Rhydian's POV

A few days into the trip, Maddy and I help some of the pack bring back the meat they hunted at dawn. Maddy couldn't bring herself to actually go hunting. Fair enough, it took me ages to kill my first rabbit, let alone the deer we're about to eat. I actually sort of enjoy hunting now.

We've been here for five days now, and Maddy's adjusting really well. Gwyn has been teaching her how to make baskets out of tree branches and Aran has been teaching her to fight. She's already a good fighter, but Aran says she needs to control herself more. Alric has been hounding mum and dad about the ceremony, and they're not so sure he should be Alpha anymore, but there's not a lot of other options.

Back at camp, mum and dad are a bit on edge. They're sitting with Carys, Jana and Bryn. Everyone howls at the sight of the meat. We share it around with the pack and everyone sits down to eat together. I sit with Carys, who seems a bit moody.

"You okay?"

"Yes, and I wish everyone would stop asking me that," she bites into her food.

"Woah, someone got out on the wrong side of the boulder this morning." She gives me the 'Carys' look that she reserves for Bryn and me when we wind her up. "I'm just messing, what's on your mind?"

"Nothing, oh my God!" She throws her food down and storms off into the woods.

"Hey, Carys," I go after her, "Talk to me. Slow down!" She starts running and I can't keep up. I chase her until she finally runs out of breath and has to stop. I stand in front of her. "What's going on with you? Jana said you've been acting weird all week, and now you're throwing a tantrum when I ask you if you're okay?"

"I'm just tired, okay. Can you just leave me alone?" She huffs.

"Not too tired to run two miles through the forest just to avoid talking to me. Are you still taking your pills?"

"Yes, God, just because I'm a little irritable doesn't mean I'm off my meds. Get out of my way," she shoves past me and walks up the mountain.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me what's going on!" I follow her.

"I'm not a cub, Rhydian! I don't need babysitting!" She turns around and shouts in my face. She stumbles over a broken tree branch and almost falls; she grasps her side in pain. "Look, I'm just stressed, okay? With Alric wanting Jana to be his heir, and exams next year, there's a lot going on."

"What's wrong with you? You're in pain Carys," I demand answers.

"Rhydian, don't," she continues up the mountain. I grab her arm and spin her around. She yells out in pain again and I catch a glimpse of a bruise on her hip.

"What the hell is that?" She tries to run off, but I pull her back and sling her over my shoulder to take her back to camp.

"Put me down!" She screams and hits me. It feels all too similar to when she had a breakdown before and Shan had to sedate her, I swore I would never let her get to that place again.

"I will if you tell me what's wrong."

She stops squirming, "Fine! Just put me down now," she demands. I put her down and she tries to run again but I hold her still. She won't look at me. She just bursts into tears.

"Carys, I'm just trying to help," I try to hug her but she flinches.

"If you want to help, then you'll leave me alone!" She drops to the ground. I crouch to eye level with her. "I can't tell you. It'll all go wrong," she whispers, crying harder. Something is really wrong.

"Listen to me, nothing bad is going to happen! You're safe, you're with me." I hug her tight as she sobs into me. I look up and see Bryn walking towards us. "Bryn, go back to camp."

"Shall I get mum?" He says. Carys turns around.

"No! Don't say anything to anyone, if they found out they'd-," she stops herself.

"They'd what? Carys, who are you talking about?" She must be hearing things again, she's acting like a different person. Bryn looks terrified, and he never gets scared. He runs back to camp, screaming for mum.

"HE'S GOING TO RUIN IT." Carys starts screaming. "I'M DEAD. RHYDIAN, WE HAVE TO RUN, WE ALL HAVE TO LEAVE NOW!" She tries to run off yet again, but I tug her back and I practically drag her back to camp, kicking and screaming.

Everyone in the pack is staring at her, but this isn't the first time they've seen her in this state. Mum and dad rush over, followed by Jana. "LET ME GO! WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!" She wails.

"What happened?" Mum asks as she leads us all to the healing tent. She's panicking, and dad doesn't know what to do with himself.

"I don't know, she said she's still taking her pills, but I think she might be having delusions again," I put her down on the ground and she tries to wriggle away. We hold her still so she can't move, but she starts hyperventilating. Jana stands by the entrance, crying. Maddy tries to comfort her.

"I should have said something sooner," Jana says. "She's got really bad bruising on her ribs. Do you think something happened that caused a relapse?" She crouches next to us. Mum rolls up her t-shirt to reveal the bruise that nearly covers her entire torso. It looks so sore. Carys whimpers as she accepts the fact that there's nothing she can do to stop us from helping her.

"I wanted to keep taking them, the pills. She won't let me," she says to mum. We finally let go of her and she doesn't try to run this time.

"Who do you mean Carys?" Dad says. "Do you think she means-"

"Rhiannon?" Mum interrupts dad.

"No! No, not her. I promise it's not like it was before," Carys sits up and Jana puts her arm around her.

"You didn't fall, did you? Who did this to you?" She begs.

"I can't say," she cries, "I'm sorry but I can't."

"If you're protecting someone-"

"I'm not. I just can't say, okay? Please, I just need you all to trust that I can deal with this." She looks up at everyone; her family and friends, people she can trust. Why can't she trust us with this?

"But you're not dealing with it!" I shout, mum gives me a look. "I need air," I storm out of the tent, feeling guilty for getting mad when she's in such a bad state, but I can't help it. She should know by now that it's much better to talk about things instead of bottling it all up. How else are we supposed to help her? I guess, for some reason, she doesn't want our help anymore.

Maddy follows me out and tries to calm me down, but I'm just so mad.

"Rhydian, I know it's really hard and it sucks that she can't tell us what's going on, but we have to be patient okay? You have to stay calm for her sake as well as your own," she grabs me by the arms and looks at me, "And mine."

"I can't just sit back and wait, I need to find out who's doing this to her so I can put a stop to it!"

"She's not well."

"She's not lying Maddy, someone gave her that bruise. I'm going to find out who did this," I start scanning my eyes over the pack, hoping the attacker will show themselves.

"No, Rhydian, leave it to your parents, they're the Alphas here. All you can do is be there for her and keep her feet on the ground. Ceri will get the pills back and punish whoever's doing this."

"Maddy you don't get it! The longer we wait the sooner she's gonna lose it again," I'm panicking now, my hands are shaking, my eyes are stinging. "You didn't see her when it happened, it was horrible, I can't let that happen to her again. I won't!" I feel like I'm losing it. "Maybe you shouldn't have come, maybe mum was right," I walk away from her and sit on the other side of the camp.

I look around at the pack again. Who could be doing this? She said it was a woman or a girl. The pack has grown a lot since the last time I was here, there's so many of them now. I can't imagine who would want to hurt her. Actually, I can't imagine why anyone would even dare to hurt the Alpha's daughter. My sister.