A/N: I have now updated! I had soooo much homework... It's almost the holidays, though, so I'll be able to write more.

Maddy hurt. She hurt all over. But specifically in her right hand. A deep hole had been shot through, and somewhere in there lay a silver bullet, slowly poisoning her. The hand was going to go numb, Maddy knew, but somehow it didn't bother her much. Nothing really did. It was strange, she thought, staring up at the wooden roof of the shed Jana had found, but everything seemed to spin. Maddy almost smiled, it was so ridiculous, but her lips hurt, so she didn't. Somewhere to her right Jana and Rhydian were arguing, but their voices were faint. Maddy closed her eyes, willing her pounding headache to go away.

"Maddy?" someone asked, and she cracked open an eyelid. Rhydian stood before her, blurry and spinning. "We're going to get a vet, alright?" A vet. Maddy supposed that the word should've made her scared, but it didn't. "And we need you in wolf form. Can you do that?"

The words cut through Maddy's haze of pain, and she nodded. Concentrating, she forced her bones to change, fur to sprout and within the second, she was a wolf. Her hand -paw- still hurt though. Jana and Rhydian picked her up, making her head hurt even more. Everything felt very fuzzy. Jana was talking again, but Maddy was too tired to listen. She was so tired.


Jana sat on a paint-tin, next to the small table. Rhydian stood next to the table, his worry clear. He twisted his hands, unclenching and clenching his fists. The vet had laid a cloth over Maddy, who was now asleep. Jana had never been more terrified for someone in her life. She was shaking and close to tears. She's not dead. Jana said to herself, but couldn't help adding Not yet. The vet dug a bit more into Maddy's paw, trying to reach the bullet. If the wound proved too deep, she had said, the only choice left was to cut off the paw. Jana's skin crawled at that very thought. The next few minutes were nerve-racking, broken by the occasional clink of the metal vet instruments that seemed more suited to some medieval dungeon. The vet, thankfully, hadn't questioned the fact that a wolf -a species extinct in England for over a century- was lying on a table in an abandoned shed. The most she had done was raise her eyebrows curiously and then open her vet box. Jana stuck her head in her hands, hoping that the bullet hadn't poisoned Maddy beyond repair. Jana knew from the one time -so long ago- a cub had been shot by a farmer, that a normal bullet didn't poison the victim that quickly, and suspected the bullet shot at Maddy was silver. It was just like Liam, to go off and hunt "werewolves" with silver bullets and a musket. Jana wiped a tear away and looked up. This was not Alpha material. She needed to be strong and brave, like Maddy. She's more an Alpha than me Jana realised, and suddenly the horror at what Liam had done tripled.

The vet let out a little "Aha!" and smiled triumphantly.

"What?" Rhydian asked, close to panicking completely.

"The bullet." She said, "I can see it. If I can just get it out…"

Jana and Rhydian held their breath, watching the vet. A minute passed, then another. Finally, she held up a little, shiny object, perfectly round and covered in blood. Jana flinched backwards. She remembered about three years back, when Aran had come into contact with silver when he was out on a trip with Alric. The scars hadn't faded one bit. The vet studied it, her eyebrows drawing together. She looked at Maddy, then again at the bullet.

"Silver…" she said curiously. Rhydian fidgeted, eager to draw the vet's attention away from that particular line of thought.

"Don't you have to stitch her up again?" Jana asked, a tad harsher than she meant to be. The vet nodded, put the bullet down, and began to stitch Maddy's paw up. The needle passed through the flesh and Jana cringed. I would never be a healer, she thought. She looked away. A while later, the vet stood up, and started talking to them about how to make sure the "wolf" was healthy. Jana faded the vet's voice out, and waited until the vet had left the shed. Jana stood up and moved closer to Maddy.

"Is she still asleep?" she asked Rhydian. He was about to answer when Maddy's eyes started to open. With squeals of joy and relief, Rhydian and Jana embraced Maddy in a crushing hug.

"We were so scared." Rhydian said, as Maddy transformed back into human form.

"Well, that's nice." she replied, wincing. "You didn't have any faith in me at all, did you?"

The three of them started to laugh, as the happiness of a great worry being lifted off their shoulders overcame them. Jana was grinning ear to ear.


An hour later, the three of them stood by the edge of the roadside. They had stopped smiling, their mood grim and sullen. No cars had passed it since they had been there. The sky was grey and big fat raindrops fell from the clouds. Maddy watched them, trying to keep her mind off of the throbbing pain in her hand. At least it was only her hand that hurt now. The world wasn't spinning, either.

"So what are we going to do?" Rhydian asked, chucking up his hands. "We can't stay here, and we can't go back to Stonybridge."

"Why not?" Jana looked at him in bewilderment. Maddy raised her eyebrows.

"Too many humans. Liam had cameras, Jana. You know what Liam's like. He'll have shown the video to everyone by now. If- if we go back to Stonybridge, we'll be hunted…" Maddy faltered, seeing understanding dawn on Jana's face.

"And we'll never hear the end of it." she said softly. Then she frowned, an angry glint in her eye. "We have to do something!" Jana crossed her arms. "We can't just run!"

"And what do you suppose we do?" Maddy snapped. Jana sighed, brushing away a few raindrops.

"We go back? Steal the cameras? Intimidate Liam? We don't know Liam released the videos, do we?"

Rhydian stepped forwards.

"Jana, think about it. Liam probably did. Even if he hasn't, and we go back, he'll just get more evidence. More videos, more evidence… We'll be turned into lab-rats."

Jana's eyes filled with anger, but it was obvious she wouldn't risk it. Jana knew the difference between brave and foolish. Maddy looked up at the sky and the rain. It was hard to believe that less than 24 hours ago, she had hardly a care in the world. Her hand continued to throb.

Rhydian got his phone out of his pocket.

"What're you doing?" Maddy snapped, staring at the phone as if it might explode.

"Relax." He said, pressing the screen. "I'm ringing Tom."

Maddy breathed outwards in relief. The phone rang. It kept ringing. Finally, an annoyed Rhydian hung up.

"He's not answering."

"We figured that." Said Maddy sharply. She began to panic again, her breath quick and shallow. "Why didn't you think about that earlier?"

"In case you didn't notice, you were half dead. I was stressed, okay?"

The two glared at each other, silently daring their opponent to retort. Maddy looked away, though she could feel her veins turning black.

"Call Shannon." She said finally.

Jana started to fidget.

Rhydian rang, but the result was the same.

"Nothing!" he was about to stick his phone in his pocket when he stopped. He frowned.

"What?" Jana asked, her eyes wide.

"Your parents." Rhydian turned to Maddy. Her heart nearly stopped beating. "Your parents

-we have to warn them. If Liam or someone else comes around-"

Maddy felt her eyes go yellow and she stuck her head in her hands. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening. Her parents! Mum, dad! What were they going to do? What was she going to do? Not go back to Stonybridge, and she couldn't survive in a garden shed. Suddenly, a thought struck her, and she lifted her head out of her hands.

"Jana's pack." She said suddenly. Both Rhydian and Jana looked confused.

"What?" they said in unison.

"Jana's pack." Maddy repeated it. "We can go to Jana's pack. We can tell mum and dad about it too, so they can come."

Rhydian started to text Maddy's parents. Jana thought about it, staring up the sky.

"They'll have to accept you." The red headed girl said at last. She seemed resigned to the fact that the secret was out, making Maddy wonder whether she'd had to move because of humans before. "It'll take time, though. We can't run there -you need all the strength you have."

Maddy sighed, mentally cursing Liam and his stupid silver bullets.

"D'you know which way the pack is?" Rhydian asked, spinning around, staring at the expanse of trees before them. Jana twisted her head and wrinkled her nose a bit, before nodding, and began walking away from the road.

"Follow me." She said simply.

Maddy turned, looking back at the last piece of the human world she might see for days, before hurrying after Jana and Rhydian. Her hand was still hurting.


A/N: Hope you liked reading! Please review!

Thank-you!

:P