The Shepard's Agony

by Mandy Rosko

  “Our father tricked her,” David said. “He told her he needed it to be sure everyone in your pack was where they were supposed to be so that no one could sneak up on us.”

  Gwen’s jaw dropped. “That doesn’t make any sense! An address book can’t do that.”

  Jimmy crossed his arms. “She fell for it.”

  “But he-he promised no one would get hurt!” Di sobbed.

  “Oh, give me a break, how could you believe that? They were obviously going to use the book to Hunt everyone in the pack.”

  David flinched, Jimmy didn’t. It was true, she knew it was.

  Elaine looked stricken. “We have to go back and warn them.”

  “But, they said no one went home,” Dianna said.

  “That’s good then.” David looked hopeful. “That means even if my father is alive, he can’t Hunt anyone.”

  It was a good point and Gwen hated to crush their hopes, but that wasn’t the end of it. “Our pack is too small. Not everyone in that book is a Were or even in our pack,” she said. “A lot are normal people who don’t even know about Weres are in that book.”

  “What’s Bill’s opinion on death?” David asked. If it were even possible, Di went whiter. Jimmy went to stand beside her when she swayed, as if about to faint. She managed to stay on her own two legs, her hands covering her mouth and eyes wide. It occurred to Gwen that this was the first time Di had stopped to think about the true consequences of her actions.

  “He’s never killed a member of our pack before,” Gwen said. “But, nothing like this has ever happened before either.” She shuddered at the thought of Di being put to death. Even for all her anger, she couldn’t bring herself to believe Di would deserve it after the story she heard.

  Then it hit her, if Bill decided to have Di murdered, what was to say he wouldn’t do the same to David?

  She shuddered and tried to remember that Bill wouldn’t do such a thing. It was why she was always proud to be a member of her pack; it was fair and peaceful. At least, up until recently.

  “Di will most likely be banished for a few years,” she said, just to have something else to think about. “Not forever, because, like she said, she’s been with the pack for most of her life.”

  Di shook her head. “I won’t risk it.”

  All heads swung toward her.

  Elaine tried to reason with her. “You need to face what you’ve done—”

  “Not if there’s a chance he’ll kill me!”

  Her shriek frightened birds out of their nests and no one had anything to say to her. A long howl in the distance was warning that their time was limited. David groaned.

  “What happened?” Gwen asked.

  Elaine was the one to look guilty this time. “I locked Eric in the basement.”

  Gwen’s jaw dropped and she spun her head at David, who grinned and nodded his head quite happily. Something that irked her.

  “Tell me you at least didn’t hit him.”

  “Well, no, but we did have to shove him in there to lock the door before he could get out—what?” he asked at Gwen’s groan.

  At least he didn’t knock out another packmate, Gwen wasn’t sure if defending him would do any good if he was continually acting violent. The howls were getting closer and their time was running out. She could feel Eric among the group, his thoughts especially angry, but nowhere near as furious as John’s, who could sense her, Di, and Elaine with the two recently escaped hunters.

  She had so much explaining to do, but the difference was that when she gave her explanation, she wouldn’t be put on trial and face a possible death.

  Gwen marched towards Di to look her in the eyes. “Are you staying or going?” she asked. Di shrank back from her stare.

  “I’m going,” she whispered.

  “I’ll take her with me,” Jimmy offered, moving to stand close.

  “I don’t believe that’s a good idea,” Elaine said, curiously worried about having the two of them together.

  “Wait,” Shepard snapped his fingers, “actually it is.” He reached into his back pocket, glad to find that his wallet was still there and pulled out the few bills and a credit card before handing them to him.

  The relief on his face was as evident as the money in his charred hand.

  Gwen didn’t want to appear as if she didn’t trust him, but she was curious. “What are you doing?”

  “If they’re together, they have a better chance of getting away. Plus, I want someone to help you out during the day.” He was looking at Jimmy now, who pocketed the money and nodded his head.

  “I’ll try not to run your bill too high,” he joked, and his brother spared a smirk.

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  The howling was closer now, hungrier, and Gwen swallowed hard. The entire pack was searching for them, John and Eric leading the way as wolves

  “Better hurry.” Shepard squeezed Jimmy’s shoulder before he took Dianna by the hand and ran into the woods, disappearing seconds later amongst the trees.

  Gwen grabbed his hand, tense with the pain of watching his brother go. She wished she could comfort him, wrap her arms around him and tell him they would be safe, but the fact was that too much time had been wasted on goodbyes. “They’ll sniff them out before they find a road,” she whispered.

  Shepard sighed, he could still smell his brother in the woods and his first change hadn’t even happened yet. Gwen was right, if he could still pinpoint where they were, what chance did Jimmy have against the Weres in Gwen’s pack?

  “I know, but I can always distract them.” He grinned suggestively, trying to lighten the mood and lift the weight in his chest before Elaine yanked on his ear, throwing him off balance.

  “There’ll be no fighting out of you!” she said. Gwen giggled at the pained face he made.

  “I guess she told you, then?” she asked.

  Shepard gave her a blank stare and Elaine went white in the face.

  “Told me what?”

  Before she could say anything else, they were surrounded by angry people and snarling wolves.

  John’s grey fur was standing on end, Eric in a similar state, especially angry for being locked up. They were slinking closer, heads low to the ground and ready to pounce.

  Gwen stepped in the way. She would defend David this time, even if standing up against her own packmates scared her out of her wits.

  John cocked his head, eyed their joined hands, and growled, loudly. The sound didn’t go unnoticed by the others.

  “What’s going on here?” Larry demanded, looking at his daughter and then Elaine as if they’d both gone and lost their minds when no one was watching.

  Shepard eyed the teeth on both animals and tried not to picture them ripping him to shreds. “Hey, guys, no hard feelings?”

  Both took a step closer, showing more teeth, and Shepard quickly raised a hand. “Okay, okay, I get it.” But he didn’t try to remove his hand from Gwen’s; she squeezed his hand in a silent thanks.

  “Stop it, you two,” Larry snapped. “John, go after the other hunter, Eric and I will stay here.”

  John hesitated and sniffed the air before snarling his agreement.

  “Daddy, don’t,” Gwen begged as Shepard ran in the way before John could run off.

  “You sure you want to do that? You don’t want to stay and watch that I don’t steal your girlfriend away?” He reached out and grabbed Gwen’s hand again, softly kissing it just for good measure.

  John snarled and approached as Gwen flushed miserably, trying to ignore the heat spreading from her hand to her body where David’s lips had made contact. She didn’t like being used like that but held back a scathing comment because she knew he was only doing it to help his brother escape with Di.

  “Take your hands off my daughter,” Larry seethed.

  “He doesn’t mean anything by it.” Elaine moved to Larry, trying to calm him. She put her hands on his shoulders and made him look at her. Eric cocked his furry head at them, ca
lmer now and sitting in the twigs.

  Gwen’s heart rate sped up as her father’s face melted under Elaine’s determined gaze. David suddenly jumped back from John’s bite, holding her in front of himself as a shield, knowing they would never attack her.

  Gwen stared in wide-eyed surprise as John growled and approached. She and David slowly backed away.

  Gwen didn’t know whether to be angry at the both of them or start laughing, the way they looked really would have been funny if the situation weren’t so serious.

  She eventually settled for laughing. “Afraid of the big bad wolf?” she teased, feeling David’s hands tense on her shoulders.

  “No! I just …” He realized what he was doing and immediately released her, clearing his throat. She turned her head for a full view of his sheepish face, now red with embarrassment.

  “Stop it, all of you.” Larry had had enough. “John, track the others before it’s too late. Now!” he ordered. The grey wolf growled again and slunk off into the woods, tail spiked out angrily behind him. Gwen just knew she would be getting an earful from him later.

  Whatever they had was officially over.

  “You’re coming with us,” Larry said, and Eric put a paw forward, snarling at Shepard.

  Shepard didn’t enjoy the idea of giving up so easily, especially when it was one man and one Were against him. He was sure he could take them, even with the pain of his upcoming change returning, but he had Gwen and that other woman to think about. He didn’t know Elaine, but obviously from Gwen’s comment she had a better reason than the one she gave to help him out of that basement. He couldn’t fight to escape without making her and Gwen choose between helping him or betraying their pack. He didn’t want to put them in that position.

  Then, there was his brother and the woman he left with. Fighting certainly wouldn’t help them now that John had gone sniffing after them only minutes after they left.

  Miserably, he nodded his head. “Alright.”

  Larry was stunned and Eric shocked into silence.

  “Just like that?” he asked.

  “No!” Gwen grabbed his hand again and stood in the way. “You can’t put him in the basement again,” she insisted. It was bad enough she let them do it when he was injured, she couldn’t let them do it now. Not that she really had a choice the last time. She could have made a stronger argument, she supposed, but in the face of her father and the rest of her angry pack, she backed down. She wouldn’t do that now.

  “Gwen.” Shepard squeezed her hand. He doubted anything good could come from having her defy her pack master, father or not, but he was touched regardless.

  Larry was not as impressed with her show. “Gwen—”

  “I think she’s right,” Elaine said. “Bill will be here soon anyway,”

  “That doesn’t mean—”

  “I’m not going to try to leave.”

  “Stay out of it!”

  Gwen held her body to David’s arm and concentrated on making her chin tremble.

  Larry narrowed his eyes. “Don’t even think it, young lady.”

  But she didn’t stop. She concentrated harder and soon her eyes were burning and filling with tears. She hiccupped and ignored the shaking she felt in David’s body while he tried not to laugh. Eric cocked his head again, clearly unsure of what act the situation called for.

  Gwen shook her head and covered her face with her hands, no longer crying but laughing just like David, who managed to get enough control to put a ‘comforting’ arm around her shoulders. She managed to keep her laughter quiet, but her shoulders shook with the effort, making the show all the more believable.

  Eric was too new to the pack to know about how she manipulated her father, which was the main cause for his worry as he whined softly. David was used to the manipulation since Gwen had used it once or twice against him while they were together.

  Used to it or not, the act she was putting on was making Larry squirm and she could feel the strength he carried around beginning to crack. It was times like this, Gwen enjoyed being a Daddy’s Girl the most.

  “I think she’s right,” Elaine said, finally deciding to put Larry out of his poor misery.

  “But he—”

  “He won’t go anywhere,” Elaine shushed him, caressing his cheek with her palm and looking into his eyes as though she held all the answers.

  Eric growled quietly, the aura he gave off was not at all pleased.

  Gwen gave him a sharp look to silence him, smirking when he turned away.

  Larry breathed deeply and took her wrists into his hands, struggling once more time to fight his losing battle. “I know you want to go easy on him because of your…” he looked back up at David, who stared back curiously at the reminder of Elaine’s secret, “connection, but there’s no proof of any of what you claimed and you could be just getting your hopes up,” he whispered the last part to keep David from hearing, but his new werewolf ears perked anyway. Just as he opened his mouth to speak up, Gwen pinched his arm.

  He yelped. “What was that for?”

  She ignored his shocked, accusing stare and gave him a look that she hoped he would understand. “I’ll tell you later.”

  But he didn’t have the patience for it. “I want to know what’s going on now. Why do I get the impression she knows something that I should know?”

  Gwen could only shrug her shoulders and look helpless. Was it really her place to tell him something that Elaine only knew about for sure?

  She turned to the older woman for help, who spun her head at Larry and spoke in tones of begging.

  “Please, Bill will be here shortly and the sun is already starting to set. Evey and her friend can watch him if that’s what you’re worried about. Please?” She leaned in closer. “I want to tell him.”

  Larry sighed, rolled his eyes, and threw his hands in the air. “Alright!” Then he pointed a finger at David. “I’m warning you, your chances are over, if you try one more thing, just one more, I’ll ask Bill to keep you around just give Evey something to feed on.” With that said, he stormed away.

  He must have felt confident that David would follow, otherwise he wouldn’t have allowed Eric to follow right behind him.

  Gwen hoped he was just making empty threats, but she’d never seen him so angry before. Judging by the look on Elaine’s face, neither had she.

  “So,” David said, crossing his arms and ready. “What’s this important thing I need to know about?”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Shepard tried to ignore the irritable sense of being followed as he walked to the kitchen where his nose told her she was. His senses were getting higher by the minute. While having such new abilities was thrilling, he had to remind himself that those same abilities could be the death of him in a few hours.

  Elaine had told him her story. For the most part, he could only sit there with his mouth open and listen, denials running through his head but refusing to leave his mouth. It was outrageous, impossible, he knew who his family was and in that family he had no mother. He wished he’d had the opportunity to ask Jimmy some questions before letting him escape with the red haired Were, but now he would never know for sure. All he had to go by was the older woman’s words.

  She seemed sincere …

  “Where are you going?”

  Shepard spun and saw the albino woman. He blinked at her before remembering that Vamps had an easy time sneaking up on other dark creatures. It was the reason they’d held Jacob for so long.

  “None of your business.” He forced a growl into his throat, but she wasn’t impressed. He didn’t want to answer any more questions about himself or Gwen.

  “Going to take more potion?” she asked, surprising him.

  Elaine made him drink so much of the horrible stuff during their talk that he was sure he was done with it. Actually, it was the only way he was able to leave her room without having her follow him. He’d run out, telling her he was going to get more and asked her to wait where she was. The f
act that he could smell Gwen in the kitchen was just plain luck.

  “Yes.” It was a half-truth anyway.

  She folded her arms and brushed passed him, turning her head to stare at him with mock indifference. “Jacob tells me you don’t like witches.”

  “Err,” He had told the vampire such things while they knew each other; even Gwen right before she threw him out of the truck. He’d forgotten that while she was a vampire, she was also a witch.

  “Just remember that it was a witch who allowed you to have that potion.”

  Shepard flushed guiltily. In less than forty-eight hours he’d learned so much about werewolves and vampires that went against everything he’d been taught. It was no wonder Gwen would get so mad at him with the comments he would make. “Yes, I’m sorry.”

  She didn’t say anything, only nodded. She was about to walk away when Shepard called out to her.

  She half turned to give him a curious stare.

  “What’s your connection with Jacob?”

  She flinched and he immediately wondered why. “I’ve known him for longer than you have.”

  Obviously. “But what’s your connection to him?” He wanted to look at her closer. Rudely examine her face until he figured out why she looked so familiar. He just couldn’t put his finger on it.

  She smiled ironically at him. “I’m not shocked you don’t remember me. We only met once.”

  “Once?”

  “My hair was red back then.”

  Then it hit him. Red hair, like blood against a pale face. He’d only seen the woman once before, the day they’d captured the witch who led them straight to her vampire lover. He was sure his brother’s released her until they told him the truth. He knew her name from Jacob’s frequent regretful stories.

  Angela.

  “Gwen calls you Evey,” he said, awed while he mentally compared what she looked like now to how she looked then. He was sure no traumatic experience in the world could take all the pigment from a woman’s skin, hair, and eyes. She must have altered her appearance with majick over the years.

  “My full name is Evangeline,” she said.

  “I thought you were dead.”