Music pumped from the speakers situated around the gym at Seabrook High School. The cheer squad had practice tonight for a few hours. They were all gearing up for the first football game of the year, and this was the most important practice, especially because Bucky kept yelling at the cheerleaders who were struggling to keep up with him. He kept his angriest words for Julia, his very own sister.

Bucky and Julia were supposed to be co-captains of the cheer squad, where he yelled at people and got them to be better than they were while Julia made sure they stayed on the team after they grew upset with her brother. She provided the comfort they needed (and she also brought the best snacks). They were a team -- they had always been a team, ever since Bucky's parents adopted her as a young child. 

But tonight, Julia was struggling to keep up with Bucky's anger -- and the tears that came from it. Her limbs were sluggish tonight, as if she hadn't slept good enough or she had eaten too much sugar. This feeling had been growing ever since practice started, but Julia had been trying her hardest to ignore it. Now, though, she couldn't.

She trudged over to the bleachers and collapsed on them next to her boyfriend, Wyatt Lykensen, who had decided to come watch to spend some more time with her. Julia let out a loud sigh. She leaned against him as he asked, "Jules, are you okay?"

She looked up at her boyfriend and saw a worried look in his eyes. They had only been dating for a few short months, but she hadn't ever been this happy before. But right now, she couldn't really focus on that because a wave of exhaustion rolled through her body. She shivered against Wyatt, who wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I don't know," she said, her voice thin. "I'm just so tired, Wyatt."

For some reason, dark spots were appearing on her vision. She blinked a few times, but they wouldn't go away. After a few moments of blinking, she realized that the entire cheer squad had disappeared from the gym, leaving just her friends, Wyatt, and Bucky. There was something strange going on with Julia, and it scared her. 

"Julia, are you okay?" Bucky asked her, sounding a little worried. His gaze remained locked on her face, and for a second there, she wondered why he was being so sweet to her. He had never been that nice before. "You don't look so good." And there he was, the same brother that she had always known.

"Thanks," she said softly, rolling her eyes. That was a mistake because her head grew dizzy, and the world around her spun in circles. Wyatt's hands gripped her shoulders to keep her from falling over. "I don't feel so good, Bucky. My head feels weird."

He lifted her up in his arms easily, her legs resting on his left arm while her back rested on his right arm. She leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Her head spun around and around even though she wasn't looking at anything anymore. Julia had to focus really hard on gripping her hands or else she was going to throw up all over Bucky, and she was sure that he would have dropped her if she did that to him.

Julia didn't know how long it took for Bucky to get her home, but when she finally did open her eyes again, she was in her bedroom at home. Bucky sat on her bed next to her, a worried look on his face. Wyatt waited in the doorway of her room with Willa and Wynter. For some reason, Addison, Zed, Bree, Bonzo, and Eliza weren't in the room. Maybe the bedroom was too small for all of them. Or maybe Bucky didn't want everyone here because he kept throwing glares at the werewolves.

"Bucky, what's wrong with me?" Julia asked weakly. Spots dotted her vision, and her head spun around once more. She gripped the covers underneath her before she fell over. "Can you help me?"

"Your hair!" Bucky said, ignoring her questions, pointing at her. She didn't like the look written across his face. Fear was apparent in his eyes, and Julia grasped a piece of her hair in her shaking hands. Her heart seemed to slow down, and her vision started going black, blacker than it ever had before, just as Bucky said, "It's white!"

---

"What do we do?" a voice asked, though Julia couldn't exactly see who was surrounding her. For some reason, her eyes couldn't open, nor could she really place the voice. It swam through her head like a small river. "I need all the help I can get, but I really don't think you guys are the best right now."

"Hey, we'd do anything for Julia," another voice said, joining the other in the river in her mind. Her mind churned as she tried to do anything with her body. But everything felt numb to her. 

"Look at her arms," a soft voice said. She felt someone tracing patterns along both of her arms, but she couldn't move them at all. Why couldn't she move them? Why was she so numb? "These markings . . . they look so familiar. How old is she?"

"Sixteen," the original voice answered. "Why?"

"It reminds me of a story the leaders of our pack used to tell us," the third voice continued. "I had totally forgotten about it until now, but I think it matches up with what we're seeing here with Julia."

"Now's not the time for tall tales," the original voice snapped.

"There once was a werewolf cub that went missing sixteen years ago," a fourth voice said, ignoring the angry voice. But this time, Julia knew who it was. It was Wyatt. Why did he sound awestruck and amazed at what was going on? The river in her mind rushed even harder, and it was a struggle for her to hear what he had to say next. "The cub had not been given their moonstone before they disappeared, so they were not able to get their powers like the rest of us. And when a werewolf cub does not receive their moonstone, their powers will bubble up and overtake them. The only way to save her is to get her moonstone back."

"You don't think that Julia's a werewolf," the first voice said. "Right? She's not a werewolf!"

"I think we need to take her to the den," one of the voices said, but Julia couldn't remember who it was. She couldn't place the voice at all anymore. She couldn't focus on anything besides the way the river in her mind slowed down to a soft trickle. "We have something there that can help her."

"No!" the angry voice exploded. Julia would have flinched if she could move her body. But her body was suddenly so cold and tired, and she knew that she was losing this battle. It was only a matter of time before she went unconscious again. "We're keeping her right here! Doctors are on their way, and they can help her!"

"I trust them," another voice joined in. "This isn't some sort of illness that human doctors can fix. This is something more magical."

"Werewolves aren't magic," the angry voice snapped. "They are creatures. We aren't taking her there. I won't allow it."

"I think you should." How many people were in this room with Julia, and why couldn't she figure out who was here? Her mind grew quieter and quieter, and so did their voices. The last thing she heard before her mind shut off was, "Julia needs our help. And we're going to give it to her."

---

Darkness surrounded Julia. She didn't know how long it had been or if she was even alive right now. All she knew was that her body was so, so cold. It felt like a winter storm had converged around her, blasting her with frigid winds. She couldn't move, though. She couldn't move to get warm. She couldn't move to see if she was alive or not. She couldn't do anything, and that scared her so bad.

What in the world was wrong with Julia? Why was she unconscious? It didn't make any sense to her, and the conversation she had heard earlier (whenever that was) didn't help anything with that. Who had been with her, and why did they think a werewolf's moonstone would help her right now?

Suddenly, her body grew excruciatingly hot. Something heavy weighed down on her chest, right where a necklace would rest. That was the source of the heat, she knew that, and it ignited in her mind like a wildfire. Each vein in her body lit up like electricity had replaced her blood, and she could move now.

Her vision flashed back to her in that instant, and she found herself standing in the dark, dank werewolf den with her friends, Wyatt, and Bucky staring at her. "Julia?" Wyatt asked, taking a step toward her. "Are you okay?"

"What happened?" she asked instead.

"You're a werewolf!" Wynter shouted excitedly. She jumped up and down but stopped with the force of Bucky's glare. "You're a werewolf. We think."

"I'm a werewolf?" Julia asked softly. The stone around her neck grew warm with each word that she said. She glanced down and saw a bright yellow moonstone sitting on her chest, glowing up at her. "Is that why I was sick?"

"We think so," Wyatt answered her. "Do you feel better?"

"So much better."

"My sister is a werewolf," Bucky said softly. He looked like he had swallowed a large rock, and Julia cracked a smile. This was going to take a lot for him to understand and handle, she knew that. But that was fine with her because she needed that time to figure everything out, too. "My sister -- she's a werewolf! Addison, what do I do?"

While Addison and Zed tried to calm Bucky down, Julia wandered over to Wyatt, pulling him to the side. "So, that story was true," she said to him.

"You heard us?"

"Yeah."

"You're the missing werewolf," Wyatt said softly. He stared at her with love in his eyes, and she knew that he couldn't be happier for her. "The pack -- they're going to be so excited!"

Wyatt kissed her swiftly, and Julia knew that they were meant to be together forever. Everything about this moment was right, and she felt like a piece of her had found its place in her heart. Something had been missing in her life, she knew that. But she had found it, and it was resting against her heart, matching each beat.

"I'm so glad you're a werewolf," he whispered to her, resting his forehead against hers. 

"Me too."