33)

I had a bit of a crowd waiting for me when I got to the old Gym, it looked like most of the twenty three, I counted that morning, students from homeroom that morning which had included all the werewolf students in the high school.

The crowd also included several younger people that looked like they must have already graduated as well as a few older people. Some of which were teachers from the school, as well as bus drivers and various people who had wandered in from off campus. Including Dare, the Sheriff’s grandson who lived next door to my Grandfather.

When some people came to my Grandfather's home looking to either kidnap or bleed him out, Vampires loved werewolf blood, Dare and Milinda’s Mom Debby had come running.

On all fours. Dare even took a bullet defending me and my family. If he wants to hang out around a high school, I wasn’t going to say anything about it.

Oh, and did I mention they were all looking at me? Del sat up from between her two friends who had been leaning in whispering to each other and waved at me. “Get on with it Sara. We’re all waiting.”

I took a deep breath and walked out into the middle of the gym, I could feel Neal walking out behind me but stopping short several feet behind me.

“Hi.” I waved at everyone. “My training does not include public speaking. But I have to say this first, My Uncle, Dave Itchiban will be coming here along with my father, John Caine to discuss my father’s Dojo. If you have any questions about it, wait to ask them because the Dojo is news to me as well.”

Some of the people watching me looked disappointed, mostly the boys, others seemed intent on what I was going to say next.

"What they call the other oympics isn't that big, it's mainly North and Central America, and it was pretty informal at first. People from most of the families that have magic hadn’t been allowed to play normal sports with what my family has taken to recently calling baseline humans.”

“So when the families and other organizations got together to watch martial arts tournaments. Some people got excited and wanted to do some unofficial fighting, while others just wanted to test themselves against each other in other ways.”

“At first it was just people taking advantage of the basketball and volleyball courts in the same places where the fighting bouts were being held. Later there were even teams set up to meet in a league for baseball and some martial arts bouts happened on the ball game’s sidelines.”

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

I held up one finger. “But no football, or any other contact sports, not everyone knows how to do self healing, or can cheat by being born with it.”

Del smirked at me, "It's not cheating, it's a legacy."

I rolled my eyes and made a show of sighing. "Anyways, there's a meet coming up soon, if anyone wants to check it out. My Uncle says we can get in as students of my Dad's Dojo, but I think that's just a scam to get people to sign up."

Ryan raised his hand. I awkwardly wave a hand at him. “We’re not in school Ryan, I think you can just ask?”

He stood up and shook his head, “It’s better to do things this way so we don’t try to yell over each other.” He took a glance around, then asked. “Are there other werewolves at these meets, or in the fighting tournaments?"

I threw my hands up. "I honestly don't know. My Mom said there were no Werewolves, Vampires, or anything like that. Just humans with magic. Apparently, she's met all sorts of supernatural races and just thought they were humans who had trained in different ways. She just thought my dad was messing with her when he said anyone was something else.”

Looking around the room, I shrugged. "That's what I thought until my Grandpa turned his hand into a long fingered paw covered in fur with three inch long claws.”

The crowd went still until Dare called out. "Oh, bullshit!" I looked at him and saw a look of amused disbelief on his face. "Granny can't even do that, I've never even heard of anyone doing something like that."

Most of the rest of the people packed into the room looked like they didn’t believe me either, which was getting me pretty upset. Like I was going to lie.

Then Neal spook up behind me. “Did Sheriff Karras ever tr? Mr. Lathe became one of us without anyone telling him what we could or couldn't do."

I turned half around to give him a quick grin and resisted the urge to tell him he was a good boy.

From the stands, I heard one of Del’s friends say “Holy…”

Del Jones, granddaughter of Adora Karras, the only werewolf around other than Grandpa capable of taking on the half human half wolf shape my Grandpa called the war form, was holding up one of her hands palm out with a look of disbelief at the full set of short but sharp claws on her fingertip.

Painted red from the tips to about halfway down.

I smiled. Good for her. Her successes did not diminish me, something my Grandmother had told me over and over during the summer of watching my little sister turning into a true witch while I struggled to make a tiny light.

“Congratulations Del. You not only did it, you did it without making your hand and arm look all gross and hairy. “

She looked up at me and her look of wonder turned into a grimace and then embarrassment as she realized everyone in the room was looking at her. Well, everyone except Austin who was going red in the face glaring down at his clenched fist in frustration at it’s stubborn refusal to change.

And Dare who was nearly sprinting as he ran along the bleacher to grab his younger sister's hand, not to examine her claws, but to lift her up in the air in a hug with her clawed hand up in the air above them both and spinning her around and around putting both of them in danger of tumbling down the bleachers to the ground.

My Uncle Dave spoke up from next to me, sending me spinning off to the side in a defensive stance. “Those will be very interesting to incorporate into a martial art, I envy your father.”

Then he glanced over at a shocked looking Neal. “You walk like a warrior. I approve of you dating my student, but don’t get her pregnant until she is done with school.”

Neal's eyes went wide. "Wha-what?"

I didn’t protest, I just tried to drive the tip of my shoe into the back of my Uncle’s head, starting from his face.

It was on.