Escape is Only Temporary [boyxboy]

Chapter XV

~Wednesday 15th June 2016~

Shepherd had thought long and hard about his actions, yet it didn't get him anywhere. He still couldn't find a reason for his behavior the evening with Harri. It was an impulsive decision. Not one that Shepherd necessarily regretted but definitely one that he didn't understand. Playing the part of Reece's mate was risky enough in private, let alone in front of company. He was lucky that Reece hadn't planted a claiming mark on him there and then purely out of instinct. It was foolish of him, so why did he feel no guilt?

Nothing had changed. He hadn't slept with Reece that night, they hadn't even kissed, yet it all felt... Different. That night, in bed with Reece, Shepherd couldn't sleep. He spent hours just sitting beside the man, watching the rise and fall of his chest, the emptiness in his mind bothering him more than anything else. Harri wasn't going to keep this news to himself, it would spread to other alphas before the week was over. Reece had a mate, an obsidian warlock, and it was only a matter of time before the rumours reached his pack. And their sons.

"Shepherd?" Juda roused Shepherd, catching the man's eye as he abandoned his aimless wandering around the storefront, "can I ask you something?" Juda looked past Shepherd nervously, at Reece, fast asleep. Apparently, he hadn't slept well the previous night and, instead of staying back at the hotel to catch up, Reece insisted on coming to the store with Shepherd that morning. Shepherd didn't have the patience to deal with a grumpy, sleep-deprived alpha, so he offered Reece a Chamomile tea as soon as he could. For the past hour, Reece had been napping, sat on the floor behind the counter with his head resting back against the wall and his knees drawn up to his chest. Shepherd had already taken pictures, ones that he would use whenever he needed leverage, and had ignored him since.

"He won't wake up," Shepherd assured Juda, continuing to grind down some herbs in the pestle and mortar he had been absently using for the past few minutes, "a few siren tears can knock out a gargoyle, he'll be out for hours," Juda looked a little shocked by the notion, his own alpha drugged by the warlock he was to be protecting. Shepherd wondered how he might react should he know that wasn't the first time he had spiked the wolf's drink.

"Are you really Reece's mate?" Aris and Tavien had avoided that question. Shepherd knew it would be Juda who would bring up the topic and, of course, only when Reece couldn't hear. Aris and Tavien were old enough to know not to ask, Juda was plagued with an innocent curiosity. Shepherd didn't mind, it was Reece that got touchy about the subject.

"I'm not sure," Shepherd tipped the herbs into a bigger bowl, one lined with maple leaves and a sticky substance he had acquired from an ancient fae tribe he visited in previous years, "I think only Reece would be able to know that. I can't sense that type of bond like you can," turning away briefly, Shepherd lifted down a black leather wrap from one of the top shelves behind him, unfurling it over the counter to reveal over twenty separate daggers all sheathed in their own specific slots. Juda always flinched whenever Shepherd brought out something dangerous from within the shop, as if the warlock planned something malicious. If Shepherd was to hurt any of them, it would probably be Reece. There had already been enough moments where Shepherd had wanted to throttle the irritating little bastard.

"He won't say," Juda continued in a softer voice, still nervous about Reece hearing no matter what Shepherd had told him, "Aris asked him before, he just says you're an old friend but..." Shepherd raised his eyes when Juda trailed off, waiting for the boy to elaborate, "you have pups together, you had to have had at least some connection in the past," well, Juda wasn't wrong. Shepherd and Reece had more than one connection in the past. Physical, emotional, probably even spiritual. Shepherd couldn't deny it. He had spent so many years trying to ignore it, forget the past and move on with his life, then Reece just had to appear and fuck everything up. That was Reece all over, absent for so long then just there, taking over Shepherd's mind, soul and... Well, he was everywhere, and that was all Shepherd needed to think on the matter.