Chapter 3: Maddy
It was amazing how much everything had changed but also had stayed the same. They had only been away for a few months over the summer holidays and the first term of school, but it was like walking back into an alternate reality. Maddy was amazed at the lengths that Dr Whitewood had gone to in order to expose their secret, and yet Segolia had still given her a job!
When they finally pulled up to the house and unlocked the place it gave an eerie feeling of somewhere familiar that hadn't been lived in a while. Maddy didn't get long to look around before Rhydian had taken her bag and carted her up to her room. Weirdly, she thought that she had noticed her parents discouraging Tom and Shannon from following them out of the corner of her eye.
As soon as they crossed the threshold of the room, the bag was dropped and door closed, she was back in his arms. It was amazing how much she had missed him after only a short time away she realised as she found herself stroking down the tufts of hair sticking up at the back of his head. Suddenly she became aware that the embrace was not just a hug as she had first thought, but instead he was steadily breathing in her scent like a starving man would eat his first meal. Although this seemed a little odd, she felt exactly the same way.
Rhydian pulled back and Maddy immediately spotted the change that had come across his face as he took in her own. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but it almost looked like a mixture of fear, relief and concern. He slowly began to tip her head to the sides and up and down as if to check that she wasn't harmed at all and then moved onto her body, searching for any visible wounds or markings.
A bit disturbed by how worried that he looked she broke in, "I'm fine. I have no injuries. All that we have been doing for the last couple of months is traveling, so you have no cause to worry."
At her words, Rhydian seemed to exhale for the first time, stepping away from her and finally relinquishing her hand. Saddened by the loss, she chose to cover up what she had wanted to say, " Why are you suddenly so concerned about my wellbeing anyway, did the people from Segolia say anything?"
"No it's not that," he replied and she suddenly realised that these were the first words that he had spoken to her today. "It's just that I couldn't really control myself, I just needed to make sure. To be honest I can't really explain it."
Confused, but satisfied she chose to diffuse the tension that had suddenly started to rise, and started with a cocky smile, "So… unlike you I have decided not to return in a blaze of glory with a rival pack baying for my blood. Aren't you the slightest bit disappointed?"
"No, I'm just glad that you are back." He immediately answered without a hint of humour, before catching himself and adding "True though, your return was a bit dull, couldn't you find anyone for me to fight to spice up my life? Don't worry, I'm sure someone is about to pop up out of nowhere to challenge you for the honour of their pack. I would expect nothing less…"
Maddy's grin returned and they continued joking back and forth while she picked up her bag from the floor, dumping it on the bed before they walked back downstairs. The occupants of the room looked up from where they were sitting around the table and smiled at the two new arrivals. No one commented on how they had stopped holding hands.
It turned out that leaving a house derelict for a number of months meant that there was no food around except for tinned food so they decided to order a takeaway. They settled on a Chinese and soon began setting the table for them all to sit down and eat together for the first time in a long while.