Discovery

Thinking back to that night, I realized I was incredibly lucky that it was already night when we arrived at my home. If it wasn't, William would have gotten a clear view of my eyes. I might not have cared at that moment, but I was also not in my usual state of mind.

After that long and lingering kiss William went home. Just the kiss itself was already pushing the boundaries of propriety. Although it was dark, and although we were deep in the forest, it would have been scandalous to have him stay for the night. His family would likely assume that we engaged in immoral behavior, and I would find it difficult to show my face before them again, despite being innocent.

Nevertheless, after that night things between us couldn't go back to how they were before, nor did I want them to. Now when we snuck off together there was a lot less talking, and a lot more of other things. I had to maintain some boundaries, though, and not just because of propriety. If I let him feel my thighs or my bottom he would discover my tail. If I let him pat the top of my head he might discover the lumps that were my flattened ears.

I did feel bad, lying to him about what I was, but I couldn't help but suspect that he already knew. Some of his family knew, after all, and I wasn't nearly as close with them as I was with him. Did he catch a glimpse of my pupils when our faces were so close together? Did he notice the purring noises that sometimes escaped from my throat, despite my efforts to suppress them? If so, he never let on, and every day I considered telling him.

We were cuddling together under a blanket in the cold and gloomy outdoors, watching the dark clouds in the distance slowly floating towards us. I leaned my head back, resting it on William's chest while his arms were wrapped around my waist, and his legs cradled mine. He, in turn, was leaning his back against the outside wall of the barn.

One of the neighboring families was inside the house, paying a visit that was partly social and partly about some business. We chose to stay away, using the opportunity when William's parents and grandparents were distracted to steal some time for ourselves when William was usually busy with work.

All was quiet and peaceful while we waited for the rain to arrive, but in my own head a battle was raging between the side that advocated caution, and the side that advocated honesty and trust, and the cautious side was losing.

"William?" I said.

"Yes?"

"I wanted tell you this for a long time, but the truth about me is-"

"Boo!" The neighbor's boy suddenly jumped in front of us from around the corner of the building. Startled, I turned my head to look at the source of the threat, and our eyes met. The boy's eyes opened as wide as saucers and he opened his mouth to scream.

"Monster!"

I froze, but not William. In a moment he shot up, sending the blanket flying, and grabbed the boy. He quickly covered the boy's mouth, just as he opened it again. This time it sounded like he was going to scream "Demon!"

"Don't just sit there! Did you forget what I told you? You need to run!" He urged me. The boy was struggling and squirming in his arms.

"You knew?" I asked, I was in a daze, shocked at having been discovered.

"Of course I did, but I was waiting for you to tell me yourself. You were going to tell me just now, weren't you?" He said, then grunted. The boy bit his hand. I nodded.

"You have to get going fast. His parents are going to come looking for him eventually, and you need every moment you can get to get a head start", he said, then winced when the boy's heel painfully connected with his shin.

I finally gathered my wits enough to get up.

"Thank you, William, and I love you", I said with heartfelt emotions.

"If only..." I started, but I couldn't bring myself to finish the sentence: 'If only I was human, I would have been happy to be your wife'.

"I love you too", William said. "Now GO!" he shouted at me. I jumped, then started running back to my home. I carried my money pouch on me, and in it was also my Jewelry, but I needed a few more items that I had left in my home. Nobody would be chasing me yet, so I had time to go fetch them.

There was never any question of William coming with me. I always knew that. He was a human. He had a normal, safe life, he had parents and grandparents to take care of, a farm to inherit. Someday he would find a nice human girl to marry. Coming with me would mean leaving all of that behind for a life of running and hiding, with constant poverty and hunger and discomfort and danger. Besides, someone had to stay behind to restrain that boy in order to buy the time I needed to escape.

When I arrived at my shelter I quickly ransacked it, collecting the few most essential items into my pack, along with some of the food I had stored in my ice-box. It was a pity that I had to leave the ice-box itself behind, along with most of my clothes and blankets and the bed. I worked hard to earn the money to buy and make them. So far as I knew, William was the only one who knew where I lived. I hoped he would be the one to find my belongings and take them.

I looked around the place that had been my home for the past few months one final time, took a deep breath, and started running north, deeper into the forest and towards the mountains.