Maddy fiddled around on her computer, trying to edit some pictures. She had already taken so many since getting here, of everything and anything. While she felt sad that she was leaving such a beautiful place, she captured so much of it she didn't feel regret about leaving. This one was one of her favorites. She'd never excelled at taking pictures of people, but it seemed Rhydian was an exception to that rule. She climbed a tree to get a better picture of the budding flower fields that grew on the mountains when she noticed he'd lied down and taken a nap while she had been busy with her work. He lay in a greening field, his jacket shed and used as a pillow instead. The light browns and greens matched his clothes, making him look like a part of the meadow. Maddy snapped the picture and slipped, nearly cracking her head open. Which meant she hadn't taken the chance to edit it until now.

They were done packing, so she could sit down and kill time.

Everything they deemed important got shoved into boxes. At least now they had warning. Still, they had little here that was personal. If anything, Rhydian had the most things, with every art piece, paintbrush, and sketchbook delicately packed away. She and her parents would leave tomorrow. Leaving the cabin, a small two bed one bath nook stripped from all signs of life once they moved Rhydian to his secondary location. There was nothing special about the cabin itself. They had used it before, that much they could tell. Another pack lived in it before, down on their luck like them.

The only redeeming quality of the bland experience here in Canada was the Wild. There was so much of it. She spent most of her time in the mountains, in the forest, and in the meadows. Eolas was so freeing here, but she didn't dare to try it alone. The mountains called to her. It wasn't like the moors. Back home, she had control. Here in Canada, the Wild was intoxicating. Like it knew something she didn't, and it wanted to share the secret. Maddy wasn't dumb enough to let it control her. No matter how clear the skies were and how crisp the air felt in her lungs, the Wild had its own agenda. There were packs of wolves, herds of reindeer, and bears. It wasn't kindness; it wanted to test her.

The Wild got the chance at the full moon after they had arrived. She had gotten the Morwal. Her parents tried to keep her safe, but she got out. She couldn't remember much. Most of her time gone she had been a wolf. Her parents had found her. Hurt and scared, they dragged her back to the cabin and shoved into the basement until she turned back.

She didn't enjoy thinking about it.

Maddy refocused and worked her way backwards from newest to oldest, looking through the other pictures she'd taken, trying to get her mind off of it. She landed on a shot of a coyote in the middle of a field after a heavy snowfall, clumps of snow sticking to its muzzle.

It looked right at her as she snapped the picture. There were plenty of these pictures, wildlife taking a double take at her and Rhydian like they were all trying to figure out what they were. Canada was so large. While it was full of life and breathtaking views, it was devoid of company.

Maddy had her parents and Rhydian, Tom and Shannon, were a video call away, but their schedules never lined up. It just wasn't the same. It was in a way lonely. Rhydian and her parents alleviated much of that. Now she had to go back, she'd grown used to it, a sensation of not quite isolationism.

What would she even do back home? Things would change again, but at least she'd have her pack. Right? Maddy selected the brush tool and drew googly eyes on the fox.

I'm losing it, she thought.

"Maddy," Rhydian said, his voice snapping her out of her reverie as he stood in the doorway of her room. He was hiding something.

She could hear his heart race and wouldn't meet her eyes. He jerked his head towards the outside. Maddy grinned and got up to follow him, computer and cameras forgotten on her bed.

This was what she needed, to get out of her head and do something fun, even if it was just for a little while.

They fell over themselves to get through the door. As they burst through, Rhydian took off sprinting. Maddy chased after him.

They ran and ran and ran.

Few things were better than this. Sure, she hadn't lived long or seen much, but nothing could compare. There was a point where Rhydian shifted. His human form disappeared and through the budding undergrowth, his wolf appeared. Maddy followed suit and soon they reached a road far too rocky for a human to traverse.

As they hopped from rock to rock and up what seemed to be a hillside, Maddy wondered where they were going. Once they reached a plateau of sorts, Rhydian shifted back, and Maddy stayed in her wolf form. At least until he'd tell her what they were doing. Her plan failed the moment she smelled ham. Maddy shifted back before he could say anything else. Which made him laugh at her, that bright and open laugh reserved for her and their friends. "Ha ha, but where'd you get this?" Maddy asked.

It wasn't just deli meats, it was venison, sausages, and salmon all laid out on a picnic blanket in the middle of a beautiful meadow.

He just shrugged and stayed silent.

"How did you find this place?" she asked, looking around. It was lovely far up enough that no one would bother them, and tall sturdy trees encircled them, protecting them.

This time Rhydian answered, "Found it a few days back. I wanted a nice date for us. Looks like it'll be our last one here." Maddy swallowed. She knew Rhydian would take this the hardest. He had always been partial to wolfing out in the wild. While he didn't hate staying inside, he'd always wanted to run under the moon.

Maddy sighed as she sat down and looked at the selection of meats before her. "I'm gonna eat it all myself if you don't hurry."

After they had demolished the meat feast Rhydian had prepared, they had taken to cloud watching. The canopy encircling them gave a perfect stage. "No, it looks like a jester. He had the stupid little hat," Rhydian said, pointing to the cloud that clearly looked like Shakespeare. "Okay, but that one looks like a shoe, right? Maddy said, clasping his hand and pointing it to another cloud. He started snickering. "What?" she asked, her hand still on his wrists. "It looks like the K's shoes, the heels?" He said full-on laughing now.

He was right. The cloud still held the shape of a buckled heel, making Maddy laugh as well.

She brought down their hands and pulled them to her chest, right over her heart. "Those look like a herd of horses," he pointed with his free hand to an enormous cloud.

"You've just watched Spirit too many times."

"It's a good movie!"

She looked at him. Expecting to see his features relaxed instead, his face twisted in worry even while looking at the sky. "I'm not leaving you, and you're not leaving me. But I can't help but think this is a bad idea," he whispered.

Maddy felt her stomach twist. He said what she'd been thinking ever since the two fixers left the cabin. Her body tingled and buzzed the same way it did when Whitewood confronted them like there was a blanket of dread smothering her reasoning.

"You figured that out already," Rhydian continued after a pause. He said it so matter-of-factly that it almost annoyed her.

He had far too much faith in her.

"Yeah, but I don't know why either. We have to do this for ourselves." She said quietly.

Silence.

Maddy stared at the sky instead of looking at him.

"You know when we were apart whenever I was stuck or lost I always asked myself 'What would Maddy do?' And even if I didn't agree with the Maddy inside my head, I still listened." He said this with a quiet voice, his thumb stroking soothing circles on her hand.

This made Maddy's heart swell, she could feel it in her throat spreading warmth to her entire body. She propped herself up on her elbows to look down at Rhydian.

"Then listen to the real me. We are going to be ok. I won't leave you. Ever. I would find you or you would find me. We stick together. That's how this works."

"I'm listening. Promise."

She smiled and leaned down to kiss him. Part of her knew she was avoiding talking about her leaving, but she let herself forget as Rhydian happily met her halfway, straightening himself up.

As they kissed, Rhydian pulled Maddy into his lap and the sweet exploratory kisses continued until Maddy moved her kisses onto his jaw and neck, slipping her hands under Rhydian's shirt. Rhydian melted under her touch, which was exactly what she wanted.

Rhydian, who gently guided her hands out, and over his shoulders, interrupted her ministrations. Maddy whined at this, making Rhydian grin. "Nope, there are at least a dozen reasons why we can't do that. You know this." He said, voice light. Maddy scoffed, rolling her eyes.

The first time she'd tried to initiate anything more than making out, he'd pulled himself away and dragged them both outside to make snow angels. He was right; it was far too risky since he lived under her parent's pack. Her mother was incredibly overprotective, pitting both of them in the line of fire.

Maddy refused to make eye contact with him. Instead, she craned her neck upwards and focused on the light filtering through the canopy, and playing with the hair on Rhydian's neck.

He pressed a kiss to her collarbone and then her neck, making his way up to kiss the side of her mouth. Maddy still refused to look at him, if only to annoy him. Rhydian seemed to have had enough ad grabbed her jaw, forcing her to look at him. The heat started swelling inside her again.

"Idiot." She said, not the most intelligent of insults, but it was all she had. He smiled. "You're a pain in my ass," he stated. She cracked a grin. Since he had won their standoff, he kissed her one more time, languid, before pulling away and sliding her off his lap.

She looked at the sky again. There were no more clouds, only a wide blue canvas.

How Maddy knew they had to go.

AN: I forgot I was crossposting this on here! It's also on Archive of Our Own, same username and title with ALL of the current chapters. My bad!