2)

Before we get into anything else. I should talk about the big party back in June. Starting with even more exposition.

My parents had only had the land for our new home surveyed and were still deciding on floor plans and a look. With Grandpa egging them both on to add more and more rooms despite both of them liking to keep things simple.

He did talk them into a studio space for sparring off of the home gym, with a little extension nook for a piano since my Dad had taken lessons when he was a kid. And a little conservatory for herbs off of the kitchen my mom had always wanted since Grandpa claimed Ami would need someplace to grow some plants she would need for her magic.

Making it about Ami gave my mom the excuse to indulge herself.

At about this time every summer our local sheriff hosted a party for the local werewolves. On the day of the summer solstice so if the party fell on a full moon they had the longest day to enjoy themselves before any of them had to turn into wolves.

It was also why it was usually held in an isolated spot.

Grandpa volunteered to host it this year since a bunch of the werewolves had shown up to help when a vampire came after him with a small army of mind controlled victims.

It turned out there wasn’t any kind of fight since Adora turned into a six and a half foot tall humanoid wolf monster, which is apparently not something that most, if any, other werewolves can do. It looked like she was ready to tear off the vampire's head which is when the vampire decided to surrender to the very large vampire man who had been floating in the river that ran along Grandpa’s property waiting for the rogue vampire to show up.

Seriously, his shoulders were higher than the sheriff's head even in her half wolf shape.

Werewolves can sense people on their territory. But swimming onto their land without ever touching the ground can let people of all sorts sneak in. So much for the vampires and flowing water thing.

Although, he didn’t cross flowing water. He just swam along it.

All the volunteers that showed up to back up the newest werewolf in town ended up just helping a bunch of confused state cops, truckers, and people who had been at a fast food restaurant when the vampire decided she needed a mob. They helped get everyone home with a cover story that was mind controlled into them by the other vampires who showed up to deal with the intruder.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

But Grandpa still wanted to say thanks. Which is why I found him the day before the party digging a pit out behind the kitchen terrace back where he usually set up the old, rusty cut in half from top to bottom steel barrel he puts a grill on top of to do his outdoor cooking.

“What are you doing?’

The old man looked up at me from the deep pit. He had managed to get himself pretty filthy while throwing the dirt up out of the pit. Which my little brother Aran was turning the far side of into a series of ramps and roads for his little metal cars.

“Digging a pit?” He gave me a challenging look. I tried to out stare him but he just grinned and proceeded to dig out a few more scoops of dirt.

I sighed. He was in one of those moods. “Why are you digging a pit?.”

He grinned at me again as he stepped up out of the pit, then paused with a surprised look when he notice Aran playing in the dirt before he answered me. “Going to cook a pig, Hawaiian style. Well almost, I’m going to use corn husks instead of banana leaves. It’s too expensive to get the leaves shipped in.”

“Oh.” I had known about the party for a while, and I had even been helping with the food. "I think that's steam cooking right? It should be healthier that way. I think.”

He blinked at me a few times and nodded at me. “I guess it would be.” Then he tried to muss my hair so I pushed him off balance, got a foot behind his ankle, and hip checked him into his pit. He yelped as he fell, “Careful, I’m old. I could break a hip.”

I rolled my eyes at him. Werewolf, remember. “You’ll heal. Can I help?”

He made a big show of rolling his eyes right back at me. “It’s outdoor cooking, that is men’s work, little girl. Besides there's going to be a bunch of kids coming along, some of them are your own age. Including that boy from the grocery store.”

He wiggled his eyebrow at me. “You might want to pick out an outfit.”

I gave him a warning look. He just grinned again before waving me off. "Get to know some of the kid's you're going to be going to school with. Make some friends, flirt with some boys or girls… either way’s good.”

I doubled down on the warning look. “Don’t make me put you in the hole again old man.”

He just made a sort of snerking sound of a laugh and started setting up a ring of cement blocks from a sturdier looking version of a kid’s little wagon. So I left him so it and went off to help my dad and my older cousin Charles set up the tarps.

My dad gave me a little insight while I stood there holding up a pole. “He had gotten old enough that there were a lot of things he couldn't do anymore, now that he can, he wants to enjoy not needing anyone’s help.”

Oh. “That makes sense.” I gave my dad a long look. “He chased you off too didn’t he?”

My cousin Charles started chuckling. My dad nodded. “He took the time to explain it to me so I didn’t feel rejected. You, he just wanted to tease.” He shook his head at me. “You might want to do something about that at some point or else it’s always going to be him picking on you to show his affection.”

As I stood around holding up the support poles while the men hammered in the stake, well my dad pretty much stomped them in while Charles tied the support ropes. I realized I was going to have it out with the old man. I didn’t mind the teasing. But if he could explain things to my dad to make sure he didn't hurt his son's feelings. He could do the same to me.

But not today, with him getting ready for his party. And certainly not when he was sitting down on the ground listening to my brother explain something about what he was working on in the dirt with such a serious expression on his five year face. But soon.

Meanwhile I had to finish helping set up, then get to sleep so I could wake up early enough to help make some of the dishes. Then I would change clothes and do something with my hair. And not because Nate and his family were going to be here.

It was because I was going right from homeschooling to the seventh grade in a new school with High school kids due to the Junior High being closed years ago to save money. Tomorrow I was going to have to establish the pecking order with High School werewolf girls.