Rising Stone - (Book 1 of the Ashstone Series)

Chapter 5 - Affirmations

"Are you alright?" the man said. I got back up onto my feet, taking in a breath. I looked around - everyone in the room was around me, Marco having risen from his chair with a concerned look on his face.

"I don't know what that was. For a minute I couldn't hear anything or see anything. I...I'm fine." I say, pulling the hair out of my face, tying it up with a hair tie. I saw Marco sit back down, a more calmer expression on his face this time. I looked back at the man who had caught me, still in the same position as before. His eyes looked at me, analysing me.

"So this is the freshblood I bit, is it? She's probably not going to survive the first shift if she faints like this. No bones about it, Marco, she is not fit to be a werewolf. Far from it." The man stated, and bile started rising in my throat. I swallowed. My fate was apparently being singlehandly decided by this man in front of me.

I let out a single growl. "Who the hell do you think you are to decide my worth here? You have no idea who the hell I am, for one! You haven't seen me in action at all! I bet I could beat your ass easily in a duel!" I shouted, lying through my teeth. In reality, I would most definitely loose to this man, or Tavera, or Marco.

Maybe he is right. Maybe I am not fit to be a werewolf.

But I want to prove him wrong.

"You're a liar. A piss poor one at that." He hissed through his teeth. I thought he'd buy into that, but I underestimated him. "Besides the point, Dakota, we're gathered here to discuss what her ranking is within the pack. What her wolf determines her as. We're not here to fight." Marco said, suavely. I glared at the man in front of me, my hands curled into a fist. I wanted to punch his face in so badly. But the look of him taunted me at how attractive he was.

The man got close and sniffed me.

What a creep.

"What the hell are you doing, you creep?! Get away from me!" I yelled, pushing him away. His blue eyes turned a golden colour, and grabbed my hands, holding them tight. I tried pulling them away, but he pulled me closer, that our lips were just centimetres apart. I wriggle one of my hands out of his grip and threw a punch at him. I feel my hand surge with adrenaline as I felt my fist connect with something. I had closed my eyes, my fist retracting and I open my eyes.  

The first thing I saw was the man in front of me reeling from the impact. And then a fast river of blood cascades down his lips. His nose looked very crooked, and I instantly have a wave of triumph flush over me.

A chuckle comes from the man himself.

"Well that felt good." He said, and I feel my mouth drop open. "What the hell is wrong with you?" I shouted, before a hand is placed on my shoulder. "He likes to feel pain. It reminds him of how far he has come. You'll learn that every punch you throw at him, every kick, every bite - he savours it." I hear Marco say. "Now then, after this fight, shall we talk about your training, Aylesha?"

"What training?" I ask, turning my head around to look at Marco. "Oh, since you're a werewolf that goes to this college, you'll need to go under training and learn all of the necessary rules and laws of the werewolf society. To survive in this pack." He said, and I stood up. "And who will teach me? It better not be this creep." I point at the man in front of me, scrunching my nose up in disgust.

And he smiles back.

"Pretty girl, I am the one going to teach you."