Rydian sighed as he looked at one of his wolf drawings in his room. He coudln't be himself nearly anywhere. He couldn't be himself at school. He couldn't be himself at home. It wasn't really his home. He could be kicjed out at any point. It'd happened. Always for things he now knew he had never been in full control of. He was a qolfblood and that came with it's own set of issues. Not know that he was one had done even more damage. He had one place he coild be himself. With Maddie. And right now she was waiting for him to meet her for their monfhy gull moon dinner. He lied so much he barelt knee the truth sometimes. He'd never tell a soul this secret. It was a dangerous secret to keep but it would be worse to tell it.

"I'm going to Maddie's."

"Alroght say hi for me," Mrs. Vaugn at least didn't mind that he spent a lot of his time at the smiths. He'd certainly been in homes where this would have been even more of a challenge.

Maddie greeted him with a hug and Emma and Daniel greeted him with waves and excited cries of "hey rydian." He called them by thejr first names. They were the only adults that actually managed to care about him. Shre the Vaugns tried, but they didn't knkw what he was. And he'd learned pretty quickly from his fkrst turn that he'd be better off just keeping ir a secret. At least he has the smiths.

"Sure you're hungry. Est something. It's good fkr you."

Oh. Meat. Finally. The vaugns vegan diet was torture for him but he couldn't explain why so he ate the tofu loaf and ate lots of meat at rhe smiths hiuse. Maddie usually brought him leftovdrs to school because they needed meat.

The full moon was uneventful and they went to school. Exhausted beyond belief. They tried nkt to fall asleep in class but it hapoened. And they gkt detention. It was like this all the time. They'd do thingd thry couldn't help but also couldn't explain and had very quickly been marked as trouble makers. Yes some lf the things they did were a bit wrong but they couldn't help most of it.

They sat throigh detention and walked home together. "I'll see you tommorow," Rydian yawned as they parted ways. He got back to the vaugns.

"Where were you?"

"I had something to do for the phorography club, sorry."

"Oh that's fine. Just let us knkw next time."

Rydian agreed. The ohrography clubbwas his go to cover for detention. He couldn't explain to the vaugns why he and maddie got dete tion together so often. If he did then maybe they wouldn't let him be around her and he'd have no one. He sat in his room exhausted. It wasn't fair.

And this went on the lunar cycle controlled a lot of his moves.

One day it wasnt a full or dark moon day and he was doing honework in his room. He shut himself off quite a bit. He just couldn't be fully hinself ariund the vaugns so he didn't try to interact with them too much.

"Hey rydian, olliie'a going to open his lresnts do you want to come est cake with us?" Mrs. Vaugn called. Cake soubded good. It wasn't the best cake, since it was vegan but still. Some cake wouldn't hurt.

He walked into the kitchen and sang ollie happy brithday. Everyone missing the notes caused him to wince ever so sloghtly because the noise was genuinley awful to his wolf hearing.

"Ok presents," ollie got toys and things. He'd been i to aatronomy lately so it was a lot of things like that.

He opened what almost looked like a globe at first. And then it came fully out of the paxkage. It was a full moon lamp. But he couldn't see the whole thing just yet.

Rydian got up and ran to the bathroom. He wasn't sure how exactly the full moon worked. If it was something about the light or if it was sometjing about it's position in the sky. But no chances..he couldn't take thr chsnce that he'd turn right in front of everyone. He pulled his phone out and texted maddie.

"Is it the light or where it is in the sky?" Please understand what I'm talking about. Please u derstand! Answer quickly.

"It's the light? Because fire too." Oh thank god. Oh. Oh. Not good. Not good.

"Rydian?"

"Just a second!" The strain in his voice was a tell to his panic.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. Mudt have eaten something funny.." food poisoning? Realy rydian? You don't eat anything you can get that from, as far as they know.

He had to leave the bathroom eventually. Maybe he could just go to his room? He flushed the toilet hw hadn't used and wahsed his hands. He opened the door and closed his eyes. He would try his best not to looknat that lamp.

Ollie ran up to him. "Rydian!"

"Rydian, he wqnts to show you something, why are yourbeyes closed."

"Oh the smell in the bathroom my eyes were watering. Sorry."

"Open your eyes." Rydian tried not to but something in them open. And ollie showed him his lamp..in all ots bright full moon glpry. It was a beautiful lamp. And then he was a wolf. Damnit.

Mrs. Vaugn stared at him. Rydian turned and walked away in his wolf form. Into his room. Well peobably no longer his room. He rook his snout and shut the door then turned himself back. And he started packing. No one wanted a monster in thejr house. He was a danger to ollie. Or at least that's probably what would be the nail in thr coffin. He knew he wasn't a monster but they wouldn't understand.

Mrs. Vaugn knocked on his door. He opened it. But went back to packing his things.

Mrs. Vaugn had been doing this long enough to know what was going throigh his head. "Hey, can we talk for a second?"

Fine. "Yeah." Rydian kept pqcking but was listening. He had great hearing.

"I knkw you probably have great hesring but xan you jjst listen and stop packing for a second.

Rydian raised an eyebrow. How did she know? Oh right wokves always had good hesring..that was common knowledge. Rydian sat down on his bed.

"What jyst happened?"

"Nothing."

"Rydian you turned i to a wolf in thd living room. What just hapoened?"

"Don't worry, i'll be out of the way the second i finsish packing. No one wants a wolf in their house. Understandbale. I'll figure something out."

"No. You don't hsbe to leave. But can we pleasw talk about this? Is this why you are always grtting detention?"

"How do you know about that?"

"Yourbteacherbfalls when that happens."

"Oh. Didn't realize that."

"Yeah. So what happened. Do you knlw? Has that ever hapoened before? Do you know what makes you...turn? Sorry if im getting the wording wrong."

"It's wolf out. But it happens..i know when its going to."

"Full moons i guess?"

Rydian nodded. "I'.sorrh. can i please finish packing?"

"No. We're not kicking you out. This does explain the wolf drawinfs thlugh."

"I just like them," Rydian lied pretry instinctivley.

"Rydian, you don't hsve to lie. Not anymore. We're here if you want to talk about this stuff with someone. Obviously, we don't get it. We aren't your kind...? Sorry. Are there any mlre lf you?"

Rydian kept silent..that wasn't his sceret to tell. "Maddie. You akways go to her house and are exhausted the nedt day. She's onw..that's why you guys are so close."

The smoths were going to freak. "Ylu can't tell anyone!"

"I won't. You and your friend habe a place here if you want it. I'm sire you peobably like it at her place a bit more."

"Thank-you."

"I think olloe has like a millionn questions. I'll tell himmto put the p away frist."

Mrs. Vaugn left the room and let rydian know when itbwas all ckesr to come out a gain.

"Thatbwas sco cool! I want to turn into a wolf! How'd you do it! Who bit you?"

Rydian glanced at him with his eyes widened. "Woah there bud. I'll answer most of your questions but slow down.'

"You xan't be one. It's genetic. No one bit me. But i defintely thoigh that's how it worked too."

"Can you chsngw whwnever you want? Or just when there's a full moon? Does it hurt? Do your ryes glow in thr dark? Can you hear thinga from far aqay? Hkw good is your smell?"

"Ollie was so excited."

And ryduan explained most of the answers. "Ans my smell is too good. I can smell way too much. Nkeve when we pass a fiwlf of flowers nlt so fun when we pass a garvage dump."

Ollie calmed down with the questions and Mrs. Vaugn just had ome.

"Can you choose when you wolf out?"

"Yeah. I can. But have to do it on thr full moon and if i get too cllse to a fire. And no moonn days are basically compeltly drained. Echaustion..get in trouble a lot for falling asleep in class. Sorry."

"It's okay. You couldn't help it."

Rydian hadn't thought they'd be accepting but they were.

"I need to go talk to someone."

"You nees to go tel maddie you accidentwlly revealed yiur sexret don't you? I'll drive."

Mrs. Vaugn drove maddie's house and he went in.

"Oh hey rydian, this is a sjprise." Emma told him as he walked in.

"What's wrong."

"I did something lretry bad.. and you're going to hate me and maddie's going to hate me but i wanted tontell you myself."

"We wom't hate you, you're a part of our pqkc," maddie told him.

"It's about that."

Rydian held his breath fir a second.

"Rydian, your scsring md."

"Ollie was opening lresnts and he got this lamp because he's bee really intonastronomy and it was a full moon and i tried to avoid it but couldn't hide in the athroom forever and i opened my eyes for a second and the loght was in them and i wolfed ojt in front of the entire vaugn family. And mrs. Vaugn was really smart ablut it and figured out maddie was well she dpesnt know the term wolfblood but they agreed to keep it a secret. But im really reqlly sorry."

"You what!?" Maddie yelled in her momentary panic.

"I'm aorry."

"It's okay," Emma assured him. "You didn't mwsn to. But are we sure they'll keep the secret?"

Rydian nodded. Yeah. They said maddie could come over all the time and we didn't hsbe to eorry about it.

"Ok."

"Mrs. Vaugn's in the car wqiting for me."

"If sje knkws, i'd kinda like to tal to her about something," emma told him.

Rydian went outside.

"Mrs. Smjth wants to you for a minjte."

Mrs. Vaugn went inside.

"Hi."

"So you knkw about us. And you sajd you'd keep kt a secret. Which js great. Ome thing. Wolves can't really be vegan. We feed rydian a the time. But keep some meat i the hkuse for him. You don't have to be the one to cook it. But if you need some recioes, dan's got plenty.

Maddie laughed a bit

"Noted."

"Would you lije to stay for dinner?"

"I don't think tjere's a ything i can eat."

"We have salad."

"Then sure why not."

They ate and everyone got aloneg. Mrs. Vaugn asking questions about how she could help rydian better and thanking them for tsking him ubder their wings and helping him.

The nest fay at school Maddie and Rydian were talkijg. "That was so weird."

"Whatbwas weird?" Shannon asked.

"Mt parents and mrs. Vaugn had dinner together last night. They got along sonwell. It was sonwekrd.'

"That' good though."

Rydian was glad that he could be mkre oepn around the people he lived with now and.