"You going to be okay?" Mason asked wrapping his arms around Danica.
"Yeah, I'll be okay." Danica responded leaning against him.
After returning home Mason decided to run a nice hot bath for the both of them, his way of trying to help Danica feel the slightest bit better about the news they had recieved.
Stripping had been slightly awkward for Danica due to Mason's blanching when he saw the scars that now permanently littered her back from Marie, but once she had submerged her body she couldn't help but admit that the bath was helping.
"Do you think this little one will be born into a peaceful world?" Danica asked closing her eyes.
Mason who had slid a hand to rest on Danica's stomach let out a long sigh, "I hope so."
"You don't have confidence in beating them?" Danica asked eyes widening. "I thought that was what all the preperations were for."
"When it comes to war you never know what will happen." Mason pointed out pulling Da
"Let's go." Danica ordered beginning to move forward only to be stopped by Mason. "What?" She demanded meeting his gaze."You can't possibly think that I'm going to let you step anywhere near any of that fighting." Mason hissed."Why not?" Danica demanded trying to break free of his grip. "You can't possibly think I'm just going to sit here and wait for who knows what!""Yes, that's exactly what I expect you to do." Mason responded seriously. "You are pregnant now, your priority is keeping our child safe."Mason's words felt like a slap to Danica. Even though she really wanted to be beside him fighting, he was right, she was pregnant now and her top priority was to protect the life that was growing within her. No matter how she wanted to try to deny his logic, she simply couldn't."What am I to do if they breach the dorms?" Danica sighed conceeding to Mason's point. "Should I not fight back then as well?"
"Acting tough now are we?" Marie laughed taking Danica in. "Do you really think I'm scared of you?""You should be." Danica growled as she felt something within her begin to stir. "I still owe you for my parents, a life for a life sounds fair."Tilting her head back Marie let out a loud laugh, "Come then little wolf, show me what you can do."Lunging forward Marie held out her clawed hands ready to grab Danica, but Danica was faster, moving out of the way before turning and grabbing Marie by her wing. Heaving she yanked and threw Marie to the side causing the harpie to stumble.Not giving her a chance to regroup Danica pounced tackling Marie to the ground. Shrieks escaped the harpie queen as she fought for Dominance against Danica."Get off me!" Marie growled as she clawed at Danica's face. "How dare you a puny wolf think that you are any match for me!""Seems like this puny little wolf is the one in control rig
"Any news?" Danica asked Bella as she hovered around fixing her hair. "How many times do I have to say it? Mason will let you know if they find the harpies and trolls." Bella huffed slamming down a blush brush. "Now, could you please be still so I can finish your makeup." "Yes ma am." Danica replied snapping her mouth shut. A month passed by in a blur, no matter how much Mason's scouts searched they just couldn't seem to find Marie or her army. It was an odd occurence, because anytime they would get a trail it would vanish as quickly as it appeared, leaving everyone at square one once more. Though they had recruited the help of sorcerer's to see if they could possibly find the harpies with their abilities, even they came up empty handed. It was almost as if they had disappeared from existence entirely. After two weeks of this is was almost as if the war was nothing more than a bad dream, aside from the casualties that b
'Everything is ready.' The three words flashed across the screen of Danica's cellphone. The message was from her best friend who had insisted on throwing a party for her that evening. It was Danica's eighteenth birthday and her friends had insisted she needed to celebrate it in style, after all it was her emergence into adulthood. At least that was what they had insisted despite her protests. Huffing Danica got up from her bed and walked over to her vanity allowing herself to study her reflection. Curly black hair surrounded her pale freckle covered face, golden eyes that were surrounded by thick lashes stared back at her with a look of annoyance in them. Even reflection her was against her evening plans, she thought with a smirk that caused her cheeks to dimple. No matter how much she examined herself she just couldn't possibly see the difference in 'child' Danica and 'adult' Danica. From behind her, her bedroom door burst open allowing Amy and Heather her two best friends
"Danica," a gentle voice reached to her through the darkness. She felt like she was floating as the darkness continued to hold her. It was almost as if her body and conciousness were completely separate from one another. Somehow she felt connected to the voice, not just on an emotional level, but on another level that was hard for Danica to quite fathom. As she tried to determine just what that feeling was she could feel herself begin to fall. As she fell she felt her mind and body reconnecting once more, before finally becoming one entity. Now she could understand why she had the feeling of floating. Two strong protective arms were carrying her. Prying her eyes open she waited for her foggy vision to clear so she could see exactly who was holding her. She could make out the outline of a strong chiseled jaw with dark stubble peppering it, then full lips that sat in a frown, followed by high cheekbones that sat und
Danica lay in bed staring up at her roof as thoughts of the evening danced across her closed lids. Everytime she had begun to drift into sleep the terrifying black wolf with glowing red eyes and razor sharp white teeth would appear and shock her awake.As she tried to sleep she allowed herself to drift back to her conversation with Mason before he had finally allowed her to escape into the comfort of her home.He had said that she was a werewolf and she would be changing in three days time. The thought of it was absolutely absurd, but after seeing a wolf shift into a man nothing seemed impossible anymore.Unable to sleep Danica sat up and pulled her laptop from her bedside table. Opening it she stared at the glowing screen in front of her before opening a search engine and typing in werewolf.All the links that appeared for her were for horror movie based information and urban legends. Nothing remotely solid that could help her.
The place Mason had insisted on bringing Danica to for their discussion was a gazebo placed directly in the middle of a wild flower field. It overlooked a pond so clear you could see to the bottom. The whole place screamed secluded and private.All around Danica were multicolor flowers as she allowed Mason to lead her to the gazebo. As she took them in she couldn't help but think that Martha would love this place. Especially while she was still on her painting kick.With a perfect blue sky above and the scenery all around it was almost as if Danica herself had stepped into a painting.Smiling Mason turned to an enthralled Danica. "This is my favorite place to come when I'm having an off day.""I can see why." Danica quipped continuing to take the place in.As her eyes fell in the gazebo that had a romantic feel to it she couldn't stop the thought of Mason bringing other women here. How many had been here?&n
Warm sunlight played on Danica's skin as wind blew her wild curls around. She and Mason were currently on their way back to town after finishing their discussion about her first change.Having ultimately decided it was best to not overwhelm her with too much information in one day Mason insisted they focus solely on her first change for the time being.Even if Danica had been disappointed in a way she was also thankful. Her mind was still on overload with processing everything and she wasn't too sure if she had room left to deal with much more."Are you comfortable?" Mason asked from beside her. He had been silent since they left the wild flower field, allowing Danica to be alone in her head. "I can put the windows up and turn on the air if it's too hot.""Mmmmmm" Danica murmured in the way of response. "This weather is perfect, leave the windows down."Smiling she closed her eyes and further re
"Any news?" Danica asked Bella as she hovered around fixing her hair. "How many times do I have to say it? Mason will let you know if they find the harpies and trolls." Bella huffed slamming down a blush brush. "Now, could you please be still so I can finish your makeup." "Yes ma am." Danica replied snapping her mouth shut. A month passed by in a blur, no matter how much Mason's scouts searched they just couldn't seem to find Marie or her army. It was an odd occurence, because anytime they would get a trail it would vanish as quickly as it appeared, leaving everyone at square one once more. Though they had recruited the help of sorcerer's to see if they could possibly find the harpies with their abilities, even they came up empty handed. It was almost as if they had disappeared from existence entirely. After two weeks of this is was almost as if the war was nothing more than a bad dream, aside from the casualties that b
"Acting tough now are we?" Marie laughed taking Danica in. "Do you really think I'm scared of you?""You should be." Danica growled as she felt something within her begin to stir. "I still owe you for my parents, a life for a life sounds fair."Tilting her head back Marie let out a loud laugh, "Come then little wolf, show me what you can do."Lunging forward Marie held out her clawed hands ready to grab Danica, but Danica was faster, moving out of the way before turning and grabbing Marie by her wing. Heaving she yanked and threw Marie to the side causing the harpie to stumble.Not giving her a chance to regroup Danica pounced tackling Marie to the ground. Shrieks escaped the harpie queen as she fought for Dominance against Danica."Get off me!" Marie growled as she clawed at Danica's face. "How dare you a puny wolf think that you are any match for me!""Seems like this puny little wolf is the one in control rig
"Let's go." Danica ordered beginning to move forward only to be stopped by Mason. "What?" She demanded meeting his gaze."You can't possibly think that I'm going to let you step anywhere near any of that fighting." Mason hissed."Why not?" Danica demanded trying to break free of his grip. "You can't possibly think I'm just going to sit here and wait for who knows what!""Yes, that's exactly what I expect you to do." Mason responded seriously. "You are pregnant now, your priority is keeping our child safe."Mason's words felt like a slap to Danica. Even though she really wanted to be beside him fighting, he was right, she was pregnant now and her top priority was to protect the life that was growing within her. No matter how she wanted to try to deny his logic, she simply couldn't."What am I to do if they breach the dorms?" Danica sighed conceeding to Mason's point. "Should I not fight back then as well?"
"You going to be okay?" Mason asked wrapping his arms around Danica."Yeah, I'll be okay." Danica responded leaning against him.After returning home Mason decided to run a nice hot bath for the both of them, his way of trying to help Danica feel the slightest bit better about the news they had recieved.Stripping had been slightly awkward for Danica due to Mason's blanching when he saw the scars that now permanently littered her back from Marie, but once she had submerged her body she couldn't help but admit that the bath was helping."Do you think this little one will be born into a peaceful world?" Danica asked closing her eyes.Mason who had slid a hand to rest on Danica's stomach let out a long sigh, "I hope so.""You don't have confidence in beating them?" Danica asked eyes widening. "I thought that was what all the preperations were for.""When it comes to war you never know what will happen." Mason pointed out pulling Da
Two weeks passed in a blink. After the night of Danica's rescue, Mason began to gather all reinforcements across the entire continent, preparing for an outright attack on the trolls and the harpies. Arlo, who remained neutral, had decided to stay out of the entire thing along with his elven brethren, a fact that surprised Danica greatly given his strong aversion to her.Nigel and Ash busied themselves collecting the sorcerer clans from the darklands that were willing to help the werewolves with the war as well, though their numbers were few they would still be a major asset when the time came.For the entire two weeks signs of army building was detected by scouts that Mason hid within the darklands, from what was being reported it wouldn't be much longer before Marie and Talon waged their attacks and this time Mason was well prepared.The room Danica and Mason shared had been converted into a mini headquarters where Mason held meetings and planned at
"I'm going to be a mom?" Danica asked not sure if she had heard the doctor correctly. "What do you mean I'm going to be a mom?"The air around Danica had grown thin and she was having a very hard time breathing. After everything that had happened in the past two days, she wasn't sure she could even handle anymore surprises. Not to mention, there was about to be a war, how could she possibly have gotten herself pregnant?"Exactly as I said Luna." Dr. Gerald chirped oblivious to the fact Danica wasn't happy about his news. "You're about a month along already."Turning her gaze to Mason Danica tried to make sense of what was going on. Unlike her Mason was smiling from ear to ear as he met Danica's eyes."We're going to be parents!" Mason exclaimed laughing. "Are you sure Dr. Gerald?""Yep, pretty positive the hormone levels don't lie." Dr. Gerald confirmed passing his clipboard over to Mason. "Congratulations
"Any brilliant ideas?" Danica asked while looking over her shoulder at the harpies that were quickly gaining on them.'Just a little further.' Mason responded picking up speed. 'There is a portal ahead and reinforcements waiting.'"What about the ones that were in the harpie palace?" Danica asked as fear clutched her heart. "You've got a lot of explaining to do when we get back."'Sure.' Mason chuckled."Now's not the time to be laughing."From behind Danica could hear the harpies and trolls gaining on them. It seemed that if they didn't reach the portal soon they would be recaptured."They're gaining on us!" Danica shrieked while ducking as a harpie swooped down towards her from above.As the harpie attempted to right herself something unseen slammed into her sending her flying to the ground. Hissing and shrieking the harpie tried to break free from whatever had hold of it.From the wounds that we
Danica bolted as quickly as her injured leg would allow her down the brightly lit hallway looking here and there for a room to sneak into in an attempt to throw Marie. She had managed to lock her in the stairwell, giving herself some time to make some distance, but the door wouldn't hold the furious harpie queen much longer.Turning to look behind her Danica didn't expect a strong set of hands to grab and yank her into a dark room before wrapping around her mouth to stop a scream that tried to escape."It's me." Mason's voice whispered in Danica's ear sending a wave of comfort through her.Turning slightly Danica looked into his warm green eyes as all her fear and worry immediately washed away."About time." Danica sighed pulling Mason's hand away from her mouth. "I was beginning to believe you wouldn't be able to find me.""Nothing in this world would stop me from finding you." Mason insisted with a small smile.Feeling her hear
'Danica...' the soft voice drifted into Danica's mind as she hovered between awake and unconcious. 'Please....' The wolfs bane that ran through her veins kept Danica from truly being able to be aware. She could only guess that Marie was worried if she was fully alert she would try to contact Mason through the mindlink and give away what was going on. 'Please respond.' The voice seemed to be growing desperate. 'Where are you?' Trying to collect all her strength Danica did her best to connect with whoever the voice belonged to. In her delirious state she wasn't fully able to place a finger on who was calling out to her, but she had a feeling it was Mason. 'I don't know.' Danica's voice came out in barely a whisper as she fought to stay aware long enough to communicate. 'Some underground holding cell.' 'Did you see the scenery when they brought you there?' Mason demanded as Danica felt his anger beginn