'I didn't attack or kill anyone.' I mind-linked him, 'I only defended myself.' I paused. 'For a really smart guy, sometimes you are really dumb.'
He growled at me, challenging me to insult him again. 'Stop lying!' he thought angerily.
'I am not lying! Nick and his two goons threw the first punch, not me. I am not a fast runner, that's why I abandoned my backpack; I hid my cell phone in my zip-up sweater and stashed it behind a building. It was you who attacked me!'
I stopped, talking to try and pull myself a bit farther up the tree, my grip was slipping, and my claws were creating deep gashes in the bark. I grabbed a nearby, sturdy looking branch, planning to perch on it.
'How would you know that information unless you stalked Sam from the town to the forest?' Kyle thought in an accusatory way.
'Oh, come on!" I thought in exasperation, 'If I let you near enough to me, maybe you would realize that I have Sam's scent, not from attacking anyone, but because I am Sam.'
My hind legs were kicking the tree trunk, as I realized this form didn't fit well on the narrow, but solid tree branch.
'But I am not going to do that, because I don't trust you not to try to kill me.'
I finally got perched on the branch safely.
'The way you're going, you will only give up this argument if I change back into human form. But I don't really want to do that. I kind of have a thing about not running around naked in front of almost strangers.' I glanced at Kyle his wolf face did not look amused.
'Funny, there doesn't seem a way for me to win today. If I let you think I am some human- eating mountain lion then you will try to kill me, if I tell the truth and let you know I am a shifter, then you will try to kill me. So, perhaps I just stay up here for a week, and make a run for it when the coast is clear.'
'You expect me to believe that you are a shapeshifter?' Kyle thought in disbelief.
'No, I don't expect you to believe anything! You are a werewolf; between your people and the vampires, my people are currently facing near extinction. Almost all of us hide in fear of vampires and werewolves, it's the reason almost all of us disguise as humans. To hide who we are, and escape persecution, we take a suppressant to stop us from smelling like shapeshifters. There are so few of us, the government doesn't know our population number; we don't even know it ourselves!'
Even though my body was still in mountain lion form, I could feel the hot, angry tears well up and spill down my cheek bones. I had become overly emotional, passionate about my peoples' plight. Everything I knew and thought of every day, felt so much harsher as the words left my mind in communication with another. I was at the point where I couldn't stop the tears, I would just have to cry the emotion out.
Kyle was silent. He looked like he thought about my words, as he watched my tears. At last, he thought, 'Do you have a way to prove you are who you say you are without shifting into a naked human?'
'I could try a half shift, although it is a more advanced technique. The only form other than human I know is the mountain lion. I haven't started any formal shifting instruction. I only know things from sneaking looks at a book and practicing in secret…'
Kyle continued to look thoughtful.
'I'm going to try it. But you need to turn your back and not peek. If I mess it up, I don't want you to see me naked.'
'Alright, but if you try and funny business and try and run away, just know that I will chase after you.'
'I know you will. Turn around!'
He turned his back to me, while I paid attention to every cell in my body. I willed my body to reach for my former form. I tried not to put too much power into it, as I searched for the half shift form. It should look anthropomorphic; human hands with claws, my human head, my face, human feet, and a humanoid body covered in a mountain lion pelt with a tail.
Unfortunately, that is not what I ended up with. As I looked down at my naked human body, I let out a cry of shock and despair and fell off the tree branch. A second later I hit the ground with a thud.
As Kyle turned around, I yelled "No, no, don't…" I hurriedly wrapped my left arm around my chest, as I sat on the ground with my knees pulled up to my chest (to help block as much of my body from his sight as possible. I desperately waved my right arm at him motioning for him to look away and stay away.
He looked right at me and gasped, looked up at the empty tree branch and back at me again. He took a few steps towards me looking at me in amazement.
"No, stop! Don't." I shooed a hand at him.
He continued getting closer.
"Leave me alone!" I shouted at him in fear. My body was shaking, and my breathing was fast.
'Was he going to harm me?' I thought fearfully, 'Did he want me dead still?'