All of the color immediately drained from Sean's face, and he felt sick. He was sure if someone asked him to move at that very moment, he'd lose his breakfast on the pretty table he'd just pulled Trevor off of. His panicking brain screamed at him to be chill — to play it cool.

"Yes?" Sean said, but it hardly sounded confident.

Tobias nodded slowly as if he were expecting Sean to say more. But when it became clear that the teen had nothing more to add, he seemed somewhat disappointed and leaned back, pulling the book onto his lap.

"Well, that wasn't always the case. In fact, I believe your great, great grandmother had a certain knack for transmutation curses. Fascinating, really. She may have even been responsible for the first werewolves." He drew one of the loose pages from the book and held it out to Sean. "I don't feel your involvement with the wolves is purely coincidental."

Sean's lips moved for a second, but he failed to form words. Instead, he leaned forward cautiously and took the page, almost as if he expected it to bite him. His eyes darted over it. He'd never seen the image before, but it looked like an old illustration — a few women standing next to leashed, monstrous-looking beasts.

They were very much the way his own family's grimoire had described them. Sean dared a glance up at Tobias. Even though the man had changed the subject, he hardly felt like he was out of the woods just yet.

"These aren't like the pack... I mean, this isn't what they look like when they shift."

"Of course not. These sorts of creatures were outlawed at the turn of the century. They were enemies to the coven, criminals. Rather than killing them, they were turned into beasts to protect and serve. Obviously, the wolves of today are not their posterity, but because of their origins, some facts hold true. Witches still hold incredible sway over them."

Sean shifted his weight in his seat, his stomach was still in knots.

"I assume that's why they are so ... reluctant to have dealings with us. Imagine having control over an entire pack of werewolves with nothing more than a thought." Tobias gently retrieved his page, setting it back on top of the book.

"Sounds dangerous for the pack," Sean mumbled. "I wouldn't want someone controlling me."

"Exactly." Tobias agreed. "But you may have already used some sway over them without even realizing it. There's no telling exactly how susceptible they are to a witch's natural authority over them. They are classed as type-two magical creatures. Meaning they were created by magic, but do not possess magic themselves, and thus have no innate defense to it, as we do. They need your protection. They need our protection."

Sean was reeling from Tobias's claim, and he hated the way he'd said natural authority... Nothing about what he was implying sounded natural to Sean.

"I..." Sean didn't know what to say. After collecting his thoughts for a second, he tried again. "What do you mean they need our protection?"

"Oh, I don't know... from other witches or covens that might find out about them. They've done well to hide so far, but it's only a matter of time."

"Hey, Sean?" Trevor nudged his friend's arm.

Sean pulled his eyes away from Tobias to look at Trevor.

"Mad chills bro," Trevor warned. "Something doesn't smell right..."

Sean swallowed, gently scratching the top of Trevor's head. He felt the same way, though he couldn't exactly express it to his friend at the moment.

"I'm sorry," Sean apologized, looking back up at Tobias. "I don't get what you're getting at. I didn't control anyone or make the wolves do anything."

"Really?" Tobias looked surprised as he rubbed his chin in thought. "You think it's a coincidence that you're the first to find out about them? You don't think that they gave you any special treatment? Nothing makes you think that things would have turned out differently if you were just human?" Tobias looked very unconvinced.

Sean's dark brows furrowed as he stared back at the other witch, a frown forming on his lips. He didn't think he had... but...

"Well," Sean stuttered, "I mean, what else would they have done differently? It's not like they would have hurt anyone. There's humans in their pack."

Tobias nodded to himself slowly. "I see. I see... Well, that is why I brought you here, to gain some insight into what the coven could bring to the table in case of an alliance. So far, they've been adamant about only dealing with you directly. They will not meet with anyone else." Tobias wasn't sure if this was because of some sway Sean held over them or some fear that the wolves had of the rest of the coven. "But you've not been very forthcoming ..."

"Oh." Sean breathed, heat rising into his face from the collar of his hoodie. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be... well, to be an ass," he sighed, feeling like a complete idiot.

Tobias was a central part of his own coven, after all. It wasn't fair of him to treat him like he had anything but good intentions for both the coven and the pack in mind. "I'm sorry," he mumbled again. "I really do wanna help. This means a lot to me."

Tobias waved a hand dismissively. "Not at all, I understand you have a fondness for them and are protective of them. Perhaps that's why they are so taken with you. You share their pack mentality." Tobias laughed. "Oh, by the way, did you have a hard time finding a grounding stone?"

Sean let out a short laugh, relieving the nervous tension that had been growing heavier on his chest since Tobias had begun speaking. "Yeah," he said softly, his shoulders relaxing some. "Yeah, I have been for the last few years."

The doors on the other side of the room opened and the butler entered with a tray, on which sat a teapot, saucers, cups, sugar, and cream. He deposited the tray on the table between Tobias and Sean before disappearing back behind the doors.

Tobias nodded some. "If I may offer a suggestion?" He leaned forward to fill a cup for himself while he continued. "It's traditionally easier to find a stone when you move in the direction that your energy naturally flows. Those who use dark magic, like myself, tend to have a counter-clockwise flow."

Sean's eyes widened — dumbfounded. "You... use dark magic?"

Tobias nearly had the cup to his lips when he paused. "Would you like to see?" He grinned.

"But...it's forbidden by the coven..." Sean felt like a child. Like something was passing over his head that all of the adults had gotten and that he'd somehow missed.

He was a hundred percent sure when they'd started speaking, that he was in huge trouble... that Tobias had somehow found out what he'd done and that he'd be punished severely for breaking a major tenant of the coven. Was this some kind of test?

Tobias sipped his tea before replying flatly, "I won't tell if you won't."

"I wouldn't tell," Sean said, probably a little too fast.

"Wait...seriously?" Trevor wondered just as Tobias quirked a brow and set his teacup down on its saucer.

Tobias motioned for Sean to follow him, leading the way out into the hall and up the grand wooden staircase.

Trevor hung close to Sean's legs as Tobias stopped at the last door in the hall and opened it. Inside was a room filled from wall to wall, floor to rafters, with aquariums housing frogs.

"This is definitely not a room full of pillows, Sean..." the tabby said.

"They're a hobby," Tobias offered, as Sean stared.

"More like an obsession," Trevor said under his breath.

Tobias combed through the cages until he found a specific one and slid the entire shelf out so that he could easily pick up the aquarium. He brought it over to a table in the center of the room, allowing his guest a better look.

There, in the aquarium, was a toad. Its eyes were milky white, its skin and meat were missing in places, and it seemed perfectly oblivious to any of the flies living on or inside of it.

"Toads live quite a long time, but I get attached, so it's hard to let go of them after they die," Tobias explained.

Sean jumped when the creature moved, backing up a few steps. "It's still alive?"

"Yes and no," Tobias said. "He no longer eats or drinks ... but he seems content to swim around and croak."

Sean tried his best not to telegraph how creeped out he was. "So... you did this to him? To keep him alive?"

Tobias looked away from the zombie toad that he'd been watching endearingly. "Selfish, isn't it?"

A wave of guilt slammed into Sean as he looked up at Tobias. It was selfish... but at the same time...Sean couldn't bring himself to say as much to him. "No," he said quietly. "I don't think so." Sean looked back down at the half-rotten toad. "You know what I did... don't you?"

Shout out to luna3196, MajaRomantica, and AnaisGrace!! Thanks so much for your support!