Wolves at the Door

  “You tell me.” Zack folded his arms across his chest.

  Was he jealous and thought I might have Cameron over? Way to trust your girlfriend, dude. Not that I could blame him since I wasn’t being totally honest with him about other things. I opened the door the rest of the way and motioned for him to come in. “See for yourself.”

  “Not a good idea.” He shook his head and stayed put. “After Yosemite, hopefully we’ll know more about your parents. If they’re human, it’ll be safe to come inside because they won’t smell me.”

  Folding my arms over my chest, I eyed him. “If I remember correctly, that wasn’t the only reason you didn’t want to be here alone with me. Lost interest in me already, have you?”

  I eyed Zack and the strange look on his face, trying to figure out what was up. The next instant, he’d passed through the doorway and was pressing me against the wall. His mouth explored mine, his palms on either side of my hips so I couldn’t get away.

  Exactly what I needed after a long day of stress. Zack all over me. Mmm.

  His lips left my mouth in search of the hollow below my jaw. “Does it seem like I’ve lost interest?”

  “I suppose not. We should go,” I said, as his hands splayed at my ribs, thumbs at the edge of my bra. “Or not…”

  He chuckled as his lips found my mouth again.

  As good as his kisses were, we couldn’t stay. Laying my hands on either side of his face, I forced him to look at me. “As much as it pains me, we really have to stop.” Grabbing my purse and phone, I led the way.

  Zack blinked, then ran a hand through his hair and followed me outside.

  We strolled along the sidewalk and his little yellow house and wide red porch came into view. I breathed a sigh of relief. “Why does she want to meet with you?” Zack asked.

  “Maybe I’m likable.” I glanced over at him.

  He shook his head. “No, that’s not it.”

  “I’m not likable?” I teased.

  Grabbing my arm, he pulled me to a halt. “I think she wants something. Be careful. They’ll fish for information. Try to give them as little as possible.”

  Like I hadn’t already been there and done that. And failed epically.

  “You’re meeting in a public place so they won’t act. After I finish up with Gina, I’ll come by,” he said. “To make sure everything’s all right.”

  “Okay.”

  He didn’t seem inclined to continue to his house. At this rate, we’d be very late for dinner, we’d look very suspicious and Cara would be annoyed.

  “You’re hiding something.” His eyes turned to slits as he studied my face.

  My brain worked overtime to come up with a response which was the truth, but not the truth. “I just didn’t want to complain. This whole thing sucks. We have a short time before you’re forced to leave and this is how we spend it. Strangers by day and stealing time together at night.”

  “I’m sorry. It’s not easy for me either, but I don’t have another solution just yet. C’mon. Let’s get to dinner before Aunt Cara disowns me.” He turned and resumed walking.

  “Zack, tell me again why you think my parents are human.”

  “I can’t detect any shape-shifter scent on them.”

  “But no one has detected any on me either. The only reason you do is because your nose gets literally against my skin. You haven’t been that close to my parents. You haven’t even met them.”

  “But if they were shape-shifters, Autumn,” he said, “don’t you think they’d clue you in on what you are? By not telling you, they’re throwing you to the wolves. Literally. I have a hard time believing they’d be so irresponsible.”

  He had a good point. We sprinted up the steps to his house and he opened the door for me. Everyone was already seated at the dinner table, including Maya. Good. She was the most important person to convince.

  “Finally,” Cara said, one brow raised.

  “Sorry. I got immersed in homework and lost track of time. Hi, everyone.” I smiled, my eyes searching out each person at the table.

  “Tesora, sit next to me. I don’t see you as often since you dumped my poor son.” Favianne was really working it.

  I tried not to giggle. “Dinner looks great. Thanks so much for having me.”

  We all passed dishes around and served ourselves, making small talk along the way.

  “So how are you doing all alone at your house? Things working out?” Favianne asked.

  Now’s your chance to tell them about your trip, Zack said.

  “Actually, things have been… interesting.” I glanced at Maya. “I was poking around the house and came across a birth certificate. It was strange and… well, I’ll show you.” I got up to fetch my purse and dug out the folded copy of the document. I handed it to Maya and returned to my seat. “See how it has a different last name for me and completely different parents? The birthday matches mine exactly though.”

  “So…” Maya looked at me, obviously trying to wrap her head around it. “What does this mean? You were adopted or something?”

  “I don’t know yet.” I shrugged.

  Maya blinked, then closed her mouth as Trevor slipped the certificate from her fingers. “Who woulda thought, huh?” she asked. “You look so much like your mom.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “But maybe they just changed their identity. I didn’t get anywhere searching those names on the Internet, so I thought this weekend I’d drive up to the hospital where I was born to see what I can find out. If I do have different birth parents, they might still live there and someone might know them. It’s a small town, not like a big city where it’s easier to disappear, right?”

  “Sorry, I’m still in shock.” Maya made the time out sign. “It’s hard to believe Mr. Rossi might not be your real dad.”

  Tears burned behind my eyes and I fought them away. “I’m going to find out more before I jump to conclusions.”

  “I’ve never heard of Oakhurst, California. Where is it?” Trevor asked, glancing up at me from the certificate.

  “It’s a few minutes’ drive from Yosemite,” I answered.

  Favianne raised a brow. “Who’s going with you?”

  I shrugged. “I figured I’d go alone.”

  “No. Zack will drive you.” Favianne stared him down. “Right, Zack?”

  He frowned. “Um… Mom, we broke up. Autumn doesn’t want to be stuck with me on a road trip.”

  “Friends can do road trips together.” Favianne switched to me. “You can’t go alone. I’ll worry about you the whole time.”

  “I don’t really mind going alone but—”

  “We should all go.” Maya’s eyes were huge with excitement. “All four of us. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

  Oh, damn. I hadn’t planned on that possibility. There went my weekend alone with Zack where we didn’t have to pretend. It had been my one chance…

  “Yeah,” Trevor chimed in. “If we were with you, we wouldn’t worry either. Let us do this for you, Autumn.”

  I looked at Zack for confirmation, hoping he’d come up with something to stop them.

  “Fine. We’ll all go.” Zack held up his hands in surrender, then shoveled in another bite of pasta, impressing me with how convincing he could be. I reminded myself that, like me, he’d had practice. For the last couple years, he’d been persuading his family and everyone else to believe he was human.

  “Wonderful. I’ll feel so much better knowing Zack is looking out for you.” Favianne returned to her meal, looking puzzled that our scheme had backfired.

  “I was planning on leaving right after school.” Less chance of being followed. “That way I could arrive in Oakhurst early enough to talk to people and do some digging. Diners will still be open, the hospital, maybe even some stores.”

  “Yeah, but why waste a Friday night on the road when we can leave Saturday morning?” Trevor asked.

  “Because I want to make sure there’s plenty of time to find out everything I possibly can. It’
s too far away to make the trip twice.”

  Maya looked from me to Trevor. “We have plans for Friday night — a concert and we already have the tickets. You sure it can’t wait until Saturday?”

  I raised a brow. “If you were me and found a birth certificate like that, would you want to wait?”

  “No,” she conceded. “We’ll give away our tickets.”

  Zack groaned. “Guys, forget it. I’ll go with her. It’ll be… nice to get away, I guess. And if Autumn’s running around all over the place, it’s going to be work. You guys will probably get bored anyway. It’s not like you’ll have your own car. If you do, it defeats the whole purpose of driving together.”

  “True,” Maya said.

  Zack, saving me again.

  † † †

  I helped Zack clean up the dinner dishes. After a chat with Cara, then Maya and Favianne, it was almost time for my meeting with Renzo. My stomach felt queasy but I’d feel worse if he came after me.

  It was seven on the nose when I walked through the side door of the coffee house. After getting my drink, I made my way to the front patio. The werewolves were already there. Waiting to pounce.

  I took the seat next to Alura. Zack could sit next to scary Renzo this time, if he stopped by.

  “Good evening.” Renzo nodded at me, unnerving me with his steady gaze.

  “Hi.” I took a sip of my coffee. “Zack will be here later, maybe our other friends, too. So if you’re going to grill me, you should get it out of the way now.” I hoped Renzo bought my attempt at being nonchalant. In reality, my nerves were frayed from angst and my fingers trembled. I was a wreck.

  “Uncle, you’re making her nervous. Please stop.”

  “If she weren’t afraid of getting caught in a lie, she’d be more relaxed.” He brought his coffee cup to his lips, his eyes steady on mine.

  “I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that our species have been at war for centuries. Or that you could probably kill me with one strike.” I shot him a scowl, then sucked in a lungful and released it. “Plus, I’m not used to being forced into meetings with werewolves.”

  Renzo leaned forward. “Then tell me what happened to Charles.”

  “You keep asking me that, but I can’t magically know something simply because you want me to.”

  “You’re lying.” His deep dark eyes bore through mine. “I saw you in the woods yesterday.”

  My body froze.

  I was so dead.

  ~~~

  Chapter Twenty-two

  I cleared my throat, stalling for extra seconds, but it was impossible to think with his heated gaze bearing down on me. “All right. I’ll tell you the truth.”

  He sent Alura a smirk. Her frown deepened.

  Taking a breath, I said, “I went running Friday night and came across a dead wolf. It was a bloody mess. You kept asking about Charles and yesterday I put two and two together. Thought I’d check it out.”

  “You killed him,” he accused.

  “Me?” I laughed. “Attack and kill a werewolf much older and more powerful than me? You give me too much credit.”

  “Uncle Renzo, another werewolf could’ve done it. Sorry, but I just don’t see Autumn capable of overpowering him.”

  “Exactly,” I said.

  Renzo didn’t look convinced. He leaned back in his chair and eyed me. “Why do you barely smell like a shape-shifter?”

  “How should I know? I thought it was because I was still maturing and the scent would become stronger with time.”

  “It’ll get stronger, yes, but I should’ve been able to spot you immediately.”

  “Really? Then why couldn’t you?”

  His eye twitched. “That’s what I’m asking you.”

  “Look, anything I know was learned on the Internet and they didn’t cover that in Shape-shifter 101.” I blew out a breath. “You should be the one telling me.”

  “Do your parents know you’re maturing?”

  “I told you, they’re human. I don’t plan to inform them.”

  Renzo picked up a stir stick and impatiently tapped it on the table. “If they’re human, you couldn’t be a shape-shifter.” A corner of his mouth lifted, but not in a friendly way.

  “I must’ve been adopted. Or maybe my real dad was a shape-shifter and my mom never knew what he was. Maybe when she found out she was pregnant, he wasn’t around. For all I know, he could’ve been taken as a slave or something.”

  “So when you began to mature, you had no one to help you?”

  “No one.” I called upon my years of practice at faking calm for my parents’ benefit, then met him eye to eye. “My first morph was shocking, to say the least. I remember looking down at my paws and freaking out. When I came home, I did a bunch of research on the net. A lot of the info was myth, but I weeded out the garbage by trial and error. As my senses got stronger, I realized Zack was a werewolf. I was afraid if he knew what I was, he wouldn’t want me. So I kept my mouth shut.”

  “Wow,” Alura said. “I couldn’t imagine going through that all alone. You must have been scared.”

  “Yeah, I had my moments. But the rest of the time…” I grinned. “It was like finding out I was a superhero. Isn’t that everyone’s dream growing up?” Thinking of Charles, I reminded myself to speak of him in present tense since I was supposed to believe he was alive and well. “I had no reason to be freaked out until Charles came into the picture. But it hasn’t been a problem since he thinks I’m human.”

  “You know, of course, it’s illegal to mix species?” Renzo said, his voice quiet.

  I kept my expression neutral as I made an extra effort to breathe. Denying it would be stupid since our last coffee date he’d smelled Zack on me and knew I was lying about being broken up with him. Plus, I’d freaked and asked if he was going to kill me. He’d have to know I was fully aware of the laws. “Yes. Which is why I’ve made sure Zack doesn’t know about me.”

  “You must be very careful. It isn’t just about legalities, but safety too.”

  “Um…” Was Renzo talking about sex? Ugh. I stared into my coffee cup, praying that my admission of guilt wasn’t like signing my death warrant. But he’d already known this and hadn’t killed me. “Mixing species causes some weird chemical imbalance and makes both weaker, right?”

  “Yes, you would be putting Zack in danger. Promise me you’ll never do that,” Renzo insisted.

  My arms prickled in fear. “I would never put Zack in danger.”

  “You’ve not seen Charles since Saturday, you said?”

  Another attempt at tripping me up. I wasn’t falling for Renzo’s trick, now or ever. “No, Friday night. Are you going to tell me how you got those scars?” I knew he wouldn’t cough it up, but I hoped turning the questions on him would make him feel like he’d had enough of me and maybe he’d leave.

  “Be careful, little one. The next werewolf to arrive at your doorstep might not be as forgiving as me.” He rose from his chair and glanced at his niece. “Alura?”

  Still reeling from his threat, I swallowed. “You’re leaving?”

  “Yes,” he answered.

  Alura gave him a tight smile. “I’ll stay a little while and visit with Autumn.”

  “As you wish.” He nodded once and walked away, stopping at the blue Jaguar.

  “I apologize for my uncle’s behavior.” She rolled her eyes.

  It was hard to gauge if they were playing good cop bad cop or if Alura was being sincere. She sure seemed genuine and I needed answers.

  “Your uncle’s a werewolf. You guys don’t like my kind, right?” I asked.

  “Not necessarily.” Alura gave a delicate shrug. “Depends on the werewolf and how he or she was raised. I’m neutral.”

  She seemed responsive and I had so many questions. God, where would I begin? Looking around to make sure nobody was close to our table and could hear us, I still lowered my voice. “Are you a born werewolf or were you bitten? That’s how you make a werewolf, rig
ht?”

  Her brows rose. “Just dive right in. Yes, it only takes one bite.”

  “Is it a saliva thing? Or is there something with the fangs? How does it work?” I took a sip of my coffee.

  “The bite creates a path into the body and the saliva carries the virus. I’m a born werewolf, so I didn’t go through that, thank goodness.”

  “Born werewolves are rare though, right?” I’d been wishing for Zack’s early arrival, but now that Renzo was gone and I could pump Alura for information, he could take his time. “Because females can’t carry a child to term.”

  “Right. We’re incapable of having children because our urge to morph is too strong and the baby dies when we change form. My mother was human when she had me, as was Zack’s.” Her lips curved up. “Being on your own with no one to talk to about this, you must have saved up a bunch of questions.”

  “Yes. I have tons. I—”

  “Hi, Zack,” Alura called out. “Would you like to join us?”

  Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Zack heading toward us from the Jeep.

  “Hey,” he said, once his feet touched the concrete of the patio. “Let me get a coffee and I’ll join you guys.”

  “Is Maya coming too?” I asked him.

  “Yeah, she and Trevor are in the car. They’ll be out in a minute.” Zack passed through the front door of the coffee house.

  I made sure he was gone, then whispered as quietly as I could. “Remember, he doesn’t know I’m a shape-shifter or that you know we’re still together.”

  “Gotcha covered.” Alura smiled. “And there they are.”

  I glanced over my shoulder and beamed at Maya. Thankfully, werewolves had rules against hurting mortals or involving them in anything that would flag the police and expose us. At least I didn’t have to worry about my friends’ safety. “Hey, get your drinks and sit with us.”

  She grinned. “We’ll be right back.”

  Wait… what if Maya or Trevor mentioned our road trip in front of Alura? Not only that, but what if someone from school saw Zack and me hanging out? If Gina heard we were friendly, then his attempt to gain her trust and trap her would be a waste of time. That would ruin everything. Unless Zack had made progress with Gina tonight, but I hadn’t heard from him yet.