Carys' POV

My hands were shaking too much so Mum takes over cleaning Gwyn and Cadwr's wounds as dad asks me questions; who did this? Where is Bryn? I think they're in shock, they can barely speak.

Alric walks in with Aran in stride, "What happened?" He asks.

"Where's Ingrid?" Aran asks. The mention of her name makes me shudder.

"And where's my daughter?" Alric starts to raise his voice again.

"You need to keep control of your pack," I say to him. I'm so angry. They don't string together that I was talking about Ingrid. But Jana and Rhydian have probably figured it out by now. They'll go looking for her and start a fight. If she's still with Tove and Beca the three of them could easily take on Jana and Rhydian.

"You need to respect your superiors," Alric snarls at me.

"Enough!" Dad shouts. "I am still your Alpha. Do not talk to my daughter like that or it won't be you taking over this pack." I've never seen dad so angry. Alric submits. I stand up and bring him to his feet again. "Carys, you need to rest," Dad tries to make me sit down again.

"No, dad. I'll take him to find Jana and Rhydian. Whatever it is they're doing out there, he deserves to know his cub is safe, and so do you. We'll find Bryn and get him back."

I try to lead Alric and Aran out of the tent, but dad pulls me back. I can immediately see in his eyes that he's just scared, worried that something will happen to me too, but I'm the reason that Bryn is missing. I have to get him back. I tug away from him and leave with Alric and Aran.

I sniff around and manage to find a trail of their scents heading down the river, "They went this way." I start to run but it's almost impossible when I'm in this much physical pain.

"Are you alright?" Aran asks me, coming to my side. I shake off the pain and nod my head.

"I'm fine." We run through the woods, following the scent. I can smell Ingrid, Beca and Tove too.

I try my hardest to run without collapsing in the middle of the woods. Once we get closer, my instincts kick in. Something is really wrong with Jana, I can feel it. I come to an abrupt stop, trying to keep my balance. I feel dizzy and sick with worry. I know I'm too weak to try and fight Ingrid, but if it comes to it, if she hurts them, then there's no way I'm standing on the side lines.

Alric has run off ahead, but Aran has stopped and looks back at me. I take a few quick breaths and run to catch up to him.

"Carys, you're weak, you should return to camp," I push him aside, but he grabs me.

"I am not weak," I shove him to the ground and follow the scent again. I hear him scramble to his feet; he runs in front of me. I thought he would just keep running, but he takes me by surprise when he practically throws me backwards. I land directly on my bruised area and hit my head on the ground. I didn't think it would be Aran I would have to fight today. The air is knocked out of me and I start coughing. He storms over to me, pulling me up by the collar of my jacket. I yank his hand off of me and push him back again. "I'M FINE, GET OUT OF MY WAY!" He grabs me by my hips and slings me over his shoulder just like Rhydian did.

Rhydian was just trying to keep me out of harm's way, and that is exactly what Aran is trying to do now, but I'm the only one who can stop her from hurting anyone else. If I just let her have me and do whatever she wants to me, she'll leave everyone alone and tell them where Bryn is.

Ingrid's strength is vastly underestimated. She could probably take Aran, maybe even Alric if it was one on one. I suppose it makes sense, Jana said Meinir taught her everything she knows.

Aran carries me back to camp and I don't stop screaming the whole way. Until I realise that everyone will think I'm losing my mind already, and I can't have that. He puts me down and I push him away one last time. He's about to retaliate but I throw my hands up in surrender. I angrily walk back to the tent where mum and dad are standing staring at me. They think I've lost it again. I haven't. At least, I don't think I have.

"He won't let me help them." Aran runs back off in the direction of Jana and Rhydian. "He called me weak."

"You are weak, Cariad. You're injured, exhausted, you should be resting," Mum pulls me in for a hug but I jerk away from her. "Come ins-"

"I'm fine, I'm not relapsing, I know that's what you all think, and yeah okay I'm not making it very believable by acting like this, but you know what it's like when the people you love are in danger, you would act the same way. I'm terrified mum," she starts to cry. "I'm sorry, if it wasn't for me Bryn wouldn't be missing."

"Oh Cariad, it's not your fault, none of this was your fault. Okay?" She hugs me again, and I let her. I can hear her heartbeat. "Bryn's in the tent, Maddy went to gather herbs for me and she found him in one of the caves."

"Really?" I push past her and go into the tent.

"Carys, wait!" Dad says.

Bryn lies completely still, pale as a ghost, unconscious. "Bryn?"

"He's burning up," Maddy crouches next to him and dabs at a gash that stretches from his shoulder down to his belly, right across his chest.

"He must have an infection," my mum comes in, followed by dad.

"I'll kill her," I cough. I sit next to my little brother and take his clammy hand. "I swear to god I'll kill her Bryn, she won't get away with this."

"He'll be okay, your mum knows what she's doing," Dad sits next to me. "He just needs time to recover, and we'll get him to Segolia as soon as we can."

"I'LL KILL HER," I shout, gritting my teeth. I have to get to Jana and Rhydian, find Ingrid and tear her to shreds.

"Carys," Maddy looks at me, "Your mouth." Everyone looks at me. I raise a hand to my face, and it comes away bloody, I start coughing again and more comes up. I ignore it, and while everyone is too distracted looking for a rag to wipe my mouth with, I start sprinting out of the tent and into the forest.

I tear through the woods, praying that they've managed to hold their own against her. I look through the trees and see a faint glow of red hair on the ground, Jana's unconscious. As I get closer, I see Rhydian and Ingrid fighting. Jana stays completely still on the ground. Alric and Aran are challenging Tove and Beca. They all transform. They fight and fight and fight until I can't stand it anymore.

"STOP!" I scream as I reach the clearing where they're having it out. Rhydian transforms back and kicks Ingrid into Tove and Beca and they all fall into a pile. They transform back. I run right to Jana's side. She still feels warm which is a good sign. "Jana, wake up!" Ingrid brushes herself off and charges at me. Alric, Aran and Rhydian all try to hold her off, but she squirms away from them and tackles me, knocking me on my back.

"I TOLD YOU WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF YOU TOLD," she's angry, but she's crying too. In between punches, she knees me in the ribs, causing more blood to come spurting out of my throat as I cough. I'm losing the strength to fight back.

"Carys!" I hear Jana's voice and look over to see Alric has managed to rouse her. Aran and Rhydian are holding Tove and Beca off. It's a fair fight between them, but me against Ingrid, it's bound to end in blood. My blood. Ingrid wraps her hands around my throat just as I try to yell out Jana's name. She screams for me again. I choke on Ingrid's force; everything starts to blur and darken. If I had just told my family what she did in the first place, then maybe the pack could have dealt with her before all of this. Jana wouldn't be hurt, and Bryn wouldn't be hanging on for life. This is how it's going to end. With one mistake. One stupid mistake.