“What?” was Claire’s immediate response to Sean’s last statement.

“You have to keep him from ever coming near us again. Even if you have to make him forget this place even exists” Sean warned her as he cast another look toward the door.

Claire scoffed loudly, “are you serious right now?”

“Yes Claire, I am” Sean assured.

Claire just shook her head with a combination of disbelief and anger, “after all the other lovers I’ve had; all of which were either Kindred or ghouls… Now you suddenly have some major issue with a mortal who I’ve only even kissed?” she asked as she tried very hard to keep her volume low.

“It has nothing to do with that Claire. We just can’t risk having him or anyone he even knows getting anywhere near us” Sean stressed.

“What is this, Sean?” Claire asked angrily again.

Sean sighed as he cast one more look at the door before moving closer to her to speak even more quietly, “do you remember anything Haven told us about the Garou all those years ago?”

“The what?” Claire asked, searching her brain for the term.

“Back when we were traveling through all those wooded areas back when we were first embraced? The Garou; the were-beasts” he stated even more quietly.

Claire scoffed again, “I remember him saying that they really hate us” she shook her head, “but I’ve looked at his aura; Kristofer is not a… he is not one of them.”

“No, but he…” Sean shook his head as he looked at the door once more, “he’s related to them.”

“What?” Claire exclaimed.

“I got… an older brother maybe? It was fuzzy, but he is related to their kind. We can’t risk him ever luring those creatures to any place anywhere near us. You have to get him out of our lives, period.”

Claire scoffed again, though this time the sound came with more worry than anger, “so you read his thoughts and got that he’s related to those things?”

“Yes. And that is nothing resembling good for any of us” Sean told her urgently.

Claire shook her head again as she mulled over the few things he actually had said about his family during their previous conversations. Then she remembered his odd mention of the consequences of physical intimacy. She then looked up at Sean quickly, “so he carries the possibility for his children to become werewolves, in his blood?” she asked as a sudden realization.

“I’m guessing he must if he’s related to them” Sean replied, shaking his own head then.

That was when Claire turned away, running all the thoughts through her brain of all the little hints that suddenly made so much more sense now; despite her anger at Sean appearing there that night just for the simple purpose of reading a mortal’s mind.

After another long moment, Claire finally found more words, “he has said some things about his family being Pagans, and not wanting him to leave home, and having other plans for him…” she just shook her head again, “and that he had a gift for healing” she added more quietly. She then finally looked back up at Sean, “but he also said that he and his family don’t even speak to each other anymore. They weren’t happy with him leaving home for five years to become a doctor I guess.”

“Well no kidding” Sean sighed, “they most likely wanted him to get married and start having as many children as possible; considering their kind are almost extinct and all” Sean added more quietly.

Claire then sighed again, “but if he’s not even in contact with them anymore…”

“He’s been taught to hate our kind from the moment he could speak. If his relatives ever came looking for him and found us or our servants; they’d kill us on the spot, Claire” Sean warned, though quietly.

“But if he doesn’t even…” Claire began, then shook her head again, “and the prophecy says snakes, not wolves” she added with an attempt at humor, though it fell short.

“And if it wasn’t Awsha who had those ghouls kill Haven, then maybe the snakes prophecy is gone; it still doesn’t mean that any of us should ever risk even the chance of one of his kind getting anywhere near us.”

“It’s not his kind, it’s his family’s kind” Claire returned weakly.

“Claire” Sean scolded. He then suddenly had more fear pass across his face, “please tell me you’ve never given him your blood.”

“He’s been gone for five years” Claire assured. Though her statement didn’t seem to calm his worried look, “no, I haven’t” she assured.

“You’ve just gotta get him out of our lives Claire. Make him forget or something” he offered.

“And how is he supposed to forget how it was even possible for him to get his degree?” she reminded.

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Sean simply sighed, “well, something has to be done to keep him from ever bringing those things to our door, even if he only does it inadvertently.”

That’s when Claire looked up at him with shock, “you’re not suggesting we murder him just for the crime of being born into the family he was born into?”

Sean looked a bit taken aback by that, “when has killing ever been our first plan of action?”

“Awsha. Baron” she supplied.

“It was far from the first plan with them” he reminded.

Claire then sighed in concession, “still, I have no real reason to push him away.”

“Other than all the ones I just gave you?” Sean asked with disbelief.

“Any reason that he would understand” she clarified.

“I know he’s your friend, Claire; and I know you were considering making him more” Sean sighed, “but it’s way too much of a risk, and you know it” he added as he gently squeezed her shoulder.

Claire sighed sadly before she allowed one more thought to pass her lips, “what if I did give him my blood? Then he’d never lead anyone here to harm us” she offered.

“And then his own family would kill him… Do you want that to be his fate instead of the much happier one you’ve already tried to give him?” Sean asked knowingly.

“What about that mental bond thing? Then he wouldn’t have my blood in him, but…”

“Then he might have to kill his family instead of the other way around, just to try to protect us” Sean warned quietly, “either way, you’d be driving a deadly wedge between him and his own kin. They only see us as monsters; they don’t care how untrue that is, or even care to find out before trying to murder each and every one of our kind and those bound to us. That’s just the facts of how they are. Anything you try to do to keep him in your life; it’ll lead to a very, very bad ending for Kristofer, his family, or us. You know it’s true, Claire” he told her as he gave her a gentle squeeze.

Claire allowed another sad sigh as she gently pressed herself into his embrace, “it’s happened” she stated simply.

“What’s happened?” Sean asked worriedly as he looked down at her.

“You’ve become a Prince after all” she whispered, squeezing him tightly through his own sad sigh.

After another moment, Sean finally broke off their embrace, “since I know this is hard for you, and since I am the Prince, as you’ve just reminded me” he added wryly, “I suppose I can be the one to take care of this for you.”

That was when Claire looked up at him worriedly, “what are you going to do? You can’t just make him forget; the whole last five years of his life and career are now tied to me” she reminded again.

“No, I won’t make him forget you or this place. It would cause other problems” he then added, “but I think the person that needs to solve this problem isn’t your Prince, but your husband.”

“What does that mean?” Claire asked with more worry.

“You said you thought he was afraid to get close to you because of you being married, didn’t you?”

“Yeah but now I know that it was because of his heredity, apparently” she sighed, “plus I told him we had an open marriage” she added as an afterthought.

“Yet he still looked terrified when he found out I was your husband” Sean reminded.

“You are a bit intimidating, without even trying” Claire pointed out.

“And that’s exactly what I’ll use” Sean told her plainly.

“But I told him…”

“All I have to do is scare him away, Claire. I think I can manage that” he assured her with a soft kiss to her forehead.

“But…” she began again, then simply sighed in concession as she took a sad seat at her desk, “I suppose him being terrified that I fibbed about the openness of our marriage is ever so slightly better than leading his furry family to us” she mumbled.

“And the Prince’s wife is born” Sean chided, and then just gave her one more reassuring smile as he left the room.

When Sean arrived back downstairs, there were a few more customers present, but Kristofer seemed to have made himself scarce. He sighed slightly as he adjusted his eyesight to see if Kristofer had just found a spot to hide. That’s when he found the young man’s aura through the wall, as he had now made his way outside.

“Nice night” Sean greeted him flatly as he exited the tavern to find Kristofer smoking and leaning against the outer wall. Upon Sean’s arrival, Kristofer stood up more straightly, an obvious discomfort causing his entire body to tense.

“I was just going to leave after I finished this” Kristofer said softly as he gestured to his pipe and took another deep breath as Sean moved closer, making the eight inches of height he had on Kristofer that much more apparent.

“Without even saying goodbye to my wife?” Sean asked, forcing deliberateness to his tone.

“I figured she might be occupied, with you being here and all. I got that you didn’t really come here that often” Kristofer stammered a bit.

“Apparently I haven’t come here enough. Seems Claire has felt rather neglected” Sean told him with the same pointed tone behind all of his words.

“She did mention something about that” Kristofer mumbled.

“My wife complained to you that I don’t pay enough attention to her?” Sean continued, over-exaggerating the accusation in his tone.

“I didn’t mean it like that…” Kristofer attempted with even more nervousness.

“And why was my wife discussing my attentiveness with you?” Sean continued play acting the part of the jealous husband, which was such an alien role to him at all.

“I don’t think she meant it like….” Kristofer scrambled for words.

“So now you know what my wife means better than I do?”

“I didn’t… I…” Kristofer attempted, finding it even harder to come up with any words at all then.

“So, since you know Claire so well, tell me; why did she feel the need to use my money to put you through school? I’ve been very curious about that” Sean added for further weight.

“Um... she told me you were ok with it” Kristofer attempted to defend, though his voice was barely passing his lips at this point.

“Oh, and what else did she say I was ok with?” Sean asked with the same accusing tone.

“Um, I can pay you back… eventually… I mean I just got my degree and haven’t really started my practice…”

“I don’t care about the money. I just care what else you and my wife have shared” Sean told him coolly.

“Nothing I swear” Kristofer then corrected his statement, “well, I mean there was…” he just swallowed hard.

“Was what?” Sean pressed.

“It was nothing. I mean… and she did tell me…” Kristofer was nearly shaking at that point.

“What was nothing? What did she tell you?” Sean refused to relent despite the fact that he honestly did have no real jealousy of this man. Though he did have many other worries, and that’s what fueled his act that night.

Kristofer’s breath caught again, “I swear I will never bother Claire again, I promise. And if you do want me to pay you back, you can send a messenger and I will as soon as I can. I’m sorry for any misunderstanding. Really very sorry” Kristofer assured as he fled from the interaction to disappear from Sean’s sight as quickly as he could.

Sean sighed heavily once Kristofer had disappeared. That was when Claire stepped outside, looking a bit forlorn, herself, “that was just painful” she sighed.

Sean then moved to place an arm around her and a small kiss on her temple, “I know it was” he admitted, “but it was sadly the least painful possible outcome. Wasn’t it?” he whispered against her hair as she just sniffled and curled against his chest sadly.