After his stressful attempt to see Sean again, Kristofer decided to ride to the market in the middle of town before the merchants had all packed up for the day. There he got a modest meal and tied his horse to a fence near the beach before going to have his supper by the water as he awaited the sunset.

When the sun finally dipped down below that horizon again, he took another deep breath to try and steel his nerves for a second attempt at speaking with Claire’s widower. He urged his horse on ever so slowly as he was in no hurry to see what reaction Sean would have to his presence this time, considering the only other time they had spoken; and all the things that had happened since.

When Kristofer finally reached the dock, there were more guards there doing their duty, and neither of them were familiar to him. He swallowed hard as they each cast a slight glare in his direction, despite the fact that he hadn’t recalled ever seeing either man during his years spent in the port town. Looking away from their obviously disapproving looks, he moved from the dock back in the direction of the distant gate that he had approached less than three hours earlier.

This time when he approached the gate, the two guards from earlier were no longer standing outside. Instead, they were inside the gate, along with even more guards now stationed there between the fence’s gate and the front door of the large home. He counted at least ten guards watching him warily as he approached, but soon lost his count as Lord Beringer himself stepped out of the house.

Kristofer took a deep shaky breath as he dismounted and forced his feet to move him toward the gate, where the guards as well as Sean took a few steps forward, watching him every moment. That was when Sean’s cold gaze made way for his cooler tone, “I can’t say that I ever expected you to be riding up to my home.”

Kristofer swallowed another lump in his throat as the servants slowly moved to only partially open the gate, “I was gone for quite some time” he managed to force his voice to respond to Sean’s greeting.

“And now you’re back. And at my door” Sean stated, leaving the obvious question unasked.

Kristofer took another breath as his eyes moved over the guards for the briefest moment before coming back to Sean; all those thoughts about what Sean truly may have been racing through his mind at a nearly deafening volume. Finally finding his voice again, “I just want to start by saying that I sincerely apologize for any misunderstanding there may have been in the past, regarding my interest in Cla… Lady Beringer” he quickly corrected, “and I assure you there was never anything between us aside from…” his voice dropped as Sean’s eyes continued to hold him in that cold gaze. He then decided on a different statement, “and I wanted to offer my condolences” he added with regret.

That was when Sean graced him with another skeptical look, “Condolences?”

Kristofer’s breath caught again, “yes, for what happened at the tavern” he managed.

“So you heard about that, did you?” Sean asked in a thoughtful, yet still cool tone.

“Yes, I did” Kristofer confirmed in a small voice as he looked down.

“Could we just get to the part where you explain to me why exactly you are here?” Sean asked bluntly, eager to get this man out of their lives again as soon as possible.

“Here in town, or here at your house?” Kristofer asked in the same shaky tone.

“Both have me wondering, actually” Sean returned with a slight scoff.

Kristofer took another deep breath; “I did have to leave for a while, but I always intended to come back” he began.

“And why would you want to do that?” Sean asked simply, waiting to see what Kristofer’s story would actually be; before allowing himself to pull the actual facts from the other man’s head.

“I really had no desire to stay in the home I grew up in, as it would be nearly impossible for me to do the things I wished to do while living there” Kristofer started again, “so I wanted to come back here and start my practice, away from my family. And also so I would be close enough to show you that your money wasn’t wasted, and that I did plan on paying you back as soon as it was possible” he added for weight.

Sean scoffed again, and then couldn’t help asking, “not on good terms with your family anymore, are you?”

Kristofer swallowed another lump in his throat, trying to chase away the panic at the idea that Sean may have somehow discovered his own connection to Claire’s murderer. Trying to talk himself out of that fear, Kristofer quickly forced an answer, “I wasn’t ever really on good terms with them” he informed.

“And you are now?” Sean asked with another cold look.

“Most of them are dead now” Kristofer returned with an odd lack of grief to his tone.

That statement did seem to get Sean’s attention as he centered another gaze on him, “is that so?”

“Only my parents are left, and my nephews. But they’re only children” he added.

“How nice” Sean stated in a mumble at the reference to two more possible were-beasts just waiting to sprout fur at some point in the future.

Sean then quickly reached the end of his patience as he centered another long look on the young man, and began pulling each of those other details from his head. He knew that Claire hated him using his ability at all, let alone on someone she had cared about in the past; but this man was related to their mortal enemies and that made his thoughts a matter of life or death in Sean’s opinion.

After another long moment, Kristofer’s discomfort grew in the face of Sean’s silence; and he had to speak again, “the other reason I’m here is because I know you own a few abandoned buildings that might be well suited for me to turn into my medical office and home.”

“Just your home, huh?” Sean almost growled the question, his mood obviously having fouled greatly in the last few moments of his sorting through the other man’s brain.

Kristofer swallowed again but decided that lying to Sean would probably not be a very good option if he wished to gain his trust. He took a deep breath before he made himself answer, “yes, I have acquired a wife since I was last here in town. So my need for a more substantial home is almost as paramount as my need for a space to open my office.”

“So you’ll have room for you and your new wife to raise a bunch of little versions of you… and her?” Sean added with a venomous tone in regards to this new very real threat that Kristofer wanted to move directly into Sean’s territory.

Kristofer swallowed yet another lump as he was now truly starting to wonder if Sean knew so very much more than he was saying after all. He then released another shaky breath, “I know I have no right to ask you for any more favors, considering what you thought may have been going on between your wife and I” another breath, “and what happened” he swallowed again, “but I assure you that I never brought her to my bed; and that I have every intention of paying you back every cent that my education and the property are worth, combined” Kristofer attempted to further convince Sean of his sincerity.

Sean just scoffed again, “do you really think this is about the money, or even Claire?” Sean asked bitterly, his patience at last coming to an end.

“Well, if it’s not…” Kristofer attempted, only to be interrupted again.

“I really wish you hadn’t come back here at all, Kristofer” Sean stated with some odd trace of regret pushing its way into his otherwise angry and impatient tone.

“I’ve assured you that…” Kristofer attempted.

Sean then interrupted again, “and you really shouldn’t have brought this new problem to my town” Sean added as he gestured for one of his servants to come to him.

“Problem?” Kristofer stammered, not quite sure what problem Sean was even referring to.

“And now you’ve given me no other choice” Sean stated with the same regret as the servant reached his side and Sean then moved to reach into the back of the servant’s waistband, pulling out the pistol that was hidden there.

That was when Kristofer paled at the sight of the weapon and desperately struggled to form more words, “you’re going to kill me?” he asked in a raspy whisper as his eyes darted around, trying to determine if there was any possibility of escape.

“You may wish I had” Sean sighed sadly as he moved toward the now shaking young man.

“What?” Kristofer choked as he took another step back, only to have his collar caught by Sean’s free hand.

That was when Sean pulled him closer and looked deeply into those dark pools of brown before speaking in that eerie tone, “the way you can pay me back is by taking this pistol, which is filled with silver bullets, and keeping it with you at all times. And if you ever even suspect that your wife, or any others of her kind are ever planning to hurt any of my kind, or our servants; you will stop them… permanently. And you will never mention our existence to any of them at all either; or we will have to stop you, permanently” Sean added with a slight sigh, “now go and claim the property farthest from here, but remember the instructions I gave you tonight, and never give me a reason to regret not doing to you what your brother did to the people I care about” with that, Sean placed the pistol in Kristofer’s jacket pocket and pushed him away before turning on his heel and returning to his door as the servants closed and locked the gate behind him once more.

It wasn’t more than a few minutes later that Sean headed back upstairs with a heavy sigh and a heavier heart. He was in no way looking forward to explaining the events of the evening to Claire, but it was hardly feasible to try and keep them a secret either. Though when he arrived in their bedroom again, Claire’s worried look showed that she had at least heard the beginning of the story.

“The werewolf is back?” she asked with a bit of panic as Sean entered the room.

“That werewolf is dead” Sean stated quietly.

“Ok, so why did you have the servants and Primogen arm themselves and their clans with silver again?” Claire asked warily as Sean moved to where she sat at the vanity.

“A different one has come to town now” Sean sighed again.

“And we know that how?” Claire asked, obviously not having heard much more than the orders to arm everyone with werewolf killing weapons again.

“I just spoke to her husband” Sean stated with his own worry as he took a seat on the plush chair near where she had already been seated.

“Come again?” Claire asked, obviously a little thrown by that statement.

That was when Sean took a moment to even try to find a place to begin his explanation that he knew would not sit well with her once she heard what he had to do to the human, nay kinfolk, that she had been so fond of. Another sigh before he spoke, “Kristofer’s back. But his murdering bastard of a brother got himself killed since leaving here…”

“Kristofer’s back?” Claire latched onto that as Sean had a feeling she would.

“Yes, but he thinks you’re dead” Sean returned, watching her closely for her reaction.

“He thinks I’m dead?” Claire repeated his words slowly as though trying to decipher them.

“He thinks that you were the vampire that his brother tore apart almost two years ago” Sean offered further, “and that’s the best thing about this story.”

Claire scoffed, “better than the murderer being dead? How so?”

“If he thinks you’re dead, then he has no reason to ever come near this place or us. Except of course to pay me back; not that I give a shit about the money” Sean added with a shake of his head.

Claire looked down with discontent before remembering, “but you said there was a new werewolf in town.”

“I did” Sean sighed again, “which brings us to the really not good part of the story.”

“I’m listening” Claire returned, her voice shaking a bit then.

“When Kristofer went back home, most of the assholes he was related to got themselves killed by fighting other assholes like them” he paused only a moment.

“And he told you all of this?” Claire had to interrupt.

“Not consciously” Sean answered, though upon seeing her dark expression, he moved on, “and because of the slaughter of so many of them, I guess his family are pushing even harder for him to impregnate some woman with more puppies that can grow up and try to kill all of us.”

“Meaning?” Claire asked, not sure she wanted the answer.

“Meaning he now has himself a lovely wife who he brought here with him” another pause, “and she’s one of those monsters just like the one who murdered Emilia, Finn and Eliza” Sean finished with another unhappy sigh.

“So…we got rid of his brother, but now he’s married to one of them…” Claire restated, almost to herself.

“And he brought her here” Sean reiterated, “which is why I say it is a very good thing for him to continue to think you’re dead. We seriously do not need to ever give him any kind of reason to darken our doorstep ever again, and therefore bring another hell-beast with him.”

Claire was quiet for a long moment, before finally looking back up at him, “so now am I just expected to go into hiding for the rest of his life? I mean, if he and I ever run into each other, even by accident…” she added, but just looked down again.

Sean then sighed as well, “as much as I would love to keep you locked away in here ‘til he and his ilk are dust, I wouldn’t want to force you into that kind of life” he told her gently.

“So, am I just supposed to make him forget I exist if we ever do come across one another?”

“There’s an idea” Sean replied, but with a lack of seriousness as Claire scowled back at him, “but even that wouldn’t convince me of our safety.”

“So then what do we do?” she asked him with another sigh.

Sean took another moment before answering, “what I already did” he answered quietly as her green eyes came up quickly at that.

“And what was that?” she asked worriedly.

Another heavy sigh from Sean as he knew that she would most likely never forgive him for what he had done. But as he told Kristofer; that was the only choice he had been left with, short of actually trying to go and hunt down and kill the good doctor’s new wife. He finally forced the words to his lips that he knew she would hate hearing, “Oh I just gave him a pistol filled with silver bullets and then compelled him to never let any of his thoroughly repulsive family or acquaintances bring harm to any of us… even if it means that someday he’ll have to murder his own wife, or their children.”