The Shepard's Agony (2 page)

“
That’
s why you shouldn’t reproduce.”

“
Funny. Don’t be mean, it’s not my fault
either
.
But
, you know how I feel and I was thinking that, since he was gone, maybe you and I could spend some more time together?”

Gwen fought back a laugh. “Because we worked out so well the last time?” The idea was absurd and he knew it. Why he still tried was beyond her when he had women constantly throwing themselves at him.

John was tall, lean, intelligent, dark, stubborn
, and demanding; the very definition of sexual
attraction
. At one
point, anyway
.
But
, she wasn’t attracted to him anymore. At least not in the emotional sense since she was currently being reminded of the
physical attraction she had
with the way he held her.

“
That was no one’s fault. People grow apart when college ends. It happens, but I
never
forgot about you.” He gave her another gentle
squeeze
. Gwen could smell his scent wafting over her for comfort. It was warm,
sharp
, and familiar. He was being sincere and not pushy, not an easy task for him to accomplish since it was in his nature to go after what he wanted. He wasn’t used to letting someone else make the decisions, but he was used to her getting angry when decisions were made for her.

John was an alpha, but he was an alpha who
knew
when to step back.

Gwen wished her father hadn’t said anything about David. If he was willing to tell
John
, then he most likely told
Elaine
.
In fact
,
she
probably gave him the idea to tell John in the first place, not knowing that he would come clean with her within ten seconds of touching her.

Elaine was a wonderful woman, almost like a mother to her, but
she played mother hen to everyone else’s pups way too much.

Gwen ha
d been wondering why her father had spoken about John on the drive to the cabin. Out of all the boyfriends Gwen had brought home, John was the only one Larry had liked. Probably because he was the only one who happened to be a werewolf like
her
.
And
, in the same pack.

Still, what happened with David hu
rt her deeply. She was past the crying on a friendly shoulder stage, but she wasn’t sure if she was ready to start dating again. It had been barely three weeks.

“
Gwen, I can’t promise that we’ll work, but I can definitely promise that I won’t do what t
hat guy did. Give me a chance?”

Should she? They were high school and college
sweethearts
, best friends, what they had was puppy love. Now that they were grown, could they really work?

She leaned against his chest. His rock solid chest. John knew how to take care of himself and he smelled good, just the way she remembered.
If Gwen decided to be with him again, it wouldn’t be a decision she would likely regret.

All he was asking for was a chance. Not a commitment,
a
simple
, little
chance
. If it didn’t work out, then it didn’t work out. No pressure.

Gwen turned in his arms. John’s gray eyes were
hopeful
. When he sensed the answer in her emotions, they lit up.

Werewolves could
do that.

When he kissed
her
, she didn’t pull away. She slid her eyes shut, but didn’t allow herself to kiss him back.

***

Gwen went to the cabin and zoomed ove
r the new hardwood floor toward the fridge. After breaking away from John’s kiss, she’d promised she would go hunting with him, but only after she had something to drink.

W
hat she really wanted was an excuse to get away to talk with her father, Larry. She may have offered John the chance he wanted, but that by no means excused Larry for blabbing her dirty little secret to everyone he wanted.

She grabbed a water bottle and went on the hunt, sniffing him out until she found him on the porch on the other side of the
cabin
. He
was
facing the
lake
, quietly speaking to Bill. They were discussing the property and the fact that another pack was claiming to have found the world’s first werewolf, among
other things
.
But
, she wasn’t interested in any of that.

“Hello
, Daddy,” she said sweetly.

He half
turned
and noticed the angry animal look in her eyes behind the
smile
. His face was like a deer in the headlights.

Bill noticed when Larry
froze. “Is something wrong?”

As pack m
aster, Bill tended to know everything that went on in his
pack
. If he didn’
t
, it was only a matter of time until he did. Gwen’s face fell when she realized that he must know as well. How pathetic.

“
Not really,” s
he said, her voice high
pitched.
She cleared her throat. “Can I talk to my dad alone?”

“
Sure you can
,” Bill agreed. He took a wicker chair that had been propped against the rail and positioned it in the shade before making himself comfortable to watch the ducks and pups on the lake. He did this very gracefully considering he was missing his left leg and needed a prosthetic. “You and I can talk about this later.” He held up the papers he’d been holding for Larry to see.

Gwen and Larry took the message that Bill wasn’t the one who was going to leave for them to have their privacy.

Gwen was about to ask about the papers when Larry grabbed her by the shoulders and led her away. “Shouldn’t be more than a few minutes, Bill.”

Gwen couldn’t bring Larry into the kitchen with people running in and out for plates, spices, and drinks for the barbeque, so she brought him to one of the spare rooms.

It was furnished
plainly
.
But
, most
importantly
, it was empty,
for now
. The bags in the corner told her that someone had claimed it and could possibly be back soon. She had to make this quick.

She closed the door behind her. “Is something wrong with the prop
erty? What were those papers?” she asked, forgetting to be angry.

Was Bill selling the cabin? The thoug
ht was jolting. What would the pack do without the cabin to host their Moon Nights? Unlike a regular pack, most of the members didn’t live on or within ten minutes of the
property
, so they needed the
cabin
. More specifically, the acres of woodland where everyone could shift into their wolf forms and run around.

This Moon Night was brought together to
celebrate
another
pack
’s claim to have found the first werewolf of legend, Luna herself.

“Papers? Oh, yes, the papers,” Larry said. “No, no, Bill and I were just making a small transaction.”

Gwen blinked.
“He wants you to fix his car?” she asked. Larry was the pack
mechanic
;
the
guy pack
member
s went to when they wanted a discount on auto
repair
.
But
, as far as Gwen
knew
, he’d never had anyone sign anything for work he did under the table.

Larry
placed his hands
in
his
pockets and smiled. Gwen could sense pride radiating from him and she wondered why. “No, nothing like that, but, uh, is this about Jonathan?” he asked.

With that
, Gwen remembered to be
angry
. She crossed her arms and tried to look the part. “That was really embarrassing,” she said without the anger she’d intended. It was impossible to be angry with him, he was her father.
But
, she wanted him to know that she didn’t need him to set her up on dates.

Larry put his arms around her shoulders. “I’m
sorry
, baby
girl
. You know I worry. I just want to see you happy.”

Gwen
melted, her anger completely gone. He just didn’t want to see the same thing that happened to him happen to her. “It wasn’t that bad,” she mumbled

“You tried phoning him enough.”

“That was days ago.”

“You didn’t leave your apartment for a week.”

“I was sick.”

Larry made a disbelieving face.

“Well, what about you? Not like you’ve been out on a date in a while.”

Larry flushed at the change in subject. “I …”

“
Just take Elaine out to
dinner or something. I know you want to, I can feel it every time you two are near each other.” Now Gwen was
grinning
as Larry shifted his feet. She enjoyed watching him squirm.

“
I said I’d give John a
chance
, now you have to do the same thing,” she said.

Larry’s
shrugged as if it were no big deal. “Okay, but I don’t understand how your watching out for
me
came
about
.”

It
should have been obvious. “I want to see you
happy
, too.”

Larry’s aging face broke out in a wide
smile that transformed him. He looked younger. He cupped her cheeks with his palms like when she was a little girl and kissed her forehead before slinging an arm around her shoulder.

“So
, I guess this means Jonathan spoke with you?” He had a knowing grin on his face and he leaned in to sniff. “I can smell him on you.”

“Daddy…” Gwen shoved him away, folding her arms again. He changed the subject back again.

“It wasn’t so bad.” Larry was grinning from ear to ear at his victory.

Gwen shook her head. “You know, most fathers hate the idea of their daughters dating anyone at all.”

“
I’m not like most
fathers
, and better Johnathan then some heartless, human—”

“Dad!”

“Right, sorry. Where is he anyway?”

Gwen shrugged. “Waiting for me in the woods, I guess. We’re gonna go hunting.”

“
Well, don’t you let me keep
you
,” Larry said, shoving her towards the door. “Just don’t fill up too much before
dinner
. And don’t spend all your time chasing each other’s tails, you two should talk first.”

“
Daddy!
”

“Bye!”

Larry was running down the hall and out of sight
. Gwen blinked at his retreating form until he was turning a corner and out of sight. Being a werewolf family was one thing, but there was nothing normal about her dad.

Chapter Two

It was a good run. Gwen’s body felt nice and stretched, her heart was racing. Her nose hurt from slamming it into a rabbit hole that was too small for her face
as the
fast
, little creature got lucky and escaped.

It wouldn’t have been that bad if John hadn’t been snickering at her, his own catch still in his mouth.

A wolf song howled in the air and Gwen shook herself off, her entire body a flurry of fur, snort
ing as she got back to four paws.

She was about to lunge at John with their new game when another piercing howl tore through the woods. Both pairs of ear
s
perked
, turning toward the sound. It was not a howl of fun or laughter, but of anger and suffering.

Several whines followed,
then there was a gunshot.

John dropped the rabbit he’d
caught
,
making a
dash toward the problem when a red wolf jumped into his path, forcing him to awkwardly skid to a halt.

Dianna was panting
hard
. She’d been running as fast as her long legs would carry her to find them. Maybe it was the fact that she’d nearly run right into them that scared her into shifting back into a very naked human with messy, strawberry blond hair.

Gwen trotted over and looked up at her
. She didn’t look
okay
.
Sensing something was off
, Gwen
shifted
into her human
shape
,
deciding that
a pair of hands on Di’s shoulders would help to calm her. “
What’s happening?” she asked.

The werewolves in
Bill
’s pack had a special trick. With enough focus and practice, they could communicate with each other in wolf form using a sort of
mind
-speak that was much more common in mates. However, the way Di was
acting
at the moment suggested that she wouldn’t be able to tell them what was happening even in her human form.

She was
in such a panic, Gwen could barely understand her until John bit down on her hand, making her scream. He hadn’t drawn any
blood
,
he just wanted her to focus
.

Di! Calm down! What happened
?
John demanded in both of their
heads
.
Outwardly
, he just growled.