My Wolf’s Bane(62)
“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.”