Chapter Text
Graduation had come and gone, and between prepping for college, the freshly adult citizens of Seabrook were enjoying Summer break. Zed and Addison had been spending every other waking moment with one another. The few weeks of Addison’s foray into outer space had been enough to give them both a little separation anxiety, and they were making up for lost time. Today though, Addison was out with her parents. She and Missy were reconnecting with each other and their Alien heritage, and Dale was along for the ride.
The other graduates were somewhat dispersed. Bonzo and Bree were probably on a date somewhere, A-Lan and A-Li were exploring town more as they finished moving in, and most of the others had gathered to hang out near the wolves’ den.
Willa and A-Spen were sitting near the mouth of the cave, speaking quietly, casually resting on each other. A close observer, of which there were none, would have noticed that A-Spen was practically vibrating with excitement over the relaxed position. Willa just smiled fondly at them.
Further into the clearing were Wynter and Zed, tossing a football back and forth, with Wyatt lazily cheering on the side. Their little game had gotten steadily more intense, with longer throws and the odd tackle being incorporated. Wynter was getting really hyped, as she did during real games back at school. Her eyes flashed amber with every toss, and she let out a victory howl every time Zed failed to catch the ball. Zed was flagging, and Wyatt had begun to cheer singularly for him.
After Wynter “scored” yet again, Zed’s gaze began to wander towards his Z-Band. Wynter had the natural advantage of being a wolf, her moonstone necklace glowing with the power it awarded her. Zed was certainly a great athlete, zombed out or not, but it definitely didn’t hurt to swipe left for a little zom-boost during games. He’d refrained from doing so thus far because it was just a casual game of catch, but now that the intensity had increased, his pale fingers started inching towards the little green screen.
The following events occurred within a matter of seconds. Wynter tossed the ball, and Zed caught it. He reached for his Z-Band, and Wynter tackled him to the ground, grabbing for the ball. The force of the hit knocked Zed’s hand hard enough to affect the still-broken lock of the band, grazing his knuckles and breaking the clasp. As Wynter grabbed the ball, she accidentally took the Z-Band with her, scrambling to her feet and throwing the ball—with Z-Band—as hard as she could in the opposite direction, forgetting the purpose of the game as she got excited with her success.
She began to howl with joy, but was cut off by a panicked shout from Wyatt.
“WYNTER!” he yelled, leaving his place on the sidelines to rush the small field.
Wynter turned, immediately faced with the sight of a wide-eyed Wyatt and a twitching Zed, who lay tense in the grass, blackening veins bulging against his ashen skin, eyes seeming to sink into his face as the thin flesh surrounding them darkens and deepens. He seemed to attempt sitting up, before suddenly aborting, slamming himself back into the ground with an eerily deep groan. Wyatt looked between him and Wynter, and she looked between him and Wyatt. Both wolves turned in Willa’s direction, looking for an Alpha’s aide, to see her staring back at them, expression exasperated.
She stood up quickly, however, keeping A-Spen at her side with a held hand, and swiftly moved for the commotion. She stopped short of Zed, looking between her pack members, “what did you do?” she asked, all annoyed leader and bared fangs, though her tight grip betrayed her panic to A-Spen, who returned a squeeze.
Wynter’s hands flapped as she put together what she’d done, face twisting in guilt, “I chucked his band thingy! I-I didn’t mean to!” she glanced at Zed, who’s own face was screwed up, “bad wolf! Bad wolf!” she cried, fists colliding with her temples.
Wyatt actually acted first, gently pulling her hands away, “come on, we can pick up the scent and get it back to him quickly,” he spoke in his husky whisper before turning to his twin, “Willa keep him calm, we’ll bring back the band as fast as we can!”
As Wyatt and Wynter sped off in the vague direction the ball and band had gone, Willa and A-Spen were left with a quivering, full-blown zombie at their feet. Thus far, the few times A-Spen had seen Zed zomb out were for scaring, or fighting purposes, and they had to admit he was rather frightening in this form. Yet, they found themself kneeling by his side as he let out moans and groans that sounded almost pained. They no longer had a crush on him (they ran their thumb along the back of Willa’s hand), but he was their friend, and it was horrible to see him struggle. The emotion was a little overwhelming, they were still getting the hang of such intense feelings.
They realized Zed was clutching himself, arms wrapped around his torso and fingernails digging into the flesh of his upper arms. A-Spen began to reach out, and Zed’s eyes flew open, wild and bloodshot. He let out a roar that reminded A-Spen of how he’d cried out as the combined power of the Moonstone and the Alien’s stardust tech had flowed through him and Addison.
Just as that thought entered their mind, Zed’s unfocused eyes ran over them, and he grumbled out, “Addison?”
Willa spoke, and A-Spen became aware that she’d dropped down beside them, “no Zed, it’s us,” her voice was uncharacteristically comforting, usually only pups heard her speak this way, “Addison isn’t here right now, but you’re gonna be okay, I promise.”
Zed’s groan came out more like a whine, and his hands left his biceps, now marked from the force of his grip, and came to grasp at his verdant hair. The movement echoed Wynter’s earlier struggle, A-Spen noted, though they weren’t sure what that meant. Willa clearly did, as she continued speaking in her warmest tone, “can you breathe with us Zed? Focus on the sound of it, and only that, okay?”
The alpha wolf began to take slow, deep breaths, the marks on her cheek moving as it twitched with underlying concern. She gently elbowed A-Spen, who took a moment before understanding her meaning and joining in the breath.
It took several moments for Zed to finally join the rhythm, appearing to try a few times and fail with sucked in breaths and growls before falling into the groove. When A-Spen went to take his hand this time, he only flinched once before letting them hold it, forming a chain from the teens. A zombie, a werewolf, and an alien all held hands and breathed together for what felt like ages to one and seconds to another, before noises from the woods interrupted their reverie.
Willa knew it was Wyatt and Wynter before they entered her field of vision. She’d known those footsteps her whole life, and recognized the scent of pack, and of family. She still looked up to see Wyatt clutching a Z-Band in a clawed hand, waving it as he ran towards their struggling friend.
“WE GOT IT!” he shouted, slamming to the grass beside Zed and grabbing his arm (earning a small roar for his efforts) slipping the band around Zed’s wrist and ensuring the clasp shut tight.
The group watched as the screen blinked on, taking a short run through red OFFLINE and orange UNSTABLE before settling on the safety of the bright green ONLINE. The inky veins receded, and the circles around his eyes faded, and Zed slowly untensed as he regained full control over his mind and body, relaxing into the grass like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
When he blinked his eyes open (still bloodshot, but now in a way denoting regular exhaustion), he was greeted by four worried faces crowding his vision. He weakly chuckled, voice coming out in a tired croak, “I’m alright guys, you can all relax,” always first to reassure his friends.
He was helped to his feet by Wyatt, who he wound up leaning on quite a bit to walk towards the cave as they all headed inside to relax for a while and just chat. Arms found their way around Zed’s shoulders, and he was gently and casually held, which he admittedly very much appreciated. Wynter remained tense for quite a while, until the amiability of conversation allowed her brain to realize Zed truly was okay, and she was not blamed for the events of the day.
They chatted for long time, about traversing galaxies, and old wolf stories, and the best ways to customize clothes, and a football sat in the woods, utterly forgotten.
That evening, Zed would cling to Addison even more than usual, and she would receive a quick explanation from Willa. The part-alien cheerleader would hold her boyfriend a little tighter, and thank the others for their help. All together, they spent the later hours in what slowly became a cuddle pile (old wolf tradition, so Wyatt claimed).