Wolfblood
Chapter one
Maddie's P.O.V
Emptiness fills me as I turn away from my friends. Even in wolf form I could still feel Rhydian's kiss on my lips. Running faster, I catch up with my mam and dad; they run either side of me like body guards. As we track the scent of Jana's pack, the sun begins to set so we rely on our night vision more. We run on and on over bushes, ditches and fallen trees. None of us speak; we can run faster if we are silent. I can sense we are long way from home now. I take note of our surroundings, a dense wood. The energy here is soft and gentle like a feather pillow. It feels like home.
"Maddie, do you smell that?" My dad says with gestures and facial features. I take a deep inhalation and the smell hits me. Like a bee attracted to sugar, I am pulled by the smell! Meat. Hot mouth-watering dear meat mixed with a familiar smell. It's Jana's pack! The three of us slow to a walk as we scan the trees with our eyes and noses to locate the wild pack. After a while the smell becomes so intense and I know we must be close. I glance to my left and spot the bright glow of a campfire. We've found them!
All of a sudden I'm pushed to the soggy ground with such force I'm shocked back to my human form. I hear my mam barking in surprise. After a couple of weary seconds I come to my senses and my eyes focus on a red-brown wolf staring down at me. "Jana!" I laugh as she covers me in slobbery licks of affection. She morphs back into her human self and pulls me to my feet. She turns to my parents. "I'm so glad you're here, please come and join us round the fire. It is dinner time and the pack don't like waiting"
My parents and I settle down by the warmth of the fire as several faces, human and wolf watch us wearily. Jana climbs atop a tree stump and politely clears her throat. "Pack, we have guests. As the chosen pack leader I say we welcome them with open arms. Treat them like your own, for they will stay with us for many moons if I am correct" Her speech is followed by howls of approval and I give Jana a thumbs up. She seems so different; happy and full of purpose. It makes me feel even emptier and I stare into the fire. A pack member drags a large pot with hunks of meat inside. The pack is now transforming into human form as they all grab meat from the pot. The moon lends me it's gentle strength as we eat. Conversations with Jana and the rest of her pack dull my loneliness inside. After dinner, I become aware of how tired I am from our great journey. Tugging on my dad's sleeve I whisper, "Where are we supposed to sleep?" He looks around and locates Jana. "Let me ask Jana, I'll be a back in a second" As he stands up, twigs snap under his boots. For a few minutes Jana and my dad talk under the trees, and then she gestures to my mam and me to follow her. She leads us down a trampled path through the trees to a hillside with a round opening near the ground. "It's not much, but its home," she whispers and invites us inside. As we enter, I see the centre of the round stone cave is a large fire pit with a mountain of grey ash. Along the edges are beds of furs and makeshift pillows. She points to a large bundle of fur. "Use these for you beds, and make yourself comfortable. Tomorrow we shall hold a meeting about this situation. The pack will need to know what duties you can fulfil and why you have come. Please get some rest now" Jana hugs me and gives me a grin before taking wolf form and running out the cave. Through exhaustion, none of us speak as we make our beds. We know that tomorrow will bring plenty of speaking and for now we all want to sleep. As I lay down, Rhydian enters my thoughts and a silent tear runs down my cheek. Before long I drift off to sleep with the sound of my dad snoring.