Work Text:
Video Calls
Willa grumbled, silently cursing herself out while trying to meddle with the oddly shaped hunk of Metal Eliza sent in her place. Trying to turn it back on.
“Stupid Wyatt. I’ll get you for this later.” The alpha mumbled, brow creasing further at she increasingly grew more confused.
Her stupid brother just HAD to short circuit the technology with his Moonstone! Couldn’t have just had a normal conversation. NOPE. Just had to break it. Just to spite her.
Worse, it was Willas designated Eliza time. A special sacred moment of many they had carved out during their busy days to talk to one another.
Willa growled, baring her teeth at the machine, even if it deemed unseemly. Who cares what people thought, she could never get the hang of this modern technology.
“Grrrrrr! Just, freaking, work!” She growled, banging her fist on whatever metal it could find, to angsty consider it might make the damage worse, “Work you absolute pile of junk! Do what you were made too!”
Finally, after one particularly petty and anger filled kick to the gears, the screen crackled. Fizzing and popping, before finally emitting a crystal clear image of her amazing girlfriend. Who took one look at Willas angry expression and grimaced.
“Hello little one?” Eliza cooed in concern, “Who’s got you all upset?”
“Wyatt! And this piece of junk! Thats who!” Willa crossed her arms stubbornly, mood to vicious to swallow.
Eliza made a face of mock hurt, “Now lovely, I know you just did not call my beautiful work of technology and art, junk?”
Willa growled, “It can burn for all I care. Technology is stupid.”
“Awww did someone have trouble turning the machine on?” The zombie cooed sympathetically through the systems. Knowing her girlfriend was quick to rage, and even quicker to defend.
Willa refused to meet her endlessly patient girlfriends eyes, arms still crossed, “…Maybe… but it was WYATT who broke the damn thing!”
Eliza nodded along, “Oh yeah, Oh definitely! This is all his fault!”
“Right?! That’s what IM SAYING!”
A few moments went by, where Eliza watched the werewolf with a loving smile.
…
“Do you feel a little better now?” Her voice was soft as silk. Knowing to a T just exactly what Willa needed to get rid of some of her restless energy and anger.
Willa nodded, although a bit more more sheepishly, “…Maybe.”
“Do you still feel like killing Wyatt?”
“Possibly?”
Eliza gave her a knowing look, “Is their at least a possibility of mercy?”
“Maybe,” Willa then sniffed haughtily, “But only a small chance! How dare he break your work and get away with it!”
“Well that’s better then ‘stupid technology that can burn’.”
Thé werewolf immediately looked guilty, eyes widening to the biggest puppy dog eyes Elizas grown accustomed too.
“Oh Eliza!” Willa whimpered, feeling bad, “I’m so sorry! Your stuff isn’t stupid! You made it! It’s automatically not stupid if you made it! I’m just a dumb wolf who can’t figure out how to turn it on or control my emotions!”
“No apology necessary, also your not dumb. Never were.” Her absolutely god send of a girlfriend affirmed. Looking at her with those almond eyes that drove her absolutely wild.
The alpha sighed, a smile appearing, “Moon, I love you Eliza. Your the best.”
The Zombie smiled, “I try. And of course the feeling is mutual.”
Their was another lull in the conversation. Where the two were content to just look at each other. smiles tinged with heartsick.
“So what’s going on at Seabrook,” Eliza broke the silence after a while, “Please, Save me from the eternal boredom over here and regale me with your intriguing tales.”
Willa snorted, “Sureee! Eternal boredom my ass! You love it their! That’s practically your dream job.”
“Maybe,” she smirked slyly, “Doesn’t mean I’m still not interested about what’s going with you.”
“Well it’s not as interesting as you think.” They shrugged self consciously, feeling randomly pitiful in comparison to her smart girlfriend.
Eliza frowned, “Hey Will, I know what’s going on in that beautiful brain of yours. I don’t care how advanced my job may seem, I will always want to hear about your day. Your life will forever be more interesting then technology. No matter how lesser you deem it.”
Willa smiled and nodded along, even if she didn’t fully believe it, “Well I’m glad you find my insane life interesting.”
“What about it is insane currently?”
The werewolf sighs, “Everything just feels kinda crazy here Z.”
“How so?”
Willa could feel her hands start to shake, but quickly moved them so Eliza couldn’t see on camera, “Graduation is coming up soon.”
“I know right?” The Zombie crowed, “I hope I get off for it. I gotta graduate y’a know?”
“But what happens after that?!” They cried
Eliza paused, taking the time to really look at the werewolf on the screen, “What do you want to happen Willa?”
The question rendered her speechless, hitting directly where she tried to guard most. It was exactly what Eliza managed to do most times. And till this Day Willa didn’t know how she did it.
“I don’t know.” She breathed out, as if it was taking a weight off her shoulders, “I don’t want…”
I don’t want to be alone.
“Don’t want what Little One.” Eliza pressed softly.
“I don’t want my pack too not have the chance to go to college,” she eventually decided to say, “As the Alpha, it’s important for me to make sure they have choices. That they can do anything they want.”
The laters lips creased downwards, “Willa… Zeds doing his best to do what he can. And I know you’d give life and limb for your pack. But you still didn’t answer me?”
“I-I did?”
“No sweetie,” Eliza smiled again, more filled with a hidden sorrow, “I know it’s hard for you to understand the difference. But I asked what you want. You. Willa Lykensen. Not the pack. And not what the Alpha wants for the pack. But what you want after graduation.”
Willa glanced away. Refusing to make eye contact, “I think I have to go.”
“Will…”
“No no, I mean it.” She replied more earnestly, with a genuine smile at her girlfriend, “Class starts up soon again for me. But I absolutely treasure every moment with you.”
Eliza sighed, accepting defeat this time, “Of course my gorgeous werewolf, go back to school. Learn a few more things. Don’t forget how much I love you.”
Willas grin turned toothily, “I’d never. I love you as well. I’ll talk to you later, ok?’
“Wait isn’t the pep rally tonight?” Eliza interject at the last moment.
“Oh shit!” The alpha gasped, “I gotta be their for Wynter! I completely forgot! Oh no, babe I’ll completely miss our talk time!”
“Don’t worry about me,” Eliza assured, “I’ll be here straight tomorrow to talk then. Go enjoy the pep rally! Give a cheer for me! I’ll be here in the morning.”
Willa gushed, “God I love you Eliza.”
“I love you too Willa.”
———————————-
When Eliza popped on screen the next morning, the last thing she expected was to be propped up in Willa Den room, watching pillows and assorted object being thrown across with abandon.
“U-Um, sweetums? You their?” She spoke worriedly.
“Stupid damn INVADERS!” Willas voice roared loud, accompanied by another pillow being thrown.
Eliza flinched when it hit something unseen, the sound crashing to the floor.
“WILLA?” She called a little louder, “Babe I’m here now?”
“Eliza?” Willa sauntered over, an incredulous look on her face, “Y-You were fast.”
Eliza was speechless, momentarily taken aback by her girlfriend’s appearance. Whatever happened in a day must have been catastrophic, for she was an absolute mess.
Hair frizzy, makeup smeared, and teeth bared; it was clear Willa stayed up all night in turmoil, eyes sunken in in a way that showed thoughts attacked, depriving her of sleep.
“B-Babe. Willa, what happened? Wyatt was able to talk to me briefly, he must have never gotten to tell you. But their was a lot of commotion when he cut off.” The zombie questioned in concern.
With an absolutely wild look in her pupils, Willa muttered words that Eliza was sure she’d die before hearing.
“Aliens,” she growled, “It was Aliens.”
Forgive her, but Eliza couldn’t help but burst into laughter, “Pffft! A-Aliens? You can’t be serious! This town sure is crazy, but Aliens crashing a Pep Rally? That sure takes the cake! And here you had me worrying something was really wrong.”
Willa seethed, Moonstone sparking powerfully as she ran her hands through her tangled hair, “I’m not kidding Eliza! The Aliens are here! And their snarky! And Mean! Not to mention their obviously up to something!”
The words her girlfriend said seemed absolutely preposterous, Eliza couldn’t help but feel like Willa wouldn’t be this passionate about a prank.
But it wasn’t until she saw Willas hands shaking did she know the Alpha was telling the truth. Willa couldn’t control when her hands shook, and they only did when she was anxious. She couldn’t be faking this. It was no lie.
Aliens had actually invaded Seabrook.
She was gone for like two weeks man.
“H-How did it happen?”
Willas eyes flickered with relief, before taken over with anger once again, “We were in the middle of the pep rally. Just as you said. And you know all those meteors?”
“Yeah, they’ve been starting ever since that comet came,” Eliza nodded, soon making a realization of her own, “You’ve mentioned your moonstone acting weird when it happens. Was that the Aliens??”
“Annoyingly, yes,” the werewolf grumbled, “it was all seemingly normal, and of course just during this moment, I was a bit, ahem, distracted-“
-“Wait, Wait, Wait, Wait, hold on a minute,” Eliza interrupted with a growing smile, “Are you telling me, that the Willa Lykensen, was Cheering-“
-“Don’t you even finish that sentence!” Willa growled. Her red cheeks giving her away.
“Awww! My little pups all grown up! Did You do a cartwheel? Shake some Pom poms?”
Eliza chuckled lightly, the opportunity to tease her Alpha girlfriend more then tempting.
The wolf bared her teeth, “I clawed the Bus to shreds and howled to the moon! And then proceeded to tell everyone that Seabrook is OUR TURF!”
The zombie couldn’t help but smile adoringly to herself, “Yup. That sounds like my awesome girlfriend.”
Her mood quickly dimmed, thinking over what’s already been said. And concern immediately welling for how Willa was dealing with it.
“So this is real. Aliens really came here during the pep rally?”
The leader nodded grimly, “We didn’t even get to start the game. This huge spaceship comes out of nowhere. Sparks a bunch of fi- um. Never mind.”
“You can say fire in front of me Wil,” Eliza whispered, “I just… I don’t like the smoke.”
“I know Babe, and you are so so brave.”
“Thank you…. Anyways, didn’t mean to interrupt.”
Willa smiled warmly for the first time since she’d gotten on, “You didn’t interrupt. I love when you talk. And as long as your ok with it, ill continue my description.”
“Whoo!” Eliza cheered softly.
“Thanks Z. But anyway, back to my story! So like. Insane ship. It appears out of no where. Electricity everywhere. Pretty sure the bus caught on fire. But we engage cautiously. And out comes these robotic Alien breakdancers with matching face mask thingies. And get this! They proclaimed they were here for the ‘Cheer off’!”
“What?!” She exlaimed in confusion, “The one Addys coined together?”
“That’s the one! Like it’s obviously fake right?” Willa seemed defensive with this question. More of a statement if you knew her.
And Eliza could understand it completely, Willa was the leader of an entire pack. That meant she had to consistently be on the prowl, judge everything. And hold everything up to scrutiny. To others, it may seem like overprotective paranoia, but Eliza knew better. Being in a position like that meant that one wrong judgment, one moment with your guard down, and it could mean endless turmoil to not just you, but everyone you love and care about.
Unfortunately, not everyone understood what Eliza did. Specifically Addison. Zom bless her, but she was naive. And she was too quick to trust. Not even giving in to the possibility that people might be bad.
It was a sweet and honorable trait, but a bad one in the end. Cause all she had to do was trust the wrong person, and it would haunt her forever.
It was hard to tell her this though. Addison just thought Willa was being negative and judgy. Zed would agree with anything Addison said. And how could others disagree with the kind and bright Addison for simply just wanting to welcome the new?
So lots of times, this meant Willa had to be on the defensive. Already starting with people looking at her with bias.
Never Eliza. Never Eliza. She would always believe her girlfriend. Never doubt her instincts.
“It’s completely possible and logical to assume it’s fake,” she made sure to affirm, “Actually. It’s entirely true! It’s not possible these ‘aliens’ got word of the cheer competition. Last time I checked we weren’t launching posters into the sky!”
“Exactly. And guess what was conveniently blown their way mère seconds they came up with their excuse.” Willa questioned with a knowing glare.
Eliza scoffed, “Oh I wonder dear one, could it, I don’t know, possibly be a cheer poster?!”
“Bingo.”
“And people actually bought this?”
“Hook, line and sinker,” the werewolf grumbled, “You’d think we live in a town of idiots.”
Eliza smirked, “Oh but not us right?”
“Oh never us darling.” She replied with a signature flip of her hair.
Her smile was quick to turn sour, eyes showing the hidden battle playing out in her mind.
“Will?” The Zombie murmured softly, “Little one, what aren’t you saying? What stole your sleep last night?”
Willa briefly looked surprised at being called out, then shook it off. Curls bouncing.
“Z… these Aliens say their here for the Cheer off. I know that’s wrong. But no one else seems to believe it. But the problem is, if that’s what their pretending to do-“
-“You don’t know what their true intentions are.” Eliza finished in a slow coming realization.
“I don’t know what their up too,” Willa barely whispers, haunted and terrified, “Eliza. Do you know how bad that is? I need to know what their planning. What if they want to take our moonstone? Take us werewolf’s out in the process? Eliza I can’t lose this moonstone again. I can’t fail my pack again. I can’t-“
-“Hey little one, breath,” they coo softly, Eliza could tell when her girlfriend was spiking herself into a panic attack, “Your getting anxious again. You need to try and take some deep breaths with me ok? Can you do that for me? In, hold two three four. Out two three four.”
They repeat the process a few more times, until Eliza is sure Willa is more calm and not hyperventilating.
She’s still worried though. Worried how Willa is gonna deal with this without her their. She’s already under so much pressure as the alpha. She doesn’t want her to neglect her own health (as she’s already done) for this problem.
“Willa. You are not alone. You have too remember that.” She affirms.
The werewolf growl in distress, picking up another pillow and chucking it somewhere, “But that’s just the thing Z! I am! I am the alpha! No one else! Just me. And your not even here!”
Eliza shakes her head, “Sure I’m not their in the flesh. But I am here to talk whenever you need. And just because your alpha doesn’t mean you can’t find help. For one, you have your Brother. Your Beta. Who is loyal to you forever. You have your friends. You have your pack.”
“But I can’t put them through this!” Willa stresses, “I can’t put them in danger. I can’t ask of that from them.”
“So far their is no danger, my love. Just finding out the Aliens true meaning.”
Willa remains adamant, “I won’t make my pack do this.”
“Then trust your brother!” Her voice is picking up a bit, she knows, but she needs Willa to understand, “Trust your Omega. Trust anyone who doesn’t by the aliens story. You can’t do this all by yourself.”
“You don’t think I can?!” She growled.
“I know you can. But doing so would hurt you in the process and that’s not a risk I’m willing to take!”
Willa bared her teeth, “You can’t stop me!”
“No. But I can pack my stuff and come straight home,” Eliza states sternly, “I don’t care about staying here if it means your putting yourself in danger!”
“No!” Willas eyes grow wide, “Eliza you can’t do that! This is like your dream job! I can’t make you do that!”
The zombie is firm, “Then promise me you won’t do this alone.”
The alpha squirms. Hating the position she’s being put in. Until finally, she grimaced.
“Fine. I give you my word.”
“Thank you.” Eliza sighs in relief.
Another moment passes where no one speaks.
“What are they like?” Eliza eventually moves on to a more lighter topic (or so she hopes), “The Aliens I mean. Have you met any?”
The werewolf scowls, rolling her eyes, “Oh yes I’ve met at few of them. Three to be exact. One guy. One girl. And one… um what was that term you guys use? The one we use for a Mix? Or a Mixer?”
“Oh! Do you mean Non binary?”
“Yes!” They snap their fingers, “That’s what I was looking for. Aspens their name. I think. Guys was possibly Adam? Or Alan? I can’t remember. The one we were with was named Ali. She was very angering.”
Elizas brows furrowed, “How so?”
“She was so arrogant! Kept saying we were a ‘lesser species’ and calling us primitive and dumb! We wolves are not primitive! We are not dumb! We are fierce and proud!”
“Of course you are!” She agreed, “I’m sorry they did that.”
Willa grew angry again, “And that’s not all! Apparently this was their ‘first time’ ever experiencing emotions. Which is crazy on its own. Now Alan, the guy, is like crazy for competition!”
Eliza smirked, “That doesn’t remind you of anyone?”
“Oh shut it,” Willa flashed her yellow eyes, “I’m not competitive like this! He thinks everything is one. And nearly killed Zed from a handshake!”
“What?! Killed?”
“Okay maybe killed was overstated, he basically gave him a good electric shock.”
“Whew,” Eliza was floored by this information, “These Aliens are kinda wack? And what about Aspen? We’re they ok?”
Willa became visibly pissed at this question, “Oh, No! Aspen was the worst one of them all!”
“Oh no!” She frowned, “Did they insult your brood as well?”
“Oh you wish! They were so obnoxious! Being all like ‘Oh! Ha ho! I’m just gonna turn off our Emotion suppressors and be all happyyy!’ As if anyone could suppress their emotions as good as I do.” She gloated with a smirk.
“Sweetie that shouldn’t be a brag.” The Zombie stated with, of course, a normal gallon amount of concern for her girlfriend and her deprecating one liners.
Their was a muffled Knock somewhere from Willas room, only for the sound of a door opening to follow.
“Hey Sis we gotta leave in ten if we’re gonna make it on time!” Came Wyatts familiar voice.
Willa groaned, dropping her head into her hands, “I’ll be their in a minute Brother. I’m talking to Eliza.”
“O-Oh E-Elizas on?” He uncharacteristically stuttered, “D-Did she ask for me? Can I-“
-“This is a private conversation Wyatt,” Willa stated with only a hint of a growl, “Go round up the pack. They can’t be late either.”
“O-Ok. Roger That! B-Bye Eliza!”
“Bye Wy!” Eliza called back. Chuckling silently to herself.
Willa looked absolutely destroyed, lifting her head to gaze at her with those wide puppy eyes.
“I’m so sorry Z,” she whimpered, “I gotta go to school. I didn’t mean to cut off our conversation short again.”
“It’s ok Will, “ Eliza assured, “Class is important. But you should really find some time to get a wink in or two. What classes do you have today.”
“Um, Music, Science, then lunch, Communications, and then Study Hall.”
The zombie brightened, “That’s perfect! If you explain yourself to Mrs. Selphore she’d totally let you go sleep in the Nurses. I’ve heard good words about her from Bonzo! And you can just tell the nurse your still not feeling well if you don’t want to go to science. Communications is a relatively simple class. And since Study hall is last for you, you can go home early.”
Willa smiled tiredly, “That actually sounds great Z. Leave it to you to fix all my problems in a amount of seconds.”
Eliza grinned, “Thats what a good girlfriends for.”
“I gotta go now, but I love you Z.”
“I love you too Will.” She replied earnestly.
And then their was just a black screen. Leaving nothing but Elizas face reflecting back, and a deep pit in her stomach that something about today was not going to go ok.
————————————————-
When Eliza came back to life on her new upgraded robot screen, the last thing she expected to see was Willa holding a sharp hunting knife mere millimeters from her eye.
“WILLA OH MY GOD STOP!”
“GAH!” The werewolf jumped, knife flinging away somewhere unseen. She only looked back up in somewhat of a daze as Eliza started screaming.
“WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!” She yelled, “What the actual shit was about to go down! And you better give me fucking truth here Willa!”
To her surprise, Willas eyes seemed to well up with tears before breaking into a sharp cry, “I’ve been PROBED!”
Eliza could only stared blankly, “Probed.?”
“Probed!” She cried again, frantically tearing at her hair, “Those stupid fucking aliens did something to me! Please help!”
A thousand ideas and thoughts were streaming through Elizas mind, but it was clear the first thing she needed to do was calm down her abnormally frantic girlfriend.
Her abnormally frantic, crying, picking up her knife again, girlfriend.
“WILLA!” Eliza barked, “Put. The knife, down.”
Willa looked like a deer in the headlights, setting down the small knife with a honest to god lip tremble.
This was gonna take all of Elizas patience.
“Willa, sweetie, honey, could you please try and explain to me what ‘Probed’ means. And why you think stabbing yourself in the eye would help you?”
The later broke down into a series of wolf whines, which meant this was all the more serious. Wolf whines were part of the werewolf language, it was basically their form of crying.
Eliza forced her voice down to an even softer decibel, in an attempt to appear calming, “Love pup, I don’t understand enough werewolf to get wolf whines. Could you please try and speak English for me?”
Willa blubbered again, nodding her head silently.
“I-I-I only hu-have a small amount of time,” she managed to whimper out, “C-Can’t be out to long or else th-the pack would get worried.”
“Ok baby that’s ok, just tell me what happened to you.” The zombie encouraged.
“Me and the pack w-were walking down the hallway y’a know? And we ran into the Aliens! And Wynter tells them to watch their step. And, and of course stupid ray of sunshine Aspen takes this fucking literally and so now it just looks like we’re total asses, b-but then fucking Ali comes up and holds this little circle thing up and Probes me Wynter and Wyatt, a-nd now theirs s-something in my h-head so logically I gotta get it out. But I don’t know how to do it. And I can’t look weak in front of the pack. And I don’t know what’s in me. And I don’t know why they did it. And I don’t know how they did it. And I don’t know what they did. And I don’t know what their doing. Or why their doing it. Or how to stop it. Or how to do FUCKING ANYTHING! And no-“
-“Willa, Breath for me.” Eliza commanded. Voice firm.
Here she was coming in and thinking on how to stop a possible forming Anxiety attack, when it turns out this was already a current one! Their was nothing to stop, Willa had started, and was already in the throes In one of her worst anxiety attacks Elizas seen in a while.
“Willa I need you to listen to exactly what I say ok?” She made sure to speak loud and clear, “Your having a panic attack. And your drowning in your own thoughts. I need you to take some deep breaths with me. Your hyperventilating.”
After doing some breathing exercises, Eliza carefully judged that Willa seemed to be doing better. She had stopped spiraling, at least verbally. And she wasn’t hyperventilating.
“Sweetie,” she started again, dedicated to making her tone calm and reassuring, “Could you please tell me if you physically feel something moving in your head. Or if it’s just your anxiety that theirs something in your head.”
Willas answer could really impact what happened next. If she suspected that their was actually a physical object in her brain, that the aliens put in their, it would mean a lot of different things. Specifically, a possible brain surgery for Willa. And much harsher measures towards the aliens.
None felt like something Eliza could reasonably swallow or manage.
“I…I think it’s in my head,” Willa stated, making Elizas heart spasm, “I-I I mean. Not in my head. I don’t think theirs an object. Now that I really took some time to think. I think it’s just, in my head that theirs something in my head.”
The zombie breathed out an extremely relieved sigh, “Oh Thank brains. Ok. That’s so good Willa. Good girl. Thank you for telling me.”
“I still don’t know what they did Z…” thé alpha mumbled in a small voice, “I.. I’m… I’m nervous. I don’t like it.”
“I know baby. I know. Your doing so well.” She cooed. Knowing It had to be absolutely terrifying to the wolf if she was being this vulnerable.
“Could you try and describe the thing they held up? And what they said while they used the object?” Eliza questioned, trying now to just get to the bottom of whatever happened.
“It was circle like,” Willa murmured, nose scrunching adorable mid thought, “Circle outline. And the Middle was kinda Um, sparky in a way.”
“Sparky?”
“Yeah like. Electricity was sparking in the middle of it.”
Eliza tried to envision the object. Even if the description sounded extremely odd.
“They said smile.” The werewolf remembered, “Wyatt said something about it being an Alien camera?”
Elizas expression blanked, “Honey… I don’t mean to sound judge-y or anything. But did you really get this upset, because someone took your photo?”
Willa growled, the first time since she’d seen her, “But it wasn’t just a photo! Don’t you see Eliza? It wasn’t a photo. I know it wasn’t. Sure it clicked like one. But it wasn’t a photo. And if it wasn’t a photo, it had to be something else. Something more dangerous. Logically I assumed they put something in my head. Which is why I needed my knife to carve it out.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“I sorta tried to?” She confessed sheepishly, “I went to warn Addison about the Aliens again, but she blew me off. And then Bucky was surprisingly on my side. And we’ll. That part didn’t really matter much. I wasn’t expecting Addison to see reason. But then I just got so freaked out about something in my head. And Wyatt and Wynter would think I’m just overreacting, cause they felt fine. But it’s like. I swear I felt something Z. And I just got so scared all at once and I know you were good at tech. So I called you.”
“I see,” Eliza frowned, “I’m so sorry you went through that. I sometimes loathe Addisons ability to trust so blindly and fully. She thinks she’s being kind to everyone. But what she doesn’t see is how it truly affects others. Because of her decisions you had to go through a horrible panic attack. And then she wouldn’t even listen to you!”
“Im sorry i got you so worried Z.” Willa looked embarrassed. A flush rising up to her cheeks.
“No no! Don’t apologize! You were reasonably spooked. If anyone should apologize it’s the Aliens!”
“I just. I don’t know what to do.” Willas head dropped into her hands. Curly mane following and bouncing alone.
“It’s like. I know thier planning something. But I can’t figure out what. And it’s destroying me inside.”
Eliza frowned, “I can’t imagine what your going through right now. But I promise I’m here for you. No matter what. And if theirs anyone who can figure this out Will, it’s you.”
Willa slowly looked up. Gazing at her with sad tired eyes.
“I hope so Z…. I hope so too.”
Eliza desperately wished she could be back at school. Could be back with her girlfriend. Could pull her in to a hug and inhale the smell of dirt, flowers, and really expensive hair conditioner.
But she wasn’t.
She wasn’t their.
And all they had were these video calls.
But at least they had them.
They had something.
They had something.
—————————————————-
Willa was exhilarated! She could barely think, barely talk, barely breath without a stream of adrenaline induced thoughts.
She hadn’t had a hunt like that in AGES! Oh moon, it was so amazing!
Sure, the lingering disappointment of not actually catching their prey was their. But Willa could only grin at how close they had been.
Especially with the knowledge that it wasn’t their fault. They WOULD have gotten their win. The Aliens played dirty. They were just cheaters! Their was no fucking invisibility cloak or mommy ship that beamed them up towards no where.
Their was no second chance or fallback while hunting. You were either the prey or predator. Kill or be killed.
As the parent less Alpha she knew that more then most.
As soon as she saw her amazing girlfriend pop on screen, she arched her back and howled to the moon.
“Well someone seems to be in a good mood?” Elizas familiar, although a bit crackly at the moment, voice wavered through the robots speakers.
“Oh it was Eliza! It was!” Willa lisped slightly, practically salivating, “We HUNTED TONIGHT!”
Thé zombie tilted their head, “Ooo, I know you like those. What game were you hunting?”
That’s when Willas smiled grew malicious, pearly fangs gleaming with their sharpness, “Aliens my dear, we were hunting Aliens!”
“Willa, please tell me you didn’t murder them?” Eliza donned an extremely worried look, “You look way to happy right now.”
“Oh please, you flatter me!” Willa waved with a confident smirk, “No, unfortunately the Aliens play dirty and called on their ‘Mommy ship’ to get them out of their. But oh man babe. If you could see how close we were. I’m 90% sure we were about to find stupid Aspen. I saw a glimpse of their painfully bright and perfect hair before their turned unviable somehow!”
“Well Thank brains for ‘motherships’.” Eliza muttered dryly.
“Also. You seem to be mentioning Aspen a lot. Have they done something else?”
Willa growled, smile flickering, “No. I just hate them. Their so stupid. With their ‘I love Zed’ attitude. And their child like joy at everything they see! These aliens got a high out of a pencil sharpener. And Ali calls us a dumber species!”
Elizas frowned deepened, “I don’t like that they keep calling you dumb. Has Aspen said that?”
Willa shrugged, “Probably. Anyway. The hunt was so beautiful. The pack was so in sync. It was a sight to behold. Truly.”
“Oh, I believe you girl. I’m just curious why the sudden murder- oops I meant hunting spree happens?” The zombie asked, her true feelings towards the hunt obviously clear.
Willa vaguely understood why she felt that way. But felt her own reason was much more important.
“They tried to take the moonstone,” the alpha seethed, “Don’t you get it Z? The moonstone. OUR MOONSTONE. Our LIFE FORCE! Our source of power! The thing we’ve been missing for nearly a hundred years. They tried to fucking steal it!”
Her girlfriend looked shocked on camera, “What?! How do you know? Did you catch them in the act?”
She could practically taste the venom in her voice, “Our force field was down Eliza. And the moonstone was tampered with. Someone even left a cup of froyo nearby. How do you like your precious aliens now, huh?”
Eliza looked hurt. Something that left an odd feeling in Willas stomach. She couldn’t tell if she was disappointed about the Aliens character, or upset with Willa for what’s they’d done. It bothered her she couldn’t tell which.
“Willa,” the zombies tone was soft, but stern, “Don’t you dare try and imply I was against you this whole time. I have always supported you. Always.”
“So then why are you so concerned about stupid Aspen?!”
“I’m worried about YOU!” Elizas voice crackled with the ferocity of being said. And Willa was momentarily stunned.
“Oh, dear Eliza. Why would you need to be worried about me?” Willas words felt spiteful. She was spiteful. Even if she didn’t really want to be.
“Why are you being like this? I know you want to protect your pack. I know more then Addison ever will. Is that what this is? About Addison? Cause who cares about what she thinks? I have always supported you. But just because I don’t want you to go out and absolutely traumatize some Aliens doesn’t mean I stopped.”
“Traumatize the aliens?! What about us?! If they had stolen the moonstone, we would have been left to DIE!”
“So what?” Eliza argued, “Your idea is to kill them first?”
The Alpha growled, “It’s kill or be killed! You know that! I would stop at nothing to protect the moonstone. I will not have another werewolf die by lack of moonstone charge!”
“Those Aliens don’t deserve to die Willa.”
“Yeah well NEITHER DID MY PARENTS!”
Eliza gasps. Hand rising to her mouth. While Willa processes what she just said.
She can feel herself choke. Feel her throat unwillingly closing up. She didn’t even understand where that came from. She refuses to bring it up. To acknowledge it.
Her parents were dead. She knew that. Her and Wyatt only had each other now. That bond hardened cold as stone. It was unbreakable.
But they still didn’t talk about it.
Willa didn’t have the privilege to talk about. She had a fucking pack to lead. They couldn’t wait for her to talk about it, to bring up a bunch of unnecessary. To inevitably break down and wait for her to recover. They couldn’t wait for her.
“Will….” Eliza wasn’t looking at her. Was looking slightly down.
Willa followed her gaze, only to let out a subconscious wolf whine when she saw her rapidly shaking hands.
“I’m sorry.” Eliza whispered, “I never meant to imply I don’t support you. I do. So much. I wasn’t taking in what this means to you.”
“No, no you were.” Willa grits her teeth, relishing in the sting, “You always consider all the options. Your always looking out for me. You thought I was gonna hurt them.”
She pauses slightly, “I wasn’t…. just so you’d know. E-even if I said I was…. I wasn’t.”
“I know sweet pup.” Her girlfriend stares at her with knowing eyes.
She can feel pressure behind her eyes, unwanted pressure. Pressure that prickled and was dangerously close to forming tears.
To ignore it, Willa continue to talk, “And Im sorry. I’m sorry I yelled at you. You didn’t deserve that. I was just being stupid. And stubborn. And I was letting my pride getting in my way.”
Eliza smiled, “It’s ok Will, I know your dealing with so much right now. It was bound to come out eventually.”
“It still doesn’t mean I can take it out on you. I’m so sorry Z.”
“It’s ok Will. I promise I forgive you.”
Their was a few minutes of silence. Both just silently taking in each other’s breathing and recovering from their previous high.
Willa thought Eliza might be done with their talk today. It was getting sorta late?
“Are we gonna talk about it?”
“Huh?!” Willa jerked, nearly lost in the peaceful silence, “Talk about what?”
Eliza doesn’t elaborate, only stare oddly at her. And she’s trying, like really trying to think of any loose ends on their conversation. She’s already apologized, and despite what she feels like she deserved. Eliza has already forgiven her.
So she rolls back their semi painful conversation. Trying to think of anything really wack. Anything extremely out of the ordinary. Anything-
Oh.
“No.” Willa is steely, hard, firm, and haunted all in one roll.
She will not talk about them. She won’t.
“Ok.” Thankfully Eliza knows her enough to know when she truly meant no, “That’s ok Babe. Whenever your ready.”
Willa nods, heavy with the head that wears the metaphorical crown. The crown of a leader. The crown of an Alpha.
“Do you want to sit in silence for a while?”
Thank whoever’s out their for creating Eliza Zambi. She knows Willa to a T. And what to say and do exactly to make her feel better.
“Yes.” The word sounds so tired on her tongue, like the life has been sucked out of her, “I’d…I’d really like that Z.”
“Okay then.”
Willa doesn’t actually remember who hung up first, but when she wakes up at some random time at night, Aliens ruining her rest from afar. She sees the blank screen in front of her. And finds herself desperately wishing it was the real thing.
——————————————————
Eliza sighed, a semi dreamy conscious state that lingered even as her girlfriend talked.
Here Willa was, on yet another rant about how horrible the Aliens were. And considering she wasn’t their in person, she was content to listen to her precious ones rambles.
“Ugh and they SUCK! Alan was absolutely demolishing Zeds records. Which I’m personally not upset about. But he ENJOYED IT! He was rubbing it in his face! All while stupid Aspen kept staring at me with their creepy smile! Ugh!” Willa scoffed in disgust, her hatred for aliens fermenting by the day.
“What else happened?” The zombie asked, not particularly curious, but rather, wanting to be an outlet for her girlfriends anger.
Thé Alpha groaned again, “Ali, the smart aleck, was ranting about how our structures are life hazards and inferior to theirs’ and ‘what do you mean your not a harmonious community?’ Like ugh, get a Life! Particularly one away from me! Ooo, and Aspen! So damn annoying. With their stupid hair and stupid face. Always grinning and considerate to everyone! Like give it up, I know what your really like. Probably mocking us all behind our backs. Oh! And guess who I happened to run into at lunch?”
Their was a pause, and Eliza soon realized they were waiting for her to answer. And the thing was, they had a sneaking suspicion who this ‘mysterious person’ was.
Y’a see, the thing is , Eliza was starting to notice a pattern.
Well, relatively New. And a conversation that was till then, uncharted.
But overall, it had slowly been building over the past few days, and they were tentative to breach the subject.
“Um, Aspen?” They half heartedly guessed.
Willas eyes bugged out slightly, “Wow! How’d you know? Well that’s what I get when I have a girlfriend as smart as you! So anyway! I was at lunch you see, and Aspen comes up asking about the food an…”
Willa banters on, her voice somewhat becoming background noise to Eliza. Who was struggling to decide how to approach the topic.
The conversation of a possible third person had been talked about. So it wasn’t completely new, but it had been a while ago. With jokes, and then a few more serious conversations along the way.
Eliza was serious about it. And absolutely chill with it too. She just wasn’t sure if Willa knew that.
However, with Willa ranting about how much she ‘hated’ Aspen. It felt like it was time to bring it up.
Casually.
If that even was possible.
“Hey Willa?” Her voice was soft as she interrupted her girlfriend, “Um. Uh, sorry to stop y’a their.”
“No it’s alright! Go on Z.” Willas eyes were wide with interest.
Eliza bit her lip, saying this was much harder then she thought it be, “Um, Have you noticed you’ve been talking about Aspen a lot lately?”
“No I havent,” They scrunched their nose in disgust, “Why would I? If anything. I’d just be talking about how stupid they were.”
“No but, heh, my love. You’ve been talking about them a lot. And it’s not all about them being stupid. But I’ve just noticed it’s a thing you do now.”
Willa waved them off, “That’s so not true! I talk about all aliens equally! Like remember when I mentioned Ali’s stupid perfect hair?”
A moment passed, Eliza felt like she was sweltering under the pressure, “Um. Babe that was Aspen.”
“Was it? Huh. Well doesn’t matter, I already mentioned to you about Alan taking everything literally, and being way to cheerful about it.”
“Will… that was Aspen too honey.”
Willa started to look more shaken, “B-But um, the random meeting at the locker that was-“
-“Willa that was Aspen too.” The zombie could decide wether to look apologetic or teasing. So she settled for neutral.
“Oh.” The werewolf was all of a sudden really quiet. Mulling over the small details.
“Ok but the cafeteria-“
-“Aspen.”
“I-I mean I hate them,” Willa spluttered, “Its reasonable I talk about them the most.”
“Do you want to know what I think?” It was a genuine question. Willa could decline. Eliza wasn’t sure what would happen then. But she could.
“Sure.”
Here, Eliza couldn’t help but don a slightly teasing smirk, “I think you have a little crush on Aspen.”
Willa choked, coughing harshly, “W-What?!”
“I said I think you might have a little crush on Aspen and haven’t realized it yet.”
“What?! Are you insane right now?!” The alpha spluttered, “Why would I ever have a crush on that stupid Alien! I’d never that’s insane I-“
She broke off, gazing Eliza with a slight timid stare, “Y-You’d be ok with that?”
“Yeah,” Eliza attempted to keep it nonchalant, “I’m poly, your poly. We’ve talked about this before? If one of us ever got a crush on someone, we’d communicate. And go from there.”
“Besides. Aspen seems nice. You should have us meet up.”
The werewolf looked shocked, desperately trying to regain her composure.
“I, um. I wouldn’t need to! Cause I don’t, uh, I don’t like them! I definitely do NOT have a crush on Aspen!” She defended somewhat poorly.
Eliza grinned, “Sure.”
“No I mean it!” They hardened their features, “I don’t have a crush on Aspen.”
“Whatever you say.”
Willa continued to defend herself, all while the zombie sat with a bemused smile.
She was glad they had this conversation, even it had been awkward.
Cause at least Willa knew now, that she was allowed to like Aspen without feeling guilt.
Oh, pardon them, ‘their totally Not crush’ cause Willa definitely didn’t like them.
But in the end, at least she knew she could.
Eliza didn’t know what the future held.
If Zed was gonna get into College, if her plans working at Z band industries would continue to go well. Or if Her and Willa would survive this seemingly alien invasion.
And it was extremely hard being away from her girlfriend during this.
But seeing her Willa blush adorable, only reddening more as she dug her metaphorical grave deeper, it was comforting. In a way simplicity was comforting.
For it wasn’t in person. But a Video Call.
At least she had something.