Chapter 15 - From Dinner to Disaster
"Go and fill up your duffel bag. We're leaving town for a few days, pet."
"What? Why?" Maddy was about to interrogate her mum when her dad walked briskly into the kitchen.
"I didn't think they'd actually follow through," her dad grumbled grimly. "What shall I tell Maddy's friends?"
Emma pursed her lips, her eyes darting around as she thought it through. "Family emergency. That should do the trick. You want to handle it or shall I?"
"Just a moment! Hello?" Maddy burst out in frustration. "Does someone want to tell me what's going on?"
Rhydian burst into the kitchen just then. "Maddy's friends are talking about the howling and keeping each other occupied, but we don't have long. What's the plan?"
"Rhydian, you'll come with us too," Daniel said. He grinned ruefully at Emma. "I guess we'll have that chance to visit Banff National Park after all."
Maddy waved her arms back and forth like a stranded survivor trying to get the attention of a faraway ship. "Guys," she hissed, "I'm not going anywhere until someone tells me what's going on!"
"Mads, we can't take any chances. We need to go." Rhydian sighed. "There's a reason I changed my mind about joining my mum's pack at Grey Haven. Shortly before I arrived in Swan Hill she started acting weird. Calling me and getting more and more insistent that I come up with you to join their pack." Rhydian looked aside uncomfortably. "Later on Sebastian made some subtle threats against your parents, telling your mum and dad to encourage us to go up north unless they wanted trouble."
Emma nodded. "It's possible that I'm overreacting and that these howling wolfbloods aren't connected, Maddy, but I'm not willing to take that chance—not with your and Rhydian's well-being at stake—and I don't believe in coincidences."
Maddy gripped the countertop to steady herself as thoughts rushed through her head. "Wait. I have to tell you something."
As briefly as she could, Maddy shared what had happened, the message from Ceri told through Nathan. When she was done Maddy felt like a nervous wreck.
"Is it true? Can the alpha committee do that? Put us under house arrest for showing Shan and Tom what we are?" Daniel had gone upstairs and come back with one duffel bag already fully packed. Emma's lips formed a hard line, her eyes turning to steel.
"No, Maddy. The alpha committee only supports the decisions of individual packs. They only put someone under house arrest if it's urgent and if their help is requested by a pack leader to help him or her govern their own pack. They aren't some oppressive, all-powerful group."
"So…wait, Nathan lied to me?"
Rhydian grunted. "Sounds like Sebastian was trying to bluff you into doing what he wanted."
Sebastian…or your mum, Rhydian? Maddy was having more and more trouble dividing the motives of Rhydian's mum and the male alpha, and it worried her.
"OK, Emma. We're packed," Daniel said as he brought down the last gigantic duffel bag, setting it down with a huff.
Emma threw Maddy a cutting look. "You should have told us about your run-in with Nathan immediately, young lady.
"I was going to tell you!"
Rhydian placed an arm around Maddy's shoulders, nuzzling her neck to comfort her as he felt her anxiety. "Mads, sometimes secrets don't have to be held for very long to do serious damage. Your mum's right. You should have told us from the beginning."
Should have told YOU? Maddy thought. You and my parents kept secrets too, granted you guys were trying to 'protect' me, but secrets are still secrets! Maddy sensed a double standard but she had to let it go for now since time was too precious. Maddy still felt miserable and guilty in a way, but she was also stubborn and brave, and she wasn't about to give ground to a bully—even if he did happen to be a powerful wolfblood alpha named Sebastian.
"You guys can go, but I'm staying." Emma, Daniel, and Rhydian all seized up and looked at Maddy as if she'd lost her wits.
"This is not the time to start acting out like a spoiled cub. I'm the alpha in this family and I've made the decision." Emma's hands were on her hips and her eyes had morphed to an ominous yellowish hue.
Maddy wouldn't seriously stay on her own, but they didn't know that, not for sure. That was one way of getting their attention.
"What if there was another way?" Maddy insisted. She looked at Rhydian, his face softening as he gave her an open-minded ear.
"Mads, I don't know how there possibly could be—" Rhydian's head cocked suddenly as if he'd just thought of something. "Unless…" He squeezed Maddy's hand. "What did you have in mind?"
Fortified with Rhydian's support, Maddy rushed ahead.
"We do the exact opposite of running. We stay here and keep Jared, Mace, and Lyssa with us as long as possible. As long as there are humans here any wolfbloods, hostile or not, won't be able to reveal themselves. They'll have to sit tight. In the meantime, Mum, you and dad can go get help from two of the nearest packs."
Emma and Daniel shook their heads. "There aren't any close enough, pet."
"Yes there are." Rhydian's voice filled the gap with conviction. "Between Swan Hill and Coopston there's a pack just recently moved in. The Gaines family. I stayed with them the night before I came to Swan Hill to find Maddy. They're good people and I know they'd help us. It's a mum and dad with five cubs all grown or near-grown. I could get there and back. It's only a few miles."
Emma and Daniel hesitated. Maddy jumped into the fray with the one thing calculated to win her parents over. "If we run now, won't that just embolden Sebastian more?"
Like a dam with a widening fissure underneath, Emma and Daniel's original determination to flee wavered on the verge of collapse. Emma looked at Rhydian.
"How long would it take you?"
Rhydian shrugged. "I could be back in an hour, maybe a little more."
Maddy's parents exchanged a decisive look.
"Okay, be off with you. Go!"
Rhydian shot out the back door like a beam of moonlight, morphing into his wolf so that he could cover ground that much faster.
Hurry, Rhydian. Maddy's heart ached as all her hopes went with him. She looked up at her parents. "Guess I'll go see how our guests are doing, yeah?"
Emma and Daniel nodded. "Tell them we'll be in shortly."
The next half hour filled with mounting anxiety as Maddy entertained Jared and her other friends. The howling grew closer and closer before ceasing abruptly, which rather than be a comfort to Maddy made her all the more worried. Maddy looked out the dining room windows at the star-strewn sky with a shiver of dread. When her friends asked what had happened to Rhydian, she came up with an excuse about him not feeling well and resting upstairs. To keep them busy Maddy asked Jared and the others about the field trip planned for next week to Hylmuth Glacier.
"You're joking," Lyssa said, making a face.
"No, I'm dead serious," Mace said. "I'm going to sneak my snowboard along and go down that glacier. That would be awesome. Unforgettable. Think about it for a second, like, the ultimate rush."
Jared laughed. "You're such an adrenaline-junkie. You really do want to get yourself killed, huh?"
Mace shrugged, his boyish face breaking out a carefree grin. "Hey, I'm going to leave this world living a little. Nothing wrong with that."
"What do you think, Maddy?" Lyssa said, rolling her eyes. "Would you say it's more stupidity or insanity? My estimate is around 50-50."
Maddy was about to respond when the doorbell chimed. Emma and Daniel came through the kitchen and went straight to the front door. Their stiff postures and hyper-alert expressions said it all. When they opened the door Maddy heard her mum's voice strained beyond recognition.
"Ceri. Such a pleasant surprise. And I see you brought your 'husband' with you and your pack of 'friends' for us to meet. I'm afraid we don't have enough food for all of you but why don't you and your, uh, husband join us. Do come in."
Emma and Daniel stepped aside as a man and woman entered through the foyer, moving into the living room.
Ceri's long, raven-dark hair and huge, expressive eyes gave her that permanently imposing presence. Her gaze swept the house, missing nothing.
"Where's Rhydian?"
"Oh, he'll be here soon," Maddy said brightly, keeping up a good show as she leapt up from the table. "Ceri, I'd like you to meet my mates from school. This is Jared, Mace, and Lyssa." Jared and company gave Ceri a wave and each of them smiled, all the while looking a little confused.
Beside Ceri stood a surprisingly short man, his head completely shaved and his dark beard matching the char-black shade of Ceri's hair. His eyes were a brown so dark they might as well have been black, and he seemed to survey the house with a calculating eye. His bearing had a hunger to it that made Maddy wonder how much free rein the wolf inside the man truly had—or if it had any limits at all. Goosebumps rippled up and down her arms.
Ceri turned, nodding to Emma and Daniel with strained politeness. "I'd like you to meet Sebastian. Sebastian, these are Maddy's parents, Emma and Daniel." Daniel reached out to shake hands with the man. Although Daniel might have had the physical stature on him, the moment Sebastian's firm hand enveloped his there was no doubt who the real alpha was. Ceri turned to Maddy, who had walked over to get a closer look at Sebastian.
Ceri once again obliged with the introductions. "Sebastian, this is Rhydian's girlfriend, Maddy."
Maddy shot out her hand, barely stifling a growl as he shook it. She refused to wince despite the iron grip squeezing a little too harshly for comfort.
"So you're the beautiful young lady I've heard so much about," Sebastian said drily, as if hidden meaning lay behind each word he deigned to hand out.
"I hope all of it to the good," Maddy replied. "I'm very glad the stories didn't scare you away," she added with a vicious grin, her eyes full of defiance." Out of the corner of her vision Maddy saw her parents quietly indicating that she should try not to escalate things.
"We were just having some dessert a little while ago, but I know there are leftovers. Let me fetch you each a slice of cheesecake," Daniel broke in to try to lessen the tension.
The next half hour became the height of awkwardness. Ceri and Sebastian sat at the table with Emma, Daniel, Maddy and her friends while the rest of Sebastian's pack waited outside. What made it especially awkward was that every time Jared, Lyssa and Mace began making rumblings about having to go home, Maddy or one of her parents quickly interceded, rallying the conversation and insisting they stay for 'just a bit longer.'
Finally though, they had stalled as long they reasonably could. Jared was adamant that he had to be home to help his brother Brayden prepare for a maths test the next morning. He gave Maddy a firm hug as they reached the door. Maddy gave him a kiss on the cheek and squeezed his hands, wondering if this was the last time she would see him.
"Thanks for coming, guys. I'm sorry we kept you so long." Lyssa gave Maddy a hug goodbye and the less sociable Mace just nodded at her, mumbling a thank-you.
Once the house had emptied itself of all humans the atmosphere chilled to arctic depths. Sebastian stood up, circling the table with a roving eye while Ceri sat stiffly, glaring at Maddy, Daniel, and Emma in turn.
"Where is my son?" she bit out angrily.
"He will be here soon," Emma said firmly. "You have my word on it."
"We're taking him back with us tonight," Sebastian butted in. "You had your chance to cooperate. The boy belongs with his mother, and in a pack that will let him live free and be who he truly is."
Maddy couldn't believe the arrogance. Her hands blackened with the change as her wolf yearned to unsheathe its claws.
"You don't know a thing about him." Maddy stood up, eyes blazing. "You're like an extinct species from another time. You think you can decide the lives of others like some king. You think being a bully is the same as being a leader. Some alpha you are!" Maddy snarled at him, and Ceri stood up to snarl right back.
"You'll behave yourself, little girl. You'll not talk to my mate that way."
Emma and Daniel stood up too, bristling with anger and protective of their cub. This was not a good situation. Five wolfbloods antagonistic toward each other and in close quarters. The tension had now hit boiling point. Sebastian's teeth grated, black veins snapping out in stark relief along his neck as his eyes yellowed with the haunting stare of his wolf.
"Perhaps we should step outside and discuss this further," he growled.
But Ceri seemed to fight for a shred of sanity and reasonableness. She crossed to the other side of the room and gently took Maddy by the shoulders.
"Let's not be like this, Maddy. I know Rhydian loves you very much, and you love him. Wouldn't you like to live with him in a place where you don't have to worry about 'wolfing out' every second of the day? Where you can go to a school where you don't have to keep your true selves bottled up inside?" When Maddy tried to give her a civil look Ceri mistook it for encouragement and prattled on.
"The compound has everything you and Rhydian will need. We're self-sufficient, Maddy. Sebastian cares about his pack as a good leader should and he keeps us insulated from bad human influences. We've already built a cabin for you and Rhydian that I know you'll love. Won't you reconsider, sweetie?" Ceri traced a hand along Maddy's cheek and the unearned stab at intimacy made the wolfblood girl flinch.
Maddy took a step back, her breath coming out in gasps. "Please…don't be like this. Rhydian and I are happy here. We don't need to always be our wolves to be happy. We're human too."
Ceri's look soured and the façade slipped away. "You're a bunch of tames denying yourselves, fooling yourselves." She turned to Sebastian and that seemed to give him the cue to use the stick instead of the carrot.
"Come outside with us. We'll wait for Rhydian to return out in the moonlight," Sebastian said, his lips curling into a grim smile.
Not seeing much choice, the Smiths followed Sebastian and Ceri outside. There they found ten more wolfbloods waiting in the yard, the strongest males in Sebastian's pack. Maddy picked Nathan out of the crowd, her wolf inwardly growling with hackles raised.
If it comes to a fight, you're mine.
As the seconds ticked by unbearably the tension kept rising. Please come soon, Rhydian. We can't stall any longer.
Sebastian shifted in his overcoat, picking a piece of invisible lint off of his sleeve. "Perhaps you sent Rhydian away." He looked darkly at Maddy's parents. "Perhaps we should take Maddy up north with us for a tour of the compound." The threat leapt out, making Maddy's skin prickle as she realized that Sebastian wasn't really any such thing as a 'hybrid' wolfblood. He was a wild wolfblood with a thin veneer of 'tameness' on the outside that didn't change who he was deep down, not even for a second.
Fear and loathing surged in Maddy. She didn't want her parents getting hurt trying to protect her from him. What am I going to do?