To celebrate the announcement that there will be a series 4 of Wolfblood, I thought I'd better update. I know it has taken forever but I promise to finish writing the next couple of chapters as soon as possible.

I hope you like it. As always, please review!

Indigofrog :)


Worries, Outrage, Eyes

Tap, tap, tap. Rhydian couldn't keep still. He'd already been told off for whistling, doodling and drumming his fingers on the table. Even now he could see a glare emerging on Mr Jefferies' face as he noticed Rhydian tapping his pencil on the table.

The boy stopped and dropped it into the spine of his exercise book. From the stuffy classroom, Rhydian could see the row of trees which marked the forest. Was Maddy in there somewhere? For the last week, he had spent every waking moment that he wasn't supposed to be involved in school or family life scouring the wilderness for her.

He was worried that everyone was giving up. Even Maddy's parents were saying to stop - if Maddy didn't want to be found, then they'd have no chance. Emma had found him searching the woods and told him not to waste his time.

But he couldn't stop. Not now, not ever.

He leaned back and stretched his arms behind him, oblivious to the lesson.

"Mr Morris, is that a hand up I can see?" Mr Jefferies smiled cockily. "So can you give us a reason why the Weimar Republic failed?"

Rhydian sighed. He couldn't even remember what the Weimar Republic was. "Was is because..?" Drifting his eyes outside to the open field beyond them, Rhydian prayed for inspiration, even if it came in the form of a note from Shannon.

Eyes of his fellow classmates burned into his skull: he knew Jimi and his mates would be sniggering in the corner and felt the breeze that rippled through the air as Shannon and Kara's hands shot up.

Please ask one of them, Rhydian begged. Please.

"I'm waiting, Rhydian. Were you even paying attention? You will never learn if your friends just bail you out all the time so we'll all just wait for you to answer."

The wolfblood turned and glared at Jefferies.

"You will never amount to anything if you do not apply yourself, Rhydian, you need to-"

"I need to find Maddy."

The class was shocked into silence.

"She's been missing over a week and you've done nothing about it, except what? Conduct assemblies and have us all interviewed by police and pin up posters like she is a lost dog!"

Rhydian jumped out of his seat, scowling at Jefferies, staring him down.

"Cool it, Rhydian," said Tom from beside him. He gripped Rhydian's wrist to subtly point out the rivers of black ink flowing through his hot, raging veins.

Rhydian shook the human off. "We should all be out there, looking for her now. Even then, we'd never find her but we have to try." He turned to the class. "And you lot, you're just as bad as him, you sit and watch and pretend to worry. And yet you call yourselves her friends."

"Rhydian," warned Shannon.

"You're no better," snapped Rhydian, whizzing around and pointing at Shannon. "She was supposed to be your friend. Sure, she left you but you still guarded her secret. Its your fault she ever got this far."

"Rhydian!"Shannon and Tom said simultaneously. "Rhydian."

By now, the black rash had spread up his arms like a disease, poking out from under his collar. Flakes of yellow flickered among his pupils. Shannon and Tom shared a worried glance.

He was on the brink of transforming.

The only person known to bring him back now was...Maddy.

Jefferies, unaware of the danger, held out a calming hand to Rhydian. "Listen Rhydian, I know you're upset, we all are but-"

"You know nothing!" His black hands clenched the edge of the table and let go with such force and speed that the table flipped over, crashing to the floor with a bang. None of you do, otherwise you'd be doing something to help. You'd be out there now, searching."

Shannon's chair scraped against the cold classroom floor. "Rhydian," she said slowly. "Calm down. We'll find Maddy, but right now, she doesn't want to be found and I don't think that even you could find her now. Not if she wants to be alone."

The blood of the wolf drained from his neck and hands as Rhydian breathed out.

Cautiously, she placed a tentative hand on his shoulder. "Rhydian."

"No!" He yelled suddenly, shaking Shannon's skittish hand away. "We have to keep trying, we have to-"

A scream erupted from the mouth of Kay.

All of them turned to look at her.

She was frozen: her mouth wide in horror; her eyes open in shock; her finger outstretched, pointing at the window.

Everyone turned their heads to the view of the field.

Two eyes, looking out of a muddy face, stared back out at them.

"Maddy," breathed Rhydian.

Tatty, unwashed hair hung in tangled knots around her face. The majority of her skin was covered in streaks of dirt but the face beneath was a pasty white. What could be seen of her clothes was just as mucky and torn in places. A violent, inflamed scar ran from the edge of her left eye to the corner of her mouth.

Wide, wild eyes were fixed open, looking directly at Rhydian. Traces of a glistening gold were scattered in them, blinking savagely in the sun's rays as they bounced of the window.

Time seemed to stop as her eyes dived into Rhydian's, desperately trying to communicate.

Without warning, her head whipped around to glare at a noise behind her. For a second she looked back, caught Rhydian's eye, and then, she was gone.

Before his eyes could follow them, something else caught their attention.

They gazed out past the path, past the field and out to the tree line of the forest.

"There's something out there," remarked Tom.

"Not something," corrected Shannon. "Someone."

Rhydian took a step forward and squinted into the distance. The person was running at full speed towards the school, ferocious hair trailing in the wind behind them.

He gasped. "Ceri."