Nate's morning had been rather calm, though he found it a bit interesting that he would be having an ever growing dance class after school. He'd agreed to give Eric and Julie further pointers on that at breakfast, and then in car, he'd learned that Alex wasn't much of a dancer either. A part of him privately chuckled that he might end up teaching all of Moon Lake how to dance if he wasn't careful. But he put that aside as for the most part those lessons were for a good purpose. Nate was never going to be the brainiac that Eric was, or even at times competitive athlete that Eric had also been at times in Minnesota, but he was still Eric's brother and the two of them had gotten along quite well. He remembered being a bit saddened when he'd learned that a couple of other kids had bullied Eric in Minnesota because he had such balanced interests between sports AND academics, particularly when Eric began to cut himself off from the world. However, Nate never knew what to do to fix that, and the problems that soon became obvious in his parents' marriage in Minnesota soon overshadowed all of it.
Now, in Moon Lake, Nate found that all those old problems were going away, and quickly. His mom seemed to be completely comfortable with herself as a werecat, and his father's status as a werefox was rapidly healing the damages that had been between them, and from what his werewolf sense of smell and hearing could determine, both of his parents were enjoying that VERY much. And in his relationship with Julie Stovall, Eric was beginning to rapidly move back toward the more open personality that he'd had before he had been bullied. It made Nate want to take the little weremermaid in his arms, and spin in a joyful hug and thanking her endlessly for all she'd done for Eric, and based off of what little he'd been able to see from the brief meeting outside the library the other day, to tell her that she and Eric made a wonderful couple and welcome her to the family if things went well.
The big thing that Nate had noticed through the day was some rumors about a new werewolf who had moved to town. Nate remembered seeing the moving truck the previous day when he'd gotten Ben to give Alex a ride to school to, and he was fairly curious about who had arrived simply because the family that moved to town were ALREADY weres. However, Ben was right that they shouldn't press things in on the new family and let them get settled in before being curious. After all, while he had made good friends with Ben right away, Nate knew that his own interest in werewolves made him very open to that idea while his parents wrestled with settling the Anderson family into Moon Lake. If he were in the new were's position, he might not want to be bothered by random people showing up and asking questions.
Over the course of the morning, though, Nate found that he wasn't the only curious about the new were. He'd met nearly all the werewolves in the high school since moving to Moon Lake, and since his transformation he could identify them, regardless of who's pack they belonged to. Through the morning, Nate had heard some rumors about the new were coming in to school and nearly every other werewolf, regardless of his or her pack, was curious. One time between classes, Nate thought he might have seen the new were. He was definitely male, and Nate found him a bit dreamy looking, though the new were was being lead around the school by a female werewolf that was a member of the pack. In fact, Nate thought he'd seen the female before at his own induction ceremony before Alex gave him the best gift he'd ever received. The new were also seemed to be a bit overwhelmed by things, constantly sniffing, and looking around, as though the only other weres he'd been around had been his own family.
All of that had lead to a lot of conversation on the new were, and as Nate arrived in the cafeteria, that continued. He found Ben and Alex seated together and the conversation was already underway as he arrived. Thankfully, neither Ben nor Alex were discussing the new were's looks. Nate thought the new were looked rather dreamy, but that didn't really change his feelings for Alex. Nate's thoughts were more akin to the way many people commented on the attractiveness of others even while there was no intention of even trying to hook up with that person. That didn't mean, however, that Nate was going to tell Alex that.
"From what it looked to me... he seemed a little... lost, I suppose would be the word," Ben commented as Nate set his tray down next to Alex's tray.
"Who looks lost?" Nate asked.
"The new werewolf," Ben answered, "Or at least who I think the new werewolf is. I think I saw him being lead by Amy through the halls as he went through the day."
Nate nodded. Ben might have seen them in a different hall or at a different time from when Nate thought he'd seen them, but Nate was still sure they'd seen the same new werewolf. At least now he could place the name of the female werewolf that had been leading the new werewolf along.
"I'm not entirely sure "lost" is the right word," Nate commented as he sat down next to his boyfriend, "more like he's getting used to being around so many weres."
Alex nodded beside him, "Yeah... I heard from a guy who rode the bus in... he told me, the guy's dad and mom originally grew up here, but left when his dad joined the army. So if he grew up outside Moon Lake, he might not be used to such a large were population."
"I'd heard it was the marines that his dad joined," Nate commented.
Alex only gave a shrug, "I can't really be sure which. The guy I'd talked to said army. He could be wrong, though."
"The game of telephone goes on," Ben quipped with a chuckle, "Still... regardless of the term you want to use... I'd say that this new werewolf... despite the fact that he already is a were... he's likely going through many of the same things you went through Nate after your transformation."
Nate nodded. He remembered all the new sensations and the strength of his sense of smell after his transformation as he identified every were-species at Moon Lake High, regardless of whether they were staff or students. Some of it was amazing as he was able to identify specific were-species by scent instinctively. He didn't need to be told the difference between werewolves, weredogs, werefoxes, werecats, werelions, weretigers, werehorses, werecheetahs, or any of the other were-species as well. For Nate, that was simply adapting to new or to stronger senses, though Ben was probably right that the new werewolf was going through something very similar if he hadn't been around a large number weres before.
"Well... I'm sure he'll probably get by okay when he gets used to things," Nate answered.
Nate and Alex both nodded, though their conversation didn't go much further when a new voice cut in.
"Here you guys are," came a voice to their left making all three of them look over. They turned to see an older teen standing there. He was a werewolf, and Nate thought his scent was similar to Austin's, but not quite.
"Hey AJ, what's up?" Ben asked to the new arrival, recognizing his Pack's beta male, and likely his father's successor when Austin Perry Sr. stepped down from the role of Alpha.
"Haven't the Seniors had lunch already?" Alex asked to him.
Moon Lake High had a rotating lunch schedule that went through each class, which made the fourth and fifth period end/start times a bit different for each grade, but the school had put together various means to make sure that when the school day ended everyone was able to dismiss together at the end of the day.
"Yeah, I've had lunch already," AJ answered, "but this is my free period, so... I have the time to take care of some Pack business for my dad."
Nate, Ben, and Alex traded glances.
"The new were's already requested to join our pack?" Nate wondered.
"Actually... Amy Howler's made the request," AJ answered, "from what I've heard, he met her and the two have in their own way hooked up already. She made the request that he join our pack."
"Hopefully they have fun," Ben commented.
"So... what's the pack business?" Alex asked.
"Well... I called my dad when I got the request, and he was agreeable to welcoming the new were," AJ answered, "so... there will be a special pack meeting tonight to welcome him in."
"Tonight..." Ben said quickly, his thoughts turning to Kenya and their planned date.
"Yeah, tonight," AJ nodded, "If you have other plans... you only need to come for the official welcome, say hello to new were and you can go from there. Okay?"
"Okay..." Ben said slowly, he'd need to get a text to Kenya that he'd have a bit of pack business before he could meet with her, but that seemed to be something he wouldn't be able avoid.