Chapter 7 Seven
Mason's green eyes were a dark shade of green, much darker than the forest green they had been earlier in the day. If he was pissed earlier, then he was on the verge of a rampage now.
"Get away from her," his voice growled around already protruding canines.
The man released a string of profanities as he took Mason in.
"Her mates here," he said quickly, looking to his partner.
"Grab her and let's get going!" the woman snapped, pushing him towards Danica.
A guttural growl erupted from Mason at the female rogue's words, stopping both rogues in their tracks.
"Touch her, and I will rip off the hand you do it with," he warned.
The rogues exchanged a glance amongst themselves, as if debating whether or not they should push it. Deciding it wasn't a good idea, they turned and made a run for it.
"Oh no you don't." Mason snarled.
He lifted the man, who he had reached first with ease, and threw him onto the ground with all his might. A sickening crunch sounded as Danica was sure the man's back snapped from impact.
Not sparing the man a glance, he turned his attention towards the female rogue next.
The female rogue had begun to attempt to change, but stopped as Mason closed the distance between them with lightning quick speed. Grabbing her on either side of her head, he began to twist until she stopped moving altogether.
Releasing his hold, Mason allowed her body to fall to the ground like a limp ragdoll and took a few steps back.
Nausea attacked Danica in waves as she took in the scene. The woman was definitely dead, while the man was most likely paralyzed. And Mason had been the one to do this to them. Not to mention that as he did it, it seemed like no big deal to him at all. As a matter of fact, if Danica allowed herself to look closely at his expression, he looked almost pleased with himself.
Despite knowing that the rogues needed to be dealt with, she still couldn't quite accept taking any lives.
Cupping her hands to her mouth, she quickly crawled to a bush. There she let loose everything inside her. When her stomach was empty, she continued to dry heave.
"You okay?" Mason's voice was just beside her, and the concern in it rocked her to her core. "Did they hurt you?"
"DON'T COME NEAR ME!" Danica screamed, hurriedly scooting away. All she could see was Mason killing that woman again and again. "St-stay away!"
A look of confusion and hurt played on Mason's face at Danica's strong rejection, causing her heart to squeeze painfully.
"Hey," he tried, this time remaining in place. "Try to calm down."
Calm down? How could she calm down? He just killed a human and paralyzed another in front of her!
"You... you're a murderer!" Danica wailed as tears began to fall from her eyes. Whether they were from fear or anger, she wasn't sure. "You just easily killed someone!"
To prove her words, she looked towards the lifeless woman still lying on her lawn, causing another wave of nausea to hit her.
Mason furrowed his brows in confusion as he took in the rogues.
"They're not humans," he pointed out. "They're rogues; death is the best thing for them."
Danica couldn't believe what she was hearing. In his world, was killing such an easy thing to do?
"Murderer." Danica repeated while turning around to begin dry heaving once more. "Just please, leave."
Strong hands clamped her shoulders, sending calming warmth down her arms, helping the dry heaves subside, and allowing Danica to gasp for air as her muddled, panic-stricken mind began to work through what had just happened.
"They weren't humans," Mason's voice in her ear was so desperate that it made her heart clench. "Please remember that, Danica; they weren't humans."
Weren't humans... He was right, they weren't humans. Although the body laying on her lawn was human, she was still an insane, bloodthirsty rogue, but did that make it any better? Maybe if she had grown up as he did, it would have, but for her, it was still a life gone.
This wasn't the first time he killed one in front of her. The only difference between then and now was the fact the rogues were in human form instead of wolf. Would she have thought differently had the woman been a wolf? Probably not.
"The man," Danica squeaked out as she remembered the now paralyzed man laying a few feet away from them. "What are you going to do with him?"
Mason's hands, which were still grasping her shoulders, tightened a fraction at her question.
"I will be taking him back with me to question."
Danica considered, "You mean back to your pack?"
Mason chuckled, "If you're thinking the pack lives together in one spot, you're wrong."
"You don't?" Danica asked as Mason continued laughing. "Stop laughing!"
"Sorry, sorry," Mason chuckled, trying his best to sober up. "No, we don't live in one giant pack. We leaders meet once a week to discuss any matters concerning the pack. Aside from that, we live among humans to keep from drawing attention to ourselves. Wouldn't it look a little weird if we had our own town where humans weren't allowed?"
So they weren't like a normal animal pack that lived together. Danica was seeing more and more that TV and movies were very wrong.
"What if there is an attack while your numbers are low?" She asked. She didn't think it was a ridiculous question given the fact that she herself had already been attacked three times in a day's span. "Doesn't living separately make it even more dangerous?"
"About that..." Mason's lips turned in a frown as his eyebrows furrowed. "It isn't that common an occurrence for rogues to attack."
"What about other things?" Danica pushed. She needed a distraction from her manic thoughts. "If wolves exist, there must be other creatures that you have to be on guard of."
"I told you we all live in peace." Mason reminded her. "For the most part, we all keep to ourselves and stay in our designated territory. There's no reason to even come around one another except when the time comes to choose our new elders."
Danica wasn't so sure she believed his words, but as she knew nothing about this world, she had no reason to argue with him either.
"Will questioning that man constitute as an emergency for your pack?" she asked instead. "I mean, won't they wonder how you came across him?"
Mason rubbed his chin as he considered, "I wanted to wait to announce to the pack that I had found my mate, their new Luna, but I guess given the circumstances, I will have to do it sooner."
Announce to his pack about her? She hadn't even agreed to be with him yet. How could he tell them about her like that?
"Hold on." Danica said, quickly holding up her hands. "Could you not mention me? I haven't even agreed to anything."
"I told you I wouldn't stop chasing you until you agreed," he smirked. "And I always keep my promises."
As he spoke, he reached out and touched Danica's cheek, causing her to lean in closer due to the sensations she felt until she realized what she was doing and jerked back.
"Don't do that! I told you to refrain from skinship!"
Chuckling Mason watched and shook his head as Danica bristled. The look in his eyes said that he found her absolutely adorable, which made a fierce blush creep across her cheeks.
The longer Mason stared at her, the more self-conscious she began to feel. Unable to take it anymore, she shot up into a standing position, placing her hands on her hips.
"If you're done, you should take care of the mess on my lawn. I don't want my adoptive mother seeing this."
Turning, she began making her way back to the house after giving Mason his instructions.
"Good night!" came his voice from behind her as her hand reached for the backdoor.
"Yep, night," she called, bolting into the house.
Once inside, she leaned against the door and slid down. Her adrenaline had begun to wear off, and the day's happenings all crashed down on her now that she was alone.
Sitting on the cold tile of the kitchen floor, Danica finally allowed herself to release the sobs that she had been holding back as the reality of her new life slowly closed in on her.
Whether she accepted this world as her own or not, it was dragging her in and all she could do was hopelessly watch.