Chapter 11: Secrets Revealed

Autumn doesn’t know that she heard Blake correctly. Did he just say “mother”? Looking around her, she expects Lana to come walking out from some hiding spot to recall her pet wolf. As time ticks by, this feels like less of a possibility.

“You’ve done enough already,” Blake yells, keeping himself between Autumn and the beast. He moves closer to the wolf. “Father would definitely not approve of what you’ve done,” he scolds.

Blake’s words hit their mark, and as if by magic, Autumn watches as the wolf transforms. One minute she’s looking at a silver wolf and the next, Lana. Something in Autumn breaks and the world around her goes black.

When she comes too, Autumn finds herself in a room she doesn’t recognize. The light outside is fading, but it’s still bright enough to take in the new space. It’s a large space and her eyes are drawn to a line of bookshelves running along one of the walls. There’s a lounger chair by the bookcases, a rug, a dresser, and two closed doors.

Autumn guesses they lead to a closet and a bathroom, as the bedroom door is already open. She wonders what happened. She can clearly remember a wolf, and that it turned into Blake’s mother, but that’s just crazy.

The smell of food, and her aching bladder, cause her to wiggle out from the comfort of the bed. She was correct about one of the doors leading to a bathroom, so she uses it before heading out into the hallway. Autumn makes sure to stay quiet, and moves along slowly to keep from making any noise. The end of the hall leads to a living room with an open kitchen on the other side.

“I’m glad you’re up,” Blake says without turning around.

He’s hovering over the stove top string a pot. Autumn smells garlic bread, pasta sauce, and noodle. Her mouth starts to salivate as the aroma invades her senses.

“How did you know…” she starts to ask while heading across the living room to join him in the kitchen.

Blake grabs a pot of boiling water and dumps it into a strainer, allowing the colander to separate water from noodles.

He flashes her a smile. “I have excellent hearing.”

“I think we have to talk,” Autumn says seriously. It comes out as almost a question more than a statement. There’s a buzzing of questions in her mind, but she isn’t sure that she wants to ask them.

Blake nods. “I know,” he says while testing his pasta sauce. “I figured we could have a nice conversation over a homemade meal.” He adds a little more salt to the pot.

Autumn grabs the place settings he has sitting on the counter and goes to set the small dining room table. The food has her stomach growling in anticipation. After pouring some wine into a couple of glasses, the two of them are ready to eat.

Autumn’s taken aback as Blake pulls out her chair for her.

Once seated, Blake dishes out the meal and they begin to eat. Autumn can’t believe how good the pasta is. The sauce is perfect, balanced with seasonings in such a way the flavor dances on her tongue. She marvels at how savory the homemade garlic bread is. It’s easily one of the best pieces of bread she has ever had.

The meal has her purring, and Autumn looks up to find Blake watching her from the other side of the table. She blushes as a swarm of butterflies takes over her stomach.

After getting a few more bites into the meal, Autumn sets her fork down and takes a sip of wine. “So,” she says. “Where do we start?”

Blake swallows what’s in his mouth and dabs the edges with a napkin. “Well, I guess wherever you want,” he replies. “I owe you honest answers, so make sure you really want to know before you ask.”

Autumn thinks about his comment for a moment while taking another sip of wine. “Okay, your mother.”

Blake tilts his head. “Is that an insult, or a question?” he asks with a smile.

“You know what I mean,” Autumn says with a chuckle.

Blake takes a swig of his wine and sets the glass down gently. “Mother is a tough subject. She’s changed a lot since my father died.”

Autumn looks down at her plate and stirs her food around with her fork. “I’m sorry to hear about that. When did he die, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“It was about five years ago. His passing was sudden and deemed natural. No one close to him believed it, but there isn’t any proof otherwise. Mother took it really hard, more so than anyone else,” he says as sadness washes over his face.

Autumn doesn’t know what to say. She hasn’t experienced the loss of a parent yet, and she hopes it will be years before she has to.

“I’m sure that wasn’t what you were asking about though. You probably want to know about her shifting earlier, am I right?” he asks, studying her carefully.

Autumn nods as her stomach flutters. There’s no going back from here, she thinks to herself.

Blake slowly makes eye contact, and the seriousness of the situation is obvious. “Once I tell you this, you can never leave. You will be kept on the grounds and never allowed to leave this place. Are you ready for that?”

Autumn’s jaw drops. “Are you serious?” She almost yells while dropping her fork on her plate.

Blake lets out a laugh and smiles. “No, I’m not. But you can’t repeat anything we talk about at this table tonight. I am serious about that,” he replies lightly.

Autumn puts her hand across her chest and narrows her eyes at him. “You really scared me. Yes, I can promise not to repeat what we talk about. I don’t know how much of it I’m going to believe myself, let alone expect someone else to believe.”

“The sanctuary is a cover for my family. The wolves are creatures called shifters, and my family has led this pack for generations. My parents were the Alpha male and Luna, or leaders, of the pack.” Blake pauses to make sure Autumn is keeping up.

“So, your father was the Alpha who died five years ago. Wait, that would make you…” Autumn’s voice drifts off as she pieces together his story.

Blake nods his reply to her unasked question. “Yes, I am the Alpha now.”

It’s Autumn’s turn to gulp some wine. “So, what are shifters? Are you like, werewolves or something?”

“Not quite,” Blake replies while refilling both their glasses. “Werewolves aren’t real, but shifters are. I guess you could say we inspired the werewolf stories. We can shift whenever we want though, not just during full moons.”

Autumn had so many questions before they started talking and now she can’t think of a single one of them. She takes a bite of dinner and tries to make sense of what Blake is telling her.

“Can you shift?” she asks, wanting to fill the deafening silence in the room.

Blake wipes his mouth again. “Yes, would you like to see?” he says while preparing to stand up.

Autumn shakes her head. “No, I don’t know that I can deal with that right now. I’ll take your word for it,” she replies quickly. “Does anyone else know about your pack?”

Blake relaxes back into his chair. “Roy, Connie, and a few others. They have been sworn to secrecy, like you, and have never broken their promise to keep the pack safe from the outside world.”

A light bulb goes off in Autumn’s head. That would explain why Connie hasn't added any new notes about the sanctuary in five years.

It’s Autumn’s turn to get somber. Her next question has been weighing on her since she saw Blake outside the clinic earlier. “What did you do with Dustin?” she asks quickly before downing more wine.

Blake raises his eyebrows at her. “Are you asking if I killed him?”

“Yes, I think I am,” Autumn looks up to meet his stare.

Blake holds her gaze. “No, I didn’t kill him.”

There is a sense of relief somewhere deep down inside her. Not because she wants Dustin back, but because she doesn’t know if she could look at Blake the same way had he killed her ex.

Autumn tries to suppress a yawn. A combination of good food and wine has put her in a sleepy place. She doesn’t know how she’s so tired after everything she just heard. She knows she should be freaking out after finding out shifters exist, but for some reason, she’s not. Too much mental stress? she wonders to herself.

Blake gets up and starts clearing the table. “I should probably let you process things for now and we can pick this conversation up tomorrow. I know you need to check over the pack, and they will cooperate with you this time. I am also dealing with Mom, she should be nicer toward you as well.”

Autumn wants to argue with him to stay, but it’s getting hard for her to keep her eyes open. “I guess you’re right,” she says with another yawn.

She helps with clearing the table and walks Blake to the door. Autumn watches him walk to the road and closes the door, locking it behind him. If Dustin really is still alive, there’s no telling if he’s learned his lesson or not, she thinks before heading back to the bedroom.

* * *

Autumn doesn’t remember falling asleep, but a loud bang from somewhere in the trailer causes her to sit up in bed. The house is pitch black, and she could kick herself for not leaving a light on. She lets out a few quiet gasps, not daring to take a full breath for fear of it being too loud.

She can hear the floor squeak as someone moves along slowly in the dark. Autumn doesn’t know if she should cry out or just stay silent. She can’t decide if she should make a run for the bathroom or try to hide under the bed.

Ever so slowly, she slides the blankets off and eases down to the floor. A sigh of relief almost escapes her lips as she finds a wide enough gap to fit under the bed. After pulling herself halfway under, she stops to listen for the intruder. She can’t hear anything. She’s caught up questioning what she’s doing when someone grabs her by the ankle and pulls her from the hiding spot.