Wolf-Shifter

The Shapeshifter: Surviving the Secrets Part 3

'Ow. Ow. Ow! Owowowowowowowooowwwwwwww-'

'Gideon, shut up.' This last comment was from Lisa, who was elegantly glossing her nails and raising an eyebrow at Gideon's protests.

'But it huuurrrts!' Gideon wailed, springing from the chair he was resting on and hopping around the room, cursing and nursing his red knuckles.

Jennifer narrowed her eyes. 'Gideon, get back here this instant and stop moaning, otherwise I swear I will throw this TCP in your eyes.'

Pouting, Gideon sat back down again heavily and reluctantly held out his knuckle. Maddy inwardly winced. His hand was red and throbbing, and a few cuts lined his fingers. That other boy wasn't better off, either. After Gideon's fist had come into contact with the red-head's nose, he had screamed in agony and clapped his hands to his nose. The other kid had glanced warily at her as his friend jumped up and lunged at Gideon. Only Dax had managed to break the two up and they miserably trailed towards the college.

Spook, Maddy remembered. That was his name. Weird. Shrugging, she caught Dax's eye as he smiled wryly. Obviously Gideon made this much fuss over anything.

'Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. WATCH IT!' Gideon suddenly shouted, pulling his fist back from a tutting Jennifer. He frowned. 'Why can't we get Mia, anyway? It would be so much easier. And painless.'

'Mia, for your information, is having a shower. She is relaxing without you interrupting her,' Jennifer hissed as Gideon made for the door. Gideon paused, suddenly realizing he was going to burst into a naked girl in the shower, and sheepishly examined his fist. 'Myeh. I think it's all better now anyway. Thanks for your help, Jenny.' He grinned at her, then turned to a corner of the room. 'Hey, Luke, you coming?'

Maddy half jumped as she focused on the boy hunched up in the corner reading. She hadn't even noticed he was there. He had been so silent. A bookworm, she supposed. This must be Gideon's twin. The same messy blonde hair, amused blue eyes…yep, it was definitely him. The only difference was the black rimmed glasses lining his eyes.

Luke glanced up and smiled, placed his book down, and got up to join them. Lisa oh-ever-so-subtly stuck her foot out, but Luke easily removed it from his path using telepathy. Lisa pouted, glaring at his back and turning red.

'Ooops. The Volcano is about to erupt,' Gideon grinned, noticing Lisa's furious face. 'Evacuate! Evacuate!' He made a big scene of rushing out the door and slamming it behind him. A second later, a hand poked out and motioned towards the door. 'Quick, and she may not notice you,' his voice hissed, and Maddy giggled making for the door. 'Grab the children, she can destroy anything!'

Lisa stood up, raging. 'GIDEON!'

Gideon's cheeky face peered through the door. 'You love me really,' he whispered, and then he ran for his life.

It was half an hour before Gideon could escape from Lisa's rage, and by then he was so exhausted he was thinking about putting the conker hunt off.

'Oh, come on,' Dax protested as Gideon began to pull off his gloves. 'I didn't wear Gina's homemade jumper for nothing!' It was true that Dax was currently trying unsuccessfully to roll up the huge, baggy sleeves on a disgusting green jumper. It was the only protection he had against the harsh weather; that and being a fox of course.

Gideon paused. 'That's true. And I suppose I could get a really good shot of you outside…'

Dax immediately switched to a fox and refused to shift back.

Hesitantly, Maddy reached out to pat the beautiful creatures head. To her relief, Dax didn't flinch away, only looked up at her with handsome brown eyes that said that he didn't really mind the petting.

Gideon, who had seen, began to pout and he turned indignantly to Luke. 'He doesn't let me do that!' he whined. Luke slapped him around the head and grinned.

Aren't you going to say anything? The unspoken thought lingered in Maddy's head as the four of them began to make their way out of the college and towards the wood. A few ravens fluttered from the trees as they approached, and Maddy felt a sudden need to be with them. It occurred to her that she had never flown as a raven before.

'Luke's found one!' Gideon's shout made her turn to see Luke bending over a cluster of nuts. She took out the carrier bag she had been keeping in her pocket and began to stuff the conkers into it.

DaxFox gave a short yap and pointed with his muzzle towards a tall tree. Maddy wandered over to it, and began to shift through the leaves surrounding it. A flash of silver metal flickered in the corner of her eye, but she ignored it, instead working her way around the tree searching for the conkers. Defeated, she looked up at Dax, shrugging. 'I can't find them. Where are they?'

With another short yap, DaxFox bounded over to her, and began to sniff at the ground. Maddy noticed that his ears began to inch further back across his head but he carried on.

Then she saw the flash of silver again with Dax advancing towards it.

She called out in shock, saw Dax's paw land in its place, saw the menacing claws snap shut…

A whine.

A shout.

And now, with the leaves shifted by Dax's writhing body, she could see clearly the silver, evil fox trap that had sunk deep into the fox's leg.