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.

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

I heard the rumbling of the motor about a mile off the road before it registered in my mind what it was. A part of me hoped beyond hope that it was my dad coming to get me. But then, he didn't know I was hiding at Kanin's cabin. Sure it would be logical to think that, given that he had sent me off with Kanin, but still, who would have thought that Kanin would use reverse logic.

"I figure that if anyone knew that you were with me, they'd think that we'd come here," he had explained logically as he loaded his semi-automatic. Where the man got the big-ass gun was beyond me. "Then they think that I would never do something as obvious as go to the one place they know to look for me. So they'd probably end up going elsewhere." He pushed the curtain aside with the barrel of the gun and glanced at the dark, moonlit night. "Then again, we shouldn't be too reliant on logic when our lives are at stake."

That had been over an hour before. I stood there, watching the streets and listening as the rumbling came closer. The palms of my hands itched and all the hair on my scalp seemed to stand on ends. Every one of my senses seemed to be on high alert, as if watching for something to happen. And something is going to happen tonight, I can feel it.

"Kanin?" I whispered into the darkness. He had gone toward the back to watch the woods.

"What?" came the reply. It still unnerved me to know that he can hear me from so far away.

"Do you hear that?"

There was a pause. "Truck down the road. Why?"

"It's coming here."

"I know," he melted out from the shadows and appeared so suddenly and silently besides me that I almost jumped. "Does your father..."

"Drive a beat up old truck that sounds like it's on its last lag? No. He drives a 2001 4runner." I could see his eyes in the darkness; they weren't squinting for sight or bright like Dad's is when in dim light. Yet, there was something about the way he looked. I shuddered, suddenly feeling cold from the inside. "Should we stay or should we run?"

"Run where?" he asked, dryly. "This little town of yours is surrounded on all four sides by wood and water. We would get hopelessly lost if we go by wood. And we meet up with whoever is headed this way if we go by land. And I'm not jumping off a cliff into rushing waters of any reason." He turned to offer a smile of reassurance but froze. "Oh my god."

"What?" I asked, turning to see the empty doorway. With all my senses so heightened, I didn't think anything could sneak up on me. Well, except maybe him. "Don't scare me like that!" swatting him with my hand. But he continued to stare at me. "What?"

There was something in the way he stood there, stock still, that created a ball of ice in the pit of my stomach. "Sophia, your eyes... they're.... They're glowing."

I held my breath. He looked as if he was seeing a ghost and I honestly couldn't blame him. Ruby flipped at fourteen and has since mastered her transformation to finely honed control; she'd have to if she hoped to survive in the world of humans. I doubt even in the heat of passion, she'd lose control the way I've seen the some of the kids do at the raves. John Kanin obviously has never seen the wolven eyes before.

And damn it, I hate the fact that he's seeing it now, on me. Of all the times to lose control!

I turned away quickly, both embarrassed and frightened.

"Sophia," he grabbed my arm and pulled me back to face him, pulling my hands away from my face. "What is happening to you?"

I was scared, too damn scared to think straight. The pores of my body seemed to have expanded and the hairs stood on end as I felt my skin tingle with something unidentifiable. I've felt it before, in the middle of night when I wake to find the whole world spinning and my eyes glowing with my father's heritage.

"No!" Pushing Kanin away, I rushed to my feet and out the door.

"Sophia, wait! Sophia!" I had to get away, away from him. Away from everyone.
~~~~~~~~~~
-Kanin's POV-

The back of my head hit the table and for a moment, my vision swam. I heard the scraping of feet and knew that she was about to bolt. "Sophia, wait! Sophia," the screen door slammed and I knew she had fled.

It took a moment for my head to clear. For such a small delicate little thing, she certainly was strong. But I've long since stop underestimating people; call it a survival instinct that cops learn, usually the hard way. But then again, I didn't know that people's eyes could glow like lantern light either.

I stood on the porch, eyes scanning the roads when it hit me that she wouldn't have taken the road. Turning about, I saw with some dismay at the dark woods that I thought were rather picturesque when I took the place. Now, it was like something out of a bad movie.

I ran inside and grabbed the 9mm from the table and froze when my hand touched the 10 gage. Someone had just stepped into the house. I listened closely, not wanting to give my position away. From the front door, it was unlikely someone has seen me yet.

"You see her?" the rough voice asked then stopped. "You smell something?"

"Shit, he's still in the house." I heard the boots on the floorboard a moment before I fired the gun into the doorway.

Whoever it was caught the bullet in the shoulder while I dove across the room and out the backdoor.

"Don't let him get away!" I wasn't about to wait around for those goons to catch up to me. If I hadn't been prepared to go into the woods after Sophia earlier, I sure the hell am now.

You know how in the movies, the woods are usually lit up bright as day; well that's how the woods look to me now. And on any other day, I'd probably be wondering why the full moon was so unbelievably bright. But right now, I can only thank the heavens that it was so I can see where the hell I was going without tripping over every bush and branch there was. Not that there was any guarantees that I wouldn't get hopelessly lost since I don't know where I was going, only that it wasn't where I had been two minutes before.

It wasn't too long before I knew that I was in serious trouble. It was night, I had no equipment, I was lost and I lost Sophia. Great, Donner is really going to trust me now!

I turned and took a moment to see if I can reposition myself. That's when I heard it. If I had the energy, I would have roared in frustration. Not only do I have what sounded like two bumbling hit men after me, I'm also lost in the woods with wild and possible large animals.

Standing here, I listened for a moment, all the training in the marines and police academy coming back to me all in a rush. My senses were wide open to receive information that could possibly save my life. Thank goodness I had always been pretty damn good at this sort of thing. The night air shifted, bringing with it the smell of water, woods and warm furry bodies. Definitely four-footed creatures, I could hear the hide legs being lifted even as the front paws were setting down.

And they were approaching fast!

Not bothering to stand around and greet the newcomers to this merry chase, I took off. Branching scratching face and arms, legs aching to stop for a break, and lungs trying force enough oxygen into them to keep me from keeling over, I knew that I couldn't keep up this neck breaking speed for long, especially given the traps that were in the woods.

I sometimes think that I jinx myself on purpose. Just as I finish the thought of there being traps, one cramped its steely jaws around my ankle. I pitched forward soundlessly, in too much pain to holler.

Turning around, I saw the teeth of the trap had ripped open the jeans and skin around my ankle, drawing blood. Damn it, the smell of blood was sure to draw more animals here.

And of course, as if on cue, a large gray wolf appeared from between two trees. Had it been human, there would be no doubt of its thoughts. Pure and unadulterated hatred gleamed though its big brown eyes. Oh great, now I was in some serious trouble. I wonder what god I had angered to be in this situation twice in one lifetime.

Now I can only hope that my guardian white wolf was around to save me again. But I knew I had no such luck.

The gray wolf took a leap going for my throat just I remembered that I still had my 9mm in my hand. Pulling my arm up to fire, I was forestalled by a large brown wolf appearing somewhere from over my left shoulder. The two animals collided in mid air, jaws clamping shut viciously on each other.

I backed away as quickly as I could, dragging the metal jaws of death with me. It was then that I realized that I wasn't alone. Another wolf, this one with gleaming gray eyes, stood not a foot away from my right, as if standing guard. A third came around from behind to stand before me, its paws delicately stepping over my prone legs. It too seemed to be protecting me, like bodyguards.

Turning, I watched as the big gray and brown one circled one another, teeth bared and snapping dangerously close to each other. The gray made another attempt but was knocked into a tree by the brown, who butted its head against the gray's side like a battering ram against a wooden door. The gray went down and stayed down.

It was the most... 'interesting' behavior I've ever seen. The brown wolf turned and watched me for a second before leaping out of sight. For a moment, I laid there stunned as the two others wolves took themselves off as well.

Shaking myself, I went to work on the steel trap still on my leg. Closing my hands around the teeth of the trap, I pulled until it gave enough for me to pull my leg out. The blood soaked through the pants and I groaned that I was going to be a walking target for every creature in the woods now.

"John!" I turned to the sound so Ruby's voice, anxious and concern. "JOHN!"

"I'm here!" I called back; hoping that whoever was after me has either gone or is out of earshot. After all, I could hardly want to attention dangerous to my new wife. Wife, I still can't quite comprehend that fact that Ruby married me.

"John!" Ruby fell to her knees beside me, her arms closing around my neck before I could get another word out. "Are you all right?"

"Oh peachy," I leaned back enough to begin undoing my shirt, I was going to need a temporary bandage for my leg. "That's a very pretty dress."

"Thank you," she replied absentmindedly. "You look like hell."

"Thank you," I smiled and ripped the sleeves off. "Where is Donner?"

"Right here," Donner appeared, his dinner jacket open and his eyes searching the woods around. "Where's my daughter?"

"Gone," I replied, with a sigh. "I don't know what happened. The truck was coming, we both heard it. She got scared and turned to me for help." I looked at Donner, noting that the man was not carrying a gun out here. "Did you know your daughter has eyes that glow?"

Donner's gaze jerked down toward me. "Glow?"

"Yeah, like lanterns." Somehow I had expected him to be surprised by that. But a part of me wasn't at the least surprised that he wasn't reacting the way I wanted him to. This town gets weirder and weirder by the minute. "And then she bolted out the door. That's when the two men came into my house and...oh I shot one of them in the shoulder before getting the hell out of there too."

"I know, we found him bleeding to death in your kitchen." Donner turned as Luke and Vivian Cates came through the woods. Hell, they were making so much noise that a deaf man would have heard them. "I've cuffed him to your sink. He's not going anywhere."

Sherman Blackstone came though the woods with a grin on his face and his eyes bright with excitement. The man always looked like he had a great secret that he was keeping to himself and laughing at all us fools that knew nothing of it. I really hate that about him. He glanced at me and raised one brow with surprise inquiry. "What happened here?"

Donner pointed to the trap. "And Sophia took off into the woods."

"Yeah, with glowing eyes," I added just to see their reaction.

Vivian Cates looked at Donner, startled but not terribly surprise. It was Luke's reaction that was the most interesting. His face practically lit up like a Christmas tree, you'd think I just told the kid that he won a million dollars. Luke didn't wait around for anyone to say anything before taking off into the woods.

"Where is he going?" I asked Ruby, who laughed softly and shook her head.

"After Sophia is my guess," she replied, helping me bind the wound. "We have to get you out of here and..." she stopped as I hissed in pain. The wound was deeper than I thought. "John, are you...." She stared at me, just stood there stock still and stared, her jaws slack and eyes wide in stunned disbelief.

"What?" It was surprised by the way she was just simply staring at me as if she's never seen me before. "Ruby, what is it?"

"Oh god," Donner cursed fluently in a language that I didn't recognize as he too stared at me. "Sherman!"

Blackstone laughed as Vivian too gawked in complete incredulity. I was beginning to get the real nervous reaction of squirming as they all stared with Blackstone laughing like a loon in the back.

"You knew!" Donner finally turned and pointed an accusing finger at Blackstone. Since I was still in the dark about this whole thing, I thought it best to pay attention. "How could you not tell the rest of us?"

"Not my place," Sherman Blackstone grinned wildly and turned to me, giving me a hand that I took gratefully. My leg felt like it's been doused in fire. "Besides, he looks so much like Richard that I thought someone would have recognized him by now."

"Oh damn it!" Donner ran a hand through his hair and frustration. "If I didn't have a daughter to look for right now..."

"Oh relax," Sherman said as he helped me take a few tentative steps. Looks like I was getting out of the woods tonight, after all. "Luke will find her."

"That's the problem."

He laughed again before turning to me. "Oh by the way, Kanin. Welcome home."

Now what the heck does that mean?

TBC....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, this story is wrapping up nicely. I hope you've all been enjoying it.

Next chapter, Luke's point of view!