The wolves looked worse for wear. Their clothes were rumpled and untidy, dirt was smeared all over them. He saw blood following scratches along their arms, and their hair was a total mess, sticking up awkwardly in random directions. The once smooth fur on their ears and tail shared a similar status of being unkempt. Zed couldn't remember a time they ever let themselves look like that.
He catches Wyatt's gaze and Zed's heart skips into his throat as Wyatt's once tired eyes lit up. Zed tried to quell the feeling of disappointment when Wyatt immediately looked away in favor of the white haired girl.
"You called us." Willa stated it as a matter of fact, but her voice held a questionable lilt.
"Finally." The white haired girl's voice turned to honey as she looked at the wolves. Zed noticed her change in demeanor almost instantly. Her stance turned more open towards the wolves and her smile softened at the edges. Her apprehensive cast fell and Zed felt more discontent towards her. She was off.
Wyatt took a step forward before him and Willa both fell to the ground on one knee. "The Great Alpha." Wyatt said and looked up to her with a dazzled expression, like he had been a dying man in a desert and she was the embodiment of a fresh spring.
Then that bright face turned to Zed. "You found her!" Wyatt had sprung from his kneeling position to approach Zed. The zombie made no move to meet him.
"What? No, she's not–she just has white hair!" Zed threw his hands in the direction of the 'Great Alpha'. Wyatt flinched back as if he had been burned and Zed regretted not moving towards him.
His words were ignored as the girl placed a hand on Wyatt's shoulder. "I'm Gwen." She looked between Willa and Wyatt. "Rest assured, I am your Great Alpha. I've come to help."
Willa and Wyatt's shoulders sagged in relief as Gwen pulled the two into a hug. Zed hadn't felt this unwanted and useless in a while. The werewolves looked fragile in the arms of the girl as she clutched them. Zed glared.
"She came out of nowhere." Zed tried to reason.
Willa's gaze was hot and heady. "She came in our time of need." He heard the sneer loud and clear.
Gwen let her arms drop, but the wolves continued to surround her. "While I'm happy we've finally met, I'm drained from my journey. May I rest at your den?" She asked sweetly.
"Of course." Wyatt and Willa said in rushed unison. Gwen smiled as the werewolves began to guide her back to the den.
Wyatt snuck a glance at Zed before they disappeared in the tree line.
Zed was a little sleep deprived at school. His night was spent thinking of Wyatt and that stupid Gwen girl. He thought having weird feelings towards Wyatt was good enough to make his brain raddled, but apparently he had to add the "Great Alpha" to that list. She made him uneasy, and thinking of her hanging out, being surrounded by the wolves made his blood boil. He wasn't jealous, just wary.
"Hey, Zed! How's your morning been?"
Now Zed's adding 'Addison' to the list of things to completely ruin him.
He turned to her stiffly, closing his locker. "It's going good, Addison. How's cheer and stuff going?"
She gave a smile and swayed on her heels. "Cheer's been super fun! We worked out some kinks with a few routines last practice and now it runs smooth like butter." Addison stilled and looked at Zed with an intensity he was not mentally prepared for. "I'm sorry."
"Huh?" Zed responded lamely, because what.
"I didn't realize how much I hurt you. I really wanted things to be like old times, so I tried to make conversation and then I got worried when I heard you got into a fight and everything went south–" Addison cut herself off to take a breath. "What I'm trying to say is, I'm sorry I wasn't thinking about how you were feeling."
Addison was apologizing and Zed should be elated. He should be happy she was apologizing for breaking his heart and realizing how much damage she had really done. He didn't feel good. He hadn't exactly been a saint during the field trip with her. He blew up and stormed off, not wanting to hear her because he still had feelings for her.
She had made him laugh on so many dates. They would wrestle each other for the TV remote until they were left breathless and giggling. She watched his football games and he made sure to skip the occasional practice to go see her direct the newbie cheerleaders. They would be all mushy with their feelings and Zed loved it. They spent so much time together, the months had flown by and their inevitable end came. Addison was through, so Zed should be too.
"It's alright." He finally said and he meant it. "I was heated and a little irrational, so we're both guilty as charged for being dumb with emotions." He raised his hand in a mock swear and smiled when Addison laughed.
"I was so anxious to talk to you about it. I hated the idea of you–well, hating me." She sighed. They both jumped when the ball rang.
"Late again," she mumbled. "I'll see you around." She waved and left.
Despite her apology surprising him, Zed actually felt more at ease through his next classes. Her words diminished some of his anxiety for the day and he found himself sitting with her at lunch.
"What? No, she's totally gorgeous!" Addison and Eliza were bickering over celebrity crushes. Eliza had just confessed her disinterest in Anne Hathaway and Addison was currently fuming.
"I'm not saying she's ugly," Eliza said. "Just saying I wouldn't go for her." She shrugged her shoulders as a matter of fact.
Zed couldn't help his laugh as he saw Addison gaping at Eliza in silent rage. He had definitely missed this.
"Eliza, you're the smartest person I know and I love you." Addison looked at the zombie girl. "So, forgive me for saying this, but you have a severe lapse in your judgment! You could not be more wrong as Anne would be the perfect girlfriend–" Zed decided to tune her out in favor of finishing his food. Eliza giggled behind her hand as Addison continued her rant.
The day ended smoothly, with the exception of not a single wolf being seen. Again. Zed had football practice and he didn't want to disappoint his coach with another poor performance because of his emotions so he opted to not think too hard about it. It seemed to pay off because Coach gave him a pat on the back at the end of practice.
"I'm glad you're back, kid. I hope whatever you were struggling with got sorted out." Coach smiled and shoved him back onto the field. "Now, go take a shower. You earned it."
As Coach walked away, Zed couldn't help but give himself a celebratory air fist pump. "Yeah! Still got it."
"Zed!"
Zed turned around, embarrassed he had been caught, but his embarrassment quickly morphed into confusion upon seeing a familiar werewolf sprinting full speed at him. He only had a few seconds to brace his exhausted muscles before Wyatt was tackling him to the ground. Zed groaned as he hit the turf, closing his eyes.
"Why did you–" Zed started before Wyatt's hurried voice overlapped his.
"The Great Alpha cured us!" Zed opened his eyes immediately, but squinted at the sun shining from behind Wyatt. There's no way he heard him right.
"What?" Zed asked. Wyatt had unpinned Zed from the ground and was now seated on his haunches, grinning at Zed.
"No one's fighting anymore! Gwen used her moonstone necklace and cured everyone that was affected!" Wyatt lunged forward once more, gripping onto Zed's bare arms and shaking him. Zed saw his tail thumping aggressively against the ground.
Zed's head spun for a second. "That's great!" He thought for a moment, though. "I didn't know it would be that easy."
"Me neither! But she did it and now we don't have to be afraid to go out anymore." Wyatt's cute fangs were on display with his smile and Zed really liked seeing him happy. He felt a bit of guilt for doubting the girl in the woods. He was a random person, and not one she had wanted, so maybe he was too quick to jump the gun on her.
He was glad he didn't have to worry about the wolves' safety anymore. He didn't mind the research but he wasn't the fastest reader and he didn't know how many more old timey books he could take.
The kiss.
Zed's veins turned icy at the memory. Something in his expression must have fallen because Wyatt was suddenly looking confused.
"Hey, what's wrong? You were so excited before, now you're looking like the Grinch." Wyatt tried to joke, but Zed was too focused on his turmoil of emotions. He didn't want to ruin the celebratory mood. They should be full of happiness and jumping for joy, but the memory was eating away at Zed and he was not ready for this talk, but he had to. He needed an answer.
"What happened that night in the woods?" Zed finally asked.
Wyatt looked sheepish. "Sorry, I didn't mean to brush you off, but Willa and I were so excited to meet the Great Alpha and we'd been searching for her for years so she took priority."
Zed frowned. Wyatt was avoiding his eyes and had removed his hands from Zed's arms in favor of clawing at the turf. Zed almost wanted to laugh because Wyatt was playing dumb. On purpose.
"You know that's not what I'm talking about." Zed's voice was hard and Wyatt finally looked up.
Zed saw his mouth open to speak, say something, anything to explain what had actually happened. Before Wyatt said a word, he heard the telltale sound of boots on the field and Zed sighed. The memory would have to wait.
"Hey nerds," Willa said. Wynter was at her side.
"Did you tell him?" Wynter squealed. She saw Wyatt nod and sank to the ground to give Zed a crushing hug that lifted him into the air.
"Oh, careful! Careful! My abs hurt." Zed confessed and rubbed at his stomach. Wynter's face turned into an apologetic look and let him go.
"Sorry, just really excited and happy to be on the field. You know, I'm thinking about trying out for the team next year!" Wynter said.
Zed could definitely see her on the team. She's short, but insanely strong. "You'd make it for sure. You'd be the first girl on our team." He lightly punched her shoulder.
"We're having a celebration, honoring the Great Alpha tomorrow night." Wyatt piped up, drawing Zed's attention back to him. "You should come."
Willa gave a funny look at that while Wynter leaped up. "Yes! You should definitely come! We've missed you at the den. Instead of studying, we'll be partying!"
Zed didn't have much of a decision to mull over at the eager faces of Wynter and Wyatt. They had puppy eyes and they worked. "Yeah, sure. Sounds fun."
As the two wolves celebrated, Zed noticed something off with Willa's face. For one, she had a puzzled look aimed at Wyatt, as if he had said something out of line. The other was a Mandela effect, because he could have sworn her symbol didn't look like that. He stood up to get a closer look at her.
"Is your face mark different?" Zed finally asked and Willa brought a hand to her face.
"Yes. I have the same marking as Wyatt. I'm a beta now." She let her hand hover over her mark. Zed suddenly felt bad for bringing it up. Willa stayed silent.
"Yeah, she's a beta. The Great Alpha has the overall status. Only her mate gets to be her equal." Wynter says.
"Now she can't boss me around." Wyatt said and nudged his sister.
Wynter scoffed. "Oh please! Without her, you'd be running around with your tail between your legs!"
Wyatt gasped and placed a hand over his heart. "How dare you!" Wyatt lunged towards her and Wynter quickly evaded his grasp. Willa cracked a smile.
"Catch me if you can!" Wynter taunted and blew a raspberry. Zed snorted and rolled his eyes as the werewolves played exactly like two puppies would.
Addison had apologized, the wolves were cured, and Zed was able to play football with no distractions. All that was left was to sort out Zed's feelings about the weird relationship blooming between him and Wyatt. That should be the easiest part.
(*Gasp* The Great Alpha!? Who could have seen this coming!? Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'm still chugging along lol)