Beautifully Unnatural: A Young Adult Paranormal Boxed Set (91 page)

“The scouts can’t catch us together as werewolf and shifter,” Zack said, eyes trained on the road.

“Right,” I said, admiring his exquisite profile. “They’ll want to enslave me.”

“It’s not just that. Shape-shifters and werewolves do
not
socialize with each other. At all. You guys are slaves and not worthy of us.”

“Really?” I asked, an edge to my voice. Maybe that was the real reason he didn’t want to be with me.

He spared me a glance. “Hey, I didn’t make the rules. If I felt that way, I wouldn’t be here.”

I believed him. “Right. Sorry.”

“Forget it.”

We’d driven around winding roads and now cruised through a deserted area, one side a cliff and the other a mountain. Zack slowed and glided the car into a lookout spot, then grinned at me. “I can’t wait to see what else you can do. Let’s go.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

We reached a dense part of the forest and could no longer see the car, the sky barely visible through the thick clumps of branches and leaves. I could smell moss growing on the ground and boulders where massive trees provided protection from the sun.

Zack stood, his arms folded. “What do you most want to be?”

I thought about it a moment, then closed my eyes and the vibrating began. Except this time, it was more like a shimmer, then the floating sensation enveloped me. A moment later, I roared.

Zack chuckled. “A tiger, of course. I should’ve known. Cream, not white or striped. You had to be different, didn’t you?” His eyes traveled down my form and landed on my shoes at my feet. “You thought ahead. That’s too bad, because your wardrobe malfunction earlier was rather illuminating. I’ll have to sneak into your room and steal all your natural fiber clothes, so they don’t morph with you.”

I snarled at him and bared my fangs.

He laughed and morphed, then bolted off into the trees.

When we’d run enough to soothe the animal in us, we returned to the spot where we’d left Zack’s clothes and my sneakers. I easily shifted to human.

“
Turn around
,” he told me silently.

I would’ve rather watched. So far, I’d seen his stomach and chest. Was the rest of him as flawless? But I grudgingly obeyed, listening to the fabric rustling as he got dressed. After finding my shoes, I put them on.

“I want to try something else,” I said.

Better to practice another time,” he said. “Morphing takes more energy than you think. You’ll sleep like a rock tonight, but it’ll get easier as you get stronger. You can turn around now.”

As I did, I got a glimpse of the muscle at his hips that cut in at his waist. Then it all disappeared, hidden by his shirt. Back to business. “I’ll get stronger?”

“I did.” He finished with his socks and located a shoe. “We should arm wrestle and see what you’re made of. We can use it to gauge any future increase.”

“I
am
curious, but we can do that tomorrow.” I still had so many questions. But he was right when he said morphing took energy. I felt all used up, mentally and physically. “We should get home.”

Zack led the way to the Mustang. Once inside, I leaned back and closed my eyes. What seemed like several seconds later, the car stopped and I popped up. How long had I been sleeping? I hated getting that tired. Embarrassing things happened, like drooling with my mouth open. Hopefully, he’d been concentrating on the road.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“Your house.” He chuckled softly. “Where else?”

I wiped at my mouth, thankful it was dry, then got out and stumbled up the steps and into the house. “I’ll shower in the morning when I’m more awake,” I said as I made my way upstairs.

“Don’t forget your book.” He pointed to the box of his father’s things.

I abandoned the steps to sift through the books, unsure which one I should pick. “What’s this?” It was thin, like a pamphlet, but hardbound. The faded, threadbare cover wore the words
The Truth About Shape-shifters
in old, block style letters across the front. I flipped it open. On the inside cover, it read,
Brought to you by SWAAST
.

“What’s SWAAST?” I asked.

“Shape-shifter Werewolf Alliance Against Slavery and Tyranny. They’re a group of shape-shifters and werewolves who help others who’ve escaped captivity or defied the king. They try to spread the truth through things like this. But the king wiped out most of them. I doubt they exist anymore.”

Interesting. I’d been close to retiring to my room, but my fascination with SWAAST reenergized me. “You don’t think they’re around anymore?” I asked.

“They’re a threat. King Mortimer would do everything in his power to destroy them.”

My eyes left the book to stare at Zack. “It’s a whole different world with its own problems and politics, isn’t it?” I examined the cover again, reading the title, and frowned. “Your dad was a scout.”

“That’s right.”

“Then why would he have this book?” Zack opened his mouth to answer, but I didn’t give him a chance. “If it’s that dangerous being part of SWAAST, we can assume it’s also dangerous to know them or even have these things in your possession.”

“I never thought about the danger aspect of it. I just figured he left it for me so I’d know about shape-shifters, not because he actually supported SWAAST.”

“But isn’t it safe to assume that if he was against them, he would’ve gotten rid of this book and never let you see it? If he supported the king at all, he wouldn’t have left it for you to learn.”

He paused a moment with a bewildered look. “Yeah, it seems logical he wouldn’t risk me getting caught with this book unless it was really important to him.”

“And it would only be important to him if he was a believer.” I hesitated a moment to let him absorb that. “Which proves my theory that good werewolves do exist.”

A gamut of emotions flickered over Zack’s face. “I guess so.”

“What did he look like? Your dad.” Now that I knew Lucio Gavino De Luca was worthy of the love Zack so obviously felt for him, I became more curious than ever. “You have pictures, right?”

“My mom had some photos, but they disappeared one day about ten years ago. Maybe my dad knew he wouldn’t make it back and didn’t want evidence he’d been there. If a werewolf ever saw the pictures and recognized him, I’d automatically be marked and a scout assigned to keep an eye on me until I came of age.”

“So he was trying to shield you. They found you anyway.” I glanced at the book again then Zack, tilting my head thoughtfully. “You don’t remember what he looked like? Not even a little?”

“I was too young the last time I saw him.” His gaze returned to the box of his dad’s books sitting by the couch.

I didn’t think Zack would be up for idle conversation. Or for me grilling him more on our kind and I was exhausted anyway. I waited a beat, not wanting to barge in on his private moment. “I’m glad he wasn’t a bad guy.” I rose from the couch, my SWAAST book in hand. “Well, goodnight.”

He gave me a half smile.

I made my way up the stairs with the book. Part way up, I glanced back. Zack rifled through the box like he was searching for something specific. He stopped and stared at a book intently while taking it with him to the couch.

† † †

“Autumn. Wake up.”

My eyelids fought me, but I eventually triumphed and squinted at the intruder. “What?” I croaked.

“We’re going to be late for school if you don’t get up.” He vanished from the doorway and I struggled to clear the cobwebs. I’d started the book, gotten my second wind and stayed up way too late reading it.

I sprung from my bed, pinned up my hair since I didn’t have time to wash it, then jumped in the shower. When I was ready, Zack was waiting by the door.

“Don’t you have an alarm clock?” he asked.

“My dad always woke me up.”

He rolled his eyes. “Great. I’ve replaced your dad.”

“If the shoe fits.” I snorted. “
You
are the one who insists on being just friends.”

We arrived at the driver’s side of my car and I raised my brows. He shook his head and rounded the hood to the passenger side.

On the way to school, I thought about the book I’d started last night. “So apparently, your people and mine don’t hook up because supposedly, mating makes both of them weaker.”

Zack cocked his head. “Yeah, I remember reading that. Didn’t pay much attention to it at the time, since I didn’t know any shape shifters.”

“So if we made out, you could lose to Daniel in a fight, because I made you weaker?” I spared him a quick glance.

Zack shrugged. “I guess. But by
mating
they probably mean… you know. Not just making out.”

“But you’re not positive, right? It could be physical contact and kissing. Why didn’t you tell me
before
we fooled around?” I made a turn, wondering what else Zack had neglected to tell me.

“If that’s all it took, we’d already feel weaker. And anyway, things like that don’t occur to guys when they’re kissing a hot girl. Besides, I read it like two years ago and forgot about it, ’cause I had no reason to think it would ever be an issue.”

That was understandable. “It’s odd — mating making us weaker.” I stopped for a red light and studied Zack. “Could be just a calculated rumor to prevent forbidden love.”

“Agreed. But since you and I defy the norm, who are we to say what’s possible and what isn’t? It could be some chemical reaction that sucks away our powers.”

Maybe. Maybe not. “What if it’s not true? According to the book, there are no documented cases except from the king’s court. He doesn’t like us and uses us as slaves. That’s not very objective.” I drove the Mustang past the gate and into the school parking lot.

“Yeah, but what if it
is
true? I don’t think any shifter or werewolf would be crazy enough to risk it. Oh, and from what I remember, socializing at all is illegal. You’ll read about that soon in one of those books.”

That was news to me. “So we’ve already broken the law?” I cruised by rows of cars until I found a spot wide enough to hopefully prevent any car doors opening and dinging my Mustang.

“Yeah. Like I don’t already have enough problems with the scouts. If we get caught breaking the law, the scouts taking me to the king will be the least of my problems.”

I stared at him, shocked. “Zack, you could be killed.”

He opened the car door, then stopped to eye me. “Then you’d better not let anyone find out you’re not human.”

As he hopped out of the car, I realized what he was risking. His life. For me.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

I parked in the school lot, my mind stuck on what Zack had just said. So he and I being together as boyfriend and girlfriend wasn’t a matter of choice anymore? I couldn’t hope Zack would fall violently in love with me and take me on the run with him, because even if he did, we couldn’t do anything about it or we’d lose our strength and be easy targets. The future, the world and everything in it suddenly seemed so pointless and dismal.

I needed to move. But my limbs felt too heavy.

Zack nudged me as we walked away from the Mustang. Sluggishly, I followed, hitting the clicker to lock up.

“Hey,” he said. “It’s not like we could’ve been together anyway.”

That didn’t help. At all.

I whirled around to face Zack, yanking his arm and forcing him to halt mid-step. “I don’t know why you’re so cold about this, Zack. I
know
you like me. Why do you have to hide it?”

He stared at me so long, doubt for my theory crept up on me like a bedbug. Was it smoldering passion I saw in his eyes, because he wanted me so badly? Or annoyance because my assumption was horribly wrong?

“Never mind. It doesn’t matter.” I bolted ahead of him in a huff, a part of me wanting to lose him. But, to his credit, he kept up while still maintaining his distance.

In my cloud of temper, I hadn’t noticed Daniel step in front of me. I bounced into his chest, my forehead clipping his chin.

Daniel’s big hands clamped onto my elbows. “Come back to me,” he said so quietly, I doubted Zack could hear. “I can’t be without you. Please, Autumn. Give us another chance.”

Sure, he was begging now, but in a moment, when he didn’t get his way, he’d turn nasty again. “No means no, Daniel.”

Zack’s familiar scent surrounded me and his arm circled my waist. His hand slid over my hip, palm flattening over my stomach possessively as he pressed my back to his chest. Delicious. I naturally melted against his chest, my insides alive with little butterflies.

I looked into Daniel’s eyes, but he’d zeroed in on Zack behind me. All softness and pleading had vanished, replaced by fire. I gazed into his soul and saw destruction and mayhem. It hadn’t hit me until that moment that exposing Zack to Daniel put Zack’s life in jeopardy. Because of
me
. If I went back to Daniel, Zack would be safe.

“She’s with me,” Zack rumbled, his warm breath caressing my cheek.