Rhydian ran through the woods at wolf speed, his head felt heavy, how could he have to choose between the most important thing sin his life? He didn't want to leave Stoneybridge. Tom and Shannon. Maddy. But never seeing his mum again? Brynn, never getting to see his little brother again, how could he even be considering this, shouldn't he automatically choose his family? But he had more than just his mum and Brynn in his family, his pack, he had Daniel, Emma, The K's, Jimi, Sam and Liam even Mr Jeffries. Jana, Tom and Shannon, his mum and Brynn and Maddy, he couldn't never see any of them again, it would kill him.
Rhydian exited the woods at the small clearing surrounding Janas caravan, he couldn't sense his mother around and Jana wasn't close either, he collapsed onto the steps in front of the door and closed his eyes, he couldn't get the sound of Maddy breaking out of his mind.
'You can't leave her, can you?' Rhydians eyes snapped open to see Jana standing a bit in front of him, how long had he been thinking for?
'What do you mean?' He asked looking away.
'Don't be stupid. Maddy. You can't leave her, I didn't think you'd be able to, your mam, she was sure you'd be okay, that it wouldn't be easy but you'd get over her and here, eventually but if you couldn't get over her the last time you left what hope do you have now?' Jana asked smiling, sitting next to the blonde boy. 'I'll miss them to, Tom and Shannon have been so good to me, even The K's, Sam, Liam and Jimi, they're our friends, I think I'll even miss Jeffries, it's okay to be sad you know.' She said nudging his shoulder.
'You don't get it Jana; I can't leave her, any of them. Remember our school camping trip?' He asked softly, Jana nodded grimly.
'When we jumped down into that ditch and Maddy wasn't there I felt my heart stop, I left her right there, and she was gone, and I knew she'd gone to help Liam, she wasn't going to leave him down there by himself, scared and alone. But I couldn't even focus for a few second to listen for her, to smell for her, I was so scared that she was down there with him and something had happened and when we pulled them up, god, I just wanted to hold her and never let her leave ever again, I was so close to just holding her and running as far away from Liam and his werewolf accusations and Jimi and the K's with their taunts and that stupid den. I freaked out thinking she was just a few meters away from me down a ole, how am I gonna cope if I'm thousands of miles away from her, in the middle of nowhere, not even able to hear her voice?' Rhydian ended, clenching his fists, his nerves already getting at me, with just his thoughts.
'You're not.' Jana answered simply, Rhydian looked at her in shock, he wasn't expecting some grand epiphany but maybe some sort of encouragement would have been nice. 'You're not going to be able to cope out there with them, without her so you're going to stay here.' She said happily, Rhydian looked at her confused.
'What do you mean, but what about mum and Brynn?' He asked not understanding what she was saying.
'It's my pack right?' She asked and Rhydian shrugged and nodded slightly. 'So I say you can visit any time you want and vice versa, maybe you could even bring Maddy and Tom and Shannon with you, maybe we could stop all this tame and wild hatred, show the pack and other wilds that humans aren't evil, they can be trusted and tames aren't stupid or pathetic, they may even be stronger than us, living amongst humans without blowing their cover or losing control. That's strength, that's what Maddy and her parents and you have taught me.' Jana said smiling at her friend, a smile burst out onto his face and he hugged Jana while picking her up and spinning her around.
'Thank you!' He repeated over and over.
'You're not coming back, are you?' A voice said from behind them, Rhydian put Jana down and turned to face his mother. 'Is it the tame, has she convinced you of this?' Ceri asked starting to get worked up; Rhydian went towards his mother and grabbed her shoulder before pulling her into a hug.
'Mum, I love you and Brynn but I think this is my home, for now at least. I will come see you though; maybe you and Brynn could come visit me sometime?' He asked smiling, pulling out of the hug to look at his mother. She smiled softly, holding back the tears and nodded, pulling him back in for another hug.
'Oh, my baby boy.' She whispered softly.
'You should go tell Maddy, she'll be so happy.' Jana said nodding, Rhydian shook his head.
'I've got a better idea. Tomorrow, we're all meant to be going round hers to say goodbye, you can say goodbye, we'll go and then we'll surprise them all by saying that I'm staying.' He said happily, Jana nodded and laughed at his ridiculousness.
The morning came quickly and the trio made their way to the Smiths house, five people were gathered out the back, waiting. Jana ran to Shannon to hug her tightly before letting go and having Tom gather her up in a huge bear hug. Ceri moved to shake hands with Daniel and Emma who both managed smiles for the wild wolfblood. Maddy walked up to Rhydian and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly; he hugged her back, almost bone crushingly tight.
'You know, you're hugging me awful tight, especially considering you're going to see me in History in a few hours.' Rhydian said throwing a smirk to Dan and Emma who looked at him confused, Maddy pulled back and looked at him.
'What?' She asked, scrunching her nose in the way Rhydian loved.
'I'm staying.' He answered looking her in the eyes. Maddy smiled brightly before pulling him into another hug. She let go of him quickly though and everyone was shocked when she pulled Ceri into an embrace.
'Thank you.' She whispered so softly only the wolfbloods would hear it if they strained their hearing.
'Take care of him.' Ceri whispered back, returning the hug slightly with Maddy nodding before the two pulled apart. Maddy moved to Jana next, the two girls actually getting teary and hugging each other tightly.
'I'm really going to miss you.' Maddy said stepping back from Jana smiling.
'I'm gonna miss you too, all of you. You've all taught me so much, I'll definitely be back to visit and I hope you can come visit me too, I promise you'll be safe.' Jana said and Maddy nodded before the two girls hugged again.
Ceri and Jana both squished Rhydian with hugs before demanding he visit which he nodded to then the pair heading in the direction of North towards their usual home, waving as they went to their newfound friends.
'Okay, I think you four should have some breakfast before you leave for school.' Emma said cheerily, making the four teens groan.
The final bell couldn't come quick enough for Maddy and Rhydian, Shannon and Tom agreed to meet them at Maddy's house, they were all going to have a sleepover but Rhydian and Maddy wanted to go for a run first.
'Race ya.' Maddy called out behind her as she bolted through the forest, Rhydian pushed himself slightly, catching up, the two sped past the tree, practically on top of each other to ensure the other couldn't get ahead. They jumped high landing in a small river but that didn't stump them, the water barely covering their feet, they ran across the rocks, both deciding the dry rocky are a few meters in front of them was going to be their finish line. The two wolfbloods jumped reaching the rocks at the same time, laughing and panting. Rhydian collapsed onto his back, huffing out a laugh looking up at the brown eyed girl he was totally consumed with, she was hunched over barely getting out laughs through the fact she was trying to regain her breath, he reached up and grabbed her hand, smiling at her.
Maddy was yanked back suddenly.
'Maddy.' Rhydian yelled out before turning over and pushing himself up in one go, he went to look up and ran at the person who had grabbed Maddy but a sharp pain in his head stopped him, the world tilted slightly before things went black and the last thing Rhydian heard was the hazy sound of Maddy calling his name.