"How can I not? You're living in hiding from that creep!"
"Please don't worry about me. I promise that I'll return in a few days," I said, interlacing my fingers through his.
Tanner sighed and then nodded. "Okay. Maybe you can text me at least?"
I looked into his eyes and then kissed him. "You have my word. But now I should get going; I need to cover my trail. I don't want him figuring out that I was here and I really don't want him finding you with my scent."
He frowned. "I wish that you didn't have to go."
A lump formed in my throat and I felt a strange wet sensation in my eyes. I hadn't cried since I was a child, I wasn't even aware that I still could. A tear escaped and ran down my face, tickling my skin. I moved to wipe it away, but Tanner was faster, kissing the trail from my eye to the side of my mouth.
"I'll miss you too," he whispered.
I nodded, afraid to hear my voice if I spoke.
He stood up and we walked to his car in silence with his arm wrapped around me. He went to open the passenger door and I shook my head. "I need to leave now," I finally said. "You should shower and try to wash my scent off."
"You want to help?" he teased, grinning through tears of his own.
"That would defeat the purpose," I said, giving him a playful shove. I gave him a quick kiss and then I ran off, giving him the impression of me disappearing before his eyes. I stopped behind a building and peeked around the corner, too far for his human eyes to see me, and I watched as he got into his car looking like a defeated puppy. Then he drove off and was out of sight.
Sighing, I began running. After a while, I got into a rural area and decided that I had better fill myself with some fearful human blood to cover the scent of Tanner's love soaked blood running through me. Vince would smell that from miles away.
I saw some guy walking a dog. I could see the dog's hair stand up as it sensed my presence. It started growling and the guy looked around and picked up his speed. I followed, with my eyes on the dog, knowing that it would sense me watching it. His fur stood up even further and it let out a lower growl and started barking. I could smell the fear of his owner.
The dog was helping me out by getting the human fearful before he even saw me. I approached slowly as the dog started barking even louder. The man turned around and saw me. His shoulders lowered and he smiled, telling the dog to shut up.