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Honestly, Willa thought their partner could be a little kinder to them. After all, they were an Alien, they were supposed to overflow with kindness…
Well, knowing A-li’s personality, she figured that was a bit of a lie. A-li was pretty sarcastic and a little rude. But it wasn’t the same with A-spen! Yes, okay, it was true they were an interdimensional being with intelligence far superior to the rest, and it was obvious the university wouldn’t teach them anything they didn’t already know.
But the point was that they could spend time together! They’d enrolled in high school just to be part of some silly cheerleading competition, was it really so hard for A-spen to endure a couple more years to stay by her side?
Yeah, Willa wasn’t too happy with A-spen’s decision, and she thought the whole summer would be a great opportunity to convince them to go to college.
Besides, as if that weren’t enough, A-spen still had the nerve to try to control what she could or couldn’t do!
"Willa, seriously. I don’t think it’s right for you to want to turn your classmates into werewolves," they insisted through the interdimensional mirror they’d given Willa when she left Seabrook. "Turning people into wolves against their will isn’t right."
Willa frowned, frustrated.
"They like howling just like me. They see me as their leader too, and they can be part of my pack," she argued, even though she knew it was as pointless as the last twenty times they’d had this conversation. "Besides, the pack is still short on members since… what happened with the moonstone."
Willa slightly averted her gaze as she remembered that night. It was her biggest failure as a leader, after all.
Losing the moonstone for that short time after the explosion at the old factory had caused more damage than the wolves wanted to admit. That their moonstones had been poisoned for so long… had caused horrible effects.
Only A-spen knew the desperation Willa had felt when she saw all the older wolves collapse to the ground at once. The fear that had coursed through every part of her body when her parents did the same.
When she hadn’t been fast enough to help them. When there weren’t enough people in the cave to tend to every wolf, whose greatest desire was to tear the stone from their necks, hoping it would ease the pain wracking their bodies.
If only Willa had been smarter, she could’ve saved more. Instead of spending that whole night grieving, she should’ve been digging through the wreckage of the factory to find the moonstone.
She would’ve given her own health to save her pack. When Wyatt and she still had strength, she did nothing but try to care for each of her wolves as they slowly succumbed to the sickness.
She should’ve been faster to save them. Instead of getting ready for some stupid dance, she should’ve done more. But… maybe it was the last bit of joy she wanted to give them, her pack. That dance… was one of the last things many of them ever saw.
Wynter couldn’t even stand up during that dance. Wynter! Her wolf, who was always jumping and moving around, could barely stay on her feet. The poison had affected her worse than the others.
The desperation to retrieve the moonstone from the ruins had made her lose her way. The joy of finding their salvation had distracted her too. If she’d thought clearly, she wouldn’t have let everyone go enjoy that dance. Or she wouldn’t have stayed until dawn.
If she had, maybe she could’ve saved her parents. Maybe she would’ve made it back in time with the charged stone to help all those who hadn’t been able to stand up and go to the dance.
Because when she arrived at dawn, the disaster was already done. She still remembered her hands trembling when she realized they’d acted too late. When all those wolves, who had seen Seabrook’s founding and told stories from over a hundred years ago, would never rise again.
When she’d desperately tried to wake her parents, but they never did. Her friends, who had been as sick as Wynter, but few had survived.
It had been her greatest irresponsibility, her deepest shame. Willa herself had been the one to bury each of her pack’s wolves, trying to convince herself it would atone for her guilt.
But then came the aftermath. For a few, of course, those who’d been exposed to the poison the longest, those who’d come closest to death. It wasn’t everyone, and it wasn’t like being sick, but it was irreversible.
Sometimes, she swore she could hear Wynter’s cough. And part of her was glad Zed wasn’t a regular on the university’s football team, because then her brain wouldn’t stop reminding her that Wynter wasn’t there because of her.
That Wynter hadn’t been able to try out for the team. Wynter couldn’t play high-intensity sports because of those aftereffects. And Wynter wasn’t in college because of the pain and sadness it caused her.
Behind the call, A-spen frowned. Better than anyone, they knew when Willa was overthinking. They sighed with that soft tone they only used with Willa, no matter how much anyone thought it was just their Alien brain calculating the most logical response.
"Willa…" they began, trying to pull their girlfriend’s attention back. "You’re doing it again. Stop blaming yourself. You can’t change what happened, and no one resents you."
Willa pressed her lips together. She didn’t need to hear that. She knew. She knew all too well.
"I know that," she muttered, though her voice still carried the weight of her guilt. "But it doesn’t change that it was my mistake. And it’s my responsibility to recruit more people so… so I’m not alone."
A-spen tilted their head gently. Their fingers glowed with a blue light over the frame of the interdimensional mirror, as if they wanted to reach through the distance to her.
"And you’re not," they assured her with a firmness that would surprise anyone. "You have me. Always. And you have Wyatt. And Wynter. And from what I understand of human love… we all love you, Willa."
Willa looked away again, swallowing hard.
"I just want the pack to grow… so it doesn’t die out. You know, to keep the legacy alive, so it’s not just a handful of us."
A-spen nodded slowly, understanding more than anyone would expect from a being without human emotions, who had watched their own planet disappear.
"Then tell them. Don’t bite them in secret or fill their heads with romantic howling without them knowing what it means. Talk to them about the moonstone, your traditions, and everything that comes with being part of the pack. And if they still want to be part of it… then maybe they belong. But give them time. Give them… I don’t know, at least until after summer."
Willa couldn’t help but let out a small, tired laugh.
"Besides… I’ve been waiting for you, you know? I’ve been researching how Earthlings survive summer without nanotechnology cooling."
"And what did you find?" Willa asked, raising an eyebrow despite herself.
"Apparently… humans drink hot beverages to cool down. Does that make any logical sense, or are they all dehydrated and collectively delirious?"
Willa couldn’t help but laugh louder this time, rubbing her eyes, relieved for the first time in days. She really couldn’t wait to get back to Seabrook. She had the whole trip to convince Zed and Addison to drop that silly camping idea so they could all be together again.
And with a little luck… maybe she could convince her partner to repeat summer a couple of times, like they’d done with their last year of high school, or something like that.
But, of course, it was her fault again. How could she have let Zed drive after all the hundreds of times they’d nearly killed everyone before?
It wasn’t for nothing, but wolves weren’t exactly known for being "friendly." Zombies were an exception, of course, because they’d welcomed them into their town as one of their own.
And with humans, they only had a truce after the public apologies they’d given for "driving them from their natural habitat over a hundred years ago and hiding their stone for survival, while also using it as an energy source."
And Aliens were a whole other story. They only tolerated a few, like A-spen.
Speaking of A-spen, Willa wanted to get out of that place as fast as possible so she could be with them. It had been almost a year since she’d last seen them, and she was losing her patience.
Honestly, if it were up to her, she would’ve left Zed and Addison as hostages to those vampires and Day… whatever, and she would’ve driven back home. After all, they were Zed and Addison. They could be in the middle of a volcano, burning in flames, and as long as they were together, they’d be happy.
And besides, they’d find a way out of it.
But of course, they needed someone to help flip the car Zed had wrecked. And fix it while they were at it. So she had to stay and become the counselor of a camp Zed had come up with in ten minutes, just so she could go home.
But not even a day had passed, and Willa was already losing her patience.
"You wouldn’t last a second here!" Willa assured them, pacing back and forth in the dusty, foul-smelling room they’d assigned her. "You’d use your mass destruction weapon to wipe them all out and solve the problem, I swear!"
A-spen laughed but didn’t say anything. If they thought about it, it really did sound like something they’d do.
"Willa, you need to calm down…" they tried to say, but Willa kept ranting. That’s when A-spen realized their girlfriend needed to vent.
"I don’t want to calm down!" she exclaimed, her wolf necklace glowing. "None of them want to listen to anything we say! The vampires are arrogant, bragging about being legendary creatures, but they don’t even know how to use their fangs properly!"
A-spen had the urge to point out that wolves didn’t exactly use their powers for much more than scaring a few people, either, but they decided now wasn’t the best time to make Willa angrier.
"Willa, you have to..."
"And the Daywalkers aren’t much better! No, of course not." Again, Willa wasn’t listening to A-spen. "Just when it seems like we’re finally getting them to talk, that curly-haired kid with the stupid smile shows up and ruins everything! I swear, A-spen, they’re worse than Bucky, and nothing can be worse than Bucky!"
A-spen couldn’t take it anymore and burst out laughing, finally catching Willa’s attention.
"You think this is funny?" she snapped, clearly offended. "You think it’s funny that those two can’t exchange a single word without insulting each other?! Do you seriously think it’s amusing that a bunch of teenagers are driving me crazy?"
A-spen had to fight the urge to nod and laugh harder. Their girlfriend could be adorable when she wanted to be.
"Didn’t you all do the same?" they replied, pressing their lips together to keep from smiling. "I mean, you weren’t exactly kind to us when we needed help. You tried to kill us… multiple times. A-Lan still has nightmares about it."
Willa crossed her arms, frowning, as if that could erase the shame from her memory.
"In my defense, you were taking our stone! What did you expect me to do? Offer you Wynter’s favorite ice cream?"
"Honestly, that would’ve been pretty nice," A-spen replied innocently, softening their tone. "Willa, you were all confused teenagers too. Scared wolves. You did the best you could with what little you knew. Same as the vampires. Same as the Daywalkers, they’re not as different as you think."
Willa let out a sharp sigh, as if expelling years of pent-up growls.
"They’re just unbearable, A-spen. Even the little ones are giving me gray hairs! How am I supposed to have patience with them?"
A-spen narrowed their eyes, thinking of something that might help their girlfriend.
"Maybe… if instead of seeing them as a burden, you saw them as pups, you’d learn to guide them. Be the Alpha you used to be."
Willa lifted her head, surprised by the choice of words. "Alpha" had always sounded better than "leader." It was a title that didn’t need to be forced, it was earned.
"You want me to be nice?" Willa asked, half-serious, half-defensive.
"Yes. But not like Addison," A-spen replied quickly. "You’re not her, and you don’t need to be. It’s not about smiling all the time or making friends with everyone. It’s about leading by example. Teaching them to be proud of who they are… without putting others down. Showing them how they can improve."
Willa looked down, biting her lower lip. As much as it pained her to admit it, A-spen was right.
"Fine, I guess you’re right," she sighed, raising her hands. "Help them, don’t attack them. That must be the answer."
A-spen blinked slowly from the other side of the mirror, letting the silence settle like a soft breeze. Willa didn’t speak for a few seconds, but her shoulders had relaxed slightly. A-spen could see that vulnerable part of her behind the frown, the one she rarely showed without a fight involved.
"You’re doing fine, you know?" they finally said, trying to cheer Willa up.
Willa looked up, swallowing hard.
"It doesn’t feel like it," she muttered, her voice cracking as if something in her throat refused to let go. She looked down, scratching her wrist nervously. "Everything reminds me of you. Of Seabrook. Of my siblings."
A-spen tilted their head, curious to hear more. "What do you miss the most?"
Willa didn’t hesitate for a second. She knew exactly what she missed most about home right now. "You." Her answer was quick, almost impulsive, as if she’d been biting it back for days.
A-spen smiled softly, as if that confession made them glow from within. They remembered the words Bree had told them to say when Willa got like this. "I miss you too, Willa. Even the weird squeaks you make when you eat ice cream that’s too cold."
"That’s a natural reflex!" Willa protested with a smile, though her lip trembled.
"Maybe. But it’s my favorite natural reflex," A-spen replied, smiling back.
The werewolf took a step closer to the mirror. For a moment, her reflection aligned perfectly with A-spen’s, as if the glass were a thin layer of water just waiting for the right moment to break.
"I want to be with you," she whispered. Her fingers brushed the cold edge of the metal frame. "I hate this place. I hate this camp. And I hate… not being able to hug you. Not even once since the semester ended. It feels like I’m carrying all of this alone. And I don’t even care if it’s selfish to say it, because I know Eliza misses Wyatt too, but…"
A-spen looked down for a moment. They felt it too. The space between dimensions didn’t hurt physically, but it weighed on the soul, and that was the part of their existence Willa had begun to touch.
"It’s not selfish, Willa," they assured her, as if it were the most logical thing in the world. "Our relationship is different from Wyatt and Eliza’s, so it’s not illogical or rushed to say I miss you too. And if I could step through this mirror right now to be with you, I would."
The couple fell silent for several seconds, the only sound the rapid beating of their own hearts.
"I want this summer to be over," Willa said with a weak sigh. "At least all of this. I want someone to help me get home."
"Me too. But until then… I’m here. Every night, every morning if you want. I can tell you about how A-li is failing Wynter’s meditation classes but somehow keeps showing up and even asked for extra lessons."
Willa laughed softly, a tear rolling down her cheek.
"You really shouldn’t give me so much freedom."
And they shouldn’t have. After that night, everyone saw Willa walking around with the strange object Addison also had, talking to a hologram… all the time.
"Alright, why don't you tell us a bit about you wolves? Since you claim you're so much better than us."
Willa growled slightly, annoyed by Vera's arrogant attitude, as the campers gathered around the fire the next night. But she forced herself to remember A-spen's words. She had to be kinder to them. And maybe telling them a little about the pack wouldn’t be such a bad idea.
Víctor, who had been somewhat distant from his friends' conversation, even moved closer. Curious about what the world outside could be like, a world he might explore with Nova.
Willa sighed, staring at the crackling fire in front of them. The orange glow illuminated the attentive faces, so she adjusted herself on the log she was sitting on and clasped her hands over her knees, making a conscious effort not to frown.
"Fine…" she began, closing her eyes to focus. "I’ll tell you about us. Not everything, of course, because some secrets you only learn when you’re a full wolf, but enough for you to see that anyone… can learn to accept someone different from them."
A few let out brief, uneasy laughs. Willa barely smiled.
"We call ourselves the Pack. We appeared over a century ago, in the original Seabrook, where we come from," she explained, smiling as she recalled the stories she’d heard all her life. "At first, we were just a tribe living near the forest. One night, the moonstone fell, and that’s how we became werewolves."
After all, there was nothing wrong with saying it. That was how they, and all the monsters in the world, had been created.
"Together, as wolves, we learned to howl thanks to a splinter. We created songs, built the den. Which later served as our refuge for decades, because the humans displaced us and hid our moonstone."
That point made Ray’s chest puff up slightly, as if this was irrefutable proof that different species couldn’t coexist without fighting.
"But that didn’t stop us from forming a society," Willa argued, watching the kids' faces. "We played under the stars, raced through the trees, and the elders told stories of ancient wolves. Stories we now tell each other on nights like this, to remember who we are. To remember that the pack is more than a society, we’re a family. A home."
The fire crackled loudly, as if invigorated by her words. Even Vera seemed a little less haughty, lowering her gaze as she fiddled with a twig.
"But that just proves our point, doesn’t it?" Ray said with a touch of arrogance. "Species will always fight. Coexistence is impossible."
Willa, however, laughed.
"It’s not like that. Wynter wasn’t born a wolf, but that doesn’t make her any less my sister," she confessed, and everyone fell silent. "She was a human baby abandoned in the middle of the forest. We wolves found her and… decided to make her one of us. My sister. She’s as much a wolf as anyone born into the pack, in fact, she knows the most stories. She exaggerates them, of course, but that’s part of the charm."
The way Willa spoke about her siblings made her nostalgic, and the others didn’t dare say a word, mesmerized by how she described her life.
"No one sees Wynter as anything but part of the pack. I’d never allow that," she clarified before continuing. "But my brother, Wyatt, well, he always thinks he can beat me in any speed game, though he’s never managed it. The point is, even we, who were attacked by humans, don’t reject them. We’re proud, but we don’t erase others."
Víctor moved a little closer. Curiosity sparkled in his dark eyes, which now looked at Willa as if she were a living encyclopedia.
"And when did you get to… Zombietown?" he asked, intrigued. "That place was originally yours, right? You were the first ones there. Aren’t you angry that others have taken it over?"
Willa just shrugged.
"Zombies deserve a place to live too. They don’t know anything beyond their town, which they’ve also filled with their culture. And humans aren’t to blame for what their ancestors did. They all helped us find the moonstone, and Addison accepted us when no one else trusted us. They’re not bad people, even the ones who seem like it, like Bucky. He hated us, and now he’s one of my best friends."
Both vampires and Daywalkers fell silent. It was clear Willa was sharing her life to prove they might be wrong.
Willa paused for a moment. Her gaze drifted to the shadows dancing beyond the fire, remembering those who were gone and those she still had to protect.
Then, Víctor spoke up again, asking another question.
"Have you ever… been with another species? I mean, not just coexisted, but… formed a family? A couple?"
That was when Willa’s thoughts immediately traveled to A-spen. To their soft voice, their logical ideas that sometimes felt warmer than any embrace. To the words they’d told her the night before.
She smiled. This time, genuinely.
"You could say yes," she replied, her mind wandering to the mirror she had hidden. "We don’t mind sharing our lives with another species. We fall in love with them too… and we miss them too. Because it’s not all about species. Sometimes, you connect with someone for who they are. Because they make you feel… like the weight of the world is a little easier to carry. Because they see you, even when you can’t quite see yourself."
Silence fell. And for a moment, even the crickets stopped chirping.
"It’s not easy. But it’s worth it."
Víctor nodded slowly, with a thoughtful smile. Nova, from a distance, watched him with shining eyes, though she said nothing.
Willa was starting to understand why Zed and Addison said those two reminded them so much of themselves.
Zed and Addison had made some jokes about her having found someone to protect too. Willa thought it was stupid.
Vera wasn’t her successor or anything like that. She was just a girl Willa related to, and she was trying to teach her to be a little more intimidating and self-assured.
Okay, that did sound like a mentor and their student. But at least she wasn’t trying to force an interspecies romance like they were doing with Víctor and Nova. Those two would mirror each other in anything that allowed it.
She just… liked Vera. She was a confident, self-assured girl who, above all, cared about her own more than anyone else. Vera wanted to see her kind and her friends safe, and Willa understood that feeling.
But when she found out Vera was the one who had called the vampire matriarch, Willa lost control. Knowing that Vera was one of the main causes of everything they were going through right now hurt more than she’d imagined.
Without thinking, Willa stormed into the vampires’ room and drove everyone out. Fortunately, Víctor was arguing with Nova about their parents’ decisions, and Vargas didn’t put up a fight, none of them did, leaving the two of them alone.
"Are you out of your mind?!" Willa snapped, her voice as sharp as a claw. "Do you have any idea what you’ve done?"
"I just…" Vera started, raising her hands in an attempt to explain. She’d already had enough of Víctor’s scolding, she didn’t need Willa’s too. "I overheard part of Nova and Ray’s conversation. I had to do something! I thought if we talked to the matriarch, then…"
"You thought?" Willa cut her off, furious. "You thought it was a good idea to call one of the most radical figures of your kind without telling anyone, without considering the consequences?"
Vera pressed her lips together but didn’t look away.
"Our people are starving, Willa. We didn’t have a choice, if the Daywalkers were going to leave us without food, we’d die. Do you know what that’s like? The fear of you and yours dying because of something they did?"
Willa wanted to laugh, but all that came out was an empty scoff.
"And what made you think you were the one who should make that decision?" Willa took a step toward her. "How long has it been since you last ate, Vera? How many days since you’ve had even a bite of pomegranate? Two days? Three? Five?"
Vera frowned but didn’t answer. She didn’t need to. The pallor of her face, the dark circles under her eyes, the slight trembling of her hands, they spoke for her.
"My pack went years, years! Without being able to recharge their necklaces with moonstone power," Willa hissed. "We watched people die, our babies cry, helpless to do anything. We saw our ancestors vanish before our eyes, for years!"
Vera fell silent for a moment. Willa hadn’t told them that the wolves had also been on the brink of extinction. But Vera didn’t back down.
"It’s not the same," she hissed. "We won’t survive years without the fruit. We’ll die in weeks, if we’re lucky. We can’t go that long without eating."
"The Zombies nearly destroyed our moonstone, and we didn’t start a war over it!" Willa roared. "Zed stole the last of our charged necklaces, and we didn’t call the pack leaders to annihilate him! Why can’t you understand? We got sick! We watched our people die! Some never recovered! And we didn’t commit genocide like you’re trying to!"
Vera took a step forward, as if she wanted to reach for her, say something, touch her, ask for forgiveness. But Willa stepped back with a growl that froze the air between them.
"Because of you…" Willa continued, and this time her voice broke completely, unable to hold back the rage or the grief. "Because of you, I won’t get to see the people I love again. I won’t get to tell them how much I miss them, how much I need them. I won’t get to stay with A-spen. I won’t get to tell them how much I love them. Because I’m going to watch everyone I’ve ever loved die… again."
Vera swallowed hard, paralyzed by the weight of every word. She’d made a mistake. She knew that. But until that moment, she hadn’t understood the magnitude of it.
Willa turned away. She couldn’t stay there. If she stayed a second longer, she’d do something she’d regret.
But just before opening the door, she spoke one last time, without looking back.
"A leader thinks beyond themselves to get things done, Vera. Try to see the bigger picture before you act next time."
Willa was scared. She hadn’t felt this way since… since the sickness had reached her necklace, and Willa had felt like she was dying.
That pulse was exactly like that time.
Saying she was anxious would be an understatement. She was spiraling into absolute despair. Every time that pulse hit, she felt her whole body weaken, and recovering was so hard she couldn’t even growl properly.
At first, she thought it was silly. But with each pulse, it grew stronger. And each time, she felt worse. But the problem… was that what she was feeling was nothing compared to what Zed was going through.
So, when Zed had found that antenna and everyone had worked together to move it and free the roots from the Garden of Pain, she thought everything had been solved. She thought, finally, the vampires and Daywalkers would get along. She thought, finally, she could go home and spend the rest of the summer in A-spen’s arms.
But Ray had to go report their progress to the Daywalker leader. And the vampires had overheard his plans… and burned half the harvest.
Now, war between the two species was imminent. The pulse had returned… and Willa was afraid.
She was afraid because if Zed was in that state… she didn’t want to imagine what would happen when the pulse reached Seabrook.
Willa couldn’t allow it. She wasn’t strong enough to endure living through that again. Watching her pack die and get sick, losing them in her hands, powerless to do anything, it was more than she could bear.
"Willa, are you okay?" A-spen asked that night, watching their girlfriend pace back and forth. "What happened? My logs from yesterday said everything was fine."
"I need you to take Wyatt, Wynter, and everyone in my pack, A-spen. Do you understand me?" she said bluntly. No sweet words, no greetings. Just Willa’s fear speaking for her. "Take all the Aliens you can find, any Zombies willing to listen, and the three humans who don’t fear you, like Bucky and the Aceys, and leave this place now. Find a new utopia where you can be happy and safe, and forget about me. Okay?”
When Willa was this impulsive, it could only mean one thing: things had gotten really bad. She hadn’t even said this when that RPG character came to life and tried to destroy the moonstone.
"Willa…" A-spen did everything they could to get Willa to focus on them. "I can’t do anything if you don’t explain. Please, tell me what happened."
Willa clenched her jaw, her eyes trembling with anguish. Her breathing was shaky, uneven, and for a moment, it seemed like she wouldn’t be able to speak. But she did, mostly because she knew A-spen and the others deserved to know.
"The Daywalker leader and the vampire matriarch burned half the food garden they need to survive. That made the roots react even stronger… The pulse is going to reach Seabrook. We haven’t found a way to calm it, and Eliza’s out of ideas." She raised a hand to the pendant she always wore close to her heart, the one that had once connected her to the moon and now vibrated like a warning of the end. "Zed’s marks get worse every time we feel the pulse, and I can’t howl properly. Eliza says if we don’t stop the roots’ suffering, all the zombie bands will fail, and the Zombies will turn back into full zombies… The wolves will get sick again, the Alien tech will fail, and…"
A-spen swallowed, frowning carefully but not interrupting. Willa took a deep breath and continued.
"They won’t listen to us anymore, A-spen. Eliza’s still researching, but… I can feel it in my bones, A-spen. We can’t stop it. And if we can’t, then at least… at least I want to make sure you’re safe. That your people are safe." She sighed, the longer she spoke, the harder it was to breathe. "Addison and I have seen it, the Aliens… you’re more resistant. Your systems don’t react the same way. You have more time before it affects you. Gather everyone and help evacuate Seabrook. Maybe you can hold out longer. Create a new place, far from here. Far from me. I don’t want you here when everything collapses."
A-spen didn’t say anything at first. They just looked at her, not with pity, but with that gentle firmness they used when making decisions no one could change.
"No," they finally said, their voice calm but unshakable. "I’m not leaving you, Willa. Seabrook is our utopia. There’s no point in searching space for something we’ve already found on Earth."
"A-spen! You don’t understand. I won’t survive this time. I can’t protect anyone this time. No one will survive if they stay on Earth!"
"Willa, do you really think I’d go to some new utopia and pretend I could be happy knowing you stayed behind, alone, with the world collapsing around you? No, Willa. If we Aliens have learned anything, it’s that running away and ignoring problems to avoid conflict doesn’t help anyone."
Willa shook her head, tears threatening to fall, whether from pride or fear, she didn’t know.
"I’m not asking you as your girlfriend, A-spen… I’m begging you as the last Alpha of my pack. I can’t stand the thought of watching my people suffer again, of losing them forever. I can’t!"
A-spen nodded but didn’t lower their head, still trying to convince their girlfriend of what needed to be done.
"This might not be the right question, and I don’t want to stir up what humans call ‘jealousy’ over the past Zed and I share," they said so solemnly that Willa almost believed there really had been something between them, not just that little misunderstanding that still lingered in her mind. "But is Zed okay? Is he as bad as you say?"
Willa could only nod.
"His body is more sensitive because of all the times he altered his zombie band. He can barely stand for long. Addison hasn’t left his side since everything exploded. If Zed moves or says something, Addison’s right there, terrified of losing him in the blink of an eye. And I know Zed’s scared the same thing will happen to his sister and his dad. And even though he won’t say it, Eliza hasn’t stopped working because she’s afraid the pulse will reach Wyatt. That’s why you have to go…"
No one spoke for a few seconds until A-spen finally broke the suffocating silence.
"Do you want me to come there, Willa?" they asked at last. "I can be there faster than you think. I can help Eliza figure out why those roots are suffering. You just have to ask."
Willa swallowed, fighting the tremor in her voice. A-spen’s offer was the most comforting thing she’d heard in days, and a deep part of her wanted to say yes, to tell them to come, to hold her and stay by her side until the end, one way or another.
But she couldn’t. Not when she knew what was coming. Not when she still had the slightest chance to protect the ones she loved.
"I want you to come," she confessed, finally lowering her gaze because saying it out loud felt like exposing an open wound. "More than anything, I want you here. I want you to hold my hand and tell me everything will be okay, even if we know it’s not true. But… I can’t let myself give in to that right now."
With a long sigh, she finally stopped pacing and sat on her bed.
"I need you to stay in Seabrook, A-spen. I need you to watch over my pack. Wynter, Wyatt, even Bonzo and Bree. All of them. If we fail here and the pulse hits, someone has to be there to protect them. Someone strong, logical, brilliant. Someone like you."
"Willa…" A-spen started, ready to argue. But before they could say anything, the door behind Willa opened, and Eliza appeared in the doorway. She had dark circles under her eyes and messy hair, like she hadn’t slept in days.
"Willa, I need you in the dorm. There are a few things we need to go over."
Willa frowned, alarmed.
"What things?" she asked, without much energy.
"The pulse. How it’s evolving." Eliza glanced at A-spen’s hologram. "Sorry to interrupt, but I think Willa’s already told you how important this is."
A-spen just nodded.
"We can continue this later," they assured, looking back at Willa. "Promise me you’ll keep me updated."
Willa closed her eyes for a second, as if that would help her regain strength. Then she opened them, determined.
"Stay with them, A-spen. No matter what happens, promise me you won’t leave them alone."
A-spen watched her, solemnity etched into every line of their face, and nodded. That was all Willa needed.
This time, Willa didn’t make the same mistakes as before. Instead of going off to celebrate with a bunch of campers… or even apologizing to Vera for her impulsive outburst, she decided to call A-spen first, to make sure everything was okay.
Willa discreetly slipped away from the boiler room while Eliza went to check if Zed’s zombie band was working properly, then pulled out the mirror to see A-spen.
"Come on… pick up, pick up," she whispered impatiently, her pulse still racing. She didn’t care about the cheers. Not until she knew that…
"Willa?" A-spen’s voice answered almost instantly, warm and soft, like a cozy blanket in the middle of chaos.
Willa took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Just hearing them made her chest tighten, but this time, with overwhelming relief.
"Yeah. It’s me. I just… I wanted to make sure you’re all okay. Everyone. If you felt anything change, if the pulse reached you, or if…"
All her doubts and fears were cut off by a soft chuckle.
"Are you calling to make sure we didn’t explode from a magic pulse?" A-spen asked, amused. "How romantic of you.”
Willa smiled, defeated. It seemed like, yes, everything was fine in Seabrook, and she had nothing to worry about this time. Everything was okay. Everything was going to be okay.
"I’m not joking, A-spen. There was an actual magic storm here. Their stones connected, there was an explosion that made the sky start raining, and everything came back to life. Zed used his Zombie powers, he was a full zombie forever… and now he’s kissing Addison while rolling on the ground like he always does."
"Zed’s okay?! Willa, that’s amazing!" A-spen said with genuine relief. But they quickly composed themself, cheeks flushing. "Sorry, I don’t want my reactive attitude from a few minutes ago to be misinterpreted."
Willa just let out a small laugh at that.
"I know, I know, it’s really cool," she replied confidently. "I just had to make sure you… that everyone back home was okay."
A-spen sighed softly, as if smiling on the other side.
"I’m fine, love. We all are. Wynter’s making nut sculptures, and Wyatt’s doing Wyatt things while missing Eliza. We’re all fine, really, just waiting for you to come back. No one even noticed anything about what you all went through, and I didn’t say anything because… well, I don’t think it’s right to tell stories that aren’t mine."
Willa grinned as raindrops still dripped down her face.
"It’s a story Wynter’s gonna love, that’s for sure."
A-spen nodded.
"Does that mean you’re finally coming home?" they asked, and Willa could almost swear their eyes shone a little brighter with that question.
Willa nodded.
"There’s nothing left for us to do here. We’re going home."
Home was all Willa wanted in the world.
When Willa finally stepped out of Zed's beat-up car, which still reeked of smoke, wet earth, and a hint of burnt oil, her boots splashed mud without her even noticing. Because there they were. At the end of the gravel path, right at the entrance to Zombietown, their blue hair even brighter under the newly risen sun, wearing that smile Willa had missed more than clean air or clear skies.
A-spen.
The rain had passed, but something inside Willa kept overflowing. She walked, stumbled a little in her haste, then ran the last few meters until her arms collided with A-spen's. She buried her face in their neck, held on tight, tighter, as if she'd been holding back for weeks.
Because, in truth, she had, not just weeks, but all those months she hadn’t been able to spend with A-spen.
"I missed you," she sobbed, her voice rough, tangled between tears and dried dirt. "I missed you so much, A-spen."
A-spen startled slightly, unprepared for the intensity of the embrace. It wasn’t that they didn’t like hugs… they just didn’t usually receive them like this. Not from Willa. Never with this tremor, this raw need that seemed to claw its way from the center of her chest.
They hesitated for a second, then placed a hand on her back and hugged her properly.
"Hey… Willa… I'm here now. Everything's okay," they murmured, trying to soothe her. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise."
But Willa didn’t let go. Her face stayed hidden against their neck, and A-spen felt warm tears dampening their skin.
"You can let go now," they whispered, more because they didn’t know how to react than because they actually wanted her to.
"No." Willa’s reply was immediate, firm enough to leave no room for doubt. "I’m not letting go all summer."
A-spen laughed. Partly because they knew their girlfriend might not be joking at all.
"Aren’t you going to get tired of being like this all the time?" they asked, watching as Willa adjusted her grip around their waist and leaned into their shoulder while they walked.
"Yeah. I get tired of everything. But never of you," she replied with a smile.
A-spen stroked her back. Their touch, always measured, grew softer, gentler. Maybe they weren’t saying it in words, but they understood. Maybe they’d felt it too, that quiet ache left by the fear of losing someone who mattered too much.
"I swear I’m never leaving without you again," Willa whispered in their ear, like a vow. "This summer… I’m going to prove it to you. Every second. You’re going to hate how clingy I’ll be."
"That sounds like a threat," A-spen chuckled, burying their face in her shoulder this time. "But… it doesn’t sound so bad."
And so they stayed. Under the clear sky. With mud on their boots, the past behind them, and a whole summer ahead to reclaim what time and distance had tried to break.
And Willa, finally, wasn’t afraid to feel.
After all, bad things happened all the time, and there was nothing she could do to stop them.
She could only trust that, sooner or later, they’d figure it out.