JV's eyes snapped open. 

Something woke her. What? 

She glanced around and it came back to her. She was in the guest bedroom at Nick and Rebecca's, alone in the house because Rebecca had an appointment and Nick and Bobby had taken her to town. They'd offered to let her tag along, but she suspected it was personal, so she'd plead exhaustion. After they'd gone, she lay on her borrowed bed, hoping to get a little sleep.

She looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand, 3:37. She'd slept less than half an hour. Looking around the room, she wondered again what had woken her. 

The floor outside her door creaked. 

Someone was in the house. 

There hadn't been enough time for the others to make the appointment and be back. Panic raced through her, turning her body hot, then cold. She slid one hand silently under the spare pillow and pulled her pistol from the holster she'd hidden there. 

Rolling onto her back, she aimed at the bedroom door. It wasn't an ideal position to shoot from, but she could make it work.

The rapid thump of her heart was the only sound in the room as the knob turned and the door swung slowly inward.

"Jade?" Steve's voice was soft.

Recognizing his voice, Jade let out the breath she'd been holding and lifted the barrel of her .38 until it pointed at the ceiling, "Yeah?" 

The door swung open and revealed Steve standing in the hallway. She saw a look of concern on his face for an instant, then it darkened as he marched to the side of the bed and took the .38 from her loosened grip "What are you doing in my Khan's house with a gun?." He scented the air. "How did you get it in here without anyone smelling it?" 

"I'm a woman who's lived and traveled alone for a number of years. I learned some time ago being armed isn't a bad idea." 

She rolled away and off the opposite side of the bed, landing so she stood facing him. "As for no one scenting it, I've had a problem with shifters trying to tell me I don't need it, or trying to take it away. I figured out how to mask the scent so that’s no longer an issue." 

"What if it had been Rebecca at your door?" he scowled. 

"Rebecca had an appointment in town. Nick and Bobby went with her. They left a little over an hour ago. They said they'd be gone for two to three hours. I was alone, sleeping. The sound of someone else in the house woke me. It couldn't have been Rebecca, but I didn't know it was you. All I knew was that I wasn't alone and I should have been." 

Steve faltered. He looked down at the weapon, it looked small in his large hand, then back at her. "All right, I'll grant you that one. But I can’t have anyone other than my Khan having a gun in his house." He held one hand up, stopping her from protesting. "I know you have no intention of hurting them, but I can't allow anyone, not even you, Jade, to have a gun in the house."

She took a deep breath and let it out in a rush. She wanted to argue. She wanted to insist she wasn't giving up her gun, but she knew it would only give Steve a reason to run her off. "I can lock it in my truck. Will that be good?" 

He was silent for several heartbeats, his eyes never leaving her. "I'll accept that. Do you have any other weapons? Knives? Anything?"

JV rolled her eyes, "No. What need do I have for knives? I have claws."

His brows lifted, "You're carrying a gun, but no knives. Are you worried about anything specific? Are you being followed?" 

"No other weapons and I'm not being followed." she ignored the part about what she was worried about.

"Do you know how to use this thing?" Steve looked at the revolver again. He thumbed the release and flipped the cylinder open. He pulled one round out and looked at it a moment, laying one finger against the tip of the bullet before putting it back in the chamber and, with a quick twist of his wrist, flipping the cylinder closed. He looked up at her, waiting for her to answer. 

"Of course I know how to use it. My father taught me how to handle a pistol years ago. As for that particular one, I've put a lot of rounds through it. I'm comfortable with it." 

"All right, whatever you’re worried about isn’t one of us, or this would have silver rounds." He held the pistol in her direction. "Keep it in your truck." 

She flipped the pillow closest to her and picked up the holster, then rounded the bed, took the pistol and holstered it. 

"Unless someone is on your tail and followed you here, you should be safe in the house. We haven't had much trouble in the last couple of years, other than usual clan crap, and that’s no danger to you."

JV looked away, trying not to let him see how badly the thought of being unarmed bothered her. She poked the holstered weapon in the top of her purse so she could take out on her next trip. "Did you need something?" she looked back at him, expectant.

"I came in to see if you needed anything, but you didn't answer when I called out and I got worried." 

"I was asleep." 

"I realized that when I found you on the bed."