Chapter 15 #2
"Yousuf is not my first son." Her voice cracked, fresh pain etching lines around her eyes. "They took them all from me. One at a time. All of them." She wrapped her arms tighter around herself, as if trying to hold the pieces together, squeezing her eyes shut. "Yousuf… he is all I have left."
The words hit Tobi like physical blows. Seven centuries of existence had exposed him to countless horrors, but this... His throat tightened with rage.
"How many?" The question scraped past his clenched teeth.
"Yousuf is my sixth son. Five were taken to be… exposed."
"Five?" Tobi surged to his feet, unable to contain the explosion of fury that ripped through him.
His fangs extended involuntarily as seven hundred years of carefully maintained control shattered.
He paced across the room, and the lamp beside him flickered as his power rolled through the room in waves of cold rage.
The sheer magnitude of her loss - six children torn from their mother's arms, murdered for being "unworthy" - rage and anguish twisted in his chest. Small wonder she kept vigil. After losing five children, how could she risk closing her eyes? No wonder anxiety never left her eyes.
Tobi froze mid-stride, his mind racing through calculations. Something wasn't adding up. She looked young, but he'd assumed the trauma had aged her prematurely. Now, studying her more carefully...
"Layla." He forced his voice to remain gentle despite his growing dread. "How old are you?"
She blinked up at him, confusion crossing her tear-stained face. "Twenty-five."
The room temperature plummeted as Tobi's fury leaked into the air around him. Twenty-five. Six pregnancies. His hands clenched into fists as he struggled to maintain control.
Layla's gaze dropped to her hands twisted in her lap. "In the compound, they didn't wait. As soon as a girl had her first blood, she was... given to one of the men." Her voice grew distant, hollow. "I was thirteen. Just..." She trailed off, unable to continue.
Arctic cold radiated from his body, frost crystallizing on the windows. The lamp exploded in a shower of sparks. Thirteen years old. They'd forced a child to bear children. His vision went red as his vampiric nature surged forward, demanding violence, demanding blood."
"They said it was our duty." Layla's voice shook. "To preserve the caracal shifter bloodline. The elders chose which males would... would..."
She couldn't finish. She didn't need to. Tobi's enhanced hearing caught the spike in her heart rate, the way her breathing turned shallow and rapid as the memories overwhelmed her.
Tobi gained control over his emotions, pushing them away, and came to crouch before her, his voice gentle but firm.
"Layla, look at me." He waited until her tear-filled eyes met his.
"You saw the equipment we installed - cameras, motion sensors, perimeter alerts.
The whole system creates layers of protection. "
"But-"
"And that's just the technology." He gestured toward the window where the moon cast silver light across the snow. "From the moment the sun sets until it rises again, there's always a vampire on patrol. Always. We don't sleep at night - it's what we're made for."
Layla's fingers twisted in her shirt. "Patrol?"
"Yes." Tobi's blue eyes held steady on hers.
"Sometimes it's me, sometimes Tyr or Dimitri takes shifts too.
Never forget, Layla, that we are vampires.
We're not simply guards - we are predators, hunters.
It's what we were created for. Our senses are enhanced far beyond human capabilities.
We can hear heartbeats through walls, smell strangers from a quarter mile away, see clearly in almost total darkness. "
"The compound had guards too," Layla whispered.
"Guards who were your captors." Tobi's voice hardened.
"We're not your jailers, Layla. We're here to be protectors.
There's a difference." He gestured at the security panel glowing softly on the wall.
"This technology isn't meant to confine you - it's here to protect you and Yousuf.
You and Yousuf are free to come and go as you please.
But anyone trying to hurt you or yours?" His fangs glinted in the moonlight.
"They won't make it past the tree line."
Tobi's expression sobered. "There's something else you need to know. Yousuf had a nightmare tonight."
Layla's face drained of color. "I didn't hear him."
"He was trying to keep quiet." Tobi's voice gentled. "I heard him while patrolling. He was muffling his cries in his pillow."
"Oh, my sweet boy." Layla pressed her hand to her mouth, fresh tears welling. "He... he does that. Tries to hide them from me." Her shoulders shook. "I'm his mother. I should be the one comforting him, but he's trying to protect me instead."
"Has he talked to you about the nightmares?"
"No." The word came out as barely a whisper. "He pretends everything is fine. When I ask, he just smiles and says he slept well." She wrapped her arms around herself. "I know it's not right. A child shouldn't feel they have to protect their parent. But I don't... I don't know how to help him."
"He told me what the nightmare was about." Tobi leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "He dreamed they were taking him again. Coming for him in the night, like before."
A small sound of distress escaped Layla's throat.
"I promised him we'd install some nightlights in his room," Tobi continued. "And maybe some motion-activated lights for the hallway. He seemed to like that idea."
"He's afraid of the dark." Layla's voice cracked. "In the compound, they always came in darkness. But I thought... I thought if I slept outside his door..."
"You can't heal him by breaking yourself," Tobi said softly. "Both of you need proper rest to recover from what happened."
Tobi pulled out his phone, showing Layla the earlier text exchange.
"I've already contacted Shadow Guard about getting some equipment installed.
We'll put gentle LED lights along the hallway between your rooms - they'll activate automatically when someone walks past, but they're dim enough not to disturb anyone's sleep. "
He scrolled to the next message. "And we're getting a nanny cam system for Yousuf's room. It'll let you check on him from your own bed, and you'll be able to hear if he's having a nightmare."
"A nanny cam!" Layla's eyes widened, her hand flying to her mouth. "I hadn't even thought of that. With everything being so different here, all this technology..." She shook her head, wonder replacing some of the worry in her expression. "In the compound, we had nothing like this."
"The camera will connect to an app on your phone," Tobi explained, keeping his voice gentle. "You can watch him sleep, hear him breathe, all from your own room. And if he needs you, you'll know immediately."
"And I could actually sleep in my bed?" Layla's voice held equal parts hope and uncertainty.
"That's the idea." Tobi smiled encouragingly. "The equipment will be here tomorrow. We can have it all set up before sunset."
Layla's cheeks flushed dark red in the moonlight. "I... I'll pay you back for the nanny cam system. Whatever it costs." Her fingers twisted anxiously in her shirt hem. "I have some money saved from working at the clinic-"
"Stop right there." Tobi held up his hand.
"The Shifter Council has already funded all security measures for the shifter community.
That includes cameras, sensors, lighting - everything.
" He smiled gently at her obvious discomfort.
"This isn't charity, Layla. It's protection that you and every other shifter deserve. "
"But-"
"The Council set aside significant resources specifically for this, since shifters were outed to the public." Tobi kept his voice soft but firm. "They want to ensure everyone has what they need to feel safe in their homes and places of work."
Layla's shoulders slumped, relief warring with lingering embarrassment on her face. "I'm not used to... to people helping without expecting something in return."
"I know." Tobi's heart ached at the raw vulnerability in her voice. "But that's not how things work here. The shifter community - indeed, the Other community - takes care of its own. You know that, Layla."
Layla thought that over. "And someone will be here, very night?"
"Every single night, without exception." Tobi's voice carried absolute certainty. "I'm sending a request to Antonio, the head of the security company, that we include specific attention to this wing of the house. If either of you calls out, even in a whisper, we'll hear you."
The moonlight caught the moisture gathering in Layla's eyes. She blinked rapidly, trying to contain it, but he could see the gratitude shining there.
Tobi continued, his tone gentle but firm. "Lord Damien has approved additional resources. More of our clan will be moving here in the next days and weeks, so we'll have better coverage."
"Why would a vampire lord care about shifters?" Layla asked, genuine confusion in her voice.
Tobi's expression softened. "The supernatural community may have its divisions, but we stand together against those who would harm our kind. Damien has lived for millennia - he's seen what happens when we fail to protect our own."
A tentative smile flickered across Layla's face. "I never thought I'd feel safer knowing vampires were watching me sleep."
"We're not the monsters humans make us out to be in their stories," Tobi said with a wry smile. "Well, not usually, anyway."
Her laugh was small but genuine - the first he'd heard from her. The sound lightened something in Tobi's chest.
"You should try to get some rest - in your own room," he specified, drawing another soft laugh from Layla. "I'll be patrolling until dawn, and I promise to keep a special watch on Yousuf's window."
Layla stood, her movements still stiff from hours on the hard floor. "Thank you, Tobi. For everything."
"You're welcome." He gestured toward the hallway. "And tomorrow night, I expect to find you sleeping in your own bed, not on that floor."
"I will," she whispered, the promise fragile but sincere.
As Layla padded softly back toward her room, Tobi watched her go, a fierce protectiveness rising in his chest. No one would harm this woman or her child - not while he stood guard in the darkness.
He waited until he heard her bedroom door close softly, then made his way to the front door. The winter air hit him as he stepped outside, sharp and clean after the emotional weight of the conversation inside.
He circled the house one last time, checking every entrance, every window.
The pack house stood secure against the night, but he knew better than most that security systems alone couldn't keep nightmares at bay.
Sometimes what children needed most was the certainty that someone was standing guard against the monsters.
He paused beneath Yousuf's window one final time. The boy slept soundly now, his breathing even and untroubled. Tomorrow, Tobi would bring lights to push back the darkness. Small gestures, perhaps, but he'd learned over his long existence that sometimes small gestures mattered most.
With a last glance at the peaceful house, Tobi melted into the night, his footprints in the snow the only evidence he'd been there at all.