A Wolf of Her Own by Susanna Shore

quick goodbyes. She looked out of the window towards the corral and her heart sank. She would actually have to face Amanda again. Fudge .
    ***
    By the time Gemma had fed the animals and cleaned their pens, her back ached for the unaccustomed amount of physical labour. She welcomed the pain—a reminder that she wasn’t indestructible. She should strain her muscles more often. She had joined a gym with her housemates, but pretending that the weights the humans used were heavy for her wasn’t easy and she got no actual exercise there.
    There are gyms for the two-natured too, you know. You wouldn’t stand out there. Or you could simply put on weights that are heavy enough and stop pretending.
    Gemma ignored the Rider. Her back didn’t ache that badly. Besides, she only needed to check the sheep and her chores would be done for today. Sheep didn’t generally require much looking after once they were let outdoors; they had grass and water, and the lambing shouldn’t start yet. But she needed to see they were all right.
    She exited the pigsty and startled when she noticed it was already dark. She recovered instantly, but her reaction baffled her. She was a vampire—a creature of night, as humans believed, though partly in reality too, as she had spent the past century in darkness, on this very farm. She could see almost as well as in daylight and had never feared the dark. Yet she hesitated to head outside the protective circle of the yard, as if unknown threats waited for her there.
    Fear was followed by anger, by far a better emotion to feel. She would not let some killer shifters make her afraid in her own home. She would go to check the sheep.
    But she wasn’t brave enough, or stupid enough, to go alone. Maura and Polly were eager to accompany her, hopping on the trailer with their tails wagging. Rissa would have wanted to follow them too, but Gemma had to disappoint her again. "I’m sorry, old girl," Gemma consoled the whining dog. "You look after the house, all right? It’s an important task too." With a long sigh, the old dog settled down on the floor of the pen. Gemma gave her a quick rub behind the ears as a reward and promised her she could sleep indoors that night.
    The sheep were grazing in small groups, calm and quiet, but not sleeping yet. Gemma let the dogs into the meadow and they caused the herd to stir, but soon enough all the animals had settled down again. Everything seemed to be in order, but that wasn’t good enough for her. She had to be sure. She could have walked around the meadow and checked everything with her own eyes, but the idea didn’t appeal to her. She shuddered in fear for the mere notion she might actually find someone lurking in the bushes.
    She had other options than risking herself physically. She was a vampire and had special abilities. At a time like this she simply had to put aside her hesitations. Besides, she was alone—she hoped—so she wouldn’t risk anyone’s life if she couldn’t control the Rider. She took a moment to calm her mind. Then she turned her awareness inwards and opened her vampire sense. It came alive slowly, her mind unaccustomed to the exercise.
    She didn’t actually have a special sense. She had the Rider. A Rider could be so much more than a nuisance or a threat to be constantly kept in rein. It could bestow a vampire with extra sensory input well beyond human senses, provided the vampire was strong enough to handle it.
    They would find out if she was soon enough.
    About time you let me do something useful. The Rider sounded almost relieved and it didn’t even try to break free. A brief adjustment, like tuning a radio, and information began to flood into her mind. The influx of sensory input made Gemma’s head swim and she closed her eyes. It didn’t help.
    She could hear little furry animals scurrying around in the grass as well as the traffic on the distant roads. She could smell her vehicle’s engine, the sheep, the dogs, and the far-away