Not for the first time since leaving for Canada, Maddy found herself sitting bolt upright in bed, screaming and covered in sweat. She had been having a nightmare. It was like the others, except this time, it was more vivid.
Rhydian, dragging himself through the woods, clothes torn and dirty, his leg badly broken.
Rhydian, lying on the ground, blood pooling around his head, eyes closed, skin pale.
Rhydian, hanging upside down from a tree, caught in a trap.
Rhydian... All was blackness, but she knew Rhydian was there. This was the worst by far, because it meant he was... No. She couldn't even think it.
This time though, it had been different. Rhydian was in clearer focus, surrounded by a pack of wild wolfbloods. The ground had been covered in snow, and... Blood... He had been carrying a large rucksack, which was now thrown aside, and he was turning warily, trying to keep an eye on each of the opposing wolfbloods at once.
Suddenly, two of the pack pounced. Rhydian went under, but resurfaced in wolf form, fully grown and snarling. He lunged at one of his attackers, catching its back leg in his teeth. It yelped and limped away to nurse its wound. The other wolfblood he was facing leapt on his back. He shook it off, but not before it had ripped a chunk of flesh out of his neck.
He growled at the wolfblood on the ground, who was struggling to get away, then turned to face the rest of the pack. The other wolfbloods seemed more wary of attacking him now.
Then one of the braver individuals ran forward. Rhydian swatted it aside, and it landed hard on the snow covered earth. It shook its head, confused, but then it got to its feet and charged at Rhydian again.
Taken off guard by this quick recovery, Rhydian was knocked to the ground. Heartened by their fellow's success, the rest off the pack joined in the fight.
Maddy couldn't see exactly what went on, but when the fight concluded after a few minutes, she saw Rhydian lying on the snow, which was now stained scarlet.
She didn't need telling what she had to do. Somehow, instinctively, she knew where she would find Rhydian.
It took her three quarters of an hour to find the spot where Rhydian lay, now back in human form.
"Rhydian!" She called, desperately, kneeling beside his head.
"Maddy..." His voice was barely a whisper, the effort of speaking was clearly costing him a great deal. "I tried to find you..."
"No, no don't try and talk, we're going to get you out of this, you're going to be okay..." Tears were falling down her cheeks. If this was real, did that mean all her other dreams were true as well?
"Maddy!" Maddy's head snapped up.
"Mam? Dad?"
"What happened? Rhydian?"
"Hi Mrs S..." Rhydian tried to lift his head but fell back, his face contorting with pain.
"He... He was attacked... I saw it! And I went to find him and... There he was... How did you find me?"
"You're not as stealthy as you think you know..." Emma said, her eyes twinkling as she looked at her daughter. Rhydian groaned. Maddy and her parents turned to face him. His fave was now almost deathly pale. Maddy knew if they didn't do something soon, he could die.
"Mam... Do something! He's bleeding out..."
"We need to get him back to the house... Rhydian, do you think you could transform? You'll be easier to carry as a wolf, we'll be able to get you there quicker." Rhydian nodded and with an effort, changed into the wolf. The effort seemed to cost him the little strength he had left, and he lay limp and unmoving on the snow.
"Rhydian!" Maddy screamed. She looked up at Emma for help.
"Dan, do you think you can carry him?" Daniel nodded and bent to gently lift Rhydian up. As quickly as they could, they made their way back to the house, knowing that as fast as they could make it, it might be too long for Rhydian.
It took them a little over an hour to get home. Although they knew exactly where they were going now, Dan was impeded by the weight of Rhydian in his arms, and trying not to jolt the injured wolfblood, he had to watch his step more carefully.
Once they arrived back at the house, Dan laid Rhydian on the kitchen table while Emma ran for her bag of medical supplies. Maddy sat beside Rhydian and urged him to transform back into a human. He was barely conscious but he managed it. She stroked his hair while he groaned, semiconscious. Emma tore back down the stairs, clutching her bag.
"Good thing I was trained for this..." She muttered under her breath, "Maddy, can you get a bowl of clean water, I'm going to need you to clean up some of these wounds.
Reluctantly, Maddy left the table and filled a bowl with warm water. Meanwhile, Emma had cut off Rhydian's jacket and shirt and was inspecting his wounds. Even seeing him injured and bleeding, Maddy couldn't help but be impressed at how toned his upper body muscles were.
She set the bowl down on the table, grabbed a couple of swabs from her mothers bag and began dabbing at Rhydian's wounds, cleaning the areas around them. He moaned in protest.
"I'm sorry..." She whispered, as she kept cleaning. Emma pulled out a bottle of surgical spirit and began pouring the liquid out over the wounds Maddy had cleaned. Rhydian groaned again and writhed a little on the table as the liquid stung his exposed wounds.
Once all the blood was cleaned up, Maddy returned to stroking Rhydian's hair and whispering comforting words in his ear.
Maddy's mother pulled out a sterile needle and a length of surgical thread and began to stitch Rhydian's wounds closed. Most difficult was the slash across his cheek. She tried to do as neat a job as possible, but she knew it would leave a scar.
Once all his wounds were closed, Maddy helped her mother to wrap bandages around Rhydian's torso. Once they had finished, she looked up at her mother.
"Will Rhydian be okay?"
"We've done all we can for him. Its up to him now. If he makes it to the full moon in a few days time, he'll make a full recovery." Maddy nodded and swallowed nervously.
"Can I stay with him?"
"Of course." Her mother smiled and left the kitchen. Maddy resumed her seat by Rhydian's head, not caring that she was covered in his blood, and took his hand. She felt a slight pressure from his fingers before he slipped finally into unconsciousness.
As the sun began to rise a few hours later, Maddy was still sitting in the chair beside the kitchen table. Exhausted from the nights events, she was now sleeping soundly. Emma and Daniel stood in the doorway.
"He can't stay on the table, we'll need to move him."
"Where to? We dont have any spare beds, Dan..."
"I'm sure Maddy won't mind if he sleeps in hers for a while, until I can knock him up one of his own..."
"But then where will Maddy sleep?"
"Oh, I didn't say she needed to give up her bed!" Emma swatted her husband on the arm, grinning all the same, as they watched the two youngest members of their pack sleep.