•Ryder's POV•

My wolf jumps onto the last rouge and I clamp my teeth on it's neck, killing it instantly.

I turn to Josh and Trent, who are waiting for me.

I lick the blood from around my snout and walk over to them.

"What's with all the rouges lately?" Josh asks.

"I don't know, but it doesn't look good." I reply.

"Do you think it has something to do with Cam?" Trent asks.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"If he's here, he could have some control over the rouges." He replies.

We start to run in our wolf forms back towards the town, since it's too far to walk.

When we get close, we locate clothes hidden in trees and shift back to our human forms, pulling on the pants we found.

Josh frowns, "Maybe, but we don't know if Cam is back yet."

Trent looks alert all of a sudden, but then relaxes a little, "Trent? What's up?" I ask.

"Layla just mind-linked me, they want to see us ASAP." He says.

We nod and decide to run to Mandy's house.

When we get there, I just walk in and see Mandy and Cole sitting on the couch while Layla paces in the living room.

"What's happened?" I ask.

They all look up, "Mandy and I saw someone in the park today." Layla says.

"Who is this 'someone'?" Josh asks.

Layla looks to Mandy, "We're sure it was Cam." She replies.

I growl, "This is the third time one of us has thought we've seen him, we need to investigate. Most of the wolves here know who he is, we'll ask them to look around." I say.

Everyone nods, "What about Mara?" Cole asks.

I look to him, "What about Mara?" I repeat.

"Are you going to tell her?" He asks.

I think for a second and then nod, "I probably should, she deserves to know."

"Who deserves to know what?" Mara says, walking into the living room.

"Oh, yeah. I invited Mara over." Mandy says.

I look to Mara, "We're pretty sure Cam is here."

She looks a little panicked for a second, but then looks to all of us, "What does that mean?"

Trent shrugs, "We're not really sure, but we know that he wouldn't just come here for a quick visit. He must want something."

"But what would he want?" She asks.

Mandy sighs, "It could be anything, you never know with Cam. Especially now that he doesn't have a mate."

I nod.

Mara looks at me, "Do you have an old, uh, photo or anything of him so I can see what he looks like?" She asks.

I nod, "I'll give it to you tomorrow at school."

She smiles, but I see something in her eyes, it's not like her usual smiles, "Thanks."

Josh's stomach growls suddenly and we all stiffle a laugh.

"Shut up guys." Josh huffs.

"I'll go get something." Mara says, walking into the kitchen.

"I'll help." I add, standing up and following her.

We go into Mandy's kitchen and I watch as she searches the pantry for something we can snack on.

She looks at me and raises an eyebrow, "Usually when someone say's 'I'll help' it actually means they'll help."

"Are you alright?" I ask, ignoring her comment.

She frowns, "Yeah, why?"

"You just seemed, uncomfortable when we were talking about Cam." I say.

She shrugs, "No, I'm fine. Really."

"Okay." I reply, not believing her.

"You don't believe me." She says.

"Did I say that out loud?" I ask.

She giggles, "No, I can just tell."

"Oh, well no. I don't." I reply.

She comes up and puts her hands on the sides of my face, I wrap my hands around her wrists.

"Ryder, there's nothing to worry about." She says, looking into my eyes.

I sigh and nod, "Sorry, I'm just a little on edge."

She laughs and slips out of my grip.

I grab a bowl as she pulls out a big bag of chips, "This will have to do." She says.

I nod and take them, walking back into the living room. I place them on the coffee table and pull Mara onto my lap as I sit down on the couch.

"Are we really watching 'Finding Nemo'?" I ask.

Mandy nods, not taking her eyes off the screen, "Yes, and there's nothing you can do about it."

We all watch the movie in silence, I trace patterns on Mara's arm while she watches the screen. I say 'watches the screen' because I can tell she isn't watching the movie. Her eyes are distance yet blank as she stares at the colours on the screen.

I can tell something is on her mind, something she isn't telling me. Caleb feels a little saddened that our mate isn't telling us something, but I keep reassuring him that she'll tell us eventually.

This is Mara we're talking about, she tells me everything.

"What are you thinking about?" I whisper to her.

She looks at me, "What are you talking about? I'm watching the movie."

I raise my eyebrows, "Mara, I can tell that you're not paying even the slightest attention to this movie." I whisper back.

"Shush!" Mandy says.

I give her a look but see Mara staring at something out the window, I try to see what's she's looking at, but I'm at the wrong angle to see.

She suddenly stands up and clears her throat, "What's the time?" She asks.

Mandy doesn't look pleased because she interrupted the movie, but pulls out her phone anyway.

"Six o'clock." She says.

She starts walking to the front door, "Mum wanted me home about now, so I'll see you guys tomorrow?"

We all nod, I stand up, "I'll walk you home."

She stops and turns around, "Ryder, it's not even one hundred metres, I'll be fine." She says.

I just look at her and finally nod, "Alright."

She smiles at us one more time and then disappears out the door.

••••*••••

Ten minutes later I just need to make sure she's okay.

"Mara, are you home okay?" I ask through mind-link.

I get that weird feeling that I'm not getting connected to her, like there is a boundry or something.

"Mara?" I try again.

The situation just reminds me of the last time this happened, when we were in the woods and Mara got tied to a tree.

I stand up.

"Ryder? What's wrong?" Josh asks.

"I can't get through to Mara again." I say, starting to walk around the couch.

They must remember last time this happened too, because Mandy turns off the movie and everyone stands up too.

"We'll go with you." She says.

I nod and walk out the door.

Mara better be okay.

•Mara's POV•

"What are you thinking about?" Ryder whispers to me half way through the movie.

I look at him, "What are you talking about? I'm watching the movie." I reply.

Truth is, I'm not actually watching the movie. I'm trying to figure out what to do about the whole 'Cam situation'. Ryder knew back in the kitchen that something wasn't right with me, and that's because I was thinking so hard about how the handle the situation.

The only other option I can think of, besides actually following Cam's rules, is telling Ryder the truth. But, if I did that, I would need to tell him to not do anything rash, because if Cam finds out I told him, me or Ryder are in for big trouble.

And the reason I'm not telling Ryder is exactly that, I know he would barge out of the room and hunt him down before I can even say 'stop'.

He raises his eyebrows, "Mara, I can tell you're not paying even the slightest attention to this movie."

Damn! How does he know me so well?

"Shush!" Mandy scolds.

I'm thankful for her interruption, but as I look to Mandy something catches my attention outside, through the window.

I see Cam standing in the forest, he gives me a signal meaning 'we need to talk'.

I stand up, so that Cam can see I'm coming, I clear my throat to get everyone's attention, "What's the time?" I ask.

Mandy looks annoyed but whips out her phone anyway, "Six o'clock."

"Mum wanted me home now, so I'll see you guys tomorrow?" I ask, thinking of the first excuse I could come up with.

They nod and Ryder stands up, "I'll walk you home." He says.

I turn around to face him, "Ryder, it's not even one hundred metres, I'll be fine." I defend.

He studies me for some time and then nods, "Alright."

I smile assuringly one more time and then walk out the door, I walk around to my house, not once looking into the forest, and walk into my house.

About two minutes later, Cam knocks on the door and I answer. I open the door a little so he can come in, so that no one sees us, but make sure he stays near the door.

"What can I do for you Cam?" I ask with fake politeness.

"Did Mandy and Layla see me?" He asks.

I purse my lips and nod, "Yes."

"And what's happening now?" He asks.

I shrug, "They don't talk about that stuff with me Cam."

He takes a threatening step forward, "Well I want you to find out."

"I don't know if I can do that." I reply.

"Why not?" He demands.

"Because Ryder doesn't share his work with me, that's his business and I don't want him to think something is up." I reply.

"You're smart Mara, I'm sure you'll figure out a way."

"I'm not your personal spy." I growl at him.

"Since when have you gotten so arrogant?" He shouts, "Haven't I made myself clear of what I can do to you?"

"I've become more arrogant since I've starting lying to Ryder, do you know what it's like to lie to a mate Cam?" I point a finger at him accusingly.

He clentches his jaw.

I continue, "Oh wait, no you wouldn't. Because your mate is dead."

He slams me against the wall, "You bitch!"

"You're the sick jerk that did that to her Cam! And you're never going to get her back!" I yell.

He releases me and steps back, surprisingly.

"Oh, I will get her back. Just you wait." He snarls.

Suddenly the door bursts open and Ryder steps in, behind him all the others.

He growls loudly at Cam, "What the hell are you doing with my mate!"

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