Wolfblood
Forgiveness
The sun beat down through the trees as birds sang majestically and the dew on the grass cast a rainbow pattern over the field. Such concerns were far from the young red-headed Wolfblood's attention however, as she landed heavily on the ground. Above her, Meinir stood smirking in the way that Jana hated.
"Do it again!" the alpha ordered.
"Father, why do I have to do this?" Jana asked.
"You are the daughter of the alpha." Alric said in his brutal tone of voice. "As such, you are vulnerable to assassination by rival pack members looking to take my throne. You must learn how to defend yourself, and Meinir is the weakest of all the pack members we currently have. She should be the perfect sparring partner for you. Now get up and do it again!"
"I'm actually the second weakest." Meinir whispered so low that only Jana could hear. "He didn't include you because he doesn't want you to know how useless you are."
"Fight!" Alric ordered. With a roar, Jana launched herself forward. She ducked under Meinir's attempt to grab her and slammed her shoulder into the older cub's side. Meinir was instantly winded and sent rolling on the floor. Jana was on her in an instant. She grabbed Meinir's shoulder with her right hand and placed her left on the Wolfblood's forehead. As she watched, the black veins raced down her arm and seemed to try and extend into Meinir. Meinir's yellow eyes started to flicker as her mouth opened in a silent scream. Just then, Jana felt a pair of strong arms loop around her and pull her off. Alric turned her around and threw his arms around her as she began sobbing into his shoulder.
"That felt awful!" she sobbed as Meinir lay there panting, tears streaming down her own cheeks.
"Jana, I need you to listen to me, and I need you to listen carefully." Alric told her. "That was Ansion on a dangerous level. I need you to promise… No, I need you to swear to me that you will never use your gift like that again!"
"I wouldn't do that again if you praised me for it!" Jana sobbed harder and gripped Alric tighter.
"Meinir, are you alright?" Alric asked.
"I just need to catch my breath, alpha." Meinir's terrified voice shattered the illusion of bravery she was trying to create.
"I will take Jana back to camp. Are you okay to follow when ready?" Normally, Alric wouldn't have even checked to see if she was alright. This level of concern told Meinir that her terror was justified.
"I'll be fine, alpha."
Jana jolted awake, her eyes burning yellow as the black veins burned under her skin. Instantly, a nurse was running over. Jana panicked at the thought of a human seeing her until she realised that she was in a Segolia hospital.
"Are you okay, Jana?" the nurse asked as she arrived. "I'll get you some water. Or do you want something stronger, maybe?"
"Water…" Jana gasped.
"Here you go." The nurse passed Jana a plastic cup of water and she instantly drained it. "Is everything okay?"
"It was just a nightmare." Jana assured her.
"Was it the attack again?" the nurse asked.
"No, it was something bad from my childhood." Jana shuddered involuntarily at the memory.
"Well, I see no reason why you can't get out today if you can walk." The nurse took the cup back and refilled it.
"Can I try now?" Jana asked. "I'm obviously not going back to sleep just yet."
"Okay, but we'll need to be quiet." The nurse helped Jana out of bed. The floor was freezing against her bare feet.
"God, would it kill them to put the heating on?" Jana muttered as she stood up. The damage to her legs meant that it hurt her to stand, but it was bearable at least.
"Okay, now try walking." The nurse took several steps with her before letting go of her arm. Jana managed to get to the end of the row of beds before almost falling over.
"What do you think?" Jana asked as the nurse steadied her.
"I'm satisfied with that." The nurse turned to take Jana back, but Jana stopped her.
"I'm not going back to bed just yet." Jana said. "First things first, I need the loo. Those two glasses of water aren't staying long. It's probably because I'm hungry."
"We'll get you a decent sized meal from the cafeteria to celebrate you getting out." The nurse grinned at her as they started towards the toilets.
The next morning…
Maddy Smith woke up and for a moment was surprised to feel the arms wrapped around her. All of a sudden, the memories came flooding back to her. After they'd got back from the Segolia building the previous day, they'd told Mrs Vaughan that Rhydian was ill and that they'd keep him for the night to keep Ollie and Joe from catching whatever he had. She'd been fine with that, so Rhydian had stayed the night. In truth, Rhydian had largely shut down after they'd got back. It was as though his body hadn't quite accepted what happened and needed to process it properly. Maddy rolled over and wrapped her arms around him.
The world had been a nuisance to him in the past, but this was too cruel. It had stolen the one thing that he felt truly whole with other than her. She'd made a promise to him that she would find whoever did this. Jana potentially knew a way to reverse the damage, but she needed the person who did it alive. Once they were no longer of use, Maddy would kill them herself. And she knew who it was.
"So, how was last night for you?" Rhydian asked as he sat up and kissed Maddy gently like he usually did.
"It's better when I know you're beside me." Maddy returned the kiss as his hands ran up her back. Just as their hands became tangled in each other's hair, Maddy's phone started playing music. "I really need to change my ringtone." Maddy muttered as she rolled over and grabbed her phone. She put her code in to find a new text from Jana.
'I'm out of hospital. Katrina's mum will be dropping me at the caravan in thirty minutes.'
"Come on, Rhydian." Maddy said as she practically jumped out of bed. "Jana's on her way to the caravan."
"Damn, I hate being human." Rhydian said, hauling himself up as his body tried to cope with the lack of energy. At some point in the last couple of days, Rhydian had found himself unable to use his wolf form. Doctor Whitewood had done a blood test and found that somehow the wolf had been violently torn from Rhydian's DNA. Maddy had most of the puzzle pieces to find out who. Now, she just had to put enough of them together to prove her theory. She planned to try and work on it today while Rhydian helped Jana pack her stuff. That was good in planning, but apparently not in practice since Rhydian was struggling to get out of bed.
"Come on." Maddy hauled him up as his spine clicked back into place.
"You know; some sympathy would go a long way here." Rhydian muttered grouchily as he stood up properly.
"Rhydian, all we have to do is help Jana sort her stuff out and then we can go back to bed for as long as you want." Maddy told him. "Just throw some clothes on and we can get down there." Maddy tossed him his jeans. Unfortunately, being human had slowed his reflexes. The jeans hit Rhydian in the face and actually caused him to stagger slightly.
"What's the point?" Rhydian asked. "I probably won't be much help. Every time I move it's like trying to swim through treacle and I feel physically weak. I can't imagine feeling like this permanently."
"Don't say that, Rhydian." Maddy walked over and wrapped her arms warmly around him. "It won't be permanent. One way or another, we're going to fix this."
"She said I could have to wait until next year, Maddy." Rhydian reminded her. "I can't keep going like this for that long."
"Becca also said the cure could be done by next week." Maddy offered. "I know it's a slim chance, but it's always possible. And each week you hold on and she hasn't cracked it brings you one week closer to the day when she does."
"How do you always do that?" Rhydian asked as he threw his shirt on. "Fine, but we're going straight back to sleep afterwards."
"Well, at least I have your attention now." Maddy muttered. "How about once you've got your energy back, we go to Bernie's and I'll treat you to a burger?"
"Maddy, I still don't think you're getting what this is like." Rhydian rolled his eyes as he pulled his shoes on. "Can you even imagine a permanent dark moon?"
"No and I don't particularly want to." Maddy turned and hugged Rhydian. "But I know that you're too strong to let this stop you. Like I said, I'm going to find out what happened. I'm not a violent person, but when I catch whoever did this, she's going to die."
"Wait... why did you say 'she' and not 'they'? You think you already know, don't you?" Rhydian knew the look on Maddy's face and didn't like what she might have in mind.
"I have a rough idea." Maddy admitted.
"Well for god's sake, make sure you're right before you charge in and do something." Rhydian planted a kiss on top of Maddy's head. "I want to get my wolf back more than anything, but if you just go blindly accusing someone then you stand a chance to drive off the real culprit and also compromise the Wolfblood secret if you're wrong. If you brand someone a thief in error, that's a bell you can't un-ring."
"Don't worry, I'm mostly certain. I just want to find some more evidence, and then I'm going straight to my parents." Maddy promised. "I won't go taking things into my own hands again."
"Why am I having a hard time believing that?" Both of them knew Rhydian's question was rhetorical.
"Come on or we'll be late." Maddy led him downstairs. They got to the bottom only to see Emma at the kitchen table with bacon sandwiches.
"I would have known the smell of these would bring you down." Emma said to them.
"I didn't smell anything." Rhydian shrugged. Maddy looked at him, shocked.
"You didn't smell anything?" Maddy couldn't believe it. "You can't even smell bacon anymore?"
"No, my senses feel next-to-useless." Rhydian told her. "I can't smell bacon, I can't hear the birds singing outside, I can't see the fine-stitched details in that towel Emma's holding, I can't run anywhere near as fast as you can and I can't sense whenever you're around anymore. To make a long story short, I'm useless to everyone."
"You're not useless to me." Maddy said, throwing her arms around him hard enough to force the air from his lungs. "Don't ever say that."
"Okay, eat up then." Emma put the sandwiches on the table. Maddy and Rhydian sat down, but didn't tuck in with their usual aggression. Instead, Rhydian was clearly very subdued and Maddy looked ready to commit murder. "So, what are you two planning on doing?" Emma's desperate attempt to lighten the tension got a response at least.
"We're going to help Jana get some stuff from her caravan." Rhydian told her. "She's staying with Katrina for two weeks and then she's heading back to the caravan for the final two days before the full moon." By this point, Maddy had finished eating. Rhydian on the other hand had barely got through his first sandwich.
"Has being human slowed your jaws down too?" Maddy teased. The glare Rhydian gave her instantly made her feel bad. She shouldn't have made a joke. What the hell was she thinking?
"I think I'll just head out and meet you there." Rhydian excused himself from the table and went over to the door. "I'll see you at Jana's caravan!" he called. Once he'd gone, Emma rounded on Maddy.
"Maddy, why would you even think of saying that?" she asked angrily.
"I don't know. I just wanted to lighten the tension." Maddy wanted the ground to swallow her.
"That was unbelievably stupid!" Emma couldn't believe it. "Maddy, if someone cut your leg off and he started teasing you about it, how would you feel?"
"I just thought that since it was me, he'd realise I was joking." Maddy shrugged.
"Maddy, you can't do that!" Emma said. "When someone is in a state like his, you can't 'just think' anything! That goes double for men!"
"Yeah, but this is Rhydian." Maddy reasoned. "He knows me probably better than I know myself. I just thought he'd know I didn't mean anything by it."
"Look, I can't help you on this one." Emma said, taking Rhydian's plate over to the side. "You've dug yourself into this hole. You'll have to dig yourself out again. Tell Rhydian his sandwiches are under the grill keeping hot for him if he wants them."
"God, I hope I didn't hurt him too badly." Maddy muttered. She got up and walked over to the door, feeling like her heart had been cut out. She suspected it was nothing compared to how Rhydian felt.
Rhydian meanwhile had made his way over to the Moors and was about to enter the tree line when he noticed a car pull up next to him. Just as he tensed for a fight, he saw a flash of red hair as Jana got out.
"So, how was last night for you?" he asked drily.
"You seem happy." Jana said sarcastically.
"Yeah, well your girlfriend teasing you about something that's still a bit raw can do that." Rhydian shrugged.
"She probably didn't mean anything by it, Rhydian." Jana walked over with some difficulty and hugged him.
"Are you okay, babes?" They looked over to see Katrina leaning out of the passenger window.
"I'm fine." Jana called back. "Rhydian's going to go with me to the caravan. Maddy's probably going to catch us up."
"Okay, I'll start getting the house ready then." Katrina called to her.
"Take your time, both of you." Katrina's mum called over before driving off with Katrina trying to pull her head in before anything passed close enough to decapitate her.
"Okay, let's get a move on." Jana muttered as they started walking. It's getting cold here. I swear to god, when I get to Katrina's I am going to curl up by the fire and just sleep. It was so damn cold in that Segolia place."
"That's probably to mask all of Sweeny's hot air." Rhydian joked.
"Well, at least you still have your sense of humour." Jana replied as he helped her up the grass verge and onto the Moors. As he looked back, he could just about see Maddy leaving her house. But as he watched, she didn't head their way. What was she planning.
Maddy made her way down the street towards her intended destination. She would bet anything that she knew who'd stolen Rhydian's wolf. What she didn't know was how she'd done it, but she'd find out even if she had to beat it out of her with something heavy. She could smell the scent of each home in the street near her house, except for one.
"Okay, it's time to do this." Maddy muttered before crouching down near the door. Rhydian had shown her a trick not too long ago that he always used to raid the confiscation cupboard at care homes and schools he'd been to. She pulled out a hair slide from her pocket and bent it straight before inserting it into the door lock. After three successful clicks, she pulled up on the handle and the door swung open. She made her way inside and looked around.
The first thing that struck Maddy as odd was the scent of the place Whenever she went into a home, she could smell the signature scent left by the family that lived there that was formed by the combination of everything they liked and did. With Ellie's house, there was barely anything. She could smell the brand new fibres of freshly made IKEA chairs and a faux leather sofa. But that was about it. She'd bought new furniture, which was understandable. This was her first house since leaving home. It was natural she'd had to buy furniture. But there was no lingering smell of meals she'd cooked or takeaways she'd gone and brought back. There was no smell of flowers she may have been given to welcome her to the neighbourhood, there were no scents of where two brand new pairs of shoes sat on the shoe rack. It was like she'd never worn them.
Maddy had always had a suspicion that she wasn't the only girl who was a seriously messy creature in her natural habitat. If Ellie was anything to go by, she was dead wrong. The place was immaculate. As Maddy paced around, she noticed that she could smell her own scent permeating the air. The air was so scentless that she was actually able to pick it up.
Walking into the kitchen, Maddy continued to try and pick up any form of a scent. But when she opened the fridge, there was no food. The oven clearly hadn't been used either and neither had the toaster. Ellie had been there for two whole days. There was no way she could have gone that long without eating. And if she was living off takeaways, Maddy would have smelled it.
Deciding that there was nothing worth noting in the kitchen, Maddy made her way upstairs. She went into Ellie's upstairs bathroom. What she found surprised her greatly. The whole thing had been stripped. There was no bath or shower and no toilet.
'Jana's going to have a fit when she finds out there's a building with no flushing toilet in it.' Maddy thought to herself. She walked into the only bedroom in the house to find much the same thing. The only thing in the room was a bed. That bed had the scent of the new covers and duvet, but that was it. Ellie's scent was nowhere on it. Just then, a voice from downstairs snapped her to attention.
"If you're in here and shouldn't be, sound off now or I'm calling the police!"
"It's only me." Maddy called as she appeared at the top of the stairs ready to use her cover story. In an instant, Ellie had raced up the stairs and was stood beside her.
"You do know there's a law against being in other people's houses without permission, don't you?" she asked with fake politeness.
"Your door was open but you didn't answer when I called out." Maddy lied. "I was looking for you in case you were in trouble."
"Well, I suppose our heart was in the right place." Ellie visibly relaxed a little bit. At that moment, it dawned on Maddy that she was wrong. It wasn't that nothing had Ellie's scent on it, she just didn't have a scent in the first place.
"Yeah, I came to ask you about something." Maddy continued as if her mind wasn't going into overdrive right now. If Ellie had no scent, that would explain why Rhydian couldn't get a read on her. It would also explain why Jana didn't smell the wolf coming. But how would she have stolen Rhydian's wolf in the first place?
"Ask away." Ellie shrugged.
"Rhydian had something important stolen from him a couple of days ago." Maddy told her. "I came to see if you knew any way we could go about looking into it."
"Why would I know anything important?" Ellie asked as they walked downstairs and she went through to the kitchen.
"We're just desperate by this point." Maddy said. "We're asking everyone for ideas."
"Well, I'm going to have to ask that you bring him round tomorrow and we discuss it then. I'm just going to do some breakfast for myself and I'm sorry if it sounds rude but I really don't like having people around when I eat."
"No, I can understand that." Maddy shrugged, mentally cursing herself for letting Ellie have such an easy way out even though she knew she was lying.
"Wish Rhydian luck from me." Ellie called after her as Maddy went to the door. "I hope he gets his wolf back soon." Maddy stopped dead. Ellie's loose tongue had just given her exactly what she needed. "You know; I knew you were lying from the start." Ellie continued. "You were sweating and your heart rate was through the roof. You knew you weren't supposed to be here and you were here anyway. You were poking around and I guess you found something you didn't like." Ellie was holding position in the kitchen and glaring at the fridge door. It hadn't closed properly, making it obvious that Maddy had been in there and knew she had no food.
"I never said it was his wolf that was stolen." Maddy growled. Before she could blink, Ellie had run out from the kitchen and launched into a kick powerful enough to send Maddy flying. She smashed into the door which Ellie had closed behind her, hitting it with enough force to smash most of the way through it.
"You know, I don't remember much about my past before a few months ago." Ellie shrugged. "All I remember is the man I looked up to as a father pulling me from a car crash. He was a scientist at Segolia who was looking into Wolfblood DNA for a project. When I came to, he told me he'd had to change me permanently. Of course, I didn't remember anything, but he became like my mentor. He'd told me that I ended up becoming a chimera type hybrid that could absorb DNA and use it to my advantage just by touching things. To prove it, he had me touch several animal DNA samples to boost my strength, speed and agility. It's like all the powers of a Wolfblood on top of Wolfblood powers." Maddy let out a pained groan as she tried to pull her body out from the shattered door.
"But why are you doing this?" she asked.
"That's the thing." Ellie laughed in a way that told Maddy it really wasn't funny. "My system was seriously flawed. His interest lasted only for a short while. While he worked on his Cerberus project, I was left rejected. 'Evolution has its dead ends' he said. I packed what little I had and left with my tail between my legs, trying to recover my memories. When that failed, I returned to his place only to discover that he'd been put into a Segolia jail. When I went to visit him, he told me exactly who put him there. The only real chore with all this was that the wolf DNA turned my hair black for some reason, but I can live with that."
"So you're saying Rhydian hurt the man that you remember as a father?" Maddy had managed to get one of her arms free and was trying to pull the other one free so she could slip her legs out.
"He wasn't much of a father." Ellie snarled. "I wasn't born like this, I was created. And my creator used and betrayed me! He kept me around for as long as I was needed and then threw me away!" Ellie charged forward and smashed into Maddy. The crime-proof door shattered on impact and sent the pair of them sprawling into the streets. Ellie managed to stick the landing while Maddy was sent rolling towards the road. She pulled herself up at the last second and instantly went into full wolf form. She ran towards the Moors with Ellie in hot pursuit. Ellie had wolfed out as well and was rapidly gaining. Whatever DNA she'd absorbed as well as Rhydian's was clearly overpowering her. It was clear to Maddy now. If she could absorb DNA by touching it, then she'd ripped Rhydian's wolf right out of him when they shook hands. In that one moment, he'd literally become human. Just then, Maddy felt a set of fangs close on her upper thigh just by her tail. She howled in pain as she hit the ground hard and skidded through the tree line. Ellie was on her in a second, her fangs closing round Maddy's throat. Just then, the weight was lifted off her as Ellie was sent flying. Like a guardian angel, Rhydian was stood there holding a massive stick.
"Get up!" he yelled at her as Ellie returned to human form. Rhydian raised the stick to block as she launched a kick at him that shattered it into dead splinters. Instantly, she grabbed him and lifted him off the ground. She brought his head down on her kneecap with enough force to instantly knock him out. As Maddy returned to human form and tried to get to her feet, Ellie walked over and wrapped her hands round Maddy's throat.
"Don't worry, Maddy." Ellie said in a calm voice as Maddy began to get tunnel vision. "It'll be just like going to sleep for good." At that moment, Maddy heard Jana run over from her caravan, having just seen the commotion. She ripped Ellie off Maddy's vulnerable form as the black veins spread through her arms. Ellie's mouth opened in a silent scream as Jana's black veins spread beyond her arm and into Ellie's forehead. They coursed through Ellie's veins, routing out their prize and capturing it. "What are you...?" Jana's eyes ignited in a yellow glow as the fire in Ellie's eyes flickered and died.
"I'm taking away your powers... for good!" Jana let Ellie go. Both of them collapsed, panting heavily. Maddy sat up coughing and spluttering for breath. Jana crawled over to Rhydian, who was still out for the count. She placed one hand on his head, letting her black veins flow into him. In a second, he opened his eyes. They glowed with golden fire as the red lump forming on his head rapidly healed.
"Maddy, are you alright?" he asked as he took her head in his arm.
"I'll be fine!" she choked out as she got up. "Ellie on the other hand..." Just then, they were cut off by a movement in the trees as a figure clad in pink ran off.
"Oh, god..."
"Don't worry about her." Maddy said to Jana, who was visibly sweating. "Let her go. We can deal with that later." Ellie gazed up at her from her sprawled position with an almost pleading look. "I'm beyond all forgiveness at this point." As she said that; Maddy's teeth transformed into fangs as she lunged for Ellie's throat. To Maddy's surprise, Rhydian planted one hand on her chest as he pushed her back.
"What the hell are you?" he asked Ellie.
"My father made me into part of a Chimera project." Ellie answered reluctantly. "I can absorb genetic material by touch."
"So you took my wolf when we shook hands." Rhydian summarised. "Who was your father?"
"He was the man who both made me and destroyed me." Ellie snarled. "I was just trying to establish some territory of my own with the money I stole from him. I thought it fitting to take Stoneybridge since that's your territory and you put him in prison." Rhydian went rigid.
"So your father is..."
"His name is Alex Kincaid and he wants revenge." Ellie glared at him. "If it's not me, it'll be someone else who gets you."
"How much did you steal?" Rhydian decided to try a different line of questioning.
"I have over three million in a suitcase." Ellie replied.
"There's an old decrepit farm on the other side of the town." Rhydian said. "Buy it and stay the hell away from us. If you ever set foot here again, I won't hold Maddy off."
"Are you sure about having something like her so close to home?" Jana asked.
"To me, the whole thing sounds farfetched." Maddy shrugged. "And I still want to put her out of her misery."
"It doesn't sound farfetched to me." Rhydian replied. "If Kincaid was able to find a way to extract people's wolves, it comes as no surprise that he could create something as powerful as her. I wouldn't be surprised if he actually wiped her memory and altered her mind to make her feel like he was a father figure. It's actually sick and really tragic. And if you kill her you'll be no better than her or Kincaid." Rhydian turned to Maddy and planted a kiss on the top of her head. "I love you, Maddy; and I know you better than I know myself. You care for everyone whether you like them or not. You know what she's been through and I know that means you'll do the right thing." With her eyes burning yellow, Maddy turned back to Ellie.
"What I said stands, Ellie!" she growled. "I'm beyond all forgiveness at this point." As Ellie's eyes widened in terror, Maddy's wolf powered down. "On the other hand, I'll never be beyond all humanity. Just know that if it wasn't for Rhydian saving you, I would have killed you right here and now."
"I suggest you leave here and not come back." Rhydian growled. "Get out of here before find out what it's like on the receiving end of my wolf." Ellie nodded, scrambling to get up. The DNA Kincaid had injected her with meant she still had her speed and strength, but Jana's Ansion had ripped Rhydian's wolf right out of her, just as she'd done to him. They watched as she vaulted the barbed wire fence at the edge of the farm.
"Part of me actually feels sorry for her." Jana muttered. "She was a victim of the same madman we were, only she didn't come out of it nearly as well as we did."
"She was still too dangerous to keep around." Maddy shrugged. "Just shaking her hand nearly cost Rhydian his wolf. Who knows what she could do given the chance."
"Would you actually have killed her?" Rhydian asked, turning to Maddy.
"I would if you hadn't stopped me." Maddy replied. "I was actually losing control fast. I couldn't stop myself. Thanks for getting in the way there."
"Thanks for getting my wolf back." Rhydian countered, leaning in and kissing her. "And thank you, Jana. I don't know how you did what you did, but I'm really glad for it."
"It was Ansion on a dangerous level." Jana told him. "I had to break a vow I made to my father to give you your wolf back, Rhydian. It's best if he never finds out."
"Speaking of finding out…" A look of realisation crossed Maddy's face.
"Oh, god… Katrina saw us!" Jana remembered suddenly.
"Do you want a hand telling her?" Maddy asked.
"No, I'll sort it out." Jana shrugged. "I'm just worried for our relationship."
"It's like we said before, Jana." Rhydian told her. "Anyone who can't see who you are for the sake of what you are isn't worth having around."
"I know, but I just really hope she's not like that." Jana looked on the verge of tears.
"You'll be fine." Maddy assured her. "Look, we're going to head back to mine and tell my parents the good news. Call us if you need backup and text us when you know what's happening between you two. We'll be there for you one way or the other."
"Thanks, Maddy." Jana gave a lopsided grin.
Epilogue!
Jana cautiously entered Katrina's house at her mum's invitation. She crept up the stairs until she found Katrina's room. From the other side of the door, she could hear faint sobbing. She opened it carefully, hoping to make a gentle entrance. Katrina lifted her head as the door gave an almighty creak, instantly alerting her and making Jana's ears ring.
"It's okay, Katrina. You don't have to be scared." Jana said as she ducked under something heavy that Katrina had thrown at her.
"Jana, I'm not scared of you!" Katrina walked over and slapped the red-haired Wolfblood around the face. "If anything, I'm furious." Jana felt the sting fade as black veins briefly spread through her veins, healing the damage rapidly. "You've lied to me ever since we met and then when we actually get into a relationship you still don't open up to me! You still couldn't be honest!"
"Katrina, I wanted to!" Jana protested. "I wanted so badly to tell you everything, but it's a secret our kind had kept closely guarded for years. It's not something we trust humans with usually. I was planning to tell you before we told anyone we were dating. That way, if you couldn't handle it then we could go our separate ways peacefully without anyone knowing anything ever happened and if you were fine with it then we carry on as normal."
"You still lied." Katrina glared at Jana across the room.
"I'm sorry, Katrina." Jana looked utterly defeated. "I really don't know what I can say or do to make this right. All I know is that I love you and I really didn't mean for this to go how it did. Just say what I can do to at least try to make it right and I will do it."
"Well, you can start with the truth." Katrina's voice was ice.
"Fine." Jana limped over and sat down on the end of Katrina's bed. "I'm a Wolfblood. We're born part wolf. It's invisible usually until one of us calls it forwards."
"Can I see?" Katrina asked. Jana concentrated and let the black veins spread up her arms and neck. She opened her eyes to reveal her yellow irises. She relaxed and let the wolf power down before continuing.
"At the full moon, we turn into wolves entirely. It's amazing actually. Since I've mastered it, I can transform whenever I want to."
"But you're not going to hurt anyone?" Katrina asked cautiously.
"Not in human form." Jana replied. "We can't make promises on the full moon, but that's why we stay up on the Moors or in a secure room in Maddy's cellar."
"Maddy knows about this?" Katrina's eyes widened.
"Maddy and her family are Wolfbloods." Jana told her. "So is Rhydian."
"What about that other girl?"
"No, she was something different entirely, but that's something for another time. All you need to know for now is that none of us mean the humans any harm. If anything, well do all we can to keep you safe. A lot of Wolfbloods have actually given their lives to do just that. They've fought in human wars, they've protected humans from abusive partners by putting themselves in the firing line and not fighting back so as to keep the secret; the list goes on."
"So, where are you transforming this full moon?"
"It'll probably be up on the Moors, but I need to be out of here before the next full moon. That's the only way I can make sure you're out of harm's way." Jana replied.
"Jana, if you need a home, you don't have to leave." Katrina smiled warmly, resting a hand on the young Wolfblood's shoulder. "You can stay for as long as you need."
"So, we're not over?" Jana couldn't believe how well Katrina was taking this.
"You leave for the full moons so that my parents don't have to deal with a wolf in the house and it'll be fine." Katrina shrugged. "That said: we're not just picking up where we left off. You lied to me from the very beginning Jana. We're starting all over again from scratch and I don't think that's too unreasonable."
"No, you're right." Jana replied as she leaned over and rested her head on Katrina's shoulder. "I'm okay with that if you're okay with me taking you to dinner on Friday."
"Wow, you really are a smooth talker." Katrina rolled her eyes as she pulled Jana closer. As they relaxed together, Jana couldn't help but feel relieved. All was well that ended okay. Rhydian had his wolf back and he and Maddy were probably enjoying a well-deserved night together. Ellie had agreed to leave Stoneybridge alone in exchange for her life and most importantly to her; her lack of honesty and continuous lies weren't beyond Katrina's forgiveness.
END!
Author's Note: This is the final chapter of the Honesty Trilogy. As promised, I will now continue with Blood Moon. The prologue is already up for you to read as a taster if you haven't already and Chapter 1 will follow soon. Please remember to leave a review to let me know what you think and I hope to see you back for Blood Moon. I hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it and the Honesty Trilogy.