CHAPTER SEVEN
We bundled out of the afternoon Maths exam with a sense of relief. That was one of the worst exams over with.
My feeling of calm had continued. Once I had reaslised that I only had to satisfy myself with the work I had put in, it took the pressure off. I thought today's exams had gone well. Without the fog of stress and worry, my mind had been clear and I was able to take my time and focus on the questions and answers.
Tom was analysing every question but he always did. I don't know why he put us through it every time? Especially as Shannon would only tell him how he should have answered the questions. Talk about stressful!
"Do you fancy a quick milkshake at Bernie's?" asked Shannon.
"Or do you want to get back?" smiled Tom at me, a knowing glint in his eye.
"I don't know..." I hesitated... I did want to get back to Rhydian but he was planning on going to try and find Ceri and Bryn this afternoon. I didn't know if I wanted to be around for that or not. As much as I wanted to get back to Rhydian, I wanted to put him off going to find his family.
The pull was too strong though. I wanted to check on Rhydian more.
"Sorry, I'm going to get back" I mumbled.
"That's OK" Shannon reassured "we'll see you tomorrow for English".
"Have a good evening" Tom flashed a wicked grin my way "call if you need us" he added suddenly serious. His instinct was tuned into my concern.
I turned and ran for home.
Rhydian was in the workshop chatting to my Dad when I got back.
"Hello pet" Dad smiled at me "How did it go today?"
"Good. Really good". I dumped my bag on the floor and hopped to sit on the workbench next to Rhydian. He bumped me with his good arm and gave me a quick grin. It was enough to make me blush and look at my hands.
"What are you working on Dad?" I said, quickly diverting him from Rhydian's gaze.
"A new bench for the Village Hall Garden in Stoneybridge. It's a commission from the WI, in memory of one of their members. I'm making one the same as your Mam's in the orchard".
Rhydian and I glanced quickly at each other; we both looked away quickly, smiling. We were remembering that kiss.
We watched Dad plane and sand a large plank of wood, following the natural contours of the grain and working with the shapes of the bark.
"Ceri has been to the edge of the woods" said Dad still working on the wood, he was trying to be casual "I could smell her this morning. She must be worried about you Rhydian."
"I must go and speak to her" Rhydian said quietly.
I was worried about him going, anxious that he wouldn't return. Rhydian had said that Ceri hadn't wanted him to return her in the first place. Would they force him to go away again? Keep him away from me? My stomach was back in knots again.
"Do you want me to come with you?" I asked, I didn't know if I wanted the answer to be yes or no.
"No. I think I'd better go on my own".
Rhydian hopped down from the bench and pecked me quickly on the cheek, not looking at Dad.
"It might take me a while to find them on foot, I'm no good on four legs for a while" shrugged Rhydian.
"Howl if you need us" said Dad with a resigned smile.
Rhydian turned and ambled out of the door.
I stayed with Dad in the workshop, helping him with the bench. Passing him tools and watching him work. Chatting about school, how the exams had gone, what had come up in them and what exams I had left to take.
It took over an hour before Rhydian reappeared. I heard him come out of the woods and cross to open the garden gate, wolfblood super-hearing is cool.
I was back sitting on the bench drinking a cup of tea with Dad that he had made from his supplies in the workshop. Tea in there always tasted different from tea anywhere else, it was strong and sweet, the thick mugs were never really properly washed out and everything had a hint of wood and dust.
Rhydian ambled back into the workshop, able to find us easily using his wolf sense.
I looked at Dad, he was sniffing the air as I was. Rhydian didn't smell of Ceri or Bryn.
"You didn't find them?" I questioned.
"No." He said, he sounded confused and hurt. "I could find their scent and follow it but each time I got close it was like they were just out of reach. They turned into wolves and went up on to the moors. I couldn't keep up so I came back here. His shoulders were slumped and he seemed upset.
"I'm not surprised" said Dad "I doubt they will trust you for a while, especially as you can't transform. They will know that you are OK; their scent is close enough to the house that they would have been able to see and hear us. Besides we have the Pentagram..." Dad smiled, looking smug.
I shrugged at Rhydian. I didn't have a clue what Dad was talking about. Rhydian looked just as confused as me.
"Go on then Dad, tell us what the Pentagram is" I couldn't help the sarcasm in my voice. I had been amazed by so much over the last few days. What was a bit more magic?
"A five pointed star?" questioned Rhydian. I looked at him surprised. He simply shrugged back at me and grinned.
"Yes" replied Dad, "your Gran realised as soon as she walked into the spare room the other night that the five of us were together for a reason."
"Five of us?" I questioned.
"But there were seven of us when Ellie came into the room?" finished Rhydian.
"OK, five of us not including you two" continued Dad. "A Witch, a Keeper and three Wolfblood's. Five of us that join together to protect you two. It comes from the time of the predictions, though Pentagram's have formed since then to protect Wolfblood's for various reasons. One was formed briefly when you were born because of the prediction. Except we had four wolfblood's and a Keeper, Your Granddad was the fourth member. The Wild wolfblood's were informed of your birth and a try of truce was negotiated. We didn't know that Ceri already had a son so we didn't feel that there was any threat. No one really took this prediction seriously until Ceri came back to find Rhydian. The pentagram didn't form for long officially as it wasn't really needed. Plus we lost your Granddad so soon afterwards..."
Dad looked sad. I would explain about how we had lost my grandfather to Rhydian later.
"Wow" said Rhydian. "So how does it work? How can the Pentagram protect us?" Is it all chanting and incantations then?"
"Yes!" Said Dad.
Both of our mouths dropped open with an audible pop.
"No!" confirmed Dad smiling at us, he was being sarcastic! "There is more to it than that, having a witch on board helps though. It's more like a collective consciousness, we decided that you are protected and therefore no wolfblood can harm you. If they did, and they would be fighting a mighty powerful urge to not hurt you, then the rest of the wolfblood's would turn on them. Ostracise them, outcast them, even hurt or kill them in order to protect you, or whoever was being protected by the pentagram. The Pentagram unites wild and Tame wolfblood's alike. Instinct will prevent a wolfblood from harming anyone under the protection."
"I didn't know that" stated Rhydian, "It explains a lot though. Why my Mum left Bryn in the care of five wolves, why she likes to keep five wolves in the pack. She didn't tell me the reason why."
"I wonder why she didn't tell you?... She must have known..." I mused.
"I'm sure there are lots of things that she hasn't told me. I didn't really believe her about the whole Witch and Keeper things until Ellie confirmed it."
"Do Tom and Shannon know?" I asked.
"I doubt it" said Dad.
"We should go and talk to them" Rhydian said hopping down from the workbench.
We all walked out of the workshop together.
"Maybe we'll go later..." muttered Rhydian, heading instead back towards the house.
I knew what he was thinking... Mam was cooking and it smelled delicious. There was no way that Rhydian could resist... but then again neither could I!
"After supper" I confirmed.
We both grinned at each other as we walked back down the stone path towards the kitchen, bumping shoulders as we went.
Later that evening we walked slowly to Shannon's house, enjoying the warm summer night. The wood was peaceful and quiet, just a few animals settling at the end of the day and others waking up for a busy night. The warm night intensified the scents in the air; I could almost taste the sap from the trees and the late blossom fading on the branches. I could smell that a fox had recently crossed our path; I know most humans didn't like the smell of a fox but I loved the musty earthy smell. It was natural.
Rhydian and I walked holding hands, it felt easy and natural, our fingers intertwined, his thumb rubbing gently inside my palm. We walked close together, our pace falling into step. We didn't need to talk, there had been enough good humoured banter around the kitchen table while Mam had served up supper.
Mam and Dad seemed much more relaxed with Rhydian's presence; I suspect that Gran had been having a couple of long chats with them both. It probably explained Dad's openness with Rhydian and me.
Rhydian's shoulder would still be sore for a good few days, so he couldn't transform into a wolf until it was healed, but we were just enjoying the evening and felt no need to run. I hadn't felt this contentment for a long time; since before my first change, since Rhydian had come into my life.
"How are we going to tell Shannon and Tom this one?" began Rydian as we made our way down a ridge towards the stream.
"I don't know but I don't think much will surprise them now, not after this weekend"
"I'm sorry it all came out in the wrong order Maddy" Rhydian said suddenly, squeezing my fingers. "It wasn't how I planned it in my head".
"Oh, and how did you plan it? Sweep me off my feet, kiss me madly and then tell me in order to save my fellow race I must procreate with you?! Oh and my bezzie mates are part of the universal salvage operation too?"
"Pretty much, Yer!" countered Rhydian "Except I didn't know about Shannon and Tom, only suspected and I'm not really convinced about any child of mine saving the future of every known wolfblood, if it's anything like me it will barely be able to tie its own shoe laces... Let's hope it takes after its mother hay?" Rhydian gave me a playful smirk.
I felt my heart skip a beat. I so wasn't ready to be thinking that far into the future yet.
Rhydian bumped me again with his arm.
"All in good time." He grinned broadly, "Just kidding, we have all the time in the world Maddy, there is so much that I want to do with my life, with you before we even need to think about that. Listening to your Gran talking about her travels... It sounded amazing."
"I know! Doesn't it?! I REALLY want to see some of those places. ALL of those places!" I could help get excited. Rhydian wanted to travel too.
"Yer, me too, wow, let's go."
"Now?" I questioned.
"Yep, right this minute! Pack your bag Mads, we're off to see the world... Except we wouldn't make it as far as the bus stop before your Mum was hauling us both back by the scruff of our necks!"
"You know her too well" I shrugged. "Besides, I have exams to take and we are on our way to see Shannon and Tom first..."
"Not just yet" Rhydian smiled. "There is something I need to do first."
"Oh yes?" I teased.
Rhydian kissed me.