Chapter 18 Eighteen
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, and despite the time that had 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 definitely 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 as he continued to take Danica in.
"Did something happen?" he asked, catching Danica completely off guard.
"Of course not," Danica stammered. She wasn't sure if she was even allowed to talk to other people about her curse, let alone confide in Mason's Beta about it.
Chris' eyes narrowed as he clearly didn't buy her poor attempt at a lie.
"Take a few days to get your mind right," he ordered. "With the state you're in now, you won't be improving at all."
"Sure," Danica responded as Chris turned and walked away.
Letting out a long, frustrated breath, Danica flopped onto the ground and stared at the heavens. She found herself once again thinking of fate and the really crappy fate that the so-called moon goddess had planned out for her.
"Good job," she muttered as a hysterical laugh began to work its way up her throat. "If this is how fate works, then I am all for defying you," she continued, speaking toward the sky. "YOU HEAR ME!" She screamed as tears began to trickle from the corners of her eyes.
'Not her fault,' came the voice in her head. 'Your parents....'
Sitting up quickly, Danica felt herself tense. What about her parents? Also, what in the world was the voice that kept popping up in her head? Looking around, she tried to see if maybe someone was near, and she thought she heard it in her head; however, she was completely alone.
"Who are you?" She asked out loud, despite feeling ridiculous doing it.
'You're....' It tried, it seemed that talking to her in general was very difficult for it. 'Wolf...' it finished sounding almost exhausted.
"My wolf?" Danica considered. "But my wolf is locked away."
'Broke....' It huffed, 'out.'
"How?" Danica demanded jumping up. "How did you break out?"
Despite listening intently, the voice never managed to return. Instead, Danica was left questioning whether or not she had heard correctly.
Feeling her hope deflate, Danica began making her way back to her dorm.
When she reached the entrance, three she-wolves stood blocking it, their arms crossed across their chests. Looks of pure disgust played on their faces.
"Excuse me," Danica tried, thinking nothing of it and just wanting to go wash up and lay down; however, the women didn't move.
"Are you Danica?" One with striking gray eyes and long brown hair asked. She seemed to be the leader of the three.
"I am," Danica didn't know why it mattered, but she also didn't want to be rude. "Can I get by now, please?"
"How can you possibly be our future Luna?" The she-wolf asked, continuing to stand her ground.
"She's nothing special," said one of her lackeys, giggling.
"Yeah, Mason must be temporarily blind." Said the other.
Danica remained in place, watching as the three women began to cackle.
"Monica, why don't you show her what Mason's mate should really be capable of?" Lackey number one quipped to her leader.
Smiling, Monica bared her canines viciously.
"That actually isn't such a bad idea."
Moving forward, she lifted a clawed hand and flashed it in front of Danica's face.
"Am I supposed to be scared of that?" Danica asked, feeling herself go cross-eyed from the closeness of Monica's hand. "If you're done trying to show off, I would really like to go inside."
"Better watch the attitude, bitch," Monica snarled, swinging out at Danica.
Dodging Danica watched as Monica began attempting to come after her again. This time her lackies had decided to join as well, turning the fight into three against one.
"I'm sorry," Danica said, eyeing the three, "but did I do something to offend you?"
Laughing Monica flipped her hair and asked, "Are you joking?"
"Do I look like I'm joking?" The longer the three held Danica in place, the more she felt her anger flaring. "Now, get the hell out of my way!" She snarled any semblance of trying to be nice was gone.
"Do you know who you are talking to?" Monica asked, lunging towards Danica.
Dodging again, Danica watched as Monica went tumbling to the ground, scraping her cheek in the process.
"MY CHEEK!" She wailed as blood began pouring. "You'll pay for this!"
Seeing their leader in disarray, the two lackies moved forward and started helping her up.
"Come on, Monica, let's take you to the medic," lackey number one said while scurrying around trying to figure out where to grab hold of Monica to lift her without hurting her.
"Get away from me, you useless twit!" Monica growled, pushing herself to her feet. "This isn't over!" She spat at Danica before storming away with her lackeys in tow.
"Of course it isn't," Danica mocked as the three hurried away.
With the three women out of her way, Danica made her way inside so she could finally get a nice, hot shower and some rest.
She had lucked out, and the communal showers were completely empty, so she could spend extra time enjoying the warmth of the water that roamed across her tired body.
Once finished, she dried off before padding back to her room, where she found Abigail and Sophia laying on Sophia's bed, watching a movie on Abigail's computer.
As usual, Abigail didn't bother acknowledging Danica's presence, while Sophia bounced up and immediately ran to her.
"Welcome back!" She squealed. At times, it was hard for Danica to believe that Sophia was even capable of being a fighter, but she had seen her in action, and she was actually pretty vicious. "Wanna watch a movie with us?" She offered.
"I'm okay," Danica just wanted to be alone, and since she couldn't be alone in her dorm room, she would just have to venture outside and hope she could find the solitude she needed elsewhere.
"Are you sure?" Sophia pouted.
"Leave her alone, Soph." Abigail ordered not taking her eyes away from the computer screen in front of her.
"I'm going to go for a walk," Danica forced a smile as she bade farewell to her roommates.
Danica found her way outside once again, just as the sun was beginning to set. Finding a bench to sit on, she watched as the sun cast its reddish-orange glow across the entire earth as it made its descent for the day. In her mind, she found herself cursing the moon that was about to make its appearance. It was because of that cursed moon that her life is now what it is.
Wallowing in self-pity, Danica remained in place until the world around her turned dark.