Bright Moon by Andria Canayo Page A

makes you say that?”
    She shrugged. “I am mortal.”
    “Werewolves have loved mortals before.”
    “You mentioned mortals have intertwined with
werewolves, but they’ve loved one another? How did they make
the relationship work?”
    “That’s a good question, I never wanted to
find the answer before.”
    “Oh.” A small bubble of hope had grown in
her chest and popped at his words. She looked away while twisting
her hair, relieved when they arrived at the hotel a few minutes
later.
    “Come on,” he said. Clara reached for the
door handle, but he had it open before she could touch it. They
rushed up, this time taking the elevator. Callan and Mesha were
there and appeared to have worked out their differences .
Callan lay on the bed nearest the door and Mesha was at the table,
eating again. The TV was on the news channel, but had been muted. A
man stood by the window. Clara recognized him as the one who helped
fight off the wild dogs back at the mansion.
    “Jack,” Tyson acknowledged the addition with
a nod of his head.
    “Tyson.” He pointed to the television. “Did
you realize she’s all over the news?”
    “Now you tell me! We’ve got to get out of
here. Wake Callan.”
    Clara moved to better see the screen as they
sprang into action. Her picture, one she used on a social
networking site, was in the upper right hand corner. A newsman’s
mouth moved voicelessly as he stared intently at her. She read the
headline hovering behind his head. Disturbed Young Woman Robs
Local Convenience Store. Glad she couldn’t hear the announcer,
she punched the button to turn the set off. She was just in time to
see Jack wake Callan by hitting him in the arm. Rubbing his eyes,
her brother stood from the bed. “What’s going on?” he asked
sleepily.
    “Pack up, Clara was spotted.”
    Callan rushed to her. “What happened?” he
asked, giving her a once over to make sure she was in one
piece.
    “I’m fine, nothing happened.”
    “You said you would take care of her,”
Callan shot irritably at Tyson.
    Clara grabbed her brother’s arm. “He did
take care of me, otherwise I wouldn’t be standing here.”
    He was somewhat pacified by her answer. “If
anything happens I will never forgive myself.”
    “Nothing’s going to happen,” she said.
    “Hurry.” Tyson started urging people out of
the room. Back in the car, Mesha put her things in the trunk. Jack
came out of the hotel last, but never gave the car a glance.
Instead, he rapidly walked away.
    “Is he going to run?” Mesha asked and Tyson
nodded. “He’s going to meet you later on, right?”
    “Of course, he just isn’t a fan of being
confined in small spaces.” Tyson got behind the wheel.
    “I’m going with him,” Mesha said and ran
after his retreating back.
    “That’s a relief,” Callan sighed as he
watched her go.
    “I thought I told you to work things out,”
Tyson said tiredly.
    “We did, that doesn’t make the tension more
tolerable.”
    Clara wondered how they’d worked things
out , but wasn’t given a chance to inquire. Callan opened the
car door, indicating she should sit in front. She obliged without
questioning his passive aggressive attitude. Just like that, they
were on the road again. Tyson pressed the gas to the floor and
dodged around anything in his way. He seemed irritated that the car
could not go faster.
    “What will you do if you get pulled over?”
she asked after a particularly close call.
    “Tyson can usually see the cops before they
see him,” Callan told her.
    “I’ve never been pulled over,” Tyson
affirmed.
    Callan had implied heightened senses came
when they were in their wolf forms, but Tyson’s reflexes were so
fine tuned she was sure they were going to crash and shut her eyes
on more than one occasion. Tyson and Callan, however, were relaxed.
Several times, Clara gasped “Watch out!” By the time her words were
out, he’d passed the obstacle she thought impossible to avoid.
After a sharp turn, she