We have to Leave

For the following days, Darius only moved as low-key as possible. He wasn't planning to turn in his two-week notice since it would alarm the company that he planned to leave. For now, he was thinking of a way to earn as much money as he could before looking for a place to stay. After all, he couldn't find a big house that had a garden with the money he had.

Every time people entered the sorting floor, Darius would spread his senses to pick up a scent of a stranger or even another werewolf. Whatever happened that Saturday in the grocery was not something he chose to take lightly.

If those two were indeed from the Council, Darius could only hope that he would be killed out of his pups' sight. That would surely haunt them for a lifetime.

"Is something wrong, Daryl?" The supervisor of the sorting floor was looking at Darius's notice that he turned in three days after the paycheck came in. He then looked at the werewolf, who could only smile at him. "You have been working for us for three years without even taking leaves. The next thing I know, you want to leave work immediately? Did something happen?"

"…actually, you do know that I'm working to feed my three children, right?" With a sigh, Darius fiddled with his hands out of sight of the supervisor. "My dead wife's mother-in-law wants them for herself. I don't want to give them to that lunatic, so… I have to hide them. One of her friends ran into me days ago, so I had to leave the city. Please understand. It's nothing against the company…"

"Really? That's very awful." The supervisor only hummed before accepting the notice. "I'll let them process this immediately. You can start moving tomorrow. I hope your kids remain safe. In-laws get greedy sometimes; mine are just the worst, too."

He then remembered something and wrote it down on his memo pad. The supervisor wrote someone's contact details on it before giving it to Darius. "My cousin is a child advocate attorney. If push comes to a shove, you can ask for her help in a custody battle. You can also see her if you need advice."

For some reason, Darius didn't understand why he received the help. Then again, since some humans were just the kindest, he smiled in response. He held onto the paper, but he only stared at it. It was because the address… was located in his old city, Canini Shore.

Still, Darius thanked the supervisor for looking out for him. The father of three exited the office, thinking about which direction to take this time. He was planning to leave this very night since he had already given his notice. There was nothing that he needed to be done before taking off.

"Mr. Sprint, a word, please?"

Darius shuddered when he heard a voice call out to his attention. When he turned to look at the owner, it was a secretary that spoke. He could recognize her as the one manning the reception desk outside the boss's office. For a moment, he knew that the boss wanted to see him.

"Sorry, I have a lot of things to do today. Can we just speak tomorrow?" Darius tried to hide his face, but the secretary only took steps closer. He then gave her a glance that hid the animosity inside him. "Is it really important?"

"Yes, please follow me, Mr. Sprint." The secretary walked off as if he agreed to come.

It's just that… he was hoping to leave early today. He knew that not coming to the boss's office might even mean something bad for his future employment, but he also considered how he could be trapped if he walked with the secretary. Darius didn't want to be taken care of without a fight.

As if choosing to trust his instincts more than his head, Darius made a run for it. In his inhuman running speed, he burst into a sprint that even got him past the guard without the man noticing him. As much as the company knew, Daryl Sprint had vanished.

When he reached the little house, he quickly knocked like usual. Adrian took a peep through the door hole and opened the door for him. Darius only smiled at him. "Are you guys ready? We're leaving now."

…

Unlike the first time, Darius was carrying a huge backpack that had what they needed the most. They had a lot of stuff from the three years they lived in that house, but most of them were replaceable. This made it easy for Darius to pack.

The three kids also had their own small bags, Adrian holding onto his two siblings as they walked in front of their dad. To them, they were going to ride the train to get to another place.

Megan was excited, but she restrained her short legs from taking off like an F1 car. She saw the bag their daddy carried, so she knew that she shouldn't expend energy, lest no one would be carrying her home when she grew tired.

Dylan and Adrian were pretty much chill about the walk. The streets were not as crowded, but the loud hustle and bustle of the cars somewhat made Adrian flinch from time to time. Unlike Adrian though, Dylan was busy with his juice carton. The middle child kept himself distracted, so he wouldn't get scared without Daddy holding him instead.

"Hey, you guys need a lift? Where are you headed?" A blue van slowed down next to them, the woman in the passenger seat rolling down her window to smile at them. "We're picking up friends from the train station. You can come with us if you like."

"No thanks." Darius gave a short response. He could smell a werewolf's scent coming from inside the van. There was simply no way that those guys were not trying to trap them. It's just that Darius had no way to assure the three that they were still safe.

He didn't even know if he was going to be safe himself.

When the woman insisted on letting them in the van, another even opened the sliding door for them. By then, Darius knew that they wouldn't stop anymore. Before he could order the kids to run, Dylan turned in the direction of the blue van and recognized the source of their daddy's apprehension. His green eyes glowed dangerously…

…and an invisible hand slapped the blue van three meters back!

"On me!" Darius yelled out as soon as the small collision happened.

He swooped towards the three and carried them in his arms before speeding up as fast as he could with all that added weight. When he flashed across the streets, he knew that those three people had followed suit in their high-speed chase.