Becoming Luna novel Chapter 10

Early morning light slanted in through half-opened blinds, illuminating the all-too-familiar room around Danica. Its warm glow didn't bring her any warmth this particular morning.

After being unable to sleep, she sat in bed with a pillow hugged against her chest as her thoughts replayed the night's events.

She was cursed, and she had absolutely no idea how or why it even happened. Not to mention, she now had two options to lift it, and neither sounded promising.

Despite both Nigel and Mason expecting her to decide on their next move, she was unable to do so on the spot. The thought of having her soul ripped to shreds had terrified her, but so had the thought of never being able to fully change and having to suffer greatly every full moon for the rest of her life.

In the end, she allowed Mason to bring her home after promising Nigel that they would return in a week's time. In return, Nigel had promised to have the one called Ash there to talk with Danica.

The distant sound of a door opening and closing down the hall drifted towards Danica's room. It seemed that Martha was awake for the day; her soft footsteps began making their way down the stairs to start the coffee. The normalcy of this should have soothed Danica, but she just couldn't seem to relax.

Soon, the smell of fresh coffee brewing drifted up the stairs and under her door, beckoning her to venture out and partake in its caffeinated goodness. Unable to resist its siren call, Danica headed downstairs to make herself a cup.

"You're up early," Martha noted while beginning to make herself a bowl of oatmeal.

"Couldn't sleep well," Danica shrugged.

Martha eyed her but didn't question her further. That was one of the unspoken rules among them: they respected each other's privacy. If it wasn't openly spoken, then it wasn't questioned.

"One of those nights, I see," Martha murmured knowingly.

"You could say that," Danica quipped, beginning to pour herself some coffee. "I'm going to go drink this outside."

Fresh cup of rejuvenation juice in hand Danica headed outside to enjoy the spring morning only to find a hunched-over figure sleeping just outside her gate.

"Mason?" she called, walking forward. She could recognize those golden locks anywhere. "Hey!"

Jumping to attention Mason looked around wildly before turning his attention to Danica and smiling.

"Good morning!" he called, waving.

"What the hell are you doing sleeping outside of my gate?" Danica demanded.  Was he crazy or something?

A slight flush formed on the tips of Mason's ears.

"I wanted to bring you somewhere today," he admitted.

Bring her somewhere? Why would that even constitute him sleeping out in the open?

"Why would that require you to sleep outside my house?" she pushed, narrowing her eyes. "You could have just called me when you woke up."

A sheepish smile formed on Mason's face.

"I was so excited about taking you there that I didn't even think about that."

Rolling her eyes, Danica motioned for Mason to follow her. She could feel eyes burning into the back of her head. It seemed Martha had spotted them and was watching now.

"Is that your adoptive mother?" Mason asked, looking towards the motionless Martha standing in the doorway.

Feeling her cheeks heating up, Danica nodded.

"Come on already."

Too embarrassed to look towards her adoptive mother, she grabbed Mason's arm and began dragging him towards a pond that was close to her house. It was one of her favorite spots to be when she was stressed or needed some peace away from her everyday life.

The pond was clear, and you could see to the bottom. Multicolored fish resided in it, swimming in schools along the glass-like surface. A large willow grew close to the water's edge and made for great cover from the sun's harsh rays. Troves of white flowers littered the ground around it. It was her little slice of heaven on earth. Thinking about it, she had never brought anyone to it; Mason would be the first.

Stopping in her tracks, she whirled around to face Mason and said, "Now tell me what's going on."

"I heard from the elders," he beamed. "They're willing to meet with us today."

"Wait....  You mean all the elders or just the werewolf elders?"