9)

Sara spoke up first, hesitantly “Yeah.”

I took the time to take another bite of my breakfast while the two of them squirmed in their seats, and the boy took the chance to grab the last piece of bacon.

While I was thinking about how to play this, I realized that maybe I shouldn't be thinking like that when dealing with my own. Especially when right now they need to feel like I was someone they could trust.

"Up until about a week ago, I assumed the world worked the way I had been brought up to believe. No dragons, no leprechauns, and no witches. Guess now I'm more willing to believe, so when a little girl makes my maple syrup slide across the counter, then I guess magic tricks of some kind are real."

I waited until she looked up and made eye contact.“So what else can you do?”

Ami looked down shyly, but with a little smile. Her sister gave me a suspicious look. "What happened a week ago?"

I took a deep breath. After all, I was outing myself as someone that had caught an infectious disease. Wait, am I putting these kids at risk? What if they could catch it by using the same silverware? Do I need to use real silver to kill the virus?

And all three of them are staring at me all concerned while I went down a mental rabbit hole.

Right, if lycanthropy is that infectious then no one could have kept it a secret. I just had to remember not to lick the peanut butter off the butter knife and then reuse it to make someone a sandwich. Which is a good policy anyway.

“Well, about a week ago I tried to help a little girl that was in trouble, and she was so scared she turned into a little wolf cub and bit me before she ran off.” I held out my hand that had gotten nipped. “It healed right up, but the night before last since was a full moon and I changed into a wolf, but let’s just keep this between us. I just bought this house and I don’t need a torch wielding mob showing up.’

Ami and the boy stared at me in wide eyed wonder while Sara gave me an annoyed look. "Stop it old man, werewolves aren't real.”

What now?

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

The boy, Aran, I need to start thinking about him by name too, looked confused. While Ami looked from her sister to me with a betrayed look.

Sara pushed her plate away and glared at me. “Mom told me some people have magic and everything else is just a name for being magic from their culture or how they were trained. The rest is just fairy tales. Stop treating us like little kids."

I gave her a look of disbelief, and the little snot crossed her arms at me. Girls. Always more difficult. So how do I want to play… no how do I want to be honest without looking weak and making them feel like I can't keep them safe?

"Sara, the night before last I turned myself into a wolf, it was very painful so I don't know if I'll ever bother to do so again. But your sister accidentally showed off something the three of you wanted to keep a secret, so I shared one too. I would not lie to you when I’m trying to make you feel like you can trust me.”

That took them back a bit.

Ami looked back and forth again before asking. "Is there anything else you do, other than turning into a wolf?" Sara uncrossed her arms but was still giving me a suspicious look.

“Well, I’m in a lot better shape than I was two days ago, but you never met me before. So there’s no proof there. My one silver ring hasn't bothered me when I wore it. At least in the days before my first full moon, but now I'm a little nervous to try it on in case it does hurt me somehow.”

Sara look a little intrigued at that, the little savage, while Ami shook her head firmly. “No, you don’t have to do anything that might hurt, no one ever should.”

I looked over at the boy. “You're going to have to raise your game boy, your sister is leading when it comes to being the favorite grandkid."

The boy looked concerned, Sara rolled her eyes. “Don’t tease him, we never know when he’s going to take something seriously.”

I smiled at that. "Family trait, at least for the boys. You should worry more about the things he decides to not take seriously, like matches. It took an entire shed and part of a garage before my cousins learned fire and leaky kerosene cans were not a good match up.”

Both the girls sighed. What? Oh, “match up”, that wasn’t even on purpose.

“So none of the other werewolf stuff, like my third finger growing longer than the first two, or a pentagram on my palm have happened either. So baring turning into a big gray wolf, which hurts, I don't know know how else to prove it. Sorry kids."

Ami looked thoughtful. “Can you call other wolves with a howl, or maybe just change partway so it doesn't hurt so much?”

Well, can I? "There aren't any normal wolves around this part of the country. And I ain't ready to meet the other werewolves around here, at least not until I learn the rules. As far as partially turning, I honestly never even thought about it, sharp thinking kiddo.”

The little girl brightened up and was that a look of jealousy on the least favorite's face?

"Thing is the old stories almost always talk about werewolves turning into a wolf losing control, and hurting people. I felt fine the one time I turned, but the moon wasn't up and there weren’t any little kids around. If I try to just change my hand into a paw, and if I go full wolf. Well, I don't think I'd go and gobble you up, but let's minimize the risk."

I headed for the doors of the sunroom. The whole room had steel cores inside the wood paneled beams and half inch security glass, more than enough to hold back even a hundred and eighty pound wolf.

I stepped outside into the morning sunlight, fairly confident I wasn’t doing anything too dangerous, and to be fair, I did warn them about the boys in their family.

“Lock the doors.”