Ok. All I can say is, I am truly sorry for the wait; Stuff has been happening in real life, some good, some bad, some truly terrible (i.e. almost dying), and I have had barely any time to write this; I am actually writing this A/N at 5 in the morning. This final chaper is probably shorter than you may want, but I have been writing this mostly at ridiculous-o'clock in the morning. This chapter is dedicated to my best friend, who is a Maddian shipper, and a fellow massive fan of Wolfblood. Thanks [friends name here], for too many things to list. :) This is also unBeta'd, for I figured it would be best to get this chapter to you first, and have it Beta'd a little later. But anyway, to the story, and once again, I apologise.

They stand there, each drinking in the sight and scent and sound of the other, as dehydrated wolves would gulp down water. The first thing they notice is the network of small lacerations crossing the others face and ears and limbs. Their marks are identical. This, too, they notice. Rhydian can't make sense of it. Maddy can. She has to tell him.

They step forward at the same time, then begin to circle each other, like the wolves whose shapes they are assuming. They gradually spiral closer and closer. Then they stop, so close as to feel each others breath on their faces. Maddy is the first one to become her human. Rhydian swiftly transforms also.

"I missed you." He states, simply. Tears shine, unfallen, in his eyes.

"I know," she replies, unusually solem, her eyes also shining. "But not as much as I missed you." This last, playful, string of words is accompanied by a gentle punch to Rhydians shoulder, and then grins from both of them. The tears disapear, never to be.

"I doubt that."

"Then we missed each other equally. How's that?"

"Better." Both of them are barely able to contain their glee at seeing each other; but it would not do, they both think, to howl just outside the house of Rhydians adoptive parents. They settle instead for an embrace, brimming over with barely suppressed emotion.

"Maddy... You're crushing me; you weren't... this strong before you... left..."

She releases him, and laughs. He could listen to that laugh all day; the sound isn't anything beautiful, but to Rhydian, it is like the rain in a sand-strewn desert.

Then she turns serious again; "You're hurt." And those two, simple words are so full of pain and guilt, he feels as though he would do anything to stop it.

"Why?" Something has changed between them; he can feel it. But what, exactly, eludes his grasp.

"There's something that... happens... to Wolfbloods, when they meet what humans call, "the One"; I don't know how it works; nobody bothered to explain: maybe it's pheremones -"

"What, Maddy?"

She breathes out; this is all to much to take in. "It's the Bond; We're Mates."

Rhydian nods, silently digesting the words. "And the scratches?"

"What injures one Mate, injures the other."

"Like quantum entanglement."

Maddy gives him a look that translates roughly into: "Huh?".

"God knows... It's something Shan told me about."

"How did you hurt your wrist?"

"A tree." He waves the be-toilet-rolled forearm around non-commitally. "How did you hurt yourself?"

"I ran. To find you. I couldn't... I couldn't stay. Jana's kind, and always up for a chat; but I don't belong in the Wild: I belong with you."

"And I belong with you." They lean forward, holding hands, and gently press their foreheads together, closing their eyes.

"I've got so many things to tell you." She whispers, a smile in her voice.

"I look forward to it." He replies.


Shannon and Tom, fast asleep on the sofa at her house, awaken to the sound of wolves howling. Or, more accurately, Wolfbloods. Tom startles, and falls off the sofa. Shannon glares at him - somewhat affectionately - for scattering the remmanants of the popcorn. He clambers back on to the sofa, reaching for the remote to mute the last few minutes of some terrible film about zombies.

"Was that...?" He asks.

"She's back." They smile at each other. Maddy is back, and she and Rhydian are happy, and together, and apparently going for a run. It can't last forever, they must know that, it will last for the now, regardless of the future.

And that is what matters.