The Red Hunter

C h a p t e r 5

It was an hour and and twenty minutes of not walking, but running for my sore ass before I found civilization--a gas station. No way I was going to run the rest of the way to the Clan, so I did what most people would do and called a taxi. Another twenty minutes and I was right outside the gates of the clan house.

Taking in a deep breath, I stepped forward towards the silver gates coated in wolfbane that surrounded the old mansion up ahead. I reached out to open the gate and was met with bolts of pain spasming through my body.

I cursed loudly and jumped in place, trying to get over the shock of pain. Why? Could I not touch silver or wolfbane now that I was mated to a dog? I continued to mutter curses under my breath until I heard someone clear their throat.

I looked up to see an unfamiliar hunter standing next to Sorrel on the other side of the gate. Great, they must have seen the whole thing.

"Why couldn't I touch the gate?" I inquired, scared to hear the answer.

"You were mated by a werewolf, so now you're turning into one of them," Sorrel answered.

Shit. "Really? Oh my--"

"No not really. We just modified the gate so now it's electric, you stupid girl," She scoffed.

Bitch.

Well, there goes my will to be polite. "Can you just let me in?"

She laughed. "Can't do that."

"Yeah, I get you can't take me back into the main clan house now but this is--"

"No, I mean that you are no longer accepted into the whole clan. You're out, Red Hunter. You embarrassed the council, so they made it so that you could never do so again."

The blood drained from my body as I stared at her through the gate. I'm no longer a hunter?

"Well Sorrel, actually she hasn't been severed from the clan yet. But still, the Council has issued your . . . retirement from your duties, it just needs to be passed." The hunter standing next to Sorrel added. He looked to be about in his fifties, so he was probably resigned and working as the Council's messenger. To prove my guess, he was dressed in a black, red, and gold hunter uniform--the color's the Council wore.

"And when will that be?" I croaked, remembering what the man had said.

He sighed and looked at me closely through the gate. His old, blue eyes held pity as he looked over my form. He slumped in defeat and took out a remote from his pocket.

"Gabel?" Sorrel questioned.

Gabel clicked one of the buttons from the remote and the soft hums coming from the gate quieted. He then opened the gate and motioned for me to come through.

"Gabel!" Sorrel warned sternly. "As the head of this clan house I demand you not let her in here. She is no longer welcomed."

"Be that as it may," he said after ushering me to his side and glancing at Sorrel, "I still outrank you as the Council's first advisor. And, as you seem to have forgotten, Rose is still technically a hunter still, which means that as one of the Twelve Moon slayers, she outranks you as well." With a sly grin, he passed her with me a step behind. Sorrel was left by the gate fuming and as red as a baboon's butt. Serves her right.

Dumbfounded with the new cards played out on the table, I stayed quiet as Gabel led me into the mansion. We then walked down the hall to a storage closet and made our way into the room. The storage closet in fact was no closet, but instead was a large room with an elevator inside. You see, nobody lived inside the mansion--that was a mere display for mundanes passing by. The real clan house was underground--almost like district 13; an ant farm if you will.