“And they’d worry even more.” As the lies piled on, everything got more complicated. “All right. I’ll drop you off before going to school.” I arched my neck to give his lips better access. “Um… you don’t seem in a huge hurry to get there.”
“We have a couple minutes.”
“Good.” I freed my hands and rolled on top of him.
† † †
In theory, surviving a future without Zack in my life was totally possible — if you call plunging into a deep, dark depression surviving. Eventually, I might pull myself out of it and only skirt the edges of darkness now and again. Perhaps one day, I might find something that resembled happiness. Maybe even love another.
Yeah, right.
Being at peace without Zack would be a very long time from now and it disturbed me to realize how attached to him I’d become. How intensely I’d fallen for him. I had no intention of ever finding out what life would be like without him or seeing how devastated I’d be. Not going to happen. Ever.
That said, I had to get through this one day without him. Between worrying about Favianne and my own parents, school was the very last place I wanted to be. At least Zack had texted with two updates about Favianne. Both were encouraging. That was something.
Sixth period was Social Science. Not my favorite class since Natalie and Jeff were there. She’d been best friends with Gina before I came along and she’d never liked me. After Gina locked lips with my ex, I dumped her as a friend and Natalie no longer needed to disguise her loathing for me.
Except there were no glares today, no scowls. Instead, she looked smug. I knew something was up, but my mind was too wrapped up with Favianne to bother trying to figure out Natalie.
Mr. Collins handed out a quiz. I fidgeted through most of it, since it was almost too easy. Part of me wished it had been more challenging and maybe I wouldn’t have been so anxious for the bell to ring. As soon as Mr. Collins dismissed us, I rushed out of the classroom like my ass was on fire, then sped to the hospital.
I slipped my car into the first parking space I saw and scrambled out. Taking a deep, calming breath, I walked at a human pace through the brightly lit corridors and waited like a good girl for the elevator. At last, I reached the correct floor. As soon as the doors opened, I bolted.
Cara and Mac came into view as I neared the waiting area and I pounced. “How is she?”
She smiled. “The antibiotics are working beautifully. Dr. Preston wants to keep her one more night though. If she continues to improve, she can come home tomorrow.”
“Oh, thank God!” I hugged Cara. “Can I see her?”
“Zack’s in there now. I don’t think he’d mind if you cut in,” Mac said, patting me on the back.
“Since you’re here now, you can stay with Zack and we’ll go home.” Cara swept a soothing hand down my arm. “Favianne doesn’t need every last one of us hovering over her.”
“See you tonight.” Mac nodded and steered his wife to the exit.
“’Bye,” I called after them and made my way to Favianne’s room. The door was ajar, but I tapped lightly to warn them of my arrival.
“Hey.” Zack met me in the middle of the room and hugged me. “Mom was just asking about you.”
“Yes, I was.” Favianne smiled. The light had returned to her eyes, along with the color in her cheeks.
Releasing Zack, I moved to stand at her bedside. “I hear they might release you tomorrow?”
“That’s what we’re hoping,” she answered. “In fact, it’s not necessary for you two to stay.”
“But Cara and Mac just left. We can’t leave you alone.” I wasn’t anywhere near ready to be dismissed. “Besides, I just got here.”
She raised a brow. “I will not allow you to waste a Friday night with me. I’ll still be here tomorrow morning. You can visit me then — spend your whole day with me if you’d like. But tonight, you’re going to enjoy being young and healthy.”
“But—” Zack began.
“No buts. Spend the next couple hours with me, then go home and have dinner. Then get on with your evening.” Her tone hardened. “Don’t argue with me.”
Zack blew out a breath. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Tomorrow I’ll come home and you two will go to prom as planned. I will not have your big day ruined by me. Understand?” She glanced from Zack to me.
“Yes, ma’am,” we answered in unison.
“Good. Now, how was your day at school?” she asked me, her eyes lighting up as she flashed me a smile.
“It was okay. But I was worried about you.”
She patted my hand. “Everything’s going to be okay. Just as I promised. Do you play Rummy?”
“A little bit,” I answered.
“Watch out for my mom.” Zack rolled a stool my way, then claimed another one and scooted it closer to her bed. “She’s a shark.”
Favianne picked up a deck of cards from a nearby end table and began shuffling, one side of her mouth curving up.
Three games of Rummy later, two cups of coffee and a game of War, she kicked us out and sent us home. Although I didn’t want to leave her, I didn’t mind having Zack all to myself for a few minutes before we met up with Maya and Trevor.
“Do you need to go home first?” he asked as he braked for a stoplight.
“Only if you’re coming with me,” I replied.
“If your parents are shape-shifters, they’ll catch my scent. Not a good idea for me to be in your house.”
“But they’re not home.”
“True… but they have a habit of showing up without warning.”
I wondered why my parents hadn’t noticed Zack’s scent when they’d come home before, so I rolled back the clock in my head. After school last week, I came home to compile my grocery list and had cleaned up a bit before I’d left for the market, especially on the couch where he’d slept the night before. If my parents were shifters, no way could they have detected werewolf with all the chemicals I’d used. Zack had barely been to my house since then, so when my mom came back a couple days ago, there hadn’t been anything for her to sense.
“You sound like you’re more and more convinced they’re not human.”
He shook his head. “No, I haven’t changed my mind. But in case I’m wrong, it’s better not to risk it.”
We stopped at my house so I could change, but he waited for me in the car. Then we were off to Zack’s for dinner, which was spectacular as usual — wine sauce over Italian sausage and angel hair pasta. I still skipped the meat though. Maybe with practice I’d learn to contain myself while eating that stuff, but with everything going on, I didn’t think I could do it just yet. And acting like a cave woman in front of Zack or his family was at the very bottom of my To Do list.
While Zack and I cleaned up the kitchen, Trevor went to Maya’s house and brought her back. We drove to Hollywood and Highland and saw a movie Maya chose. It seemed like a chick flick to me, but the guys liked it too.
Late that night, we went out for our run. We drove, because Zack wanted to explore an unfamiliar area on the outskirts of Angeles National Forest.
“Why don’t we go to our usual place?” I asked when he parked in a spot partially obscured by trees.
“The more time we spend in one area, the stronger our scent becomes there. We should change it up.” Zack’s back went rigid. This was a mistake.
Before my mind absorbed his last word, I knew what Zack meant. From the passenger side, I glanced around in search of the werewolf.
Whoever’s out there would’ve heard us drive up. He already knows we’re here, he told me silently.
Shouldn’t we leave? I asked.
Why bother? A werewolf can run faster than a car. Let’s get out and act normal.
Normal? I wasn’t sure what that was anymore. With wooden movements, I opened the car door and climbed out. Zack came around to my side, twirled me around and shoved me against the side of the car.
Act like you like me. One side of his
mouth curled up. We’re just a couple of teenagers who came here for some privacy.
I wrapped my arms around his waist and tilted my chin up. Pasting on a pleasant expression was difficult knowing someone was watching, waiting.
“It’s kind of late for you kids to be out, don’t you think? And alone in the woods. Isn’t there a curfew you’re violating?” Charles asked, slowly emerging from between the trees.
Zack turned around, still holding onto me. “We’re over eighteen. And it’s a great place to be alone.” He grinned as if Charles, being a man, knew exactly what he meant.
I struggled through the fog, trying to remember how a human girl would act if she were caught making out with a boy and knew nothing of werewolf scouts or shape-shifters. “And what’s your excuse for being here?”
Charles shrugged. “Just going for a drive. Decided to get out and take a look around. How’s your mom doing?” he asked Zack.
“Much better. They’ll probably let us take her home tomorrow.”
“That’s good news,” Charles replied. Since I was still touching Zack, I was able to listen in when Charles switched to silent communication. When I saw you last night, I’d already been to the hospital to check on her condition myself. I didn’t think she’d make it, which is what I reported to my superior. Since I’ve already been here too long, they insisted I bring you in right away. They’re expecting you right after graduation, whether your mom is alive or not.
But you said I could spend extra time with her, Zack told him, his hands gripping my waist a little too tightly. Tell them you messed up.
Cold rage replaced Charles’s amiable smile. I will do no such thing. What’s done is done. You’ll work it out. He turned to leave.
“You can’t take him early!” I shouted. “It’s not fair. You made the mistake. You fix it!”
Slowly, Charles pivoted, eyes spearing mine. “And how is it possible for a human to hear our conversation?”
My stomach knotted as terror gripped me. I’d just given myself away to a werewolf. Worse, we’d been making out and breaking a law that carried the death penalty.
Dead girl walking. And since Zack was consorting with a shape-shifter, he wouldn’t fare any better.
Zack squeezed my hand. “She’s human, but she reads minds.”
“A witch?” The scout tilted his head, narrowing his eyes. “Or she’s something else… like a shape-shifter. Maybe you were really coming here to morph.” He took a step toward me, but I couldn’t back up since I was already against the car.
Zack moved in front of me. “She’s human.”
Charles smiled. “If that’s the case, allow me to confirm it.”
“Suit yourself.” Zack moved aside and waved a hand toward me. He appeared unruffled, but I sensed an undercurrent. I could also hear his heart pounding wildly. I’d bet anything that Charles could hear it too. He’d know Zack was scared… and lying.
“Thank you. I will.” Charles reached out and brushed my hair away, exposing my neck. He leaned in and inched toward me. As he inhaled deeply, the amusement faded from his eyes and they darkened.
Busted.
Zack doesn’t know, I told Charles silently, hoping if he thought I was to blame, it would keep Zack safe and give him time to run. Two fledglings could never take down a mature werewolf who was possibly hundreds of years older. He hasn’t learned about shape-shifters or their scent. He thinks I’m human which is perfectly legal. Punish me, not him.
Charles returned his attention to his recruit. “Your girlfriend just informed me that you’re ignorant of the fact that she’s a shape-shifter. And that she is the one who should be punished, not you.”
Zack’s eyes grew wide as he stared at me. What the hell are you doing?
I opened my mouth to keep him from spilling the truth to Charles. Either way, I was toast. At least this way, one of us might live.
Charles shot us both a crooked smile. “It’s unfortunate both of you will need to be eliminated.”
“Why? Zack didn’t know about me until you told him!” I hissed.
“If he’s too weak and stupid to detect a shifter, he has no value to the king. No point in keeping him alive.”
I didn’t think. All I knew was that Zack’s life was in danger. Adrenaline roared through my body like water through a fire hose and an instant later, I exploded into a grizzly bear. The force of my morph spiraled Charles backward and he crashed into the thick tree trunk. Before he had a chance to reorient himself, I was on top of him, my paws on his chest and my teeth at his throat.
He morphed into a brown wolf and his ancient-strong jaws slashed my flank and side. Despite catching him by surprise, I was no match for him. Pain burned through my middle and my power waned.
~~~
Chapter Nine
Just as my eyes started to lose focus, Zack appeared at my side, his fangs at Charles’s throat, paws holding Charles down. I pushed my full weight into the brown wolf, mashing him into the soft topsoil as I swatted him with my massive paws until his teeth rattled.
Zack had once said that in our animal form, some things became unimportant — like baths and blood. We wouldn’t kill an animal or hunt humans just for the hell of it, but the act of killing when it needed to be done wasn’t abhorrent to us.
He wasn’t kidding. On instinct, I went wild — my jaws snapping and tearing at Charles’s flesh. His blood splashed into my mouth and I reveled in the kill. I opened wider and fit his skull in my mouth, then bore down, jerking my head side to side. Blood drained from Charles’s flaccid body and pooled onto the uneven ground. Hot delicious blood.
Autumn! Enough! He’s dead, Zack shouted into my head, still in his wolf form.
The words, human words, coursed through my mind bringing my thoughts into focus. Slowly, I released Charles’s head, a new burst of energy flowing through my veins. I glanced down at my side where his teeth had sliced into me. The bleeding had stopped and the wound was nearly closed.
Don’t turn human yet until we clean up. Otherwise, when your clothes morph back with you, they’ll be ruined. We won’t be able to explain all the blood to the mortals.
I shook my fur like a dog after a bath — not to remove the blood but to pull myself out of the frenzied rage I’d plunged into. I shook again and blood droplets exploded into the air. Charles’s blood.
Rearing up on my hind legs, I extended my snout high into the air. I smell water to the left. I glanced over at the scout. Are you sure he’s dead?
You ripped out his intestines and crushed his skull. He looks pretty dead to me.
I glanced down at what remained of Charles. If I’d ripped out his insides, where did they go?
Zack looked at me, his eyes cautious. So how does werewolf taste? Anything like chicken?
Looking at the wolf’s carcass, I realized more than his guts were missing — a foot, a chunk out of his arm and shoulder. Possibly more, but he was so mangled it was difficult to tell. And those body parts were all weighing in my happy stomach. Maybe I’d feel some sort of revulsion later when I became human again, but right now, I felt well-fed and smug.
I stretched my furry muzzle into what I hoped resembled a smile. Pretty tasty, actually.
Zack made a strange noise, like a cross between a gag and a cough. I hoped he was amused, but the grimace said slightly horrified.
Since he died in wolf form, he’ll stay that way. Anyone will just assume a bear killed him. Which is exactly what happened. We’ll leave everything exactly as it is. Let’s go.
† † †
After we’d cleaned up, Zack drove. I trembled as I snuggled against him, resting my head on his shoulder. I couldn’t think about the fact that I’d just killed a man and werewolves were bound to come looking for him. I needed to concentrate on Zack and that he was safe.
Just as the tremors in my limbs subsided, Zack sighed heavily. Now what?
“You promised you wouldn’t do that.”
I lifted my head off his shoulder t
o look at him. “Do what?”
He glanced down at me, frowning, then returned his eyes to the road. “Make deals with a werewolf to save my life.”
Crap. I’d forgotten what a fit Zack had thrown the last time I’d tried to save him by negotiating with my psycho ex-boyfriend Daniel.
“Your life was at stake, Zack. I had to do something.”
“But your life in exchange for mine isn’t something you can decide for me.” He reached for my hand and laced his fingers through mine.
“I wasn’t exchanging my life for yours. He was going to kill me either way. But I hoped that maybe I could save you.” I absentmindedly skimmed my fingernails down his arm and smiled when he shivered.
The image of Charles dead body assaulted me again and I wished I could morph and stay that way, so the act of murder wouldn’t bother me.
“Hey. We’re safe now.” Zack’s thumb brushed my finger.
“I know he’ll stay a wolf now that he’s dead, but what if another werewolf recognizes him and they do DNA testing and figure out it was me? I could get arrested.”
He slowed for a red light. “You’re overreacting. Even if—”
“I ended someone’s life, Zack. He’s dead. It’s impossible to overreact to something like that.”
“I was there, too. I helped you kill him and I’m freaked out too.” He growled, casting a quick glance my way before making a turn. “I’m really trying not to think about it. And we’re not going to get caught. Even if someone realizes he’s a werewolf, they’d never match grizzly DNA to you.”
But I’d still know I did it. Charles was never coming back and that was because of me.
I shuddered.
“Autumn, he was going to kill us both. You did what you had to do.”
Yeah, I did. And I’d do it again. Most likely, it would come to that sooner or later. God, I really needed to think about something else. “Your family is pretty tolerant about me sleeping in your room, considering what they think we’re doing.”