wolves¹[wyatt lykensen]

.05

NEWFOUND CONNECTIONS

"CAN'T YOU CONVINCE them to just get along with us or something? Like a wolf-to-wolf thing?"

"It doesn't work like that," I chuckle. "C'mon. We'll deal with the wolves later. You've got a practice to lead." I nudge her shoulder and go stand in formation with Bree and the rest of the cheerleaders.

She blows a whistle and we stand in our positions. "I am so fired up to be running cheer practice! Together, we can do anything," she said encouragingly, but once we were facing her, we could see the werewolves were sitting on the bleachers. She turned around to see the same thing once Bree gestured behind her with wide eyes.

"So much for dealing with them later," I muttered.

"Sorry, but this practice space is for cheerleaders only." Addison stepped forward.

Wynter stood up with a scoff, setting her foot up on one of the higher bleacher seats. "Just try and get us to leave." Wyatt grabbed her arm to calm her down as he got up.

"Wynter, some respect," he scolded.

"No." Addy shook her head. "I don't want you to leave. I want you to stay." At this I stifled a laugh. "Show us what you can do," she offered, earning mutters and whispers from the pack. "The cheer team is for everyone," she said, glancing back to us as we got into the routine positions.

The wolves reluctantly walked over once Wyatt told them to.

"Show us what you got, wolf-boy," I challenged, making my eyes shimmer blue as he stood in the spot next to me. I tossed my pom-poms to the back of the room and got ready for Addy's count.

"Five, six, seven, eight!" The music from the speaker system started to play and we jumped into the dance, hitting counts in a synchronized manner as the wolves watched on in confusion for a moment.

My arms crossed back and forth over my chest as I moved to the left and Wyatt slid to the right, copying my movements before I lifted my right arm up and he slipped underneath it and moved back to my left. "Not bad," I commented, earning a shrug and a smirk from him.

We crowded in the center of the room and put our hands in the huddle, throwing them up and causing the wolves to howl. The moment caused me to slip up and let out a howl of my own, earning surprised glances from Addison and Wyatt. My hands clasped over my mouth. "Sorry. I didn't mean for that to come out."

"Now you've got it, Cora," Wyatt grinned, pulling me into a side hug.

We all ran back into formation, hitting a few straddle and hurdle jumps before I moved back to my flying spot. I grasped Wyatt and Jacey's shoulders as I placed my foot in their hold and was lifted up into the small pyramid, letting Addison catch my foot and hit the stunt.

I dropped my foot back down after a moment and they tossed me up and I tucked my legs in a bit, landing in the basket. My arms unintentionally went around Wyatt's shoulders once Jacey let go a bit too early, causing me to be held up by him.

He gently set me down on the ground and gave me a hug that I returned as he lifted me up and spun around a bit. I was set back down on my feet as we laughed, but our arms didn't move.

"Hey," he let out with a smile.

"Hi," I laughed, but became aware of the situation after a moment, letting my arms slide down off his shoulders and fall to my sides as he let go. "That wasn't that bad at all, actually. Thanks for catching me," I say quickly.

"That was so amazing! You are all natural cheerleaders!" Addison exclaimed, earning Wyatt's and my attention.

"We wolves work well together," he explained.

"That totally makes sense. Coraline is a good cheerleader and to think she didn't even want to do it when I first asked." She gestured to me, but I shook my head with a chuckle.

"No, Addy. He's talking about you." I walked over to her as Wyatt followed.

"But I'm not a wolf," she claimed. He rose his eyebrows and let out a small 'hum'. Before he could respond properly, coughing began to sound out from behind us.

"Wynter, you okay?" I jogged over to her, helping her stay up with Bree. "Hey, calm down. Just breathe," I say softly. "It's your necklace, isn't it?" She nods at my question, standing up after a moment once her coughing fit was over.

"Well done, Addison!" Bucky walked into practice clapping, looking between all of us. "With werewolves on cheer, this election is so in the bag."

"Bucky, this is not about politics," she fought back. "I always just felt like cheer could unite."

"You are going to be a great cheer captain!" he announced.

"I'm gonna be cheer captain!" she exclaimed, earning claps and cheers of congratulations from everyone. She turned to Wyatt and I as I walked back over to them. "I was thinking the team could move beyond trophies and start an outreach program," she explained happily, causing me to nod in support.

"Cheer is what I say cheer is about. And it's about winning," Bucky grinned, walking away as he did so.

Addison lowered her head sadly, causing me to glare at Bucky's retreating figure. "Bucky doesn't know what he's talking about. You can do whatever you want with this team, Addy, you're the captain."

"You are a leader, but of something a lot greater than cheer," Wyatt spoke up, setting a comforting hand on her shoulder. She glanced between us and gave a thankful look for our support, but it was replaced with a confused one after a moment.

"Zed!" she shouted, causing us to all turn to see the zombie leaving and her running out the door after him.

"What was that about?" Wyatt asked, his brows furrowing.

"I don't know," I said in a confused tone. "It's probably nothing, maybe he just wanted to talk to her about something."

"Well...anyway," Wyatt began, turning to face me. "I wanted to ask you something. I was thinking that you—I mean, you and I could go get some fro-yo after school?" His tone was nervous and it caused me to smile.

"Sure, it's a date—" I cut myself off as my eyes widened. "I mean, yeah sure. It's not a—I'll just see you after school? In the courtyard?"

At that, it was his turn to laugh at my slip-up. "I'll see you then, Cora."