As the first week of February drew to a close, Sean and Claire woke at sunset and before Claire’s eyes were even fully open, she felt Sean’s mouth covering hers with a kiss. She smiled through the kiss and moved her lips against his as well, the intimacy between them having improved to the point that they were at least sharing the Kiss with each other on a regular basis once more. As their human variety of kiss continued for another long moment, the two couldn’t help being distracted by the servant who had appeared in the doorway the moment that he was sure the two would be awake.

Breaking off the kiss long enough to look over at the servant in acknowledgment of his presence, Sean sighed at the look of worry that greeted him. “I’m barely awake and you already have bad news?” he complained as he pushed himself into sitting up next to where Claire mirrored his sigh.

“I don’t know if it’s bad, but you told me to let you know” the servant stated warily.

Sitting up more straightly and pushing sleep tangled locks from his face, Sean allowed another sound of discontent as he replied, “know what?”

“I usually patrol up by the north dock, which is where I was today” the servant began, nervously wringing his hands in the material at the bottom of his light jacket.

“And?” Sean pressed as he slid to the edge of the bed to grudgingly locate his boots.

“One of them is back” the servant blurted out.

Sean looked back at him with a furrowed brow, “one of who are back where?” he asked, trying not to immediately jump to the idea that the servant may be referring to Baron or Awsha, as he did mention the northernmost dock.

“One of the doctor’s children” the servant answered with a look down.

That was when both Claire and Sean looked back at him warily, “excuse me?” Claire was the one who spoke first.

“That doctor who lived up near the north dock; one of his young ones came back there. I spotted her horse this morning, then saw her move past one of the windows later” he informed worriedly.

“And you’re sure it was one of Kristofer’s children?” Sean pressed, trying not to let his own worry get the best of him just yet.

“I hadn’t seen her for a few months. But she’s a real pretty one; and the fire red hair is hard to forget” the servant returned.

“How is this even possible?” Claire asked Sean with her own worry, trying to ignore the description that couldn’t help making her imagine what Kristofer’s wife must have looked like; especially if their daughter’s beauty had been so apparent to the servant when the girl was only barely thirteen. “You compelled Kristofer never to bring them back here” Claire added with even more apprehension.

“Begging your pardon, but I didn’t see the doc or his son; just that pretty little girl” the servant informed further.

“She might have returned on her own I suppose” Sean shrugged, trying to hold his own fears in check as he finished sliding the boots on, “did she see you?” he asked the attractive young man.

“She was inside the house, so I doubt it” he answered quietly.

“Well we can’t let her stay here; especially since she’s old enough now that she could…” Sean just swallowed hard.

“But she may have turned already” Claire added worriedly as she too slid to the edge of the bed as Sean stood.

“Well if she has, then she definitely didn’t see him” he gestured to the servant, “otherwise, he wouldn’t be here at all right now” Sean added more quietly as the servant paled.

“Well we can’t risk any of us or our blood bound servants going to tell her to leave. If she is one of them, whoever we send would be getting sent to their death” Claire warned Sean of the facts that he already knew.

“But we can’t let her stay in my territory” Sean reminded Claire of the fact she already knew as well.

“And you didn’t see Kristofer, the doctor?” she asked the servant again as he just shook his head in answer. “I could summon him” Claire offered a moment later.

“What?” Sean asked, thrown by that suggestion.

“I could summon Kristofer and make him go and get her out of town” Claire repeated as she nervously bit her lip.

“Claire do you really want to open that chapter again?” Sean asked quietly.

“It’s not like we have any other choice. We can’t go ourselves or send our servants. Plus, we need to know why she’s even here at all; especially after you compelled Kristofer to raise them outside of your territory” Claire stated, trying to force calm to her tone.

Sean sighed in defeat, “I suppose it is the best option, even if it’s not a very good one.” Claire just nodded as Sean shook his head once more and gestured for the servant to follow him from the room to allow Claire the silence she needed in order to summon Kristofer back to their door once more.

It was nearly four a.m. when Claire and Sean were seated in his office both looking just as apprehensive as they had been earlier in the evening. That was when a servant came to inform them of a visitor at the gate. The two looked at one another warily as Sean spoke again, “if that’s him, he got here in one night; guess he didn’t move that far away after all.”

Claire sighed as the two stood, “you only compelled him to take the children out of town; you weren’t specific about where.”

“Guess I should have been” Sean mumbled as he and Claire moved from the office to head outside to meet their visitor.

Once they arrived at the gate, it was indeed Kristofer, as well as a young boy whose dark hair and eyes as well as his age made it more than obvious that this was his son. Both Kristofer and his son looked more than a bit confused by their presence there at all; though that was the usual reaction any mortal would have when being supernaturally summoned in such a way.

“He brought his kid to our fucking gate?” Sean whispered angrily in Claire’s ear.

“Calm down Sean; his aura shows he’s still mortal” she assured.

“Yeah for how many more seconds” Sean mumbled as he moved only a step closer to the gate while remaining quite far from it, and not ordering the servants to open it.

“I honestly don’t even know why I’m here” Kristofer told the two of them in a cross between confusion and fear, considering he knew that the son who was mounted on his own horse several feet behind him had been ordered out of that town only two months prior. Then of course there was the already existing apprehension on his part about being out doing anything other than searching for his missing daughter.

Seeing Kristofer’s obvious fear and Sean’s obvious anger, Claire was the one who took another step closer to the still closed and locked gate. She cast one more cautious look at his son’s aura before speaking again, “do you know your daughter is back at your old house?”

“What?” Kristofer asked, he and Sebastian both equally shocked by that information.

“One of our… dockworkers recognized her moving past one of the windows of the house earlier today” Claire informed. “He was under the impression that the house was still vacant, so he came and told us about it” Claire took another moment to try and force her composure as she too was fighting those memories of their strange and terrifying night under the dock, and the tragedy it had led to.

“I swear, Claire, I did not know she was here” Kristofer told her desperately, not immediately noting the look that passed over his son’s face when he called her by the name of that long lost love that his father still had not officially been able to admit to.

“You need to get her out of that house; out of this town” Sean stated forcefully.

“They know?” Sebastian choked out, the words causing Kristofer to flinch as Sean and Claire immediately centered questioning looks on him.

“Immediately” Sean stated with even more force as he instantly knew that the girl had indeed changed when he saw that flinch and peered into Kristofer’s mind to get that answer.

“Sean” Claire stated, but upon seeing his expression, she also had a very good idea of what had caused that reaction in Sean; which only caused a palpable fear to take up residence in her tiny frame then too.

“I will. I swear” Kristofer promised as he nodded to his son and immediately kicked the horse into motion, his son warily following while tossing a few even more wary looks back toward Sean and Claire as they rode off.

By the time they finally arrived at their old home, neither had said much. Kristofer was too worried about inadvertently breaking his promise to Sean and Claire. And Sebastian was too terrified to even be seeing his sister at all again; not to mention all the other questions he now had after meeting his father’s long lost love, and her apparently very wealthy and powerful husband who seemed to be the face of some kind of authority there in that town that used to be their home.

“I’ll get the horse, you get your sister” Kristofer stated quietly as they approached the house.

“Seriously, dad?”

“It was the fight you had with her that made her take off; you two have some making up to do” he told his son forcefully as he dismounted.

“Well if you’re sending me in there to talk to her, then maybe you should give me the gun” Sebastian returned in a bitter mumble as he also dismounted.

“Do you think that is even remotely funny?” Kristofer growled as he centered a disapproving look on the boy.

“Am I laughing?” Sebastian responded in the same mumble.

“You need to get over this fear of your sister right now” Kristofer told him forcefully.

“Please. You’re so afraid that you agreed to leave our home and your practice just because the people who run this town told you you had to get her out of here” Sebastian returned with what bravery he could muster.

“We are done having this discussion again until we all get home” Kristofer told him coolly as he began moving to where Sophie had tied the little filly earlier that day.

Sebastian just scoffed as he moved to tie up his own horse and cast his father one more reproachful look before forcing his feet to carry him to the door of their old home and toward the sister that he was so afraid of. Though once he approached the door, Sophie opened it with an even darker look centered on both her brother and her father.

“I’m not coming back with you” she stated firmly, making sure her words were loud enough that their father could hear them from his spot several feet away.

“Fine with me” Sebastian muttered, to which she only glared again.

“You are coming back with us, Sophie” Kristofer told her firmly, as hard as it was at all to try and exert any sort of authority over her anymore, knowing how powerful his little girl truly was now.

“And how are you going to make me?” Sophie asked him defiantly as he faltered a moment in the steps he had been taking towards the doorway his children stood on opposite sides of.

“No matter what you are now, Sophie, you’re still my daughter; and that means you still have to do what I say” he told her, though his voice was beginning to waver as he saw that anger building in her.

“Make me” she stated simply, her eyes challenging him with a cool look.

“You can’t stay here, Sophie” Kristofer attempted though his voice was growing weaker as he knew all too well how easy it was to push a Garou into an explosion of temper, let alone a teen girl with a redhead's temper already.

“I’m pretty sure I can do whatever I want now, can’t I?” she challenged him further.

That was when Sebastian scoffed as he looked between them, his own fear forcing his words before he could check them, “we should let her just stay here. She’s nothing but a bitch, literally” he spat out.

That was one final straw that tipped Sophie’s rage and anger and even despair to the boiling point as her eyes yellowed and the deadly claws sprang from her fingertips. Before either of the two mortals before her could react, she had slapped her brother hard across the face; those deadly claws easily cutting four deep red gashes across his face and neck as he stumbled backward, falling to the ground, mere inches from where their mother had met her own death thirteen years earlier. That was when Kristofer rushed forward as the blood poured forth from his son’s neck, while his daughter stumbled backward as well, the horror of what she’d done clear on her face.

Kristofer and Sophie were both sobbing then as Kristofer tried in vain to stop the torrent of blood pouring from those deep gashes. It only took another moment before Kristofer’s fear, panic and despair caused him to call upon that long dormant gift of healing he had thankfully never had to use for anything quite as deadly as the wound that was sure to kill his only son within seconds if he didn’t act.

Concentrating hard as he held his hands to Sebastian’s neck, the wound slowly began to close before his eyes. Though once the task was complete and his son had been healed and was slowly struggling to regain consciousness; that was when Kristofer collapsed next to the boy and Sophie shrieked as she watched the color drain from her father’s body then and could hear the stopping of Kristofer’s heartbeat over her own sobs at the fact of what she had done.