Rhydian exploded through the cluster of evergreens with Maddy right on his tail.

That smell…why is it vaguely familiar? The wolfblood they were now chasing, it smelled a little like…like Mam. But that couldn't be!

Rhydian, wait!

Maddy wanted to yell for him to slow down, but the blur of moon-flecked branches kept slapping at her face as she dodged right and left. Even if she had been able to talk in wolf form, there was hardly time to breathe, let alone shout.

Her keen night vision kept tabs on Rhydian as she finally got her bearings and, true to form, took her speed up a notch. Rhydian liked to think that he could outrun her. On open ground that might have been true. Here in the woods though, where Maddy's more slender female form could slide between places easier than his bulky male's, she was in her element. She pushed forward, overtaking Rhydian. The scent of the wolfblood that smelled like Mum but couldn't be her, now it grew stronger…

She heard panting ahead. They were gaining on it. No, her. Rhydian had referred to the wolfblood as a 'she'.

The forest had stayed fairly level—until now. Suddenly the ground fell away, and Maddy had to put on the brakes as her paws scrabbled across the steep, uneven incline. Below her Maddy saw the wolfblood they were chasing. It was about Maddy's size, with a long silver-gray stripe down its back that stood out from its darker, chocolate brown coat.

Almost got you!

The tree line abruptly ended, and Maddy gasped as she realized the steep incline emptied out at the edge of a sheer cliff, where just below a gully cut through the woods like an angry wound. Maddy barked in alarm, and to help stop her momentum she morphed back into human form. The wolf she'd been chasing whined in terror. The unknown wolf couldn't stop her momentum. She flew over the edge into the gully as Maddy leapt after her, her arms frantically reaching.

No! Maddy felt her dress tear while bits of rock tore at her skin as she grabbed onto the back legs of the plummeting wolf. The wolf's momentum carried Maddy along with her, and Maddy knew she was going to die.

Like a bungee cord reaching its low-point, suddenly Maddy felt herself snapped back. She heard Rhydian, through clenched teeth, shouting down to her. She felt hands firmly gripping both her ankles.

"Hang on!"

The wolf dangling below Maddy was unhelpfully thrashing, now more terrified than ever. Maddy felt sorry for the she-wolf, but she was angry too. Why did you run from us? What did you want?

It took some serious doing, but Rhydian finally managed to pull both she-wolves up the cliff face and away from the precipice. Panting, realizing that her dress had been torn right down the middle, Maddy sighed. Note to self—guess I won't be going back to the dance. But she hardly cared anymore. All of her attention was on the strange, unknown wolfblood. She tensed on all fours in front of them, her lip curled back, ready to snarl.

The more Maddy looked at the wolfblood, the more it made her realize something. She saw tufts of white mottling its dark brown coat. This wolfblood wasn't their age. No, this wolfblood was old, maybe even ancient.

Maddy reached out her hand tentatively.

"It's okay. We won't hurt ya. Please don't be afraid." Maddy knelt down. It reminded her of the first day she'd met Rhydian, when his wolf had gone berserk in the darkroom and she had had to kneel submissively to calm his primal self.

"See, I'm not a threat?" Kneeling to meet the old wolf at her level would have been a huge mistake if it had been a real, actual wolf. Among wolfbloods though, kneeling signified something important; it signified respect and acceptance. It said 'Peace, I will not harm,' and that's exactly what Maddy knew this poor, old wolfblood needed to hear.

Slowly, then with a sudden burst at the end, the mottled wolfblood changed back into her human form too.

There, standing before Maddy and Rhydian, stood this elderly woman. She had a weathered face and a stooped, frail, compact figure. But her eyes were this lively, sparkling blue. They looked questioningly at Maddy now, and there were tears in them. Tears streamed from them like streams from a mountaintop glacier.

"You must be Maddy," the old woman sighed. She spoke with deep emotion, her breath hitching as she said Maddy's name.

"Do I know you?" Maddy asked. The young she-wolf glanced uncertainly between Rhydian and the old woman, but Rhydian stayed where he was. He didn't move.

"Maddy, I'd like you to meet Virginia. She's your grandmother."

"What?" Maddy hadn't meant to squawk out the question, but she was too stunned to stop herself. Virginia smiled even as more tears leaked down her weathered cheeks. She stepped forward and looked at Maddy with such intent, loving eyes.

"Let's get a better look at you." She was still crying but somehow managing to talk at the same time. The wolfblood named Virginia seemed to suck up all the courage she could muster before she could ask.

"Maddy, may I give you a hug?"

Maddy felt like this all had to be happening in a dream. She nodded slowly, and that's when it hit her. So THAT'S why Virginia smells a little like Mam, isn't it?

Maddy hugged the frail figure, being careful not to squeeze too hard as Virginia hugged her back.

"Ah. You smell a lot like your mother," Virginia sighed.

"Are you…Mum's mum?" Maddy ventured.

"Aye," the old wolfblood sighed. They just stood there hugging one another, but it wasn't awkward. Maddy felt like someone had draped a very comfy blanket around her, and she didn't want to move. Apparently the old wolfblood didn't either, because the two stayed locked in that embrace for what seemed like a very long time. Finally, with a deep breath, Virginia disengaged her arms from Maddy, and Maddy did likewise. Now the questions bubbled up, too fast to stop them. Meanwhile Rhydian walked up beside them.

"All my grandparents are dead. Mam and Dad always told me that." Her eyes probed Virginia's face. "Mam said you and Grandpa Vince died in a car accident when I was just a baby."

Virginia looked away, pain and sorrow and guilt all etched in equal measure on her face and brimming in her beautiful blue eyes.

"This is why I almost decided not to come…and…and why I changed my mind at the last moment. I don't want to upset your life. I don't think I have any right to."

Rhydian stepped forward and snagged Maddy's hand in his. "That's why she came to me, Mads. Because she wanted someone to help her stay hidden near Stoneybridge. So I found a place for her nearby, and I've been keeping her secret. She's been watching you, just wanting to see you, nothing more. She just…wanted to have some memories of you before she passed on." Rhydian spoke so soberly, so earnestly. "But I persuaded her that she should actually meet you, so here we are."

Maddy sat down on the nearest rock. She felt as if she might faint. Chaos in the form of too many questions had her skull ready to explode.

"I don't understand. Why did Mam lie about you being dead?"

Virginia frowned at Rhydian. "You see? I shouldn't have listened to you. Maddy would have been better off without me ever showing my face."

"Don't say that," Maddy interrupted. "Just please, I need answers."

Virginia sat beside her granddaughter and placed her frail hand with its paper-thin skin in Maddy's lap. The wolfblood girl gripped her grandmother's hand in both of hers and squeezed with reassurance.

"It's okay, just tell me the truth."

Virginia smiled ruefully as Maddy carefully wiped away one of her tears.

"Emma's father and I didn't approve of Daniel. Your grandfather came from a very traditional wolfblood clan. He believed strongly that it was his right to arrange a proper match for Emma. When Emma rebelled and married your father despite Vince's wishes…it was horrible. He was beyond just furious with your mother. He claimed that she'd made a mockery of the family, that she had dishonored both him and all our ancestors." Virginia looked bleakly at Maddy, who just gave that frail hand another squeeze.

"Vince never forgave your mother. It became simpler for us to pretend that you didn't exist, and for your parents to pretend the same for us." Virginia sighed before choking back a sob. "Vince was my alpha, and despite all his faults I truly did love him more than anything in the world. When he forbade me to ever contact Emma or you, I couldn't go against him. I wasn't strong enough." Virginia's body was now wracked by fresh sobs, wrecking Maddy's progress at wiping away all the tears. Between choked sobs the old she-wolf stammered:

"C-can you forgive me?"

Maddy immediately stood up and supported Virginia as she leaned against her granddaughter's chest and cried and cried, just releasing all the pent-up emotion—and over a decade of regret.

Rhydian snuck up to Mads, hugging them both from behind as he kissed the top of Maddy's head. His voice was a soothing whisper in Maddy's ear.

"Vince passed away last month, so your grandmother is finally free. Look, Mads, I thought you would want this…to meet your grandmother and to finally know the truth. I hope that's all right."

It took a long time, but finally Virginia's aged body relaxed in Maddy's arms.

"You look tired," Maddy coaxed. "Why don't you rest your head on my lap and take a nap?"

Virginia gratefully settled down on the grass while Maddy found a padded, comfortable spot nearby to sit. The old she-wolf laid her head on Maddy's lap and fell asleep almost instantly. Maddy stroked the old woman's hair and tried to absorb the shock of the family secret just unburied.

"I have a grandmother," Maddy whispered. Her eyes were bright with tears now as the new reality sank in. "I have a living grandmother." Maddy felt her love pouring out. She felt this bond with a woman she'd never even known…bound to her through Mam, but also by something else. By larger ties of family, of being part of the same pack. That still made all the difference no matter how life had kept them apart all these years.

Rhydian settled down on the other side of Maddy and slipped an arm around her.

"Some night, huh?" The wolfblood boy peeked at Mads, who was swiping at her tears.

She smiled. "Aren't you just the one for understatement? I should punch you right now. Why didn't you tell me?!" Maddy stormed.

"Careful, you'll wake her up if you start talking loud and getting all feisty at me," Rhydian countered.

"You're lucky. If my grandmother wasn't trying to sleep, Rhydian Morris, I would box your ears and send you headfirst right into that gully to see if falling on your skull might knock a bit of sense into you!"

Rhydian just threw her his infectious grin. "It was her secret to tell. Her or your mother's. I didn't want to interfere."

Maddy's eyes flashed. "But you convinced Virginia to make contact, Rhydian. You did interfere."

"No," Rhydian said, his smile just widening. "I just gave things a nudge in the right direction."

The slender wolfblood girl just rolled her eyes at that. Before she knew it Rhydian was leaning into her, his lips warm and pliable as she kissed him back and tried not to think of her world turned upside down. When she got back tonight she and her mother would be having a talk. There would be a war of words between two alpha females, and it was going to be epic.

I can't believe Mum never told me!

As if sensing Maddy's anger and wanting to defuse the bomb that was Maddy's unstable mixture of emotions, Rhydian kept kissing her. He rubbed the back of her neck, stroking at the sensitive spot right at the base of her neck which she absolutely loved, until Maddy forgot why she was angry and tried to just focus on the good.

A lost member of the pack had been found, and in the end that was what mattered.

A/N – Hey wolfblood friends,

There you have it, Rhydian and Maddy finally going to a dance and actually getting to dance! And Maddy uncovering another wolfblood secret, this time about her own grandparents. I always thought it was odd that Emma and Dan never even mention any other extended family members during the show…and that's part of what inspired my twist at the end of the story…

I know I could probably take this story in new directions but this ending just feels "right." – So I hope you enjoyed it and found it surprising yet satisfying. Please comment, share your thoughts if you'd like. Were you surprised by who the "mystery wolfblood" turned out to be? :)