Parish (On Hold)

The Wisdom. The Joker. The Flirt. and The Fighter.

Fear. One word. One emotion. It's claws wind around our beating hearts and squeeze. Constricting like a boa.

Fear was overwhelming. It paralyzes you long enough for danger to strike. Fear was itself was dangerous. It clouds the mind. Changes ones choices from fight to flight.

Fear was what consumed me right now.

Brian, Axel, and I stood outside the Council's home and meeting place. The place was huge; it was a castle to be exact. Yes, a huge stone castle, the kind you would picture with a mote outside of it. That's the kind of castle it was, just minus the mote and alligators. I had to admit that it was impressive but also a tad bit intimidating.

I was dressed in my black lace up boots that had sheaths on the insides of them. They were my favorite pair of boots and they positioned my knives on each side of my calves in a perfect fit. Dark washed out skinny jeans, a fitted grey t-shirt, and a black leather jacket was hiding two knives at my waist and a pistol on my back. The pistol was also loaded with silver bullets. To say that I was ready to be attacked was an understatement.

Both of the boys were equally armed, if not more. They wore similar clothing to mine as well to keep everything hidden. I looked over my right shoulder to see Brian smirking at me as if to say 'let's rock this joint!' I smiled at his antics and continued to look over my left shoulder at my brother Axel. He was also wearing a grin but his eyes showed hints of worry residing in them. I gave him a reassuring smile and turned back to the door.

"It's now or never." I mumbled to myself and with their super hearing the boys both laughed at me.

I stepped forward and pushed the heavy doors inwards. Natural light streamed into the main hall from the large floor to ceiling windows. The colored glass in them painted the white marble floor an array of crystal colors. The entrance hall was large and grand to say the least. It was impressive, with a large staircase on the right side leading up to higher levels. A desk was centered at the very back of the marble floor hall and a lovely looking receptionist snapped her head towards us.

The woman rose from her desk and walked towards us as we stood waiting on the large Persian rug that sat in the doorway. She had brown hair that was pulled up into a tight bun with curled tendrils down to frame her heart shaped face. Honey colored eyes twinkled in delight at seeing us. I guess they don't get many visitors or this lady was just naturally cheerful. The receptionist was dressed in a grey business suit that had a prim looking pencil skirt instead of pants.

"You must be Alpha Winters; it is an honor to meet you!" The woman bowed her head in respect as she addressed me with a large grin plastered across her face. Her pearly white teeth gleamed at me behind her pale pink lipstick.

"How did you know?" I was confused as to how she knew I was me and not some weirdo that just stumbled upon the High Council of Werewolves.

"Oh darling, I felt your power. It kind of just radiates off of you." The woman let out a chuckle and said that as if it was obvious. She then proceeded to turn and start to walk back the way she came towards her desk. She turned back halfway and motioned for us to follow in her overly excited fashion. There was another mahogany door behind her solid marble desk and she ushered us through without another word. Weird, but she was still smiling like her life depended on it.

I walked through with my two guards and looked at the sight before me. Three men and one woman sat in stone thrones that were slightly curved inwards. The shape of the thrones created a crescent moon and in the middle of the four thrones sat a larger one in the middle. It was raised slightly more than the other four and sat vacant. The men and woman stopped speaking to each other and turned towards the three of us.