Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Something was wrong.

As Prawn drew to a close, Addison felt… off. It was only 1am, but everything looked fuzzy. The music beat too loudly against her ears and the smell of the buffet was too sharp. The bright lights they’d brought to the Cave burned into her eyes, and the air felt like it was pressing in on her.

Trying to get somewhere quiet didn’t help, since others were trying to do the same. People leaned against the more secluded Cave walls to have conversations without talking over the music. Stepping outside completely was a full-on assault to her senses. Everything was too loud and too bright and too sharp and too much.

Eliza noticed first. While Zed, Bree, and Bucky were watching Bonzo and some of the wolves do tricks together, Eliza spotted Addison leaning heavily against the wall. Frowning in confusion, the technical genius made her way through the thinning crowd to where Addison hunched.

“Hey,” Eliza whispered as much as she could over the music and chatter. Reaching out, she placed a hand on Addison’s arm. Heat flared against her palm and she almost withdrew for a second. Even with all the dancing, Eliza knew Addison shouldn’t have been burning up like this.

Addison felt someone touch her. Squinting through the flashing lights, she spotted a somewhat-blurry familiar face. “'Liza?” she mumbled.

She could still recognize faces. Good. Eliza softened her tone and asked, “Hey, Addi, you good?”

“No,” Addison groaned.

As she tried to push off from the wall, Addison pitched sideways. Eliza hurried to catch her before she fell and took a deep breath. “Okay,” the zombie muttered. “Uh, okay, this is definitely not good.”

Eliza wasn’t really sure what could be going on, but she knew Addison needed to at least get somewhere to rest. Maybe all of the excitement and adrenaline of the last few days was getting to her. Or she was getting sick from something in the forest. Either way, she definitely couldn’t stay here.

Willa and Wyatt noticed next. Well, really, Wynter did. In the middle of getting some punch, she glanced down at her moonstone in confusion. There was a new energy in the air, but where could it be coming from? Wyatt spotted her expression and elbowed Willa. They moved to Wynter’s side and Wyatt rubbed her arm soothingly.

“What’s up, Wynter?” he asked carefully. “Are you still feeling sick?”

Wynter shook her head. “No, it’s not that.” She looked up at them curiously. “Don’t you feel it?”

She touched her moonstone and, by instinct, Willa and Wyatt did the same. It was then that they felt the strange hum in the air. That couldn’t be right. That hum rang through them all when a new wolf was emerging. It usually only happened when werepups received their moonstones. There weren’t any here, though, so why…?

Scanning the crowd, Willa spotted Eliza supporting Addison against the far wall. She tapped Wyatt’s arm and started for their new friends. Wyatt and Wynter followed along to see if they could help. As they drew closer, Wynter’s eyes dropped to the claws growing on Addison’s hands and she gasped excitedly. At the same time, Wyatt watched as Addison’s ears grew into points. Willa felt her own stone hum and stared in awe as the ceremonial one she’d given Addison turned bright blue.

All of the other moonstones in the cavern began to glow blue as well, marking a new member to the pack. Yellow eyes and sharp fangs popped up through the crowd and every werewolf’s head snapped in the direction of the source. The zombies and humans around took note of the change and looked around for the source of the commotion. Eliza almost dropped Addison when she spotted the glow but kept a tight hold on her friend despite the sudden shock.

No one moved for a few seconds before Willa strode forward. “Addison,” she whispered urgently, helping Eliza support her from the other side. “Addison, what are you feeling?”

Addison gave a low moan. “Loud,” she muttered hoarsely. Her words started to slur together as unconsciousness tugged her mind. “Bright… too much…”

Willa nodded and looked to Wyatt. “We need to get her further into the Cave. She needs time to acclimate to her new senses.”

“But how can she be a wolf?” Eliza pointed out as Wyatt moved to take her place. “I thought- When she put on the stone-!”

“Delayed reaction,” Wyatt explained. He carefully lifted Addison into his arms. “She’s been without her stone her whole life. Without the Moonstone, she wouldn’t have been able to fully access her senses.”

“The Moonstone must have activated the necklace,” Willa added. “It allowed her Wolf nature to emerge.”

Zed sped over, looking to help as best he could. “Okay, so what now? Is she gonna be okay?”

“She’ll be fine once we get her to the lower levels of the Cave,” Willa explained as Wyatt carried Addison toward one of the tunnels off the main area. “Her newly heightened senses are being overwhelmed all at once. She needs time to get used to them.”

“Can I come with you?” Bree piped in, hurrying over with Bonzo on her heels. “We’ll do whatever we can to help.” Eliza and Zed nodded in agreement.

Willa glanced to Wynter and sighed. “Don’t take this the wrong way,” she began carefully. “But three of you smell like death. It’s going to be too sharp for her as she is right now.”

Zed’s shoulders slumped at that, but Eliza put an encouraging hand on his arm. “Maybe we can visit tomorrow?” she suggested. “One at a time so our smell doesn’t overwhelm her?”

“Sounds great!” Wynter chirped. “This is gonna be so cool! We’ll get to teach her the history and howl speak, and hunting- Ooh! I can show her the river!”

“One step at a time, Wynter,” Willa chuckled, reaching out for Wynter’s shoulder to calm her down. “Let’s get her used to her new senses and go from there.” She looked up at Zed, Eliza, Bree, and Bonzo. “Come by tomorrow?”

“Sunrise if we can,” Zed snickered. “Yeah, we’ll be here tomorrow. Take care of her.”

“We’d be terrible new friends if we didn’t,” Willa told him. “For now, you all brought over all this gear. Let’s get back to the party.”

Wynter bounced and grabbed Bree and Bonzo to drag them back to the party. Zed took a deep breath. Addison was his best friend. She had believed in him and in zombies longer than anyone. She believed in the werewolves before everyone too. Zed would trust that she was in good claws.

A hand on his shoulder made him glance over at Willa. “We’ll do what we can for her,” the Alpha said quietly. “For now, she just needs to rest so her senses can acclimate. She’ll be okay.”

Zed nodded with another deep breath. Addison would be okay. She would be okay.

As the trio went back to the party, Willa shot frequent glances to the tunnel Wyatt had taken Addison down. Things would be different now. Not just because the wolves were accepted by the town, but because an outsider had proven to be a Wolf. Willa couldn’t help wondering what would happen now that Addison had become one of them. Wyatt, Zed, Bree, and Eliza wondered the same thing.

Chapter Text

The cave buzzed the next day before the sun had even risen. A new wolf hadn't awoken in a few years. All of the newer pups had already received their moonstones long before the Seabrook cheer squad crashed through the fence of the Forbidden Forest. For one of the people of Seabrook to be revealed as a Wolf was monumental.

Missy and Dale immediately stopped by the cave as soon as the sun rose. It took everything in Dale's power not to bring the entire Z-Patrol when his baby girl didn't come home the previous night. Thankfully, Eliza had stopped by to briefly explain the situation and told both of Addison's parents where she was. Despite their lingering fears and misgivings about werewolves, Missy still led them to the Den as soon as there was enough light to see the trail.

Wyatt and Wynter intercepted them upon arrival. "Uh, Mister Chief of Police, Madame Mayor." Wyatt cleared his throat. "I assume you're here about Addison?"

"What's happened to her?" Missy demanded worriedly. "Why was she here all night?"

"Eliza said it was a wolf thing?" Dale added.

"That's right!" Wynter squealed, bouncing closer. "Her moonstone glowed last night and everything! She's officially-!"

Wyatt quickly reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Wynter, maybe we should save the excitement for after Willa says she's awake?"

"Oh! Right." Wynter cleared her throat. "Willa will explain it better, but some stuff happened last night." She broke out in a toothy grin. "Super exciting stuff!"

Addison's parents stared at her in a mix between shock and horror. It was a small amount of information and yet, it felt like the biggest thing in the world. Missy reached out for her husband's arm, her knees shaking as she looked up at him in mounting panic. Dale swallowed thickly, forcing himself to stay on his feet even as his head felt like it was detaching from his body.

"She- she's a wolf?" he asked hoarsely. At Wynter's exuberant nod, he whispered, "How did this happen...?"

"There must be some mistake," Missy said, her voice rasping. "Both of our families are human. No wolf traits in sight. Addison can't be a wolf!"

"Well, if an ancestor hid their wolf traits..." Wyatt gave a shrug. "We hide in plain sight by just... removing our stones and Pack markings. If one of your ancestors did that, no one would ever know the difference."

"But don't wolves feel... wrong without those moon rocks?" Dale pointed out anxiously. "Why would one of you choose to leave that behind?"

Wynter scratched behind her ear. "If they loved a human enough, they would retire their stone. Probably."

"And while we do feel incomplete and empty without our moonstones, we are capable of being without them," Wyatt added. "So long as it's charged, we can live a regular human life without it."

The two adults swayed on their feet as their words sunk in. Carefully, Wyatt guided them to sit on a nearby rock seat. "I know this is probably, uh, shocking," he said quietly, squatting in front of them. "But it'll probably be just as shocking for Addison, if not more so. I know the people of Seabrook are really big on conformity and shutting out anything 'different', but-."

"That's not-!" Missy took a deep breath. "We'll still love her exactly the same. That will never change, it's just..."

"We never knew," Dale piped in, receiving a grateful nod from his wife. "All this time, we tried to hide her hair because we didn't want her to be an outcast and- and sure, we wouldn't have liked her being a wolf, but that's not because we wouldn't support her. We just never want anything to be harder for our baby girl! We thought everything was cleared up at Seabrook Power, but now you're saying it's not and-!"

Missy placed a calming hand on his shoulder. It was so much to take in so early in the morning. "Where is she now?" the mayor asked. 

"Willa's with her right now," Wynter chirped. "She passed out last night, so we took her to one of the SDCs to rest!"

"Sense Dampening Caverns," Wyatt supplied, knowing humans wouldn't be familiar with their acronyms. "We use them for pups who recently received their moonstones. Addison's newly awakened senses hurt her last night, so we thought it best to take her to one of those caves to get more accustomed to her new senses."

"Oh." Dale nodded. "Good. Okay."

Missy sighed. "It has been a long week..."

"You're telling me," Dale and Wyatt chorused, sharing a small smile.

"We have to be getting back to town," Dale sighed, standing and offering a hand to Missy. "The people of Seabrook might worry if they don't see either of us."

Missy nodded and let him help her up. Turning to the wolves, she said, "I-if Addison wakes up before we can make it back..." 

She trailed off and Wyatt nodded. "We'll let her know you stopped by. Promise." 

Missy nodded again and she and Dale began the trek back to Seabrook. On the way, they spotted some of Addison's friends coming closer and waved to them in greeting. Bonzo tapped Zed's shoulder and gestured to the pair coming toward them. Eliza lifted a hand in greeting.

"Were you visiting the wolves' Den?" she asked excitedly.

"We were," Dale sighed.

"Did you see Addison?" Zed gasped. "Is she awake?"

"Is she okay?" Bonzo added.

Dale put up a hand to halt the questions as Missy explained, "We didn't get to see her. It seems she's still asleep for the time being. The wolves, Wyatt and the peppy one-."

"Wynter," Dale supplied.

"Wynter and Wyatt explained things a bit more for us. It's... a shock, as you can imagine."

The zombies glanced between themselves. "Yeah, it... caught all of us by surprise," Zed murmured.

"We're on our way to visit them now," Eliza said. "We'll only see her one at a time, since zombies have a smell only wolves can detect. We don't want to overwhelm her."

"Well, be careful," Missy warned them. "The trail's still very rough, but try to stick to it until we can get signs put up."

"And let us know if Addison needs anything," Dale added as they started back on their way. "Anything at all. Snacks o-or blankets or anything."

"You've got it, sir!" Zed called before turning back toward the trail. He waited for Addison's parents to be out of earshot before sighing. "Maybe sunrise was too much after all."

Bonzo bumped his shoulder. "Don't think like that."

"Yeah," Eliza chuckled. "It's not like we have anything else to do. It's Sunday. Besides, she might feel better knowing we were waiting for her to wake up."

Zed rolled his eyes but couldn't help a smile. No doubt, Addison would be too excited to scold them over losing sleep for her sake. She would probably be a ball of energy the second her eyes opened. Thinking about it, Zed felt a little excited at her being a wolf. Before, he was scared of losing his best friend to a group of outsiders, but he knew how desperately Addison wanted to understand her oddities. With the discovery of her wolf self, it meant she could learn about part of herself that had been missing her whole life.

Bonzo paused on the path and his friends stopped in confusion. "What's up, Bonzo?" Eliza asked. 

"Waiting for Bree," Bonzo explained. "Don't want her to get lost on the trail."

"Good thinking, buddy," Zed chuckled. "We'll tell Addison you're on your way if she wakes up before you get there."

"Thanks," Bonzo called.

The Den wasn't too much further. Eliza and Zed stopped just outside the entrance. "It's going to be fine," Eliza stated, though she didn't know if she was reassuring Zed or herself. "She's fine. We were prepared to find out before, we're going to be supportive now that it's confirmed."

"Super supportive," Zed agreed. "And excited. It'll be different, but it's not like we haven't faced 'different' before."

"We'll be her cheerleaders this time." Eliza took a deep breath. 

"We've got this," Zed whispered. 

They turned toward the entrance to find Wyatt smirking at them. "You done?" he chuckled. 

"No, but the rest is internal," Eliza shrugged with a smug grin of her own. Her expression softened a second later as she asked, "How is she?"

"Fine as far as any of us can tell," Wyatt sighed, guiding them into the Den. "She went through the transformation in her sleep, so we'll have to give her a proper grooming to tame her new attributes." Zed shared a glance with Eliza and Wyatt hurried to explain. "Nothing extreme, obviously. Just trim her claws, brush her hair, clean her fangs, that stuff. So that she doesn't accidentally hurt herself or anyone she cares about."

Zed nodded. "That makes sense. You all seem very particular about your manicures and hair." 

Wyatt nodded and gestured for them to sit on the rock seats Addison's parents were on. "Willa hasn't left her side since Prawn ended. As soon as everyone was gone, she changed and took over my shift."

Eliza chewed over her next words carefully. She didn't understand wolf culture yet, so she didn't want to be rude. "How is... Willa taking all of this?"

Wyatt's eyebrows pulled together in confusion. "She's... okay?" Was there something he'd missed?

"I mean about your legend and everything," Eliza elaborated, not wanting to confuse him. "From what she told us, this essentially means Addison is that Great Alpha you were looking for. Since Willa's current Alpha, how does this... affect that?"

Uneasy glances were shared all around the room and Wyatt lowered his voice cautiously. "No one has had a chance to really talk about that yet. We... we were expecting the Great Alpha to be born into the pack, not come from the people who hurt us in the first place. Most of the night's discussion was about setting up a training course for Addison so she can at least learn wolf ways and choose which parts to and not to integrate into her regular life."

He took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair. "I don't know how this will affect Pack dynamics, but we're starting small. Pups don't learn to hunt in a day."

"Fair," Zed snorted. "Zombies either, trust me." He cleared his throat. "While we've got the time, I want to apologize."

"For what?" Wyatt watched him carefully. 

"For standing in your way so much the past week." Zed rubbed his arm. "For trying to get you to change and fit in, for not supporting you, and especially for... stealing from you." Wyatt's eyes glowed momentarily at the reminder. "I never really apologized. It's thanks to you, thanks to Addison, that I can even start accepting who I am so... I'm sorry. I'll do better."

Wyatt held out a hand and Zed clapped it. "We'll do better," Wyatt corrected with a small grin. "Together."

"Together," Zed and Eliza agreed. 

They all relaxed and Wynter launched into an excited retelling of Prawn. 

In one of the back caverns, Willa took in the changes for the hundredth time since she began vigil. Addison's vibrant white hair looked fluffier, resembling a coat of fur that Willa could run her fingers through endlessly. The claws that had started growing at the party looked jagged and dangerous. Willa absently wondered, not for the first time, if Addison would let her trim and style them. Fangs poked over her bottom lip and the pack leader inwardly snickered at teaching Addison to speak human languages without accidentally biting her own tongue. 

There were plenty of changes that weren't physical, too. Her heightened senses were a given considering the previous night's disorientation. She would be faster, stronger. Cheerleading would be a stroll in the woods with her sharpened reflexes. A small shiver slid down Willa's spine at the thought of teaching Addison to hunt. She was already a force to be reckoned with, but with the power of a werewolf, she would be unstoppable. 

A soft groan tore Willa from her thoughts and she sat up eagerly. Was Addison coming back to herself? She hadn't made a sound since passing out, so maybe she was finally ready to wake up.

Something wasn't right. She was laying down, but the bed didn't feel like her own. It was covered in something soft and slightly scratchy, and it smelled like the outdoors. In fact, everything smelled like the outdoors, the scent of grass and trees and river water filling the air. That was weird because she didn't remember going camping. The last thing she remembered was... zombies and werewolves showing up to Prawn... the Moonstone... the Wolf Den-

Gray eyes flew open and Addison shot up with a gasp. Something had happened in the Den! She'd been so overwhelmed and then she couldn't remember anything. Did she black out or-?

"Addison?"

She whipped around, scrambling back at the scent and sound of someone nearby. She could hear the faint beating of Willa's heart, her breathing, and see the subtle glow of the wolf... in her... eyes...

"Whoa," Addison whispered.

When spotting Willa in the forest, she had been afraid and intrigued. Even though it was daytime, Willa had looked perfectly at home in the forest, her hair flowing in the slight breeze and giving her a wild, mysterious aura. Her howl had chilled Addison to the bone and, even knowing now that the wolves wouldn't have hurt her, there was the feeling of danger.

While working with the wolves to find the Moonstone, Addison had gotten a chance to see other sides to Willa, like how her smile could light up the night and the fierce protectiveness she held for her pack. She had been smug, angry, sad... Addison had seen so much of the wolves in only a week.

But with new eyes, it was as though she was seeing Willa for the very first time. The light of the cave glowed around them, twinkling in Willa's eyes. Addison could see every minor detail of Willa's perfect complexion and the Pack marks on her cheek only further outlined the powerful set to her jaw. Up until this point, Addison had never realized how... soft Willa looked. With human eyes, she seemed sharper, predatory, but with wolf eyes, she didn't look capable of hurting... anyone.

Willa held her hands up carefully. She didn't know what Addison was feeling, so she wanted to convey that she meant no harm. She could see the golden tint of the wolf in Addison's eyes now and felt her heart leap. It was official. She was a wolf.

"Willa, you- you look different-." Addison took a breath. Her words held a heavy lisp and she nicked her tongue, but she was too excited to stop. "You smell different. E-everything feels-!"

"Stay calm," Willa chuckled, scooting a little closer. "How are your senses feeling? Does anything hurt?"

Addison stilled and closed her eyes for a moment. There was a slight ache in her jaw, and her fingertips, but everything seemed to be fine. "I-I don't think so. My hands and jaw are a little sore, and I keep biting my tongue, but otherwise, I think I'm okay."

"Let me see?" Willa held out her hand and Addison placed one of hers in it. Willa turned over the claws. "We manicure so that they don't hurt as much when they grow out and so we don't accidentally scratch each other when showing affection. Kind of like humans cutting their nails. We'll get yours trimmed as soon as we can."

She reached out to cup Addison's cheek and the new wolf opened her mouth to display her fangs. "You'll need to go through some speaking exercises to lessen the lisp a bit and avoid eating your own tongue."

Addison listened intently and looked down at her hands. "I don't understand."

"Which part?" Willa asked slowly. She knew Addison had perfectly understood her, but Addison wasn't one to hunt a dead squirrel. 

"How am I a wolf?" Addison inquired. "It didn't work at Seabrook Power. Or when you put it on at Prawn, so why...?"

Willa sighed. "We're honestly not sure. Our best guess is that there was a delayed reaction from you not having had a stone your whole life."

"Oh." Addison raised her head to look at Willa and the pack leader felt a small bit of panic at seeing a hint of fear in her expression. "So... what happens now? Am I... going to be a wolf?"

"You already are a wolf," Willa reassured her. "But we won't force you into anything. How you proceed after we've groomed you is your decision."

Addison nodded and took a deep breath. She took another and held it. After a few seconds, she let it out and felt a little better. "Okay."

Willa smiled slightly. "Do you want to see anyone?" She asked. "The others were pretty worried last night."

"Yeah, I should let them know I'm okay!" Addison moved to get up, but Willa stopped her. "What? What's wrong?"

"Your senses are still new to you," Willa explained. "We thought it would be best to see everyone one at a time until you get accustomed to their scents and such."

"Ooh, that makes sense." Addison chuckled sheepishly. "I'll wait here then?"

Willa grinned at her and stood. Before leaving, she took another look at Addison, drinking in this new appearance. Ducking into the corridor, Willa hurried through the tunnels until she reached the main room. Bree and Bonzo had just arrived and they glanced over at her appearance Zed and Eliza paused in their discussion with Wyatt and Wynter and all eyes found the Alpha. 

Willa inclined her head to the zombies and human. "She's awake."