Hunters, Hunted (Wolfblood Fanfiction)

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Maddy

As I drag my eyes open the first thing I’m aware of is the smell of pizza. It’s unfamiliar after my months in the wild but almost overpoweringly strong - I can virtually taste it already. The wolf in my stomach growls.

            Rhydian’s face, beautiful despite the grime, breaks into a smile at my sniffing.

            “Smells good, huh?” he chuckles, helping me sit up. I grin back, intoxicated by the smell of food and his shining blue eyes.

            “Worth waking up for,” I say. I scramble off the bed shouting “Bryn!” as I do so. He leaps about a metre in the air at the sound of his name, the kind of light sleeper any wild wolf should be. Rhydian and I watch in amusement as his eyes become football-like at the smell of the pizza.

            “What,” he asks with another deep sniff, “is that?”

            The three of us spread out on the floor in the dim orange light of the hotel room, each with a massive pizza box open in front of us. Rhydian chose well: they’re covered in ham and sausage and peperoni and couldn’t taste any more delicious. Even Bryn doesn’t hesitate to devour this strange meal, though his facial expression after the first bite cracks Rhydian and I up at once. Considering how hopeless things seemed only a few hours ago I find myself feeling deliriously happy in this moment. Ok, we’re still pretty much lost. And my parents are still being experimented on. And for all I know I’ll be on the run for the rest of my life. But, just for now, I can’t force myself to care all that much. It’s amazing how much difference a shower, bed and meal can make.

            Bryn finishes first, wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and sprawls back across the bed. He’s fast asleep in seconds. Rhydian’s not far behind and after his last gulp he lies back on the carpet with a deep, contented sigh.

            “God, do I feel better,” he tells me, beaming up from the floor.

            “Yeah.” I stretch out beside him, unable to stop noticing the inch of air between us. The floor isn’t very comfortable – I wish he’d chosen the bed instead… Staring at the ceiling I’m reminded of a time, long ago now, when we lay like this in the woods near school. I’d been stressing about exams and friends and wolfing out, I think. All that seems so trivial now.

            “What are we gonna do, Rhydian?” I ask the lampshade above my head. It’s barely a breath, really, made quiet by a pang of upset I hadn’t expected. Although I can’t see it, I feel him shrug beside me.

            “I was thinking we could try and find a train station tomorrow. I’ve got just enough money for the three of us and we’ll never get back to Stoneybridge otherwise. And then…we let Shannon come up with a plan?” I snort a laugh because I know he was trying to cheer me up again. It’s not very convincing. “Look, it’ll be alright, Mads,” he says, winding his fingers through mine, “I promise. I won’t let anyone hurt you; not now, not ever.” My face turns to his so that we lie nose to nose, our hands knotted between us, and I see the earnesty in his eyes. Maybe it’s naïve of him to think he can protect me against the kind of danger we face, but there’s no doubt in him that he’ll try. It takes me a moment to truly understand what this means. And then I kiss him, because thank you wouldn’t cut it.

            When we pull apart we are tangled as one on the floor, legs meshed together and his hands on my waist and my hands in his hair. We’re still so close that I’m breathing into his mouth.