The Shepard's Agony (6 page)

It was only fair to hunt them, the same animals that jumped the fence at his farm and killed his older brother
before Shepard was even born. Werewolves were dangerous and needed to be wiped out.

Even after all the kills
, he never knew they were people until one night, days after his twelfth birthday, he found himself out in the woods again.
Only
, that time he wasn’t expected to shoot a
wolf
. His father brought him a young man in handcuffs, a kid no older than twenty, and told him to kill him.

David had looked at
him
, never taking his eyes away from the young man’s swollen
face
, as Jimmy handed him his new shotgun.

“
T
here you go, David. Shoot him.”

David
had held the gun tight against his chest. “Why?”

Both twins slapped their foreheads as if the
answer should’ve been obvious.

“
That’s a werewolf! He’s one of them! Sho
ot him for what he did to you!”

But the boy hadn’t done anything to David and he knew it. He
hadn't wanted to shoot a person.

Then
, Garrett lost his patience and stepped forward. He'd reached out to take the gun, but David dropped it and ran.

When he was fifty feet away
, a gunshot echoed through the air. David had stopped dead in his tracks, terrified. He'd known immediately what his father had done.

Garrett
hadn’t spoken to him for weeks after that and David continued to
hunt
, pretending it didn’t happen.

When he finally worked up the courage, he asked Jimmy what their father
had
meant when he'd said, “
Shoot him for what he did to you
.”

After Jimmy told him the truth, David had gone by his surname ever sin
ce.

Until he met Gwen
.

Before, even after the incident with the boy in the woods, it was as if he was alone in a room with no windows, the only source of light
a
bulb that flickered uselessly above his head.

He could only see flashes of what was really in front of
him
. If he didn’t like what he
saw
, he ignored it.

But
, then he’d met Gwen, got to know her, and fell in love with
her
. When he found out what she was, it was as if the flickering light bulb had suddenly been replaced with something new and bright.
H
e could finally see the things around
him
, even himself, and he didn’t like what he saw.

***

When Gwen left the shower some minutes later, adjusting the jeans and tank top she wore which felt a little snug on her body, Shepard was pulling food boxes out of
the microwave for them to eat.

She wanted to roll her eyes at him.
Of course
. David was a terrible cook. Even if there was a stove in the
room
, he wouldn’t go near it.

H
e’d once tried cooking for her. “It’s my specialty,” he’d proudly declared, placing a plate full of what looked like rice, hamburger meat, and a lot of pepper and soy sauce in front of her. She’d hesitantly poked at her meal with her fork, looking up to see him happily digging into the food before she shrugged and took a big bite.

Her eyes watered and she swore her mouth caught fire. She
'd coughed and choked so violently David had to perform the Heimlich maneuver on her and give her a tall glass of water afterward.

When she stopped
choking
, he nearly strangled her with his bone crushing hug, kissing her face and making her promise not to scare him like that ever
again
. She joked that she would only do so if he promised never to cook for her ever again.

He’d taken her hand, kissed the top of it and said, “Your wish is my command,” in a British accent, then ordered her a pizza while he finished the rest of the rice.

He’d been shocked at how she was able to finish the entire thing by herself, and she’d sheepishly said she’d been really hungry.

Gwen pushed the thought from her mind and fought back the sting in her eyes. Not a particularly romantic memory, but still a fond one. She missed how it used to be. Now
, she didn’t know who he was anymore.

David looked up at her. “You hungry?”
he asked, holding out one of the dinners for her. She could almost think the situation was normal if it weren’t for the setting.

She ignored his question. “Are you going to tie me up again?”

He looked disappointed with the question. “Only if you try to
leave
before I tell
you you
can.”

So
, he was planning on letting her go. Despite the situation, Gwen could never bring herself to believe he would hurt her, but she had been worried about how long he intended to keep her here. She wanted to get back to her father and Bill to ensure their safety.

“
Within reason,” she said
.

“
Good, now are you hungry?” h
e asked again, grinning. “This is safe, I can cook out of a microwave.”

Despite herself, Gwen smiled back at him and sat down, crossing her legs. She grabbed a plastic fork
, hesitating when she saw that the box had been opened near the edge. She stared up at him eating his own meal casually, but now she was suspicious. If he could drug her and drag her
off
, then
how did she know
he hadn’t put something in the food? There were thousands of drugs that could dull her senses, leaving her completely at his mercy. If the food really was
drugged
, he didn’t have to let her go at all.

Shepard looked up and saw that she wasn’t eating. “You okay?” He took another bite of his chicken, used to the stale taste that came with boxed meals.

“
Huh? Uh, yes. Yeah, I’m fine.” As if to prove
it
, she ripped the rest of the packaging
away
. The steam rose up into her face and
she
allowed the smell freely into her nostrils to determine if there was anything amiss.

She couldn’t smell anything wrong, but the scent of the food could be masking the drug.

Shepard was still staring at
her
. Gwen forced a grin on her face and took a big bite just to prove to him that she wasn’t on the edge of her seat. It was hot and cold at the same time, hard to get
down
. Gwen had to swallow several times to keep from choking.

She coughed instead.

Shepard gave her a plastic cup of water and she downed it in one gulp.

He looked at her as if trying to see into her head. She stared back at him,
hard
.
He
just shrugged and went back to his dinner. She didn’t know how he could dig into such horrible
food
when all she could do was pick at the rest of hers.

After a time, he
spoke
, “I didn’t poison it.”

His growled words made her jump. He was annoyed
now
, scowling into the rest of his chicken.

“
I didn’t say you
did
,” she defended.

“You didn’t need to.”

Gwen took another bite to satisfy him and made herself swallow. This time it was easier, but he still wasn’t looking at her. She searched for something to say that would change the topic. “I didn’t know there were places open this time of night that sold
clothes
,” she said.

Shepard stopped chewing and swallowed hard, looking suddenly sheepish. “Uh, there aren’t. I took those from a clothes line in someone’s yard.”

Stunned, Gwen ran her eyes over what she was wearing, shocked to learn that they were the clothes of another woman, a woman who would probably be very angry with herself for forgetting her laundry outside when she found some of her things missing in the morning.

“Oh,”

“Do they fit alright?”

They didn’t, but a small “yes,” was all she could say before the silence took over again.

The next question was on the tip of her tongue and she wondered if she should even ask, it was likely that she wouldn’t like any of the answers.

She shook her head at herself. Of course she should ask. She needed to know as much as she could about what he’d been hiding from her.
Then again, after what she saw tonight, it wasn’t really much of a question.

“You’re a hunter, aren’t you?” It was a good enough start since it was the biggest question on her mind.

Weres and vamps stayed away from hunters at all
costs
. Very rarely would they be associated with each
other
unless one had something to offer the other. Hunters were dangerous, violent betrayers, even the human ones.

David looked her in the eyes and said the word she dreaded. “Yes.”

Gwen sighed, closing her eyes against the disappointment she felt. “How long have you been hunting?”

He looked away this time. “All my life.”

The information was like a punch to the
gut
. Gwen turned away, her throat constricting.

All his life? It was even worse th
an finding out he’d been a hunter at all. How many of her kind had he killed? Dozens? Hundreds? To have been in the hunting business all his life made him
skilled
; he would have to be in order to have survived without being turned.

Get bit by a
were, you
turn
. Get bit by a zombie, you
turn
. Get bit by a vamp, you turn. It was a wonder why people bothered hunting at all.

It did make sense though, the first time she’d seen him without his shirt on there were scars and fine lines across his chest and
back
. When they made love later, she found that they went all up and down his body. When she’d asked, he told her that he was in the
Service
. When she asked which part, he was vague and changed the subject. She wished she’d pressed him for
answers
.
Maybe
,
then
, all of this could have been avoided.

Shepard looked up at her, the expression on her face wasn’t very helpful and he felt his hope diminishing. She deserved the truth
and
, if he wanted her to
survive
, he should give her the truth.

Taking a deep breath, Shepard braced himself. “Gwen, what’s my last name?”

She looked at him, blinking in confusion. “What?”

“My last name, what is it?”

“
Shepard,” she said, shrugging
and wondering what that had to do with—

Then her eyes went
wide
and she looked at
him
,
really
looked at him. He was having trouble looking back at her, which was all the confirmation she needed.

“
You don't mean—
? One of
the
Shepards?” she asked, her voice getting higher.

He nodded. “Yeah
.”

Gwen
deflated in her chair. She'd known his last name, he didn't exactly hide it from her, but never thought he was one of
the
Shepards. The famous hunters known for their ability to kill nearly everything in their paths. Shepard was a common last name, why would she have ever suspected him of being one of those killers? He didn't
look
like a killer. Not what she pictured one of those men to look like, anyway.

“
Wait
. You mean that man who killed himself was part of your—”

“
No,” he said quickly. “We hire bounty hunters when we know that we’re going against a group more th
an twice the size of our own. He wasn’t a part of my family.”

Gwen heaved a breath, glad that it wasn’t something David would be angry with her over.
Then
, another thought occurred to her. If he was a Shepard then so were those men who’d attacked her pack. The bounty hunters would be one thing, but trained Shepards?

Oh God, what if they were all dead? What if her father was dead?

She clutched her stomach and put a hand to her mouth. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

David pushed his chair back and went to her side, but she jerked away from him.

“
Don’t
. Please,
just
don’t.” Gwen hid her face in her hand, anything to keep from looking at him.

What was she going to do? Why hadn’t he killed her and skinned her for her pelt while he still could? She wanted to believe it was because he still loved her, if he ever did, but the only time he uttered the words
was the last night they were together, the night they were spectacularly naked in bed, and she awoke alone the next morning. Not very encouraging, but why else would he be protecting her?
Or
, was he just waiting for her to change again so he would have his chance?

The thought was horrifying and she had to muscle back the lump in her throat.

Was he busy sharpening his tools, getting ready for the kill when she suddenly changed back into a woman? Was that why she wasn’t dead yet?

She hated all the suspicions she now had against him. What was she going to do? She was tra
ined to defend herself and her pack, not deal with a Shepard who was possibly in love with her.