Bright Moon (16 page)

Mesha had shifted to her human form and
knelt over a lump of fur. Clara’s first fear was that someone in
the pack had been shot down, but the mound was much too small. She
picked her way to Mesha’s side. She held a wolf’s head in her lap.
The wolf had been a mighty creature with a dull grey coat and a
white underbelly. A hole in its side produced a small fountain of
blood and it wasn’t breathing.

“Mesha?” Clara asked quietly.

“Poachers,” Mesha growled.

“Where are the poachers?” Clara asked.

“They shot me and ran when it didn’t have
the desired effect.”

“You were shot?”

“Yes,” she waved a hand as if it were no big
deal. “It wasn’t silver.”

“They saw you change shape?”

“No, they only saw my wolf body. I’m not
that careless. Although, I did have a hard time keeping myself from
killing them.”

Clara bit her lip and knelt next to Mesha.
“What they did is horrible, but it’s probably better you
didn’t.”

“Tyson would have killed me for letting
humans see me at all,” Mesha said with a laugh. “He may still.”

While Clara’s heart wrung with sadness by
the gruesome display of calloused disregard for life, Mesha seemed
cut to the soul by it. She stroked the wolf’s head and sniffed back
tears. Unsure of what to do, Clara put a hand on Mesha’s arm and
watched. Mesha startled her again when her head snapped up as her
eyes went wide. She stood quickly, pulling Clara to her feet.

“Now what?”

“Sh!” Mesha stood fast and pulled her a few
yards from the remains. Clara followed blindly, ducking behind a
thick of undergrowth when Mesha disappeared there as well. She
thought the poachers had returned to retrieve their prize. “Look,”
Mesha whispered and pointed. There, where the grey wolf lay, a half
a dozen wolves appeared with ears lowered. They crowded around the
dead wolf, touching her with their snouts and licking her
wound.

“She was the dominant wolf,” Mesha whispered
to Clara.

“I thought males were the dominant ones,”
Clara whispered back.

“They work in pairs.” Mesha pressed her
finger to her lips. The wolves congregated around their leader
comfortingly. “We should leave,” Mesha whispered. Clara’s eyes
lingered on the wolves and when she turned, Mesha was in her wolf
form offering her a ride. After seeing the wolf, Mesha seemed to
need to run to take the edge off. By the time they were back at the
house, Clara was stiff. She dismounted and was startled by Tyson’s
booming yell. “What is going on here?”

She wheeled around guiltily. Tyson was next
to them, his body rigid with agitation. “We went for a run,” Mesha
answered, having transformed when Clara wasn’t looking.

“Mesha, Clara is healing. You can’t take her
romping all over the woods.”

“I’m sorry, I only thought she’d enjoy
getting out of the house.”

“Don’t take her unless you’ve asked me
first,” Tyson snapped.

“Hey,” Clara stepped toward him. “Don’t get
mad at her, she didn’t force me to do anything.”

“You should be resting,” Tyson persisted.
“You were very sick.”

“I feel great,” Clara said curtly. She
turned from them and went in the back door, wishing she could move
at their speed. Tyson followed her every step.

“Are you sure you’re well?”

Clara stopped walking mid-stride. “You think
I’ve forgotten, don’t you?”

Tyson lips twitched and he pressed them
together before speaking, obviously suppressing a snarl. “You want
to know Jothram’s location? I’ll take you to him,” he said
heatedly.

“You know where he is?”

He reached like he wanted to touch her arm,
but retracted his hand. “You don’t seem to understand that he is
dangerous.”

“How is he so much more dangerous than any
of you?”

“He was the first, Clara, do you know what
that means? He could have kept this curse to himself. If he had
just a little self control, he would be the
only
one.”
“You yourself admitted you accidentally bit Mark, how do you know
he didn’t make a similar mistake?”

Tyson’s chiseled chin jutted forward. “You
have to be the craziest woman I’ve ever met! You’re certainly the
first mortal I’ve ever known who goes looking for
more
werewolves to socialize with. I’m warning you that I may not be
able to protect you from him.”

“I don’t want you to have to protect me from
anyone. Where is he and when are we going to meet him?”

Tyson shook his head and ran his fingers
through his hair, fisting a chunk of it in frustration. “We aren’t
going to find him until you’ve healed completely. Running around
trying to keep up with Mesha isn’t helping you heal.”

“I heal quickly, remember? We can leave
now
.” She pointed to the floor to animate her meaning.

“You’re going to have to exercise
patience.”

The opportunity to bite back was taken when
Koty appeared at Tyson’s elbow. “I’ve been looking everywhere for
you!” she sang pleasantly. “Want to go for a run?”

“I can’t,” Tyson replied simply without
otherwise acknowledging her over cheerful demeanor. Koty’s face
immediately fell and she gave Clara a glare.

“Why not? Are you busy entertaining the
mortal?” she asked bitterly. Raw fear clamped over Clara’s throat
when Koty’s eyes began to glow yellow. Tyson, however, grabbed Koty
and slammed her to the wall. The house shuddered on impact and
cracks in the paint and sheetrock climbed down the wall.

“Do not test me, Koty!” he snarled in her
face with his arm pressed to her chest and neck. The look on his
face was fierce. The yellow melted from Koty’s eyes and she wiggled
from Tyson’s death grip. A crater in the wall outlined where she’d
been.

“You haven’t been the same since you came
back! All you’ve done is agonize over the mortal,” Koty accused
with a glare of hatred for Clara. “She’s making the pack weak!”

“You don’t know the situation,” Tyson
growled under his breath.

“I know she’s Callan’s sister, what else is
there to know? You told me we don’t make exceptions for our mortal
relations.”

“I don’t tell you everything. How can I when
you question me this way?”
Koty’s face went from angry to blameworthy. “I didn’t mean to
question your authority,” she said apologetically.

“You will be banished if you lash out
again.”

Clara gasped and Tyson’s head twitched in
her direction, otherwise he ignored her outburst. Koty’s delicate
chin moved back and forth as she ground her teeth. Her expression
of anger was more telling than words could describe. She looked as
if Tyson had just dug into her chest and ripped her heart out. She
kept her lips pressed shut and walked away.

“You shouldn’t—” Clara started to speak
after Koty had gone. Tyson silenced her with a single stern look.
When he stepped nearer she fell against the wall. He put a hand
above each of her shoulders and leaned closer until she was
encompassed by the heat emanating from his body.

“I am not accustomed to being told what I
should and shouldn’t do. I
am
used to getting my way. I’ve
never met someone who dared try and advise me on so many
occasions.” His voice was low and ominous.

“You do realize you have just effectively
described the essence of a bully?” she asked as her throat went raw
with emotion.

“A
bully
?” he repeated and raised a
brow at her.

She glared up and nodded.

Callan filled the end of the hall just then.
“What’s wrong with Koty?” he asked. Tyson leaned back when Callan
saw them and made a strange sound in his throat. “I thought Koty
might have done something to hurt Clara.”

“No,” Clara said quickly, relieved Tyson had
backed off, although he hadn’t relented his glower.

“It seems you will get your wish, Miss Rita,
because you’ll be meeting Jothram all that much sooner. We have to
move,” Tyson told them and Callan’s face fell.

“We just got here.”

“Koty isn’t coming back, and if she isn’t
coming back, then she’s not welcome in the pack. Nobody but the
pack can know where we are.”

“She’s walking out?” Callan sounded
concerned. Tyson clapped a hand to his shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” he said, looking him in the eye
and Clara realized her brother liked Koty more than she’d guessed.
Tyson squeezed his shoulder once then started down the hall. “We
leave in one hour.”

“Oh, Callan.” Her emerald eyes dimmed and
her own features fell.

“It’s silly, I know.” Callan tried to smile,
but only looked pained.

“Silly? I don’t believe you to be silly at
all.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Of course, if you’re silly then I’m ten
times the silly, if not a hundred.”

Callan laughed and pulled her into a hug. “I
missed you, sis.”

“You aren’t upset with me?” she asked when
he released her.

“Of course not, why would I be?”
“She left because of me.”

“She makes her own decisions. It was about
time I got over her anyway, she never quite returned the
sentiment.”

“She wasn’t very smart then, was she?”

He grinned as if she’d told a joke. “Thanks,
Clare Bear.”

She wanted to laugh at the reminder of her
childhood name, and she might have if her brother hadn’t
trivialized something she meant to be serious. “Laugh all you like,
I can see through your tough exterior.”

“Come on, sis, we’ve got to pack.”

She sighed, not relishing the idea of having
to move again. Building herself up mentally, she followed her
brother down the hall to gather her things.

They left like thieves in the night, taking
what little they were allowed and everyone squeezed in an SUV.
Clara had no reason to assume their trip wouldn’t be like the one
before and was surprised when Tyson steered them to an airport. He
handled the tickets and paperwork and got them all through
security. The flight lasted three hours and it was late when they
landed. Just when she thought they might settle down for the night,
Tyson had them on another flight. A few hours after the second
flight, they were on a third. It went on like that all through the
night and into what she thought was the late morning.

An announcement made over the plane’s
intercom informed her they were in Canada. Thick flakes of snow
fell from the sky and Tyson insisted on getting Clara a warm coat
from a gift shop, reminding her of her mortality. Finally, they
were leaving the airport in a vehicle that couldn’t take to the
air. He drove as he always did, like a madman, but she’d learned to
expect nothing less. She wasn’t sure how often she fell asleep in
the warm car and lost track of time.

Just like the other hideouts, Tyson had
chosen a location far from the reach of people. He drove and drove
until they came to a high rocky area, much like the past two spots,
except snow blanketed everything in sight. The ride was hard on
Mesha and Callan more so than anyone. Once the engine switched off
they were out of the car before Clara could blink. Jack followed
closely behind, but Dawn seemed more than willing to take refuge
inside.

The cabin was nothing less than the
picturesque scene from a Christmas card, covered with snow and
surrounded by evergreens and snowdrifts. Clara was rushed in and
she knew Tyson was mindful of her recent illness. He went as far as
to insist she go straight to bed. Although she wasn’t really tired
after sleeping most of the trip, she didn’t mind the time to
herself.

Her room was pleasantly snug. Brightly
colored quilts were folded and stacked neatly on the end of the
bed. The bedroom set was pinewood. There was a frosted window with
a window seat where she could watch the falling snow. She spent a
little while unpacking, but didn’t have many things. She wished
Mesha or Callan would return to keep her company. Instead, she made
good use of the window seat which was lined with plenty of
cushions. Outside, the snow gently made its way to the ground
creating a sense of somniferous calm. She soon became lost to her
thoughts and eventually fell asleep.

She dreamt she walked along a beach, but the
water at the shore wasn’t the clear blue-green of the ocean.
Instead, it was deep crimson and goopy. With every wave, she became
more convinced blood lapped the shore. She peered over the waves,
petrified when she saw her family wading in the sea of red. They
were up to their hips and making their way deeper. Her mother was
ahead of the others and was the first to be sucked beneath the
surface. She was lost so quickly it looked as if someone had pulled
her feet out from under her.

“Mom,” Clara heard herself whisper. Tim
hadn’t seemed to notice his wife’s dangerous dilemma and continued
on. When the blood was the level of his stomach he held still.
“Dad!” she tried to warn him, but it was too late and he was pulled
beneath as well. Callan made his way to the depth their mother and
father had achieved just before disappearing.

“Callan!” she screamed. “No!” Her legs were
stone and running was impossible. He vanished under the swelling
blood and she struggled, finding herself on her knees. Someone ran
by her and into the hazardous water. She looked up to see Mesha
wading her way in and Tyson wasn’t far behind. Jack and Dawn soon
appeared as well. One by one they drowned even after she called out
to them. She fought, but her body was trapped.

Someone shook her shoulders and she opened
her eyes. She’d forgotten where she was and sat up with an air of
confusion. Tyson stood next to the window seat. Normally she would
have been embarrassed, but she gasped as her chest compressed.

“What happened?” Tyson asked.

“I…” she gasped, but couldn’t finish the
sentence.

“It’s alright, try to calm down and take
deep breaths.”

“I can’t!” her throat closed and she began
to panic.