The Wolf (Book 1)

Harsh Reality.

“So, what you are telling me Matt, is... people, are trying, to kill Tilyer...” Jerry sat back and crossed his arms as Matt looked at him. He was sitting on a chair opposite him and next to me, it was like two sides of a war but really there were no sides, Jerry and Carla on one, and me and Matt on the other.

“Yes.” Matt didn’t hint any joke and was 100% serious about this.

Jerry shuffled in his seat and leaned forwards again putting his hands together on the table, “So.... Tilyer... might die?” worry filled his frail tone.

“No Jerry, Tilyer won’t die, I’ll protect him and anyhow he is capable of looking after himself. Tilyer is pretty strong and healthy for his age, if not even better, and the fact he is pretty talented at shifting into a wolf will help him a lot, no worries.”

“Not against a bear he won’t.” Jerry mumbled to himself hoping we wouldn’t hear him. Matt shot a glance at Jerry which made him shrivel back into his chair.

“As I said Jerry, Tilyer can look after himself... and he did hear you Jerry, next time keep your thoughts to yourself.”

“Wait, why would I meet a bear here?” I said curiously.

Matt and Jerry both paused and looked at each other with slight worry.

“You wouldn’t, why would you meet a bear here? You might meet one in the US though...” Matt tried to cover up whatever Jerry had managed to hint.

“What’s going on?” I asked slowly, no one replied. I stared hard at Jerry before he finally spoke.

“Nothing Tilyer, I was only thinking of the USA... you know... forest, bears, danger...” Jerry looked at Matt as he began to trail off without knowing what he was talking about.

“What he means Tilyer, is that in the US there are bears, and you won’t be much good against one of them.”  Matt cut in.

“No, that isn’t what you guys are talking about...” I looked at them both “So tell me.” I waited for an answer but none came and after about 30seconds of pure silence between everyone I burst.

“TELL ME.” I shouted as I slammed my fist down onto the table, everyone looked at me. Shocked, was what they were, shocked at my random act of anger.

I felt my eyes start to swirl and suddenly I saw like the wolf again, I knew I hadn’t fully shifted because I could still see me hand.

Matt put his hand on my shoulder, “Please calm down Tilyer.” He smiled gently at me, knowing he was right I shifted them back.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to shift them.” I mumbled.

“No harm done, everything is ok.” Jerry smiled back at me.

“Look, Tilyer, you aren’t the only shifter out there, and there are some closer than you may think and some of them want to get you because they don’t like people like you, too afraid that you will become powerful and other throw them later on in life.” Matt said calmly trying not to make the situation any worse.

I was silent, speechless; I didn’t know what I could say, so know I was wanted? Great, just great. Why? I mean seriously, could things get any worse, I was already hated by the majority at school, my home life was getting slightly better but didn’t mean it was good either, now I find out people want to kill me because I'm supposedly a threat, could my life seriously get any worse right now in the these short moments?

“Tilyer, we need to get you out of England; this will mean leaving your family behind... do you understand that.” Matt looked at me unsure as to what my reaction would be.

This was how things could possibly get worse.

My heart sank, so what my family did annoy me. Sure I could hate them at times but... they were all I had. I trembled as I started to speak “I... um... is...is this the only way?”

Matt looked down as he answered me “I'm sorry Tilyer, it’s the safest way... for everyone.”

It took me a while to get the words out of my mouth “Ok.... when do I need to be ready to leave them...” I put my head down to hide the fact I was about to cry, this was the first time I felt this bad about leaving them, being a wolf showed me who I really was, but as everything else in my life changed so did my emotions. My family had meant a lot more to me these past two months and I had spent a lot more time with them.

“Well... can you make it through another week of school?” Matt asked trying to cheer things up a bit with what I guessed was a bit of humour.

“Yeah...” I said as I got up from my chair, everyone kept their eyes on me. “I have to go home, I want to spend some time with my family and think about things...” I never got a response other than slight nods so I figured it meant ok. I turned around picking up my backpack and antlers and opened the door. I stared behind me at Jerry, Carla, and last Matt. I held my gaze as he opened his mouth slowly, “I'm sorry Tilyer, but this is the harsh reality of the world we live in, life was never meant to be easy, and for a shape shifter... it’s rarely nice."

I tried to smile at him but somehow I couldn’t, he was right though, this was harsh, and it was the world we lived in, I raised my hand to say goodbye to them and let out another sigh as I shut the door and began my miserable journey home.

I walked back towards the den, threw the antlers in, and headed home, my head down the whole way.