The Cursed Lycan

Chapter 7: Invitation to the Midnight Ball

Chapter 7: Invitation to the Midnight Ball

Around the corner, Mason was doing his best not to eavesdrop, but was struggling to be successful. A mate seemed farfetched, but if fairytales had taught him anything, true love conquered all. Fitting for the theme to be as such, he thought.

"—home. To your jobs, the house. I'll be okay here," Sophie was saying when Mason tuned back in.

"We can stay, goddess knows they have enough room."

"Truly, there's quite a few people looking out for me," Sophie said. "More people here have been kinder to me than in my whole life."

Eleanor's voice then dropped to just above a whisper, "And the Prince?"

"What about him?"

"He seems," she paused for a moment, "very interested in you."

Sophie's face colored, "I don't know. I think he just wants to figure out what's wrong with me." Eleanor made a noncommittal agreeing sound, before she and Steven kissed Sophie goodnight. They knew she would be turning back into the lycan soon.

As they exited, they passed Mason, who was pretending to look at his phone. Eleanor gently squeezed his arm, "Thank you for what you're doing for her."

"The curse is dangerous to us all, including her."

Eleanor smiled, "That's not what I meant. Sophie looks happy being here, being with you. I just wanted to thank you for taking care of her."

Mason's hand moved to cover Eleanor's, "It's been my pleasure. She's truly a wonderful person." Eleanor and Steven glowed with pride from that remark and bid him a goodbye. Mason's hand went back to his chest, still feeling the raised scar.

Within moments of Sophie's parents leaving, Mason was back by her bedside, checking up on her. She poked him away, arguing her parents had done just that for the entire time they were with her.

"What's your favorite season?" Sophie asked suddenly, catching Mason off guard.

He thought for a moment and replied, "Summer, I think. Long days, warmth, freedom. What about you?"

Sophie snorted, "Opposite, winter, but similar reasoning. Long nights meant that I get to spend the most time as myself." Mason gripped her hand tightly as he could see she was somewhere else. "It's hard when I think about how much time I've lost because of this curse. Years of my life that I haven't had a job, I haven't even finished high school, technically. My life revolves around it," Sophie said 'it' with a ton of venom, referring to the lycan. "It is a terrible creature."

"But you know that you're not terrible, right?" Mason caught her eye. She looked down and chewed her lip.

"I had to have deserved this right? Why else would someone put a curse on me?"

"I know it wasn't because of you," Mason said firmly. "You are the most kind, genuine, funny, and beautiful person ever."

"How can you know, we only met a couple of days ago."

Mason pulled her hand to his chest, where his heart is, "I know in here."

Sophie felt Mason's pulse quicken as she touched his chest. She went to pull away, but felt something, "What's that?"

Mason quickly pulled back, letting go of her hand, "Nothing, don't worry about it."

"Tell me," Sophie said firmly. Mason shook his head, repeating that everything was fine. Sophie narrowed her eyes as realization began to dawn on her, "I did something to you, didn't I?" She grabbed his arm and pulled it towards her, pushing up the sleeve to look at the scar. Her eyes began to tear up, "I hurt you." Sophie's voice grew angry, "Show me your chest."