Hey, guys. Sorry it's taking me so long to update on all of my stories. It happens a lot, actually, but this time it's because I'm working on an original story. Believe me, if you knew all the stuff that happens in that thing, you wouldn't be surprised by my distraction. I just remembered this story and wanted to write more in it.

. . .

Over the course of the next few weeks, I found that, despite my best efforts, I was spending more and more time with Seth. He was just such a kid, and whenever I was around him I felt that much more at home. I knew I was probably jinxing myself by doing it, like maybe I was increasing my chances of staying permanently. On the other hand, now it would only be that much harder to leave.

There was still no word on when I'd be returning, or if I would. So all I could do was just hang on and not plan anything for the distant future.

"Nani! Nani, come on, open up!"

I opened the front door and leaned against the frame, arms crossed. "It's open, lolo. You could just open it."

"It's polite to knock." he said, shrugging.

"Polite to knock, Seth, not break the door down."

"Well, I'm in a hurry, come on." he said, grabbing my arm and pulling me along.

"Where are we going?" I asked as we ran.

"Jake's. He's gonna give us a lesson in motorcycling." he answered, looking ridiculously happy. I rolled my eyes and played along, thinking this would be interesting.

When we got to Jake's house, Seth started banging on that door like there was no tomorrow. I supposed something about cycling just excited the hell out of him.

There was a call of, "He's in the back," from inside the house. I figured that was Billy, Jake's dad, and decided he probably didn't want to be disturbed at the moment. "Come on, lolo, before you chip the paint." I said, dragging him by the arm to the other side of the house. There, we found Jake underneath a car in the garage, doing who knew what to it.

"Hey, Jake." Seth said, suddenly very collected. "Are we, uh, gonna do the thing now?"

The older boy emerged from beneath the car, face smeared with oil and a grin on his face. "If you guys are ready."

"What's the occasion?" I asked, hands in my shorts' pockets as I watched the two uncover a couple bikes.

"I just finished fixing them, and Seth's been asking to learn for a while." Jake explained. "Okay, the Triumph goes to Seth, and Nani can use the Aprilia. Cool with you?"

"Cool with me." I said, going up to the Aprilia. "We take these outside first, right?"

"Uh, yeah." he said, nodding. "Wrecking the garage is not part of the agenda today."

"Well, then, let's get 'em out there." I said, already pushing mine out the door.

"Do you have any experience on these things?" he asked.

"Do four-wheelers count?" I asked. "I have lots of experience on those."

"Did you own one?" Seth asked, wheeling his own bike out next to me.

"We owned two." I told him.

"It's not the same, trust me." Jake said. "Stop. We'll just follow the back-road here." He turned to me. "You do know how to get on that thing, right?"

I gave him a look as I swung my leg over. "I'm not totally incompetent." I said.

"Sure, sure." he chuckled. "Can you get it started, though?"

I rolled my eyes and turned the key. "Why don't you go help the lolo over there instead of worrying about me? I can handle myself."

"If you say so." he said as though he didn't believe me, moving over to help Seth. I shook my head. Jake was being ridiculous. As I looked at the controls and steering mechanism, I figured it was almost exactly like driving a four-wheeler. "Can I just go?" I asked.

"If you think you can." he responded.

I pressed on the clutch and then I was pulling away from them and heading down the road. I started gaining speed as I got the hang of it, feeling the mild thrill of going so fast. I was reaching a slight curve in the road, where the trail met the forest, getting slightly nervous about turning. A motorcycle is a lot slimmer than an ATV, so I wasn't sure how hard to turn the handlebars. I was saved the effort, however, when something huge and hairy leaped into my path. I yanked on the bars, trying to swerve and ending up tipping the bike. It skidded away from me, my right leg burned, and I was just coming to realize the huge hairy thing was another wolf. This one was not quite so passive as the others, though, and immediately lunged.

. . .

"Yeah, see? You got it." Jake said. "Just hit this-"

There was a shriek from down the road. Both boys stiffened. "Nani." Seth murmured, suddenly looking significantly less boyish as his protective instincts took over.

"Move back." Jake said, pushing Seth back on the bike and getting on in front of him. In a second, the bike roared and they were flying down the road.

. . .

I had never been more grateful to be wearing hiking boots.

When the wolf lunged, I managed to get my foot up I time to kick it in the face. I couldn't hope to kill it. The point wasn't to win the fight, it was just not to lose.

I'd made the wolf mad. He lunged again, and I dove to the left. But this thing was fast, and had turned around before I could find something to hit it with. I jumped out of the way again, and ended up tumbling down the drop-off next to the road. The wolf jumped and followed my decent. In the split second I had between reaching the bottom and getting pinned by the animal, I snatched the largest stick I could find and jammed it between his jaws. The amount of force it put on my arms was insurmountable, but I kept him at bay if only because of the fear gripping my entire body.

And then I noticed his eyes. They were a very deep green, like a pine tree. They were familiar. I'd seen them many times before.

Before I could do anything about it, a large rock came flying out of nowhere and hit the wolf in the head, making it roll off of me and run into the forest. I watched it go, stunned, then felt strong arms lift me up.

"Come on, Nani, we need to get out of here." Seth said in my ear, pulling me back up to the road. When we got there, I snapped out of my daze and wrested myself from his grasp. I was so angry I couldn't even say anything. I didn't want to say anything. My injured leg gave out and I hit the ground. Seth tried to help me back up, but I pulled away and stood on my own, hitting the dirt with my fist in anger. Without thinking about it, I picked up my fallen bike, started it up, and sped back to Jake's house. All the while, I couldn't help but picture those eyes, so much less feral than the rest of him. That wolf had been more than just an animal. I knew it in my heart.

Those had been Jared's eyes.