff up and heading out
"So Addison I've been thinking…" Bree started talking but then seemed to be looking past Addison with a strange look on her face. "You know what, I'll just wait."
"What are you talking about Bree?" Addison asked, and before she could turn around, she felt and saw two familiar gray arms wrap around her shoulders, and someone's chin resting on the top of her head.
"Oh go on Bree. I'm not interrupting anything." Zed's voice said above her.
"Right sure you aren't Zed." Bree shook her head at him, "But anyway Addison I've been thinking a lot of the same ways you have. We have so many potential recruits and all of them have been putting in the work all summer, and I don't want to cut any of them either. But then I came up with a really great idea that could help us solve it."
"What is it Bree?" Addison felt a spark of excitement.
"Well, you know how Bucky originally let me on the team as a stand-in and I didn't really get to cheer at any games or anything at first?" As Bree kept talking, she kept getting faster and faster in her excitement. "Probably the simplest way to fix that problem, is we do what all the other sports teams do and just have a JV squad that cheers at all the JV games."
Addison smiled back even brighter as her own excitement at the idea quickly rose. "Yeah that sounds great Bree, it would allow us to keep everyone in and make sure we're in tip-top shape for years to come if there's always a pipeline of great recruits for varsity."
"I know before now we've only kept the squad to varsity games because that's where the real crowds are but cheer should be about supporting everyone and bringing everyone together."
"I know Bree! That is just cheertastic thinking! There's a reason everyone voted for you to be captain."
"That's just because you weren't available yet Bestie."
"Bree, I really think this is a great idea. We need to go talk to Bucky and try to find Principal Lee." Addison glanced around the gym which was now empty except for her, Bree, Zed, and Bonzo who had just walked up to hear the tail-end of the conversation.
Bree glanced down at her watch, "Well with school starting next week, I'm sure Principal Lee has to be in her office right now. I'll go run quick and talk to her."
"And I'll go find Bucky, hopefully before he and the Aceys leave." Addison agreed. She pulled herself away from Zed's embrace. "I'll be right back Zed, hopefully with some great news."
"Go get him Gorgeous, and if he gives you any trouble, let him know I totally support you, and I support this plan."
"I'm sure he'll take that into consideration." Addison laughed and gave him a quick peck on the cheek and then Bree and Addison ran out of the gym together before breaking off in opposite directions.
Addison ran out to the parking lot, and if there was one good thing about Bucky's van it was always easy to find. She caught sight of Tracey climbing and she sprinted across the parking lot before they could drive away.
"Bucky!" Addison ran up to the driver's side window and met Bucky's surprised gaze through the glass.
Bucky rolled down his window. "What's up Cuz?"
"Bucky, Bree just told me the most amazing idea ever and I think this is just what the cheer squad needs."
"Ok, and what is it?"
"Bree and I were thinking that in addition to our main varsity squad, what if we also had a JV squad that could cheer at all the JV games? That way we don't have to cut so many people from the team."
"Oh right that, I don't see why you two have such a big problem with that. It's survival of the fittest, it's literally nature. Not everyone can be the best, and if we want to be the best, we can only accept the best of the best on our squad."
"But Bucky, we have so many talented cheerleaders, and assuming we stick with all our veterans from last year, we'll only have room for about five new recruits." Addison wouldn't be deterred, she knew this was the right choice.
"And those five will be the best of the best."
"Bucky, we have over twenty other new recruits that show real talent and promise, they shouldn't be forced to throw it all away. How can having more amazing cheerleaders possibly be a bad thing?"
"Alright, you don't like biology, let's try economics, scarcity, supply, and demand, only accepting the best makes us look even better in comparison to everyone else." Bucky listed off.
"Bucky, are you really going to fight me on this? Think about how much better Seabrook is with all of the werewolves and zombies living in harmony. We're all stronger together and the more of us there are, the stronger our squad will be. We will still have the varsity cheerleaders, and in the future we'll always have a pipeline for the next year ready to go."
Bucky glanced back in the van. "I still don't know…Aceys, what do you think?"
Lacey started, "While I admit it isn't how we've done things in the past…honestly when it comes to cheerleading I don't think I've ever seen Bree and Addison steer the team wrong."
"Yeah, and right now we technically don't have any wolves on the squad yet, I know we need their howling skills for several new cheers. And it wouldn't seem fair if we only took werewolves over all the new humans and zombies." Jacey added.
Tracey joined in. "Plus Bucky, we've never done JV events before, and I think even you can admit it would be difficult for one squad to cheer six hours straight when it comes to 4 games of basketball or JV and Varsity football."
"I think we're all in agreement with Addison, Bucky." Stacey summed everyone else up.
Bucky chewed his lip for a moment and then turned back to Addison, "Alright, we can do your JV squad plan, but we're still having tryouts on Monday right?"
"Yeah, and we will tell them the plan beforehand, I don't want anyone to hurt themselves because they feel too much pressure. And even though we want them all to do their best, tryouts aren't going to be a do-or-die situation. Agreed?"
"Agreed." Bucky shook his head, "Alright, you all bring up some good points, and even though I still think it's a bit frivolous and unnecessary, I promise I'll support you Addison."
"Really Bucky, you're calling something frivolous and unnecessary?" Addison grinned at him.
"OK, I'll admit I walked right into that one. But I'll talk to you later Cuz, we can make some concrete plans for Monday."
"Alright, see you later Bucky, Aceys!" Addison waved and ran back inside the school. When she got back to the gym, Zed and Bonzo were sitting in the bleachers while Bree looked like she was bouncing on her toes in excitement.
"Bree!" Addison called out and ran to her side. "It took some wheedling, but Bucky said yes to our JV plan!"
"That's great! Principal Lee thinks it will be a great idea too! She is all in, anything we need to make it work, more uniforms, an extra bus to games, or anything we need we'll have."
"Amazing! This year cheer is going to be even better than last year, I can hardly imagine it!"
"Me neither! I'm so glad, I'm really excited for Monday now!"
"Me too Bree!" Addison and Bree shared a long hug while they continued to jump for joy. When they finally calmed down enough they separated and turned to their boyfriends.
"I hope we didn't keep you waiting too long," Addison said to Zed.
"No worries. I love seeing you so happy." Zed stood up and hugged her again. "I know everything you said about this next school year being the best one ever will be true, even though that's a mighty high order to fill. As long as I have you, football, and all the rest of my friends, I'll never have anything to worry about ever again."
"I feel the exact same way, just substitute football for cheer." Addison agreed.
"You mean you don't want to join? I'm sure you'd look great in a jersey. And you wouldn't be the only girl on the team. Wynter was even made co-captain with me today."
"That's great for Wynter, but trust me, my place is here. But with our new plan, there could be room for you."
"Addie, I love you, and I would happily cheer with you, except for the fact I can't cheer and play football at the same time, otherwise I would be the one catching you every single time. "
"I guess I'll have to accept that. Well any way, is everyone ready to go home?"
"You bet Addison." Bree nodded. "Oh, one more thing I almost forgot to ask you. Do you know what the big announcement your mom's making at City Hall tonight?"
"No, I can't say I do. I've asked, but both Mom and Dad have been tight-lipped, but I'm pretty sure it's something big. Zed, does your dad know anything?"
"If he does, he hasn't told me, and I've been so busy with football and sneaking into cheer camp to really worry about anything." Zed shook his head while they started walking down the hall. "But honestly, all the other big announcements they've made like this always have something to do with zombie and werewolf integration and I know Eliza would disagree with me, but I don't know what else we could change about Seabrook."
"I guess we'll just have to wait and see." Addison shrugged her shoulders. "But anyway since we're both done with work, want to come over later? Maybe we can solve the mystery together."
"I feel like if they don't want to talk, they aren't but anything to hang out with you some more." Zed grinned down at her.
"Really you two, how many excuses do you have?" Bree laughed.
"As many as we need to see each other every single day," Addison promised.