HERS

12. Whirlwind

Danica walked up the long paved path from the school to the traffic lights, dazed by the kiss that still lingered on her lips, dazed from the new information that had been fed to her. Her mind was running a marathon, the thoughts kept coming and going just as quick as they had came into her mind. How can I possibly have mate? She thought, that's-that's, it's-it, ugh, it just can't be, now can it? Well, how could it? To top it all of my supposedly mate is my teacher! Wow, that's just ludicrous!

She wanted to talk to someone, about all of this the first person came to mind was Avery mainly because she was a girl would be most understanding than James would be but more importantly because she has a mate and she would know how it feels, how its suppose to be and she would be able to understand, but sadly Avery today hadn't been in school because of the upcoming ceremony of Chris taking over as Alpha from their father. Her schedule from free had become packed up, every date booked and over flowing.

Danica continued blindly walking without thinking, letting her feet take her where ever they took her. She walked passed her home, beyond the woodland that surrounded the pack house and the acres of land that belong to the pack, where the training for the pack fighters took place. Danica pulled out her phone; the unanswered questions were filling her mind and driving her mad. She called Avery only to go to voicemail, where she didn't bother to wait for the beep; she just hung up stuffing the phone back in her pocket. Danica continued walking, into the woodland that surrounded the pack house making it almost none existing. She followed the well known worn out pathway she had created with Bruce, which now was almost none existing as if it never happened to be trampled on every day in day out. She stopped when she reached the meadow, that had memories rushing back, good and bad, it was still the same, the grass blades over grown and untouched though it looked better in the spring and summer where there would be wild flowers growing birds singing butterflies flying. The old apple tree still there, as usual, except it was bare now the leaves had fallen as autumn had officially arrived and soon winter would follow in a month.

Danica didn't exactly understand why her feet had led her here but the questions that once filled her mind were gone, she felt calm and relaxed, though the memories weren't exactly the same. The memories of this were more than the opposite of how she felt, it was something that haunted her dreams for ages, but today she felt nothing but calmness. A place she avoided for years brought her calmness, to her surprise. She would've faced her past a long time ago if she would've known this was what she would be feeling.

Danica crossed the meadow, to the other side where the old apple tree was next to the oak tree. The rustling in the nearby bushed stopped her dead in her tracks. Danica spun around quickly scanning her surroundings looking for anything she hadn't seen when she first came here. After doing a three-sixty spin her eyes landed on the bushed in between the oak tree and apple tree, the rustling had come from there, Danica took a step forward intrigued to what was there, to her surprise the thing behind the noise had came forward allowing Danica to make out the face of the wolf.

The emerging wolf had made Danica freeze, her mouth hanging open, as a gasp left her mouth. She had seen that wolf before not in person though in pictures, it was suppose to be dead, the person was suppose to be dead, the rational side of her brain tried to figure out a rational explanation as to why a wolf exactly in the pictures would be alive now, how could it? The thought of it being a mere coincidence occurred to her, that it just so happens that, this wolf looks so much like the other, but her heart wouldn't accept the idea.

The wolf wasn't the one she had saw in the school grounds when Lucy was about to harm her, it was the one she had seen on Christopher's birthday a block away from the house.

Danica carefree walked up to the wolf without a worry of it being dangerous that it could attack her any moment if it wanted to and ran her fingers through its fur, loving the silky smooth feel it beneath her palm and in between her fingers. She knew she should be cautious but it felt so right, being there doing that felt so familiar like home. The wolf was huge, bigger than Christopher's; the wolf gently nudged her with his nose.

Danica sat down beneath the oak tree with the wolf next to her patting him.

The shrill ringing of her phone retrieved her from her train of thoughts, she hadn't noticed but it had gotten dark, she could clearly see everything perfectly fine, a trait most normal human did not have. She brought the phone to her ear, answering it without looking at the caller I.D. "Hello?"

"Danica, where the heck are you," a frantic Avery was on the line, the phone was snatched out of her hands. Danica could hear, Avery telling the person to give it back.

"Do you know what time it is?" Christopher yelled through the phone. "Where are you, no one has heard from you since you stayed back with Mason."

"Dani, tell me your location I'm coming to get you." James said through the phone.

The phone was taken away from him by Christopher. "Danica, you're not in trouble, just tell us where you are." He sounded like he was pleading.

"I'm at the meadow." She told him honestly.

"Is it the one where you got drunk?" Chris asked wearily.

"No, give it to James he'll know."

"Sure," he said handing the phone to James, Danica could hear the rustling over the line as the phone was being exchanged.

"Where are you?" James's voice spoke over the line.

"I'm at the meadow."

James immediately understood which place she was on about, she had filled him on what had occurred four years ago, he had been there for most of it and had been her steady rock, helping her get through it. "I'll be there in five." The line went dead.

The wolf had now awakened as she was on the phone since he had fallen asleep a while back, the woodland was eerily quiet, the wolf had picked up on another wolf coming, he had heard the conversation and knew exactly who it was, to Danica's surprise the wolf got up and brushed his big head against Danica as if saying bye, then trotting off in the opposite direction of the ascending wolf. In a short moment, the wolf had gone from sight, and another had burst through the bushes, slightly panting.

Danica got up approaching James a lovely warm brown wolf. "James," she called seeing him. He eyed her suspiciously, before letting out a howl, from the distance another howl was let out. James shifted back to his human form, to engulf her in a tight hug.

James brought Danica home, quick and safely back to the pack house where he sent her off into the shower to get clean, before anyone else could talk to her.

Once showered and scent free, Danica made her way downstairs in her pyjamas. Taking a seat in the living room next to James where she cuddled up to him, Avery handed Danica a mug of hot chocolate. Danica took a sip of the sweet hot chocolate, loving the taste in her mouth; the warmth of the cocoa warmed her from the inside out. "Ave, why didn't you make this before?”

Avery grinned at her friend, only to shrug not having a proper response, taking a seat next to her mate.

Danica knew James had smelt the scent of the other wolf she had been petting earlier today but said nothing of it in front of everyone, it was the reason he had sent her off into the shower to clean up so it didn't rise suspicion, using the excuse of she was freezing and dirty, where really she reeked of a foreign wolf. She could tell the question was bugging him.

"Why did you go off like that?" Chris broke the silence.

"Today had been an interesting turn of events," Danica worded herself carefully. "My mind was in over drive and I just kept walking and walking until I got there, where, where I felt calmness."

"Have you found her?" Mason burst into the Pack house, the worry in his voice clear, even though no one really understood why he cared so much, no one but James and Chris who had a slight hint.

"She's in here," Chris called over to Mason, who rushed into the living room, his eyes scanned the room then landed on Danica to scan her making sure she wasn't hurt or harm, finding nothing he calmed a little but not taking his eyes off her.

Feeling uncomfortable under his gaze Danica buried her head against James's shoulder going into him, trying to disappear from her seat.

"I'm glad you're alright." Mason said; as the fiery flames of jealousy licked the insides of Mason, trying to escape and capture James to tell him to back off, to tell him for get his arm off his mate. Mason's eyes shot daggers James's way. "Where did you go?"

"Old hang out spot." Danica told him the lie had rolled off her tongue easily. "Fond memories," James eyed her as he caught on with her lies. "Well as much as playing twenty questions is fun, its long past my bed time good night, amigos!" Danica waved jumping off the sofa taking the quickest route out of the room and up the stairs.

"Not so fast," James said spinning her around from the back as she stepped into the landing, only to be punched in the face. "What the heck was that for?"

"Well, you surprised me," Danica explained a little sheepish. "Trust me; I’ve had enough surprised to last a while."

"What's going on up there," Chris called.

"James hurt his pinkie toe," Danica lied, taking her exit.

"Not so fast," James grabbed onto her arm, escorting her to her room. "What's with the jumpiness? why are you on edge? what's with the constant lying?" James bombarded her with questions. "I think that's the most lies you’ve ever said in one night! Why did you smell of another wolf?"

Danica's eyes widen at the last question, she expected him to catch on but since he hadn't made a comment she thought he hadn't noticed.

"Of course I noticed, Danica! Why do you think I shoved you in the shower, before any of the other's saw you?" James exclaimed. "I'm trying to help you here, Dani, I'm trying to protect you but you got to tell me what I'm helping with, what I'm protecting because at the moment with your unusual off the track behaviour I cannot blindly protect and lie." James sounded almost pleading.

"The wolf," Danica began with a dry throat sitting on the bed. "The wolf, I-I saw it. On Chris's birthday before I entered the house, I was surprised to see it, it looked so familiar, then today it was there again and I approached it and it felt like I knew it, I knew who it was so we just pretty much ended up sitting there in the meadow."

"A rouge wolf," James asked alert.

"No, no it's not a rouge, I can define a rouge from a none rouge very well, thank you very much." She snapped.

"If it's not rouge how come I didn't recognise the scent?"

"It's not rouge, James, my senses are enhanced just as much as yours is, it's probably from a different pack, and I don't know but something about that wolf felt so familiar, felt like home. I don't know what it is, it's somewhat unexplainable, this uncanny feeling came over me, it was so peaceful." The ghost of a smile played on her lips. James nodded taking in what he had been just told. "James?" She called tucked in bed.

"Yeah," James scoffed.

"Don't tell Chris."

James nodded in agreement. "Go sleep," he said turning the lights off.

"Don't go, stay here." Truth be told after the eventful day she had she didn't want to be left alone, with her wondering mind, without a word he was in bed tucked in next to her. "James?"

"Yes?"

"I saw Bruce."

James automatically tensed knowing their history Bruce had always been a taboo subject even between the two. "Really," he asked intrigued

"Not exactly him, it was him in his wolf form.

"Where did you see him?"

"At school, the day I hurt my head," Danica explained. "He had somehow managed to get on the school grounds, and Lucy was going off at me on how I know nothing of Bruce's return, we got into a fight."

"You go into a fight?" James chuckled, "that's the only thing that happens around you two."

"She was going to hurt me while my back was turned, and he stepped out in wolf form and scared her with his growl."

James wrapped his arm around her protectively, "I'm just glad you're just fine, Dani, now go sleep." He kissed the back of her head, pulling her closer to him.