Kierra

There’s nods all around yet Maii looks a little dejected. He had first met my sister at the bordello and had really taken to her, following her around. She pleaded with him to not go back when she did, not wanting him to be there.

Kind of have to agree with her. Since he doesn't speak, no one will know if he gets into trouble, unable to call for help. Since she's already in danger there, she didn't want to take him back into that. Walking over, I ruffle his hair, trying to get him to smile.

Xavier had gone downstairs to do whatever with his leather coat, so I turn to the new wolves in my home.

"Alright, you know Xavier. The one on the couch is Asher, and this is Maii and Bastion. Animals and Imp, meet Zypher and his brother Shade. They helped me twice today, so don't be too horrible towards them."

The grin in my voice has my boys both smiling. The brothers each nod when his name was mentioned. Clearing my throat, I give a crooked grin while looking at the black wolf.

"If you value your bits attached, I'd stay off that side of the couch. Old man gets grumpy."

He sneezes, shaking his head.

"I'm told it's very uncommon to have a household like mine, so they might get a bit confused about the happenings here."

Kids look over with warm smiles.

"How did they help you?"

Asher sounds a little suspicious, but I think I've worked with him enough to not growl at everyone who comes near me. He still does at Xavier, just because the maned mutt does things just to get a rise out of the midnight wolf. Pulling the two empty chairs from the table, I offer them to the brothers.

I went from having more than enough sitting spots to not enough real quick over the past month. They take them and set them near the door where they sit with coats still on. Drawing eyebrows together, I hold out my hand.

"Can take your coats off. You act like you're going to bolt out of the door. I promise you that as long as you harm none here, no harm will come to you."

Sheepish smiles form as they remove them and hang them on the back of their seats. Guess that'll do. Looking back over to Asher, I answer his question.

"Couple Vamps jumped me and Xavier as we left the bar for the first time, the second time was when a few humans got uppity and tried following us."

I touch my cheek, rotating my jaw around. Twinges a bit, but that's all. Not even a bruise. He hit hard, but not hard enough it would seem. Got so used to the harder punches of supernaturals that it's almost like I don't feel a human’s hit at all. Neat.

Asher seems to start talking to each one, he looks at them and they at him. Xavier comes up from below as I head for the counter and the stack of bread. I love my bread. That's why my hips are like, a mile wide. Xavier sweeps up the open loaf and moves away with it.

"Oi, honky, you don't eat it right, give up the goods."

Each animal and person that lives in this house knows how I am with bread. The day I'd first met the Red Wolves, I actually shared my bread with him that I had gotten from an Italian bistro, and he literally just wolfed it down. Had to teach him how to savor it and things just kind of came out wrong.

Now he takes pleasure in teasing me with it when at home. Shade and Zypher look over at us as I cross my arms and tap my foot. I know better than to try and reach for it, he just holds it up higher.

I'm not the monkey climber my sister is, so I have to resort to other matters. He spins the bag open and snitches a slice before handing it back. Looking me dead in the face when he just shoves the whole thing in his mouth.

Eyes narrowing, I grab up a potholder and throw it at him. He ducks easily and just grins with his chipmunk cheeks. Pulling myself up onto the island counter, I set the bag next to me and go about eating.

Always get asked how I can eat plain bread. Quite easily actually. Better plain most times than with other stuff on it, as long as it's soft.

"Just you wait chipmunk face. Your time is coming."

My eyes stay narrowed at him while I eat the bread how it's supposed to be eaten; with relish and much pleasure. With guys in the house now, I don't go all orgasmic-face as I did before when teasing Faline.

"There's a right and a wrong way to eat bread?"

Zypher sounds amused but curious too, so I nod at him.

"Mhmm, how chubby-cheeks there eats it is wrong. Sacrilegious."

He chuckles as I eyeball the maned mutt. I offer them food and they take it. While they eat, I remember what Alarico wanted me to tell Asher. Slipping into his head a little hesitantly, he looks at me in question.

Whispering to him that I have a message, it gets replayed in my head for him. When finished, he pulls away. I let him, fighting my own sadness for him. Pulling out my phone, I call one of the good Vamps.

"Ahoy, Benji. Do you have the equipment to play tapes from a video recorder?"

"Well hello and good morning to you too."

Can hear the smile in his voice, so he must not have been asleep yet, or recently woke up. Either way.

"To answer your question, yes I do. Just not here, it's at my place."

Ah. He's at work. Benjamin Thomas is an editor in the basement of the publisher I used to be with. The guy owning the place is a real douche bag, so I split from him. That reminds me, I need to send out a couple emails.

"Is it portable?"

"Not exactly."

Never been to his place so have no idea where it's at. Calling Xavier over to me, I ask him if he can drive my jeep. An eyebrow raises, yet he nods.

"Mkay, if I have Xavier drop it off to you, can you get what's on it back to me later tonight?"

"Sure. I'm at the office right now, had just gotten in when you called."

Called it.

"Cool, I'm not gonna send him till the rain lets up though, so it may be a few before he gets there. Don't see you goin' anywhere, so I'm sure you'll be around."

My jab at him not being able to go out into the light gets me a long suffered 'ha ha ha'. For some reason, it just now pops into my head that he can hear it when Gary, my old publisher, is screwing women in his office. I choke on my bread from the visuals. Since I've walked in on him, it's pretty horrible.

"Are you alright?"

"Oh God, Ben. Eww, I am so sorry. It just dawned on me that you can hear his romping. You poor thing. No wonder you get so cranky."

I can hear his grunt, Xavier laughs, while everyone else just looks confused.

"And now you know why I have headphones down here."

Oh. Yeah, that does make sense now. Never really thought about it, figuring they were for music. Heh.

"I take it he hasn't had that heart attack yet."

When I had accidentally walked in on Gary pounding the poor secretary, he hadn't looked very healthy with all the huffing and puffing he'd been doing. The woman had been bent over his desk and wasn't enjoying it much by the looks of it, she'd looked rather bored.

"Sadly not, but there's always tomorrow."

Probably shouldn't, but I laugh at that. Saying our goodbyes, I hang up. Closing up my bread and hopping down, the computer gets turned on. Everyone looks at me.

"My old boss is a real douche who's really big on sexual harassment and drilling women in his office, which is right above Benjamin's, who happens to be a Vamp."

They finally get it. Asking Asher if he's had anything, he lets me know he hunted at Ava's. Bastion's been really good on keeping food and water topped off for my fat cat, as well as catpan duty. Perfectly fine with me. I hate cleaning that thing.

"Can you guys fill Shade and Zypher in on tales and prophecies about what's going on? I need to get a couple messages sent out so I don't lose connections that I will need at some point."

I ask it distractedly, but pretty sure they will. Have to email the other publishers I had inquired into and let them know that with family members having problems, I won't be able to get to my writing for a while. Send those off then send another that's almost the same to the marketing manager that I had wanted to keep, asking her to keep me in her books. I've sent these out before, but I still want to keep in some kind of contact with them.

Make a side note for her though that if she does anything with art marketing, to let me know. That gets sent off and I think of the art gallery in Rockford that likes featuring my stuff. Since I won't be able to get much, if any, writing done, I need to work on my other profession more.

I've got two paintings done already, just not taken in. Right now they're hanging from the bookshelves behind the T.V. stand. Didn't get any more done since I wanted to spend as much time with my sister as I could before she left.

The wood-burning commissions I was able to get done during the times she couldn't go out. She and I love the smell of burning wood, super noses have made it a bit stronger, but not horribly so. Depending on the type of wood also depends on the scent too, which just makes things interesting.

While I worked on them she and the kids would be doing some food making in the kitchen or some crafting of their own. Xavier spent the time playing his guitar or working out outside, and Asher went back and forth between inside and out. Getting the pieces shipped out was the fun part. I hate shipping.

Mom had decided to take a vacation with a friend of hers, for which I'm grateful for right now since it keeps her away from Faline and I with all the dangers we bring to those around us. She's supposed to call us each night to let us know she's alright, but she's taken to sending texts instead. That in itself is fine, but I will be calling at some point just to make sure it's her sending them.

Didn't notice them all talking, but when they all go quiet is when it draws my attention. I'd moved around to stand in front of the paintings that'd been finished; the one done of Asher walking out from dark trees, where the only real color in it is his blue-green eyes and the silver pendant at his neck. The necklace he'd been wearing when my sister and I first met him. It was his wife's, but at some point he had gone and buried it in her favorite park. Not sure why he did it, but as long as it gave him some peace to do so, I don't see the harm.

The other is the one I titled 'Claim', it has me and Nicolaus, the Vampire who had my sister, facing off over her ocelot wearing a defiant look. A face resembling my own on one side and his on the other with the blazing orange eyes he has.

Both with lips pulled back and teeth bared, his being the Vamp fangs while my top and bottom canines are elongated. Not like the old movie ridiculously-sized-for-my-mouth-teeth either. Elongated does not mean massive.

When everything goes silent, I turn back to face the room. Even laying on his legs, Asher can still look over the couch with no problem, which he's doing now. Xavier’s on the other end of the couch, boys at the kitchen table and brothers in the chairs. All staring at me.

Blink blink.

"What?"