Town or City |Wolfblood|

CHAPTER XIX: Stoneybridge

"Are you grounded along with Maddy for lockin' your parents up?" Rick was asking Liana and they were walking to school through the woods, a ritual that the wolfbloods were all used to by now.

"What? No, I'm not grounded for that at all. Especially not about that reason since Maddy locked me in that bloody cellar, right along with them." Liana growled under her breath and Rick was chuckling a little.

"Can't be that bad. At least you know who you can go to if your problems of or related to wolfing out are all gettin' worse." Rick pointed out and Liana nodded, as she looked around.

"Did you get caught in the scent that Maddy mentioned?" Liana asked and he shook his head quickly, raising his eyebrows at her. "Wait... Maddy locked you in the cellar with us. I'm sorry." She muttered and she stopped briefly in order to bang her forehead against a tree.

"You're tired. It isn't your fault. So just stop hitting your head against a tree... will you?" Rick asked and he checked his watch quickly. "We might be late for school." He pointed out and Liana lifted her shoulders a bit.

"Less time to deal with Jeffries. That simply has to be a plus by now." Liana countered and Rick chuckled, as she'd climb up a tree quickly. Rick stopped and he looked up at her questioningly with his eyebrows raised. "Did you have many trees where you lived before moving to Stoneybridge?" She questioned and he tilted his head a bit to the side.

"Are you referring to my other foster homes? Or are you referrin' to my old pack's territory back in the States?" It was a legit question as Liana dropped out of the tree.

"What was one of the States that you said you had lived in before?" Liana's tone was questioning again and it had appeared, that she had forgotten.

"Nebraska."

"That one. Did you have many trees where you used to wolf out, and run on full moons?" She asked and Rick shrugged, as he continued to walk and she followed.

"We had more plains than anything else. It was these long stretches of green grass and sometimes you could pick corn and wheat straight off of the plants. And when it snowed on the plains, you could run for miles and miles without stopping. You could pass into Canada from my home and not even realize it by running through the plains. You won't see many trees at all, but you would see plenty of the plants and grass." Rick explained and he looked at the back of his hand and it was veining up. "Jeez." He muttered as he focused and the veins disappear quickly.

"You miss it, don't you?" Liana asked and Rick nodded slightly, as she took his hand in hers. "Well, good sir, I plead for you to let me introduce you to the trees." She said and Rick was laughing at that, as they sped up to make it to school on time. "Did you have any other family other than your parents?" She asked and they walked into the school and Rick nodded very slightly.

"I had five brothers. My uncle took the youngest of us into his family and as his favorite, he was protected from the prejudice that our uncle showed us. The two that were older than me, they split off to form their own packs before our parents died. I'm right here, obviously and my twin brother was greedy enough to take over the pack, the second that my parents' bodies cooled." Rick growled a bit at the memory and Liana brought him into the dark room, as she shut the door and she locked it behind them.

"If you need to wolf out, then no howling." She said and he looked at the veins on his arms and hands, as he was seething and he transformed as the gray wolf stood in front of her and he snarled at her.

Liana growled under her breath at him and she stepped away from the door, as she glowed her eyes and he growled at her again, though it was more uncertain this time. "Come on Rick, snap out of it. Connect back to your human side." She murmured as someone was suddenly knocking on the door and she looked at the door, as Rick was growling again. "Shut up, Rick." She said and she heard the key rattling in the lock, and Rick stood up and she saw that his veins were still out of control. "Veins." She spat out and he looked at his arms and he shut his eyes briefly.

When Shannon and Tom came into the room, Rick and Liana were ready to leave, as Rick took his camera back from where he had been showing a bunch of his old pictures to her. "Later you two." Rick said as they left the room and Liana sighed with relief, as she shook her head. "That was too close. I'm sorry." He said quietly and she shook her head at him.

"At least you didn't get caught veining up in public." Liana murmured under her breath as she was walking down the hallway and she almost ran into him, as she hadn't realized that he had stopped. "What's wrong?" Liana asked as he was clearly listening to something. "Rick?" She muttered under her breath.

"Listen to Tom and Shannon. What they're talking about." Rick muttered and Liana listened to what the two human friends of theirs, were saying.

"Today after school. We meet at Bernie's at a quarter past with Maddy and Rhydian. We find the canister and we take pictures of the wolves that show up." Shannon was saying and Liana looked over at Rick, as he was hesitating with a low growl. "The scent is apparently irresistible for all types of wolves." Shannon was saying and Liana looked at Rick, who growled a little and Liana looked at him.

"We have to get to that canister before they do." Rick growled under his breath as they were walking home from school and Rick's phone rang. "Oh shit." He muttered and he picked up the phone and Liana raised her eyebrows at the sight of his hands shaking. "Hello?" He asked and Liana listened to the phone call and there was a lot of shouting on the other end and he winced. "Okay, yeah. I'll be right there." Rick noted and he shut off the phone, as he looked at it and he shook his head.

"You need some place to stay?" Liana asked, and he shook his head slightly at her. "You looked scared, and I can smell it on you." She said and he was shaking his head.

"Just find the canister." Rick murmured and he sighed. "I'll find you later to help you look for it." He promised and he was taking off in the other direction, as he was running back toward the home of his foster parents.

Liana took off running to find the canister, only to run directly into the Smiths, and they had clearly just been looking for her. "I have to find the-" At the looks on their faces, it appeared to her that Emma and Daniel Smith had already been informed about it and in response, they simply all ran home.