Wolfblood

Chapter Four

"Here's to the late, great, Bradlington High Photography Club! It was fun while it lasted, yeah?" Tom raises a mug of hot chocolate as they all clink their mugs together.

Kay, Kara and Katrina all walk over to them, "We have a proposition for ya." Kara tells them.

"You've got a proposition for us?!" Maddy questions.

"It's this competition, it'll cost too much to get our photos done professionally." Kara explains.

"And we need a photolio!" Katrina adds.

"Portfolio." Kay corrects.

"So, if you take our photos we'll join your Photography Club." Kara tells Maddy as they all smile.

Maddy looks over to Shannon, unsure.

"We're not actually going anywhere near your manky dark room - we'll just put our names down so Jeffries keeps it open... Do we have a deal?" Kara explains.

Maddy smiles at Shannon as she stands up, spitting on her hand to give them a handshake.

"P-lease!" Kara says, stepping away in disgust.

Kay sits down next to Rhydian, "Is Rhydian joining?"

"No..." Rhydian replies as he takes a sip from his hot chocolate.

Tom, Shannon and Maddy all leave Bernie's together. Maddy looks behind them, noticing Rhydian walking alone. "Guys, I'll catch you up yeah?" She tells Tom and Shannon as she leaves them.

"Rhydian!" She calls as she runs up to Rhydian. "I'll walk home with ya."

"Never said I was staying..." Rhydian tells her, looking down.

"That's a pity, you've got a fanclub." Maddy taps Rhydian's arm as they both stop and listen in on a conversation in Bernie's.

"He's just scrummy..." Kay says to Kara and Katrina.

"He likes me!" Katrina smiles.

"He does not!" Kara tells Katrina.

Maddy laughs, "If that doesn't scare you off - nothing will."

"How long have you been in Foster Care?" Maddy asks Rhydian as they both walk through a field.

"Since I was two." Rhydian confesses.

Maddy looks at him, "Nobody knows what you are?" Rhydian shakes his head. "So... What did you do for the full moon last night?" Maddy asks.

"Couldn't stay in my bedroom, could I?!" Rhydian answers "I climbed out my window."

"So it was your paw print that Shannon found!" Maddy points out. "Was it your first change?" She questions.

"Second. First got me chucked out of my last Foster home."

"What happened?" Maddy inquires as they both walk along the grassy verge.

Rhydian kicks some leaves, "Dunno... I went to bed; woke up in a ditch. Turns out I had trashed my bedroom - so they kicked me out."

Maddy looks down, thinking about how that must've felt, "It must've been hard..."

Rhydian takes a deep breathe, changing the subject "Anyway, what about you? I mean, full moons must be epic out here."

"Well, I... Haven't started transforming yet." Maddy replies, walking a little more ahead in embarrassment.

Rhydian pauses, "So I know more about this stuff than you do?"

Maddy jumps onto a large rock in the middle of a stream, "Yeah, you're the expect. That's why you lost it with Jimi in front of half the school!" She laughs sarcastically as she jumps across the large rocks to the other side of the stream.

"I didn't know that could happen. I only thought werewolves went hairy at the full moon." Rhydian explains.

"We feel the urge to change when we feel threatened or angry too. Learn to control it and you can transform whenever you want."

"How do you know all this stuff?"

"Me parents tell us." Maddy replies.

Rhydian watches her, "You have parents like us?"

"Yep! And its wolfblood, not werewolf. We're not monsters!"

"The weird thing is... I don't even remember being bitten." Rhydian tells her.

Maddy laughs, "Bitten? You don't get bitten!"

"Don't laugh at me!" Rhydian responds angrily.

Maddy carries on walking, "Sorry. It's just... You really do have a lot to learn."

"Well teach me then, smelly girl."

Maddy stares at him as he smirks. "You were born this way, you're normal." Maddy tells him. She sighs deeply as she looks around the woods, "Look around. Everything you thought made you a freak; sight, hearing, speed, sense of smell. They're all completely normal for a wolfblood."

Rhydian looks around the woods, taking everything in. Examining every detail of every tree and every leaf, listening to the sound of the stream, smelling the different scents. He turns to Maddy, "So, say I did stick around? Like, only for a bit, no promises."

"You'd have a pack at last. People to teach ya." Maddy replies.

"Oh no, no! No rules, no lectures, you can keep your group hugs and your big furry family. I do things my way." Rhydian steps onto the large rock in the stream, attempting to join Maddy on the other side.

"Lone wolf, huh?" Maddy watches him, "So next time you lose control of your wolf self, what happens then?"

"Well, er, that'll be an interesting day, won't it?"