34)

I headed inside and checked for any signs of the kids out of the safe room, but there were no sounds of little feet rushing back to were I told them to stay hidden, and no smell of scared kids having creeped down the halls as I headed back to the safe room. The kids had actually listened to me, and more, obeyed my hasty instructions.

Good, because right now I was starting to shake and had to sit down on the big blue chair for a minute.

Holy...people had come to my house to catch me like a stray dog so they could drag me off and bleed me until I died.

All my money...all the power of being a werewolf...getting everything I had ever wanted, and three jerks could just come and take it all away.

I could turn this house into a fortress, better, I could build anew one from the ground up. Concrete walls, a dozen feet tall backed up with an earthen berm. A house with steel cored walls, sealed air tight when I slept, I could stay inside for years.

Alone.

I realized I was hyperventilating, my heart was beating like a race horse.

Lazy eight, then more as I got breathing under control, a flat ribbon with a twist. Around and around.

No, I didn’t want to be alone anymore, even if it meant some danger by letting other people in.

“Heh.” and not just in as in my house, but letting people into my life again, even if it hurt sometimes.

That’s enough of that. I'm not the only one in the house having to deal with fear, the kids have been up there a good half hour or so, probably freaking out the whole time.

I not only double checked the safeties on both guns before I headed up, but I also took the time to unload them as I headed up to the library door and called out “All safe kids, it’s over.” Then I unlocked the door to the library.

No response, which was smart but still worried me as I headed over to the secret door to call out again. “It’s me, John, your grandfather who made you eat bacon. I’m opening the door now.”

As I pulled out the book to reveal the hidden latch and began to pull the door open I heard a whispered. “Shsssss, they're sleeping.” From inside.

Sara looked behind me suspiciously as I stood in the open door, Ami had nestled up next to Aran on the floor, both of them sound asleep all cuddled up. I allowed myself a amused grunt.

Sara slipped out the door and grabbed ahold of my hand and began to tug me away halfway across the library before she began a whispered interrogation.

“What happened, is everything okay, are you okay…?”

I wanted to make a gesture at her to calm her down, but she had ahold of one of my hands in both of hers, very firmly, and I had the shotgun in the other. I decided waving the shotgun as her, even with the barrel pointed up in the air wasn’t going to be the best way of trying to calm down a freaked out teen.

“Just some...well I want to tell you it was just some idiots trying to rob the house, but I don’t want to get into the habit of lying to you, you already made the choice of wanting to hear the truth once, even if it was scary. Is that still true?

She let go of my hand and took a step back from me, looking scared. Oh, not liking how that made me feel. Then she straightened up, a determined look in her eyes, and nodded sharply.

Proud of her. So like what a adult is supposed to be, even as I hated the fact we both had to live in a world were she had to be.

“Turns out my blood is like a drug for vampires, and three idiots showed up looking to take me for their personal blood bank” Her eyes started to widen.

“Don’t freak out, they were idiots who would have taken forever trying to get into the house and the cops were five minutes away. Plus if they did try to get in, I would have taken a shot at them and ran them off. You, your brother and sister, and me were never in danger. They're gone and won’t ever come...’

I got cut off as a surprising solid little girl rushed up and wrapped her unnaturally strong arms around me, tight enough to squeeze the breath out of me. Oh, guess she had been worried about me too.

After a embarrassingly long moment, which I excused under the need to set the shotgun down on a display case, I hugged her back and decided not to tease her about what sounded like crying and just held her for a long moment until she relaxed a bit, but still kept holding her as she seemed to be in no hurry to let go.

“A kid named Darius and a deputy whose name escapes me right now, live right next door and were over here less then two minutes after I called the sheriff, after that it was just a matter of rounding them up without having to hurt anybody.”

“Now they're in cuffs and on their way to jail and it’s time to get you three back to bed.”

She looked up at me and sniffed, probably having left a mess on my shirt, not a biggy, and asked. “Is that it, is anyone else going to come looking for you, are we safe?”

Well…it might upset her, but I don’t want to be the guy to leave her in the dark. “They were working for someone, but I don’t think a vampire is going to risk their eternal lives wandering into werewolf central themselves, and bigger people then her or I are now involved. I think all we have to do is wait a few days just in case and then we’ll get word that everything had been taken care of.”

I could see her doing the math in her head before she nodded.

A grandfather and granddaughter looked at each other, eye to eye, a special moment that I decided to bring to an end with a offer to carry her back to bed and tuck her in.

She struggled loose. “No, that’s stupid old man, carry Ami, she’s still little, I’ll get Aran.” She grumbled to herself about being thirteen and too big to be carried as she headed off, but she was still blushing.

Got her.

I made her wait as I stowed away the guns and ammo before swooping up the middle child with only a soft sound of protest from her slumbering form, and Sara go ahold of the practicably knocked out boy.

We got the two settled in and Sara eased herself into her own bed, giving me a dirty look as I did tuck her and knocked aside my attempt to pat her on her head

“Of course it’s only to get worse.”

She gave me a concerned look. “What, what’s going to be worse?”

I shook my head sadly, trying to look worried, which in fact wasn’t that hard. “They smelled you kids on me and now know I got kids here, which isn’t any danger to you.” I shook my head again.

“But now the local gals know I’m rich, single, and possibly good with kids. With a limited dating pool for werewolf gals, they will never leave me alone now.”

She stared at me blankly for a moment before she smiled and fought choked off a giggle, “I wouldn't worry too much old man, you’re probably are too old for them.’

I wiggled a finger at her. “Werrrrrrrewolf. I might have another good fifty to sixty good years in me, but you should be the one to worry, because who is the one they’re going to want to corner and ask all their questions about me other then the oldest granddaughter.”

I left her to think that one over as she tried to get back to sleep.

Got ya.