Halcyon Persuasion (complete)

Chapter 13

 Lilly kept her arms around Jonathan’s neck, not wanting to let go. She took in his scent and felt familiarity in it, like she was meant to be with him. He let her stay there; loosely setting his hands on her hips. She wasn’t sure if he felt the same way but right now standing there was all that mattered.

Lilly whipped her head around as she heard a moan come from the direction of the snapped tree. She saw that Tyler was coming to.

“Jonathan go hide and let me deal with this,” she hissed.

He looked at her for a a brief moment before running behind one of the larger trunks. Lilly walked over to where Tyler was sitting and knelt down. He rubbed his head and gave her a confused look.

“What happened?” asked Tyler.

“You shifted and tried to chase me down.”

He looked horrified and bowed his head in shame. “Lilly I am so sorry. I lost control and my wolf took over. You know I would never try to purposely hurt you.”

She laid a hand on his shoulder and gave him a small smile. “Don’t worry about it Tyler let’s just agree that we’re better off friends.”

“Okay agreed but one question, how did I end up with a huge bump on my head?”

Lilly sighed with relief when she realized that Tyler hit his head and didn’t remember what happened. She looked over at the tree and could see Jonathan peering out. She gave him a wink and turned to face a confused Tyler.

“We were eating and you shifted. I was really scared so I started to run when I suddenly heard a loud bang. When I turned around you had ran, full speed, into a tree.”

“Oh damn Lilly I’m so sorry. I really couldn’t control it please don’t tell anyone,” he begged.

Lilly stood up and held out a hand. Tyler grabbed it and got to his feet with a nervous face. She looked at his bump and nodded to herself when she realized it wasn’t too bad.

“Of course I won’t tell anyone. How did you get here?” she asked.

Tyler pointed to the edge of the tree line. “My car is right outside the woods so I’ll just drive home.”

“Sure, and please don’t let it bother you I won’t tell anyone.”

“Thanks Lilly,” said Tyler as he walked towards his car.

She waited until he was completely out of sight before going to grab Jonathan. He stepped out from behind the tree. His face was emotionless as he stared into her eyes.

“Well at least Tyler didn’t see you,” she said, trying to break the silence.

“No but my parents will know that I shifted. As a pack we’re connected and know when our family had shifted. It’s a survival trait that we all acquired. Usually we just ignore it and it becomes like a dull buzzing noise but since everyone is on high alert they will know almost immediately.”

As soon as Jonathan was done speaking his phone began to ring. He looked at it and gave Lilly a nervous smile before answering.

“Hey Mom. No everything is fine I just wanted to stretch my legs. Yeah I’ll talk to you when I get home.”

He hung up and leaned against the tree. Lilly watched as he ran a hand over his shaved head. She was starting to realize that he did this when he was nervous or anxious.

“Well thanks for coming,” she said, kicking a rock on the ground.

“Next time you should listen to me. I was trying to tell you that he was able to shift. I heard him talking to his friend’s about it. Fighting off kids who haven’t shifted yet is one thing but after they do it’s almost impossible.”