Free Transformation: The Clandestine Saga Book 1 by ID Johnson

Cadence gasped. “But, how is that possible? If you were a Hunter and he was the Guardian Leader, how could that have possibly happened?”
                  The others could tell by Janette’s expression that she really wished to say no more.  She had tears in her eyes and she reached into her pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, dabbing at the corners of her eyes.
                  Through their IAC’s Eliza and Jamie could hear an audible sigh from the generally quite Aaron. They knew this was a difficult memory for him as well.
                  “It was my fault,” Janette started.  All three Guardians protested, though she only heard two of them. “No, now, let me tell this story. It’s my story.”
                  Eliza and Jamie exchanged glances and resolved not to speak as Janette relayed the information to her granddaughter.
                  “Before I ever met your grandfather, I had dated a Hunter by the name of Skelton. He was sweet on me, seemed to have been that way for as long as I could remember.  I didn’t really like him so much.  He was a good-looking fellow but I knew for a fact he had been hunting Compliant Vampires, and I didn’t approve of that. Jordan was the Guardian Leader when I Transformed, but he didn’t train me. I didn’t meet him until I had been hunting for several years. Once I established a reputation for being fairly handy with an ax, my weapon of choice at the time, well, Jordan wanted to meet the little lady who took off Vampire heads with ‘one foul swoop’ as he used to say. Your grandfather was quite the character, you know.” She smiled at Cadence and, for the first time since she had walked in the door, Cadence thought she saw some joy in her eyes. 
                  “Anyway, about the time that I met Jordan, there was an accident. The Hunter Leader was severally injured by a Vampire when the Guardians didn’t get there in time to assist. Your grandfather was livid. He said we needed new forms of communication, new protocols, what have you. Back then, it was pretty common to lose over one hundred Hunters a year to Vampire kills. We almost couldn’t grow them fast enough to replace them. But your grandfather, see, he was a smart cookie. He got his people working on technology. Did you know that we were using cell phone technology to communicate with each other in the 1940s?  Can you imagine what that type of capability would have done during World War II? Of course, that came much later than what I’m talking about now. But those were the types of things he was working on, finding ways to save more Hunters lives and chase down more Rogue Vampires. And he was very successful.  And so popular with the Guardians and the Hunters alike, he really was.”
                  Janette paused then, glancing down at the picture of her late husband and Cadence sat quietly, waiting for her to continue.   “Well, once I went to train with Jordan and he actually started to work with me, you know, go on hunts and the like, well, my popularity grew as well. Whenever you lose a leader, there’re usually at least a few years of transition where the group doesn’t know for sure who they want to appoint as leader, or they are divided.  But for me, it was quick and painless.  Representatives from the other Hunters approached me one evening and asked me if I would accept the position of Hunter Leader.  I talked it over with Jordan to see what he thought, knowing how demanding such a job might be.  Well, he was tickled pink for me, you know. He was real happy. He thought I should accept for sure. And so, I did. And that was a long time ago, back in 1858, same year we got married. You see, darling, there’s a history of that in our Passels.  With very few exceptions, if the two leaders are of different genders, they almost always end up hitching up. Not sure why, but it’s a fact.  Isn’t that