Chapter 14 - Wolf Forgiven

Three days passed after Maddy received the message that threatened to once again tear apart her world. She had just gotten Rhydian back, and now thanks to Sebastian and Ceri's ambitions she was being asked to choose between a life with her family and a life with Rhydian.

I was right not to trust Ceri Maddy thought grimly. It wasn't that Ceri didn't care about Rhydian or, to a lesser extent Maddy too. It was the way that Ceri put her own interests and feelings selfishly ahead of those she cared about.

Swan Hill had been a chance for Maddy and Rhydian to start over without the drama they'd left behind in Stoneybridge. Of course life wasn't fair in more than a few fairy tales, so why should reality be any different? That was Maddy's grim thought as she walked into her maths class, slinging her rucksack underneath the desk as she settled beside Lyssa. With the 'Cold War' between her and Jared still in full force, Lyssa and Mace hadn't spoken to her since Monday, and neither had Jared. That suited Maddy just fine though. She had bigger things to worry about.

At lunch time she sat alone. Rhydian would start class the following Monday anyway, and Maddy felt the loss of her new friends less keenly as she anticipated spending more time with Rhydian. But the falling-out gnawed at her, and the more she thought about it, the more Maddy decided that if her new plan to tackle Sebastian's threat seemed like a good one, it couldn't hurt to practice her judgment skills in tackling a far easier dilemma.

Come on, Maddy. If you can't even mend friendships with a few humans, how are you going to outmaneuver a manipulative alpha? Time to stop being so passive.

The wolfblood girl got up from her table and walked over to where Jared sat with his two closest friends. Mace's eyes shot venom at her, Lyssa looked away uncomfortably, and Jared, well, Jared she couldn't quite read at the moment. She sat just across from the trio.

"Hey."

"Why are you even sitting here?" Mace asked.

Lyssa gave Mace a disapproving glare as if to say That was graceless, even for you.

Jared's normally easygoing manner disappeared. He tensed, looking at Maddy like she had snakes in her hair.

"Hello Maddy. Can we help you with something?"

Maddy nodded, revealing the silver locket Jared had given her. Originally she'd planned to return it to him today for the sake of closure. Instead she proceeded to secure the clasp around her neck, rearranging it so that it glinted in the sunlight. The three humans gave her a puzzled look.

"Yes as a matter of fact you can, Jared. If you haven't fessed up to your friends about our 'fake-dating' thing yet, now's the time. Oh, and by the way, Rhydian was my boyfriend from Stoneybridge before I ever met you. I wasn't cheating on you or fake cheating on you…or whatever." Maddy gave Jared a Don't try to BS me stare. "Now, can we please stop the cold shoulder treatment? I think the world of you guys even though I've just met you. You were nice to me and welcoming, and I'm grateful for it, I truly am. I would like to still be friends if you'll have me."

Jared rubbed his chin, glancing away. "Is that why you're wearing the locket?"

"Yes."

Jared drummed his fingers on the tabletop. "And your boyfriend doesn't have a problem with you wearing a locket given to you by another guy?" His tone sounded more than a bit doubtful.

Maddy smirked. "To be honest with you, Rhydian won't be happy about it…not even a little bit. But he's smart enough to know that I choose my own friends. He knows that I'm trying to mend fences with you and he'll respect my decision because he knows what's good for him." Maddy reached her hand across the table toward Jared. "Truce?"

Jared grunted. "You already embarrassed me, made me look like a fool in front of my friends here. I already had to tell them about the whole fake-dating thing." His face soured.

Suddenly Lyssa butted in. "All well and good Jared, but you should've known that something like that might blow up in your face." Lyssa shot a look over at Mace, seemingly emboldened by Maddy's olive branch. "And you. You acted horrible. Maddy didn't deserve to be called a 'slut.' When boys make stupid assumptions, it shouldn't be girls who have to pay for it."

Lyssa's surprising diatribe left Jared and Mace speechless. Maddy had to suppress a big grin.

Girl power? Yes please. She was starting to really like Lyssa.

Jared put a hand to his forehead, grimacing. "You're right, Lyssa. I…"

"You were being your overconfident self," Maddy interrupted. "Your confidence is what I love about you, Jared. It's what makes you so outgoing, easygoing, so likeable and quick to make friends. It's what pulled me out of my shell when I didn't really even want to be in this town." Maddy reached her hand across the tabletop again and took Jared's, risked giving it a gentle squeeze. "Unfortunately sometimes confidence can give you false hope too. Are you sure that you aren't upset with me not because of anything I actually did, but because of your disappointment realizing that you weren't going to win me over? That I wasn't ever going to be your real girlfriend?"

Jared gaped at Maddy for a moment as if she'd just slapped him. He tugged his hand away, got up and left.

Mace got up, mumbling an apology as he left to follow.

The blonde girl grinned at Maddy.

"What?"

"You don't take prisoners, do you?"

Maddy shrugged. "I was just being honest."

"Honesty isn't what Jared's used to getting from 99% of girls. He's used to them fawning over him, telling him what he wants to hear."

The wolfblood girl winked at Lyssa. "Oops. My bad." But Maddy felt a prick of concern. "Should I go after him? I didn't mean to—"

"No, stay where you are. Trust me, he'll come around. Jared knows when he's wrong. He just needs a little time to process the truth you threw in his face." Lyssa's eyes shifted, and Maddy sensed a change of topic coming—the first of many. The rest of the lunch period vanished in the blink of an eye, with Lyssa peppering her with questions about Rhydian. Was he Welsh? What kind of name was that really? What did it mean?

By the time the bell rang Maddy was almost grateful to be going to sociology class—which thankfully she didn't share with Lyssa. Maddy was starting to realize that some friends were meant to be experienced only in certain doses….

When Maddy walked into sociology several minutes early Jared was sitting in the back. He glowered at her as she strode up and sat down in the chair next to him. The faded brown chair squeaked, the one chair leg unscrewing from the seat before the whole thing collapsed. Jared instinctively moved to grab Maddy's arm, pulling her against him to keep her from falling on her tush.

Maddy gaped at him, recovered, and then gave him a kiss on the cheek. "That was, um, very gallant of you. Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Jared scowled as Maddy took the seat on the other side of him. This one managed to not disintegrate.

Mr. Haversham postponed the start of class while he sent for maintenance to take care of the broken chair. Apparently he hated having anything out of place in his perfectly ordered classroom. Meanwhile Maddy leaned over, whispering.

"So…does this mean we're friends again?"

Jared looked stubbornly ahead toward the screen at the front of the classroom, not saying a word.

"I see. What if I told you that I'd invite you over tonight to meet Rhydian properly? And that you can see the look on his face as he sees me wearing your locket?"

Jared's mouth twitched up. There it was! A smile, faint but there.

"I might be persuaded to come over. What time?"

"Dinner. My parents are doing their famous hog roast at 7 o'clock. Tell Lyssa and Mace they can come—Mace only if he behaves himself." Jared rolled his eyes, but his boyish face gave her a grudging look of warmth.

"All right."

That night….

"They'll be here any minute now guys. Please don't muck this up." With preternatural speed Rhydian flicked a hunk of meat at Daniel, who caught it in his mouth and gobbled it up as noisily as possible.

"Mum, make them stop!" Maddy wailed. Emma cut some more slices off the roast, laughing as the two male wolfbloods enjoyed themselves—which of course only infuriated Maddy more.

"Sorry, pet. Boys will be boys."

Maddy pointed at her dad, ratcheting up the intensity of her glare. "What about men?"

Emma grunted. "One day you'll understand, sweetheart. No such thing. None of them ever really grows up." She said it with an air of resignation. Maddy let out a groan with all the feeling she could muster and stomped upstairs.

Rhydian and Daniel high-fived, but as Emma's gaze slid toward them they looked more like a pair of weasels caught in a trap.

"Daniel, Rhydian….can you please make an effort here? Maddy is nervous having her new friends over. The least you could do is behave yourselves, carry yourselves with a little more—"

"Decorum?"

"The word I was looking for was 'dignity,' but yes Rhydian…that will do."

Rhydian put up his hands in surrender. "Fair enough, Mrs. Sm—"

"Emma," the wolfblood mum corrected.

"Emma." Rhydian looked around sheepishly and then found something to do, filling up the pitchers with drinks and helping set the table.

A few minutes later Maddy's slender figure came gliding down the stairs with an elegant flair. She was wearing a strapless purple dress with a long, flowing black bottom. Silver needlework along the waist gave it this Celtic feel, a perfect contrast to the modern fabric and overall design.

If Rhydian had been a cartoon character his jaw would have crashed to the floor. His eyes wide, he struggled to regain use of his vocal chords.

"Mads, you look like a druid princess. It's brilliant."

Maddy twirled, displaying her impish smile. "You like it?"

Daniel frowned. "Don't you think it's cut a little too low?" He turned to Emma. "I know I didn't approve of that purchase."

Emma beamed at her daughter. "Oh shush, Daniel. Our daughter is beautiful and wants to look her best. Don't be such an old codger."

Rhydian gave Maddy a hug, moving in for the kiss only to have her twirl free of his arms and slip behind the dining room table.

"If you want a kiss, Mister, you're going to have to earn it—and that involves no more projectile meat-eating!"

Just then the doorbell rang, and Maddy immediately started to fidget. She brushed non-existent hair out of her eyes, bit her lip and shifted back and forth uneasily on her feet, all trademark Maddy-isms that Rhydian had grown to recognize.

"Aren't you going to greet your friends Mads?" Rhydian swept out his arm toward the door. With a gulp Maddy started forward, trying to make her bearing as princess-like as possible while ignoring the stupid nerves running amok.

"Hey guys!" Maddy's face brightened when she opened the door and saw all three of them. Jared's hair had that tousled look just like always. Mace's militaristic haircut hadn't changed, but at least his expression was soft and walking-on-eggshells polite as he ducked and replied with a shy hello.

Lyssa's pale as straw blonde hair caught a few stray rays of blood-red sunlight to clash with her Viking blue eyes. "You look…oh my God. Who kidnapped Maddy and replaced her with a fashionable evil twin?" Lyssa teased. She gave Maddy a heartfelt hug and was the first to walk in. The boys were still gaping at Maddy when she beckoned.

"Come on, guys. The roast's all set. I've been trying to fend off Rhydian and my dad with a fork so that they would save some of it until you arrived."

The meal proceeded mostly without incident. Although all the wolfbloods at the table were slightly disappointed at not being able to open up with their playful wolves and be uninhibited, getting to know Maddy's friends was a tradeoff worthwhile.

The only dicey part came when Emma asked Jared about his parents.

"Oh, them. My mom and dad are out of the country a lot, Mrs. Smith. They run a big game hunting business as safari guides. Basically it involves detailed logistics and coddling rich businessmen who want to have an 'adventure' experience they can boast about and put a trophy head on their wall to impress their friends."

Maddy, Rhydian, Emma and Daniel all froze as if Jared had uttered some obscene oath. There was this awkward silence until Maddy came to the rescue.

"Sorry, Jared. We're kind of big animal lovers here, and uh, you kind of caught us by surprise with that."

Jared shook his head with a smile. "You'll get no arguments from me. It puts food on the table for me and my brother but you couldn't pay me enough to do that stuff. Killing animals for sport, I don't know—seems like there are better ways to use one's time, know what I mean?"

"Like playing football?" Lyssa teased, grinning at him as he reached over to poke her in retaliation. Humor had bypassed the tension, and Maddy quickly steered the conversation to safer ground.

They made it to dessert fifteen minutes later, which involved a peanut butter cheesecake good enough to be pictured just under 'mouthwatering' in Wikipedia. Maddy served everyone first, cutting perfect slices—more generous ones for the boys—before sitting down with a greedy look in her eyes.

An eerie howl intruded on the peaceful moment though. One turned into two, and suddenly it seemed like a chorus of howls had brought the dark hills and forests to life. Emma and Daniel tensed, although they hid it pretty well from their guests. Maddy and Rhydian strove for that same level of appearing totally at ease.

There was something subtle in a wolf's call, if you knew what to look for. Those weren't normal wolves howling in the night. They were wolfbloods, and they were close. Getting closer.

An exchange of subtly panicked looks ricocheted between Maddy, Rhydian, Emma, and Daniel. Having a single wolfblood intruder was one thing, but this sounded like a whole pack. Sure, there was a chance that they were just passing through—but then why the howling? Whoever it was, they knew they weren't in their own territory and they weren't being bashful about it.

"Maddy, can you help me in the kitchen for a minute?" Emma quietly excused herself as Maddy followed.

Had the perfect evening just turned into a disaster?