Free Bright Moon by Andria Canayo Page B

covered her mouth when a
yawn snuck out. Her full stomach made her all the sleepier.
    “The moon will rise soon and we do not tire
easily. You sleep, you need your rest.”
    Because I am mortal, Clara thought.
She tried to forget it as she stood and climbed into one of the
beds. Her body remembered just how worn it was and she was asleep
almost before her cheek hit the pillows.

Chapter 4 - Explanation
    The dreams that
haunted her chased away any hope of a sound slumber. Wild dogs ran
in and out of them, as well as her brother, who dripped with blood.
One dream replaced another and she was trying to run from wolves
that overtook and nipped at her with their razor sharp teeth. They
only left when Tyson appeared to fend them off. She woke, curled in
a ball and hugging a pillow. Comfort persuaded her to lay still in
the hopes that a more hopeful dream would come. Tranquility died as
frustration built in her chest. She couldn’t escape Tyson, not even
in her dreams. Her body was stiff and she sat up slowly, rubbing
her neck. Something caught her eye before she could stand. There,
on the oak nightstand between the two beds, was a pink rose in a
glass vase.
    “You should try to get more sleep,” Tyson
said. She jumped and practically flailed. He sat on the table with
his back to her, staring out the window, searching the darkness.
They were alone in the room.
    “What did you say?” she breathed and
stood.
    “You should try to rest more, it’s hard to
say when we’ll stop again once we get going.”
“I can’t sleep.”
    “Nightmares?” He slid to face her. She
wanted to deny it, but couldn’t with his penetrating gaze demanding
truth. She looked down and nodded. “It’s to be expected, you’ll get
used to the idea with time.”
    She felt childish waking from a nightmare
and expecting comfort. Tyson studied her and squinted.
    “Mark called you baby , were you
romantically involved with him?”
    “No!” she gasped, shaken at the sudden
change of topic. “Our relationship wasn’t anything like that.”
    “What sort of relationship did you
have?”
    “He’s…he was my boss.”
    Tyson’s jaw clenched and he leaned forward.
“You said relationship, which implies something more. Were
you in love with him?”
    “Of course not! He was…”
    “Yes?”
    She sighed. “I don’t know if I can explain
this correctly.”
    “I’m not as dense as you think.”
    “That’s not what I meant,” she waved his
temper off. “It’s hard to explain unless you know a little of my
history, even then it’s hard to define.”
    “Callan told me about your mom, I’m sorry.”
He sounded sincere.
    “Thank you.” She pushed her hair back with
her fingers and hoped she didn’t look a mess. She also hoped Tyson
would forget his original question and let her hide away in the
bathroom.
    “You haven’t explained about Mark, I need to
know.”
    “I don’t want to admit it, but if it’s that
important I will. Mark was the only person who went out of his way
to be nice to me. It’s cruelly ironic now, but his kindness is what
kept me sane everyday.”
    Tyson’s lips parted and his face drew in a
slight scowl. A thick silence blanketed the hotel room. Presently
he broke it after a brief struggle of emotion. “You weren’t in love
with him?”
    “No, I was under the assumption he was my
friend.”
    “I wonder how he got so close to you without
my noticing. He must have chosen the dog shelter to throw off his
scent.”
    “What do you mean?” She gave up the hope of
temporarily escaping and plopped onto the bed. “How would you
notice when we’d never met?”
    “I knew who you were before I met you.
Parker has been known to threaten families of werewolves and I
wanted to be sure he didn’t involve you or your father.”
    “You watched us?”
    “A little, yes.”
    The thought was disturbing, especially when
she wasn’t sure what exactly he knew. She lowered her eyes.
“Oh.”
    “I know it’s creepy,” he