Lilliana Ch. 01

This is my first story to share with anyone, so I would love any and all suggestions and critiques. Though there isn't any sex in the first chapter or two I promise there will be some in chapter 3 at the latest.

Please enjoy!

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Lilliana was tired, she'd been around long enough to see all of her siblings happily married and have children of their own. By now she was sure either her "soul mate" had already died and she'd missed them, or she just wasn't meant to have that kind of life. It was time to accept her fate and maybe look into become one of those super rich business only women. The whole living forever thing had its perks, but doing it alone could be tiresome. At least she was a were and not a vamp, she could pass for human easily and most packs were willing to help as long as she didn't step on any toes.

"Aunt Lily, are you done staring into space? Can we get back to training pleeease?" James had finally gotten old enough that Lilliana agreed to start training him how to make a living as an artist. She had always been close to her nephew, and she was thrilled when he decided to follow in her footsteps. Their job as artists in the were-world was mainly security decoration, they had to find inventive ways of concealing security measures in and around pack lands. Ever since the technology came out that could capture the image of even the supernaturals like vampires, everyone was desperate for an upgrade in security.

Rubbing his head lovingly, Lilliana got back to the sculpture she was teaching James with. "Now we have to make sure that the way the camera is set catches as little light as possible directly around it so that intruders can't see the glint off of the lens. It does no good to hide it in a sculpture if it is just going to shine like a beacon."

After three hours of sculpting James was barely holding onto consciousness, he was only ten but still one of the brightest children she knew. Which is why he was starting training, he was old enough to understand what she told him and had serious drive to be helpful. She was going to have to watch him when he got older, he just might surpass her if he had a mind to.

"Alright James, your lessons for today are done. Let's get this cleaned up so you can get ready for your mom when she gets here." They cleaned up all the supplies and got him packed just as Julie arrived, as usual she arrived just as the clock hit the hour.

"Hey Lilliana, how was James today? He wasn't too much trouble this time, was he?" Julie walked over and picked up her son, smiling at his fight to stay awake. He had school in the morning and homework in the afternoon, that just left the evening to be trained. It was obvious how much he wanted to be like his aunt, he was usually in bed this time of night.

"Nope, he was no trouble at all Julie. He was an angel actually, he has so much potential and energy. You sure he's going to be alright, staying up so late? He's still a child."

"Don't worry about it Lilliana, we'll watch him. If it seems this isn't working we'll figure something else out. I'd better get going now though, I'm sure it'd be better for him to sleep in his bed. We'll see you tomorrow."

They hugged, and Lilliana kissed the little guy on the head. Children were so cute when they were sleeping, you almost forgot about how much of a little devil they were. She escorted them out and locked the door behind them. It was still early for her, so now was her chance to relax.

Lilliana watched as James couldn't stop moving, he was so excited to be spending the weekend with her that he was a little bundle of endless energy and questions.

"Aunt Lily, what is the difference between the paint brushes? Why do you have so many of the same color paint? How do you make such straight lines? Why does your oven have its own room?" James asked one after another, barely taking a breath between them. Lilliana couldn't help but to smile, he was so curious about everything.

"James, slow down, there is no hurry. I'll answer all your questions if you will just wait till we get back from shopping. We've got a tight schedule and I've got many things to teach you and all the time to do it." Lilliana patted him on the head and finished taking stock of what she needed to get while they were in town. She loved her nephew to pieces, but he really needed to learn to listen and be patient. That's what he was here for though, to learn what he'd need to in order to thrive in the world outside of the pack lands if he so chose. "Alright, I think we are ready. Remember your lessons in interactions with humans. I'll be here to make sure nothing bad happens, just make sure to listen to me. Here is the list of what we need, read it and learn it by the time we get to town. If you have any questions, about the items on the list, feel free to ask."

The ride to town was filled with questions from James, Lilliana calmly answered all of his questions as thoroughly as she could. He'd ask some of them again, she was sure, but that was only to be expected until he got the hang of this. She was kind of getting used to the idea of having an apprentice, it would be sad when they had to split ways. She didn't think she'd ever find another as wonderful as her nephew, maybe if he ever had children. Her thoughts were cut short by the fact they'd arrived to town, now the fun could begin.

She remembered her first time among humans, generally were-children didn't get to leave their pack land until they were ready for their discovery trip. But Lilliana, and it seems James, were both an exception to that. Human society ran very different from were, the main difference being the level of honesty. Humans were expected to make lies almost constantly, sharing negative experiences was not looked well upon. Especially since humans didn't tend to be close to anyone except the first levels of family, and sometimes not even them. Humans were such strange creatures, she couldn't wait to see how James handled it.

Looking down at James she smiled as he looked with wonder at the people walking around. Lilliana took his hand and guided him to the first shop, this could be a very interesting day.

As the day wore on James never lost his look of wonder, and she couldn't answer a question before another two or three came out of his mouth. She'd eventually had to ask him to wait till they were back in the car to continue his questions, he had the rest of the weekend to ask all the questions he wanted.

Half way through the shopping Lilliana realized not only was James quiet, he was too quiet. Trying not to panic she looked around, when she didn't see him she focused her inner wolf to her nose and started to try and track his scent. It was quite easy to pick it up, he was the only one around that had the scent of the Talon pack on him. She had to fight the urge to put her nose to the ground, his scent would be a bit easier to track using the dirt but tracking on the air would have to be good enough unless she got desperate. She was already getting odd stares around her, but until she found her nephew it just didn't matter.

His scent was fairly strong, so he can't have been gone very long. It looks like he made his way to the store next door. She smiled when she came to a young painter's kit where it seemed he stopped for a while to look, she'd have to remember this but she couldn't stop now. She hoped he was okay and just wandered, her sister would kill her if anything happened to her son. - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Lilliana was going crazy trying to find James, he was still short enough that he couldn't be seen over any aisles so most people would never even see him pass through. But his scent was getting stronger so she focused her inner wolf on her eyes and nose equally so she could spot him quickly. As she turned a corner she finally saw him.

"should not have left your aunt, she must really be worried. You are lucky I found you and not a bad guy, you need to be more careful. Now, where did you last see her, and what does she look like?" A man who was really quite handsome was kneeling down and talking with her nephew. She can't believe he got away from her, at least it didn't look like he had gotten into too much trouble. Then again, it was a little early to tell just how much he did and how much trouble he was going to be in once they got back home.

"Oh it isn't a big deal mister, I can just scent track her if I need to. I'm a big boy now and I've been practicing!" If it weren't for where he was pronouncing it Lilliana would be proud of him, as it stood she was glad she got here when she did.

"James! Where have you been? What did I tell you about doing as I said and staying with me? Now thank the man and get your butt over here!."

"Thank you mister, though I'm not sure what I'm thanking you for." James smiled and hugged the man before running over to his aunt, looking very sheepish as he got closer.

Lilliana sighed, hopefully the man would just move on and no damage had been done. "Thank you sir, I don't know what I would have done if he had gotten hurt." She paused and took a good look at the man. He looked to be just a bit taller than her, short dirty blonde hair, with a slightly rough look to him. He obviously went out often enough to have a slight tan, and from what she could see he was not a weakling either. Not bad on the eyes at all.

"No problem at all, just glad you found him and everyone is alright. He has quite an imagination doesn't he?" The man laughed and took a good look at her. "Are you two hungry? I know a great burger joint, my treat."

"I'm hungry! I love burgers!" James was practically vibrating with excitement. Lilliana gave him a very stern look, but knew she couldn't stay mad at him. They'd be having a very serious conversation about this, she was sure his parents would also have something to say about it too.

"Sounds good, thank you." Lilliana gave a James a pointed look, "we are going to have a serious talk about what is appropriate behavior when we are in town after we get back. You aren't off the hook." She smiled at the man, "my name is Lilliana, and you've already met James."

He gestured for them to walk next to him, "I'm Rakell, it's nice to meet you two. Do you come to town often?"

"No, I come to town about one Saturday a month for supplies. This is James first visit, he's working hard as my apprentice and I decided to reward him. Though now I'm wondering if I haven't been too nice to him." Lilliana smiled and rubbed her nephew's head.

"Well it isn't a surprise I've never seen you then. I work down at the hobby shop and usually only on week days. It was fortuitous I offered to work extra this weekend and got to meet you. How is your first visit into town James?"

"It is wonderful! There are so many people that smel.." Lilliana skillfully interrupted him and sent him a knowing look. "He's been having difficulty containing himself, I had finally thought I had got him calmed down when I realized he had disappeared instead. It was kind of you to watch over him while he was lost."

"I'm sorry Aunt Lily, I didn't mean to worry you. I was just having so much fun, I got distracted and didn't see you weren't coming with me. At least we got to meet Rakell and have a free lunch!" James put on his best cute and innocent look, and Lilliana fell for it every time.

"Alright James, as long as you don't do it again." She smiled and looked at Rakell, "I hope these burgers are as good as you say they are, I'm starving."

They ate lunch and talked over several things, all of them conversed about things related to Lilliana's business and what James found the most fun. By the end of if Lilliana was quite interested in Rakell and was considering how to proceed. If she had to be honest, she'd never pursued a relationship herself before and had no idea where to start. At least she had an idea of how to see him again.

Lilliana decided to try her hand at courting, it may never go anywhere but the worst that could happen is he said no. Right?

"No. Sorry but I'm currently seeing someone, I wouldn't mind being friends though. We obviously have a lot in common, and I'd love to see some of your work." It was obvious Rakell was a nice guy, he tried letting her down easy.

"Well that wasn't what I was hoping to hear, but I suppose being friends might not be that bad. I really don't have any outside my family, so maybe it'd be good for me. I was planning on asking you out for a date, maybe we can hang out instead? How about this coming weekend, James is coming over to start his first solo project and I'm sure he'd love to show off for you. You could also look at some of my work, though you have to respect some of it I will have to hide due to the nature of what I do. Wouldn't be very secure if I showed off some of my hidden cameras." Lilliana was a bit disappointed but she didn't lie, it might be nice to have a friend and not have to worry about all that courting and romance stuff. Luckily she didn't actually live with a pack so she didn't have to worry about him accidentally finding out about her kind, she'd have to make sure James was on his best behavior though.

"That sounds good, I'll bring lunch. What do you think about 12:00?" Rakell apparently loved to cook, and was going to make stir-fry. He even decided to use the kitchen at Lilliana's house, he didn't particularly like cooking in someone else's kitchen but this was best eaten freshly cooked.

"I look forward to seeing you, and trying this stir-fry of yours. I'm sure the same can be said for James, he had lots of fun last time. I'd better get going, have a good day Rakell."

"You too Lilliana, let James know I look forward to seeing him work."

Lilliana was in a good mood, despite being turned down. Rakell was a nice guy, he'd make a good friend and maybe even make for a good contact. She had little work outside of the were-packs, maybe it was time to branch out.. After dropping off James with his parents she was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't even notice the men shadowing her to her car, or when she pulled onto the normally deserted country road that she had several men running along to flank her. So when they rammed the car she was completely surprised and when the car flipped and rolled she was knocked unconscious.