Shapes of Autumn (Boxed set, books 1 - 5)

by Veronica Blade

  Note to self: Don’t wander the estate without Kayla and Tony. I hoped they’d be guarding us every second.

  † † †

  “I don’t know why we’re bothering to unpack.” Zack stuffed the last of his things in the bottom drawer of the chest and whirled around to face me. “They hate us. Even the vampires protecting us don’t want us here. How long before Cedric and Kayla give up and decide it’s easier to let the whole household feed on us?”

  After shooting off a quick text to my mom to let her know we’d arrived safely, I powered off the phone and tossed it on the bed. “Let’s give it some time. We might end up here longer than a few days and we don’t want to live out of a suitcase. May as well be comfortable.” I leaned a hip along the front of the dresser. “And even if Cedric decides he doesn’t want to risk alienating his people, wouldn’t he make some kind of effort to get us out of here safely?”

  “Safely to where?” Zack hadn’t budged from where he’d been standing in front of his dresser, his eyes holding an empty stare. “The werewolf king knows about me. I’m expected to show up on his doorstep any day. He’ll send someone after me if I don’t. And then there’s always Renzo. Nowhere is safe.”

  I crossed the room and let my knuckles caress his jaw, but he still didn’t seem to see me. “We expected this, Zack. It’s not a big surprise.”

  His unfocused gaze drifted to somewhere behind me. “We’ve killed a scout and Renzo knows about it. Fraternizing with the enemy brings the death penalty, and Renzo knows we’re together. We have no idea why he hasn’t turned us in, but it’s only a matter of time before someone nails us.” He stepped away and ran his hands through his hair.

  None of that was news to me and shouldn’t have been news to Zack either. Maybe his negativity had more to do with having doubts about being with me. “We were always going to be on the run, Zack.” I peeked at him as he paced the room. The whites around his deep green irises were bloodshot.

  “Yeah, I know.” He scrubbed his hands over his face. “It’s been a hard day.”

  “I wish I could undo the entire morning. Maybe things won’t seem so bleak after some sleep.” Today had been long and brutal for me too, and I wanted more than anything to wipe it all away and get lost in Zack’s hands on me, his thumbs digging into my hips. But he’d been through too much these past few hours and I didn’t want to push. For now, he needed rest. I could use some of that too.

  His gaze raked over me, from the brown military boots on my feet to the snug jeans and then up to my V-neck tee. Since I finally had his attention, I closed the distance and snaked my arms around his neck. He brushed his fingers across my cheek. “I don’t know what I’d do without you,” he said, barely above a whisper.

  “Ditto.” Sliding my hand down his shoulder, I gently took his hand and coaxed him toward the bed. I stopped when the backs of my knees bumped the mattress. “C’mon. We should get some rest.”

  Zack’s palm rested at my hip as he touched his forehead to mine. His eyes smoldered and my lungs tightened like they were sealing shut. “You’re so beautiful,” he said.

  I absorbed his words, allowing them to cocoon me, and waited for what he might do next. And then his mouth was on mine, laying waste to any inclination I may have had to hold back.

  God, he hadn’t kissed me all day. “I’ve missed you,” I rasped when he came up for air.

  “Not as much as I missed you.” He lowered his mouth to mine again, then he picked me up by my hips and I wrapped my legs against his waist. My back collided with the mattress, our hands in a frenzy for each other, our mouths hungry. My chest heaved, my heart pounding.

  A rumble began deep in Zack’s throat before he rolled off me. He tunneled his hands through his hair. “It’s too easy to get carried away with you.”

  “Likewise,” I said in an unsteady voice as I curled up against him.

  A long moment later, he reached for my hand then whispered, “I’m scared. Of being without my mom, my family.” He leaned over to land a kiss on the top of my head. “You.”

  “But we’re together now. We don’t have to think about the future yet.” I inhaled, absorbing his musky scent. The strain of the day had worn on me too. Snuggled up to him, I drifted off to sleep, but remained on the edge of consciousness. Just because I’d tried to ease Zack’s worry by insisting my mother wouldn’t have sent us anywhere dangerous didn’t mean I believed we were totally safe. I only knew that my mom believed it.

  Chapter EIGHT

  Zack

  The sun had set and our room was almost pitch black. I reached into my pocket to grab my cell to check the time, hoping we hadn’t slept until the next morning. As hard as my stomach was yowling for food, I wouldn’t have been surprised. But only three hours had passed.

  I peered over at Autumn through the dark, easily finding the line of her jaw with my superhuman vision, her long black lashes, the way her thick brown hair fanned over the pillow, and her slightly parted full lips. Memories of our pre-nap kiss hijacked me and all I could think about was doing it again.

  But I’d made her carry the brunt of my burden earlier, which made me reluctant to wake her. The idea that I’d made things harder for her than they needed to be had my chest aching. I’d make it up to her somehow.

  Maybe I’d wake her after all.

  I maneuvered myself over her, pressing my weight into her soft, warm body. Her lids fluttered, exposing her big brown eyes, and she reached over to run her fingers up my spine. She moaned and the urge to touch every inch of her overruled all logic. When my thumb grazed her breast, she took in a quick lungful of air and kissed me harder as her legs molded against my thighs.

  Her sweet taste invaded my senses and everything else around me dimmed. All I knew was her: the warmth of her skin at my fingertips, the curve of her waist against my palm, the way her hips followed me as we swallowed each other’s whispers with every kiss.

  I reached for the button of her jeans. She gasped and blocked me. “What are you doing?”

  Trying to get her naked.

  Oh, hell. Not that I was opposed to having every inch of her silky, exposed skin against me, but I couldn’t actually have sex with her. We couldn’t get remotely close to doing that. Not if we wanted to stay strong to be able to protect ourselves.

  Werewolves and shape-shifters weren’t supposed to interact in any way. Period. Not just because it was illegal, but also because it wasn’t safe. Legend said that mixing species caused both species to lose their supernatural abilities. If we gave in to our desires, we’d be too weak to protect ourselves later. Like Hannah and Eli who escaped from the werewolf king centuries ago and hadn’t been seen since. Even if they survived the king’s henchmen—highly improbable—they’d most likely mixed species and were long since buried. Until we discovered otherwise, Autumn and I could never do much more than kiss.

  That I’d let it get this far and nearly lost control was bad. Especially considering we were right smack in the middle of an awful lot of hostile vamps where we needed our strength the most. I abandoned her zipper, sighed, and rested my cheek against hers. “I hate this.”

  “Not more than I do.” She stroked the back of my arms and it felt nice. Really nice. God, I wanted to do all the things to her I’d been fantasizing about for months. That would keep us in bed for a few days.

  I needed to refuel, but working off my extra energy might take my mind off Autumn’s unbelievable body. Or not. It was worth a try.

  “I need to morph.” I groaned and rolled off her. “I hope the vampire king has as much control over his subjects as he thinks he does.” My feet touched the ground and I held my hand out for her.

  She let me pull her up. “Since he’s all we got, I hope so.”

  “Remember what Cedric said and stay close to me so they don’t catch your scent. Or lack thereof,” I whispered. “Wolf form only, okay?”

  “Roger that.” She kissed me on the nose and tugged me toward the door.

  We vaca
ted our room, which led us to Cedric’s study where we’d met with him earlier. He glanced up from the monitor squinting, surrounded by a mountain of paperwork.

  “You don’t have assistants to do that for you?” Autumn wrinkled her nose.

  Cedric mumbled something but I couldn’t be sure if they were even words. “Usually, yes,” he said. “But I have some investments and concerns that I see to personally. Off for a run?” The king clearly understood werewolves’ compulsion to morph daily.

  “Unless you don’t mind if I hang around here and destroy the place.” In my wolf form I was pretty big since I stayed the same weight when I changed shape. Minimally, the slick hardwood floors could get scratched by the long claws of a nearly two-hundred-pound werewolf. The carpeted sections would get shredded.

  The king’s eyes danced in amusement. “Kayla and Tony will be here any moment.”

  Autumn angled her head. “So she’ll escort us everywhere we go?”

  Cedric hiked up one brow. “Would you rather risk being attacked by an angry mob of blood suckers?”

  Autumn shook her head. “That came out wrong. I meant, well, you’re going through an awful lot of trouble and—”

  “And after you leave, I’ll still be indebted to your mother. She saved my life. I’m merely providing a temporary safe house for her daughter and boyfriend.”

  The king definitely sounded committed. But could we trust him? Didn’t they eat humans? Probably werewolves too. “So, um, I hate to ask the obvious. Do vampires—”

  “Yes, we prefer to drink human blood.” He glanced up from the monitor again. “No, it doesn’t have to be fresh and straight from the vein. We can do frozen blood or take it in bags if we need to. Yes, we can sustain ourselves on animal blood, though it’s not nearly as tasty,” he rattled off as if he’d been asked about his diet a million times before.

  “Right.” Autumn blinked.

  “I’ve already notified Kayla you two need to go out.” He aimed an index finger at his head. He’d told her by telepathy, of course.

  A tap sounded at the door. It cracked open and Kayla’s head popped through. “We’ll be waiting outside.”

  “Off with you then.” King Cedric resumed squinting at the monitor, which was immediately followed by profanity.

  “You need help?” Autumn inched toward the huge wooden desk. “I’m pretty good with computers.”

  Scowling, he leaned back in his chair. “Not unless you’re an expert at getting the columns to add up on this spreadsheet.”

  Autumn shot him a smug look, rounded the desk, and nudged him out of her way. “Child’s play. Which column?”

  “I need the total right there.” He pointed at a field.

  Autumn’s fingers tap-danced across the keyboard. A moment later, she straightened. “When you have a real computer problem, let me know.”

  He studied her a moment. “What else can you do?”

  “Website design, a little programming. I’m Photoshop certified.”

  “You’re hired.”

  Autumn laughed. “I can’t accept your money, but it’d be great to have something to take my mind off all the vampires wishing we were dead.”

  “And if you have any cars that need fixing, you only need to show me the way,” I added. “We’re happy to help any way we can… under the condition that we get fed soon.”

  The king’s eyes sparkled. “Today’s my lucky day. As it turns out, the Bentley developed a humming noise yesterday. The kitchen on this floor was fully stocked in anticipation of your arrival, so go ahead and raid it when you’re ready.”

  Relief washed over me. If we’re helping in some way, we wouldn’t be sponging off the vampires. They might even see that we weren’t all that bad. “I’ll check out the Bentley tomorrow after breakfast.”

  “Fine. Have a good run, but don’t wander too far from Kayla and Tony. Just because we’ve got a hundred acres doesn’t mean you need to explore all of it tonight.”

  I saluted the king and we headed out. Kayla threw me a strange look and I wondered if she’d been eavesdropping.

  “Tony will be here any moment,” Kayla said. “We should wait for him.”

  “Okay.” Autumn seemed relieved. As much as she insisted we were safe with her mom’s friend, I doubted she was completely convinced.

  “The others won’t be won over so easily.” Kayla folded her arms over her chest, her mouth drawn. “If ever. It’s been a rough few weeks and a werewolf bite is a horrible way to die. We may have many advantages over werewolves, but you have the ultimate weapon. They won’t forget that anytime soon.”

  My dad had left me a pile of books. I’d read every one on werewolves and the pamphlet from Shape-shifter Werewolf Alliance Against Slavery and Tyranny, but at the time, I’d been fixated on learning about werewolves and had only skimmed the books on shape-shifters, witches, and vampires.

  “What are your advantages?” I leaned against the wall, trying to act casual about pumping her for information.

  “If a day comes that I fully trust you, I’ll have no problem telling you anything you want to know.” Her dark eyes told me I wouldn’t hear about those advantages anytime soon, not from her.

  “I love your hair.” Autumn stepped away from me to get a closer look at Kayla. “It’s so black and shiny. Gorgeous.”

  I wondered if she was trying to soften Kayla up. But Autumn wasn’t the type to kiss up to someone to get what she wanted. She was usually nice to everyone and if she needed something from someone she didn’t care for, she’d work out another way to get it. There wasn’t an insincere bone in her body.

  “Thanks.” Kayla’s twitching lip told me we were one step closer to getting that information.

  “What is this?” Tony’s mouth twisted. “Fraternizing with the dogs?”

  Kayla’s gaze averted in guilt, and I knew we’d lost our miniscule progress. But whatever. So long as they were loyal to the king, we were safe. From them anyway. I wasn’t so sure about the twenty-something others in the palace.

  Chapter NINE

  Zack

  Our paws covered only a fraction of the king’s acres of woods. After the long day, we craved that release more than usual and ran hard. But having freedom to roam such a large chunk of property gave us a false sense of safety. We’d stayed out longer than planned, and I was beginning to feel antsy.

  Where are Kayla and Tony? I asked Autumn. They were around a minute ago.

  Dunno. I’m nervous about being so far from them, Autumn replied.

  I slid to a stop and sniffed the air. They’re close by. I can smell ’em.

  Yeah, but I smell someone else too, Autumn told me, her nose high in the air.

  Crap. So did I. My heart banged against my ribs. We’d better head back.

  Autumn took off and I followed. I considered howling to get Kayla to come to us, but that could signal every other vampire too.

  In my peripheral vision, a shadow flashed toward us and rammed into Autumn. She yipped and crashed to the ground. After bouncing up, she huddled with me against the nearly unseen force, our furry butts meeting so we had each other’s backs.

  Cedric said a werewolf bite kills, so they’ll try to avoid our teeth, I reminded Autumn. Except she wasn’t a werewolf, which meant her bite wasn’t deadly and she had no weapon against them. They didn’t know that though.

  Another shadow advanced, and I snarled and snapped. But the vamp was too fast and I could only tear its pant leg. Two new shapes raced toward us, but we were ready, our teeth exposed. Four against two. Great.

  Maybe we should make a run for it, Autumn suggested as the vamps hurled themselves at us repeatedly.

  They’re faster than we are. Kayla and Tony should be here any second. I hoped. These guys weren’t able to get past our jaws to do any damage, but we couldn’t hold them off forever. We’d have to do something soon.

  Unless Kayla and Tony helped plan the ambush, she said.

  In that case, we were on our own. The va
mpires slowed and backed up, circling us. “Why are you here?” a tall, blond man asked.

  Adrenaline roared through my body. They’re stopping to chat, hoping to catch us off guard. I growled, making my fangs appear as big and scary as possible. Don’t let them distract you. And make sure they can’t get close to any part of you except your teeth. We can stall them for a while.

  “Were you sent to kill us?” The blond man led the others in a circle, trapping us. As he passed Autumn and neared me, he commanded, “Testify, wolves! Tell us why you’re in vampire territory.”

  I lunged, my fangs sinking into his side. He snarled and struggled, but my teeth burrowed deeper then scraped across his abdomen. He drove a fist into my back, knocking me away. I took some of his flesh with me. He dove at Autumn and his fangs latched onto her neck. Before I could rip him apart, Autumn managed to claw him off her.

  Two vamps advanced on me but backed away when I advanced on them teeth first. The blond one stumbled away while we repositioned our bodies to cover each other and waited for another opportunity to strike one of them.

  Are you okay? I asked Autumn.

  Yeah, he didn’t get much blood. Don’t worry about me. Just concentrate on biting the next one.

  My hot girlfriend was also a cutthroat. I would’ve been more amused by that if our lives hadn’t been at stake.

  “You’ll die here, dogs.” The blond vamp laughed.

  Maybe, maybe not. But I bit you, leech, so your death is guaranteed, I thrust at him telepathically.

  He sneered. “Yes, you did, but werewolf blood is the cure. I’ll be healed in a matter of moments.”

  He’d heard me talk to him silently. Which meant the king could probably hear me too. Your Majesty, we’re being attacked in the woods. Something must’ve happened to Kayla and Tony, because I haven’t seen them for several minutes.