The Shepard's Agony Read online

  No one answered. Gwen swallowed hard and forced herself to speak. “Fine.” At the sound of her voice, everyone cautiously got to their feet.

  Gwen tried to get up but David’s weight held her down. “Wait!” she called, putting more strength into turning him over. “David’s not okay!”

  Jacob found them in the dark and kneeled to inspect the damage. He was awake, but his breathing was rough and he was clutching at his chest.

  “I can find any bullet wounds.”

  “What?” Gwen pushed a stray hair out of her eyes and felt his forehead and his face with her palms, ready to panic if anything was wrong. “David? Can you hear me?”

  He nodded, arched his back and groaned through his teeth. She didn’t see the problem until he opened his eyes. They weren’t the eyes of a human, but of a wolf. He was changing.

  “Oh my God.” She stroked his face. “I’ll get you some more potion, just sit tight.” She wasn’t sure if it would even work so late in the change, but anything was better than nothing.

  “I’ll go with you,” Evey volunteered.

  “No one is leaving,” Jacob said sharply.

  Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at him.

  “Who do you think you are, giving orders?” Larry demanded.

  “You don’t know how they work, I do. Right now they are waiting outside for you to come out so they can pick you off. We must stay here, together.”

  “Our pack master should decide,” Eric said.

  “Good idea,” Larry said. “Bill? What do you think?”

  Everyone turned to the wheelchair and paused in silence. It was turned on its side and both Doc and Bill were still lying on the floor.

  Dread filled Gwen’s stomach. “Bill?”

  Eric leaned down to inspect the bodies, touched their necks to feel for a pulse and shook his head. They were both dead.

  Gwen’s hands shook and she held back a sob. Her pack master was dead. Now wasn’t the time for it, she still had David to think about.

  Jacob’s right, don’t leave the room.

  Gwen gasped and stared into his eyes. He was fighting the change, sweating and jerking. She ripped a piece of her shirt away with her teeth and used it to wipe at his brow.

  I’m not leaving the cabin, I’ll be back in less than a minute. She leaned down and softly kissed his lips before creeping out of the room on all fours. Everyone was huddled around Bill, so no one saw her leave but David.

  No.

  Chapter Fifteen

  I am sooooo stupid, Gwen thought, crawling so low to the floor she was almost on her belly.

  It was a stupid thing to leave the room that held the most safety, but she needed to get David his potion. Every drop counted, and as long as she stayed quiet and close to the floor, there was less of a chance she would be seen through the windows.

  Just as the thought left her, a beam of light searched through a window above her head. Gwen held her breath and pressed herself against the wall. They were out there, either searching for a way in or trying to find bodies. Either way, she hoped they would go away.

  Don’t see me, don’t see me, please don’t see me, she prayed.

  Eventually they left. Gwen took in a gulp of air, but she still didn’t move.

  You’re almost there, just a little farther. She needed to get into the kitchen, but her body refused to obey her commands. There was a screen door in the kitchen. All they had to do was take a look inside and she would be one dead wolf.

  They won’t come in the cabin. They’re waiting for us to come outside. Now go. Gwen slowly crawled forward, every creak in the floorboards made her heart jump. Finally, she was in the kitchen and she wanted to cry.

  It was a complete wreck, bullet holes littered the walls and there were splinters under her hands. The worst part was that the pot that had the potion in it had been thrown to the floor, the potion spilled everywhere.

  Gwen crawled closer, her hands and knees wet in the potion, and turned the pot around to look inside. Not even enough for a mouthful was left and it was dented sharply in several places where stray bullets had hit.

  David was on his own and Gwen’s heart broke with fear.

  A twig broke outside. Not a significant sound, but brought her back to alertness.

  She snapped her head to the screen door, but the shadowy figure she expected to see wasn’t there. Just the moon smiling down on her before the clouds swallowed it up.

  Then the window just above her head crashed and smoke seeped into the room.

  Gas can.

  Throwing all ideas for stealth out of her head, Gwen clumsily crawled her way out of the kitchen as fast as she could, but the gas was quick and she’d already breathed it in. Her movements were slowing and she was getting tired, which made her huff and puff in more of the gas.

  Gwen was about to fall over when thin, steel-like hands grabbed her under her armpits and hoisted her into the air. She felt a wet cloth press onto her face and she fought against it until she realized it was water.

  She could breathe easier.

  She felt herself being dragged away from the gas, but even with the cloth over her mouth and nose, her strength didn’t return. And, as much as she tried to move, she was dead weight to whomever was carrying her.

  She was pulled out the front door, down the porch, and laid on the grass. The second the cloth was removed and fresh air hit, she coughed and gagged. She turned over, thinking she was about to throw up but nothing came out. She just breathed, grateful for some air.

  Then, she realized where she was. Outside, right where the hunters wanted her.

  She struggled against the hands that held her down but even with her strength returning, the person above her was stronger.

  The hands with a vice grip clasped onto her wrists. “It’s alright, calm yourself. You’re safe now.”

  A hunter shouldn’t have been trying to reassure her.

  She could hear a struggle and she stopped moving. Above her labored breathing were feet stomping in the grass and dirt, shouting and the grunting as punches were thrown and dodged.

  She tried to look up. When her hands were released, she shoved her hair out of her face so she could see. The last of the two hunters were on their knees. Jimmy and Di were standing behind them. John, who was still in his wolf form, was sitting next to them, looking quite pleased with himself while Eric and Larry tied Garrett and Andrew Shepard’s hands behind their backs.

  Gwen looked up to see who’d pulled her from the smoke, expecting it to be David and shocked to see Jacob kneeling over her instead.

  “How is he?” She grabbed his sleeve and he looked down at her. She was almost too afraid of the response.

  Oh God, what if it was too late.

  He then smiled at her. “Ask him yourself.”

  She wanted to shake him into giving her a straight answer until a hand touched her shoulder. She turned sharply and saw David’s smiling face, eyes normal.

  “I’m fine.”

  She launched herself into his arms and cried.

  ***

  “They were hoping to smoke us out,” Larry said. “It would have worked until those three came back.” He nodded towards Jimmy, Di, and John. Gwen could sense his reluctance toward be grateful to the former hunter and the traitor.

  There were bed sheets on the grass, covering what Gwen knew to be the bodies of Bill and Doc. Bill had been hit because he hadn’t been able to drop to the floor for cover like everyone else and Doc with him when he tried to shield his patient.

  Gwen couldn’t bring herself to be grateful that their bodies were spared and would be getting a proper burial, she would rather they had lived instead.

  John had since turned back into a man and needed to raid one of the cars that had been left behind for some clothes. He was currently standing around wearing a pair of loose jeans but no shirt. He sensed her emotional distress but didn’t move toward her.

  Gwen could feel his eyes on her while she held ont
o David, disappointment rolling off of him in waves, but she was pleased that there was no aura of smug satisfaction coming from David, just warmth from being with her.

  David noticed John’s eyes on them as well, and he held her just a little bit tighter. Gwen squeaked out a tiny laugh, wiped her eyes, and faced him.

  He looked perfect, she looked like a wreck, but she needed to do this now so he knew.

  “I made my choice, and it’s not him.”

  Relief flooded his face before it darkened again.

  Gwen was on edge. “What is it?”

  David shook his head and opened his mouth but a scream interrupted him. They both turned to see what had happened.

  Di was knocked down and John and Jimmy were hanging onto a struggling Andrew while Garrett buried his fangs into Evey’s Neck. Jacob was there, trying to pry him away from her without much success.

  “Dad, stop!” David ran to them and grabbed him. Garrett spun and hissed at him, fangs long, blood on his lips and cheek.

  David flinched back, but didn’t run. “What happened to you?” When he found Jimmy bitten and took him from the barn, it was more disappointing than shocking because he was taught to expect it to happen one day. But, to see that it had happened to his father was something else entirely.

  Garrett dropped Evey and she crumpled into Jacob’s arms. The older Shepard’s eyes softened at the sight of him and then the moon came out again.

  David felt the change coming again, he groaned and his knees buckled.

  “David?” Gwen asked. She knew what was happening, felt the moon’s pull on her as well, but wasn’t affected by it the same way that he was. What was going on?

  Then, she knew. Evey. Every, who was now unconscious on the ground and being tended to by Jacob.

  The moon vanished earlier and Gwen couldn’t explain it when she saw it. It had to have been Evey using her majick, keeping the moon at bay. Now she couldn’t help them anymore.

  David’s eyes changed again, he clutched his stomach and tried to hold back the rumble in his throat, but the growl pushed out on its own.

  Garrett jerked away at the sound, his face fallen. “They got you, too.”

  “Dad,” David wanted to plead with him to give up. They were completely surrounded and Andrew was on his knees watching helplessly. There was nowhere to run.

  Garrett turned and ran into the cabin.

  “Dad!” David half yelled-half growled and followed him. The smoke was still thick and would surely kill him.

  Gwen knew this as well and tried to follow, but Larry read her intentions and caught her around the arms before she could get too close.

  Larry shook her hard. “Don’t even think it!” Then he yelled for everyone available. “Surround the cabin! I don’t want them going anywhere!”

  Larry held onto Gwen and stayed where they were while Eric and John went to the back. Jacob and Di were the only other two who weren’t former hunters, but the vampire stayed with Evey. Gwen could see Jimmy struggling not to follow his father and brother into the cabin.

  “You traitor! How could you? We’re your family!” Andrew was screaming at him from his knees. Jimmy flinched and Di touched his shoulder, but he didn’t look at his brother.

  Gwen focused on the cabin. She needed to know what was happening, but Larry refused to loosen his grip. She focused as hard as she could, hearing a scuffle and a shocked intake of breath. She picked up on a peculiar smell that hung in the air that she couldn’t place until it was too late.

  Larry eased Gwen to the ground when she went limp in his arms. Fainted.

  Then the entire cabin exploded with an earth pounding bang; a rush of flames and flying debris flew into the air.

  Jimmy dropped to his knees and everyone else watched with their mouths open.

  ***

  David’s eyes darkened. Garrett was standing in front of the stove with his back turned to him and David didn’t trust not to see what he was doing.

  He could feel the change happening now, his insides were rumbling, moving, and cramping, but he fought it. He’d been warned that fighting it would only make it worse, but he only needed a few more minutes to get the both of them out of there.

  “Dad.” David sucked in a breath. The smoke made it hard to speak and his eyes watered. He could barely see and was relying on his new senses to guide him. “Give me the address book and come back outside.” He coughed and held his shirt over his nose.

  It helped. Barely.

  “They’ve won, we’re already dead. We should stay here.”

  David shook his head despite his own uncertainty. He didn’t know what Gwen’s pack would do to him when everything was finished. Hell, the man still had his sword strapped to his back and if he so much as reached for it to use against any of Gwen's pack, they would take him down.

  Despite that, David knew that what waited for him out there was better than the smog in the cabin.

  The smoke was thinning but it wasn’t enough. David struggled to keep his breath and his human form. His skin prickled and itched everywhere and he felt as though his bones were readjusting themselves under his flesh which was uncomfortable before becoming sharply painful. He didn’t have much time left. “It doesn’t have to be that way. They’re not monsters, they won’t hurt us. I’ll talk to them about you, make them understand. Just give me your weapons and we can talk about this.”

  “They won’t understand, and now your brother is dead.”

  David pushed away the sorrow he felt over the loss of Allen. There would be time for that later. “I’m sorry about Allen, but you’ve still got Andrew and Jimmy.”

  Garrett didn’t seem to notice that David didn’t include himself. He shook his head. “Jimmy is a monster now. He’d rather die than be like that—”

  “No, you would rather he died!” David snapped, giving in to a fit of coughing. He wasn’t sure what prompted his brother to come back and help them, probably the red head he took with him, but he did know that Jimmy was prepared to leave with the werewolf and start over.

  Garrett wanted his sons to want to die should they turn, but it wasn’t the case with Jimmy, and it certainly wasn’t with David. Probably not Andrew, either. The man really was out of his mind.

  “How can you say that?” Garrett spun, eyes red and fangs out. “Look at you! Look at me! Look at what they made us!” He breathed deeply, his eyes glistening. “Your brother died some half human-half wolf thing because of them and now the same is going to happen to you. You attacked your own family for God’s sake! And, for what? A pathetic, half-starved vampire? You’re not thinking right.”

  Shepard shook his head and choked on a cough. His hands and arms were numbing and shaking with the upcoming change. He brought his hands to his throat but he couldn’t fully catch his breath.

  There was another scent in the air aside from the gas and he knew right away that Garrett had turned the stove on. “I’m—thinking—better—than I ever—have,” he said between breaths, catching a gulp of enough fresh air to say what he had to say next. “That other David wasn’t my brother,” he said, stunned with the confusion that was painted on Garrett’s face.

  “I know that you never had any other boys. Your wife died with her son when that were attacked, not by giving birth to me.”

  Garrett’s face went from confused to horrified and David didn’t know how to feel about that.

  “How … how—”

  “That woman outside … she’s my real mother, she told me all about it.” He felt like laughing at the irony of it. “All those years you’ve been teaching me to hunt and kill Weres, you were raising the son of a werefox, and now I’m a werewolf.”

  Garrett rushed forward and grabbed him by the throat with lightning speed. David couldn’t summon the energy to lift a hand to fight his grip.

  Garrett’s vampire eyes stared into David’s. “You are my son! I raised you. You’ll die human if I have anything to say about it.” And then he sunk his fangs into David’s ne
ck.

  The only thing that went through David's mind was that he was stupidly glad the old man didn't use his sword.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The out of body experience again. Gwen couldn’t believe she’d invoked it so quickly but, there she was, floating above her body. Her father seemed to think she fainted. No time for that now. She had to get to David.

  Gwen soared into the cabin just as it exploded.

  If she had a heart, it would have stopped. It took her a second to realize that she was unhurt and still alive. With that realization came thoughts of David. And she screamed.

  “No, no, no!”

  No one could hear her and there was fire everywhere. She could feel the heat against her soul but it didn’t burn the way the thought of losing David did. Where was he? Did he get out in time? Was he dead?

  “David?” she called. If he was able to see and hear her the last time she did this then what was to say he couldn’t now? Of course, if he was anywhere within earshot he would probably be dead.

  “David?” she called again. He wasn’t answering her. He was dead, dead somewhere in the cabin and she hadn’t made it to him in time.

  Gwen breathed deeply and felt tears running down her cheeks. She wanted to lay there and give up but she had to find him.

  She floated her way around the debris and came across a charred body in the hallway. She turned away from it, would have thrown up if she could. Instead, she cried. She wasn’t sure how she was capable of tears in a spectral form but they were there.

  “It’s not David,” she said, bracing herself and turning around again, sucking in a breath when she saw the body for a second time. It was still on fire. “It’s not David.”

  The body was blocking what was left of the door to the hallway closet where everyone threw their coats or luggage when there wasn’t enough space in their own closets. Gwen stuck her head in and found nothing there. She was about to descend to the basement to check there until a low growl stopped her.

  “David?” She put her head through the door again and looked around, just the usual pile of coats on the floor with every hanger on the rack completely empty.