by Amy Miles
“Well, my mom is human. My dad was a werewolf and kept it from my mom. It’s possible your mom is human and your real dad is a shape-shifter.” He hesitated and watched me warily like I was a corn kernel about to pop. “If she had no clue, then this man you think is your father wouldn’t know either.”
“What?” I rose from the sofa, my gaze riveted to his. “My dad is my dad.” He had to be. “I don’t have a real one too.” I knew that as well as I knew my favorite color.
“Relax.” Zack stood too, holding up his palms in surrender.
“Don’t tell me to relax.” My hands balled into fists at my side. “You just told me he’s not my real dad.”
“Autumn. I’m just throwing out theories. I’m not God and I’m not the werewolf king. I didn’t create the universe or turn shape-shifters into slaves. Don’t get mad at me. I’m telling you what I know. That’s what you wanted, right?”
I fell back onto the sofa, staring at the wall ahead of me.
“If your parents were anything, I would’ve smelled it on their belongings, the photographs, his jacket hanging in the closet and anything else they’ve touched here. Which means you can never tell them. Autumn?”
Right, because revealing myself to a mortal carries the penalty of death. “I’m tired,” I said quietly, still focusing straight ahead.
“We have to go to my house, so I can talk to my mom and pick up some things. Then you can go to bed.”
“I want to be alone,” I said in soft voice. “Go home, Zack.”
He stood in front of me and held out his hand. “I’m not leaving you. But once we get back and I’ve made sure your bedroom windows are secure, you can do whatever you want.”
“If my window is locked, you think that’ll stop a werewolf?” I asked doubtfully.
“No. It’ll slow things down and they’d make noise. I’d be upstairs before Daniel got to you.” He stuck a hand in his pocket and pulled out his cell to eye the screen. “It’s getting late. I’d like to get home before my mom falls asleep.”
It wouldn’t be right to make him miss a visit with his mom because I insisted on being a big baby. Though Zack had to be wrong about my parents, he was trying to help me. So I sucked it up and gave him a smile. It was a weak one, but the best I could muster.
Zack found my keys, ushered me out and locked the door behind us.
“So you realized only yesterday that I wasn’t human?” I got in the passenger side of Zack’s Jeep and closed the door.
“Around then, yes. I would’ve found out sooner, but I was too busy not liking you.” He started up his car and glanced my way. “After our first dinner and movie with Maya and Trevor, I suspected I’d judged you too quickly.”
“What you really mean is you realized what a dumb-ass you’d been.” Teasing him helped pull me out of my funk.
“That’s one way of looking at it.” He snorted. “Anyway, after our trip to Bigger Burgers and you ate meat the same way I ate it when I hit maturity, I was almost positive. You confirmed it when you raced around the meadow that night.”
At Zack’s house seconds later, we hurried inside to see his mom. “Hi, Mrs. De Luca,” I said, shadowing Zack into her room.
“Hello, sweetheart.” She gave me a sleepy smile. “And how are you enjoying your new car?”
“Love it. Although by the time we picked it up and had dinner, I didn’t have much time to play with it.”
“Mom,” Zack said. “Autumn has a situation. Her ex-boyfriend is harassing her and her parents are out-of-town. She shouldn’t be alone in that house. I’m going to grab a few things and spend the night there.”
“To protect her?” Mrs. De Luca’s looked doubtful. “Shouldn’t you report this to the police?” she asked.
“They can’t act on anything unless he does something, right?” I asked.
“True. Using your reasoning, Autumn’s even safer with us, because there are more people here.” She smiled and patted his hand. “She’ll take your room and you can sleep on the couch.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He looked at me pleadingly as if I could figure a way out.
“My parents are out-of-town the rest of the week. I’ve already imposed on your hospitality enough.” It was all I could come up with.
His mom glanced from me to him. “Are you sure this isn’t an excuse so you two can have some privacy?”
Zack gaped, his eyes huge.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Mom, her ex really is harassing her. He cornered her today at school. And it’s not a matter of privacy,” Zack said. “I’m eighteen now and it would be nice if you didn’t treat me like a child.”
“Fine.” She smiled at him, a smile full of a mother’s love. “I trust you. Sleep at Autumn’s, but call me in the morning.”
“I will.”
“So how was your day?” she asked him as though he wasn’t about to go spend the night alone with a girl.
Zack answered, but I itched for a run in the woods and wished we’d taken advantage while we were in the forest earlier. I hoped the chitchat ended soon.
A chorus rang out as Favianne’s bedroom door opened. “Happy birthday to you,” they sang. Cara, Mac, Trevor and the two boys each held up a cupcake with a candle, their lips moving in unison.
By the time they finished, my eyes were wet. “How did you know?”
“I heard the bank teller tell you happy birthday.” Zack grinned, but I wasn’t sure if it was from joy at celebrating my birthday or if he took pleasure in embarrassing me.
“That was hours ago,” I said stupidly.
He snorted. “I don’t have short-term memory loss, Autumn.”
Duh.
Twenty minutes later, his family had gone and I tossed the last bite of a second cupcake into my mouth. “That was nice of your family. And you,” I added. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He dropped a duffle bag on his bed and threw clothes in it.
I pointed at his bag. “You need help?”
“No, I’m good.” He zipped it up and hefted it over his shoulder. “If you want to drive around in your car the next few days, I can leave the Jeep here and give my keys to Trevor.”
If we went anywhere, Zack would be stuck with me. I’d have him all to myself and he’d be at my mercy. I tried to act nonchalant as my anticipation mounted. “Sure. Trevor would like that.”
Zack collected a few more things and we headed to my house where I changed into sweats.
“You seem like you’re feeling better. You still want to be locked up in your room after our run?” Zack asked.
If only he had plans for me. Plans that involved making out on the sofa. I inwardly sighed and focused on answering him. “I’m okay, but I have more questions for you when we get back.”
I held my index finger vertically against my lips, then let us out the back and locked the door. We made no more noise than the wind as we soared over the fences and through the neighbors’ yards. Finally, the forest closed around us.
“Are you going to turn into a wolf?” I asked.
“I need to, yes. When I morphed earlier, it wasn’t long enough.”
“You need to?” I asked. Zack made it sound as though he had little choice.
“Shape-shifters have more control, which is why they can reproduce,” he explained. I must have looked baffled, because he chuckled and continued. “With any shape-shifter or werewolf, once they morph, the unborn baby dies. Our urge to shift is overwhelming. The only way we can increase our population is for a male to mate with a human, like my dad with my mom. Or we turn them.”
“Like what happened to Daniel.”
“Right,” Zack said. “If shape-shifters stay in their human form, which is easy for them, they can carry to term.”
“You explained that so officially. I swear, Zack, sometimes you sound like an old man.”
His brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“You talk so adult-like.”
Zack swooped to pick a twig
from the ground and absentmindedly studied it. “I started taking care of my mom when I turned sixteen and got my license. Before that, I helped with the grocery shopping, cleaned. I even helped pay the bills. So I’ve been on my own for a while. Responsibility catches up with you after a while, I guess.”
“Oh.” I felt bad for bringing it up. “But if you have no experience with shape-shifters, how do you know so much?”
“Books.” He perked up, a smile forming. “My dad left me a box of things and made my mom promise to keep them forever. It was a whole box of stuff — old yellowing pages with drawings of werewolves, stories of legends and werewolf law. I think my dad knew there was a chance he wouldn’t be around and wanted to make sure I had everything I needed. I loved those books. Not because they represented a world I could escape into, but because my dad left them for me.”
I followed him as he weaved through the trees. “And when strange things started happening to your body, you realized everything you’d read in the books was real, that your dad left them to guide you.”
Zack glanced over his shoulder, smiling. “Yeah. There’s info on shape-shifters too, but I didn’t study that as hard, since it didn’t apply. Tomorrow, after school, I’ll drop you off at my house and you can read them while you wait for me to come home from work.”
I giggled. He made me sound like his wife. “Yes, honey.”
“Let’s run.” He leaped, turning into a wolf in midair and leaving his clothes behind. I chased after him.
† † †
“Next time I bark twice, that means turn around,” Zack enunciated slowly. “I’m tired of dressing in the bushes.”
“Sorry.” I dropped the house key on the kitchen table. “I thought you were trying to tell me something.”
He blew out his breath. “I was!”
I suppressed a giggle. “Sorry. I’ll remember next time.”
He turned the deadbolt on the front door. “Stay here and I’ll check the house.”
Zack moved so fast, my eyes barely kept up. He made a blur as he zoomed upstairs, stayed there for several seconds, then downstairs again to zip from window to window.
“All clear.” He stopped in front of me. “It’s late. We should get to bed.”
Bed. Zack. Bed. “Okay.” I stared at him.
“Maybe you should show me where I’ll be sleeping?” He looked at me expectantly.
“Right. My dad’s office has a futon that might give you more room than the couch.”
He mulled that over. “Where’s your dad’s office?”
“Across from my room.” Maybe Zack would be tempted in the middle of the night…
“I’ll take the sofa,” he said quickly. “Got a blanket?”
No stranger to disappointment where Zack was concerned, I found a sheet, a couple pillows and a soft, clean blanket in the hallway cabinet. I brought them to him and pointed in the opposite direction. “You can use the bathroom down there.”
“I remember where it is.” His eyes fixed on mine.
I shifted uncomfortably. “Well, I guess it’s goodnight then.” I paused a moment and turned to go.
“Autumn.”
I stopped and turned back, my chest swelling with hope. “Yes?”
“Don’t lock your door. Don’t even close it.” Our eyes met and the seconds passed. “If anyone comes for you, I need to be able to hear. Goodnight.”
Fear nipped at me. How would I be able to sleep thinking Daniel might come after me? I nodded and headed up the stairs.
In my bed, I stared at the ceiling and prayed sleep would come. Anytime I heard a noise, my head flipped toward my window to make sure nobody was trying to break in. Plus, I kept expecting Zack to sneak into my room. Actually, I wasn’t expecting it to happen. I knew him too well to think he was that easy.
But I hoped.
† † †
The smell of unwashed wolf closed in on me, fur tickling my skin and fetid breath in my face. I trembled, hot tears burning my eyes. The wolf snarled and I scrambled back as he leapt toward me.
“Autumn. Autumn, wake up.” Zack pulled me off the pillow by my shoulders.
I lifted my head and rubbed my eyes, trying to wipe away the mental fuzz. But I was aware enough to notice my comforter wasn’t anywhere near us, certainly not separating me from him. I must have kicked it off during my nightmare.
“Are you okay?” Zack was sitting directly in front of me, his thighs straddling mine, heat from his bare skin radiating through me.
I nodded.
He exhaled in relief and leaned back to sit on his heels. “Heard you scream and I ran up here. Been calling your name over and over, but you wouldn’t wake up. Scared me for a minute there.”
I’d been having that same dream where I was being chased. “I was running from wolves.”
He brushed a finger down my cheek. “It was just a dream.”
“More like a nightmare,” I whispered, my gaze locking onto his. He wore nothing but a pair of boxers. As my ragged breath slowed, I realized the only other thing between us was my threadbare tank top and skimpy panties.
“Autumn.” His breathing quickened and he growled so low it sounded like a purr. Then he tilted my face to meet his and drew closer until I felt his breath on my skin. “You’re too beautiful.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
I wanted to scream for Zack to kiss me, but I held my breath, afraid if I said anything or moved, he’d go away again. When I met his gaze, every nerve in my body came alive. Slowly, he moved toward me, then his lips brushed mine and lingered for a brief moment. He drew back just a hair and gazed into my eyes as an almost inaudible moan escaped him.
Then his mouth was on mine.
My lips parted and when our tongues tangled, I savored the taste of him and his sweet, earthy scent. Way better than anything I’d ever imagined. I felt his hands at my sides, his fingers splayed at my waist and his thumbs just under my ribs. Our lips separated and his gentle pressure eased me backward until my head rested against the pillow. The mattress gradually took his weight as he lay over me.
Heat seared through my limbs.
I sighed as his mouth met mine again. My fingertips made a feather-light trail up his spine, then back down. I was rewarded with a shiver. As he cradled my face in his hands with his fingertips at the nape of my neck, his thumb grazed my temple. He gently turned my face and his mouth followed the curve of my jaw, the tip of his tongue burning a path to my ear.
With my palms against his lower back, I brought him closer. A low growl reached my ear and he buried his face in my neck.
“Oh, God, Autumn. I can’t do this.”
“Of course, you can,” I said and a breeze from Zack’s quick departure hit the bare skin of my legs.
“I’m sorry,” he said from my bedroom doorway, then disappeared.
My limbs trembled and my heart was still pounding. I curled up in a ball, wishing for the ache to go away. What had I been thinking? I’d known him a little over a week and was already giving myself away to someone who’d rejected me over and over. I needed to get a grip.
But I’d gotten my kiss and it was everything I’d fantasized about.
† † †
“Autumn. Wake up. We have to leave in a half hour and I need to stop at my house. With all the Daniel drama yesterday, I forgot my homework.”
Rubbing my eyes, I glanced over my shoulder at Zack in the doorway wearing only boxers and tousled hair. I lay curled up on my side, still without my comforter. He stood almost behind me, which gave him a clear view of whatever my skimpy panties didn’t cover.
As if realizing he’d entered dangerous territory with me, he backed up and bumped into the doorway. Righting himself, he yanked the door shut behind him.
I chuckled. Served him right after the kiss-and-dis the night before.
After showering, I quickly got dressed and dashed to the fridge to get a snack for later. But I’d pillaged it over the last few days and there was nothing edible lef
t. If Zack would be staying here, I needed to go shopping.
“Autumn? You ready?” Zack called from the front door.
I grabbed my backpack and followed him outside.
“Do you mind if I drive?” he asked.
I tossed him my keys and climbed in the passenger side. Once we were on the road, he took a deep, meaningful breath.
Uh-oh, here it comes.
“About last night.” He snuck a peek at me, then focused on the road ahead.
“Yeah?”
“You’re really pretty. Any guy would be insane not to want to hook up with you.”
I felt another rejection coming on.
“Sorry.” The Mustang slowed as it hugged the curb. Zack gave me an apologetic look. “I’ll be fast.”
I waited in the car, while he dashed inside the house to get his homework. About a minute later, he flew out the front door and down the steps, then jumped into the driver’s seat without opening the door.
“You were saying?” I prodded, wanting to get it over with.
Zack inserted the key in the ignition, but didn’t start the car. He swiveled in his seat to face me. “My mom is getting worse every day and I’m not going to be here once she’s gone. I can’t stay. You know that.”
Right. I’d forgotten about all that. Zack, on the other hand, lived with the knowledge every day. What must it be like to know that your parent could die at any time and nothing could save her? I’d probably avoid attachments too, then bail first chance I got.
“It was late,” Zack continued. “I was groggy. You were wearing so little and you made me forget. But I can’t forget again. You’re a nice girl, Autumn, but with my mom’s situation and work and school and the scouts, there’s nothing left of me. You deserve better than that.”
I wanted to tell him that I deserved him and the feelings between us. But my pride went with, “Fine. Whatever.”
Zack took a deep breath. “We need to concentrate on getting you through your first morph, educating you on shape-shifters — with what little info we have — and making sure you’re safe.”