Rhydian's POV
Rhydian and Maddie trekked through the woods, on their way to school. They did it every morning so it wasn't unusual. However there was an eerie silence that hung over them and the forrest and Rhydian could only guess why.

It's been a couple of days since Rhydian had been kidnapped and found by Maddy and her parents and he still couldn't wrap his head around why that man took him in the first place.

Whatever the reason was it couldn't have been a good one.

Rhydian and Maddy emerged from the woods and walked across the field to the school. As they walked inside, Rhydian was aware of everyone watching him. He went up to his locker to grab the books for his first class and was surprised when Kara Waterman strolled up to him, her three friends Katrina and Kay following behind her.

"Hello Rhydian! How are you?" Kara asked.

Rhydian sighed and closed his locker. "I'm alright. But I'd do better if everyone would quit staring."

"Oh you poor baby." Katrina cooed.

"Well let us know if we can do anything." Kay says, smiling and she and her friends stalked off.

Maddy stared after them. "First day back and already you have your fanclub asking and crooning over ya."

Rhydian scoffed and shook his head, walking with Maddy to their first class. When Rhydian walked in all talking ceased for several moments. But of course Jimi had to ruin it with his big mouth.

"Oh look it's leek boy and his girlfriend the werewolf!" Jimi cracked.

Instead of ignoring it like he usually did, Rhydian said, "Where do you get your jokes? The trash bin? A five year old could come up with better insults than that!"

A couple snickers filled the room but this time they were directed at Jimi. Jimi glared at everyone and he stood up saying, "At least I'm not a criminal!"

"A criminal?!" Rhydian shouted. "First off Alric is Jana's father and he tried to kill me because he thinks I stole her from him!"

"Jana? That red head that used to go here?" Liam asked.

"Yeah." Rhydian glowers at Jimi. "You're pathetic Jimi. Using the simple fact that I was running for my life as an insult against me just shows how heartless you are."

Jimi tried to find something to say and was having trouble making something up so he said the worst thing anyone could ever say. "You're not dead so don't be so dramatic about it. Besides ever since you got here everything has changed! Maybe if you were dead all our problems would go away!"

"Jimi! That's detention!" Jeffries yelled, having walked in while Jimi was talking.

Rhydian stared at him, feeling hurt for once. His heart basically crawled to a stop and he blinked back tears. Everyone was staring at him again and suddenly he couldn't breathe.

"Rhydian..." Maddy said, resting her hand on his shoulder. He shook her off and stepped away from her.

Rhydian spun on his heel and ran out of the classroom. He heard people shouting after him but he ignored them all and sprinted down the hall, running into the dark room and locking the door.

Rhydian rested his head on the door, thinking about letting himself lose control. Letting his feelings take over would be letting the wolf out. And maybe that's exactly what he needed.

Self-restraint was something Rhydian taught himself but it was something his mother didn't like. She hated self-restraint. She hated tame. If you used tame and wolfblood in the same sentence she'd give you a murderous look.

She didn't hate Maddy and her parents but she still didn't like them. Mainly because when she couldn't, they were here to help Rhydian with being a wolfblood. Otherwise...she would hate them just as much too.

Rhydian felt like losing control now and just running wild. But he knew it wasn't as big a deal as he was making it out to be. He was sure Jimi didn't mean it.

"Rhydian? It's me, Maddy. I have Tom and Shannon here with me. Can we come in?"

Rhydian hesitated to unlock and open the door but quickly wiped away any doubt there may have been. He clicked the lock back and opened the door. The minute he did he was immediately engulfed in a group hug.

And he embraced it.

Shannon and Tom looked at him sympathetically and Maddy just smiled at him.

"Are you okay?"

Rhydian looked at his hands. "If I lied I would say yea, but..." He trailed off, staring at the floor.

"I'm sure Jimi didn't mean it Rhydian." Maddy told him soothingly.

"Yeah I think he meant--" Tom started and was elbowed by Shannon who muttered.

"Not helping."

Rhydian chuckled and took a deep breath before exhaling it. "Maybe we should head back to class, yeah?"

Maddy, Tom and Shannon nodded. "Yeah let's go."

🕳🕳🕳🕳

After school Rhydian's nose twitched as he picked up a familiar scent. He was just walking out of the building when it hit him and his eyes traveled across the moor to the edge of the woods. There standing hidden halfway behind a tree was his mother.

"Mom." He whispered.

When Ceri realized that he had seen her she took off running. Rhydian took off running after her, not listening to Maddy call out to him.

Rhydian sprinted across the moor and into the woods, following his mother's scent. He jumped over ditches and dodged trees but he knew that at the rate he was going, he'd never catch her. She was using all of her senses because of course she was wild. So Rhydian did the only thing he could...he used his senses too.

He continued to run after her all the way to the river where it split across and pausing because he lost her scent Rhydian glanced around. The faint sound of a twig snapping behind him reached his ears and he turned around.

His mother Ceri stood behind him and Rhydian smiled at her. "Mom!"

Ceri didn't return the smile. "You need to come home Rhydian."

Rhydian's face changed as he frowned. "Home? I am home."

Ceri shook her head. "You need to come back. You weren't born to be...tame." She spat the word with disgust.

"This is my home! I can't go back to a place where I don't belong or fit in!" Rhydian shouted. "Alric tried to kill me for Christ's sake!"

Ceri sucked in a sharp breath. "What?"

Rhydian crossed his arms. "Yeah. That's right. Stabbed me right in the stomach."

Ceri's face filled with rage and she took off again. Probably to go find Alric and kill him but Rhydian found he didn't really care what she did to him. It wasn't his problem.

Rhydian shook his head. "Figures."

Rhydian took off, jogging in the direction of Maddy's house. He had to tell her what just happened.

A/N:hi friends! So I know so far I've only written in Rhydian's POV but trust me I have a lot planned for this book.

Thanks for reading and be safe out there 😊