"Addiska." Zed said, he sounded perfectly calm, but his eyes and the veins on his face were still black.
Addison looked up at him. "Zed, can you put your Z-band back on?"
"Gra." Zed answered, and moments later the crackle of the Z-band sounded, and the black veins receded back into Zed's skin.
The crowd released a collective sigh of relief and then started to cheer. Bree ran up to Bonzo to give him a hug.
"Zed, are you OK?" Addison asked, still hugging him close to her.
"Yeah. I'm me. Don't worry." Zed said with a smile.
"YEAH!" Wynter excitedly howled. "We crushed it! We nailed it! We stole rock YES!" She then tried to calm herself down a bit. "Too much?" She whispered to Willa.
"Perfect." Willa assured her. "We did it."
Eliza took her phone out of her dress's pocket and pointed it at Zed and Addison. "Say Brains!"
"Brains!" Zed and Addison both smiled, as they started to relax into each other. Both of their hearts slowed to their normal rhythm as the adrenaline faded.
Eliza snapped the picture.
"Awe, you look so adorable." Bree gushed, peering over Eliza's shoulder.
"We're getting our first zombie on the Prawn Wall of Fame." Eliza declared.
Zed and Addison smiled at each other as the wolves let out howls of happiness.
Everyone else soon joined in, including Bonzo, "Aow aow awoo!"
"Hey, you said that perfectly." Wyatt nudged his shoulder with respect.
"Bonzo's got an ear for languages." Bree smiled up at her boyfriend.
"Well let's go back up, we don't want to miss out on any more of our first Prawn night!" Eliza shouted to a chorus of "Yeah!"
Working together, and with the earth no longer shaking, moving the Moonstone to the surface was an easy task. Zed and Addison helped carry the stone too, but kept hold of each other's hand, and Addison kept turning back to make sure Zed was still behind her. They finally made it back to the surface and brought the Moonstone back into the gym. They set it down in the middle of the floor and then all turned to a strange shuffling sound underneath one of the tables.
Bucky cautiously crawled out from beneath the table and seeing everyone staring at him in surprise, tried to regain his composure. "Is it over?"
"Yeah, don't worry Bucky we saved the day." Addison informed him.
"From what?"
"The Moonstone was causing the earthquakes, so now the wolves will be alright." Addison turned to Willa, "Do you want us to help you move it to the wolf den?"
Willa scanned the room. "I think we'll be fine for a few more hours, if everyone agrees to help, we'll wait for midnight to move the stone. Until then…let's enjoy our first Prawn. Together!"
"Awwooo!" The wolves howled as the humans and zombies clapped and cheered.
"Well in that case…Remember to vote for Prawn King and Queen, especially me, Bucky Buchanan!"
Eliza ran up to the abandoned DJ equipment, and within minutes, had the perfect playlist blasting from the speakers. And everyone started to dance all together. There were no slow songs, now Prawn felt just like a Zombie Mash.
Addison loved every moment, she was glued to Zed's side like always, but everyone was having so much fun around her. Humans, zombies, and wolves had no divisions between them, everyone was scattered all over the place, showing off their dance moves, the only point of division was when an impromptu dance battle started. The cheerleaders shook it like a pom-pom. The zombies showed off their sick zombie tilt, and the werewolves did the moonwalk. Everyone agreed that everyone was a winner though.
At one point Willa walked up to Addison, holding out her necklace to her. "Addison, you may not be a werewolf, but you are the Great Alpha. You led us to the Moonstone, my family wouldn't be alive without you. Thank you."
"Thank you, Willa, you're welcome, but are you sure I should have this?"
"Of course you deserve it. You are part of our pack, forever."
"Thank you so much, Willa. And thank you for helping me rescue Zed."
"We told you, you are a natural leader, no wolf would dare question an Alpha. We will follow you, should you ever need our help, no matter what."
"I know, just like I will always help you because you are my friends."
"And Zed, thank you, for getting us out of there. You saved us all. You said we're all monsters, you were wrong, you're a hero."
"Don't mention it, Willa, I'm sorry I was a jerk to you all week, and once again I'm sorry I attacked you."
"All water beneath the trees Zed, thank you, but you aren't allowed in the den without Addison to keep you on a leash." Willa smiled. "Plus I know why you did it, even I thought Wyatt was too moony this week."
"Like you said, it's water under the bridge, or trees I guess." Zed smiled as Willa walked away to continue dancing.
"Does literally everyone think Wyatt had a crush on me?
"Yeah, and he did. He told me himself."
"What? When was this?"
"When he was at my house getting dressed for the Prawn after I invited him to come."
"Wait a minute, you brought the wolves? Why?"
"Because I knew it would make you happy, even if you didn't want me to be here. And I felt bad for how I treated them this week. I thought it would be good for them to have one last night of fun. But this was mostly for you."
"Thank you, Zed, you know you saved the wolves? Two times over tonight."
"How?"
"Well the obvious cave in, but also if they weren't here, maybe we wouldn't have found the Moonstone, or we could have been forced to leave it or something. Willa is right, you're my hero."
"And you're mine, I couldn't have done that without you."
"Stop I don't want to think about the almost. Let's get back on topic, so you and Wyatt are friends now?"
"I hope so, we've made peace with each other. He said he did have a crush on you, but he said he's over it, and he realized he has no chance against me."
"I'm sure that's what he said," Addison playfully rolled her eyes. "But he is right, you are the only one I will ever want. I wanted to know the wolves, I only ever saw him as a friend. He can't make my heart race, and my palms sweaty, only you can do that to me."
"I know, I'm sorry again about everything."
"No more apologies tonight, let's enjoy the rest of our Prawn."
"Yes Alpha." Zed joked, "Plus I think Wyatt has a new target now."
"What are you talking about?"
"Turn around Gorgeous."
Addison turned her head, just in time to see Eliza take off her Z-band and hand it to Wyatt. She let out a fierce "ROAAR!" as black veins traveled up her arms that she spread wide. "I am Proud to be a ZOMBIE!" she roared as Wyatt let out a howl beside her. Moments later Wyatt snapped her Z-band back on, and they both smiled at each other before dancing away together.
"What? When did that happen?" Addison laughed out loud.
"I'm not sure, part of the reason I saw so freaked out by Wyatt was that Eliza called him handsome every time I tried to talk to her about him."
"I hope they work out."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I want everyone to feel what I feel when I look at you."
"Awe. Yeah, I still think Eliza is way out of his league though. But I can't wait to make fun of her like she does when we do anything together. What do you think, should they be Wyliza?"
"I think that sounds perfect, but I'd be careful though, you aren't the only one with Zombie strength."
A few minutes before…
"So you made this playlist?" Wyatt asked Eliza as they both danced along to the music.
"Yep, it was stored on my phone, I just had to plug it in."
"Is there anything those things can't do?"
"You'd be surprised, I can show you sometime if you like."
"I would like that."
"So are you really all out of danger, now that you have the Moonstone back?"
"Yep, totally. See?" Wyatt let out a snarl as his eyes glowed yellow.
"How does it feel when you go wolf?"
"Like nothing can stop me from doing anything, I could go chase after anything and I would catch it like I could climb the tallest tree in the forest like I can track anything through the darkest night. I haven't felt this free in ages. All my senses come alive, it's the best feeling in the world."
"It must be nice."
"It is, I think you should feel it too."
"What, you think I'm a werewolf too now Milk Bone?"
"No, of course not, show me the real you, without the Z-band, just like you told Zed, you don't need to hide."
Eliza, nervously played with her hair for a moment. "Oh no, OK I know I say we should smash our Z-bands, but I don't know if I can control it. The last time…was not pretty."
"That's a lie, you could never not be pretty."
"You…you think I'm pretty?" Eliza said, with just the faintest blush beneath her gray skin.
"Well yeah, I'd have to be an idiot not to see it, I'm assuming Zed has never called you pretty."
"Please, Zed has only ever called two people pretty in his entire life, Zoey, and Addison."
"So anyway, come on, show me the real you, Zed was more or less in control.
"Tonight when he had Addison, not so much three days ago when he beat the kibble out of you."
"Awe you do care, that's what I'm here for, I'll be your Addison and it will be fun, just be yourself it's the coolest thing."
"OK, but only for thirty seconds, and less if I start to do something stupid or crazy when I'm brainless. I don't want to hurt you."
"Don't worry, you'll never be brainless, I promise to keep you safe."
"OK then." Eliza revealed an excited smile. She unlatched her Z-band, after the wolves attacked she had hacked it enough to be removed relatively easily in case she needed it in an emergency, but as she said, she wouldn't have trusted herself to be in control down in the cave.
She handed her Z-band over to Wyatt and felt the familiar rush of strength and intense emotions, but she was surprised, she didn't feel that hungry, and the massive reservoir of rage that lived just beneath the surface of her mind was nowhere near as strong as at the homecoming game. She looked over at Wyatt, and then all the other heartbeats around her disappeared, she could only hear his. She smiled a feral grin, and he smiled right back.
"Go on, say it Eliza. I know you want to."
"ROARRR! I am PROUD to be a ZOMBIE!"
"AWWWOOO!" Wyatt howled beside her, moments later replacing her Z-band on her wrist.
When Eliza opened her eyes again, she was back to normal, and couldn't wipe the smile off her face.
"How was that? Did you feel the call to the wild?"
"I felt something. I don't know how to describe it, but wow. Come on Scooby-Doo, Let's go dance some more."
"Rut Ro." Wyatt barked.
It was near midnight, when Prawn was set to finally end, and Bucky ran up to the small stage set up in front of the DJ Booth. He turned the music down and called for attention. Shrimpy beside him holding two sealed envelopes and two gold crowns.
"Now the moment I've, I mean we've all been waiting for. Let's see who our Prawn King and Queen are!"
Everyone had finally stopped dancing and was looking up at Bucky excitedly.
"Lady's first." Bucky picked up one of the envelopes and ever so slowly opened it, building anticipation. The rest of the gym was filled with a drum roll played by Bonzo and soon everyone was joining in.
"And this year's Prawn Queen is…My baby cousin, and second-best cheer captain in Seabrook's history…Addison Wells!"
"OMZ. What? I won?" Addison had no idea this was coming, she knew Zed's goal was to be on the Prawn Wall of Fame, but she had never really wanted it. She was just happy to spend the night with Zed, and now all the rest of her friends, but being chosen as Prawn Queen, was just the cherry on top.
"You better get up there Gorgeous."
Addison left Zed's side for the first time all night and ran up on the stage. Bucky placed the golden tiara in her hair, careful to not mess up her do.
"Thank you everyone!" Addison shouted over the crowd's claps and cheers. "Thank you for voting for me."
"OK, now let's make this about me!" Bucky interrupted, "time to find out who our Prawn King is as if there's any question. Bonzo drumroll please." Bucky rubbed his hands together in anticipation and ever so slowly opened the second envelope. He was drawing this out much longer than he had for Addison's.
"And our Prawn King is…Bu- What? I demand a recount!" Bucky said angrily.
Addison tore the envelope from his hand and smiled even brighter. "Our Prawn King is Zed Necrodopolus! Get up here Zed!"
Now everyone was cheering, the zombies loudest of all, but even they were nearly drowned out by all the wolves howling.
Zed and Addison hugged on stage before Zed kneeled down so Addison could place his crown on his head, but she also playfully twisted it so it was crooked.
Zed just smiled. "Thank you all. Now let's get one more dance in! Eliza! Hit it!"
Eliza pulled out her phone, and within moments one last slow song played, and everyone paired up.
Addison and Zed were dancing in the very middle of the dance floor as the music played all around them.
"So you got your wish after all, my King."
"Not at all how I planned but it worked out in the end, my Queen."
"You know the only bad part of this being the best Prawn Night ever?"
"What is it?" Zed asked with a slight look of panic.
"It's going to be hard to top this next year." Addison smiled.
"Who knows? Maybe vampires will join us next year."
"If they do, they'll be welcome to join us."
"Of course, even though we'll have to get rid of garlic bread in the cafeteria."
"For sure. And in case I haven't mentioned it yet, I have to say, red is definitely your color."
"You like it? I literally found it this afternoon. I was originally planning on Seabrook Pink, but I decided to show the real me."
"I'm glad, I love your pink suit, but this leaves me speechless." Addison was blushing. "You don't even want to know what I was thinking when you were lifting that wall."
"And just what is that? Although I and my zombie love your dress too. I was using all my focus to tell him saving you was the most important thing."
"Yeah, we definitely need to talk about that. But not right now."
"What did I do something stupid?"
"Yes, but I'm not mad, like I told you before, you are my hero, both you and Zombie Zed. But for now, I just want to keep dancing."
"Whatever my queen desires." Zed smiled.
The last song finally ended, and Zed and Addison pulled each other close, but moments before they made contact, Willa shouted, startling them. "Alright, anyone who wants to help is welcome to come with us to the Wolf Den."
"Everyone's invited! This party ain't private! We're gonna keep this party going all night!" Wyatt promised.
Soon enough everyone was slowly walking through Zombietown, it was the most direct path back to the Forbidden Forest.
They took a short rest to let everyone catch their breath before moving on, and Wyatt walked over to Zed.
"Hey Zed, I think there's one more person who should join our party."
"Who's that?"
"You should bring your sister, I heard she was looking for a werefriend."
"How did you know that?"
"I saw the sign." Wyatt laughed, pulling it out of his pocket. "I know some pups who would love to meet her."
"Sure I'll go get her. I'll be right back. Oh Addison, do you want me to leave our crowns at my house?"
"Yeah it's probably a good idea, so I don't lose it in the woods somewhere."
Zed ran into his house, and he woke up his dad who was dozing in his armchair, with an open book in his lap.
"Hey Pops." Zed shook him awake.
"Oh hey son," Zevon said groggily, "how was Prawn?"
"It was great, we saved the wolves! The Moonstone was making those earthquakes and it opened a tunnel all the way to the school and we saved it before it was buried forever, so all the wolves are going to be fine!"
"That's great Zed. No one was hurt in the earthquakes right?"
"No, not that I know of…well there is one thing."
"What?"
"So see when we were trying to carry the Moonstone out of the tunnel, one of the walls collapsed, and we were all trapped, but then Eliza remembered that my Z-band was still damaged and-"
"What? How is it damaged, I thought they fixed it after the homecoming game?"
"Oh man, I'm sorry Pops, I did lots of stupid stuff this week. I promise I'll tell you later, but I'm kinda in a hurry here."
"Alright, go on, but we are definitely talking later."
"So we were trapped right, and I was the only one that could get us out, so I took off my Z-band and held open the exit so everyone else could escape."
"And that actually worked? How did you focus?"
"Addison was there, she will always be everything I need."
"So…are you two OK now?"
"Yes, that's the best part of this night, she accepted my apology, for everything. And she was with me the entire time down in the cave, keeping me calm. No one else was in any danger from me, because I had her there. And also great news, Addison and I won Prawn King and Queen!"
"I'm so proud of you Zed. So what are you in a hurry for?"
"Oh yeah, so we're all taking the Moonstone back to the wolf den and having an after-party, and Wyatt invited Zoey. Can she come with us? I promise she'll be safe."
"OK I trust you, and I know she'll be ecstatic. You can go wake her up, but I want both of you back here by morning."
"Thank you, Pops!" Zed ran up the stairs and just barely stopped herself from breaking down Zoey's door.
He slowly crept in and shook his little sister awake, Puppy looking over at him inquisitively.
"Zoey…wake…up."
"What?"
"How would you like to meet some more werewolves, we're all going to the Wolves' Den and Wyatt wanted to invite you."
"Yes, absolutely." Zoey woke up immediately. "Now get out so I can put some clothes on. Out, Out Out!" Zoey pushed him out of her room and shut the door.
Zed just smiled to himself and walked back downstairs.
"So do you need anything else?"
"Well, I am absolutely starving, and I'm sure all the wolves and everyone else probably is too. Can you order some pizzas and bring them to the den?"
"Sure I suppose I can do that. How many do you think you'll need?"
"I'd say at least a dozen, I'd say half vegetarian, and half meatlovers. The humans can all choose which ones to eat. Oh I know, I'll tell Coach to bring his Froyo cart too. Zed pulled out his phone."
"Alright. I'll bring it when it's ready."
"Let's go Zed! Can I bring Puppy?"
"You'll have to ask Willa and Wyatt Zoey."
"Be good you two! Have fun!"
They were out the door and rejoined the crowd outside. Willa agreed that Puppy could come too, and then Zoey was sticking to Wynter's side as everyone continued their journey into the woods.
When they arrived at the wolf den, they set it down in the very center of the den, where the moonlight could shine down on it.
Then everyone helped lead all the sick wolves forward to recharge their necklaces. After about one more half-hour, all the wolves were strong and healthy again.
"Wayde! I'm so happy you're healthy again. Wynter was hugging and nuzzling her head against another werewolf's neck."
"I missed you, but I'm so glad you're OK too Wynter."
"I know, don't you feel amazing! I feel like I could climb the tallest tree in the forest and jump up and touch the moon!" Wynter said excitedly. "Too Much?"
"Never, you're perfect Wynter, I can't wait to take you for walks under the full moonlight."
"And stay up talking every single night. Or we could go shopping, you should see all the sneakers and everything they have in the stores."
"How could I ever tell you no. I can't wait to be the new kid in town, and discover everything with you."
"I'm never gonna let you go."
"Me neither Wynter, me neither. I never doubted for a minute you, Willa, and Wyatt would succeed."
"It wasn't just us, Addison isn't a werewolf, but she is our Great Alpha, she and Zed both saved the day."
"The zombie that attacked us?"
"Don't worry he's cool now, though not as cool as you."
"Well, of course, I never met someone so perfect as me."
"I couldn't agree more, there ain't no other way to word it. Awwoo Wayde!"
"Awwoo! Wynter!"
Willa was watching everyone greet each other and continue to have fun, it had been so long since the entire pack had a reason to dance the night away beneath the moonlight, she let out another sigh of relief and looked over her shoulder. She couldn't stop herself from running forward.
"Mother, Father." Willa hugged them both tightly with all her strength, and they hugged her back just as strong.
"I always knew you and your brother would succeed." Her mother smiled.
"But we almost didn't, your prophecy was sort of right Mother. We needed Addison, and I hope it's OK, but I let her keep the Great Alpha's moonstone, and told her she is a member of our pack."
"Of course its OK Willa, an Alpha's word is law. Speaking of, do you want to stay the Alpha?" her father asked.
"Well…honestly, can I give it back for you, I love my pack, and I will do anything for them, but I want the chance to go to school, hang with my new friends, and have fun. I'm sorry."
"Don't worry Willa. You proved yourself, to us and everyone else, you don't need to be strong all the time. We will happily resume our leadership until you decide you are ready to take it back."
"Thank you, but can we keep going to school? I think our days of hiding in the woods are over."
"Yes, I agree, I think it's time we officially meet Seabrook and join their community."
"Do you really think that can happen?"
"Well Willa, would you have ever dreamed, this would be happening in our Den?"
Willa gazed out over the den, filled with dancing wolves, zombies, and humans all having fun together. "No, probably never in a million years before tonight."
"Now, tell me. Who is that zombie Wyatt is dancing with?" her mother asked with a toothy grin.
Near, the edge of the dance floor, Zoey was sitting beside one of the werepups with Puppy sitting between them on their laps, both had the happiest grins on their faces, and both were excited to be making a new friend.
"Oh my moonstone, your puppy is so adorable!"
"Thank you, his name is Puppy, I'm Zoey, what's your name?"
"Hi, I'm Willow."
"I'm so happy to finally meet a werewolf my age!"
"Me too! I always wanted to learn more about Seabrook and humans and zombies, but I never saw one before a few days ago."
"I never saw a werewolf before a few days ago either."
"So what is everything Puppy can do?"
"He is super smart, he can do all the tricks, and he is super good at following directions. He is the best puppy ever!"
"Cool, can I pet him?"
"Sure! He likes being scratched behind the ears."
"So do I!" Willow giggled. "We have so much in common already!"
"Do you want to come to school with me?"
"I would love to! Willa and Wyatt wouldn't let me go with them when they started going to school."
"Well now that everyone is happy again, you should ask if you can. I'll tell everyone that you are a great friend to have. Oh and we can cheer together!"
"What is cheering?"
"It's like dancing and having fun, but you want to make everyone around you have fun too."
"Like when you howl?"
"Sure, cheering makes me happy, that is why I love it."
"That's why I love howling too."
"Oh, my dad just brought pizza, and there's Coach, he has this really cold treat called Froyo and its delicious, let's go get some!"
"OK, I'm starving."
"Puppy Stay. Good Boy, stay right there and I'll bring you some pepperoni." Zoey ordered.
"Bark!"
"Let's go!" Zoey and Willow ran to the mob surrounding Coach and Zevon to claim their treats.
Hours later, just before dawn returned, the party was finally starting to wind down. The last song finished playing from Eliza's portable speakers, and Zed and Addison met each other's eyes, they walked closer together, Addison stretched her neck up, and Zed bent down to meet in the middle, both steadying the other with a loving hand placed on the other's neck to hold each other in place and pressing them even closer. Howls and cheers broke out around them, but Zed and Addison were deaf to it all.
As the sun just started to peek out over the horizon, all of the humans and zombies began returning to the city. Addison couldn't help but smile when she saw Wyatt leading the way with Eliza right beside him, and they appeared to be bantering back and forth.
Zoey was walking beside her and Zed, telling them all about her new werewolf friend, Willow and how she couldn't wait for her to come to school and join her class.
They finally made it back to Zombietown, and after Zoey led Puppy through the door, Zed and Addison stopped outside on the porch.
"So is this goodbye for now?" Zed asked.
"Well, the original plan was for me to spend the night at Bree's house, but I think I'll go home instead."
"OK do you want me to walk you home then?"
"As long as I'm with you I'm already home." Addison smiled and gave him a wink.
"I like the way you're thinking I can almost see it." Zed grinned back.
"But I don't know, my house feels so far away and I am exhausted."
"Well, how about you take a nap here before you go?"
"How can I say no to my king?"
"Even more reason, a king can't let his queen go off alone when it's still dark out. I decree that you must stay with me and get your rest."
"As you wish." Addison giggled.
They walked in the door, and crept quietly upstairs, they could hear muffled snores coming from both Zevon and Zoey's rooms already.
Zed started pulling some clothes out of his closet and dresser. "Take your pick, you already know where everything is."
"Thanks Zed."
"Do you want to change here or in the bathroom?"
"I'll take the bathroom, I need to clean my face and undo my hair and everything else."
"Alright, come back soon. I don't want to fall asleep with Zander Jr."
"I'll do my best, my sleepy zombie." Addison promised, as she quietly tiptoed out the door.
A short while later, Addison slowly walked back in, carrying her dress, her hair was down in her usual, if a little messy style, and she was dressed in one of her favorite outfits, a T-shirt and sweatpants from Zed, that she would be stealing for her personal collection, even if they were much too big on her.
Zed was already lying in bed in his pj's, and when she entered the room, he pulled up the blankets so she could snuggle in next to him. With a smile on her face, she snaked her arms around Zed, just as he was doing the same to embrace her.
"Thank you again for giving me the best Prawn night ever, even if it was out of our wildest dreams."
"You're welcome. I will always do anything for you because you are absolutely perfect, I am still so sorry for this week."
"Enough of that Zed, I forgive you, you don't need to keep apologizing. Plus Ahhh." Addison couldn't stifle her yawn, "I am way too tired. Let's sleep now and talk later."
"Gladly Beautiful. I love you Addison."
"I love you too Zed." Addison sealed it with a kiss, before twisting herself around so he was now spooning her, and they both drifted into dreams as the morning sun started to shine through the window.