Chapter 47 Forty-Seven
A light knocking at the door woke Danica from her slumber. Groaning, she rolled over and pushed Mason's shoulder as another round of knocking sounded.
"What?" Mason asked groggily.
"Door." Danica grumbled. "Can you check it?"
Yawning, Mason got up out of bed and looked for his pants. Slipping them on, he went to see who was rude enough to wake them before their alarms went off.
Still exhausted from being kept up for most of the night, Danica rolled over and tried to fall back to sleep as the soft murmuring of voices rocked her like a lullaby, at least until they began to increase in volume and urgency.
Curiousity waking her, she sat up and looked towards Mason's back. Even though she wanted to get up and go see what was being said, she was unable to do so since her clothes were scattered about the floor and she didn't know who was outside the door. Containing her slowly building anxiety, she waited until, finally, Mason closed the door and turned to her frowning.
"What's wrong?" Danica asked, hurrying out of bed, and to him. "Who was that?"
"Chris." Mason sighed, running a hand through his hair. "He said word has gotten out that the Abaasy have moved further in towards the village."
"What?" She asked, her eyes widening. "You mean they're making their way towards people now?"
Mason nodded. "Seems we need to act sooner than expected."
"How soon?" Danica asked slowly, although she had an idea already.
"Today." He replied grimly. "If I asked you to stay here and keep yourself safe, would you?"
Fixing his gaze with Danica's, Mason gave a pleading look, one that was meant to stir her heart and make her agree to his request. If she had been the weak Danica from before, she would have agreed; however, now that she had accepted her position as Luna, she wasn't about to sit back and wait while everyone else put themselves in danger.
"No can do." Danica said, grabbing her clothes and beginning to put them on. "This is my pack too, right?"
"Right," Mason said, still looking like he wanted to argue. "But I would still prefer you to stay here, so I know you're safe."
Danica moved forward, smiling. "I appreciate your concern, but you can't keep me locked away forever. I want to help."
Sighing, Mason smirked, "Stubborn woman."
"Thank you." Danica said, sweetly kissing Mason's cheek. "Now, you should get dressed so we can get to moving."
"Alright." Mason said as he began looking around for his shirt. "The boss has spoken."
Chris had already gathered everyone in the lobby of the inn they were staying in by the time Mason and Danica arrived. Most looked ready for action as they eyed Mason, waiting for him to give instructions, except the few that were staring at Danica as if they couldn't quite believe that she was even there.
"Chris." Mason said now, facing his beta. "Have you briefed them?"
Chris nodded. "They know what is going on and are waiting for further instruction." He reported.
"Right." Mason said, turning his attention to his warriors. "If all of you are aware of why you are here, then I don't have to waste time with details. We have been given a mission by Elder Arlo to take care of an abaasy problem, and it seems they are becoming more bold to the point that we must intervene now."
"YES SIR!" Everyone echoed in response.
"I expect this mission to go as smoothly as possible so that we can continue on our initial mission by tomorrow, understood?" Mason continued.
"YES SIR!" They said again, reminding Danica of well-oiled machines.
"With that said," Mason said, turning towards the exit of the inn. "Shall we get going?"
Turning, Mason began to make his way out of the building, leaving Danica alone to watch as Chris and the warriors followed. Taking in a shaky breath, Danica began to follow, taking up the rear.
Outside on the streets, many villagers were already moving about, completely oblivious to what was going on beyond the center of their home. Looking around, Danica couldn't help but doubt that she and the others would be able to elliminate the danger and that these oblivious people would end up getting attacked.
"Why are you back here?" Christine asked as Danica unintentionally came up beside her while lost in her thoughts. "Shouldn't you be up there with Alpha?"
"Does where I'm walking have anything to do with you?" Danica asked, keeping her gaze fixed ahead.
"Not really," Christine said slowly. "I just figured you'd be up alpha's ass."
"Sorry to disappoint." Danica said simply, trying to keep her anger in check.
"Give it a rest, Christine." A tall man with spiky black hair that Danica remembered being addressed as Leo spoke. "Hasn't she already put you in your place once?"
"Stay out of it." Christine growled at him. "I was simply having a conversation with our future Luna."
"More like trying to insult her." Another man with red hair and a face full of freckles that was addressed to Vincent chimed in.
"How gentlemanly, ganging up on a woman." Christine huffed, quickening her pace.
Vincent and Leo watched her disappear in front of the others before turning their attention to Danica.
"Don't let Christine get to you." Leo said, smirking. "She is just jealous."
"Of what exactly?" Danica couldn't help but ask, even though she had an idea.
"Well..." Leo tried, looking uncomfortable. "Alpha does kind of have a history."
"I'm aware." Danica assured him with a small smile. "We went to the same high school; I saw how he was."
"So much for him keeping anything from you." Vincent boomed, bursting into laughter.
"Keep it up, and Alpha will kick your ass." Leo warned Vincent, looking around to find that Mason had already noticed them speaking with Danica.
Leo began to pale as Mason walked towards them through the other warriors before stopping in front of Vincent, who had yet to notice him.
"Care to share what is so funny?" He asked as he pulled Danica to him.
"Nothing..." Vincent sputtered, immediately stopping.
"Really now?" Mason began, only to stop when the sound of a growl reached them.
Craning her head around the warriors, Danica tried to locate what had made the sound. Standing at the end of the road they had been making their way down was a small creature with pitch-black eyes and tiny, sharp teeth inside a mouth that was covered in blood.
Behind it gathered a hoard of the same creatures, all hissing and snarling as they took in the group of werewolves. It seemed that they had managed to find the abaasy that were starving and ready to attack.