Chapter 6 - Reunion
Maddy's wolf keened, a heart-rending fullness that seemed to thread through her soul. She leapt out of her chair and could barely marshal the semblance of control to fling words at Jared and Lyssa as she left. "Wait here. I'll be back."
She rushed from the café, out into the frosted perfection of the Canadian night. The moon's pallor seemed to light the way especially for her as the wolfblood girl followed her nose, doggedly pursuing the trail even as her heartbeat sped up to match the hope enflaming her veins, her mind. Rhydian is here. My Rhydian. She sprinted up the slope behind the lodge, the scent so strong now that she could practically see it as well as smell it.
The slender wolfblood girl skidded to a halt, aware of two shining beacons enshrouded in the forest. She watched as a sleek, beautiful sandy-colored wolf with creamy patches of fur strode from the darkness and into the moon's spotlight, its eyes fixated on her alone.
Rhydian lunged at her, knocking her over in his enthusiasm as her eyes yellowed, her hands grasping at the scruff of his neck as she hugged him with all her might.
"Rhydian!" she cried, sobbing not with sorrow, but in the delirium of joy. She hugged him tighter as he shifted into human form, his mouth finding hers. Their lips pressed together, her arms around his shoulders pulling him in even closer as he cupped her head and kissed softly, tenderly, then more and more urgently, a smoldering passion that became unquenchable. The two teenagers lay in the snow kissing each other senseless, as if time itself had to retract its sway over the world in the wake of two lovers reunited.
There were still tears in Maddy's eyes as Rhydian drew back, his hand stroking wild tendrils of her wispy hair away from that cute, angelic, somehow mesmerizing face.
"Maddy…I told you I'd find you. I love you so much, Maddy, enough to be driven crazy without you and do crazy if that's what it takes to be with you. I missed you more than…" He swallowed, his eyes misting over as his bottom lip twitched. "More than words can ever say." She was laughing underneath him, crying and laughing at the same time now. She sensed the wolf inside herself yearning to howl to the moon in triumph. She cupped Rhydian's right cheek with one hand and told him the only thing that mattered.
"I love you too, Rhydian. The last three months without you have been the hardest I've ever known. As awful as this's been, being ripped away from you taught me what I was never willing to own up to before. You're the other half of my soul, Rhydian. You're my Rhydian, and you always will be." The young wolfblood rolled over, taking Maddy with him. She rested her head on his chest now, watching Rhydian's breath fog up the crisp night air.
She burrowed into his jacket, relishing the rich scent of Rhydian as it filled her nose and with it, seemingly, her very spirit. This was what she had been missing for the past three months and more. This was the void in her heart that had been throbbing fiercely or aching quietly, but seemed never destined to heal…until now.
Yet despite the fierce love between the two young wolfbloods, reality slowly reasserted its dominance. Even if theirs was a potent, mind-altering love, it wasn't immune to the effects of the world. Slowly, reluctantly, Maddy voiced the tiny concerns that pushed in to dispel the perfect moment.
"Rhydian, how did you find me? How did you even get here?"
Rhydian's eyes were still drunk with love, with tenderness. "Eolas. I told you that nothing could ever stop me from finding you one day. Today is that day. I love you, Maddy, and I came for you just as I said I would. Will you come with me?"
The crunch of snow beneath their bodies seemed suddenly deafening to Maddy as she shifted, her nose burrowing against his chest again for one more reassuring pull of his essence before she had to face reality—the reality of what he asked and what she could give.
Suddenly inspiration hit her. No….I'm not coming back down to earth, not just yet. She put her fingertip to Rhydian's lips before he could say more. Her devilish grin ended with wicked words.
"Run with me." She morphed with fluid grace, her tawny-colored wolf leaping silently toward the woods. Within a few breaths she could feel his aura behind her, his determined pursuit as she hopped a fallen tree and scampered across a shallow stream. She glanced back, heard his howl of frustration as the chase escalated. Her wolf laughed with glee as she frustrated his pursuit by randomly changing course, doubling back and kicking up dirt with her lithe strides as she dashed along the bank of a moonlit creek.
An ordinary gray wolf bared its teeth at Maddy as she exploded through a cluster of vegetation, catching the animal by surprise. The creature was more stubborn than wise, lunging at Maddy with a snarl. Right away Rhydian was by her side, chomping into the wolf's flank. The ill-tempered brute growled and tried to shake Rhydian off, moving to clamp its own canines on Rhydian's shoulder, but Maddy lunged at the beast like a fork of lightning, sinking her teeth deeply in one of its legs.
The lone wolf squealed in pain and pulled frantically away. Rhydian let go of the animal's side and Maddy released her grip too, not wanting to cause it permanent harm. The rogue wolf slipped away into a patch of dense foliage and disappeared. When it seemed safe Maddy changed into human form, panting and a little disoriented. Rhydian was human too, and he lassoed her by the waist, twisting her around to have a good look at her. His hands traced her face, her shoulders and arms, before gliding up her sides as he examined her critically for any sign of wounds.
"It's OK, Rhydian. I'm all right." Maddy gasped as he pulled her in for a savage kiss, a kiss that seemed to be Rhydian's wolf saying I protect what's mine! After the kiss she sighed and wrapped her arms around his middle, snuggling against him as he enfolded her too.
"If he'd hurt you…" Rhydian let the implied threat stand on its own, and then he clasped Maddy's hands and took a small step back so that he could study her face.
"Well he didn't, and I'm fine. That was amazing." Maddy smiled at him, at the boy who made her heart so full, brimming in a way she couldn't properly describe.
Soberly she said the thing that needed asking though, returning to reality.
"You want to tell me what this's about now? You showing up out of nowhere and asking me to come with you?"
His smile faltered, and Rhydian scratched at his short-cropped head of blonde hair before he shifted on his feet. "I'm sorry Mads. I got carried away. That all came out wrong."
Maddy felt a tightness in her chest, and she rushed out the words without thinking. "Because if you expect me to just up and leave with you, without consulting my parents or considering their wishes…or mine for that matter…."
"No! Maddy, no. That's not what I'm asking of you." Rhydian took a deep breath and looked Maddy squarely in the eye. "It's a long story, but here's the shortened version. The Vaughns know I'm here, they gave their permission."
Maddy's eyes widened.
"Yes. They think I'm here visiting my birth father. They arranged with the head teacher for me to take off 4 whole weeks! I came here to try to find you since we'd received the message that you and your family had safely made the move to Canada."
Maddy bit her lip and frowned. "What about Dr. Whitewood? She'll know you left, won't she? She must have suspected you since you were close to me."
Rhydian threw her a sloppy grin, gripping her by the shoulders and shaking her. "That's just it, Mads! Whitewood is taken care of. I met a wolfblood woman who works for a multinational genetics company, the same one who passed the message to us about you and your family. They hired Whitewood, gave her an offer she couldn't refuse. Whitewood's reputation in her field is ruined, and working for wolfblood geneticists is the only way she'll be able to do what she loves. She's agreed to it, Maddy. She has no more reason to try to steal your DNA. It's true. You don't have to look over your shoulder anymore."
Somehow Rhydian's momentous news only deepened Maddy's frown.
"When did this happen?"
"A month ago. When we didn't hear anything from you and when your family didn't return, well, I got worried. That's when I decided to come find you."
Maddy's brow furrowed. "So what, you just decided you would come to Canada?"
"Not quite that easy. I got in touch with my mum." Ceri had a hand in this? The thought put Maddy on edge. "She's changed a lot, Maddy. Her experience with Jana pretending to be human has made her more appreciative of the benefits of interacting in the human world. She disguised herself, introduced herself to the Vaughns as my real mother and convinced them to let me come here."
"Okay…so wait a second. You're sure that my parents received the message about everything that's been happening in Stoneybridge?" Gnawing away at Maddy like an army of termites was the thought that her parents had known about the Dr. Whitewood situation getting resolved and not told her. If it was true, then that left the all-important question—why? She and her family could return home to Stoneybridge, couldn't they? What was stopping them?
Rhydian sensed Maddy's anxiety and confusion. He gently rubbed the back of her neck and nuzzled the side of her face.
"It's all right, Mads. We'll figure this out."
"What if my parents lied to me?" Maybe it wasn't a lie exactly, but in Maddy's mind it was a lie of omission and that was just as damning.
"They might not have, Mads. Maybe the message somehow never reached them. They may not even know about it."
Maddy's mind whirled with the possibilities, contemplating the options. She ran a hand through her hair as she bit her lip.
"Putting my parents aside for now, what's your overall plan in showing up here? I'm overjoyed Rhydian, I truly am, but I need to know where we go from here."
Rhydian gave her a serious look. He took her by the hands and sat down, pulling her onto his lap. His arms kept away the chill as she snuggled against him for warmth, nuzzling his neck in a way that echoed her wolf.
"My mum and brother have joined a new pack led by a wolfblood named Sebastian. Sebastian believes in a wolfblood community hidden among humans, interacting with humans but protected from human society. He's established it up in the Northwest Territories, calls it Grey Haven. He's given it a religious pretext just to keep the wolfblood-centered purpose of it disguised. It's wolfbloods who can be around humans without wolfing out, but at the same time they live day-to-day in the compound, separate from humans. They're taught to blend in with humans while privately staying true to their wolfblood natures. I guess you could call it a hybrid approach somewhere between the lifestyles of tame wolves and wild wolves."
Maddy looked up into Rhydian's loving eyes, nervous about where he was headed with all this.
"So you're saying that we should go and live there, with your mum's pack?"
"Mmm-hmm. That's exactly what I'm saying, Mads. There we could live as we were truly meant to! Without having to constantly live in fear."
"What about the Vaughns?"
"Sebastian has the contacts needed to keep outsiders from snooping around in Grey Haven. Even if the Vaughns look for me, they won't find me. When I age out of the foster care system it will all be moot anyway. In a few years I can go back to Stoneybridge and mend fences, convince the Vaughns that everything turned out for the best. End of story."
This was a lot for Maddy to taken in. She took in a ragged breath of the chilly air. She rested her head against Rhydian's shoulder. For a time she just listened to his heartbeat. He let out a rueful laugh.
"I forgot how much I've missed the smell of your hair." He took a deep, reverent breath, taking in her scent. His hand rubbed the small of her back, distracting Maddy from what had to be said.
"Rhydian, this is a lot to ask. My family has finally started to feel at home here, even though I know it won't ever be what Stoneybridge was to us. But I'm not sure my parents will go for this, and it's not just their misgivings that matter. I've got plenty of my own. I don't know this Sebastian. What kind of alpha is he? Have you even met him?"
Rhydian looked away as a shadow crossed his face. "No….I've only spoken to him through my mum."
Great, so if we do this we'll be placing all of our trust in Ceri. Maddy didn't hate Rhydian's mum, but their history was a rocky one. It wasn't that Maddy didn't trust Ceri's intentions, it was Ceri's judgment she was worried about.
Maddy traced a finger along Rhydian's jaw, repeating the slight caress.
"I don't know, Rhydian. I've already pulled up roots and started over with nothing. I'm not sure I want to do it again so soon."
"But you won't be starting over with nothing. You'll have me," Rhydian said, giving her a sensual kiss, his hot breath mingling with hers.
As he drew back she slowly shook her head. "That's not it and you know it. Even if I'm willing to do this, what if my parents refuse? I don't want to leave them like that. Let's do the simpler solution instead. The one that lets us fully reunite our old pack—to be with Shannon and Tom too."
Rhydian paused, weighing her words before he slowly nodded. "I can live with that. We can all return to Stoneybridge together. Tom and Shannon miss you almost as much as I did."
Maddy brightened, giving Rhydian a firm kiss before she stepped out of his lap and looked up at the lightly scarred face of the moon. "It's settled then. We'll go to my parents and tell them about everything that's happened in Stoneybridge. We'll return to England and be a proper pack again."
Rhydian scrambled up beside her, their hands entwining as he gave her shoulder an affectionate bump.
"What does my alpha girl want to do next?"
"Are you up for another run?"
Rhydian's eyes yellowed as he threw her a wolfish grin.
"What do you think?"
Even as she shifted into her wolf though, stray anxieties lingered. What if my parents knew about Whitewood? What if they lied to me? What would that mean? If they had kept something from her and she and Rhydian confronted Emma and Daniel with what they knew, Maddy was pretty sure that they would find out.