As Shiobhan entered the shop, she saw a sullen-looking Robert sitting at one of the tables, Kelly pointing a finger at his face. “Do you hear me?” she asked, steel in her voice. Shiobhan flashed a grin at Taz, who was just watching the scene with amusement.
“Loud and clear, just like the first time,” Robert grumbled.
“Good.” Turning around, she saw Shiobhan and blushed a little bit. “Find her?”
“No, and it’s not looking good.” Looking at Robert, she asked, “You said you needed my help? How were you planning on repaying me?”
Robert blinked, his surprise evident. “I’ll be honest and say that I hadn’t really thought much about that part yet.”
“What a surprise. Well today’s your lucky day. You want help? You get to give it first. Let’s start with the bills you said you’d pay and forgot to get around to it over the last two years.”
He stood up and pulled out his wallet, withdrawing several hundred dollar bills and setting them on the table. “That was the other reason I wanted to stop by. I always pay my debts, even if it takes me too long to do so.”
Shiobhan didn’t bat an eye at the money, but thought to herself, Something has changed if he’s actually got money for once in his life. “Second. You get to explain what happened that night.”
Robert frowned. “I expected as much, but I’m not telling them,” he said, pointing at Kelly and Taz.
“Your call. You can either tell all of us, or you can walk back out that door, no concern to me.” Shiobhan placed her hands on her hips and glared at him. “You gave up the right to privacy when it comes to my life.”
“Fine,” he growled, staring into her eyes. “Did you ever consider it odd that work always called me in the same nights as the moon rituals the coven organized?”
“Yes. That’s why I went over your place that afternoon, to find out what was really going on.”
“You nearly found out… the wrong way.” He twisted his hands together, looking away from her. “I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“Certainly could have fooled me. You broke my fucking arm when I startled you, and then screamed at me to get out of the house.”
“It’s not what you think,” he whispered.
“Then enlighten us. We’ve been waiting for a good answer since then.” Kelly nodded, staying silent but anger visible in her expression.
“Wolf isn’t just a shamanic totem to me, Shiobhan. He is that, but he’s more than that. Wolf is me.”
“I don’t understand.”
“How could you?” He shook his head. “The best way to explain is to demonstrate.” He stood up and walked to the door, locking it and setting the sign to ‘Private Consultation’. Shutting the blinds, he stood in the center of the room, facing the floor. “I never wanted anyone to see this. It took me the last few years after losing everything that I found the truth. Control can only be found in surrender.”
Raising his arms towards the cieling, he visibly relaxed and exhaled deeply. At first, nothing happened, but then the air began to shimmer around him. Darkness spread on his skin, growing into fur, as his clothing disappeared underneath. He fell to all fours with a soft grunt, both shrinking and stretching as the air continued to shimmer even more violently, making it difficult to see him. Then the air cleared and Robert was gone… a dark charcoal grey wolf in his place.
No wonder I always saw Wolf written in his aura. Walking forward, she knelt down and ran her fingers through his soft fur, scratching under his muzzle as he stared at her with those amber eyes. “I wish you would have told me,” she whispered. “I wish you would have trusted me.” Petting the wolf one last time, she stood and turned away, noting Taz staring with his jaw open, and Kelly looking with a thoughtful expression on your face. Smiling feebly, she said, “C’mon, Taz, haven’t you learned by now that magic is real?”
“But… but… he’s… but…” Taz stammered, confusion evident.
“A werewolf,” Robert answered, having shifted back. Shiobhan kept her back to him, not wanting him to see the tears in her eyes… tears she could not afford to shed. “I didn’t want or mean to hurt you, Shiobhan, but it was time to Change. If you had remained… I didn’t know that you would be safe. I don’t know what I’ve done as a wolf, but it’s entirely possible that I’ve hurt people before.”
You should have trusted me more, she repeated in her mind. Brushing a hand over her damp eyes, she turned back to him. “What’s done is done. I accept your apology and your reasons for what happened in the past. It’s over and cannot be changed.” Same as you and I, she thought. I already mourned us once before… I won’t do that again. In his eyes, she saw that he knew what she meant, even as she saw that he still loved her.
He nodded his head in acknowledgement, then went back to reopen the blinds. “Was there anything else?”
“Yes. My sister is missing.” He froze at her words. “I need your help to get her back. You help me, I’ll help you.”
“I would have helped you anyways. I hope you know that.”
“Does it matter? We help each other and we’re even. When this is over, you go your way and I’ll go mine.”
“Fine.” Looking at the others, he added, “I would like this to be kept private, I’m sure you can understand.”
“Who else knew?” Kelly asked.
“Mom Amanda from the teaching Circle. She really was an old teddy bear, after a fashion, just like she said. She helped me with the Changes as much as she could when they came upon me. Apparently after a certain age, the Change is no longer necessary, and sometimes dangerous given the strain it puts on you. She helped me in so many ways.” All four of them bowed their heads at the mention of the former coven leader.
“As did she with all of us,” Shiobhan said. “Every one of us.”
“Indeed.” Turning businesslike, he asked, “Now, how do we go about finding your sister?”
“Well, I brought some of her things from the dorm. I was thinking that I might be able to scry for her and see if we can find her that way. If not, then I know where she was last seen, and we can go there and try to retrace her steps and take it from there.” As she drew the photo and the t-shirt from her purse, Robert sniffed the air.
“Good choice. That is marked with her scent, and I can use that to help track her. Definitely a family resemblence, too, she smells like you– sunlight, moonlight, and autumn leaves.”
“You can tell that from halfway across the room, in human form?” Shiobhan tried to hide the shock in her voice, but couldn’t manage completely.
He simply shrugged, as if his abilities meant nothing to him. “It’s what I am. I stopped trying to fight it. How long will it take you to attempt the scrying?”
“Not too long, I’ve got a work area permanently set up here for this kind of thing.” The bell over the door rang as a couple entered the shop. “Merry Meet,” she said. “Kelly, if you will be so kind as to help them? And Taz, can you put on another pot of water for the tea?”
Robert made a motion to accompany her upstairs to the work area as the others moved to work, but she forestalled him. Lowering her voice as he came closer, she said, “I don’t need the distraction right now. Now less than ever. Give me a few minutes and we’ll be on our way. And then maybe you can tell me what you’re looking for out of me on the way.”
He shook his head and made a shooing motion. “Sarah comes first. Go on, so we can find her. My problems will keep for a time.”
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