Bright Moon (7 page)

“Are you sure? I am perfectly capable of
walking.” His eyes flashed. She nodded and mumbled, “okay, okay.”
She stood for a delayed moment trying to find a way on his back.
She’d never been riding, horseback or any other kind. In the end,
all she could do was grab a fist full of fur and pull herself on.
He didn’t shy away and stood carefully after she situated herself
between his shoulder blades. With a giant leap he began gaining
speed until they were once again a blur. Her body protested with
shards of pain at each movement. She hugged his neck and stayed
low. The wind stung her cheeks and she found it easier to hide her
face in his fur. She squeezed her eyes shut and the wind rushed all
the louder.

Every powerful stride sent thrills through
her very bones. He panted for breath and his heart thudded as he
moved indefatigably. The aroma of pine and dirt was in his coat and
the scent mingled with the fresh air of the forest. His power was
exhilarating and calming all at once. If it weren’t for her wounds,
nothing would have dampened her excitement. After some time she was
lulled into a strange place where she was only half aware and the
only thing keeping her awake was pain. She was drawn from the state
when Tyson’s ears fell flat and he slowed his pace to a walk. He
sniffed the air with his ears lowered and a low growl rumbled in
his chest.

“What is it?”

Tyson stood still, his eyes focused on
something in the distance. She could only see trees, but the woods
were strangely still. She was glad she hadn’t let her grip relax
when he suddenly bolted forward, almost throwing her. If possible,
he moved faster and she grabbed him tighter. A few torturous
moments later they stopped again and she gasped in alarm. The
forest had cleared to an elevated, barren rocky area. He moved
around the face of the mountain at a less unsettling pace until
they were on higher footing. His head moved this way and that as he
searched for something she could only guess at. Finally, they came
to an opening in the side of the rock. Nothing but stone and blue
sky could be seen from the nook he’d chosen to stop in. He found a
small cavity and crouched low.

“You want me to get down?” she asked in a
panic. He glanced at her and nodded. She slid off his back and her
feet touched uneven surface, but her legs buckled. She caught
herself by leaning against his colossal body. He shook her loose
and urged her into the mouth of the cave. “Where are you going?”
she asked quickly. He shook his head and stuck his nose in her
stomach, forcing her beneath the shade. She ducked to avoid hitting
her head. He pushed her even further back and she fell on her rear,
scraping her elbow on a rock. He pulled his head out, but didn’t
leave her as she dreaded he would. He stood outside, his body
tense.

She didn’t know who he was hiding her from,
but fear had her guessing the wild dogs had found them. Her body
tensed and she mentally prepared herself to witness another grisly
display. She barely noticed the cool of the cave or the smell of
damp air. Thunderous growls exploded from Tyson and the noise
nearly deafened her as it echoed off rock. There was little to see
until another wolf, formidable in size, crept slowly into view.
Silver in color and with eyes so yellow they looked to be glowing,
the animal was a wonder to behold.

From where she was, Clara could only see
Tyson’s tail end. The front of him was making such ferocious sounds
that she was afraid to behold his face. The silver wolf crawled
toward him on its belly with ears lowered in submission. Without
any signs of hostility it edged nearer and nearer until it was
close enough that Tyson could take a chunk out of it if he wanted.
Rolling over, it fell onto its back, showing its stomach in
complete submission. Tyson’s growls became less fierce and it
seemed he might accept the silver werewolf’s call for truce.

Clara watched the strange wolf so closely
she didn’t notice Tyson change shape until he spoke. “You can come
out,” he informed her. She glanced at him, and, sure enough, he
stood in his human form. He ducked into the mouth of the crevice
when she didn’t move, her body too stiff to allow such a thing. He
offered a hand and pulled her out. Meanwhile, the silver wolf
remained belly up. Tyson, with Clara’s hand in his, pulled her to
face the newcomer.

“Who is it?” she asked as she stepped into
the sun and blinked.

“I don’t know, but she won’t hurt you. She
smelled you and came. Once we get this over with she will leave us
alone.”

“She
smelled
me?” she asked
skeptically.

“Yes,” he said with a curt nod and pushed
his hair back in an agitated way. The silver wolf slowly rolled to
all fours and stood. She was every bit as majestic and beautiful as
Tyson, only slightly smaller and slightly less fierce. The sun
caused her coat to shine and her yellow eyes to sparkle like gold.
Taken with her beauty, Clara wanted to go to her. Tyson kept her
from doing so.

“Wait for her to approach,
never
go
to them.”

Clara nodded and held still. The silver wolf
moved ever so slowly toward them. Until that moment, Clara hadn’t
noticed how the wolf trembled.

“You scared her!” she said accusingly.

“That was the goal.”

“She’s shaking!”

“She should be.”

The silver wolf came to Clara, but her
yellow eyes were wide and she continuously glanced in Tyson’s
direction. “Wouldn’t this be easier if she changed to her human
form?” Clara asked.

“Yes, but she can’t. She’s feral, which
means she’s trapped as a wolf,” Tyson answered, never taking his
eyes from the stranger or his hand from hers.

“Trapped?” she repeated as she raised her
free hand toward the silver wolf’s snout. She was close enough to
touch and raised her nose to Clara’s outstretched fingers. Her hot
breath warmed Clara’s skin. When the wolf touched her palm, Clara’s
first reaction was to stroke her soft fur, but her hand froze. Her
fingers tingled like they were being pricked, starting where she
and the wolf touched. The sensation spread up her wrist and arm. An
invisible bond held them together and she was powerless to pull
away. Her energy drained as if the silver wolf absorbed it.

“What is it?” Tyson asked, unable to see the
invisible interaction. She couldn’t answer or move. Intuitively, he
knocked her hand, instantly breaking the connection. She fell back
with a cry and he caught her arm, steadying her.

“What happened?” he asked again his eye
shifting to the silver wolf. Clara cradled her mildly throbbing
hand. “Clara,” Tyson said and put a hand on either side of her
face, making her look at him. “What happened?”
“I don’t know. When she touched my hand…” Her brow knit together as
she watched the silver wolf over his shoulder. The wolf had begun
to transform. Clara’s sharp intake of breath made him turn back and
face her away from the transformation. He had hoped to prepare her
before she witnessed such a ghastly thing. When he did let her turn
around, the silver wolf was gone and in her place stood a
remarkable young woman. She wore raggedy clothes on her tall frame
and her hair stood on end in dark, frizzy mats. Her eyes were
golden and she stared at them in wild-eyed shock.

“Who are you?” Tyson asked while using his
body to shield Clara.

“I…” The woman’s voice was quiet and grainy.
“I don’t know, I can’t remember. You pulled me out,” she said while
looking at Clara.

“Don’t talk to her!” Tyson snapped. “Address
me.”

The woman jumped and nodded. “That girl
pulled me out…made me remember…” She raised her fingers to eye
level and examined them as if for the first time.

“You shouldn’t have let the wolf instinct
take over.”

The woman’s yellow eyes flashed and she
lowered her hands. “I know that now! It was not my intention to
forget.”

Tyson bit back a growl and his annoyance,
taking a deep breath. “What’s your name?”

She put a long finger to her chin and
thought hard. “Flash?... No, that wasn’t it. Blur? No…streak? I
don’t remember.”

“You don’t remember your own name?” Clara
asked.

“No, I can only remember what the other
animals of the woods thought I was. Perhaps I’ll remember with
time,” she answered without looking Clara in the eye.

“We don’t have time,” Tyson growled. “What
happened when you touched her?”
“How should I know? She made me remember my human instincts, my
human thoughts…I’d forgotten I ever was human.”

Tyson kept his body between the she-werewolf
and Clara, unwilling to trust the newcomer. Clara put a hand on his
tensed shoulder. “I don’t think she’s going to hurt me.”

“Hurt you?” the woman asked. “Why would I do
that?”

“Perhaps you’d like to answer that for me,”
Tyson growled again. Her yellow eyes shifted to Clara a glimpse of
a moment.

“It’s impossible,” she whispered and weaved
her fingers together. “She has enough pain. Her heart is bruised. I
could never add to such suffering.”

Clara’s face went warm. Tyson relaxed,
seeming to believe the she-werewolf. “Pain?” he asked for good
measure.

“Yes,” the lady replied. She finally dared
to meet Clara’s eye full on. “We are alike, you and I, we have both
been alone far too long.”

At a loss for words, Clara cleared her
throat awkwardly.

“Enough!” Tyson insisted, casually pushing
his hair from his eyes. Relieved, Clara sighed and stepped back in
effort to distance herself from what had transpired.

“You bonded with Clara in a way I’ve never
heard one of us do with a mortal,” Tyson said quickly. “I’ve seen
similar connections happen among wolves, but never on this
level.”

Of everything he said, one word rang through
Clara’s mind—
mortal.

“I don’t know what you plan on doing now.
You obviously need a pack to keep you from going wild,” Tyson
continued.

“You have a pack? Where are they?” the woman
asked eagerly.

“We’re going to meet them.”

“Oh, please allow me to come! I swear I
won’t be trouble,” she immediately begged.

“You
must
remember Clara is mortal.
First and foremost, keep your distance until I know you can be
trusted. If you ever make one wrong move, the consequences will be
dire. Do you understand?”

“I do and I promise to be sensible.”

“You may come along on a trial bases, are we
clear?”

“Yes,” she answered simply, her yellow eyes
smiling with joy.

“We’ve spent too much time here, we need to
be on our way.”

Clara eyed the blue sky, the sun had begun
to sink toward afternoon. She was tired and her legs ached
something awful, but it didn’t seem as if their day was through.
When she looked back, Tyson and the newest member of their small
group had shape-shifted. Once they stood side by side, it was easy
to see how much bigger Tyson really was. He crouched next to Clara.
Her aching legs made it harder to climb on, but she managed, doing
her best not to let the pain show.

The two wolves began running. Anytime Clara
tried to see where they were, she got sick and a slight headache
started. As a result, she kept her head down as much as possible.
At one time, she saw a silver flash of color next to them and she
was glad the silver wolf could keep up. At great length the sky
darkened. She lost all feeling in her legs and her stomach stuck
together with hunger. She wondered if werewolves got hungry, or if
they could go on running forever—would Tyson remember her mortal
needs?

Night settled and covered them in a blanket
of secrecy before he finally stopped. The sound of howling wind
halted, replaced with the unmistakable busy bustle of continuous
traffic. He hunkered down, indicating he wanted her off. She
obliged faster than she should have and slid to the ground. Her
feet promptly gave way and she fell to her knees.

A shadow moved next to her and a hand
offered to help her stand. Clara accepted the silver wolf’s offer
and leaned against her to keep from falling again. “You push her
too hard!” the she wolf’s voice said.

“We couldn’t risk stopping,” Tyson said,
standing a few feet off. He listened and glanced around
suspiciously.

“What kind of danger pursues you to justify
her suffering?” the silver wolf demanded.

“You are lucky if you don’t already know.
Explanations will be forthcoming when we’re safe.”

For once, Clara had nothing to say. Instead
she waited for feeling to return to her legs.

“Can you protect her?” Tyson asked. Clara
was taken aback, only hours earlier he’d shown signs of possibly
never trusting the she-werewolf.

“Of course I can,” she answered. “Where are
you going?”

“We’ve come as far as we can on foot and we
need a car.”

The silver wolf said nothing, but nodded.
Tyson shifted in Clara’s direction, but she couldn’t make out his
face. “Will you be okay?”
“Yes,” she answered quickly.

He nodded. “I’ll be back in a few minutes,
wait here.”

He seemed less agitated despite her body
weakening at the worst possible moment. After ensuring the area was
safe, he vanished from her sight. The silver wolf clicked her
tongue and shook her head.

“He pushes you too hard,” she repeated.

“I think he’s doing his best to keep us
safe.”

“I know he wants to protect you, but
everyone has their limits,” the she wolf growled under her breath.
Clara had nothing to offer and kept quiet. She wasn’t sure if the
she-werewolf understood the situation and was in no position to
explain. They lingered in silence with the edge of the forest
shielding them from sight of the road. Her mind crawled with
questions about the she wolf and the silence didn’t last.

“Did you have any luck remembering your
name?” she asked.

“I haven’t, but some things are coming back.
I think I remember my parents.”