Claire stood in front of The Council members, trying not to appear as worried as she was. They were staring her down, studying her as the doctors did in the hospital all those years ago. It made her feel weak.
Elia sensed her discomfort and squeezed her arm slightly, smiling down at her.
The old woman began to smirk wickedly. She stood up and offered her hand; Elias growled, and she tittered again, withdrawing it. "Does she not know anything about her world, Elias? Did you worry that she would take me up on my offer?"
Claire would not have touched the witch, but she did stare at her. She looked familiar. She even sounded a bit familiar. But if she was the Priestess of the local coven, that would make sense. She had likely met with Elias before, maybe even recently.
They sat back down as everyone else did not move, completely silent. Even Jocelyn did not blink. They glared at Claire as she stood, completely unaware of their anger.
"You had the nerve to deny it, Elhassan?" Alpha Peter growled, glaring at the young woman.
"I deny nothing, nor do I confirm anything," he replied simply.
Claire wanted to question their conversation, but she did not. Now was not the time to talk back to her sire. Instead, she asked the witch a question, "What was your offer to be?"
Jocelyn broke back into reality, grinning widely. "Curiosity killed the cat, my dear. But I supposed vampire blood brought it back."
Of all the stories surrounding vampires, only one bothered most members of the species. It was truly an insult to say that a vampire was undead. Claire's heart had never stopped beating. She was always alive, just different. Changed. But never dead. The undead were monsters, demons made by magic that took lives indiscriminately and gleefully. Soul eaters that could never be satiated.
But Claire let the insult roll off her back. Instead, she asked innocently, "Have your issues been resolved?"
The Alpha snorted, shaking his head. "This has just begun." He looked at his Beta and then at Elias. "She will not stay with you. You're a flight risk."
Elias cocked an eyebrow up, but said nothing as the witch interceded, "So she should stay with you? So she can conveniently 'disappear' like every other problem in your pack?!" The wolf growled, but Jocelyn continued fearlessly, "She will stay with me. Which is where she belongs in the first place!"
"She belongs with me, the one who sired her," Elias said calmly, not noticing the growing confusion on Claire's face. "Leave wards and warriors if you wish; we have no reason to flee."
Jocelyn whipped her head to face Elias. Flashes of black overtook her eyes as she fought back anger. "You do not get a word in this! You ruined an innocent for your own means! You're a selfish bastard, just as you always have been." She spat on the ground, which sizzled from some sort of magic venom coating her words.
Elias' eyes narrowed and his lips pressed into a thin line, but he said nothing. Claire gripped his arm and shot upright. "Do not speak about him like that!" she hissed. "Elias saved my life! I would have been dead without him."
The men did not react, but the older woman laughed. "And you do not consider yourself dead?" she asked calmly, knowing that she would anger the young woman.
A growl ripped out of Claire's throat, but Elias turned and looked at her sharply. Claire took a deep breath and sat back down, rocking her leg impatiently. "If you have any questions about me, I would prefer if you did not act as if I was a mute, and asked me directly," she spat.
"How can we trust any of your answers?" Jocelyn pushed. "You reek of his blood, still. After all these years. You are nothing but a ventriloquist doll to him. Did you even know that, child?"
Her lip curled in a silent snarl, but Claire would not give the woman the satisfaction. "If you speak of the sire bond, I am well aware of it. I believe that I would know it better than you. Surely, you know that I know when I am being bound by it, and that it cannot force words from my mouth? I see no reason why I am not to be trusted with my own words."
Elias smirked at her wit and patted her leg supportively. Claire shot him a look out of the corner of her eyes but did not move. She was indeed aware of their bond, and she despised it. When she had first learned of it, she had run away in anger. Elias had never needed to tell her not to, so she was able. He found her two hours later, barely conscious, writhing from pain as her body rejected itself yet again.
Jocelyn did not move, a frown set firmly on her face. The man, Peter, spoke up, "Miss Claire, we have been rude. This is about you, after all." She nodded. "Then it should be easy for you to understand why we are confused as to why you do not want to go with her. Do you not feel the pull to spend time with your–"
"That's enough!" Elias snapped, standing up as he grabbed Claire's arm.
She did not rise with him, looking at Peter in confusion. Jocelyn finally smiled, her wrinkled skin looking unnatural with the position. "So, Elias, that is what the issue is. She does not know what she is, does she?"
Claire looked between Elias and the others, her brow furrowed deeply. She pulled her arm out of his grip and stared at him with wide eyes. "What are they talking about, Elias?"
His face flickered through a dozen emotions in a second: anger, disgust, sadness, satisfaction, and finally, the eerie calm that always unsettled Claire. It was the only time she ever felt scared of him and all his power. "Elias," she repeated, nearly begging. She needed to hear whatever these people were saying from him. "Elias, please."
He looked down at her, and a moment of pity overtook his eyes at the desperation in her voice. It was there only for a moment before he replaced it with the calm mask. "She is my child."
"And what about before?" Jocelyn taunted. "Does she remember who she was before, or did you lie about it? Change or take away those memories?"
A strange pain rocked through Claire as the old woman accused Elias of something so horrid. The steely scowl on Elias's face forced her to sit down, but when he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, she flinched.
"I would never do that," he growled.
"Then why doesn't she know what she is?" Jocelyn pushed, stepping closer. "Why doesn't she know that she's a hybrid? A witch?"