Chasing the Sun

3

CHAPTER THREE

            I played nervously with my necklace as Asher and I waited for the Council to see us. The bloodstone was warm to the touch, as it always has been. Asher rubbed my arm soothingly, silently telling me that everything would be okay. The large double doors opened with a boom and we were ushered inside. Seven people sat on a dais, two were women, and the other five were men.

            "Sage Flores-Turner," one of the women announced. "You've been brought in to see the Council because of your recent witch-werewolf hybrid status."

            "How long have you known that you were a hybrid?" One of the men asked, judging by his scent, he was a werewolf.

            "I found out two days ago, when Asher told me," I replied.

            "And you didn't know before? You never had any inkling that you weren't fully a werewolf?" He asked.

            "No. I thought I was perfectly normal, in the wolf sense. Now that I think about it, my scent must've been off. I was avoided like the plague, though no one ever told me I had a different scent," I said.

            "Interesting," he said. "Sybil, have you any questions for the girl?"

            The witch, Sybil gazed curiously at me. "What do you intend to do now that you've discovered your witch half?"

            "Hopefully get some help in learning how to control it," I responded.

            "I have an instructor that is willing to help you. Two, actually," Sybil told me.

            "Thank you," I said graciously.

            Asher had told me to be respectful and honest when answering the Council's questions. I couldn't be rude, lest I wanted to be killed. They talked among themselves, about what, I did not know.

            "The Council will be monitoring your every move for a while," Sybil warned me. "If you choose to align yourself with those who use dark magic, we will eradicate you."

            Eradicate: a fancy way of saying "we will kill you if you are bad". Nice people. I nodded silently to let her know that I understood.

            "Good, now Asher here will be like your guard, to make sure you do everything you're supposed to and that you don't disobey your instructors," Sybil told me cheerfully.

 It was sort of creepy how happy she sounded as she told me about my fate as a glorified prisoner. At least my "guard" was Asher. I would probably freak if it were anyone else. I've gotten used to Asher now, he's my friend. And I was going to need one of those if I was to keep my sanity while going through this training stuff.

Asher and I were dismissed and we left the room. Once we were away from the Council, Asher wrapped his arm around my shoulder and hugged me from the side. I wanted to go do something fun, I was still nervous from the meeting with the Council. That's when I remembered we were in Nevada. I smiled widely at Asher and he regarded me warily.

"Asher," I said sweetly. "Can we go to Cirque du Soleil?"

"No," he muttered.

My lip quivered as I stared at him. "Please? I really want to go."

"Don't do that," he snapped.

"Do what?" I asked innocently.

"Pout like that," he replied. I stared at him, my lip still quivering. "Fine."