The river took me away from the wolf and I trusted it to deliver me safely. The raging current should have forced me underwater and kept me there until I passed out. Early on in life I had learned that I could not breathe underwater, but I could always trust the bodies of water to keep me afloat in a crisis. We were allies, friends who relied on each other in our darkest hours.

Still, when I was pushed towards the bank, a kilometer downstream from my encounter, I was panting as if I had just come up for air. My fingers clung to rough boulders, trying to pull my body out of the current. The shock and fright made me weak and limp. The river gave me a little shove, sending me sprawling onto the muddy bank. 

I didn't waste a second. Pulling every tiny bit of power from the moisture in my clothing and on my skin, I sprinted. I pushed my body as hard as I could, wishing that those long legs were for more than just show. Why did I take this body for granted? Why didn't I work out? There was no path here, no trail that I could race through. With every step I had to shove away low branches and stomp on thorns. My arms were raked with gouges and I could feel blood trickling down my skin, mixing with the water. The stinging only pushed me as if it were a reminder of what would happen if I allowed myself to get caught. Small cuts and scrapes would be the least of my problems.

Finally, the farm house came into view. I pushed harder. I was close to home, but if the werewolf had made it across the stream, I risked an attack out in the open. I had no water here and, even if I did, my abilities were useless against werewolves. They were too animistic. 

But I made it through the squeaky screen door and made a beeline for my bedroom.

"Kaia," Eddy called, his voice freezing me.

Oh no, Eddy. I had led the wolves right to him. In my panic I had become selfish, only worried about my own safety. Now I had put the only man who protected me at risk.

"Kaia, why are your clothes all wet? Where have you been?" he demanded. "Are you bleeding?"

"I have to leave," I blurted. Yes, that's what I needed to do. The sooner I got out of here the less likely they would come after Eddy. If I ran away on foot for quite a ways they would smell my scent leaving the farm land and leave my guardian alone. That's what I would do. I would lead them away from here.

But first, silver.

Silver was a werewolf's weakness. Or, at least that was what legend claimed. I wasn't going to spend time tangling with a beast just to prove my theory correct, but any hunch that could keep me safe was worth the gamble now. I slipped on a silver promise ring from an old boyfriend, a cheap bird necklace I had bought for a job interview, and two bracelets that I stole from the lost and found.

"Kaia," Eddy grumbled, shoving open my bedroom door. I must have seemed like quite the mess, yanking on jewelry while throwing handfuls of clothing into a suitcase but he didn't seem that bothered.

"I'm sorry Eddy, you have been so kind to me but I have to leave," I rambled.

"You aren't going anywhere," Eddy said in his usual gruffness.

"I need to."

"Then I'm coming with you," he announced, folding his arms over his chest. 

"You have already done so much for me," I dismissed.

"Shame, if I came with you, you would have access to this," he muttered. He opened one of his hands to reveal something black with a gold emblem on it. A passport? Watching my attentive stare, he slowly opened the booklet and revealed a picture. An image of me shone back at me.

"How did you get this?" I gasped, leaping to my feet. He didn't resist when I snatched the passport from his hand.

The last time I had documentation was when I lived at home with my loving, siren mother and my human father who loved both of us. I remembered having a hard time not smiling for the passport photo because I always smiled when cameras were turned on me. I ended up looking as close to a raging bull as a ten year old girl could. I didn't have time to grab my identification when my mother and I had been kidnapped.

And I had left that wretched underground holding cell with blood on my skin and rags on my back. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Since then I had only had a fake driver's license to get me to and from work. It was luck I hadn't been pulled over yet.

"Kaia Sallow," I read aloud.

"I figured that having my last name would keep you safer than just seeming like you popped out of nowhere," Eddy grunted back.

His words were rough and emotionless as usual, but my arms were thrown around his barrel chest and I squeezed him tight to me. Tears flooded my eyes.

"None of this. Pack your bag. We are heading to the airport."

"Eddy, I can't ask you to do this."

"You aren't asking me. I'm telling you. This house can sit empty for a month or two while we take a little vacation. I have had enough of taking care of this damn farm anyway, I'm getting too old for this shit. The neighbor boys can come feed the pigs and cows for once."

"Eddy-"

"I deserve a vacation, Kaia. What was the point of saving up for retirement if I never retire?"

"This won't be a vacation. I'll have to work, I'll-I'll have to -"

"Then I deserve to know that you are going to be okay, don't I? I have never asked you anything and I'm not asking that you tell me anything now, I'm just asking that we do this together."

How could I say no to that? 

We both packed whatever we could. We decided that we were going to the airport and find a flight we could board shortly after. Clearly my thought that the pack of werewolves had strict territory lines was wrong. Or maybe their territory was massive, bigger than I thought. Maybe they conquered all of Canada. Either way, a plane was the best route of escape and harder to trace. Surely they wouldn't be able to find me in another country.

"Ready?" Eddy asked when I met him in the foyer. 

My life had been squashed into the two suitcases I clung to and my hair was still wet, though I had swapped into new clothing and showered to get the blood and mud off. Still anxious, I nodded my head.

Eddy pushed open the screen door. 

And a car pulled up the driveway. A car I didn't know. I didn't feel myself moving or even breathing but I must have made a sound because Eddy shoved me back into the house and told me to hide the suitcases. I just watched on from behind the screen, as if the mesh would stop anyone who wished to do me harm.

The small car stopped right beside my rust bucket. 

A tall young man got out of the front seat. A bright smile shone off his face as he swiped a hand through his black hair. Brown eyes stared at Eddy. Not green. He wasn't the one. My shoulders slumped down. 

"Hello," he greeted.

"This is private property," Eddy ground out.

My attention turned to another man climbing out of the car. 

I felt like I had been punched in the chest. A head of thick brown hair that dripped with water onto his dry clothes. Had he followed me into the river? Didn't he know that was damn near suicide with currents like that?

I needed to run.

But green eyes met mine through the screen.

I stayed.

He stumbled a step. His eyes never left mine.

I didn't move.

"Sorry to intrude," the first man said, his voice low and persistent, unbothered by Eddy's icy stare. "My friend said that he saw a young woman fall into the river that borders your property. We were just asking around to make sure that she's okay. You haven't seen or heard anything, have you?" he asked, his voice innocent. But his eyes were boring into me and the knowing way his mouth quirked up made me sick. 

He knew.

"It's just me and my granddaughter who knows better than to play in the river. Now get off my property," Eddy lied. Had the situation been any different I might have kissed his cheek and started crying again. 

But I just stared at the man with green eyes. He certainly didn't look like a beast now with wide shoulders and narrow hips, very much human and very much a man. But I knew what he was. Under all that calmness and quietness was a creature with a bloodlust.

So why wasn't I running? Why did I feel like I couldn't move my legs at all?

"Are you alright miss?" the first man asked, cocking his head to one side, his smile growing. My eyes snapped to him instead.

"I gave your answers and you still waste my time. Get off my property!" Eddy shouted.

No one moved.

"Girl, grab my gun," Eddy hissed out. It was loud enough for everyone to hear.

He had a gun? I blinked and turned, stunned.

"Alright, alright, we'll go," the first man said, holding up his hands in surrender. "We were just concerned, that's all."

Eddy said nothing, as steely as ever. The first man decided that he could derive no more from this old man and this mute girl. He turned back to his car. When his green-eyed comrade didn't move, the first man grabbed his arm an physically spun him around.

Eddy and I said nothing until the car turned around and sped down the driveway.

"Let's give them a couple hours to make sure they are gone, then we leave," Eddy announced, coming back into the farmhouse. "Coffee?"

~~~Distraction Section~~~

Hello and welcome to our first scheduled update! I hope you are liking the story so far.

Question of the Day: What is the weirdest thing that you have in your house?