Escape is Only Temporary [boyxboy]

Chapter VI

~Sunday 22nd May 2016~

In the aftermath of a full moon, Shepherd was at his happiest. He felt complete. His head was clear, mood light and a smile was never far from his face. Sometimes, it could become irritating, unable to do anything other than grin the majority of the time. There was always something to ruin his mood, however, something that would threaten to make everything come crashing down around him during his happiest of times. That morning it happened to be the black SUV parked outside of his house.

Shepherd hadn't slept all night. He didn't need to. Feeding off the energies of the restless spirits under the full moon, his fatigue was sapped away. He wouldn't even need to sleep that night either, or for a few days should he so desire. It wasn't the best idea to adapt his sleep schedule so much, however, it was helpful should he need to stay up. Hence why he often had a lot of work in the wake of a full moon. His clients were well aware that he liked to keep busy when he was in such a good mood.

Reece's wolf came to mind whilst Shepherd was stirring honey into his tea, absently staring out of the window into the back garden. For years, he had wondered what Reece's wolf looked like, having never been blessed enough to see his true form. Wolves were naturally shy creatures, especially when it came to the more primal side of themselves. Hence why Shepherd had been so shocked to see three last night. He knew immediately that it was Reece, no matter whether he had seen the man's wolf before or not. It struck him in an instant.

Reece had a beautiful wolf. Shepherd had been aware that he was a black wolf yet he never once imagined that he would be so stunning. And gentle too. Granted, Reece's wolf would have the same level of trust with Shepherd as the man, however, the beasts were normally more skittish. And yet Reece's wolf had been nothing but calm. It had even offered it's kill to Shepherd, although the man didn't take much, nor any of the meat. The hare pelt was enough, as were the bones that he had kept to clean and grind down later on.

A faint smile crept onto Shepherd's lips at the memory of Aris and Tavien, laid together in the aftermath of their play fighting, panting and still nipping at one another occasionally. It had been quite the sight. Even after Tavien had startled Shepherd's friends so much with his sudden entrance, they seemed to understand how amazing the scene they had been blessed enough to witness was. They would still be nervous around wolves, however, Shepherd hoped that he might have dulled that somewhat. They really were passive creatures. Territory issues were really the only reason that they might ever harm anyone outside of their creed.

Shepherd walked out of the kitchen and down the hallway to the front door. He stepped out onto the street, not even bothering to close the front door behind him or caring for the chilly paving stones under his bare feet. Knocking on the tinted window of the SUV, Shepherd waited for a moment. He knew that the driver within was hesitating for a reason. He would have been told by Reece to watch and not touch, but that was getting on Shepherd's nerves. If he was going to be monitored by wolves for the foreseeable future, he might as well open his home to them to make their tasks more comfortable.

Honestly, he was surprised none of the neighbours had complained about the presence of the mysterious SUVs on the street, and that Porter seemed to be blissfully unaware of their presence as well. They were nosy enough, but they never really spoke to Shepherd directly. If they were to complain about noise or something else that was inevitably Shepherd's fault, they would talk to Porter. It didn't bother Shepherd, he got to avoid the conflict that way. He did, however, get involved if he needed to.

There had been one particular situation that came to mind. The elderly couple living to the left of Shepherd and Porter had complained about the smell of weed coming from their house. So, rather than allowing Porter to explain that some of the herbs Shepherd cultivated could give off a similar aroma, they went directly to the police. They filed a report, and a complaint, and Shepherd had to deal with the officers that demanded to search his house. He'd had fun with it, terrorizing the officers whilst they rifled through his things in search of illegal substances. The fine was worth it to see the look on the elderly couple's faces as the two officers bolted from the house, sheet white and petrified as the smiling warlock waved them off. Actually, since then, that couple had been awfully quiet. Maybe Shepherd would make a house call, with Reece too, just to make sure they were OK of course.