Jen Decker opened the door to her garage after she prepared to go to her welcoming into the same pride as Samantha and Frances.
Opening the door to her car, she got inside and put her key in the ignition, starting the car. She backed out of her driveway and into the street.
"I honestly can't believe how much he's growing up," Jen said to herself, listening to the chorus of wolf howls emanating from the forest, "You'd be so proud of him Jeff."
A few minutes later, Jen pulled to a stop by the park. Turning off her car, she put her keys in her purse and put it on her shoulder.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a group of werecats staring at her. Instantly, she recognized one of them.
She approached Samantha and the two of them hugged as she arrived.
"You've really gone all out on this, Sam," Jen Decker commented.
"I said I would give you the opportunity to meet your new pride," Samantha answered, "and since we're a small pride... this is everyone."
Frances moved from the edge of the picnic table that the pride's female members to hug Jen Decker as well.
"Hey, Jen," Frances said in greeting.
"Hey, Frances," Jen smiled, "Doing well?"
"Yes," Frances answered, "kept busy by things... but that's life."
Jen nodded.
"Now... before you meet everyone, aren't you forgetting something?" Samantha asked.
Jen raised an eyebrow, gave a smile and then chuckled and shook her head. She carefully kicked off a pair of sneakers and then raised her lower leg to pull the sock off her foot and then repeat that process with the other foot.
"I suppose, it'd be best to be rather catty at the moment, given the company," Jen said with a soft sigh.
"Here, here!" Spencer cheered as Jen began to transform.
As with all werecats, Jen's eyes turned green and her pupils turned into vertical slits. Her black hair grew slightly longer as charcoal black fur grew all over her body. Jen's fur was easily longer than her own fur or Frances's or Samantha's fur. It actually grew and fluffed at the top of Jen's shirt. Her ears then moved to the top of her head and became triangular in shape. Jen briefly flexed her growing claws and then let them retract back into her fingertips. As she was changing, she noticed that one of the wercats was watching her.
"Urrgh," Jen gave a low grunt, "been away from Awareness for too long..."
Jen pulled down on the back of her jeans to let her tail grow out behind her. She inwardly smiled as she felt her tail grow and as her face push slightly forward. However, unlike Samantha and Frances who were largely based off of breeds of House Cat that were pretty much any cat with short fur, Jen's specific breed was a Havana Brown, meaning her feline muzzle while rounded wasn't very long... even for a cat. Her face wasn't completely flat, but her muzzle wasn't long by feline standards. Jen as a werecat was based off of the Persian cat breed.
"So, this is everyone?" Jen asked.
"Yes," Samantha nodded, "Why don't you go and sit down next to Martha while Frances and I pass out sodas, sandwiches and sides."
That proved to be enough for everyone to sit down at the tables that had been set up. She sat quietly while Samantha and Frances passed out sandwiches from a picnic basket along with chips, coleslaw, and some of the sodas that William had bought on his way home and put in the cooler with ice. She then recognized the werecat sitting next to her was the one that had been staring at her during her transformation.
"You're Martha Anderson?" Jen asked her, "the pride's other new member, right?"
"Yes," Martha said with a slow nod, "My family moved here just before the school year started. We had some ups and downs... including being a bit nervous about some of Moon Lake's rules... but Samantha and Frances are my neighbors and have become great friends. Helped me through quite a bit."
Jen blinked and then glanced to Frances who was placing a snack size bag of Doritos on Jen's plate, "Her voice..."
"Sexy, isn't it?" Frances gave a smile to Martha and then to Samantha who was offering some chips to Martha before moving to sit down opposite Jen.
Martha wanted to blush a little at that. Before coming to Moon Lake, she'd never thought of her voice as sexy. After a moment, Jen turned back to her.
"Well... I hope you like it here," Jen commented, "I've known Samantha and Frances for a while, and while we came from different prides... we've always been good friends. You could never ask for friends better than them."
"My whole family's come to love being here," Martha smiled, "as you can see, I'm a werecat now... while my husband had his choice in the matter taken from him, he's adapted quite well to being a werefox... my oldest son is on cloud nine as a werewolf, and from what I've been told, your son is joining the same pack my oldest joined... and my youngest son... is presently dating the mayor's daughter."
"Sounds like quite a lot," Jen commented, "There hasn't been that much transformation in my family... I was born a werecat... I'm bi, and I married a great guy... a werewolf named Jeff..."
Martha paused while Jen paused to collect herself.
"And I've sadly lost him," Jen sighed, "which is why I came "home" and meet new friends and reconnect with old ones."
Martha calmly reached over to Jen's hand and held it comfortably. She privately marveled at how soft Jen's long fur was.
"I'm sorry for your loss," Martha stated, "and I'm more than willing to offer whatever help I can... and make good friends."
Jen smiled, "That's good. Having friends is a good thing... and it'll be good to make new friends..."