Page 6 of A Brighter Yellow
“What? How am I involved in this?”
“If you’re hanging around, then you’re going to make yourself useful.”
Within minutes, Ochre had a plate full of food and was sitting down opposite of Anna. Baird sat at the head of the table to a large plate full of meat products.
“Now then,” said Anna, taking a sip of milk after the first bites had been consumed. “Would you be so kind as to explain why and how your family should be interested in me and my whereabouts?”
“Yes, to that,” said Garett, who was now fixing himself eggs.
“Well, my sister Azure has the second sight,” said Ochre. “So she gets visions of the future and other stuff. That’s how she knew where you were.”
Anna glanced at her father, who continued to eat his food with a sour expression.
“And why should you or your sister care where I am?” asked Anna.
She was so suspicious. She’d been dubious in the woods too, and now she was glaring at him. He was used to that. Lots of people found the things that Ochre said hard to stomach. Rattling off facts about the oil industry and habitat loss had a tendency to make people yell at him as if he personally were threatening their livelihood rather than just their conception of the world. It had never really bothered him, and sometime in the last five years, he’d stopped caring altogether. It was a general disassociation from humanity’s anger at inconvenient truths and their opinions of him. But for the first time in a long while, he found that he cared about what someone thought. He wanted Anna to like him.
But what was it going to take to make Anna trust him?
Azure wanted him to find out about Anna. Something Anna was doing, or was about to do, was vital to the future of the Supernaturals. Azure had stressed that he was to do whatever it took to connect with Anna. Ochre thought about what to say to make that happen and then realized that trust could really only be built on the truth. The guiding principle of truth steadied him as always, but it didn’t have to be all of the facts all at once.
“Azure, my sister, could see that you were in trouble. And a Supernatural in trouble is always of interest, but when she said it was you, my other sister’s mate freaked out and wanted to come get you. But Azure said the best chance for success was if I went.”
“Your sister’s mate?” asked Garett, arriving at the table. He hooked his foot under a chair rung and pulled it away from the table. “You’re not a wolf. Do you have mates like wolves? Come to think on it, what are you?”
“Fae,” growled Baird from the end of the table. “Nancy-fancy pants fairy boys.”
“Uh…” said Ochre, now feeling annoyed. “I don’t believe that my pants are fancy, and I’m not a fairy, although we do have a few in the family tree. Along with elves, and a few nymphs, and other things. Mostly my family is Fae.”
“I thought they were all gone,” said Anna, looking unconcerned about his pants status.
“Only mostly,” said Ochre. “And no, we don’t have mates. Not like the wolves do. But my sister’s life-partners are wolves, so the term is accurate.”
“Both your sisters?” asked Baird, looking skeptical.
“Yes,” said Ochre. “My older sister Azure is mated to Rafe DeSandre. Who may or may not be affiliated with the Portland pack depending on what day of the week it is and if he’s in a fight with his father, Albert.”
Baird snorted. “Albert is a blowhard.”
“Oh, good,” said Ochre. “It’s not just me.” For the first time, Baird flashed a smile and some very white teeth, and Ochre grinned back. He rather liked Baird.
“And my younger sister Scarlet,” continued Ochre, “is with Liam Grayson of the New York pack.”
The table went silent and the only sound was the tick of the clock on the wall and Lucky’s nails on the flagstones as he crept from the room.
Episode 4
The Kitchen
Anna
Anna could feel her brother and father looking at her and knew that she’d probably gone more pink than she wanted to.
“Is that who he ended up with?” she said, keeping her eyes on Ochre. “I’d heard he’d mated with someone. I hadn’t heard who.” She added a smile so that hopefully, things wouldn’t get weird.
Her father eased a fraction, and Garett shoved a forkful of eggs in his face. Unfortunately, Ochre wasn’t a dumb blond. His eyes slid slightly to her father and then back to her, obviously getting the tension, but hopefully not why.
“Liam said you were friends. He was really upset that you were in trouble.”
