The Normal Life
By Didi

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters that are recognizable and I certainly don't own the show. Don't sue me cause all you're going to get is lent, and not much of that either.

Summery: Life is hard enough as a teen without in the problems of being wolf. Sequel to "Eyes of Brown... or is it Green," kind of.

Timeline: Hum...this is a toughie. Okay, Eyes was written after the cancellation of Wolf Lake from CBS. I had assumed that it was never coming back again so I can do whatever I wanted with the story without interfering with the show's canon.

Note: For those of you that read my first Wolf Lake fan fic, this story will follow a similar but slightly altered format, you're get it when you read it. And for those of you that have not read my first, it's pretty easy to pick up once you start.

Acknowledgement: Hooray for the return of Wolf Lake!!! Thank you UPN for your wonderful taste in programming. And thanks to everyone that read my first Wolf Lake fan fiction. I hope you all like this one too.

Rating: R for restricted under 17.
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-Ruby's POV-

One of the most pleasurable things I've found in life is this wonderful sense of peace I feel when I'm near him. He exerted the kind of powerful quiet radiance that even sleep cannot hide; I can remember laying there in the dead of the night just watching him as he slumbered. He was so beautiful, still is.

I cried the last time I saw him, knowing that I could never be with him without it killing him. Now... now I sit on his bed just watching. If I can pull this off, if I can get him into the church and married before anyone was the wiser, I can be happy. Granted life with me will not always be pleasant given who I am and what I am, but I love him and I'll do anything to be with him. Can I say the same of him?

Only one way to find out.

"John?" His skin was warm to the touch, velvet smooth and smelled of the wilderness. It always intrigued me that his scent was so very... right. "John?"

He stirred gently, fighting to waking up. For a moment, those dark mysterious eyes were blank of recognition and my heart stopped. Then he blinked...and blinked again....and blanked even harder. "Ruby?"

The disbelief in his voice made me hurt for him. And the note of pleading made me want to cry. But the hope I hear, it made all my senses jump in a chorus of joy. "It's me."

"Oh my god," his arms came around me, firm but gentle, as if he was afraid that I would evaporate into thin air. Afraid that I was nothing but a dream come to haunt him. "It's you, it's really you."

My heart swelled to a painful size that I want to weep in pain. But now was not the time, there was still too much that can go wrong, too much that can happen. "Shh.... We must be careful."

"What is it?" He asked me, pulling back to search my eyes. His face reflected his anxiety for me. "Are you in trouble?"

I almost laughed in irony. Here I was terrified that he was going to get hurt, and what were the first words out of him mouth? Concern for me. How can I not love him? How can I not give my life for him?

"No," I wanted to tell him, tell him everything there is so that nothing stands between us. But I am scared, I'm so afraid that once he knew, he'd turned form me. But can I really do this without tell him the truth? Can he forgive me if didn't? And in those moments, I cursed the blood that runs through my veins. "John Kanin, do you have any idea how much I love you?"

He smiled, that beautiful joyous smile that lit his face from the inside. Just imagining life without ever seeing that radiance made my heart ache. "If you feel for me even a faction of what I feel for you, I am the luckiest man in the world."

I felt the tears on my cheeks before I felt them in my eyes. The gods were cruel to put me through this. I can't tell him, not yet. "Listen to me, you have to listen."

He nodded, his attention so completely focused on me that for a moment I forgot everything else but him. "I'm listening."

"It's dangerous here."

"I know," he lips curled just enough to give me a sense of what the people in this town must have put him through, as if the chase through the woods weren't enough. "Boy do I know that."

"No, you don't know," I put my hand on his face, to convey my sense of urgency. He had to understand just how much peril he was in. "It's too dangerous for you here, especially now that my father is gone. You've lost what little protection you had before."

"What are you talking about?" I can see the confusion in his eyes. He is a man of great intelligence and has a curiosity a mile long. "I'm not leaving, not without you." Just look what he has gone through to find me, to solve the 'mystery' of my disappearance. It kills me not to share the secrets with him. "Ruby, we can get out of here. If it's dangerous here we can just hop on my bike and leave."

"I can't." All my life, I've only wanted what everyone else on this planet had, what was normal, what was not meant to be. And here is this man; I can see that he would do anything for me; he would give that simplicity of life for me. He loves me enough to give his life, why can't I do the same? "You deserve a life better than this. You need your freedom, a life where danger isn't always around the corner."

"Honey, I'm a cop." His hands were warm and calloused and felt so heavenly on my cheeks. His eyes were like darkness but so warm. The kiss was pure sweetness. "I love you. I want to marry you. I want a life with you, come what may."

I believed him. "John, you have to understand. If you stay, life with me can be..."

"Wonderful," he finished with a smile. "Life with you is always wonderful. I can't imagine my life without you. Tell me what's going on, Ruby. Tell me what I can do to help you cause I know there is trouble here for you. Let me help."

The promise was there. "Do you trust me?"

No hesitation, "With my soul."

The decision is made, a promise given, a life doomed. But maybe, just maybe if luck was on our side, we can make the best of a bad situation. Father, if you're up there watching over me now, please help your little girl get through this. I love this man, just let me have him and I'll do anything.

"Listen, I don't have a lot of time and this has to go off without a hitch." I pull myself away even though I longed to crawl into the bed with him and just shut the rest of the world out. How wonderful that would be, to be in a place where it was just me and him. But I need to think straight. "Time is short, we have to do this without the others knowing."

"Ruby..."

I shook my head and covered his mouth, knowing that he had many questions that needed to be answered. But time is our enemy and I cannot spare them to help him understand. "Just listen and do what I say."

There was a moment when I thought he would refuse. He studied me with those dark eyes of his that seem to glow in the moonlight. He had the most beautiful eyes; I can get lost in them so easily. Then he nodded.

"Tomorrow, there is to be a meeting in the hotel's banquet room at nine in the evening to choose a new chairman of the town brewery. I have to be there," I held up a finger when he opened his mouth to ask why. "My father was the former chairman, I am one of the heirs; I have to be there." He accepted this but still looked skeptical. I don't blame him. "At precisely seven forty-five, I need you to be at the church. Don't ask any questions, don't let anyone else in the world know. Just be there."

He took both my hands, squeezing them tight. "I'll be there."

I could feel my heart jump erratically. I was scared, scared to death for him. "I love you. I'll protect you."

"I love you, too. And 'I'll' protect 'you'." His lips were on mine for a brief moment before I knew what had happened. It gave all the promises of tomorrow and all the dreams of today. He tasted like sandalwood and male essence. I could have stayed there in his arms forever.

Heart pounding with love, fear, excitement, dread...I had to go, I couldn't stay any longer, not if this is to work.

"I have to leave you now," standing, I felt the tug on my arm as if it tugged on my heart. "Please, I have to."

"I'll be there tomorrow," he pledged again, his eyes wide and bright in the darkness. "I'll wait for you forever."

I didn't want to leave; I didn't want to be parted from him. The tears came and I wished them away. "John, I need you to do something for me tonight."

He looked up expectedly. "What?"

"Take a shower."

"What?"

He looked so surprised and shocked that I almost laughed. I could smell myself on him and him on me. I couldn't let another know that I've been here. "Take a shower."

"Ruby..." He began, thinking I was joking.

"I'm seriously," I touched my hand to his cheek. "Promise me that you'll get in the shower the minute I leave."

He sat there for a moment torn between laugher and confusion. "All right."

"I love you," then left.
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-Sherman's POV-

I've set the wheels of events in motion; now I can only hope that it was the right thing to do. My teacher once told me that the Keeper is the key to every pack. They know the past to guide the future but they must never set the path for the future. And what did I go and do? Set into motion what could be the biggest blood bath in this pack's history.

Am I even the least bit sorry for what I've done? Not really. There are certain things in life that has to be corrected. Granted, this is only my opinion but it has to count for something.

Ah Willard, my good friend, your family certainly does know how to complicate the hell out of life. First Luke and now Ruby, they are going to set this pack on its ears and nothing will ever be the same again.