Hunters, Hunted (Wolfblood Fanfiction)

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Rhydian

I feel quite sure that the moors surrounding Stoneybridge have somehow multiplied their size several times since I last crossed them, which seems like centuries ago. Perhaps it’s the anticipation of knowing that we’re almost back on home territory, perhaps it’s how tired we are, perhaps it’s because last time I was running instead of walking, but whatever the reason the final stretch of our journey is feeling like a slog.

            The evening is close and cold, heavy with moisture as many a November twilight is, and my wolf senses can already tell that the snow will come early this year. Funny how that would normally mean looking forward to a white Christmas and now just makes you worry about freezing to death at night… Maddy practically skips at my side, an electric current of excitement surging down her arm and into mine by way of our interlocked hands. Despite the success of yesterday and today, her positivity jars with me. I mean, I understand that she’s happy to be home. I’m happy to be home. But a not-so small part of me with a not-so quiet voice is shouting out about the problems with this. For a start, being in Stoneybridge will mean being nearer to Dr Whitewood, which can never be a good thing; and then I’m concerned about whether or not Jana will have got back to Northumberland, too. If she’s here, it could cause a fight – if she’s not, then Lord knows where she is, and if she’s got into trouble then it’s most definitely your fault, Rhydian Morris. I’m also sort of annoyed with Mads because there’s no way she can’t sense that I’m feeling this way but has chosen to ignore it.

            I think all of these things are mostly because I’m so damned tired.

            It’s past nightfall by the time we’re firmly into pack territory. The three of us trudge along the riverbank I know so well, me drawing in the comfort of the familiar scents and sights while Maddy is on some kind of red alert. How does she have the energy anymore? Everything about her today has been heightened in a way that I’m not poetic enough to describe, but it radiates out of her as brashly as a flashing neon sign.

            We’ve been in a settled pace for quite a while and I’m just starting to think that both her and my concerns, different though they are, are ill-founded and hadn’t we better rest because I’m just about asleep already when Maddy stops so suddenly that my arm is almost wrenched from its socket. Tired and in a bad mood I turn, meaning to snap at her, but the intention soon dies on my tongue. Both Bryn and Maddy stand motionless with their eyes blazing yellow in the dark. My gaze flicks to follow theirs and now I see what they do: on the ridge above us, a shadow lurks. I don’t think I’d ever have noticed it without first knowing where to look because it’s almost perfectly hidden by the trees, but if you look very closely you can see the cloud of its breath in the winter air. Maddy inhales to try and smell out whatever it is but immediately shakes her head: the wind’s in the wrong direction. I can feel the shadow watching us and we stand there, no more than rabbits in the headlights. All of us have stopped breathing - I could swear that the entire forest has frozen in this moment.

            And then I blink, and it’s gone.

            Very slowly, almost imperceptibly, the three of us shift closer together. Bryn’s shoulder blade presses into my back. Maddy’s hand tightens around my own. The hairs on my neck prickle like some horrible cliché. Our little band of Wolfbloods watches the trees and listens to the soft gurgling of the river close by.

            “On my word,” Maddy whispers over her shoulder, “run.”

            I brace myself to bolt, heart rate rocketing into overdrive. There is a pause so charged that the air practically crackles.