A bowl with a strange swirling liquid sat on a wooden table in front of Danica. The liquid would apparently determine whether or not her blood held the line of the rogues in it. At least that was what the Elder standing in front of her had said.
As Arlo had explained to her, they would need to make a small incision in the palm of her hand and allow her blood to intermingle with the liquid. If it remained clear and unchanging then that meant her blood was clear. However, if it turned black that meant she had rogue blood.
The thought of inflicting pain upon herself scared Danica, but she had no room for argument.
Looking to Mason who had returned to his human form for comfort Danica held out her hand to Arlo who had a dagger at the ready.
Searing pain shot through Danica's palm as the cool blade sliced her skin allowing her blood to flow freely into the bowl below.
Everyone watched intently as her blood turned into a red cyclo
Danica looked around at the training ground before her. Young men and women ran drills and locked in hand to hand combat as what she assumed were higher ups watched from the sidelines. Occasionally they would step forward and give some instruction before stepping back and watching once more.After their meeting with the elders Mason had insisted that Danica move into the barracks and begin training with his packs new recruits. He was especially insistent on it due to the fact Danica was currently unable to change. That meant that for the time being she needed to be able to defend herself in human form if another rogue attempted attacking.Initially Danica was against it, but in the end she gave in. It wasn't due to the fact she agreed that she needed to be able to defend herself, rather it was because she didn't trust herself being under the same roof as Martha.She kept finding herself wondering what would happen if she suddenly went cra
Danica puffed as a fist slammed against her stomach causing her to double over gasping for air."AGAIN!" Chris roared from his place on the sidelines.It had been a week since Danica had arrived at the training grounds and her life had become an endless cycle of sleep, train, bath, eat, and repeat.Despite her being new to hand to hand combat they still insisted on putting her up against seasoned fighters, making her training that much more difficult.Now she faced off with Chris' mate Bella. Bella was one of the strongest female warriors that Mason's pack had, and Chris had insisted that she was the best candidate for Danica's training."DON'T GIVE HER ANY OPENINGS!" Chris continued to bellow as Danica lifted her arms to protect her face from any incoming punches.After the first few days of learning Danica was starting to become acquainted with Bella's fighting style. She could for the most part tell what she was about to
The room around remained silent as Ash busied himself poking at the serpent mark on her hip. It had already been an hour since he began his inspection and he still hadn't said a word.Growing uneasy Danica locked eyes with Mason who was looking down at her. As she opened her mouth to speak he simply shook his head placing a finger against his lips to indicate she needed to remain silent.Nodding Danica closed her eyes and tried to focus on something other than the anxiety that was bubbling within her threatening to come rushing out."I think..." Ash said suddenly sitting up and smiling from ear to ear. "I should be able to easily unravel this curse.""You think?" Mason asked a deadly tone to his voice. "I don't want an I THINK I want an I KNOW.""Calm down Mason." Danica urged grabbing his hand."What if he messes up? Nigel told us the consequences." Mason asked looking alarmed. "You could become a vegetab
A fist came flying straight at Danica's face and her defenses were completely down. It stopped an inch away from her nose before being drawn back entirely."You're not even trying." Bella complained as Danica continued to zone out. "What has gotten into you?"It had been a few days since her visit with the shaman and his apprentice, despite the time that passed she just couldn't bring herself to focus on anything."Sorry, let's go again." Danica said out of habit as she did a poor job of trying to put up her defenses.Tsking Bella turned and stormed off leaving Danica all alone on the training grounds. From the sidelines she could see Chris eyeing her in annoyance. Feeling out of sorts she dragged herself over to him preparing herself for the onslaught of insults that were most definetely about to come her way."Lay it on me." She huffed as she arrived in front of him. "I know I deserve it."Chris didn't speak a
Danica wasn't quite sure just how long she sat on that bench watching as the sun disappeared and the moon appeared, time ceased to exist as she let her depressing thoughts completely consume her.As she continued to feel sorry for herself she also promised herself that this would be the last time. Chris was right, she needed to get herself straight otherwise she wouldn't get anywhere. If she needed to find the sorcerer that cast her curse to break it, then she needed to know how to fight.Finding a new conviction Danica headed back to her dorm to sleep, determined to wake up the following morning ready to become a better her."You're doing great!" Chris called as Danica managed to pin Bella to the ground winning her first match ever against her. "I don't know what has changed but keep it up!"Huffing Danica helped Bella to her feet. "Good match." She said smiling and placing a hand on Bella's shoulder."Seems you
Day turned into night as Danica continued pushing forward, only when her lungs and body could no longer withstand did she finally stop.Leaning forward with her hands on her knees she greedily sucked in large gulps of air as she tried to take in her surroundings.Surveying the area she determined she wasn't near the training grounds or the barracks anymore, that much she was certain of. Instead she found herself deep in the woods and had no idea which direction would lead her back to where she came from.Laughing inwardly she plopped on the ground and mentally kicked herself for being so impulsive. She had thoroughly managed to get herself lost.Not wanting to stick around too long Danica pushed herself up and began walking in the direction she was pretty sure she had come running from. Worst come to worst she would end up even more lost, best she would at least find a road or something to indicate exactly where she was.
As Danica sat alone in Mason's room she allowed herself to finally relax. It had taken most of the night for her to openly tell Mason everything that had been going on with her for the past week, from the dark being she felt come to life within her, to her locked away inner wolf. In the end he had quietly listened and hadn't judged her or shown any type of repose to her as she spoke.Once finished with her confession she had allowed Mason to leave the room long enough to go speak with his Beta Chris about what all Danica had told him, after all Chris was Danica's current coach and he needed to be aware of her condition as well.Hoping that she hadn't just revealed that she was crazy Danica flopped down on Mason's bed spreading her arms wide beside her. Staring at the roof above she watched as rays of light began making their way across the surface.It seemed that Danica had managed to stay up the entire night, with the memory of making her firs
The following week passed in a blur or training and preparing for a journey to visit Nigel and Ash once more. After Danica had confided in Mason about the dark being within her, he had suggested they visit the Shaman and his apprentice to see if they knew anything about what was going on.After that day Danica hadn't seen Mason very much as reports of more rogue attacks had begun to string in from pack members that were spread out throughout the entire state. With the attacks increasing Mason had been forced to call the entire pack together for a meeting to discuss what was to be done about the attacks.Danica found herself feeling extremely nervous as the time of the meeting grew closer and closer, as the future Luna as Mason would say she was required to attend and be part of the discussion. Even if she wasn't even a full fledged wolf and wasn't able to change she was still to present herself.With two important events looming on