A/N: Thank you all for taking time to read my story. This story was inspired by the story 'The Best of Me', written by a talented author named MrsRen. If you are a fan of Harry Potter, I encourage you to check out her work.

This story is AU (alternate universe). It is set after series 3 and does not incorporate series 4 or 5. That said, please enjoy 'Through the Clouds'.

Chapter 1: Case Closed

Rhydian could feel the biting cold, his paws kicking up snow as he feverishly searched for the one person he couldn't wait to finally see. He clambered over some rocks floating amongst the sea of heavy snow, the day falling away into evening.

There.

There bounding down the hillside was Maddy. Rhydian felt as if a surge of electricity coursed through his body, and he pushed himself even harder to meet her. Slowing to a stop, the two Wolfbloods nuzzled each other, breathing in the scent of the other.

The young Wolfblood blinked away the sleep and let the dream slink away into the farthest reaches of his mind. Looking over at his alarm clock, he checked the time. He rubbed his face and stretched. He pulled the quilt away and swung his legs over the side of his bed. Jumping to his feet and feeling the cool wood floor of the nook that had been converted into a second bedroom just a year prior by Daniel and Emma Smith, Rhydian exhaled in a determined way. 'Today. Today will be the day I get answers,' he thought to himself.

Rhydian changed and moved through his typical morning routine before leaving his room and greeting his mother, Ceri, and his father, Gerwyn. Gerwyn was seated at the small wooden dining table in which Rhydian recalled many times joining the Smith family for supper. Gerwyn was casually perusing the newspaper when he heard Rhydian sit with a purpose next him. Ceri was was washing a dish, when she reprimanded her son, "Slow down, cub. You are going to choke. The food is already dead, it ain't going anywhere."

At this Gerwyn peered over the paper. "Rhydian . . ."

"Don't," he forced through a mouthful of sausage. Rhydian was readying to shovel some toast into his near full mouth, "It will be different today." Rhydian saw his mother's shoulders droop, and heard his father exhale noisily through his nose, but thankfully, neither said anything. Swallowing the last remaining pieces of breakfast and chugging it down with fresh orange juice, he patted his father's shoulders and waved to his mother before leaving the small farmhouse.

Rhydian exited from the black cab and pulled his wool coat tighter to him, the fall season making its present known. Taking in the sheer size of Segolia's corporate building, he took a moment to gather himself. Strolling into main lobby, the blonde made it to the elevators on the right. Purely on muscle memory, he selected level 12 and waited. For a company studying such advanced sciences as manipulating the DNA of Wolfbloods to help cure illnesses, he thought the elevator would move more quickly. At this rate, he could have easily made it to Dacia's office faster by foot. As if a shotgun had sounded to a race, the elevator binged and Rhydian exploded out of the lift and immediately sped off down the hall toward the External Affairs Department, also known to certain members to house the WICU Office (Wolfblood Incident Containment Office).

He was just about to open the glass double doors when a voice called him. "Rhydian?"

The young man whirled around to spot his friend, Jana coming up beside him. Rhydian released the door and let it slowly close. Standing outside the office, Jana looked quizzically at him. "I didn't know you were back? How was your trip?" he asked.

"It was fine. Didn't go quite how I wanted, though," she reported, which he half-expected. Jana was recruited by Dacia shortly after the incident with Alex Kincaid to help quell other flare ups in the Wolfblood community; whether it be to help a pack that had been discovered or dissolve a threat to Wolfbloods, themselves. Because of the sensitive nature of the cases and to protect those involved, she often couldn't share details. As much as he didn't like to have secrets between them, he respected the nature of the business she was involved. Plus, she seemed to thoroughly enjoy what she was doing and was at peace, having found a purpose and a pack to belong. "What are you dong here?"

"I'm here to see Dacia. It's been month and she hasn't reached out about Maddy and the Smith's whereabouts," Rhydian answered, clearly disgruntled at having to explain his reason for being there, much less having to justify it.

Jana crossed her arms over her chest, her lips pressed in a firm line as she seemed to be in deep thought. "Let's go down to the canteen and grab a bite," she said, turning back to lead him to the elevators.

His eyes moved from her to the doors and back again, deciding if he should follow her or not. He wanted to speak with Dacia, it was all that had been on his mind since the night before when he determined that Segolia had long enough to come up with answers. Ever since Rhydian learned that the Smiths were not in Canada like he had been lead to believe, he couldn't eat, sleep, or think properly. It had been nearly 3 months since that awful discovery and nothing had trickled down to him that they had located the family - his pack.

Rhydian drummed his fingers on his leg as he waited for Jana to pay for her food and join him at the corner table. "Want some?" she offered, seeing he had only grabbed a hot coffee. He shook his head, his leg bouncing up and down impatiently. "Jana, I - "

"Rhydian," she cut off, sympathy laced in her words. "Maddy was my friend too." Sipping her tea, she looked about. "I wouldn't go as far as to say we were the best of friends, but I considered us equals. She has my full respect as a Wolfblood and an alpha," she continued in a hushed tone.

There was many a time that Jana's frankness and direct-to-the-point way of speaking would create problems, but Rhydian wanted nothing else. Leaning in, he quietly implored, "Jana . . ."

Understanding that Rhydian was focused on one thing and one thing only, she exhaled as if having carried a heavy burden. "The case has gone cold," she finally relinquished. He felt like he had been hit by a train, stunned into silence, he merely blinked. "I . . . I'm terribly sorry, Rhydian." Jana took another sip of her tea, her eyes fixated on him.

For a few moments, Rhydian merely existed, nothing - not a single thought seemed to be had. Then, without really thinking, he made his way back to the steps. Somewhere behind him, Jana was calling after him to come back. He took the steps two and then three at a time until he was back at the glass doors. Pleasantries be damned, he rushed pass the receptionist to the far corner of the hall where Dacia's office would be. Entering the room, he was surprised to see it empty. Her scent still present, she hadn't been gone for long.

"Rhydian!" Jana had finally caught up, slightly out of breath, her arms outstretched to barricade him inside. "I know you're upset . . ."

"Upset?" His hands clenched into fists. "I'm not upset, I'm furious, Jana. Now move," he commanded, his face starting to redden with anger. Jana met his growl with her own and proceeded to keep to her post.

As their growling escalated, a voice cut-in. "Rhydian?" The man in question looked passed his friend to see the very woman he expected to meet all morning. "I am under the impression that Jana has broken the news to you."

"Is it really news if nothing new has happened?" he spat. "Are you even trying?"

"Rhydian!" Jana reproached, her voice sounding more hurt than angry. Dacia put her hand up, in her typical composed way, and moved between them, not meeting either ones' eyes and sat in her high-back, leather desk chair. Turning it out to look at the beautiful view from her window, she sighed contently.

Both teens watched the woman get lost in her own thoughts, waiting for her to continue. Dacia gestured for him to sit as Jana closed the door and leaned against it. "Rhydian . . ."

"Where's Maddy? Where's Mr. and Mrs. Smith? What happened?" Question after question rocketed from him. He couldn't restrain himself if he wanted. Dacia patiently allowed Rhydian to rush through his interrogation, until he seemed to tucker himself out. After not taking a single breath for fear he would forget something, he was left panting.

Dacia calmly opened a small refrigerator discreetly hidden under her desk and handed the blonde a bottle of water. "Feel better?" Rhydian didn't answer, just twisted the cap off and emptied half of it in single take. "We don't know anymore from when I last spoke to you, unfortunately . . ." she gave him a look that said she wasn't finished, "What I can confirm is the Smiths did not go to Canada."

"You don't say," Rhydian grumbled, earning a hard shove from the redhead behind him.

"The letters were carefully mailed as to not leave any DNA evidence, and were mailed from Surrey - from someone other than Smiths. These updates were meant to deceive Segolia and were successful until your arrival ruined it." Rhydian's eyes fell to the carpeted floor, making small patterns with his sneakers. The horrible moment replayed in his mind. Him eagerly knocking on the door that night, to find a complete stranger answer it. The subsequent panic that overcame him as he called Segolia to check he had the address right. He wasn't wrong.

"Rhydian," Dacia called his name again, bringing him back to the present. "I sent my best agent to search the area, interview locals, and even meet with some disagreeable Wild Wolfbloods," at this Rhydian realized she had been looking Jana not him.

"So that's where you went," he said more than asked, swiveling in the chair to look at her.

Jana gave a small smile and nodded her head. "I really tried, Rhydian," she whispered.

"I know you did," he answered earnestly.

"At this point, we've run out of leads. No one in our network that we have documented as contacts, both Naturals and Wolfbloods, have heard from them. No transactions were made from the morning that we dropped them off at Heathrow Airport. The last purchase was for 3 coffees and some pastries at Starbucks."

"How did no one find it weird they weren't spending any money?" Rhydian asked, completely dumbfounded by this.

"We don't have the resources to monitor day-to-day transactions. Only when suspicious purchases come up do we intervene."

"And you don't find zero transactions suspicious?"

"We had no reason to look into their finances when we were receiving updates from them regularly. Their case was fairly isolated. Dr. Whitewood was deemed the threat, and once she was "managed", those assigned to their case considered it a successful transfer and the threat nullified. We had no other evidence to prove to the contrary, so no further investigation was conducted."

Rhydian could feel his anger beginning to boil as Dacia finished explaining what happened. Rhydian raked his fingers through his hair as he tried to remember to keep his temper in check. "What about Alex Kincaid?"

"We don't suspect he had anything to do with this."

"The man tried to destroy us!"

"He's also dead," Dacia said, her voice raising as she slammed her hands down, her fingers starting to pale from the pressure she was expelling not to lose her own composure.

"Dead?"

Rhydian's brows knitted together. For a split second he wondered if his thoughts had slipped out his mouth, but alas, Jana was the one that had asked. Her one hand that had been resting on Rhydian's shoulder in both a way of comfort and control, fell slack by her side.

"Yes, he died shortly after capture. . . we're not sure what the cause was from, so to speak, but we don't suspect foul play," she added at the last minute.

Rhydian searched Jana's face, and she too, was at a loss for words. The man that had nearly succeeded at ending her entire pack was given reprieve of his crimes by divine intervention. "What about his associate?" she forced out, closing her eyes to stop from crying.

"Dead too," Dacia confirmed, clasping her hands together on the desk. "I'm very sorry . . . both of you . . ."

Walking out of the headquarters for Segolia, he pulled his collar up as the wind bustled through and seemed to pelt any brave individual who dared to venture outside with hard, unforgiving rain.

"Rhydian!" The young man, feeling numb from what he had just been told, continued to look for a cab. "Rhydian, please wait!" In spite of wanting to just take off and never stop running, he turned around to face her. "I won't stop, you know that, right?" She was trying to pull rogue strands of hair off her face as the rain quickly drenched her. She blinked rapidly, trying in a futile effort to see through the downpour. "Rhydian?"

He didn't know if he was just lying to her or both of them, but he bobbed his head up and down. "I know," he said softly. "Me too."

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