Maddy breathed in and out, trying to calm her nerves. It wouldn't help if she started panicking. This was the second time someone was trying to kidnap her. Couldn't a girl catch a break?

She was at a huge disadvantage. There were five people in the room, who were all tall and huge while Maddy didn't have a single weapon and she was still a little woozy from almost drowning. It wasn't that she was defenseless, she knew martial arts and could take on one or maybe even two of the guys in the room, but she couldn't take on five guys. She'll be knocked out in two seconds flat. Instead, she focused on letting the others know that she had been here. She knew that the others would come searching for her. If she could manage to distract the five guys who were staring maliciously at her, that would give them more time to find her.

"Why are you guys after me? I am just a human."

The black wolf growled at her and started walking towards her. It was the same wolf Maddy had stabbed in the eye with her heels and it looked like the wolf had come back for vengeance. Gulping, Maddy slowly started retreating. Leia had earlier told her that shifters can smell fear. So, there was no point in trying to hide her fear. Instead, Maddy tried to use her fear to her advantage. Maddy slowly started trying to form a plan to keep them talking.

Maddy acted as if she tripped on something and landed on her butt. One of the guys rolled his eyes and walked over and stood in front of her.

"Get up."

Maddy whimpered, hoping that it sounded believable and with a feeble voice said, "I can't. I think I twisted my leg."

The man in front of her sneered. "Pathetic human. You think this trick will work again?"

Oh crap. They weren't going to be tricked with that strategy. Maddy got up and ran towards the guy who was guarding the door.

Using all the strength and speed that she had, Maddy kicked him. He was slightly taller than her but not too much and her foot connected with his nose and a loud crunch could be heard. Maddy silently thanked Jeremy, Xander, Alexa and Leia. Without their training Maddy would have been mashed potatoes by now.

The man cried out, holding his nose. Without wasting any time, she ran towards the door. She turned the handle of the door and luckily it wasn't locked, only closed tightly. While entering the room she had been following the wolf, but without the wolf she had no idea where the exit was. No wonder why they hadn't locked the door. They knew that she wouldn't know the way out. She heard the crunch of bones cracking and knew that they were shifting as their wolf would be faster.

Maddy chose a random hallway and started running. She ran blindly, trying to put some distance between her and the wolves. However, it wasn't long before they found her. She soon ran out of luck and found herself at a dead-end. On turning she found six wolves around her including the black wolf. The only exit was the window. Maddy quickly opened the window and got up to jump. She would rather be crushed because of gravity than be eaten up by wolves. Maddy tried to jump, she really did, but it seemed as though her legs were stuck there. Maddy turned to the wolves in confusion.

The black wolf howled and started shifting back. Maddy didn't dare close her eyes in case one of the wolves lunged at her. It was better to scar her eyes than lose a limb. Surprisingly, the lady was still clothed even after she had shifted back. She was a jaw droppingly beautiful girl who was wearing some sort of a tooth necklace. Tooth-necklace lady seemed to be of Maddy's age but her eyes held experience beyond her years.

"Don't bother jumping. They have been charmed to not allow anyone to escape. There are endless number of hallways as well," she said grinning as though she found this amusing. "It is a maze of hallways and you won't be able to find the way out even if you tried."

That explained a lot. Someone had charmed this house into a maze. No wonder why even though the house looked moderate in size from the outside, it was a freaking city from the inside.

Without wasting anytime, the girl strode forward and tied Maddy's hands. Knowing that there was no point in fighting, Maddy let them tie her. For now.

"Stupid human. You really thought that I was that boy, huh?" she sneered.

Maddy shivered. Tooth-necklace lady gave her the heebie jeebies. Maddy was sure that the girl wasn't the boss. Not because she thought the boss would be a man or anything, that was just sexist but because the way tooth-necklace lady's eyes glinted when she tied Maddy, gave her the feeling that if the lady had the authority, she would torture Maddy and enjoy it. Tooth-necklace lady took out her cellphone and dialed a number. She had put the call on speaker so that the other shifters could also listen.

"I've got her, boss. Where should I drop her?" tooth-necklace lady said with a confident voice. Unlike the other rogues Maddy had met, this girl didn't seem to be afraid of the boss. Instead, she sounded like someone who was close to the boss.

"Drop her near to Safe House No.23," the man on the other end of the cellphone replied. The man had a deep voice and spoke in a Mexican accent. However, as the voice was coming through the cellphone it was slightly distorted. Maddy doubted that she would be able to recognize the man by his voice, if she were to meet him.

Satisfied with the reply, tooth-necklace lady cut the cellphone. Immediately, the other shifters went away and came back a minute later in their human forms. They put her in a truck that eerily resembled the previous truck she been in when she was taken the first time, but this time two of the shifters sat in the back of the truck along with her. It wasn't going to be easy to slip away this time.

Maddy didn't know how much time had passed exactly but she was about fall asleep when something hit the side of the back of the truck. Since the back part of the truck was covered from all sides, no one knew who exactly was assaulting them from the outside. Immediately the two shifters got their guns out, ready to shoot anything that came through. A few seconds later another stone hit the other side of the truck. This time one of the shifters turned, so that the two shifters were now back-to-back. They were so focused on trying to see who was assaulting that they didn't see the back of the tuck open ever so slightly. The pelting continued on both sides of the truck. From the small gap, Maddy saw Xander's wolf's face peek out and she grinned at him. Before the shifters could even say the word 'werewolf' Xander was on top of one of them, while Leia was beating up the other. Xander nearly tore the throat of one of the shifter's open. Despite wanting to be a part of the shifter world, death was something Maddy wanted to avoid until the last possible moment.

Maddy called out to Xander softly and he turned to her. He seemed to understand what she was telling as he dropped the body and came over to Maddy. He started biting on the rope that held Maddy's hands together and in a few seconds, her hands were free. Maddy twisted her wrists to make sure that they weren't hurt too badly. Xander suddenly started shifting in front of her. Maddy's eyes widened when she realized that but it was already too late. However, she was not greeted with a sight of a naked Xander. He too, like tooth-necklace lady had managed to retain his clothes during his shift. Seeing Maddy's confused expression he explained.

"Powerful werewolves can shift along with their clothes but it takes up more energy. Don't look so disappointed though. You'll get to see me naked later if you want," he said winking.

Maddy rolled her eyes. Looked like Xander was back to his normal self.

Xander's eyes softened. "Hey, I am sorry about earlier. I-"

Maddy didn't want to hear his apology. The fact that he came for her was enough to prove that he cared for her and the drowning incident was a mistake. Maddy wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. Xander stiffened at first, but soon he hugged her back.

"It's fine. I know you didn't mean to do it. You apologizing every two minutes, is getting annoying," Maddy mumbled into his chest.

By the way his chest shook, Maddy assumed that he was laughing.

"Maybe I'll do it a lot more then."

"Shut up," Maddy huffed, pulling back. Meanwhile, Leia was looking at her with an amused expression and Maddy involuntarily blushed.

"What are we waiting for? Let's get out!" Maddy said rushing towards the door.

"Woah! Calm down we aren't going anywhere," Leia said grinning.

"What?"

"This is the first clue we've gotten about the whereabouts of the rogues. No way are we turning back. We are going to follow them and go to their hideout." 

Make sure to vote, comment and share this story. -Aroha