Home With The Wolves

by OneWhoCuddlesFire

Maddie's parents die and she's sent to a new home. When she finds a lone wolf and is sent to Alagaesia to help fight in the war she becomes a wolf-sister. Will her and her friends survive the ferocity of the unpredictable human world? I don't own the IC.

7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven - They Know

Maddie

Andrew held out his hand and helped pull me off of the grass, smiling. He hauled me up and held my hand in his as we walked back to the horses. When we found them, Hidalgo and Faran were calmly grazing under the trees. I released Andrew's hand and jumped up into my saddle, and Andrew swiftly followed my example with Hidalgo. Once we were mounted, Faran led the way to home. After a few minutes of peaceful riding, Furan's ears pricked up sharply and he slowed to a stop quickly. His head turned one way and another, as if looking for something. After a moment he snorted and tossed his head, then turned around and started cantering back the way we came, Hidalgo and Andrew following quickly behind.

Faran began to gallop through the trees, seemingly tense and pushing himself to the limit through the thick forest. Once we made it up to the Cliffside, Faran wheeled sharply to the right in the opposite direction we had come from and began to gallop across the grasses and into the trees on the other side. Once in the trees, he stayed along the cliff's edge.

We began going down a slope, into thinner trees with more grass and flowers. He wheeled towards the right again since we had moved away from the Cliffside. I noticed with a shock that he was heading for the cliff's edge. I held on tightly and prayed that he knew what he was doing. At the last moment, he skidded to a stop and turned sideways and began to trot down a carefully concealed path on the face of the cliff. Hidalgo and Andrew followed uneasily.

It was obvious that neither of them had ever been here before. We continued down the cliff face until we reached the bottom where a thick stream flowed. Faran began to trot down with the stream, and we came to another cliff face, this time with a waterfall that poured into a bigger river, which went straight into the ocean. When we reached the edge of cliff next to the waterfall, Faran began to search the side of the stream.

After a moment, he seemed to find what he was looking for. He put a fore-hoof on a thick rock in the water and slowly put weight on it, testing it. With a snort, he pushed off from it and jumped to a much larger boulder in the center, one with just enough room for his bulky form. He jumped across to the other side and began to trot away, not waiting for Andrew to catch up.

I turned in my saddle and saw with relief that Andrew had crossed the water and was riding behind us. He grinned at me, noticing my stare, and I grinned back before facing forward again. Faran went along the plain field on this side of the river and then found a zigzagging trail down the cliff face like the last one we had seen.

I sighed as I gazed upon it, when Faran quickly snorted and stamped a hoof. He began to trot down the zigzagging pathway with Andrew close behind him. Somewhere in the middle, we had to slow to a walk for the tight turns. Once we were at the bottom, gazing out at the ocean in front of us, I noticed something red on top of the river, though it was hard to see through the mist covering it.

Upon closer inspection, I found it was a bridge made of red bricks. Smiling, I nudged Faran to the other side and Hidalgo followed. Once on the other side, we went down to the water's edge in the sand and picked up the pace. We galloped freely across the sand, the ocean roaring at our side, as we made our way towards home.

When we reached the part of the beach in front of the house, we didn't hesitate to ride straight into the trees at a gallop to come crashing out into the meadow surrounding the house. We slowed to a canter as we went around the side of the house, and cantered quickly down the hill to the stables. When we got inside we slowed and stopped. I looked around for a moment before smirking in triumph.

"I was right when I thought it was them; their horses are missing. Also, we made it back before them, just like I wanted us to. Good job Faran." I said, stroking his neck after I had hopped of his back.

Andrew hopped off of Hidalgo and led him into his stall. I led Faran into his and pulled off his tack, rubbing him down and making sure he had enough water for when he decided to come back. I kept his stall door open and went to put his stuff away. When I came back, he gave me an affectionate nip on the top of the head before galloping back out into the fields to run around.

I shook my head at his childishness and turned to find Andrew. He came out of the tack room and glanced around before gesturing to me with his hand. I smiled and ran up to him, pummeling into him with my arms wrapped around him. He was prepared for my sudden hug-attack, and had his arms wrapped tightly around me. He held me tightly, as if afraid I would suddenly disappear. I held him just as tightly back, and we stood there for a minute, simply hugging.

I pulled back slightly to see his face and he glanced down at me before crashing his lips to mine softly. We kissed slowly for a moment, savoring every moment of it, when something bumped me hard in the back, pushing me forward.

I pulled back from Andrew, who had his eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. I glanced behind me and just then noticed Faran. Surprise and shock flitted across my face before I turned to him fully with my eyebrows raised.

Faran, glad that he finally got my attention, stamped his hoof repeatedly and excitedly on the stone tiles, half jumping up. He reared and whinnied, trying to give me a message. He stamped his hoof five times and suddenly I understood.

"Thank Faran. Head back to the fields." I told him, rubbing his neck softly. He snorted and turned around and trotted back outside. I turned back around to Andrew and grabbed his hand, saying "Let's go; they're coming."

He understood and began running up the hill towards the house with me. We made it to the top of the hill at the same time and continued running toward the house hand in hand, grinning like idiots. In my head I was thinking They can't catch us, neiner neiner neiner!

We made it to the front door and got inside. We got to the living room and collapsed on the couch, laughing loudly.

I sat up slightly, still laughing, and said "I haven't had this much fun in years! In two days I'm having more fun than I ever did back at that foster care center!" I laughed again, and then said more calmly, "I love it here." Andrew scooted closer to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder, pulling me close into his side.

"I love it here too." he whispered softly into my ear. I curled further into his side with my head against his chest, and sighed contentedly. It was then I remembered the others would be here any minute. I pulled back and stood up, holding a hand out to Andrew. Confused, he took it. I pulled him behind me as we went upstairs to my room. Once we got in there, I closed the door behind us and sighed in relief. Andrew still looked confused.

"The others will be here soon." I explained. Realization dawned in his eyes and he suddenly looked sheepish. I smiled at him and waved my hand at him to shoo him to the right. With an eyebrow raised, he did as I asked and stepped to the side. With a laugh, I ran and flung myself on my bed, still giggling. I giggled again when Andrew jumped up beside me. He sat next to me and ruffled my hair.

"What are we going to do with you Maddie?" he asked, teasing me as he messed with my hair even more. I tried swatting his hand away, but he merely grabbed that hand and pinned it above my head, where he continued to mess with my hair. I tried to stop him with my other hand, but he locked that in his grasp too. I huffed in annoyance before, with a quick burst of strength, I got free of his grasp and locked my arms around the back of his neck, pulling his head down to mine for a kiss. He seemed mildly surprised by this at first, but his eager response soon erased his surprise.

I pulled him down further on top of me as he rested most of his weight on his arms at my sides. He kissed me with a fiery passion that I eagerly returned; I'd waited for what felt like forever to kiss him. No matter how much I tried, the need to kiss him just never went away. I deepened the kiss and his response was just as willing. After a while (we can never figure out how long) I pulled back from him to breathe. We both lay there, staring into each other's bright eyes, smiling and panting for air.

I softly but firmly pushed Andrew over so he was lying beside me and scooted over so I was lying on his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and I began to do something similar to his purring earlier. Mine was more like a throaty hum though; nearly silent, but you could feel the vibrations, and I could still hear it. Andrew lied still for a moment and sat up a smidge, his forehead against the back of my head. After a moment he chuckled and I stopped my throaty hum to ask "What?"

He chuckled again. "We're like a bunch of cats. We both purr!" he said, laughing a little. I smiled and laughed too.

"Mine is more of a... how to explain it. A throaty hum I suppose? Something you would hear from a large animal, like a bear or a wolf. I find it quite soothing actually." I told him. He laughed loudly for a moment before pulling me up to sit in front of him. I grinned sheepishly at him and he poked my nose playfully.

"Don't fret, I'm not laughing at you." He said, smiling broadly. I smiled a small smile back. Looking around my room, I caught sight of my little black bag and remembered one of the things inside of it. I pulled on Andrew's arm a little, a silent way of telling him to let go. He released me and I hopped off the bed and ran across the room to the bag. I grabbed it and opened the main zipper, reaching for a pouch in the bottom. I pulled out the small stone elephant my mom had gotten me and stared at it for a moment.

I held it enclosed in my fist as I walked back towards Andrew, who was watching with a curious expression from the bed. I hopped up and sat in front of him, where he immediately wrapped his arms around me and leaned me back onto his chest. I knew he was doing it to be a silent supporter. He put his head on my shoulder to stare at my tightly closed fist. I didn't want to look at that beautiful elephant again, but I knew I had to.

I slowly opened my hand to reveal the elephant standing in the center of my palm without a scratch. Andrew and I stared at it for a moment before he quietly asked "Do I get to hear the story?"

I nodded my head, but before answering, I asked him "Did it not say why I was put into foster care on that website?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "It didn't say. We thought it would." I sighed.

"One day, back when I was fourteen, I was at home in Arnold, Missouri. My friends had all been fighting with each other for weeks and it was giving me a head ache. I went to the kitchen for a snack and looked out the back window at the woods. Out of the bushes, four guys in dark clothing crept into our backyard and onto the back porch. They opened the screen door, pulled out a screwdriver, and kicked down the door. My mom shoved me in my room, telling me to block the door and escape through my window, which was luckily on ground level. I grabbed some quick stuff and dashed outside, running down the hill to the creek to hide.

"After about ten minutes, I heard the sirens. Running back up the hill, I saw my house up in smoke. The robbers made it out Alive and got caught, but my parents burned to ash. I then moved in with my grandmother. My friends tried to support me, but when I didn't respond to them, they became my worst enemies. I never did anything, just kept myself Alive and healthy. I had no friends, not much stuff, and was depressed for the next two and a half years. The only thing I found joy in was my flute paying. When my grandmother would go to the city, she'd take me to the library where I'd go to a populated place to play my flute for money.

"Finally, one night, my grandmother came to admit to me that she couldn't stand seeing me anymore, so she wanted me to go to a foster care center. I agreed and moved in there, where I met my best friend and brother, Damien. After my first day there, I began to come Alive again. It was wonderful to live among people. After a little more than half a year there, you guys came, and my life has been better ever since." I concluded. Andrew nodded, watching me with sympathy showing in his eyes.

"So, what's so special about the elephant?" he asked quietly.

"The elephant was a gift from my parents. They gave it to me when I was about ten. I remember that night. Right before bed, they called me into their room, and I hopped up on their bed where they pulled out a small package. I opened it, and inside was the beautiful carved elephant. They said they saw it and thought of me, so they bought it. That elephant had sat in my room for years after that, a constant memory of their love." I told him. He nodded his head slowly. He cuddled me tightly to his chest, smoothing down my hair in gentle, rhythmic strokes and murmuring sweet nothings in my ear.

I cuddled into him, remembering all the happy memories I shared with my parents. I thought back to how much I had loved my family and my home; they meant the world to me. For a long time, the two of us just sat there in a comforting Embrace. After a while Andrew loosened his arms a little and leaned back onto the pillows, pulling me with him so I was lying on his chest. He then continues to rub my arms. A few minutes later he began planting soft, delicate kisses along my neck.

I sighed in content. I was feeling much better. The pain from losing my parents was almost gone, and I had Andrew to thank for that. I snuggled deeper, if possible, into his arms and rested my arms over the top of his, rubbing his wrist with my thumb slowly.

I glanced over at my alarm clock and saw with surprise it was three in the afternoon. Wow, how time flies. I knew the others were back by now, probably eagerly waiting for us downstairs. I huffed in annoyance. Nosy children. Andrew glanced down at me with his eyebrows raised and I muttered "Stupid pesky teenagers."

He laughed and the tension in the air from earlier's conversation disappeared, replaced by light happiness. I suddenly had a strange thought.

"Do you guys have wolves in the woods out here?" I asked him. He nodded.

"We can hear them howling when the moon comes up. Why?" he asked.

"I want to howl with them; it's fun." I told him, grinning. He grinned back.

"Alright. When the moon rises, we'll howl with the wolves!" he said, laughing. I laughed too. I wiggled out of his Embrace and hopped down from the bed, going to put the elephant on my desk. When I turned around, I lifted my eyebrows at Andrew, who was still laying there. He raised his eyebrows right back.

"Come on cowboy, we might as well get this over with." I told him. He sighed, rolling his eyes, and I heard him mutter "Stupid pesky teenagers."

I laughed loudly and he laughed with me, hopping down from the bed. He came over to me and wrapped me in his arms, holding me to him tightly. He pulled back just enough to look down into my eyes and kiss my sweetly, to which I responded just as softly. Our last kiss lingered between us before we slowly pulled away. Smiling, I wrapped my hand in his and pulled away from him, my eyes never leaving his.

I pulled him along behind me as we made our way downstairs. When we got to the corner, I glanced around the side of it sneakily to see all the teenagers in the living room. The boys were playing Xbox and the girls were sitting on the sofa, chatting. I pulled back from the corner and gave Andrew one more kiss before pulling both of us into view. Hand in hand, we walked down the stairs into the living room, where the others were sitting. At our approach, everyone's heads turned our way. I glared at Damien. He grinned apologetically, looking abashed.

Ignoring their stares, I pulled Andrew to the couch and I sat beside the girls, Andrew on my other side. I leaned into his side, and cringed back further into him as Evelyn stuck her nosy little pixie face right up to me with a creepily bright smile. I quickly crawled backward over Andrew's lap so I was on his other side with my legs in his lap. He glared at Evelyn and she squealed very loudly. She flung herself at me and embraced me in a death hug, repeating "I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!"

I pushed Evelyn away and she continued to squeal and bounce in place from her spot on the sofa. Georgiana winked at me and I sighed in relief. Now for the boys. I glanced over at them and Damien was smiling, while Brandon and Thomas still looked confused. Thomas got it first and asked "Andrew?"

"Yeah Tom?" he asked, sounding nonchalant. Tom grinned at him and Andrew grinned right back. Tom glanced over and gave me a playful wink. I smiled at him and then glanced over at the still-confused Brandon.

"I don't get it!" he said loudly into the silent room. Everyone burst into laughter except for the still confused and now annoyed Brandon. Georgiana got off the sofa and came to sit next to him.

"Aw, come on baby, it isn't that hard to figure out." she said, giving him a quick, heated kiss on the lips before she pulled back with a teasing smile. His eyes lit up and I could see the cogs turning in his head.

"Oh! I get it! Congratulations Anny-boy!" he said, grinning from ear to ear. Andrew glared at him for calling him that, but it wasn't menacing. I poked him in the side and he glanced down at me. His menacing glare immediately softened into a small smile. I smiled softly back and glanced around at all the faces in the room. Evelyn continued to jump up and down, when she suddenly stopped and got serious, saying "Explain."

I sighed and flipped my legs off of Andrew's lap and back onto the floor. I gave Andrew a swift kiss on the cheek before hopping off the sofa and walking upstairs. Georgiana and Evelyn quickly followed. When we got to Evelyn's room, she opened the door and shooed us in. She closed and locked it behind her, then went to sit on her huge fluffy pink bedspread with Georgiana. I jumped up and sat next to them, preparing myself for the onslaught of questions.

"Alright, start at the beginning. From the first moment you began to notice you liked him until now. Explain everything." she demanded. I sighed and began to tell them about my relationship with Andrew. As I wove through the tale, their expressions were constantly shifting from one thing to another. When I told them about how I got into foster care, they both hugged me softly before letting me finish. After I was finished, I sat in silence, waiting for their responses.

Evelyn and Geo looked at each other before squealng loudly together and bouncing up and down. We all joined hands and continued to jump up and down excitedly.

"This is perfect! Now he won't be the fifth wheel! Although Damien will be the seventh wheel... we'll fix that one later. But otherwise this is absolutely great!" she said. I laughed at her. She was so funny sometimes. Realizing we were done, I started to go downstairs back to Andrew. The girls followed me. When we got down there, all four of them were playing a video game on the GameCube, and Andrew was losing big time. It took me a total of two seconds to realize what game they were playing and to squeal loudly myself.

I rushed over to sit by Andrew and quickly asked "May I play?" I was overly excited. They were playing 007 Night fire, my favorite GameCube game. Brandon raised an eyebrow at me as he paused the game.

"You know how to play 007 Shorty?" he asked, using a nickname that I thought was funny, but still hated.

"You betcha. My cousin Cassie and I used to play this all the time. We kicked all our other cousin's butts every time." I stated proudly. The boys all shrugged and Andrew handed me his controller. Brandon started a new game in Skyrail with sentinels as the special weapon and I grinned. They couldn't win now. I got on top of the MI6 base with a sentinel and hit them every time they came in sight. After a total of three minutes, I had gotten the 20 points required and won. I put my controller down on the floor and grinned impishly at the boys, who were all staring at me open-mouthed.

Brandon suddenly enveloped me in a huge crushing hug, swinging me around and saying "I knew you were cool! You're my new favorite sister Shorty!" I laughed and he laughed too, putting me back on the floor. I swayed a little, extremely dizzy after Brandon's hug. Andrew quickly got up off the floor and steadied me. I laughed lightly and said "I'm a little bit dizzy."

Andrew laughed and pulled me down on the floor in his arms. I sat between his legs and spent the next hour playing 007 with the other three boys, constantly winning. The entire time Andrew watched with a quiet smile, constantly kissing the back of my neck, playing with my hair, rubbing my arms, or peppering the side of my face with kisses. It was extremely distracting and he knew it.

When he, yet again, began to plant slow kisses on my neck, I growled menacingly at him and he glanced up at me in surprise.

"What happened to your beautiful throaty hum? I liked it better." he said, teasing. I growled menacingly again when his lips touched my neck. He chuckled quietly at me and ignored my growls. After a few minutes, he began to massage my shoulders and my throaty hum made itself known. I would have stopped him for distracting me, but his hands felt good. I continued to play and succeeded in winning again before I called it quits and said I was going upstairs.

Andrew followed me upstairs and into my room. Instead of hopping on my bed like I usually did, I went to my round window and opened it, climbing out onto my tiny mini balcony. Andrew followed me out through the window and sat on the railing opposite me. I stared out at the treetops and watched the birds fly around. In the distance I could see Faran running through a field of flowers happily.

"That was totally and completely unfair you know." I told Andrew. He knew what I was talking about.

"Yeah, I know." he said, grinning. I couldn't help grinning a little too.

"I hate it when you tease me." I said quietly, almost hoping he wouldn't hear. I mentally scolded myself. Now he'll tease you more!

"Oh really? You absolutely hate being teased? Hmm." he said, pretending to think. I rolled my eyes and leaned back against the house, enjoying the sun. I was aware of Andrew's moving closer to me. I could feel when his light breath was upon my skin, and knew his lips were hovering above mine, unsure. I stretched up a little and kissed him softly before settling back down. I opened my eyes to see him hovering over me, watching me. I grinned slightly and wrapped my arms around his neck, lowering his face to mine so I could kiss him again.

For a while we sat there, kissing softly. When he pulled back he had a strange tinkle in his eyes. I raised an eyebrow at him before he crashed his lips back down on mine hungrily, his throat emitting its purring sound. I hummed in response and kissed him back with the same fervor, deepening the kiss. After a minute he slowed to small, soft kisses and then pulled back, watching me with loving eyes. I watched him back; I couldn't bear to look away.

After a moment he moved to sit back on the other railing, his eyes still never leaving mine. Finally, he tore his gaze from mine to look out across the plains. I smiled. It was amazing how easily Andrew and I understood each other. Andrew dropped his feet off the railing so they were dangling at his sides and I got up to sit in front of him. As I sat down he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled my body closer into his, rubbing his nose along the back of my neck. I took a deep breath of the fresh air. Today things were good.