Chapter 21 Twenty-One
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 first kill fresh in her head, it was impossible to even attempt sleeping.
The sound of a door opening made its way to Danica's ears as Mason returned from his conversation with Chris.
"How'd it go?" Danica asked, continuing to keep her gaze fixed on the roof. "Has it been determined that I'm a monster?"
She could hear Mason take a sharp breath.
"What would even make you think that you are a monster?"
Laughing Danica sat up and said, "When I'm in a dangerous situation, something else entirely takes me over, and there's nothing I can do to stop it."
"We will figure it out," Mason assured her, making his way over to the bed where she sat. "Maybe it has to do with your inability to change?"
His suggestion sounded logical, but Danica wasn't sure if she thought it was the truth.
"Do you really believe what you just said?" She was unable to stop herself from questioning his words.
Mason considered, "I believe that you are good, and there's no way that you could ever be a vicious, deranged killer."
"Gee, thanks," Danica mocked through a yawn.
"You should try to get some sleep," Mason suggested. "Just rest here; that way no one will disturb you."
"No way," Danica snapped immediately, sitting up.
Dizziness washed through her as she stood up too quickly from the shock of being told to sleep in Mason's bed.
"Woah there."
Holding out his hands, Mason helped steady Danica as she wobbled on her feet.
"I'm not going to bite you, I promise."
Still dizzy Danica sat back down, allowing Mason to wrap a warm arm around her shoulders. With a sigh, she leaned into him, allowing her eyes to flutter shut.
"I'm only resting my eyes for five minutes," she insisted, yawning once more.
"Sure," Mason chuckled, pulling Danica closer to him. "Just five minutes."
"Mmmhmmm," Danica murmured, already starting to drift.
When Danica opened her eyes once more, she found that the direction of the sunlight on the roof above had shifted, and there was a strange warm pressure laying across her waist. Turning her head, she found herself face-to-face with a sleeping Mason.
Transfixed, she studied his face up close. In the time she had known him, she had never realized that he had a light layer of freckles scattered across his nose and cheeks, nor had she realized just how thick and long his eyelashes were.
Unable to stop herself, Danica lifted a hand and gently used it to brush a stray strand of golden hair away from Mason's forehead. His skin was warm to the touch and sent light tingles through her fingertips.
She was unable to deny that she felt a strong attraction towards him.
This was the mate's bond that Mason was always referring to, the thing that made them unavoidably drawn to each other, but was that truly love? Danica wasn't sure if she bought into something like forced love. Given how the bond made her feel, she couldn't bring herself to admit that it felt anything like love; instead, it reminded her of something similar to obsession.
With this thought in mind, she pulled her hand away from Mason's face and began trying to move away from his embrace without waking him.
"Mmmmm," Mason sleepily muttered as Danica continued to inch from under his arm. "What time is it?"
Busted, Danica thought frantically.
"Not sure," she responded, trying to pretend not to be phased by his close proximity. "I'm currently unable to get up; would you mind letting me go?"
She was sure to give a pointed look at the arm that was still tightly wound around her waist.
"Sorry." Yawning, Mason disengaged himself from Danica, allowing her to freely get out of the bed that they were currently sharing. "Did we sleep all day?"
Peeking out the window, Danica saw that the sun was already beginning to set.
"It seems we did," she confirmed, turning back to face Mason. "Why did you even let me sleep that long?"
Mason attempted to look innocent.
"You just looked so peaceful that I didn't have the heart to wake you."
Narrowing her gaze Danica made it clear that she wasn't buying into what Mason was saying.
"Want to try that again?"
"Ok, ok, I ended up falling asleep myself," Mason confessed, running a hand through his bedhead. "But I can absolutely assure you that it was not intentional that I ended up hugging you to sleep."
"Right," Danica let out a huff. "I wonder what my roommates are thinking right now since I never came back last night."
"Does that truly matter right now?" Mason asked, confused. "You're an adult; your whereabouts shouldn't be anyone's business but your own."
Danica couldn't argue with that logic. Her whereabouts were actually her own, and there was no one she truly needed to answer or report to.
"I'm just saying I don't want to be the center of gossip around here; I already have enough going on as is," Danica said. "By the way, you should probably do something about your fan club."
"Fan club?" Mason repeated, looking confused. "What do you mean by fan club?"
"I was stopped by three girls last night; they were angry that I was your mate," Danica explained, remembering Monica and her lackeys.
"Who was it?" Mason growled, shooting up. "Who dares mess with the future Luna?"
"Said her name was Monica, brown hair, grey eyes?" Danica described vaguely remembering the arrogant woman who tried to pounce on her twice.
Growling once again, Mason's eyes began to darken.
"I will be sure to have a talk with this Monica."
"Please do," Danica definitely didn't want to have to deal with any more jealous women, especially since there really wasn't anything going on between her and Mason.
"Has anything else happened that you haven't told me about?" Mason asked, stepping toward Danica. "You aren't hiding anything else, right?"
"Nothing else, scouts honor," Danica answered, holding up three fingers. "And since everything is out in the open and settled, I need to get back."
"So soon?" Mason pouted. "I feel like we haven't spent any time together since you came here."
"Who is to blame for that?" Danica countered, sticking out her tongue. "Anyway, see you later!"
With a wave of her hand, Danica made her way out of Mason's room and out into the world beyond while ignoring the grumbles of protest that were escaping Mason.
Smiling to herself, she intentionally began to sway her ass a bit to tease him and felt a surge of satisfaction when a growl reached her ears.
"Serves him right," she giggled, picking up her pace. "Now to go face the firing squad."