This story is set in the same "world" as LadyDragon623's stories about werefolk, vampires, fae and other supernatural creatures.

I have her express permission to use the "world" and characters she has mentioned in her stories if I feel they would fit into this story.

I'm not sure how much time had passed before Kelly-Lynne gently shook me awake, saying I desperately needed a bath or shower.

Not really thinking honestly, I raised an arm close to my head, turned and took a sniff. Oh, my, I definitely agree with her. Just that brief whiff of my left armpit was almost enough to make me gag, how the heck did she put up with it for as long as I slept curled up with her there?

She grinned and led me to a large bathroom, apparently custom done as it had a standard bath, but built to fit half a dozen at once, plus a huge jacuzzi one off to one side. Not far from the jacuzzi along another wall was a shower big enough to fit four to six people at least.

A long counter along a third wall had a few sinks inset, with a long mirror like you see in women's washrooms in malls behind the sinks.

Once we were in there, Kelly-Lynne pulled a big towel from a linen cupboard hidden behind the door, then a second towel, a slightly smaller one. After a moment's thought, she grinned and pulled out two more towels, one to match each of the two she had grabbed a moment before.

Kelly-Lynne started running water to fill the bath to a reasonable level, then smiled at me, saying, "I'll stay with you if you want. I was going to take a bath soon myself, not that I need to as much as a normal human might, but a bath can be a rather soothing experience."

As I said before, these people felt safe to me in a way I had never known until now. I nodded and we both waited for the bath to fill.

Kelly-Lynne kept testing the water, I guess to make sure the temperature was okay as she asked me to test it at one point as well.

Once she thought the water was high enough that we could bathe comfortably, she pointed and said, "Use a bar to get in if you need it."

With that having been said, she simply stepped into the overly large bath and sat down close to the end farthest from the taps.

I did use the bar, but I sure felt clumsy when I also ended up reaching for one of her hands as I settled down in front of her in the huge bath.

We were just relaxing in the nice, hot water when another woman, this one a tall, gorgeous black girl, entered the room.

"Oh, sorry if I'm interrupting anything. I can leave if you like. My name is Shaneel, I'm a were from Elmer's pack, Kelly-Lynne knows me."

Kelly-Lynne looked up, then smiled. "Were you wanting a bath, Shaneel? If so, join us, then we can indoctrinate the young one here!"

I listened to Kelly-Lynne as she said that, but it was the giggle afterward that set me at ease. Everyone here knew that I was transgender.

Shaneel also giggled, then grabbed a pair of towels and set them off to one side by the ones Kelly-Lynne had pulled out already. Once the towels had been laid down, she stepped, no, let me amend that, she practically slithered into the bath, sitting down just in front of me.

Gorgeous vampire woman behind me, just as gorgeous were woman in front of me? How could I not be jealous of them? I wept.

Both women wrapped me up in a tight hug the moment they realized I was upset. They just held me close as the tears fell.

Once I stopped crying, which I suppose was about ten minutes or so later, both women helped to show me how girls wash themselves. That led to them showing me how girls dry themselves with towels after a bath or shower, then I sighed and stared down at my half-ruined clothes.

Yeah, my clothes were in very rough shape, you try to keep them from getting ripped, dirty and smelly as all get out while on the streets! Sure, I knew where some laundromats were in the area I ended up at after running away from home, but with no money, I could do nothing.

Kelly-Lynne finally noticed where I was looking and giggled again. When I looked up at her in confusion, she took a moment to explain to me. "We won't have too much difficulty in finding you something to wear, almost everyone leaves a couple of changes of clothes here."

Shaneel nodded, adding, "Hmmm... Annalise might have something, she's slightly bigger than Remy here, her clothes should fit Remy."

I couldn't believe how these people were helping me. I shook my head and pinched myself, wondering how this could be true.

Of course, Kelly-Lynne noticed the pinch and giggled a third time. "One thing you'll need to understand, Remy, is that when members of the were and vampire communities here say they'll do something, they WILL do it. That includes keeping you safe, well and clothed."

Shaneel nodded again, "Sometimes it even comes to a member showing some form of familial love toward another member or recruit."

Kelly-Lynne added, "You're not a recruit yet, we don't accept anyone into the packs or the kiss unless they are adult and truly desire it."

Shaneel continued, "At the moment, you are a rescue, someone who needs food, housing and clothing just as a starting point."

Kelly-Lynne smiled as she spoke one more time, "Now let us go see if we can find you something nice and comfortable to wear."

Annalise did have something that I could wear, a pair of mid-thigh length jean shorts and a nice t-shirt with a Rolling Stones image on it.

She offered me a pair of panties as well, and I picked the plainest of the several pairs there, they were pale yellow with white daisies on them.

We were just leaving Annalise's room when Kelly-Lynne stopped and looked up in shock.

She looked around for a moment, then faced toward the main entrance and whispered, "There's a very powerful vampire out there."

I looked at her, then shrugged, giving her a "what am I gonna do about it" look as she slowly began to walk to the main entrance. As she walked there, she was joined by four others, I'm guessing they were vampires too, as they were all throwing odd looks toward the entrance.

I'd been introduced to three of the four that joined her, they were Vince Jessup, Leon's lieutenant and twin brothers James and John Bannister; these three all worked at Leon's club most nights, the fact that they were here suggested club business was being done here.

I hadn't noticed it before, but I did now as Shaneel and at least half a dozen other were folk followed behind the five vampires.

When the door opened and everyone looked out to see who was waiting, you could have heard a pin drop, it was so quiet for a moment.

Then a sleek yet sober voice called out from the shadows of the twilit evening, "I am Smoke, the sire of some of those here. I seek Leon."

Vincent stepped forward, "Hello, my Sire. It has been some time since we last met. You are welcome to come in and join us."

James Bannister also stepped forward, acknowledging his sire with a polite, "Hello, Leon is in a meeting with Elmer, head of a were pack here."

Vincent actually had to look closely, he just barely caught the flash of startlement as it crossed Smoke's semi-homely features. Vincent actually chuckled as he stepped closer again, close enough to shake Smoke's hand, "You are surprised that we associate with were folk, Sire?"

Smoke shook his head, then laughed, a slow laugh that started as a chuckle, then changed bit by bit to a full belly-shaking one. "Surprised? You might say so, Vincent. It is a rare thing to find cooperation between the were folk and our people. I'm over a thousand years old, yes, much, much older than you and your children here, and I can't recall seeing such an association succeed more than once or twice in all that time."

At this point, Smoke stepped out from the shadows where he had been standing and the people were able to fully see him for the first time. Vincent, James and John all knew him as their Sire, but the others outside and in the doorway could clearly see Smoke's dark skin, which had the colour of milk chocolate, no, a shade or three darker than that, and I could hear severals gasps, including my own, at his appearance. I think the biggest surprise about his appearance, at least in my mind, was that he was barely taller than me, perhaps 5'3" to my 5' even.

Except for his homely features laid on that rather amazing skin colour, he seemed to be dressed as many others here were, in jeans, runners and a t-shirt. I could see what looked like a lightweight biker jacket hanging from one of his hands, that hand just touching his left shoulder.

"Well, Vincent, where are your other brothers and your two sisters? I would like to see them all, Simon wishes to know his children are well."

Vincent dipped in a slight bow, "Leon is inside here, Sire, speaking with the head of one of the two were packs that live here. As for Mitch, he's about to get things going on opening the bar. Annalise is inside, I'm not sure where Kendall, Helmut or Roman are at the moment."

One of the women standing behind us spoke up, "Greetings. I am a child of Kendall's, she is working late at her bookshop downtown. Helmut and Roman went out about two hours ago to do a patrol round. They'll be somewhere in the area, but out of sight to casual eyes."

Smoke looked briefly startled again, asking, "Patrol round? Why? I thought you folk were living at peace with each other here."

Vincent chuckled, "We are, Sire. The issue is this human child was found by us a few hours ago, very close to being bitten by a group of rogue vampires from the bitch in New Orleans who calls herself the Queen of all vampires. It's even funnier when she isn't much older than I am."

Vincent gently reached back for my hand, then pulled me forward so that Smoke could see me clearly in the lights from the building.

Smoke, who I had learned a few minutes earlier was the sire of some of the vampires here, walked closer and squatted as he looked me over.

"You look to be barely in your teens, child. How and why were you out here alone?" Smoke asked me.

I took the next several minutes to explain my home life to him and that I had had no choice but to run away to save my own life.

"And then you ran into some of the members of that unnamed one's Kiss, one of whom tried to bite you even though you are too young?"

"That is what I was told, sir," I replied, "I overheard the leader of the second were pack say it himself."

That brief look of surprise appeared on Smoke's face again. "Two were packs? How and why?"

It was Shaneel who spoke this time, "Because the main pack is almost all wolves, with about half a dozen greater cats who recently joined it. The second pack is rather mixed, with members from a wide variety of species, Kodiak bears, badgers, rabbits, a porcupine, foxes, skunks, ferrets. There may be folks in that pack whose were side is that of another species I haven't mentioned, but if so, I haven't met them."

A rather deep, low voice rumbled as the huge male worked his way through the group. "You were asking about us, I believe?" Sam asked.

I noticed that Sam's cousin Erica was only a step or two behind him, with a few others from their pack following them.

I'm not sure, but I guess that Smoke wasn't expecting to see someone as big as Sam, or even as big as his cousin Erica, at all. Smoke covered being startled again with a brief shake of his head and a soft chuckle. "Someone mentioned Kodiak bears, that would be you two?"

Sam nodded, speaking just to be clear about it, "That's right, that old cuss over there," he pointed at Mort, "Set me up as boss of the pack."

Smoke seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, then nodded, "As big as you two are, I'm sure many folks would back down from a fight."

Annalise stalked out past the group of men, wrapping Smoke in a hug, whispering, "Hello, Sire. I hope you have been doing well?"

Smoke's face lit up with a big grin as he flashed a set of gleaming white teeth at her, "Well enough, lass. Simon is in fine health as well." He looked around, asking, "I gather that Kendall will come here for a while once she closes her... bookstore, I believe someone said?"

Vincent grinned, then politely suggested that we all go back inside. Smoke agreed and we all filed back into the building.

The rest of the evening was spent in a raucous semi-party in the main lounge area, where Smoke could be seen in one corner talking with Elmer, Sam, Vince, and a few others, including Melisa and Kendall who had arrived a short while after we had re-entered the building.