Chapter Ten

                                    

                                          
          He didn't charge for her. He was going for the Dark Witch. Orla held out her hands to hold him off, only her magic didn't work. Her eyes widened in fear as Lucas pounced. Forsythia screamed and turned away, squeezing her eyes shut, holding her hands to her ears so she didn't hear what was happening. 
                          
          Something amazing happened then. She couldn't be positive what happened. For all she knew, it was Orla who did it, not her. Only it didn't feel that way. Everything had gone quiet. She turned around, opening her eyes and bringing her hands down from her ears slowly. She covered her mouth in horror.
                          
          Orla was fine except for a bite on her shoulder that could be healed in time. However, Lucas was not. He lay motionless across the courtyard as if Orla had thrown him. Forsythia ran towards him and knelt by him, putting to fingers to his neck. She wasn't sure where a wolf's pulse would be or if it would even have one. She couldn't feel anything. Surely he wasn't dead. He couldn't be dead.
                          
          She looked over at Orla. "What did you do?" She demanded. Orla didn't seem to know. She looked at Lucas's crumpled form in shock. 
                          
          "I didn't do anything," she said slowly. She got up with a grunt of pain and walked over to them. She held her hand out and closed her eyes. Forsythia watched her carefully. "He's not dead," Orla said. "He's just . . . knocked out I guess."
                          
          "You guess?" Forsythia asked, horrified. She looked back at Lucas who started to turn back into his human form. His head was bleeding. "Can you get him inside?" she asked Orla. "Please, I need your help. He's hurt."
                          
          Orla seemed so shock from what happened, she just blinked, unsure of what Forsythia was saying. Forsythia repeated the question. "Oh. Um, sure." She snapped her fingers and Lucas's body disappeared. "He's in his bed now." She turned around and she disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Forsythia alone.
                          
          She quickly ran inside and wet a cloth. She went into Lucas's room and dabbed at the wound on his head. His breathing came out slow. She worried about him. She had no idea what happened. How he'd been thrown away from Orla, Forsythia didn't know. She was just glad it hadn't killed him.
                          
          Lucas opened his eyes with a groan and stared up at her. He looked lost at first until the events of what happened sunk into his brain. He looked alarm. "What happened?" he asked. "What did I do?" He sat up suddenly and winced, grabbing at his head. "Why am I hurt?"
                          
          "I have no idea," she said honestly. "You changed into a wolf and you went after the Dark Witch. She says she didn't use her magic to send you flying across the courtyard. I have no idea if that's true or not, but when you changed back into your human form, you were bleeding. Are you feeling okay?"
                          
          He certainly didn't look okay. He had that hard look back in his eyes that had faded away in the past few days. Now he looked alert, like he'd attack anyone at a moment's notice. The look in his eyes scared Forsythia. He didn't just look alert, he looked . . . well, he looked angry, like he used to. 
                          
          "No," Lucas said. He stood up. She tried to get him to sit back down, trying to convince him that he needed rest, but he shook his head. "I'm going to find Orla. She had something to do with this. I'm going to figure out what she did to me. I feel different, and I don't like it." He left the room without another word.
                          
          She stood up and quickly followed him. "Wait, Lucas," she said, breathing hard as she ran to keep up with him. "You don't know why she had you change into your wolf form. She said you can control it now. You shouldn't go; she'll probably have something terrible in store for you. I don't want you to get hurt." 
                          
          He turned around and faced her. "I'll be fine. Stay here and don't even try to follow me. I have to find out what it is she wants."
                          
          He started to walk away again. She let him. She felt empty inside again. It seemed like the connection they'd had earlier had suddenly snapped. She now knew it was hopeless. Any feelings he'd had for her were gone. Whatever happened had changed his feelings for her. He was back to his old self, not telling her anything. He'd just walked away from her without as much as a goodbye.