The Luna Cure

FIFTY-TWO

Sleeping, especially since Dante had tried to force me into it, was not something I had planned to do. I didn't even realize that I had fallen asleep on the plane until I woke up in a car in a lush, beautiful forest.

I lifted my head up off the window to see endless expanses of green. The trees were immensely tall and filled everything in sight, save for the long, winding road we drove on.

"You almost made it all the way to the pack house." Dante told me, glancing over at me from the drivers seat.

A yawn escaped me, which I tried to cover with my hand. "I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"You'll be happy you did later. We won't be able to get to my house until midnight, at the earliest."

I glanced at the clock on the car's dash, finding it was only about six. We had left France at around four. "What time will the challenge happen?" I was guessing that's why we were staying up so late.

"Right at moonrise. It's custom. Magnus and his beta will probably show up before then, though, but only an hour at the most."

Moonrise? That was a thing? "When is moonrise?"

"It should be around eleven tonight."

Alright, so Magnus would show up around ten, and there'd be a two hour period where a fight went on and Dante had to deal with it all. He'd probably have to order the cleanup or whatever happened after.

Out of questions, I turned back to look at our surroundings. The sun was still up, although closer to sunset now, as it shone through the trees. The woods here were so different from at home, but still so beautiful. I thought it might even be more beautiful than at home. I certainly understood why Dante did most of his shifting here than at the palace. The Palace's forest was a park compared to this expanse of trees.

A few wolves flashed through the forest, two brown and one auburn, chasing each other. The darkest brown wolf nipped at the auburn wolf's tail, and then the third wolf tackled the other two. All too quickly, the heaping mass of fur disappeared from view as Dante made a slight turn.

Eventually, buildings popped up. At first they were sparse, but then more and more appeared it was clear we were in a tiny civilization, hidden in all the foliage. The main road stayed clear of buildings, with everything being connected by smaller roads that branched off of the main one. A good amount of forest still separated the two areas, but the houses and stores remained visible through the trees.

"It's so pretty here." I said to Dante, still unable to take my eyes off of the landscape.

"I thought you'd like it. I was hoping to give you a full tour of the pack tomorrow, if you'd like."

I bit my lip to hide my smile. "I'd like that."

"Good." He brought those eyes to me again. "It'll be a nice birthday thing."

My face fell. "No. Nothing about that."

"You're going to be very busy tomorrow. Just warning you now."

Goddess. I hadn't let him do or give me anything for Christmas, nor had I let my parents and family do anything, either. My birthday was no different. I frowned at him, annoyed at his decision to ignore my wishes. "I told you I didn't want to cele—"

"And we're here." Dante turned the wheel to the right, and up ahead an enormous, palatial pack house sat. The trees around it had been cleared to leave ample field space, and I'm sure the backyard was clear, too. Fields were necessary for training purposes, as well as pack gatherings and such.

The pack house was buzzing with wolves, both inside and on the lawn. A few black SUVs similar to the one we were in sat on the circular front drive, which surrounded a gorgeous stone fountain. Beautiful flowers were planted all over, circling both the fountain and the driveway and lining the house.