I went to bed after the news. I had a feeling tomorrow was going to be an intense day and I'd need all the rest I could get. I was looking forward to my meeting with Professor Rhodes for the sole fact that I hoped I would be able to get more information from her.

I had a quick breakfast with my parents the next morning. It was Sunday so my brothers were sleeping in as long as my parents would let them. I had my laptop in its bag with me. I was intending to write that essay with Professor Rhodes so it would be right. "Did you hear the news last night?" Dad asked. I nodded.

"It's a terrible thing that happened. The shifters aren't in danger, are we?" I asked him. I was still a shifter first and vampire second.

"No, we're safe. The humans haven't turned on us, mostly because they still aren't entirely aware that we're real." Dad had wanted secrecy for the shifters. This was why. "Are you sure you have to go to the coffeeshop?" he asked me.

I nodded. "I have to meet my Professor there." He glanced at my necklace.

"Can't you at least hide that?" he asked. I shook my head again.

"We have to wear it openly, so the humans can't say they didn't know we were vampires," I told him, trying not to cower under his disapproval.

"That didn't help the vampires last night," he grumbled. I nodded. I couldn't argue with that.

"Oh, there's an announcement," mom drew our attention to the TV which was set to the news.

"Following reports of attacks on vampires across the country last night, the president has made an executive order. The United States will not tolerate attacks on the vampires in our country. The executive order states that any attack on a vampire is a life sentence offense. And the perpetrator will be caught. Vampires are cherished US citizens and will be treated as such." Vampires were all throughout the US and had a lot of important jobs. They were all throughout the military, especially since they were harder to kill than normal humans. Those with vampiric abilities used their truth telling or mind-reading in legal situations, or worked in politics. They were highly paid experts, and the president obviously wanted to keep them happy with this decree. "The vampire council has agreed to take measures to make sure vampires outside of their cities, neighborhoods, and schools are more easily identifiable so there will be no confusion on the part of would-be assailants. The US government and police across the nation will have a zero tolerance policy on the issue of vampire attacks,"

I checked my phone for the time after the announcement. "Drat, I'm going to be late. I should only be there any hour or so." I told my parents. I grabbed my bag and stood to leave. Dad stood too.

"I'll drive you," he told me gruffly. I could tell he still wasn't happy that I had to go, but he wouldn't stop me either.

"Thank you daddy,"

We rode in silence to the coffee shop. Dad pulled in and parked the car. He was going in with me. I couldn't argue with him, but I didn't have to like it. I rushed inside and found Professor Rhodes at the same table she had been sitting at yesterday. And she had a mocha for me. I smiled at her as I took my seat. "Your dad decided to come with you today?" she asked me when I sat down. He was heading over to order a drink for himself.

I nodded. "He was disturbed by the news of what happened last night," I told her. She nodded. I took a sip from my mocha. "Are you sure I don't owe you anything for the coffee?" I asked her. I felt bad that she wasn't letting me pay. She shook her head and handed me my vitamins. It was then I noticed her hands. I stared at the tattoos on the backs of her hands.

"You did hear that the vampire council is taking steps to ensure that vampires are more easily identified?" I nodded and she continued. "They decided that hand tattoos for all vampires would fulfill that requirement. You'll be getting yours this evening once you return to school." I looked hers over more closely. On her left hand was tattooed a beautiful hourglass. The outline of the hourglass was black and the sand inside was blue. On her right was a half moon, surrounded by eight stars. "The stars are years of schooling. I think the moon tattoo will also be more stylized based on a vampire's profession and skills," she explained.

My emotions were running too quickly. It was one thing to wear a necklace that marked me as a vampire apprentice, but to be tattooed? That was a way more permanent. Would the shifters deny me even more? I couldn't worry about that, though. I had to get the tattoos. There was no choice in the matter.

Professor Rhodes helped me write my essay for Professor McCullen. I had it finished and submitted by the time our hour was up. I thanked her for her help and went to go find my dad. He was sitting nearby, reading the newspaper and sipping on his coffee. He looked up as I came over. "Ready?" He asked me. I nodded. He downed the rest of his coffee and stood. He walked over to Professor Rhodes. She stood to greet him. She offered him both hands, palm up, a greeting of submission among the wolves in human form. He looked surprised for a moment before placing his hands on top of hers, just for a moment. "I understand that Sam has to meet with one of her teachers every day while she is off campus," he said.

Professor Rhodes inclined her head. "Yes. It is a precaution for her safety." They were speaking quietly so as to not draw too much attention to themselves. He nodded.

"You are welcome to meet at our house," he told her. His tone left no question that it was an order.

"That is a very generous offer. I will take you up on it next weekend," she replied pleasantly, acting as though it weren't an order, but a kind offer.

With that business taken care of, dad and I headed back to the house. I didn't mind that my Professors would be coming to the house for an hour or so a day. Especially if it was Professor Rhodes. I liked her, and she was great at helping with homework.

We got back to the house to find four strange cars in our driveway. I heard dad's growl and it only got louder as he exited the car. "What's going on?" I asked him.

"Your suitors all wanted to put themselves up for consideration before you go back to school," he growled. I didn't blame him. He didn't want four teenage boys showing up to try to woo his daughter.

"I'll try to get rid of them quickly," I told him. I had no interest in dealing with this today either. We stepped into the livingroom and I saw the four teenagers all trying to stop growling at each other. They stood when I entered the room. Two of them I knew fairly well. Jacob Maccon was 15 as well and had played with Caleb and the rest of us until they reached the age where girls were icky. We were still on friendly terms, though. Liam Cuan was 16 and had also spent a lot of time with us growing up. Their families were family friends and I wasn't surprised they had put themselves up for consideration. The other two I knew by sight, but didn't actually know them. They introduced themselves first, since they were strangers to me. Ethan was 17, just old enough to have hung out with the older kids when I was growing up. He looked nice enough, I just didn't know him very well. The last was a 19 year old named Graham. He went to the same school as Eric, and something about his aura made me distrusting of him.

Dad growled at him. "And what, pray tell, do you have in common with a 15 year old girl?" he snarled at the boy. Graham paled, but stood his ground.

"I wish to get to know your daughter, and I know I am strong enough to protect her, sir," Graham answered. Dad continued to growl, but didn't kick him out right away.

The boys each gave me a birthday present. It could also have been considered a courting gift, but they were smart enough not to call it that in front of my father, especially when my birthday had been so recent. It would however, give me an opportunity to judge them and maybe cull one of them from the courting process. Liam got me a book on the history of karate.

"Thank you!" I told him, truly meaning it. I hadn't expected to actually be impressed with any of their gifts. I should have known they, or their families on their behalf, would have put effort into picking something that would impress me enough to let me give them a chance. "I've been meaning to read this, but haven't been able to find a copy." Liam breathed a sigh of relief. I gave him a quick hug, enough to thank him, but not enough to get him growled at by my watching father.

Jacob got me a collectors set of all the old shapeshifter monster movies that we loved to make fun of. During the summers we all piled into someone's livingroom to eat pizza and watch bad horror movies and make fun of them the entire time. I laughed when I saw them. "Thanks! I needed my own set. I can't host movie night without the movies," I grinned and gave him a hug too. The other two were looking a bit nervous about their gifts.

Ethan handed me his gift next. I opened it to find a collection of shapeshifter books obviously rescued from the used bookstore. I didn't care that they were used. He had put effort into finding a gift he thought I'd like in the budget he could afford. I didn't hold that against him. "My sister really likes these. She said they're almost as good as the bad movies,"

"That's a glowing recommendation. I'll definitely check them out," I told him with a smile. I gave him a hug too. He'd get jealous otherwise.

Graham handed me his gift then with the arrogance of any male shifter. "These little boys obviously have no idea what a female wants for a gift," he chuckled and looked over at the other boys, and the gifts they had given me. "What girl wants a book on karate?"

"Um...I do. I've been training for years," I told Graham, wondering how to politely kick him out of my house. I opened his gift and groaned. I didn't even try to hide it. It was some kind of makeup set. It looked expensive, but I knew how to use absolutely none of it. "Um...thanks..." I told him. It was rude to not thank him, but I couldn't force myself to put effort into it. Especially when he seemed like such a sleeze.

He held his arms open. "Where's my hug?" he asked. I snarled at him for that. I was not some prize to be bribed with gifts in trade for physical contact. I passed the makeup set to my dad and stepped toward the hulking Graham. He didn't see it coming when I grabbed him and threw him over my hip, so he landed on his back on the floor.

"Your hug is with another girl," I snarled at him.

"I think it's time you go home, son," my dad said calmly. He grabbed Graham and hauled him to his feet and dragged him out of the house. The other three boys and I chatted for a little while. It felt just like the summer movie showings and was comfortable and friendly. They weren't pushing themselves on me, just expressing interest.

"We're getting ready to go visit Katie," mom said a little while later. "Say goodbye to your friends." I nodded and the boys and I walked to the door. I said goodbye and thanked them again for the presents. I ran upstairs and put my presents on my bed. I grabbed my phone and Caleb's hoodie and ran back downstairs and into the car my parents were climbing into. "Did you finish your homework?" mom asked.

"Almost. I just have a chapter of Dracula to read tonight. I'll finish it before bed," I promised them. I had to go back to school after dinner tonight.

Katie was waiting for us when we got there. She ran up and hugged me the second I got out of the car. "You ok, sweetie?" I asked her, picking her up and holding her on my hip. She whimpered and buried her head in my shoulder. I looked up at Mr. Silverwolf, hoping he would explain her strange behavior.

"She's been terrified since the incident yesterday," he explained gently.

I turned my attention back to Katie. "It's ok sweetie, I promise. Listen, would it make you feel better if you learned how to protect yourself?" I asked her. She perked up and her wolf ears peeked out from her hair.

"You'll teach me?" she asked, all excitement and adorable.

"I'll get you started," I told her. "I can't teach you every day, though. I have to live at school during the week," I reminded her. She pouted at me.

"But I wanna learn. I wanna be strong like you!" She whined at me. I sighed.

"Let's get your first lesson in, then we'll work on the rest," I told her as I set her down. She scrambled back in the house.

"We have a workout room downstairs," Caleb told me as I walked toward the house. I smiled at him.

"Want to come help?" I asked. He nodded and we walked down to his basement, which was mostly a giant gym. Katie was already waiting for me.

We spent the entire time before dinner teaching Katie self defense moves and how to shift just her claws, which would be a great deterrent against human attackers. I also showed her how to throw someone bigger than her. And demonstrated on Caleb. Multiple times.

Katie giggled every single time I threw him and Caleb didn't argue against it either.

"I'll try to teach you more next weekend, and we'll see if there's anything we can do to get you more lessons in the meantime." She ran upstairs to tell her dad all about the lesson.

"Did you have to throw me quite so many times?" Caleb asked, rubbing his sore back. I laughed at him.

"It made her smile. I hated seeing her sad and scared," I told him. He nodded.

"It's been awful. I hate that she's so scared by what happened."

"Oh, I didn't tell you about this morning yet, and sleezy Graham." We sat down on the mats and I told him about the boys coming over and their presents and how sleezy Graham was, including me throwing Graham and dad kicking him out of the house.

"Glad you took care of that sleezeball," Caleb finally said. He seemed jealous about the other boys coming over. I didn't blame him, but he should know that other families were going to have their sons express interest in me. It wasn't fair to any of them that we were expected to date multiple shifter boys at the same time, until we were ready to pick one to be a husband.

Mom came downstairs a minute later. I think she was checking to make sure we weren't up to anything inappropriate. I don't know why she would think we were doing anything, especially with all these people in the house. All we were doing though was sitting on the practice mats and there was about two feet of space in between us. She smiled when she saw us. "Dinner's ready," she announced. I was grateful she wasn't scolding us, especially when we hadn't done anything.

"Thanks mom," I jumped to my feet and headed upstairs.

We had a fairly uneventful dinner. I sat between Katie and Caleb tonight. Katie spent the entire dinner practicing shifting just her claws. Unfortunately, we had to leave too soon. "I'm sorry," I told Katie. "I have to go back to school tonight," I reminded her. "I'll see you next weekend," I promised her. Somehow I'd find a way to keep that promise. I said goodnight to the boys, and Mr. Silverwolf before I turned awkwardly to Caleb. I didn't know what to do with him. He had expressed interest, but I had no knowledge of how to date, and had only been allowed to start dating two nights ago. So I decided to treat him just like I had previously, just like my oldest friends. So I gave him a hug.

Once we were home, I ran upstairs to change back into my uniform and gather the things I was taking back to school, which happened to include a couple of the books, and the wolf figure from Caleb. I also had to make sure I had all of my homework. Dad was supposed to drive me back to school the second I was ready. I headed back downstairs, encumbered by the things I was bringing back to class.

"There's been a change of plans," dad said when I had hugged all of brothers and mom goodbye for the week. He opened the door and outside was a school car. It looked like some kind of armored vehicle. Professor Rhodes got out of the passenger seat.

"I'm sorry to change plans on you, Apprentice Lykos, Alpha," she addressed the last to my dad. She was more formal in front of the other vampires. There was one of the vampire guards driving the car. "We felt it safer to pick Apprentice Lykos up in one of the armored cars." Dad nodded. He would allow it.

"Let me know when you're there safely," dad told me. He gave me a hug before he walked me to the car.

"I will, daddy," I replied. I kissed his cheek and got into the car. It was an awkwardly silent ride back to the school. The upside was that the car could drive right up to the house I was living in on campus. Professor Rhodes helped me bring my things inside and up to my room.

"The tattooist is downstairs waiting for you. Are you ready?" she asked me gently. I gathered my courage and nodded, even though I was far from ready. "I'd suggest changing into your pajamas first. Your hands will be sore afterward. We'll be waiting for you downstairs." I texted dad quickly to let him know I was back safely, then I did as she asked, and met her and the artsy looking vampire girl who was waiting in our livingroom with her tattoo equipment. I really didn't want to do this, but I had no choice.

I didn't know how long it took. I tried to zone out and not pay attention to the pain. In the end, I had an hourglass on one hand, with no sand in it yet as I hadn't graduated to a full vampire. The other hand had the moon and one star.

"Thank you for your service," I told the tattooist when she covered the marks I hadn't wanted.

"They should heal extra quickly, since you're a shifter." I nodded.

"I'm not feeling very well. I think I'm going to go to bed," I told them once she was done. Professor Rhodes nodded understandingly.

"A lot of the students took the new tattoos poorly," she said sympathetically. I went back up to my room and locked the door. I wanted to be alone. I worked on my Dracula reading for an hour before I realized that I didn't want to be alone. I wanted someone to make me feel better. My hands had healed by then, so I could take the bandages off. I took pictures of the tattoos and sent them to the four boys who were still in the running for my affections. They had to accept what I looked like now. I still didn't know how to tell my parents about it. All vampire students were emancipated minors, but my parents were still a huge part of my life, since I was also a shifter.

I didn't know how any of my suitors would react, but I had hopes at least one of them wouldn't run away screaming.

And I had a preference on which one I wanted to stay by my side.