Author's note to The Werewolf Prince: It's going to be difficult to arrange a meeting for all of them. You have Tad as being 18, and would likely be a High School Senior. Nate, Ben, and Alex are only 16 or turning 17 soon and are High School Juniors. Eric is 14 and is a High School Freshman. If his mother still enrolls him on the next next day (Thursday), he might run into them in the hallway at school... There might be an opportunity for him to really meet Ben, Nate, and Alex Thursday afternoon... potentially from curiosity on Nate, Ben, or Alex's part.
The process of reintegrating into a werewolf pack in Moon Lake would also be something that would be a thing to begin on Thursday with either contact through Samantha and one of the local Alphas to set up time for a ceremony.
The big thing, though, is that the thread you're in is NOT the Tad thread, it's the Anderson family's thread and has a lot of things going on in it and you can't keep advancing the story to cover Tad events while not even mentioning the advancement of the Anderson family's plot. It's leading to confusion as to what's going on as Tad is already at Wednesday night/Thursday morning when the rest of the Anderson family thread is on Wednesday afternoon (still before Halloween). If you want a story that focuses solely on Tad and his mother, you need to go to the first Moon Lake chapter #96252 and place his chapters there as their own story. They can tie into the Anderson family thread as at least two other threads do while having their own independent story-lines.
If you wish to keep Tad in the Anderson Family thread... that's fine... but it would keep the story more coherent if you added to the chapters that didn't relate to Tad to advance the main story-line of the Anderson Family thread... or at least kept the Tad chapters within the time context of the rest of the thread... because if we have Tad chapters that are going on on Sunday evening while the rest of the story is on Thursday morning... people are going to be confused...
It would also be helpful if you could either register with cyoc.net or provide some means by which you could be contacted privately, as these chapters really isn't the place to be coordinating ideas between authors, if you seek to coordinate things...
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Wednesday afternoon had gone well for the three young male werewolves. It had been rather light workday for homework for Ben, Nate, and Alex, and as they had gone through the day, they had felt quite pleased with that. Ben had reason for it because of the legal protection that he and Kenya had by being werebeasts, him a werewolf, she a werepanther/wereleopard, but the fact that they were both weres wasn't what gave him reason to be nervous. That was their difference in age. Kenya was a were, but she was also a college student and he was still a legal minor. He had some nervous that his mom's wouldn't fully tolerate her because of the age difference or wouldn't want to see him "go." He vaguely remembered his birth family in the sense of images and the sensation that they had been good to him, but the bulk of his memories always had Frances and Samantha Twist as Mom and Mom. They loved him as any mother would, and he loved them back, as any son would. He could only hope that they would respond well to Kenya.
Nate was also pleased that there wasn't that much in the way of homework, and the homework that he did have wasn't due until Friday. That wasn't bad and made up the fact that he had had a lot of homework to get through the day before. He figured it might give him the opportunity to have some fun with Alex, the male werewolf who had transformed him and turned him into a werewolf, and best of all, had become his boyfriend. There was still some curiosity on his part as to the moving van that they had seen on the way to school in the morning. The fact that Ben had said something about overhearing his mother talking on the phone about the new family already being weres intrigued him to no end. But, Ben had been right at lunch. the family deserved the right and time to unpack and get settled in. In time, there surely would be time to meet the new family, and that he could sate his curiosity then. It was even possible that they'd join the pack that Alex had welcomed him into.
"Hey, Ben," Nate said to his neighbor just outside the high school's front steps, "How are things?"
"Things are good," Ben smiled.
"I didn't make you wait too long, did I?" Nate asked.
"Nah... we're good," Ben answered, "we just need to wait for Alex."
"What about Eric?" Nate wondered, thinking of his brother.
"He and Julie already left... looking rather enamored with each other," Ben answered.
Nate paused and scratched his head for a moment as he thought back to the blond girl that Eric had introduced him to after he and Alex had left the library. His brother must have had some plans with the weremermaid for after school activities. He then nodded, and as he glanced to seeing Alex come out to join them, he gave his response to Ben.
"Well... so long as he's happy... there is no problem with that," Nate said to Ben.
"No problem with what?" Alex asked as he approached, "hopefully no problem with me hitching a ride, right?"
"Of course," Ben nodded, "So long as you don't mind one side trip."
"Fried chicken?" Alex teased.
"Hah... Hah... Hah," Ben laughed back.
The three began walking toward the High School's parking lot. The sarcasm that was evident in Ben's retort made Nate curious to the point where he couldn't hold the question back any longer.
"What's all this about?" Nate asked as he glanced between his best friend in Moon Lake and his boyfriend as they walked along, "Have I missed something?"
"Stud... who do you think taught this guy how to cook?" Alex gave a smirk.
"I would have thought his moms did that..." Nate commented.
Ben walked along with a slight look of embarrassment.
"You'd think that... but no," Alex smirked, "It was me."
"You make it sound like it was hard," Ben grumbled, knowing that all the friendly teasing going between him and Alex was only serving to make Nate want to know more.
"The simple stuff isn't... but you wanted to move on to something special for mother's day," Alex began.
"That doesn't sound bad," Nate commented.
"He nearly set the house on fire," Alex smirked.
"The cooking oil spilled, it could have happened to anyone," Ben groaned, "and in the end, my mom's liked it."
Alex only shrugged to that and the three of them walked along quietly for a few moments. Ben felt a bit of relief that playful jabs had stopped there. He had learned a fair bit from Alex, but he didn't want to dampen his pack mate's ego by telling him that his moms had given him a lesson or two after that mother's day adventure in the kitchen. Getting a dinner ready for Kenya was the big thing and scoring "points" wasn't.
"And anyway... the plan is for something relatively simple," Ben then admitted, "nothing fancy... but nice. So, I can show Kenya I have at least a rudimentary knowledge of cooking and try to make things as perfect as they can be."
"Kenya... the girl you said you were dating the other day?" Nate asked.
"Yes... and the same girl I talked with at lunch," Ben nodded.
By this point they had made it to Ben's car and began to climb in. This time though, Nate and Alex climbed into the backseat together. Ben had to lean across the front seat to shut the passenger side door and then then glanced back to Nate and Alex who were buckling themselves in. They gave him a thumbs up once they were buckled in. They rode quietly along Moon Lake's streets and his two passengers didn't say anything as they rode along. Nate even held back from engaging in a game of footsie with Alex as they rode along. The market that Ben pulled into was rather small in size as far as Nate could see, at least when compared to the Hi-Vee food centers that Nate remembered in Minnesota. Though he also noticed that there was a small butcher shop next to it, which made him wonder as to whether or not predatory weres if they went hunting brought their kills to the butchers for the processing of the kill or not.
"Do you need any help?" Nate asked as Ben got out and held the door open for him and Alex to follow along.
"Not really," Ben answered, "I have a good idea of what to get, which will mostly serve to make sure there is enough food to feed me, Kenya, and my folks."
Ben then began to walk from his car, which was turned off after being parked.
"I just figured that you'd want to stretch your legs rather than sit and be bored," Ben said over his shoulder.
Nate and Alex were quick to follow after Ben. They stayed close behind him, but Nate took the opportunity to see what all that they had in the small shop. Nate quickly found that there wasn't as much to market. It seemed to have just about anything that one would get from a grocery in terms of the food. From what Nate could see as he followed Ben through the market, is that it didn't carry as many different brands of food that were commonly carried in the bigger super markets, and in some cases it didn't have all of the sort of flavors of foods that Nate had seen in the other super markets. Still, it seemed rather quaint and effective, and as he walked along, he heard a few other costumers talking about their day as they shopped. That had to mean that much of things that was a benefit of a small town like Moon Lake, greater contact and a stronger sense of community.
The shopping trip was short and rather swift. Ben picked out a couple packets of boneless chicken breasts, a bag of potatoes, and one bottle of sparkling cider. Nate and Alex followed along quietly, though as they approached the cashier, Alex got curious on what Ben's dinner plan.
"So... what's your plan?" Alex wondered.
"I was thinking on some baked chicken with some spices secret touches that my moms taught me," Ben answered, "along with fried potatoes. The cider is to add a more romantic touch without risking anyone getting tipsy."
"Sounds good," Nate commented while Ben took out his wallet and drew a credit card to pay for the purchases.
"Yep..." Alex agreed, "hopefully things go well."
Ben nodded. He certainly hoped that things did. These purchases would hopefully go to help with that and was thankful for the financial agreements his family had. He had had various summer jobs working here and there, but they didn't always provide much in the way of spending money when it came to any specialty item. So, on his sixteenth birthday, his parents had given him the card that he had used to pay for the food. Technically account was connected Samantha and Frances' joint bank account with a very limited credit limit on the card, but it did help when he had to make some purchases that he might not have much in the way of cash for.
"I hope so, too," Ben answered as he put away his wallet and collected his bags, "there's just something about Kenya that... that... there's just something special about her."
"Just be yourself, and I don't think you'll have a problem," Nate commented, "and from what I've seen... your moms are nice and understanding people. I'm sure they'll accept Kenya."
"And they know that you're a good guy," Alex added with a smile, "I mean... what werewolf wouldn't want you?"
"She's a werepanther, actually," Ben answered.
"A werepanther?" Nate mused, "rather exotic taste, don't you think?"
"I suppose," Ben commented, "I think she's worth it, though."
Ben found himself getting two congratulatory pats on the back for that. That told him that Nate and Alex did have his back. He smiled at that as they returned to the car and began to drive away. At first he was going to drop Alex off at his house.
"Say... uh... Nate, do you feel like hanging out?" Alex asked, "Ben has dinner to get ready.... but..."
"I don't mind," Nate answered.
"So... where do you want to be dropped off at?" Ben asked after a moment.
Nate and Alex traded looks, as though neither of them had a full idea on where to hang out. After a few moments, Nate answered.
"My house," Nate spoke, "we can hang out there."
"Okay then," Ben chuckled as he noticed Nate and Alex trading glances in the backseat and turned onto the street that would take him back to his own home and the Anderson home next to it.