Wolves at the Door (22 page)

I held myself in check so I wouldn’t chase after Zack, my eyes glued to his back as he eventually disappeared beyond the doorway. I could reason away why Zack had no right to be mad, but my gut told me he was furious anyway.

~~~

Chapter Nineteen

Every muscle in my body screamed to chase after Zack, but that would undo all our hard work. Instead, I sat next to Maya until lunch was over, making small talk and twiddling my thumbs until the bell rang.

Maya’s next class was close to mine, so we walked to fifth period together.

“I saw the way you were looking at Zack when he left. You’re totally stuck on him.”

Damn. I’d have to be more careful.

I laughed once. “No, I’m not.”

She stopped and turned to me, searching my face. “Yep. You still like him.”

I looked away for an instant while I gathered my wits, then I focused on her. “Of course I still like him. He and I are friends, remember? Friends usually like each other. I was just trying to figure out why he left so suddenly. It’s strange for him.”

She lifted one brow. “I think Zack wants you back.”

He wanted me back? My heart soared. Then I remembered that he’d never lost me in the first place. “What makes you think that?”

“You should’ve seen his face when that jerk was perving on you.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” Maya answered. “He didn’t take his eyes off you guys for an instant. He looked… dangerous. Trevor was all tense and everything in case he needed to pull Zack off the guy. Are you
sure
you don’t want to get back together with him?”

“Positive.” I nodded toward the stretch of hallway ahead of us. “We should get to class.”

“What did Cameron want?”

“Ashley’s having a few people over for a swim after school today.”

“And you’re going?”

“I thought I might. It’d give me something to do”
— I’d almost said
while Zack was at work
—“since my parents aren’t around.”

She seemed to buy that and we went our separate ways. As I neared my English Lit class, Zack talked to Gina just beyond the doorway.

“So we’re still on for tonight?” she asked.

Zack nodded. “Yeah, around seven?”

“See you then.” She gave him a flirtatious smile, then spun around and walked past me.

By the time I switched to Zack, he was already seated. I stopped right in front of him. “Hey.”

“Hi,” he said, then changed to silent communication.
What did Cameron want?

I took my seat and pretended to organize my materials, wondering why Zack was asking about Cameron when he’d heard every word of our conversation.
Ashley’s having a mini pool party and wanted me to go
.

He eyed me intently.
Ashley wanted you to go?

Yeah.

But Cameron was the one who invited you
.

He didn’t exactly invite me.
I risked a quick look at him.
He informed me about it and asked if I was going.

That’s just semantics.
As the classroom slowly became more crowded, Zack sighed.
In Cameron’s mind, it’s a date, Autumn. And you agreed to it.

That is not a date!
The bell couldn’t ring soon enough for me.
It’s a few people swimming at her house
.

He made a funny little grunting noise.
Whatever
.

Using your logic, the little get-together with Gina tonight is a date, too
.

That’s different.

How so?
I couldn’t wait to hear how he justified it.

We’ll be studying, Autumn.
He tapped on the surface of his desk, then flipped the cover of his book open.
Besides, you knew about it yesterday and you didn’t say anything about it then
.

I cleared my throat, keeping my head down.
You mean if I made plans to do something with Cameron tomorrow and you knew about it today, then it’s not a date?

The bell rang and he growled.
Just forget it
.

At the end of class, I gathered my materials, then turned around to grab my sweater off the back of the chair. By the time I turned around, Zack was gone.

The school drama was getting old. Since my next class was with Mr. Collins and Natalie, it would likely get a little older.

Science finally let out and I looked around for Gina who was nowhere in sight. How was I supposed to cozy up to her if she kept disappearing? After a couple minutes of searching, I gave up and headed to my car, hoping to spy Zack along the way. I immediately located his Jeep in the parking lot and waved to Trevor and Maya. Where was Zack?

Intending to stow my books in my car until he appeared, I walked to the Mustang. And there was Zack, leaning against the hood of my car, surrounded by three giggling girls. He smiled charmingly, inviting each of them into his personal circle.

Flirting with girls right at my car? Zack spotted me and each of the girls shifted to follow his gaze. Two of them scowled like I’d just vomited on their new shoes. The third girl seemed surprised. I glared at the two less friendly girls and they backed away a smidgen. Though they were a nuisance, I reminded myself it wasn’t their fault. Zack probably didn’t put up a fight when they attached themselves to him.

I fantasized about being alone with him for a weekend, just me and him. No girls chasing him, no vicious girls setting me up for cheating and no jerks like Greg hitting on me when they’re stoned. Even if Zack liked the idea, could we get away without anyone knowing we’d left town together?

“Hey, I need to
speak to Autumn. I’ll talk to you guys later, huh?”

“I thought you two broke up.” The little brunette pouted.

“We did. But I left a couple things at her house and I need to get them back. It’ll only take a minute if you want to wait.”

“We’ll wait,” the blonde said huskily. “C’mon Emily.” She gave him one last seductive smile before sweeping her friends away to huddle a few cars down.

“So are you coming over tonight?” Zack asked, keeping his voice low.

“Are you sure you’ll have the energy after satisfying those girls, then doing your shift at work and seeing Gina?”

He closed his eyes a moment as he inhaled and exhaled. “It’s all for show and you know it. Are you coming over or not?”

“Yes,” I hissed.

“Fine.” His jaw tightened just before he stalked off to reunite with the three girls.

I got in my car and left, pretending I had blinders on so I couldn’t look at Zack laughing with them. What I really wanted to do
was stomp over to the girls, stake my claim on Zack, then order them to stay the hell away from my boyfriend.

But Renzo had told me to keep our relationship under wraps, that we never knew when we’d meet up with a werewolf who wasn’t on vacation. Even if no other werewolves showed up, Renzo was the last person I wanted to cross. Just thinking about being cornered by him again, made me tremor from my toes all the way up to my spine.

† † †

I slipped a pair of shorts over my bathing suit, so I wouldn’t have to worry about changing once I got to Ashley’s. Grabbing a towel, I dashed out of my house, looking forward to a few hours of stress-free swimming with friends.

Ashley lived only a few blocks away on the outskirts of the forest. Driving down the rural road reminded me of Charles and I wondered what had happened to his remains. I didn’t watch much TV, nor did I normally pay attention to the news alerts that popped up on my browser. I didn’t need to because my parents usually clued me in on anything noteworthy. If they missed something, I’d hear about it at school or from Mrs. Morales next door who’d bring a basket of muffins and chat about everything she could think of until we were properly informed.

Yet I’d heard nothing at all from anyone.

Wouldn’t finding an over-sized, mutilated wolf carcass hit the local news? Especially since wolves weren’t common in our area? It’s not as if we’d hidden the body — we’d left it right on the ground close to where we’d parked the car.

I detoured and turned up the road that would take me to that spot. About a mile along I pulled over and climbed out of the car. Where was it? The forest looked completely different during the day.

As I trekked along the dirt road, I inhaled, trying to pick up the scent of wolf. I hiked a few yards farther, then the stench of old blood filled my nostrils. I recognized the raised tree root, a broken branch and big rocks scattered about. It was definitely the spot.

I didn’t see a
body, though. Even if the animals had scavenged him, wouldn’t there be something leftover, like a skull or a tuft of hair?

But no such traces existed. I waved my nose in the air, trying to find a scent trail, a direction the carcass may have been dragged off to. Or walked… Could Charles have survived with his insides ripped out? According to the movies, the only way to kill a werewolf was a silver bullet. How much truth did that theory hold?

After a few more minutes searching the immediate vicinity, I walked back to my car. I was about to open the driver’s side door when a ranger truck parked next to me.

“Excuse me, sir?” I asked as he got out of his truck.

He swiveled around in his short-sleeved, crisp uniform. “Not sure it’s a good idea for you to be out here alone, Miss.”

“Extenuating circumstances. I needed to check something out. Saturday morning, we were hiking around here and saw a dead wolf right over there.” I pointed to where we’d left Charles.

“We don’t have wolves in this area, Miss. Must’ve been a coyote.”

“It was definitely a wolf.”

He gave a sigh, which said it all — someone so young had no business telling him about his job. He’d never buy the wolf theory. If I pushed it, he’d think I was stupid and he’d be less likely to take me seriously.

“Okay, it was definitely dog-like.” I shrugged. “Did you see it or maybe someone called it in?”

He folded his muscular arms over his chest, shaking his head decisively. “No. Probably got eaten by local scavengers. Why so much interest in it?”

“Felt bad when I saw it.” I softened my voice. “I assumed he was dead, but then I got to thinking maybe he was wounded and needed help.”

That was all I needed to say. The ranger was obviously an animal lover. “We patrol the area frequently. If there was a wounded animal, I assure you, we would’ve seen it and taken care of it.”

Then why was there no trace of the body? Scavengers would’ve left bones and fur, right?

“Thank you. That’s comforting to know,” I said, really laying on the innocent act. I got in my car and resumed the short drive to Ashley’s.

When I arrived, John and Janine greeted me at the
door and ushered me to the backyard.

“Hey, Autumn, glad you could make it.” Ashley hugged me and handed me a soda from the cooler by the table.

I took it and hugged her back, happy to see her and thankful for the company.

“
Um.” She frowned. “I invited Zack this morning, thinking it would be fine since you guys still hang out. But when I saw him at lunch, he looked pissed off. You guys still okay?”

“Yeah, I think he was mad about something else. He and I are good.” I smiled and waved my hand, unsure how I felt about Zack showing up. A part of me was anxious to see him, but the other part loathed the thought of continuing the charade. I just wanted to take it easy for a little while and not have to pretend, not have to lie to anyone.

“I guess he has to work, so he’s not coming until later anyway. If you feel weird about it, you can always slip out before he gets here. But I’d like you to stay… if you want,” she added uncertainly.

“Thanks. I’ll have to go home to eat at some point anyway, so I’ll play it by ear.”

“My parents are springing for pizza.”

There went that excuse, but I liked her idea of dinner much better than what I’d find at home. “Pizza sounds awesome.”