Page 3 of A Brighter Yellow
“Hey, Garett,” she said, without trying any advanced maneuvers like sitting up. Remembering that she didn’t have paws was currently proving hard enough.
“Not my smoothest exit,” said the man, sitting up with a cough. “I think I forgot to account for the elevation change.”
“Mister,” said her brother, “I suggest you sit still and shut the fuck up. You just fell out of a tree with my naked sister. The only reason Lucky over there,” Garett gestured to their cousin Lucky, “hasn’t ripped your throat out is that we can’t figure out why you carry a bow but smell like trail mix.”
Anna squinted an eye at Lucky to see if this was accurate. Lucky was in wolf shape and looked somewhere between freaked and amused.
“I do only have trail mix in my bag,” said the man. “I’m a vegetarian.”
“Get the fuck out of here,” said Garett, and Lucky sat down out of sheer shock.
“All he had in his bag was fruit and nuts,” said Anna. “And cheese. I ate all the cheese.”
“Sorry,” said the man. Now that she was human, she could see that he was blond with hazel-green eyes and a nice square jaw that was currently carrying about three days worth of red-gold stubble. He was wearing a pair of dusty trail pants, and his pack and bow looked well-worn.
“I would have brought some jerky or something more wolf-friendly, but I didn’t know I was coming until the last minute. I was in Canada on a job when I got the call.”
“Canada?” repeated Garett.
“Yes. Where am I now, please?” He looked between the two of them expectantly. Anna narrowed her eyes as he turned his head. His long hair was tied back in a ponytail, and were the tips of his ears… pointy?
“West Virginia,” said Anna.
“Oh, that’s nice. Maybe I can go see Grandma.”
“We were in Montana,” said Anna. She squinted, taking in the sky. It looked like late morning. Above her, the crows had settled back down and were watching events with interest.
“Yeah,” said the man. “Azure was dead on about where to find you. I guess after all these years, I shouldn’t be surprised, but it still kind of blows my mind.”
“We were in Montanalast night,” Anna said.
“Yeah,” he said, standing up. “Sorry it took so long.”
Anna was suddenly furious that he was being so casual about all of this. She scrambled to her feet and prepared to stare him down, only to realize for one of the few times in her life that she wasn’t looking him in the eye. Anna was five-foot-ten, and she was staring him in the clavicle. She tilted her head back to look up at him. He smiled down at her.
“Who the hellareyou?” she demanded.
Episode 3
The Keep
Ochre
“Montana!”
The man that came roaring around the corner of the awesome old-world-looking keep was burly and nearly as tall as Ochre. He looked to be somewhere in his early fifties, but as far as shifter wolves went, Ochre thought that meant he was probably north of two hundred and fifty. Possibly very north.
“Well, shit,” said Anna’s brother. Ochre was nearly certain she’d said his name was Garett. The only name he had an absolute lock on was Lucky. Lucky was currently trying to hide his entire bulky wolf body behind a skinny birch tree.
“Anna Aurora Aurelia Augusta Allanach!”
Ochre blinked at the string of names. They were quite the mouthful, but the adorable naked wolf-girl in front of him also looked like a mouthful. Anna was a red-head with blue eyes and acres upon acres of pale, freckled skin that he was trying not to stare at, but he couldn’t help be aware that she was shaped like girls were supposed to be shaped. Which was to say curvy, muscled, and well-endowed.
“You said you were in Kentucky with your damn cousins!”
“Ah,” she said. “Well, I was on my way to Kentucky.”
“By way of Montana?” he bellowed. “That is it! This is the last time. You are grounded. You are not leaving the homestead again. Ever.”
