Chapter 17

Maddy and Rhydian didn't have to speak. They knew each other by heart after so long. Rhydian circled to the right, keeping his eyes locked on the shapeshifter while the two Maddys remained stationary, their matching glares meeting. Maddy didn't move an inch. She didn't dare give anything away and she could tell her predecessor had the same idea. In fact, the other Maddy was shifting again, her form shrinking as her hair darkened and her face reformed. In seconds, Maddy was left looking at a mirror image of herself.

"You could have been spectacular. A true Wolfblood. You could have been someone to be proud of." Off to her right, Maddy heard Rhydian and the other shapeshifter engage, shifting into their wolf forms and meeting in a furious clash of fangs and claws. Inwardly, she cursed. The sound she'd tricked him into hearing had been created by Sarah and designed to disable his shapeshifting abilities. Unfortunately, he could still use his wolf. She didn't dare take her eyes off the female shapeshifter though, in case she made a move. Meanwhile, the shapeshifter in front of her had resumed her Shannon disguise.

"We were supposed to be your best friends. For years, you treated us like idiots. The one thing I wanted in the world, you kept it so close but just out of reach." The fake Shannon struck without warning. Maddy barely managed to duck out of the way in time. She'd fallen for a shapeshifter- probably this one judging by the smug grin on her face- using Shannon's likeness and sucker-punching her when she got close. She was damned if she was making the same mistake twice. Unfortunately, she hadn't had the level of training that these shapeshifters seemed to have. She was a competent enough fighter that she could help Tom learn when the right time was to flip Jimi, but she'd been totally floored by both of these shapeshifters at least once. Rhydian and Tom hadn't done much better and as she glanced sideways she saw history repeating itself as Rhydian was driven backwards by his opponent.

"Your future hinges upon this fight!" The shapeshifter launched a kick that caught Rhydian squarely in the chest and sent him flying backwards. He managed to twist and land on all fours, his eyes glowing furiously. That was when Maddy noticed something: the shapeshifter Rhydian was fighting wasn't shapeshifting! He hadn't tried to change form once! Sarah's experimental frequency had worked. That would make Rhydian's life a lot easier.

Her relief was short-lived, however. She was snapped back into the moment as a punch hit her hard in the side as the other Maddy laid into her, still fully disguised as Shannon. She hadn't been concentrating and she was paying for it as the Wolfblood she was up against quickly gained the upper hand. She knew where the breaks in her opponent's defences were and when to strike. That instinct came naturally to a Wolfblood. But what she didn't have was any training in how to strike those openings. Not in human form, anyway. Her opponent knew that and had clearly been groomed and trained her whole life.

"Poor performance indeed, 'Maddy'!" The mocking tone the other Wolfblood used, made worse since it was in her best friend's voice, cut her even more savagely than the punch had. Her rage mounting, Maddy managed to deflect the oncoming blow as the fake Shannon moved in with a speed too fast for any human to perceive. She brought the heel of her palm upwards just as the other girl moved in and it was followed by a sickening crunch as her opponent's teeth snapped together. Other Maddy recoiled as Shannon's form rippled from the shock. It began to twist and change as she resumed her original blonde-haired form that stood considerably taller than Maddy. "Okay, I admit it. You're starting to get annoying. You're a stubborn cow, aren't you?"

"Ask anyone." Maddy glared at her opponent as the two of them continued to circle. Just off her eyeline, she caught sight of Rhydian again. The shapeshifter threw him on the ground and stamped on his chest pinning him for a second. Rhydian responded by bringing his fist up and nailing the other Wolfblood on the back of the kneecap. It staggered him enough that Rhydian was able to roll over enough that he could slip free and then bring a foot up, connecting with his adversary's ribs. She knew he had it well in hand and wasn't going to be stupid enough to let it distract her again. She snapped her focus back to what she was doing just as the other girl moved in to attack her again.

The shot was so silent that not even the Wolfbloods heard it. As the other Maddy moved in to attack, she faltered for a split second. As Maddy used that time to put some ground between them and give herself some breathing room, her own bruises beginning to scream in pain as the adrenaline rush subsided, the blonde girl began swearing under her breath. As Maddy watched, she ripped a dart out from her side and stared at it in wonder for a few seconds. At that exact moment, Maddy noticed that Rhydian's opponent had also stopped fighting. He'd pulled out the dart that was lodged in his leg and was also staring at it. Suddenly, Other Maddy fell backwards. She hit the ground unceremoniously as the dart rolled from between her fingers. The other shapeshifter noticed and tried to run over to help her. Unfortunately his legs couldn't support him as the sedative took effect and he was dumped onto his face with a loud thump.

Maddy and Rhydian raced to each other on pure instinct, fighting the urge to desperately embrace each other and instantly going back-to-back, scanning the surrounding area as their wolf vision lit the area up like it was mid day even in the pitch black night. Even with their eyesight, they were only able to pick up a slight distortion as someone emerged from the tree line. More distortions joined it as they moved towards the teen wolves. Gradually they were able to pick out features of the entities, making out arm movements and the basic shapes of their helmets as they each made the same movement to press a button on each of their wrists.

"Hey, there's no need for that." The first figure they'd spotted de-cloaked as his helmet slid up to reveal his face. He was quite handsome, probably in his early thirties with olive skin and a slight accent. Maddy couldn't guess where it was from, though. "If we were here for you, we'd have put you out long ago. We just came here for the abominations."

"You can't be serious!" Maddy protested. "She-"

"You've both done beautifully." The other Wolfblood held up a hand to cut her off. She sent a blazing glare his way but if it registered at all with him then he did a great job of hiding it. "Fun's over, kids. Let the adults take it from here. I'll have two of my guys here see you home while we bag and tag these two."

"But she-" Maddy tried again, but was infuriated when Rhydian was the one to cut her off this time. As much as she loved him, she could have cheerfully smacked him in that moment.

"Look, we're grateful for the save and everything; but after the day we've had we'd at least like to know who's watching our backs."

"I understand that." The Wolfblood nodded as his helmet slid down again and he grabbed a set of restraints, bending down to begin securing the female shapeshifter. "Unfortunately that's classified, mate."