Chapter 60 Sixty
The next few days went by in a blur of training and Mason being too busy with pack affairs to be able to slip away, leaving Danica all by herself.
She still couldn't get his words out of her head; if he pinpointed who was responsible for the rogue attack that ended up killing his packmates, then a war would start.
Too riled up by this knowledge, Danica found herself exercising alone to try to keep herself occupied. At least that was the plan; however, she hadn't expected to run into Abigail and Sophia when she arrived at the training grounds.
Both girls saw her the minute she stepped up, making it impossible to turn and leave, so instead she gave them a wave and made her way over to them.
"Morning." Sophia chirped, beaming. "I haven't seen you in so long; things must be going great with you and Alpha."
"Sophia," Abigail said with a warning tone in her voice. "Her personal business isn't yours to know."
"Oh, come on!" Sophia huffed, pouting. "I've been so bored these days; Alpha has increased all the training, and no one has been able to socialize; I'm going crazy!"
Giving Sophia a questioning look, Danica urged her to continue. She had no idea about Mason increasing training; hell, she wasn't even aware that it was a necessity right now.
"Oops!" Sophia gasped, covering her mouth, as Abigail shot her a disapproving look.
"Idiot." Abigail sighed as Sophia continued to stare at Danica with wide eyes.
"What's going on?" Danica asked slowly, although she already had a hunch. "Were you instructed to keep me in the dark?"
Sophia, who was looking uncomfortable, gave Abigail a quick look before meeting Danica's gaze.
"Listen, and please don't mention to Alpha that I told you..." Sophia began. "But we have been undergoing extensive training to prepare for an uprising."
"Uprising?" Danica repeated as her heart began to pound in her chest. "What do you mean by an uprising?"
Again, Sophia looked to Abigail as if looking for help. Abigail just shook her head, indicating that Sophia was on her own.
"Maybe you should speak to alpha..." Sophia began only to receive a look from Danica. "THEY FOUND WHO SENT THE ROGUES!"
With that, Sophia turned and ran off, leaving Danica and Abigail watching behind her. Sighing, Abigail rolled her eyes before giving Danica an apologetic smile.
"I should go make sure she's alright." She said before waving and slowly walking away, leaving Danica alone.
Feeling out of sorts Danica decided against exercising and headed back to the dorms to take a long shower and then wait for Mason so he could explain to her exactly what was going wrong. She couldn't help but find herself feeling hurt that he had kept her in the dark about something this important, and she had to fight the urge to rush to his office right then and there to confront him.
After showering and having a bit of time to calm down, Danica found that Mason had returned. He lay on the bed, still fully clothed, with his eyes closed, his face set in a deep frown.
"Rough day?" Danica asked, coming over and sitting down beside him.
"You could say that." Mason sighed, reaching out a hand and placing it on Danica's thigh. "Sorry, I've been so busy."
"No problem." Danica said, "Must be tough to know there is going to be an uprising soon."
Jumping up, Mason's eyes flew open. "How did you..." He began only to stop by the look on Danica's face.
"When were you going to tell me?" Danica asked, narrowing her gaze. "Were you going to wait until something serious happened and I was caught off guard?"
"Let me explain..." Mason began, only to stop when Danica held up a hand.
"Mason, we are supposed to be mates, and I am supposed to be Luna of your pack. This isn't the first time you have left me out of what is going on; is that truly how you are supposed to treat your Luna?" Danica asked, her voice shaking with emotion. "Do you think so little of me that you don't trust me with these types of things?"
Despite trying to remain strong, Danica could feel her heart breaking from Mason's lack of faith in her. She could feel tears beginning to sting at the edges of her eyes as a knot began to rise in her throat.
"Baby...." Mason tried holding up a hand.
"No," Danica hissed, jumping up and wiping at the tears that had begun to escape.
Turning, she stormed towards the door, leaving Mason in shock on the bed behind her. Looking over her shoulder once more, she gave Mason a sad smile before quickly bolting out of the room and making her way outside, where it had begun to rain.
Looking up at the gray sky, Danica let out an embarrassed laugh as tears began to flow down her cheeks. She hadn't meant to lose her cool with Mason; she understood that he was stressed out and her feelings were the last thing he needed, but she couldn't stop the way her heart was breaking simply from him not involving her.
Letting out a howl of frustration, Danica felt herself beginning to go through the change. Caught off guard, she couldn't stop what had begun, as she had only ever changed once and was still not used to the whole process. The only thing she could guess was that her wild emotions had trigged it, and now she just had to let it happen.
Panting she endured as her bones began to contort and elongate as her human form morphed to that of a wolf. Once complete, another howl escaped her as she looked to the dorms once more before bolting into the woods beyond.
The world in front of her zoomed by as she continued to run. She didn't know why she felt compelled to go further in, but something was pulling her towards it, and she felt the need to comply.
It was only when she reached the clearing that she and Mason had made love that she finally stopped breathing deeply and looked around. She could sense something in the general vicinity, but she didn't know what it was.
Walking slowly, she moved towards a tree where she could smell two different scents. As she drew nearer, she could hear whispering, and both voices sounded vaguely familiar.
"Are you sure no one is aware you're involved?" One voice hissed in frustration.
"I'm sure." Said another, sounding irritated.
"Better not; this has to go perfectly; otherwise, I will not hesitate to kill you."
The more Danica listened, the more familiar the voices became, until finally she could place them as those of Monica and Rebecca. To confirm her thoughts, Rebecca's wings expanded from behind the tree.
"Did you completely cover your tracks after killing those wolves?" Rebecca demanded now.
"Of course I did!" Monica snapped.
Danica could feel her heart beginning to pound in her chest as she slowly backed away before the two women noticed her presence.
She no longer needed to hear anymore, and she needed to get back to Mason and let him know what she had just overheard.
Turning Danica began to head back towards the training grounds, only to step on a stick they snapped much too loudly in the quiet space.
Looking back, she had just enough time to see Monica and Rebecca moving from their hiding spot to see what the noise was.
Knowing she needed to escape, Danica leapt forward and began to run with all her might. She needed to get to Mason before either woman could catch her; otherwise, she wasn't sure what would happen.
"Get her!" Rebecca screeched as the chase began.