Chapter 12: Rhydian

Mum, Dad, Alric, Maddy and I all walk back into town together. I don't know if it's such a good idea to bring Alric inside the Segolia building; the machines and everything might spook him, but I know he wants to see Jana. And Jana wants to stay with Carys.

I told Maddy everything about Carys and my parents, she was as shocked as I was. But she's been so supportive.

"Why don't you all wait out here for a second, we'll just go in quickly and make sure everything's alright." I take Maddy's hand and we go inside together.

"Do you think they'll let Carys out soon?" She asks as we walk down the hall. "You said she seemed like she was getting better,"

"I don't know, she's been pretty up and down. Plus, where would she even go? "

She shrugs. "She knows she's welcome at my house, but if the social worker keeps coming back, she'll just try and take her away again." We walk into Carys' room. She and Jana are fast asleep on Carys' hospital bed. We quietly back out, making sure not to wake them up. "I think we should let them be, it's been a long day for all of us. Your parents and Alric can come and stay in the cellar and we'll bring them back tomorrow, yeah?" Maddy tries to stay calm and level-headed but I know she's a little bit frustrated. I just wish we could all sit down and talk now, to get it over with. Maddy's right though, it's getting late.

We bring them back to Maddy's and Mr and Mrs Smith aren't too pleased, but they care too much about Carys and me to turn our family away. Alric complains that he will not sleep in a human building, but I tell him that Jana needs him here and he instantly changes his tune and settles into the cellar. Maddy and I sit up in the living room until everyone is asleep, Maddy's basically asleep herself.

"Mads?" I gently nudge her. "I'm going back to Segolia, I just want to make sure they're okay." She mumbles something unintelligible and rolls onto her side.

I know if she was properly awake, she wouldn't want me going there at this time of night, but I'm not gonna get any sleep when I'm worried about Carys and Jana. And I hate feeling useless. The least I can do is be there if they need me.

I run through the forest to get into town quicker. Something stops me when I come to the clearing, a scent, a strong one. I sniff around, it's a Wolfblood. I know exactly who it is.

"Bryn?" I shout into the night. "It's me, Rhydian. Come out and talk to me." A little head out pokes out from behind a tree. "Bryn..." I can't help but smile when I see him. He smiles back and runs to me. I hug him tight; I haven't seen him in months. He's completely clueless about what's going on. "Where've you been little man?" I bend down to his height, though he's not that much shorter than me anymore.

"I'm a lone wolf now, ever since Jana took over the pack."

"She didn't take over, she inherited the pack from Alric. You shouldn't have run off like that, mum's had enough of her family disappearing around her."

"Mum," he smiles, "Is she alright?" I can tell he misses her, but he's so stubborn that he would never admit it.

"She's been better, there's a lot going on right now, with the wild pack and my pack." I contemplate telling him about Carys, then I realise, he still hasn't met dad. "I missed you, little bro," I hug him again. He doesn't say it back of course. "I guess you'll be happy to know that Jana is no longer Alpha of your pack, she's sort of my Alpha now, or again."

"She's tame? Again? Why must she change her mind so much? This is why Alpha's should only be males." He's set in old-fashioned ways when it comes to Wolfblood law.

"Yep," I brush off his sexist comment. Now is not the time for a lesson on feminism. "Listen, you should stick around, go back to the wild pack. I would say you could stay here with me, but I know how much you hate it. There's some stuff you need to be caught up on." I put my arm around him, and we walk through the forest. I tell him about everything that happened after he left, with Kincaid and Canada, and how we're all back in Stoneybridge. Which leads me to tell him about Jana having a girlfriend, Carys. But I don't tell him who she is yet. It would be too much for him to handle right now, he needs to know about Ava too. There's no telling how he could react, I have to defuse this bomb one wire at a time.

We come to the edge of the forest on the mountains and he sees the lights of the city.

"It's so... human. And," he pinches his nose, "It stinks! How can you possibly live anywhere near a world like that?"

"Carys is staying there," I point to the Segolia building, "She's not well and they have a hospital-" I see his confused face, "A place where they heal people. I was on my way to visit her, but you're here now. I guess I'll have to hang out with you until morning, then we can go and talk to mum."

He sniffs, "There's no need to wait until then," he says, I smell mum close to us. We turn around and she's walking towards us, she has her head down so she doesn't see us, but she must be able to smell us too, she lifts her head and sees Bryn and me.

"Mum?" Bryn says.

"Oh, Bryn!" She picks up her pace and they both run into each other's arms. She's so happy to see him, it's the first time I've seen her real smile in so long. I walk to join them.

"Were you going to see Carys?" Mum asks, I nod. "Me too, I can't bear the thought of something happening and me not being there to help."

"What's wrong with her? Is she dying?" Bryn asks.

"No, she's not dying Bryn, she's just had a lot of stressful things happen to her and she's in the hospital to get some rest. To mend her mind."

"So, she's insane?"

"No, not insane. She's just very tired," to be honest, I'm too tired to explain all of it to Bryn.

"Why don't you just exile her?"

"Bryn, that's not the way it works here. We don't just send someone off on their own if they're not well, we care about each other and we have each other's backs, no matter what." That shuts him right up.

The three of us sit on the mountain for a while, Bryn tells us about all the little adventures he's had while he's been alone. He's been okay out there, I thought for sure he'd get himself into some trouble, but he knows how to hunt, how to stay hidden. And most importantly, stay alive. He tells us he's already started transforming, he's only 12. It can happen early for some Wolfbloods though. That must have been a big contribution to him staying alive for so long by himself.

We sit talking until sunrise, the whole time I'm trying not to blurt out that he has a dad and two sisters that he's never met, I think mum is too. Eventually, we agree to walk to Segolia, mum's going to wait outside with Bryn while I go inside.

"Jana?" I poke my head around the door to see Jana sitting up on the bed with Carys nuzzled into her asleep. I whisper, "Hey, how's she doing?" I go inside, closing the door quietly behind me.

"She's okay, she had a few nightmares but that was expected. They didn't have to sedate her or anything. She was asking for you, and Ceri," she gently removes Carys' head from her stomach and gets out of bed, we go into the hall together.

"How are you?" I ask.

"I'm fine, all that matters is that Carys is okay." She looks at the metal door between her and Carys.

"Will you be okay?"

"I think so, as long as we all stick together nothing can break us."

"Bryn's back," I say, taking a seat.

"He is? That's amazing, how is he?" She sits next to me.

"He's good, he's started transforming. I haven't told him about Carys, or dad, or Ava. I don't know how he'll take it. He might run off again, and mum will lose it if he does. You should have seen her face when she saw him. I've never seen her so happy."

"He won't leave, not again. You'll have to be careful about it though. That boy is full of fire. Where is he now?"

"He's outside with mum, I thought it was best to keep him out of the building. And dad's at Maddy's with Alric so I can't take him there. I don't know how to tell him, what should I do?"

"Rhydian, you have to remember that you're just a cub too. You don't need to take on this responsibility, leave it to your parents, and then if Bryn wants to talk to you about it, he will. You don't have to make all of these decisions on your own," she takes my hand. "We all need to try and enjoy being kids while it lasts." This is why I've missed Jana so much; she gives the best advice and it always comes straight from her heart.

"You're right, yeah it shouldn't all be down to me," we smile at each other, then we smell something. Blood. We exchange a look before running back into Carys' room.

And then we see her, lying on her back, splayed across the floor with bloody wrists and a tear-stained face. Jana collapses at her side, she screams at the top of her lungs. But Carys just lays there, eyes closed, the life draining out of her.

"HELP!" I run down the hallway to the nurses' station where Dr Whitewood is. "Carys has done something, please help!" She immediately follows me down the hall bringing nurses with her. They see the horrible sight and one of the nurse's ushers me out of the room. Not long after, she does the same to Jana. We stand breathless in front of the now closed door. Jana's crying, I'm tearing up too. She turns to me, crying into my chest. I wrap my arms around her.

This can't be happening.