Disclaimer: I do not own Wolfblood.

Episode Five, Part 2 - "Rescue Mission"

Rhydian followed Maddy's tainted scent and he tracked it about halfway up their usual pathway before he knew that she was close.

He found her running, faster than she'd ever run before, towards the top of the moors. And then she stopped in a clearing by a big tree, and stood on the spot, her hands in her hair and her now-yellow eyes wide. Veins were showing everywhere on her skin, her teeth were now the wolf's, and she looked terrified. Bewildered. Panicked.

"Maddy!" Rhydian called, running towards her as fast as he could.

When he reached her, she pushed him back forcefully, nearly causing him to fall down. "Stay away from us Rhydian!"

"No! I won't leave you like this!"

She took another blow to his chest. "I'm fine! This is who I am! You have to go! You can't stop us!"

Rhydian watched her for a moment. She was moving her weight from foot to foot, swaying back and forth slightly and looking as if she were about to turn any moment. If she turned now, the Morwal would take over. And Rhydian would have no chance of saving her or himself.

Taking a deep breath, he decided to take action before this got way out of hand. He had to save her. He couldn't let her go through this alone.

He took a huge step forward and got a solid hold of both of her shoulders before pushing her back in to the tree behind her. He held her there, tight enough so that she couldn't move but not tight enough to hurt her.

"Maddy," he looked in to her eyes. They were both out of breath and she didn't look like her. She was still growling lowly. "Maddy, listen to me. You have to snap out of it. This isn't you; don't let it take over," and when she swallowed before taking more gasps for air, her face still looking the same, he realised he had to continue like this. "I love you, Mads; I'm here for you. We're all here for you. But you have to snap out of it. Please. This isn't you; you can do this – you can fight it." Rhydian felt weirdly teary as he stared in to her eyes and watched the veins on her neck and cheeks slowly recede.
He'd been one step closer to losing her a few seconds ago, and he watched as her eyes seemed to come back in to reality. She finally looked a little like her again; her teeth were normal and the veins were gone. She was still gasping for air.

"Maddy?" Rhydian asked, exasperated, hoping he'd managed to break the wall of fear the Morwal had imprisoned her behind.

Maddy didn't say anything.

She gasped, totally snapping back in to reality, and her body suddenly went weak. "This isn't me." Her breathing was rasped and strained as she fell down. Rhydian only just managed to catch her and when he did, he stood back up and held her in his arms.

The sobbing she was doing now was so much worse than it had been last night. Her sobs were taking over her entire body; every time she sobbed, it was almost a wretch too. Her throat was already hurting.

Rhydian leaned down and put his lips to her ear. "Maddy, it's okay," he whispered. Secretly, he was terrified for her. His forehead was thoroughly wrinkled and his eyes scared.

Suddenly, she gasped really loudly and continued doing it for a few more seconds. She had been crying for so long and so intensely that she couldn't even breathe.

"Nothing is okay, Rhydian. Nothing." She gasped out.

"Maddy, listen to me, I know you you're scared but you need to breathe. Breathe, Mads. It's okay," Rhydian managed to pull her away from him, still holding her up, and he looked in to her eyes. "Breathe." He said softly, watching as she did as she was told and took a huge breath in before letting it out. "Keep doing that."

"I need to sit down." She said, her voice merely a whisper.

Nodding, Rhydian guided her down to the floor beneath the tree and she leaned against it, her head tipped back against the bark. He sat next to her and threaded his arm around her shoulder, providing a pillow for her head; a pillow that wasn't needed when she turned her body slightly and rested her head on his chest.

She was still crying, but it was soft and silent now. Tears were just falling down swiftly every few seconds.

"I don't know who I am anymore." Maddy whispered.

Rhydian took a hold of her hand, threading their fingers together. "It's okay, Maddy. It'll pass. This happened to Jana when she lost her pack. It's the Morwal. It's hard to explain, but…it's okay. You'll be okay. It'll be gone after the full moon tonight."

She sniffed. "I'm sorry for those things I said back at school."

"S'okay," he shrugged. "Like I said, it wasn't you. But you have control of it now."

"I think I do, at least.… Thanks to you."

Rhydian smiled and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "I knew you could do it."

"How did Jana do it?"

"Huh?"

"How did she get control of the wolf?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Tom and Shannon just…did it. They calmed her down somehow. And when Ceri and I went to them the next morning, everything was fine again."

There was a moment of silence.

"So…how long have Jeffries and Liam known?" Maddy asked, her voice quiet as it cut through the silence.

"A few months now. But not long at all. I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"It's okay," she said. "I can see why ya didn't. You just didn't want to scare us even more."

"I'm still sorry though. You were right, I…I should have told you. But I didn't."

Maddy nodded feebly, pressing her head further in to his chest. She put her arm over his stomach and shuffled as close to him as possible. He was warm and he smelled so familiar; it was a comfort to her. She just wanted to be near him. It seemed to make everything clearer.

Rhydian held her close and smiled weakly when she shuffled as close as she could. He kissed the top of her head and sighed to himself in relief. Complete and utter relief.

Rhydian practically carried Maddy home that afternoon.

She was exhausted – too exhausted to even go back to school – and he had to have her on his back for half the walk back to her house.

"What happened?" Emma rushed out of the front door as soon as she smelled them coming towards the house, Dan following behind her. They noticed in an instant that Maddy's scent had changed since this morning.

"I'll explain later," Rhydian continued in to the house. "For now, let's just…get Maddy to bed. She's exhausted."

Emma noticed the tear streaks on her daughter's face and her face twisted in to a frown instantly.

Rhydian carried her up the stairs and placed her gently down on to her bed. As soon as she was lying down, Emma pushed Rhydian out of the way and bent down in front of her cub.

"Maddy, pet, what happened?" She asked, frantically searching Maddy's face for any signs of injury. Thankfully, there were none.

"Rhydian will explain."

Emma turned to Rhydian. "Go on then."

"Not here. I'll explain in a minute. Let's at least take Maddy's makeup off and get her comfortable."

Rhydian went over to Maddy's dressing table to find the makeup remover, but Emma pushed him away again and gave him a look.

"I can sort my own daughter out, thank you very much. A mother always knows how to take care of her cub," she said. Maddy didn't even have the energy to protest being called a 'cub' this time. "You go wait downstairs."

"Mam, wait; I want Rhydian to stay."

"Later, Maddy."

For a moment, Rhydian looked at Maddy. She looked guilty as her mum took her hair grips out for her, and Rhydian just looked disappointed and defeated. He wanted to stay with her, but he knew there was no getting in between Maddy and her mum.

He went downstairs.

Dan followed him and put the kettle on.

"Emma's still getting used to human life again," Dan explained as he got out a couple of mugs. "In Canada, we had complete care over Maddy. But back here, we have to share her with you guys, and I think she just gets protective."

Rhydian sat down at the table and put his hands together in his lap. "I get that, I do, but doesn't she remember the times I've actually saved Maddy's life?"

"She does. She's just having some trouble adjusting; bare with her. I think it might be worse because you're Maddy's boyfriend, you know? Not just a friend."

Rhydian nodded. "Maybe I should lay off being so protective over Maddy."

"I think Maddy needs the protectiveness from ya."

"You do?"

Dan shrugged and sat down opposite Rhydian at the table, handing him a mug of tea. "She loves you. I don't think Emma realises yet just how much Maddy needs you."

Rhydian smiled slightly down at the tablecloth. He was about to say something else when Emma came down the stairs.

"How is she?" Rhydian asked as soon as she walked in.

"She's okay. Really tired," Emma sat down at the table too and took the tea that Dan handed her. "What on earth happened today, Rhydian?"

Rhydian explained everything.

He explained about Jana and what she'd been through all those months ago, and then he explained that Maddy had been through the same thing today. He tried to get the message across without revealing how close Maddy had been to totally losing control, nearly knocking him over and then collapsing to the floor. He tried to make the story a little less dramatic.

Turns out, Maddy's parents had heard of the Morwal before, but they thought it only happened to wild Wolfbloods.

But now they knew differently.

"Oh, Rhydian, if we'd have known...," Emma sighed once he'd explained everything, not finishing her sentence. "You should have called." She said softly.

"There was no time. Maddy was right on the edge and I had to save her." Rhydian's voice was light, as if what he was saying was already obvious, and he shrugged, his face innocent.

Suddenly, Emma reached over and put her hands over Rhydian's. Her face was so genuine and gentle; it was completely different to any way she'd ever looked at him.

"Thank you," she said sincerely. "I don't know where she would've ended up if it wasn't for you."

He shrugged and both of Maddy's parents smiled at him.

"You'd better go up and see her." Dan smiled at Rhydian and nodded towards the stairs with his head.

"I explained everything to your parents." Rhydian murmured as he twisted some of her hair around his finger. He was lying on his back on her bed and she was lying next to him on her side, her head on his chest.

"How did they react?"

"I didn't exactly give them all the details…but they were pretty shocked. They thought it only happened to wild Wolfbloods."

Maddy was fiddling with the fabric of Rhydian's T-shirt in between two fingers, only half concentrating on it. "I guess not."

"You guys are semi-wild now though, I guess."

Maddy smiled slightly. "Not really. We just lived near the wild for a bit."

"Same difference."

She laughed then – a small, weak laugh – and moved closer to him. "Thank you for today. I don't know what would've happened without ya."

Rhydian shrugged. "You've had to save me from losing control loads of times. I owed you one."

She shook her head. "You don't owe me anything." Her tone was suddenly more serious and she put her arm fully over his stomach. She felt his lips come down in to her hair and his arm tighten around her.

"I'm never losing you again," he murmured, "you know that, right?"

Maddy nodded. "Likewise."

And then Rhydian grinned mischievously – a grin that Maddy couldn't see until it was too late – and he reached down and started tickling her. He just wanted to see her smile.

"Rhydian! Stop it!" She cried through unintentional giggles. She hated being tickled. "Why are you tickling me!?"

"Just felt like it," Rhydian shrugged before starting again.

Maddy managed to find some strength beneath the giggles and pushed him backwards forcefully, a reluctant grin on her lips. "That's not funny." She tried to frown.

She was lying on her back now and Rhydian was hovering over her.

He fake-pouted. "Don't be grumpy," he complained, his elbows on either side of her head. "I just wanted to see your smile, is all."

"Well then all you had to do was be nice, or…or…kiss us or something. I don't know. Just…anything but tickling us!"

"Okay, okay," Rhydian chuckled, bringing his hand up and tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. She stared up at him thoughtfully before reaching out and putting her hand on the back of his neck, her fingers running through the ends of his hair.

"What was that thing you suggested to make you smile?" Rhydian grinned.

"Be nice to us."

"No…the other one."

"Oh," Maddy grinned knowingly, "that."

And then she used her hand to pull his head forward and kiss him softly. She felt him smile against her lips before she kissed him again, and again, and again.

He brought his hand up and smoothed her cheekbone with his thumb as they kissed slowly. When Maddy pulled her lips away for a second, she rested her forehead on his, biting her bottom lip with her eyes still closed.

Rhydian opened his eyes to find that hers were shut. He smoothed some of her hair off her face, and that's when she opened her eyes; as soon as they made ridiculously close eye contact, they erupted in to quiet laughter.

Seeing Rhydian grinning and laughing just made her grin and laugh, because he truly was beautiful and she loved to see him smile.

"How you feeling now? After earlier?" Rhydian asked as he leaned away and lay next to her again. They didn't really fit on her bed so he rolled on to his back so that she could lie on her side again and lean on his chest.

"Kind of like I felt last night. Nothing like earlier, though…"

"I wanna say that that's good, but it's not really."

"I just…I can't believe they're gone. Me only family, killed off all because of some ancient grudge. How could someone do that?"

He leaned down and kissed her forehead, taking her hand that was sitting on his stomach. Once again, he didn't really know what to say to make it better, so he just settled for taking her hand and trying to comfort her that way.

Maddy didn't even realise that tears were falling down her cheeks until she began to feel a wet patch under her skin on Rhydian's shirt. He hadn't said anything about it, which Maddy thought was sweet, but she decided to push herself up and sit against the headboard of her bed. Rhydian turned on to his side.

Maddy was looking down at her hands in her lap, tears still falling. "I need a bigger bed." She chuckled wetly.

Rhydian chuckled too. "You really do."

And then Maddy looked at him without moving her head, tears sitting on the edges of her eyes.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "You saved us today."

Without saying anything, Rhydian smiled softly and took her hand, squeezing it lightly.

It said everything she needed to hear.

A/N: Hi! Happy Saturday! All your reviews for the last chapter made me very happy; thank you so much for all of your support and encouragement along the way. As I've said before, I adore writing this story so much, and it's so great that you guys like it too!

Do let me know what you thought of this chapter in a review :) Hope you enjoyed!

Love :* xxx