Page 1 of A Brighter Yellow
Episode 1
Montana
Anna
Anna Allanach sprinted across the frozen ground, the hard crust of late spring snow biting into her paws. Behind her, she could hear the angry growl of the four-wheeler engines. Panting, Anna dashed to the nearest tree and leaned against it, judging the distance. The warlocks behind her wore night-vision goggles and had enough magic to track her even in the dark of a nearly moonless night. She had thought to lose them in Yellowstone, but nothing had shaken them off her trail. It had been three days of dodging, shifting in and out of human form, but nothing had worked. They were getting closer.
Her only hope was the ranger house on the far side of the park, but that was a full three hours hard run ahead of her. She could weave through the tree line or cut across the wide-open prairie in front of her. The trees were safer, but at the moment, she needed speed.
She was halfway across when she heard the four-wheelers break out of the trees behind her. She put on more speed but struggled through a snowdrift. Then she heard the high yip of wolves. To her left, a broad-shouldered Yellowstone Gray Wolf led a pack of wolves, a line of dark bodies against the white snow. Anna pulled up, uncertain. Natural wolves didn’t always like shifters. He yipped, indicating that she should follow him. The pack raced around her, circling and then stringing out. It would be impossible for the warlocks behind her to pick her out of the pack. She followed the leader, relieved to be running with a pack even if it wasn’t hers. Then she realized that he had changed her course—angling off to the right. She yipped and tried to change the direction, but another wolf dove into her shoulder, driving her after the leader.
The message was clear: stick with the pack.
Had this been her pack, Anna would have done so without hesitation. But this wasn’t her pack. These weren’t even shifters. Who knew what cockamamie plan these wolves had?
The four-wheelers spotted them, and all changed course. The tree line was drawing nearer, but warlocks had guns. Anna could survive ordinary munitions, but she wasn’t sure she could heal from whatever the warlocks coated their bullets with, and her new friends certainly couldn’t. There were three four-wheelers, and she heard the whoops as the warlocks got within range. Without any warning, the pack split, leaving her and the leader charging forward while groups split off to the left and right. The four-wheelers split as well, one pursuing each troop of canines.
There was a hard thump and the shriek of an engine as one of the four-wheelers over-turned. Anna risked a glance back over her shoulder. The wolves had led the vehicle over a thinly frozen stream. The band of wolves continued running away, leaving the over-turned machine and two frozen warlocks to scream curse words at the night. Anna felt relieved—her lupine companions did seem to be operating under some sort of sensible plan. The heavy boughs of the evergreens in front of her looked inky black, but Anna could smell the rich, welcoming green scent of pine. For a moment, Anna felt that they might actually win.
There was a scream from a distance away and heavy revving from the four-wheeler. Gunshots popped off in all directions, and Anna flinched at the sound, praying that the wolves in the third group were all right. Then there was a high-pitched scream, and the gunshots stopped. In the dark, Anna’s jowls drew back in a wolfy grin. The ATV behind her took a jump and landed with a heavy thud that was too close. She sucked in more air and stopped worrying about the others, concentrating on her own survival. She heard yells behind her, and then a bullet whistled through the air and buried itself in the snow a few feet in front of her.
The wolf in front of her didn’t pause. His ears were flattened to his skull, and he was running all out. Anna followed suit, hoping like hell there was more plan in store because the two of them weren’t going to make it. She focused on the trees in front of her and breathing. Her lungs were on fire, and she could feel herself reaching the end of her strength.
A tree branch seemed to sway, and her nose was hit with an overwhelming scent of spring. From out of the dark, a tall massive figure of a man emerged. His arm stretched back, pulling the cord on a compound bow, and Anna reared back in terror as he let the arrow fly.
Ochre
Ochre Lucas watched as his arrow flew straight and true and buried itself in the skull of the warlock. He knew he ought to feel something about that, but as the ATV veered off course and the body and the other warlock tumbled off, he only felt relieved. The wolf leader circled behind Ochre, yipping for the girl-wolf in front of them to hurry.
Ochre nocked another arrow and waited. Anna looked over her shoulder at the four-wheeler and then trotted forward hesitantly, her tongue lolling out in exhaustion.
“There’s not much time,” said Ochre.
The pack leader nudged Ochre’s leg. “Thank you, brother,” said Ochre, running his fingers over the wolf’s head. The wolf bobbed his head and trotted away, no doubt to round up his pack. They had done a heroic night’s work when they should have been hunting for food. In truth, their participation had been a waste of resources given out of the goodness of their hearts. That and a hatred for the ATVs and stink of warlocks. Ochre blessed them for it.
“Anna,” said Ochre, “we have to hurry.”
She gave a low growl and didn’t move. Even after two years of seeing his sisters’ mates shift in and out of wolf-form, Ochre wasn’t used to the idea that the wolf in front of him wasn’t all wolf. He returned his arrow to the quiver and knelt down, as he would when talking to other animals, equalizing the height difference.
“Anna, I was sent. We have to go now before they regroup.” He kept his voice even and soothing. All animals, including humans, reacted better to calm energy.
He reached out with his mind, the way he did when he wanted to communicate with other animals and found himself lost for a moment in the golden glow of her mind. She was nothing like anything he’d ever experienced. The closest he could come was that she was a goddess. He opened his eyes and found her inches from his face, her muzzle lifted in a silent snarl.
There was a shout of rage as the second warlock dislodged himself from under the ATV and began to stagger toward them, a black cloud of magic forming in his hands.
“Time to go,” said Ochre. He grabbed hold of Anna’s ruff with two hands and threw her into the woods. She landed with a surprised grunt and spun around, preparing to charge at him. But she stopped as he pulled the trees closed behind them, sealing them into the in-between-woods.
All forests were one forest. And for the right person, who knew the right way to look, stepping into the woods between the trees was entirely possible. He just had to twist his brain to the right a little and squint. The problem was that the fairy woods weren’t meant for humans or even partial humans such as himself. The place swarmed and smeared, and it was easy to get lost. Venturing into the fairy wood was a dangerous proposition even for an experienced traveler. He shook his head, trying to clear the rainbow sparkles at the edge of his vision, and then took a deep breath, re-centering himself. In response, the woods became still and formed into his preferred forest—oak trees with shrubby, cheerful underbrush and moss underfoot. When she had called to send him after Anna, his sister Azure had been very concerned that he would have totravel.He hadn’t bothered to mention that he hadn’t ridden in a plane or train for over a year. Canada to Montana was hardly a hardship for him at this point. But he hadn’t mentioned it. Not that Azure had given him much time to talk.
Anna growled, the whites showing around the edge of her eyes. He wasn’t sure how the woods looked to wolves. He would have to ask Liam or Rafe the next time he saw them.
“Anna, we’re going to your home,” he said. “But you have to stick close to me.”
She growled louder this time.
“I will get you home,” he said, wishing she would change to her human form so he could know if they were communicating. He didn’t understand how his sisters managed to talk to Liam and Rafe like this. Scarlet and Liam appeared to have complete conversations, while Azure and Rafe seemed to have entire arguments. Meanwhile, he felt like his words were going into a black hole. He’d hinted to Scarlet once that he might be able to try to communicate directly with shifters, but Scarlet had given that a hard veto. She said shifters were not going to like the idea at all. So far, the mysteriously important wolf-girl was proving Scarlet right. He would have to make do with body language, and as usual, he felt like either of his sisters would have been a better choice for this job.
“I swear to you, I will take you to your pack,” he said, “but you have to stay with me.”
