A New Beginning by Sue Bentley Page B

light.

    â€œI wish you were mine,” Lily said dreamily, leaning forward to pat Bandit’s satiny neck.
    Suddenly Bandit stumbled on a tree root and the reins were jerked right out of Lily’s hands.
    â€œOh!” Lily pitched forward and fell right over the pony’s neck. As the ground rushed up to meet her she closed her eyes, ready for the painful landing.

Chapter TWO
    The collision with the ground never came.
    With a dazzling golden flash and a crackle of sparks, Lily found herself jerking to a sudden halt. Her eyes flew open in shock and she saw that she was caught inside a huge glowing golden net, in midair, half a foot above the ground!
    Very slowly, Lily felt herself float down and land gently on some leaves. With a fizzing noise, the glowing net broke up into golden sparks and then melted away into the leaves.
    Lily sat up, blinking confusedly. Her first thought was for Bandit. She whipped around and was relieved to see the pony nibbling some grass in a small clearing a few feet away.
    â€œYour riding creature is fine. I hope that you are not injured,” said a strange voice.
    Lily stiffened. “W-who said that?”
    A tiny puppy with sandy fur, floppy ears, and huge midnight-blue eyes crawled out from beneath a pile of leaves. “I did. My name is Storm of the Moon-claw pack. What are you? And what is the name of your pack?” it woofed.
    Lily’s jaw dropped as she stared at the puppy in utter amazement. She felt like pinching herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. But she saw that the puppy was looking at her quizzically as if waiting for her to respond.
    â€œI’m a g-girl. A human . . . I’m L-Lily. Lily Benson,” she found herself stammering. “But I don’t know what you mean about a pack.”
    â€œA human? I have heard of these.” Storm’s silky forehead wrinkled in a frown. Lily saw that he was beginning to tremble. “Can I trust you, Lily? I come from far away and I need your help.”

    Lily was still having difficulty taking this in, but she didn’t want to frighten this amazing puppy away. He was absolutely gorgeous with the brightest midnight-blue eyes she had ever seen and big soft paws that looked too big for his body.
    Very slowly she got up onto her knees and reached out her hand.
    To Lily’s delight, Storm edged closer and brushed her fingers with his damp little nose. His tail wagged nervously. Despite being so scared, the tiny puppy seemed to trust her.
    â€œWhy do you need my help?” she asked gently.
    Storm’s deep-blue eyes flashed with anger and sadness. “A lone wolf called Shadow attacked us. My father and brothers were killed and my mother is sick and in hiding. Shadow wants to lead the Moon-claw wolf pack, but the others will not follow him as long as I am alive.”
    â€œ Wolf pack? But you’re a pup—” Lily stopped as Storm held up a velvety sandy paw and began backing away.
    There was another dazzling bright flash and a burst of gold sparks showered over Lily, crackling around her feet on the ground.
    â€œOh!” Lily rubbed her eyes, blinded for a second. When she could see again, she saw that the tiny sandy puppy was gone. In its place now stood a majestic young wolf with thick silver-gray fur and glowing midnight-blue eyes.

    â€œStorm?” Lily gasped, eyeing the wolf ’s large teeth and thick neck-ruff that glimmered with hundreds of gold sparks like tiny yellow diamonds.
    â€œYes, Lily, it is me,” Storm said in a deep velvety growl.
    Before Lily could get used to seeing Storm as his magnificent real self, there was a final gold flash and he appeared once again as a cute sandy puppy.
    â€œWow! You really are a wolf. That’s an awesome disguise,” she said, getting up from her knees.
    Storm began trembling again. “Not if Shadow’s magic finds me. Will you help me hide?”
    Lily’s heart went out to the helpless puppy.