Free Bright Moon by Andria Canayo Page A

and her stomach rumbled with hunger.
    “Here,” Tyson said while handing Clara a
plate. With her attention on the food, she hadn’t noticed him
standing next to a trolley loaded with plates of food. She took the
dish offered and her heart dropped. It was a burger. “It’s a garden
burger,” Tyson said before she could make a face.
    “Thank you, but how did you know I—”
    He jerked a thumb at the she werewolf. “She
told me.”
    “Oh.” She moved to the table and sat
down.
    “I’ve got to run a few errands,” Tyson said.
“Our new friend will stay with you.”
    Clara was chewing and nodded in
response.
    “Remember,” Tyson said to the silver wolf.
“Don’t let her out of your sight, not even for a moment.”
    “I will be careful,” she replied.
    Tyson left and Clara ate her food, watching
as the woman across from her cut another large piece of meat and
put it in her mouth. Clara swallowed and said, “Have you been able
to remember anything more?”
She nodded, her wild, tangled hair bouncing and her eyes burned
bright yellow. “My name is Mesha,” she said proudly.
    “Mesha? What a lovely name!”
    “Thank you.” She smiled after swallowing
another large chunk of beef. “I’m still trying to recall my birth
date. It may take a little more time.”
    “What about your parents? Do you remember
their names?”
    Mesha paused before speaking, deep in
thought. “I think I had a sister, Margaret, or…Mary?”
    “That’s alright,” Clara assured her. “At the
rate your memory is coming back, you’ll remember everything in no
time.”
    She nodded. “I think it would help if I
handled things I was more accustomed to. Everything has changed so
much that nothing looks the same. Even your clothes are strange to
me.”
    “It’s a little odd not knowing how old you
are,” Clara agreed. “You appear to be about my age, but it sounds
like you grew up decades before now.”
    “Decades?” Mesha asked. “Is that all? That’s
nothing compared to Tyson.”
    Clara sat a little straighter, suddenly more
awake. “What do you mean?”
    “Didn’t you know? He’s ancient! That’s why
he can control himself so well. I saw in your memory how he’d
stayed in his human form during the full moon. Do you know how hard
that is? I never knew it was even possible.”
    “I only knew how very ill he was.”
    “His will is strong.”
    “How old is he?”
    “He never really said. Communicating in our
wolf forms is strange and hard to explain. I suppose you could say
we bond on a certain level. We learn a lot about each other without
ever saying anything. Tyson doesn’t like people to know how old he
is and I don’t press him.”
    Clara’s chest tightened with jealously.
Mesha could reach Tyson on a level only another werewolf could. For
a brief window of time she wished she were a werewolf. Mesha
laughed.
    “What’s so funny?”
    “I see how jealous you are.”
    “I’m not,” she lied quickly.
    “Deny it all you like, I know the truth.
I’ve been in your head, remember?”
    Clara twirled her hair and looked away,
unwilling to admit anything she hadn’t come to terms with yet. She
struggled to admit the attraction, but jealousy, however fleeting,
meant she could be falling in love and that alarmed her. Mesha
chuckled again.
    “Don’t be jealous. Tyson is not the sort of
man I would find myself attracted to.”
    She twisted a bit of her hair around her
finger. “What sort of man would you find yourself attracted
to?”
    “One whose attention is not already
engaged,” Mesha said with another laugh.
    “Oh.” Clara felt a range of emotions.
Instant disappointment made her heart heavy and was followed by a
tiny bit of paradoxical relief.
    “Have you finished your meal?” Mesha
asked.
    “I think so, yeah.” She pushed the rest of
her food away, suddenly not hungry.
    “You should rest, you look exhausted.”
    “What about you?”
    “Trust me, I am not tired.”
    “You’re not?” Clara