Chapter 6: Rhydian
By the time they got to the Smith's, Maddy's parents had gotten a phone call that they both hadn't made it to school. Their chastisement, however, died when they both saw who they had found in the woods. They soon were quiet and made space to put Jana in the guest room.
As soon as the front door shut Rhydian's whole body became tense and all of his senses kicked into overdrive. He had to hold his wolf in so his eyes didn't go yellow and alert the others. He didn't know what had caused it or why, but he knew it was linked to Aran, the young male wolfblood who had accompanied Jana.
No one else seemed to be affected so he continued helping the others with Jana. When everyone had settled, Jana told Aran and Meinir to leave the room and proceeded to tell them that she was dying. They then all gathered around the bed to discuss different ways they could save her. Rhydian stood directly behind Maddy, much closer than he would usually stand, still bristling even though he trusted everyone currently in the room.
When Maddy turned to get her phone to text Shannon and Tom, she bumped straight into Rhydian's chest yet again. "Would you stop doing that!' she grumbled and wandered to her own room across the hall, not noticing how the eyes of the rest of the room were drawn to her. Rhydian also didn't notice because he was too busy moving to stand in a defensive position between the door and the rest of the room, staring in a pitiful way after Maddy.
They all decided against the hospital and phoning Tom's mum, especially when he came over and told them how terrible an idea it was. Rhydian ended up calling Dacia, although she was still annoyed that they had wheedled the information about Maddy's return out of her, she did agree to send a wolfblood doctor. However when she made it to the Smith's, they discovered that it would be a couple hours yet.
Whilst Rhydian was busy making Jana some food with Maddy's parents, Tom, Shannon and Maddy were catching up with Jana. Suddenly, all of Rhydian's instincts kicked in and he knew he needed to be upstairs. It turned out that Aran had overheard them and was getting confrontational about the thought of Jana leaving the pack for them. As Maddy was the only other wolfblood in the room, he was directing all of his anger towards her.
As soon as he got into the room Rhydian placed himself in front of Maddy and began to growl at Aran, eyes blazing. He could barely comprehend what was going on, just Maddy's scent combined with that of this outsider and the trepidation and unease that she was feeling. For some reason Aran's eyes widened and went back to their human form as he lowered his head in submission.
The only thing that brought Rhydian back down to earth was the firm hand that Maddy placed on his back to calm him. Shaking his head to clear it, he took in the room and processed that everyone was now here.
"Jana is not leaving you!" However, this was not needed as the room seemed to be shocked into silence. Taking the time available, he turned around and assessed Maddy's face for any sign of injury. Once he was sure she was okay, he backed away slightly and stood against one wall, trying to ignore the odd looks he was receiving when the conversation continued.
As the day continued and they eventually decided on using a vet he stayed close by Maddy's side. She definitely thought that it was odd considering all of the weird frowns she threw his way, but was too comforted by his presence to ask him to move.
When they settled into the den to wait out Jana's procedure, a glare at Aran had him scuttling into the far corner, as far away as possible from Maddy.