That night, I moved to another room, far away from Mel's.
Two days after, she asked me to leave the pack lands. I tried to be stubborn and refuse to leave. I tried to change her mind. But it seems her stubbornness was equal to that of mine.
I tried to talk to Mike about the unfairness of the situation. Although he was on my side, that didn't change the tension around either of us when we walked into a room full of werewolves.
Everyday, more and more of the pack treated us coldly and with distain. At first, it was just Mel's family, but now it seemed everyone was eager to see us go.
Finally, I had to admit that Mike was right; it was time for us to move on. No one believed me and any attempts I made to talk to Mel just seemed to make her hate me more.
We left on a Thursday, even though it was old shifter lore that it is bad luck to start a journey on a Thursday.
'How much worse could my luck get anyways?' I wondered to myself, 'Seems like I burn bridges faster than I can outrun the flames.'
I put the last of my books in my backpack. Then, all packed, Mike and I carried our things out to a waiting car. The werewolf driving us would drop us off on the main street of Sprucevale.
I never said goodbye to Mel. I didn't tell her I was leaving, or when; but she never asked either.
Mike and I were silent for the entire drive. I just looked out the window sadly and watched the world quickly flash by the window.
"Right. You're here. Get out." Said the driver. It was the only thing he had said to us the whole drive.
I cast a look at Mike, and we gathered up our things and exited the car.
Mike began walking down the street. The car did a sudden u-turn and sped off in the direction it came from. I shifted the weight of the luggage I was carrying and hurried to catch up with Mike.
'So, where are we going and how are we getting there?', I asked Mike through my thoughts.
'Well, neither of us have any place to be, and you are on the run. I am running out of money, and you have none, so…'
'I do have some money.' I interjected.
'You don't have enough to count as any significant amount.'
I sighed. I knew he was right.
'So, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted…'
I frowned and pulled a face behind his back.
'I informed the staff of the royal shifter family that I located a young woman whom they might find very interesting.'
'You did what?'
'Once they confirm you are the missing princess, they will be very happy to know what happened to you and have their daughter back. They are your true family, and they have a right to know the truth. Also, they will in all likelihood, supply you with money, and god willing, pay me back for all the money I've used up on you.'
'Hey! You watch it! I'm a princess, you know.'
Mike sighed, 'Oh, yes. I am very aware of that.'
I could feel him roll his eyes, even though I was walking behind him. It made me wonder if he also sensed the face I pulled at him earlier.
'Well played, Sir.' I thought to myself.
'So where are we walking to? Are we going to trek on foot all the way to the royal palace?'
'No. We are walking to the bus station. We're going to catch a bus going south. Although we will get off the bus two hour's drive distance from here, it will take us much longer as the bus has many stops.'
'And after we get off the bus?'
'We take a taxi to a privately owned airport.'
'Airport? Do you mean we are going to get on a plane? I can't do that. I don't have a passport…'
'Yes, you will. You'll be fine. I don't have a passport either; where we are going, we don't need passports or ID.'
'Well, that doesn't sound ominous at all.'
Mike said nothing.
Four blocks later and my feet were getting tired. But I could see the bus station up ahead.
Inside, through the front doors, I could see few people moving about. It was a lot less busy than I imagined it would be.
"You stay here with our stuff." Mike instructed. "I am going over to buy the tickets."
I sat on a nearby seat and arranged all the luggage in front of me. I disinterestedly watched Mike talking to the lady at the ticket booth.
Part of me felt like I shouldn't be upset about this move. I had moved and had things change around me so many times before.
There were the countless times that 'Mom' moved me from town to town, then after she disappeared, I'd lived with Kyle and his family.
'But you messed that up.' Said a little voice in the back of my head.
Then I'd lived outdoors for a bit, then with Mel's pack.
'But you messed that up too.' Said the annoying little voice.
"Arg!" I yelled in exasperation. Out loud.
Then I noticed a couple of people looking at me funny. Some moved farther away.
I sighed and put my head in my hands. 'Can't I do anything right?' I thought.
'But what if that little voice is right?' I wondered. 'What if I just continue messing things up? What if I end up messing this up too?'
"Hey" I looked up. It was Mike.
"I got the tickets. We have to go outside to the platform to wait for the bus. It should come along in about 15 minutes. If it is on time that is."
We gathered up our things again and headed out to wait for the bus.