19

Even if I could have, I probably wouldn't be able to get a word out of my mouth right now. Although I had seen Tyler in his wolf form before, even touched him and he brought me here on his back, today it seemed different. Just the thought of being locked in a room with a werewolf guided by his instincts made my stomach ache. At the same time, it was clear to me that Tyler didn't want me to do anything bad.

It was already for milking mice. Just the thought of Tyler being as much a werewolf as the wolf that attacked me as a child and killed my parents made my heart beat faster.

"Please don't be afraid.", Tyler almost begged me: "You are my mate. Ever since I met you, you have been everything in my life. I could do without anyone in my life but you. A rejection from you, I couldn't survive in my right mind."

Tyler's words touched me in a way I had never felt before. In my mind, werewolves were cold-blooded killers, but his words made me doubt that. How could a being whose main goal is to bring suffering and horror to mankind utter such pleading words and touch me so much if they didn't really come from the heart.

It was like an invisible wall that had previously stood between us, at least from my perspective. Maybe it was different for Tyler. How was I supposed to know? But something just changed. However, whether this change was only in my head or also in my heart, I could not say.

"Please, I won't hurt you." Tyler had reached out a hand pleadingly in my direction. A quick look into his eyes was enough to reveal a whole range of his feelings to me. At least that's how it seemed to me. I saw his Fear, his fear, his hope and his affection for me.

I almost got tears in my eyes. There was so much I thought I saw in his eyes and it really hit me. My heart seemed to be beating harder than before in my chest and I swallowed hard once.

I stood up, unsure why I was doing it at all. "Lily, what is it?" Tyler asked me and got up as well. I didn't really know why I did it and where this decision came from, but I threw myself into his arms.

Almost reflexively, or maybe really reflexively, Tyler's arms wrapped around my back. "Lily, I...I don't understand...why, how...?" Tyler seemed as speechless as I felt. I pushed closer to Tyler, resting my head against his chest. Under his t-shirt I could hear his heart beating fast.

"Oh Lily, you have no idea what this means to me." It felt like we could have stood here forever. It probably wouldn't have bothered either of us if this moment had lasted forever.

Unfortunately, life wasn't like that. Almost as if my own body wanted to mock me, it decided to destroy the moment. My stomach growled. And not quietly, but at a volume that could have been heard throughout the room.

I could literally imagine my face turning an increasingly intense shade of red.

"Oh Lily, I don't know if I've said it before, but you don't have to be embarrassed in front of me. Although to be honest it looks cute when you blush. But you probably want to eat something first."

The box that was still in this room was full of small cans containing the food that had previously been on the table above. Someone must have gone to the trouble of packing everything into those cans individually.

Tyler and I sat side by side on the mattress. Again and again he handed me some of the small cans and ate one or the other ourselves. And whoever prepared all this really had talent at it.

"Lily?" Tyler spoke and looked at me from the side. I looked at him questioningly. "I can't say exactly how long, but the time until I transform is becoming less and less. Even if you're in this basement "I can't see the moon, I feel it inside. It's probably hard to visualize as a human, I guess. The transformation itself looks, to an outsider, probably worse than it is. It hurts a bit, but you get used to it take care of it." Tyler seemed to be kind of nervous and this restlessness, which he probably unintentionally passed on to me, worried me a bit. After all, I had seen him in form before, but today it seemed to be something completely different.

For no reason that I could see, Tyler jumped up like he had been bitten by a tarantula and looked around the room almost in panic. His eyes were wide and his nostrils flared. He looked around the room restlessly. He ran to the door, looked at it and, just as surprising to me as his sudden jump, banged on the metal door with all his might. From a distance I thought I could see a dent in it. Now I could understand quite well why the door down here was so massive.

Even if I could, I don't know if I should have approached Tyler in this situation or not. His mind seemed to be somewhere else right now, fixated on the door. Tyler banged on the door one more time, then seemed to clear his head.

He narrowed his eyes and turned to me. "Sorry," he said to me, "The room and the smells of strange werewolves make me a little nervous." Unsure what to make of that, I looked at him. This change between us didn't make it any better. I honestly didn't know how to act.

"Oh man Lily... your face speaks volumes. That can really be something. Are you sure you don't want to sleep? It would be much easier and more pleasant for you. I don't want you to feel bad." He was almost begging me, but I was sure. I definitely didn't want to be drugged again. Sure he was right and it would be easier, but it couldn't always be that be a solution. I shook my head in the negative. "Are you really sure about that?" Tyler asked me, but I only acknowledged that with a nod. I was sure I didn't want that. Tyler stared at me for a few more seconds, almost waiting for me to change my mind. When nothing came, he sighed. "Okay if you say so." he said to me. Tyler came back towards me and dropped back onto the mattress next to me. "Well, then we both have a very nerve-wracking night ahead of us tonight. But we both manage it somehow, don't we?" He looked at me questioningly. I nodded. We would probably manage it somehow. After all, he always said to me that I was more important to him than anything else.