A line of clouds slashed across the crescent moon in the night sky as Rhydian pulled into the car park at Bradlington High. He opened the door for Mads, who grumbled.
"I can get it for myself, you know."
"I know you can," Rhydian said gently. "Will you just let me be the gentleman though? It makes me feel better."
Feeling suddenly shy, Maddy nodded. Rhydian was staring at her like an idiot. No, like a smitten idiot.
"Mads, you really do look incredible tonight." He nuzzled her before pressing his lips to hers. She hungrily kissed him back, and when he pulled away she almost whimpered in disappointment. "Come on." He clasped her hand in his and tugged her through the car park, towards the most massive tent Maddy had ever seen. For the big Charity Dance, even the school's gymnasium wasn't large enough. So Jeffries, being the capable organizer he was, had decided to convert the entire football field into a giant dance venue. Luckily the field was level enough to handle Jeffries' ambitions, and now the two wolfbloods marveled at the head teacher's efforts actually paying off.
The tent covered the entire football field like a billowing sail, its brightly colored orange, mauve, and lavender walls rippling slightly in the breeze. A huge sign hung over the arc of the main entrance, 'Bradlington High Charity Ball,' and just in front of the entrance a professional photographer—looking prim and proper and impatient all at once—herded one couple after the next to his curtained photo-stage.
Maddy whispered to Rhydian. "Can we NOT do that?" But Rhydian grinned, tugging Maddy towards impending doom.
"Why not, Mads? Don't you think we look good together?"
"We do," Maddy protested, "but who needs a stuffy picture to prove it? I prefer candid shots anyway. I can take some selfies of us later that'll be much better." Maddy's words died as Rhydian pulled her to wait in line for the photographer. Maddy sighed as Rhydian slid an arm around her shoulders and gently rubbed her arm to keep her warm as a breeze rippled past the tent.
"It won't be that bad, Mads. I promise." Maddy rolled her eyes and rested her head on Rhydian's shoulder, trying not to feel that resurgence of nerves fluttering about in her stomach. Who had that wolfblood in the woods been? The question gnawed at her like a dog at its favorite bone.
"OK, hold still. Chin up, Miss. Yes, right there." Finally, with the photographs taken, Maddy and Rhydian could venture inside the tent, and on to the dance floor. There were easily over a hundred people there. Long rows of tables with drinks, appetizers, and mini slices of fudge brownie and cheesecake lined one side of the massive tent. The DJ was playing Thirty Seconds to Mars, which segued into Imagine Dragons just as Maddy and Rhydian hit the dance floor. There they found Shannon wearing an emerald-green dress that complemented her elegantly plaited red hair. Shan's crystal earrings sparkled as her date, Harry, twirled her about.
"Mads!" Shan interrupted her dance with Harry to give Maddy a big hug.
"Love your new earrings, Shan."
"Thanks!"
"AHHH!" Tom Okanawe stumbled through as Shan and Maddy sprang apart to avoid a collision. Tom sported an awkward figure in his ill-fitting tuxedo as he nearly face-planted on the floor. His date, Kay, caught him just in time.
"You're supposed to be twirling me, not yourself," Kay whined. Maddy, Rhydian, Shan and Harry all laughed as Tom's face turned a pallor of embarrassment that practically screamed 'Please let me crawl into a hole and die.'
"No worries, mate. We can't all be graceful," Rhydian teased, giving Tom a good-natured pat on the shoulder. He leaned in briefly, jerking his chin subtly in Kay's direction as Tom's date started yanking him back towards the center of the dance floor. "Besides mate, I think she fancies you, so I think she'll be willing to put up with your clumsiness."
Tom grinned sheepishly. "Wish me luck," he called to Mads, Shan, and Rhydian over his shoulder as Kay pulled him back towards center stage. They began dancing with impressive fervor, although it looked to Maddy and Rhydian like Kay—not Tom—was now the one 'leading,' and that made the teen wolfbloods erupt in a fresh burst of laughter.
"Aren't you glad I'm a better dancer than that?" Rhydian asked. Maddy lifted her chin with a skeptical look.
"Oh? The jury's still out on that, mister. Or have you forgotten that I haven't ever seen you dance properly?"
Rhydian slid his hand along Maddy's bare back and took her left hand, pulling her in close for a slow dance as the next song came on. Maddy licked her lips, suddenly extremely aware of Rhydian. Of his closeness. Of the masculine scent of his after-shave, just the slightest touch so as not to irritate their heightened wolfblood sense of smell. Of that more powerful woodsy scent that was just pure Rhydian, and which made her feel calm and safe in his arms as he gradually led her towards the edge of the floor.
"Where are we going…?" Maddy began.
"Just somewhere for a little privacy," Rhydian said with a small smile.
Maddy's heart sped up as he maneuvered her into a more secluded corner of the dance floor.
"Look Mads, I want you to know that what you said in the car back there, about all you caring about being just us…being together, well…"
Maddy's brown eyes went all liquid as her gaze held his.
"Well what?"
Rhydian's one hand now rubbed comforting, mind-melting caresses along her back. "I just want you to know that's exactly how I feel. And tonight…I just want you to know, in case you had even the tiniest doubt…I know some guys come to an event like this with expectations." He said the last word distastefully, and Maddy knew what he meant. "That's not me. I don't want you to do anything you're not comfortable with. I mean," and now he turned red and a little flustered, "we don't have to even talk about that tonight, although at some point we probably should."
"You mean sex?" Maddy threw it right out there and almost immediately regretted it—though she knew she shouldn't. Now Maddy was starting to blush a little too. They hadn't talked about how fast to take their relationship. They'd been moving along with unspoken understanding for the most part—till now.
"You're very forward tonight," the blue-eyed wolfblood replied with a sudden grin. "Does that sizzling-hot black dress you're wearing have special powers or something?"
Maddy smiled. "Maybe it does." Her breath caught as Rhydian gently slid an errant hair away from her face. Then that same hand slid down her cheek as he leaned forward and gave her a slow-burning caress of a kiss, his lips just teasing hers. She protested as he readjusted their position and swept her back towards the middle of the dance floor.
"Rhydian," she almost whined. "You can't do that. That's just mean, teasing me like that."
Rhydian chuckled. "You know I fancy the pants off you, Mads…but we're in a public place. If I start kissing you, really kissing you, I'm not going to want to stop…and then one thing will lead to another, and Jeffries will kick us out of the Charity Dance. Is that what you want?"
The she-wolf gave her boyfriend a wicked look, her brown eyes momentarily shifting to the burning yellow of her more primal self. "I can think of worse outcomes." Her back arched as she stepped in closer to him, loving the way his arm held her and his warmth encompassed her all at once.
"I think I could stay like this forever," she whispered. Rhydian's steady, fervent stare said Me too—but before he could verbalize anything this upbeat Pentatonix song flew from the speakers. Rhydian and Maddy laughed as Tom snuck up behind Shan, writhing more than dancing, with Kay glaring at him all the while. Maddy and Rhydian joined in, gyrating with the beat, arms slashing and feet sidestepping in a blur of motion. They tore up the dance floor, dancing side by side, and pretty soon Harry and Shan had a similar mojo going.
Rhydian caught Maddy's wrist and twirled her one way, then twirled her back, catching her as he dipped her towards the floor—only to send her spinning again as she laughed with the kind of glee that made his heart swell. The festive lights strung along the tent's ceiling lit up Maddy's dress so that it looked like she'd studded it with jewels, and he just wanted to kiss her until they couldn't feel their lips anymore. Instead they had to make do with dancing the night away, and dance they did.
The wolfblood couple and their friends kept at it, just letting it all go, totally immersing themselves in the beat and the flow until the music practically wove itself into their veins. Finally, after nearly two hours on the dance floor, and now more than a little sweaty, Rhydian pulled Mads to the side.
"Want to get some fresh air?"
"Sure." Maddy frowned as the trance of all that dancing and music finally wore off for a second. "Hey, I almost forgot to ask…where's Jana?"
"Food poisoning. She couldn't come."
Maddy felt bad for Jana, but soon her attention got redirected elsewhere. As soon as Rhydian had them ducking under the tent flap into the cool, crisp evening air, Maddy realized he was up to something. He was pulling her insistently towards the woods. Moonlight streamed across the field like silver paint.
"Rhydian, where are you taking us? Does this have something to do with the wolfblood I was sure that I saw on the way here?" She pulled back at him, bringing them both to an abrupt halt.
"You lied to me, didn't you? When I said I saw a wolfblood, you knew there was one nearby."
Rhydian's face had guilt written all over it. "Mads, can you just trust me? There was a reason I didn't want to tell you…and I still don't, not unless she's decided to show. Will you just trust me?"
Maddy bit her bottom lip and gave Rhydian a disgruntled look. Finally, sighing with impatience, Rhydian swooped in to give Maddy the most passionate, heartfelt kiss. Meanwhile his hand slid up her back, creating a trail of heat that fused to her spine and ran riot in her veins just like the music had before. His soft lips and his taste mesmerized Maddy, and the way that his hand slid upward to the back of her neck, stroking her nape just perfectly—that nearly undid her, and she moaned with pleasure even as he stifled her moan with a renewed and fervent kiss. Slowly, he drew his lips away from her, but his hands now cupped her face and he had the most pleading look in his eyes. Maddy stood there, just dazed, staring at him. Her heart was fighting to return to its normal rhythm, but it wasn't easy.
"Will you stop fighting me and just trust me for once? I know it's not in your alpha nature, but will you please try to fight your nature just this one time, Mads. For me?"
Maddy looked into those eyes. How could she say no to those eyes? She thought back to his early days in Stoneybridge, when she'd never trusted him…and every time she'd distrusted him, where it had gotten them? Nowhere good. She remembered the time Shan and Tom had gotten attacked by a wild wolfblood while out 'looking for the beast,' and how she hadn't recognized the threat because she'd assumed that Rhydian was the one in Shan's picture—even though Rhydian had vehemently denied it. She should have trusted him back then. And he was right—she needed to trust him now.
Maddy nodded. "I'm sorry, Rhydian. You're right, you've earned my trust. It's just the stubborn alpha in me…" she said, looking away with regret.
"It's all right, Mads. Come on," he coaxed. Now, as Rhydian tugged at their joined hands, Maddy let him lead the way.
Soon they were nearing the edge of the woods and Rhydian seemed to be peering ahead intently. Wait. Was that…? Maddy squinted and thought she saw that pair of luminous eyes peeking out at them from the deep shadows of the trees.
"Good, she's here. There's someone I'd like you to meet," Rhydian said.
Maddy's heart raced as they neared the forest. Those were definitely the eyes of a wolfblood staring at her. But as suddenly as they'd appeared, and just as the two teen wolfbloods neared the woods, that mysterious pair of eyes vanished and there came the sound of an animal retreating quickly through the underbrush.
Rhydian's hand tightened around Maddy's and he shouted.
"No! Wait!" Suddenly Rhydian was morphing into his wolf and loping at desperate speed towards a cluster of evergreens. Before Maddy could even think about it, she was sliding into her wolf and plunging right after him. One thought thudded in her wolf's brain as her paws pounded against the earth.
Who's this mystery wolfblood Rhydian's so desperate for me to meet and WHAT in the world is going on?
A/N - Hey Wolfblood fans,
As you can see, I'm going to need one more final chapter to reveal the mysterious wolfblood and why Rhydian is keeping a dark family secret from Maddy. I hope you're enjoying the story. Please comment if you'd like or predict who you think the mysterious wolfblood actually is… - I'll bet you'll never guess :)
