My Wolf's Bane (28 page)

I recalled the first day I’d noticed changes. I’d just learned we’d be moving again and then I’d gotten grounded. The next day, I had the run-in with Zack, then Gina got pissed off at me and later Daniel douched it up at my expense.

“You must’ve completely freaked the first time you morphed,” I said.

“It was strange,” Zack agreed. “But I had so much energy and this wild urge to… I don’t know. One time I took off running and in my mind I was a wolf. I
needed
to be a wolf. And an instant later, I really was. It felt natural. Instinct, I guess.”

I didn’t feel any of those things, except the extra energy and the running part. “I haven’t had the urge to morph.”

“You probably won’t. Shape-shifters are different. Relax. It’ll come.”

I shook my head. The sooner I learned to change into a bear or some other dangerous animal, the sooner I could protect myself. “I’d like to try
now
.”

“Go for it.” Zack pointed to his temple. “It’s all in here.”

“What if I can’t change back? I’m afraid I might get stuck.”

He chuckled. “Not gonna happen. If you can change once, you can change again. Once you morph, you’ll see.”

“Okay, here goes nothing.” Focusing everything I had into being a wolf, my body heated up and a tingle that felt like it might turn into a headache traveled up the base of my neck.

“You’re trying too hard,” he said after a moment. “Think soothing thoughts and picture a specific animal. Visualize it.
Be
it. You have to
know
you can do it.”

I imagined myself as a wolf.
I am a wolf… a wolf… a wolf.
I opened my eyes and held out my arms. They were blurry, almost translucent. It felt… like I was
meant
to morph. Peaceful.

“Yes,” Zack whispered. “That’s it.”

My arms steadied and became normal again.

“Sorry. I guess I distracted you. Try again. This time I’ll be quiet. Go on,” Zack coaxed.

I focused again, the exact same way. The vibrations started, only this time, more controlled. Then, my body became lighter, almost weightless. Suddenly, I stood on all fours and the world appeared a lot different. Black and white, mostly. Ugh. I wanted to run now, but couldn’t in the living room. I felt trapped and claustrophobic.

I thought about being human again, and the next moment, I was.

I felt the chill across my naked flesh and screamed. Zack gaped as I hunched over to cover myself. “The least you could do is look away,” I hissed.

He turned around.

“You could’ve warned me.” Snatching my clothes, I disappeared behind the recliner and threw on my shirt. My pants weren’t on yet, but Zack couldn’t see beyond the furniture. “You can look now.”

“Kind of like when I was barking for you to turn around and ended up having to dress in the bushes. Twice.” Zack raised a brow.

“Okay, Zack. Now we’re even,” I said, zipping up my jeans and sitting next to him on the couch. I was so irritated that I knew nothing could possibly happen between us now. Which made the close proximity to him totally safe.

“I wasn’t trying to get even for the times I morphed and you forgot to turn around. I wouldn’t do that on purpose.” His eyes were riveted to mine. “Besides, there are less sneaky ways of getting you naked.”

Why was I thinking the couch would be safe? This yo-yo business was getting painful. Standing up, I struggled to concentrate as I leaned against the recliner. “So it’s always like that? You shift back buck naked? Kind of inconvenient, isn’t it?”

“I never worried about it, because I’ve always been alone when I morphed.” He shrugged. “If you wore one hundred percent cotton or linen — something from nature, or close — it would shift with you. When you’re human again, you’re fully dressed.”

“Seriously?” That was great news. “I see a shopping spree in my future.”

My first morph. I’d done it. I inched forward to sit on the arm of the recliner that was nearest to Zack. “What else should I know about us?”

“There’s not much more.” He leaned back and ran a hand through his hair. “Except that werewolves aren’t very nice. According to one of my books that documented various crimes throughout history, all the really violent periods, werewolves were responsible. Like the Spanish Inquisition and Hitler, Charles Manson — they were all werewolves. The very worst of mankind weren’t really men at all. They were monsters.”

“But there are good ones, too.” Zack was proof of that. “Like you.”

“Sometimes I’m not good.” He looked at me, his eyes intense. Hungry.

I swallowed hard, staring at him.

He let his head fall back against the couch and closed his eyes. When he focused on me again, his eyes were clear.

“Of course you’re good. You always try to do right by me.”

“Which isn’t easy,” Zack said. “You’re like fast food.”

I narrowed my eyes at him and crossed my arms. “How’s that?”

“You know it’s not a good idea, but you keep coming back for more anyway.”

I wanted to get mad at Zack, be offended. But if he was compelled to spend time with me and even wanted to kiss me, how could that be a bad thing?

“I see why Daniel won’t go away.”

Now he’d gone and ruined my good mood by bringing
him
up.

Zack groaned. “Totally off the subject, but I just remembered I still have homework to do.”

“I did it while you were at work.”

Zack beamed. “You did my homework for me?”

Nodding, I returned his smile.

“Wow,” he said. “Thanks.”

Zack was openly staring and the longer he did, the more I wanted to kiss him. I pretended there were bars between us that were impossible to squeeze through. I would not invite him in, because if I did, surely we’d make out and I’d get my heart crushed all over again.

He rose from the couch, but when I sidestepped off the arm of the recliner to avoid him, he paused and seemed to shake it off. “Let’s go for a run,” he said. “I’m thinking of a spot more private, but we need a car. Mind if I drive?”

“Sure.” I dashed upstairs to change, wondering where he’d pick. And wishing I wasn’t so excited to be going into the woods with him.

† † †

We drove with the top down, so I gathered my hair in a ponytail and enjoyed the night air infused with the scent of pine.

“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.”

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.”