Shane
As much as I begged Anna couldn’t stay awake. Her eyes closed and I didn’t know if she heard me say I loved her too. Her eyes closed and soon her breathing stopped. Tears fell from my eyes and I felt empty inside. I howled and the rest of the pack joined in with me. They howled over the loss of their Alpha, I howled over the loss of my mate. I laid down next to her and I laid my head over hers. How could she leave me? How will I live without her? I kept whining and her body was getting cool. Across the clearing I saw the bushes move and then Antony was there. He saw me and I saw as the scene processed in his mind. He ran over and collapsed onto her furry body.
“What have you done to her?” I could hear the pain in his voice. Though Antony and Anna had bad blood between them he still cared for her, maybe even still loved her. Tears poured from his eyes and it made me feel even worse.
I wanted Anna so much. I wanted to hear her soft voice and tell me everything was going to be alright. I wanted her reassurance, I needed her. My heart felt like a cinderblock had been dropped on it. My stomach was turning and I felt sick. A world without her was a cruel place that held no interest for me. I started howling again but they broke up in my sobs. I lost control of everything and I changed back. I was a human again and her body was huge compared to me. I dug my hands into her fur and let my tears fall.
“Anna” I whined. “Please come back to me.” I looked up and blurrily I saw Antony. He stood up and looked at me sadly.
“Listen to me Shane, I know Anna and I did not get a long but I think Anna deserves to be buried with the rest of her family back in England. Will you let me take her home, where she can rest?” His voice was shaky and the tears were constant.
She deserves that, she really does. But can I really let her go? I have to do what’s best for her. I nodded my head. Antony lifted her and I looked at her face just one more time. Her white fur blew with the light breeze. I put my forehead against hers and closed my eyes. “Goodbye Anna.” Saying goodbye hurt even more and the tears kept coming. Antony walked away and I felt so empty without her. I fell back and misery didn’t explain how I felt. Tears poured from my eyes and remembered all the wonderful times I had with her. I saw the last glimpse of her when Antony walked into the bushes and then she was gone.
“Kill them all.” I looked over and the pack was attacking the three humans.
Life without Anna was hell and for next few weeks after her death I fell into a spiraling depression. Oliver thankfully saw me before I fell too far. He picked me up and took me under his tutelage, just as Anna did. Oliver took over as Alpha since Anna had trained him to be Alpha. He did the same and he taught me to be Alpha, just as Anna had taught him. A month after her death we left Michigan. We relocated to Minnesota, and the woods there were almost as good as those in Michigan.
Even with everything, every day was a struggle. To move on and to not associate everything with Anna, or how she would have loved this new home.
2 Years Later
The first year without Anna was difficult but with the second things improved. I still missed her and every day I wished she was there with me, but with the help of the pack things got better. Jared and I got along, and we even hunted together. We were a merciless team that brought back an abundance of food for all. Clayton was a fierce protector for us all. He kept our territory clear and with him on watch we never had to worry. Oliver was a great Alpha. Sometimes he seemed too strict but it was all for the pack, to keep all of us safe. Anna taught me that. ‘The pack comes first’ she would always say. She was so selfless, and perfect.
It was December of the second year and the pack had changed. We were living in the woods and I was patrolling around our territory when I smelt another wolf. I stopped alert and watched for any movement. Across the trees I saw another wolf and I recognized the scent. It was Antony. I had never seen him as a wolf before. He had a dark gray coat with only some white on his stomach. He slowly walked over to where I stood. I hadn’t seen him since he took Anna. He stopped ten feet away from me. It hit me that I couldn’t talk with him since he wasn’t a part of our pack. We looked at each other. I saw the pain in his eyes and I’m sure he saw it in mine.
“Shane” I heard in my head. I freaked out and I took four steps backwards.
“How can I hear you? You aren’t a part of the pack, that shouldn’t be possible.” I didn’t even know if he could hear me.
“Only you can hear me. We have a link because Anna turned you and I turned her. We are connected.”
I didn’t like that. I wanted nothing to do with this creep. He caused Anna so much pain just because he couldn’t get over her. “We aren’t anything” I growled. “Get out of here before I alert the pack.” Antony didn’t even flinch. He just looked at me sadly. He sat down and his head was down.
“I did not come here to fight with you, or with anyone else. I have been so lost…for a long time.” I stared at him cautious, but sat down. “Ever since Anna left me I have been…confused. I did not know what to do without her.”
“But didn’t you live a long time before you turned Anna?” He nodded his head. “Then why didn’t you go back to doing what you used to do?”
He was silent for a long time, and I thought he wasn’t going to answer me. “Before Anna, I was just blowing through towns and doing whatever pleased me at the moment. But after her I found that, that kind of a life was not appealing to me anymore. Being with her had changed me…” he looked me in the eyes “…just as it has changed you.” I was shocked by his words. “When you are human, you find that no woman is as beautiful as she and none hold any interest for you. Even the women you used to fantasize about pale in comparison to her.”
It was true, every word that came out of his mouth was true. It was like he read my mind. Just this summer before we changed Oliver had encouraged me to go out and meet a new girl. Oliver had just about done everything but order me to meet someone new. But I had tried, I had made an honest effort and looked for someone that sparked my interest. No one did. No woman would ever be as good or as perfect a match as Anna was for me.
“When you think about waking up next to anyone but her the thought disgusts you, and then you feel guilty.”
“Stop” I whined. I couldn’t take anymore it. He was right and I already knew what he was telling me. I had already decided that I would be single forever because no one was as perfect as Anna.
“When you see something that reminds you of her your heart drops and you feel like you cannot breathe.”
“Stop” I begged.
“When she is not with you the air is not as sweet and the oxygen filling you lungs just is not enough. The colors are not as bright, and the world is colder without her.”
I sat down and closed my eyes. I knew all of this. I had felt it the moment she was gone. I had not felt this bad, remembering her, since the first month of trying to handle her death. “Stop” I pleaded. I didn’t think I could take more before I broke down again.
“Now you know how I felt” he said bitterly.
I opened my eyes and looked at him defensively. “But when she left you she chose to. She was still alive.” I was breathing hard and all the hair on my body stood up. “She was taken from me. Taken from the world.”
Something I said sparked something in him. His eyes got a fire in them and I knew he was about to unload something on me. “She never told you did she.” He paused and looked at me. I was uncertain what he might say. “The day you had your accident, back when you were a child, Anna and I were in those woods having a discussion. She was warming up to the idea of getting back together with me.” I was shocked by this revelation. “She smelled your blood as that bear tried to maul you and she took off concerned. She saved your life and after that she wanted nothing do with me.
“That day you spent together changed her and she became obsessed with you. The boy from the woods.” He spat the words at me. “You took her from me, and you didn’t even realize it.” Antony’s eyes were nothing but pain and fury and it was directed at me. Before I could even guess what he would do he lunged at me and he bit down on my neck.
I yipped from the pain and then the fury rose in me. I thrashed in his grip and it hurt more as his teeth tore at the skin of my neck. I scratched at him and eventually got free. I jumped on him and I scratched his sides and bit at his neck. He flipped over and threw me off of him. We stood up and were snarling at each other. I heard something, and it momentarily caught my attention. In my distraction Antony lunged at me, and he threw me across the forest. I was stopped when I hit a tree and I heard two cracks. I fell to the ground and I couldn’t get up. My chest hurt and breathing was all I could do. Antony came over to me. I looked up at him and he growled. I wanted to fight but I couldn’t. I bowed my head in surrender to him.
“Humph” I heard. “We are connected whether you like it or not. I will be back Shane, and I will train you. You have abilities that they do not.” He leaned down and breathed on me and then ran away into the woods.
Danielle, Clayton, and James ran over to me and they sniffed me.
“Are you alright Shane?” Danielle asked.
“Yeah, I just have to heal.”
Clayton was sniffing all over the place. He growled and then said “Antony.” He looked back at me, and he gave me an approving nod. He thought I had fought to keep Antony out of our territory, when actually I had basically had a heart to heart with him. I laid by that tree for an hour before I was fully healed. Danielle sat with me, saying she didn’t want me to get lonely.
Danielle was new. She had been turned last year. It was an accidental turning. Seven of us were hunting and we wondered into a hot spot for moose. There were eight moose all gathered by the stream and we attacked. The pack needed the food and we had the numbers to take at least three down. Danielle was a college student hiking when she wondered into the fight. She was accidentally bitten and changed. Though I was not the one to bite her she seems to always gravitate towards me for some reason. But she was nice so I never minded her company.
Later I explained to Oliver everything that happened only leaving out some of the dialogue between us. That was too personal. As I told the story to Oliver I realized the Antony was right. We were connected but not just that Anna changed me. We had both loved Anna and the loss of her connected us. I was very upset and Oliver saw it but he just took it that I was upset the Antony kicked my ass today.
2 More Years
I feel like a traitor.
Antony kept his word and he did indeed come back for me, and I eventually gave in and for a year he has been training me behind my pack. They have been on alert for him and I have been sneaking around with him.
But there is something that was true, I did have abilities. I could do things that I never saw any other members do. I had telekinetic powers, as in I could lift things with my mind. It was amazing. We started off with small things and soon got to bigger things. After a year I could almost lift a full grown tree from its roots. I hadn’t quite been able to do it but I was close. Antony showed me how I could become faster, and stronger. After a year of training I felt invincible. Antony used some of his power to show me and I saw that even the pack combined couldn’t take him down. He was stronger than we ever imagined he was.
We were training one night when I asked him why that was.
He stopped and looked to the sky. He sat down and I was glad for the rest. “If I tell you it is a long story. You may not believe me, but I will not lie to you.” Though Antony and I did not get a long sometimes as far as I knew he had never lied to me yet.
“I want to know.”
He looked at me and there was uncertainty in his eyes. “It involves Anna” he warned. I nodded my head. I needed to know. “Well before I ever met Anna I was an ordinary werewolf. I had been turned in my prime and as the years went on I felt myself getting weaker. Realizing this I decided to find some way that I could live forever. I began my research about Vampires and tried to harness their immortality. I eventually found what I needed but then I had to find a way to combine it with my already werewolf genes.
“Our species were not meant to mix but I found that a certain bloodline would allow for the mixing. I speculated the bloodline, and put all my hope into it. I went back to the Vampires and they had some interesting news about the bloodline in question. A miracle had happened. Two Vampires had given birth to a child. You see Vampires are not able to have children since their bodies cannot change to accommodate the baby therefore this was big news. I went to them, and saw for myself their baby. She was beautiful. I watched the family and I watched her as she grew.
“From the outside she looked to be a normal little girl, but after dark she was a ruthless predator with the speed and strength of an adult Vampire. She only grew stronger, and I waited until she was of age to introduce myself to her. What I had not planned on was falling in love with this girl, but she could charm anyone. I made my way to her by first gaining the trust of her father. I worked for him and soon he took me home to his family, exactly as I wanted. At our first meeting she detested me. That was the tension between our species and I felt her no ill will.
“But the more time I spent with her the more she loosened up around me and the more I began to fall in love with her. After months of longing glances and secret smiles I declared my love for her and she reciprocated. She told her father and he forbid her to ever see me. In a rash moment I hired some hit men of my species and I had her parents killed. At this point I did not care if her bloodline was what I needed I loved her. But I was greedy. I tried the experiment on her and it was a success. Anna became a hybrid between our species. I drank her blood and I got some of her power and after a year of drinking her blood I found that I had stopped aging.” I had listened quietly through his story and I couldn’t believe what he told me.
“But why do I have these powers?”
“Anna changed you, her power is in you. With some training you will become stronger than me, though never quite as strong as she was.”
“If Anna was this strong why did she never use it? It sounds that she could have killed you at any time.”
“Anna was kind to me, so she let me live. No matter how much of a pest I was to her, she said she would never take my life.” He took a deep breath. “And as for her superior strength, I am not exactly sure why did not use it but I guess that she did not want to use it. I think it was her choice.”
I went back to the pack. They were still asleep and I quietly found my spot. I laid down and Antony’s story filled my head. I wondered why she never told me. Did she think she couldn’t trust me with it? I fell asleep and too soon I was woken by Danielle. I was running on little sleep, but I got up and I joined the pack in a morning hunt. After we found breakfast, Oliver had called us all to meet at the nest. He talked on and on but I was too distracted by my own thoughts. I paid him no attention. I was seated at his right, and was seen as future Alpha. All paid me respect because of that, and I did like the sound of becoming Alpha but right then I had no interest in anything about the pack.
I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard a howl. It was close but still far. The whole pack froze. There was another wolf on our territory and it was signaling for more. Growls erupted. Everyone was standing and furious, ready to fight. Oliver quieted everyone and then gave out his command. ‘Find the wolf and any others that come on to our land and kill them.’ The pack took off in search of the intruder.
I ran, and the trees became blurs in my eyes. I was running when Oliver came up next to me. I acknowledged him and we ran together. “I know you have been training with Antony.” His words shocked me out of my run and I froze. What would he do to me? He walked back and sat before me. “I have known for a while, but never said anything.”
“Why?” I asked scared.
“Because you were getting stronger, and you were a better protector for the pack.” He stopped and just looked at me. “I have no real problem with it Shane.” He stood up and got real close to me. He barred his teeth and his fur was standing up. “But you will not overthrow me. I am older and stronger than you, no training will change that.” I wanted to laugh at his words. I had severely gotten stronger and I probably could overthrow him and become Alpha now if I wished. But I didn’t, I had no want for such power.
“I was not going to try Alpha.” I had never seen this side of Oliver he was usually such a calm guy.
There was another howl and it was close. We took off towards the invader. We found him in a clearing, a stupid move. I froze, the thrill completely drained from my body. There she stood. All white fur and pure green eyes that made me melt inside. This couldn’t be. I saw her die, four years ago. I took a step towards her. The rest of the pack emerged from the bushes and they stared at her just as I did.
“Anna?” I whispered.
“Shane.” Her voice was the same.
I began to trot to her, but the bushes behind her began to move and I stopped. A little pup walked from the bushes and he rubbed his face against Anna’s leg. She bent her head down and rubber her face against his. What the hell? Did she and Antony have another child? And now she was returning to her old pack. How could she? My heart felt like it had just been stomped on. I hated that child, I hated everything about it. It was small and had gray eyes. He had light gray fur all over his body except for his paws and muzzle. I hate her and her lies.
I backed away from Anna. She gave me a confused and hurt look. I whined and just backed up. My breathing was shallow and my heart hurt every time it beat. Oliver went over to Anna. He looked at her for a while and then he bowed to her. He was letting her be Alpha again. I was furious. After she faked her death and had a child. She let us think she was dead for four years. How does she just become Alpha? I growled and the pack looked to me. Anna looked at me and I saw hurt in her eyes.
Oliver spun around and growled. “Quiet Shane, Anna has returned to us and she shall take her place back as Alpha.” I made a sound just short of a snort and then turned and ran from that terrible scene.
I ran until I found a cave. I sniffed around and it had been empty for some time. I laid down and let my misery was over me. I whimpered and whined but I still felt like shit. Breathing hurt and my chest was so heavy. I was there for an hour when Danielle came and found me. She laid down next to me and she kept giving my face little nudges. It reminded me so much of what Anna used to do and it thrust a knife right into my chest. I turned my head away from her.
“I want to be alone Danielle.”
“What’s wrong Shane? Why are you upset this new wolf is here?”
“Because she’s a stupid bitch that lied to me!” I shouted at her. “She lied to us all.”
“What did I lie about Shane?” Her sweet voice rang through my mind. I hated the way my body heated, just to her voice. I looked up and I saw her sitting in the entrance to the cave. “And is it really necessary to call me a bitch?”
“Yes” I barked at her. Her little pup walked over and sat next to her. I narrowed my eyes at him.
“I think you should leave” Danielle interrupted. “Shane clearly doesn’t want you here.” Danielle put her paw on top of mine. I knew instantly that the reason Danielle had been so clingy to me was that she liked me. How had I missed this before?
Anna looked at Danielle’s paw on top of mine and I saw the disdain in her eyes. “Who the hell are you?”
“I’m Danielle” she defended herself. “And soon I am going to be Shane’s mate.” I looked at her confused. When had this happened?
“Ummm, Danielle I think we need to talk.”
Anna stood up and growled. Her pup backed up and made a yipping sound. “Shane is mine” she growled. Her fight for me excited me. “Stay away from him or I will tear you in half.”
Danielle stood up and growled. “Make me.” She lunged but Anna was stronger and faster and more experienced. With ease Anna dodged her attack and grabbed her by the neck and threw her against the cave wall. Her pup made a small barking noise. There was the sound of rocks brushing rocks and the cave shook. Rocks were falling. We all ran from the cave. Anna grabbed her pup in her mouth and we ran to get some distance between us and the cave. We stopped when we heard the rocks fall. I was so angry with both of them.
“Danielle, I am not your mate, nor will I ever be.” I was harsh, perhaps too harsh but at the moment I didn’t care. “Anna……” What did I want to say to her. Staring into her green eyes I wanted nothing but to crumble and be close to her. I took a deep breath and said “……stay away from me.”
I stormed off into the woods. I thought to myself about everything. Anna being back. Danielle wanting to mate with me. Antony’s story. Oh yeah and her child.
I had been gone all night but when I came back the pack was asleep and I saw her white fur blowing in the little breeze. I sat on the outside of the nest and I just watched her. A little bit later I saw her pup get up. He walked around the sleeping wolves and out into the woods. I followed him, curious. I watched from a far as he went to the bathroom. Once done he began his walk back but it was clear that he was lost. He went around in a circles, and I saw how scared he was. I couldn’t not help, he was defenseless pup. I went over to him and he looked at me with big cute eyes.
“I will take you back to the nest. Follow me.” I turned in the right direction and led him back.
As we walked he ran to reach me and asked “Instead will you take me to look at the stars?”
I looked at him confused. “You haven’t looked up at the stars.”
He shook his head. “Mommy and I lived in a big city before. I’ve never been out in the woods before.” I was shocked. Why was she in a city?
“Okay. But we have to be quick.” I turned us around to where I knew there was a clearing in the trees. I was running when I realized he wasn’t behind me. I turned around scared I had lost him when I saw him running towards me. He was panting, and looked tired. “How did your mom get you all the way out here?”
“She carried me.” He was breathing hard. Did he mean like on her back? Then I remembered how she grabbed him earlier in her mouth. Could I really do that? I leaned down and gently grabbed him in my mouth. It wasn’t too bad. I reached the clearing and set him down. He stared up at the stars and I heard him gasp. “These are amazing.” I smiled at him.
“Here, get even closer.” I leaned my head down and he climbed on. Slowly I lifted my head up.
“Wow. Thank you mister.”
“You can call me Shane.” He stared up at the stars and I was glad to help him. For a while we sat like that.
“His name is Jack.” I looked over and nearly lost him I did it so fast. Anna stood at the edge of the clearing. I accepted her presence since I had her son. I was a little jealous, Jack was what I wanted to name my son. She came over and sat next to us. I brought my head down to hers and Jack leapt from me to her.
“Shane, why are you so mad at me?”
I couldn’t believe she asked me that. “I don’t know just maybe the fact that the woman I’m in love with was really alive when I thought she was dead. And then she just pops up with a child.”
“I had to hide to keep Jack safe. It hurt me too. Being away from you hurt like a knife to my heart but I had to Shane. I couldn’t lose another child.” I understood what she was saying, and it lessened some of my hurt but there was still the child.
“Yeah well you and Antony can have fun.” I looked away from her sad.
“Antony” she said confused. “What does Antony have to with this?”
“You wanted another child so you and Antony…made one.” Saying those words sickened me. They burnt my mouth like lava. Actually I think I would have preferred lava because it wouldn’t have hurt that much.
“Shane, I haven’t had sex with Antony, for centuries.” I looked at her shocked and confused and happy, and everything. “Shane, Jack is your son.”
I looked at her beyond shocked. “What?”
Anna smiled at me and I felt her pleasure. “I did not realize it until I was about to give up. I was about to let go when I heard him cry. At first I didn’t know what it was but once he kicked my stomach I knew and I held on with all the strength left in me.” She looked at me.
“Wait does Antony know your alive?”
She gave me a questioning look and said “I called to Antony and told him I needed his help. He helped hide me and jack. Why?” She looked into my eyes as if she could pull the answers from them. “Have you been hanging around him?”
“Momma, momma look” Jack said in wonder.
“Hold on Jack. Shane tell me you have not been hanging around Antony.”
I felt bad, and I looked away from her. “He has been kind of training me.” Anna growled and Jack yipped and jumped from his mother’s head. “He’s just been training me. That’s all.”
Anna eyed me suspiciously. “Did he tell you anything?”
“He might have told me the story of how he wanted to live forever and then he met you, and how you’re a hybrid b-”
Anna made such a dark growl that it was almost a roar. Jack hid and cowered between his mother’s legs. She quieted and brought her voice down to a whisper. “Do not ever speak those words. No one can ever know.” I nodded my head. “No Shane, you cannot tell anyone or they will kill me and Jack and you.” Her words took the breath from my lungs.
“Why would they kill all of us?”
“Shane I figured out who killed Daniel. It was group hired by the Vampires. They found out what I was and that I had a son. And they killed him.” Anna looked like she was about to cry.
“But if they found out, why didn’t they kill you?”
I saw Anna’s jaw tighten and she clenched her eyes shut as it trying to trap her tears. “Antony made a deal with them. He gave them Daniel to save me.” She opened her eyes and tears fell. Her eyes were fierce and fury burned behind them. Antony gave them his own son to save Anna. I couldn’t believe it. “Shane they know about me, but as long as I don’t cause any trouble they leave me alone. They do not know I have turned people. If they did they would come down here and slaughter us.”
I thought over her words and something occurred to me. “Anna you said you’ve changed others.” She nodded her head. “Well Antony told me that I have powers the others do not. Why? Wouldn’t we have the same powers since you turned us?”
Anna shook her head. “No, to pass on the power you have to have love in your heart for that person.” She looked into my eyes and the fury had turned into a blistering passion.
I saw myself in her eyes and I lost control. I turned back to a human. I was on all fours panting. My muscles ached to turn back. It was freezing. Jack sprang over to me and licked my face. Then I watched as he shook and for a second I wondered what he was doing, but it hit me and I looked at him with wonder. I was about to see my boy, my baby boy. His fur disappeared and an adorable little boy kneeled next to me. He had Anna’s black hair but he had my gray eyes. He looked a lot like Anna and when he smiled I had to smile with him.
A hand came down on my cheek and I looked up surprised. Anna had changed too. I looked at her for just a second- momentarily struck that she was naked in front of me- but I quickly leaned over and brushed my lips against hers. One. Two. Three. I kept kissing her, loving the feel of her lips. As I kept on kissing her and I wondered how I had survived for four years without her. There was a sharp pain on my hand and I pulled it away. Jack had transformed back and he bit me. It was just a light bite but it still hurt. A few of his teeth had broken the skin.
“Owww” I said and rubbed my hand. The small wounds healed almost instantly.
Jack growled. ‘No Shane, that’s my mommy.’
Anna laughed, and picked him up. He was huge and barely fir in her arms. “No Jack” she lightly scolded. “Be nice. And from now on call him Daddy.” Jack looked at me and I smiled at him.