Peter and Leon returned to see Regina and Karen standing close with fairly friendly looks on their faces as they stood together. Peter noticed that Karen looked rather calm, which made him happy. He'd never met anyone who made him feel quite the way Karen did. Liz had her moments of tenderness and was very helpful to him with regard to when the lion within him emerged and he was ready for his first transformation. But she had also struck him as one who was ambitious enough to put becoming "queen" over anything and everything else. He had not desire to challenge his fire for the post of "king," especially not while they got along well. He was content to form another smaller pride within Moon Lake's pride while his father hadn't done anything wrong, and figured that Liz would push that issue, which was something that seriously put him off. Karen wasn't like that and she seemed to love him more for him and not his position.
"And so," Leon spoke as he announced his and Peter's return with the sound of his voice, "how are you two ladies doing? Got everything settled?"
"Pretty much," Regina turned with a smile, "a little reassurance is all that was needed."
Leon approached and Regina gave a smile and moved to hug him with all the love and affection that had existed between them over their years of marriage. Karen even managed a small smile as Regina rubbed the side of her human head to Leon's. She was so caught up in that that she didn't even notice Peter approaching her until he gently took her hands.
"You okay?" Peter asked to her softly, making Karen jump slightly, "with... everything?"
Karen recovered from her surprise at Peter speaking and moved to hug him, snuggling her head against Peter's shoulder in the process. She eventually looked to him with a smile.
"Just keep loving me as you have," Karen said to him, "Keep me as important you... and I won't mind things being open between us. That will assure me that your love for me is real."
"I will always love you," Peter said to her and fully embraced her, "and you will always be the most important to me."
They hugged, and Karen felt the only thing she wanted was to sink into Peter's arms and never come out. And if Regina was right that Peter's love would always be fur her first and foremost, her unease with werelion marital arrangements was much less. And Peter was more than willing to do that and love her firmly as well. As they began to break apart, Karen looked to Leon who looked to her with a reasonably friendly look.
"Thank you for being so accepting of me," Karen said to him.
"Just keep Peter happy," Leon spoke, "love him and let him love you, and things will be fine."
"I will," Karen smiled to Peter for a brief moment.
"That's good," Leon commented, "though before you leave... could I ask a favor of you?"
"A favor?" Karen actually wondered.
"Or a job, if that's the way you wish to think of it," Leon replied, "I'm sure Peter's told you this, but my brothers and I run a small auto restoration company. We take old cars and fix them up so they're like new again... and on occasion we've even had a couple of odd orders... WW2 fighter planes and so on for historical societies and museums."
"Yes... Peter had mentioned that," Karen nodded.
"Well... Peter has long suggested getting a new logo for the company that would attract more attention," Leon explained, "and it's a good one... but beyond playing with colors and fonts on the computer... neither I nor my brothers have had an idea that seemed to work well. And after looking at the pictures of your artwork... I wondered if you might want to help us out with the design."
Karen blinked and then spoke, "but... I don't have my degree yet. You're okay with that?"
"Never really understood the need of a degree for art," Leon shrugged, "shoot... they people that throw paint at the canvas and call the random spots art nowadays. Your drawings looked better than that. Shouldn't need a piece of paper to tell people you can draw."
Karen detected a slight grumpy side to that, but figured that was aimed more at the nature of educating on art.
"And your drawings were vary good," Leon answered, "and quite creative and even imaginative. That's more than enough qualification for me."
"Thank you," Karen commented, "I'll see what I can do... is there anything specific that you wanted?"
"At least something that would relate to our family and to automobiles," Leon commented, "If you want to do something with an anthro-lion..."
"I'd make sure it's more "cartoony" than realistic," Karen commented, "sort of like what Kellogg has done with Tony the Tiger."
"So, you'll do it?" Leon asked.
"Of course," Karen answered, "and given that if things go well... I'd be joining the family..."
She paused to squeeze Peter's hand.
"You don't have to worry about paying me," Karen answered, "it may take a little while to juggle things with my classwork and Jennifer Harper's wedding, but I will do my best to keep you updated on whatever I come up with."
"Sounds good," Leon smiled, "thank you."
"Have a good night," Karen said to him as she and Peter began to head for the door.
"You too," Leon replied and held Regina to him.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Meanwhile, the Skulk's leader had made her way home and settled into it. The architecture was Japanese in style and resembled a greatly scaled down version of the architecture that had gone into the old royal palaces in Japan. It had been built shortly after her arrival in Moon Lake and on an edge of the small town giving Akane a pleasant view of the city and the gardens that she had planted around her home. It was a way for her to retain some measure of peace and reminders of where she had come from, as while she had come to resent the militarists that caused the war that claimed her husband, that didn't mean that Akane Tachibana resented Japan's history prior to that, or its culture. Her home was a way to retain her connection to that culture.
Some of her children and even grandchildren moved out to mix further with Moon Lake, which had helped fully integrate her family into Moon Lake and allowing her leadership of the Skulk in Moon Lake to be accepted. Some moved back in later in a sense of being there for Akane and put together more coordinated leadership over the Skulk. All of it had given Akane a degree of confidence that her family legacy would go on and that the Skulk of Moon Lake would be able to do the most for all Moon Lake, and even the old Skulk leader from before Akane's arrival in Moon Lake with her family would benefit. Things had all been good for them.
Yvette Smith's actions had been a deep embarrassment to the Skulk as a whole and to Akane in particular. Her part of the Tachibana family may have only been a minor member of one of Japan's noble houses, but that didn't mean she wasn't raised to be proper and dignified, calm and respectful. Even with the fact that she was a werefox, Akane never let lusts as a werefox control her or determine how she behaved. She retained her adherence to the lessons she had learned growing up, to be polite and respectful. The lessons she'd had to be proper and dignified as well as calm and respectful. And nearly every other werefox she'd ever met behaved in a similar way on many levels. Yet, Yvette had not acted in that way.
For whatever her reasons, she had attempted to rape her professor and clawed him when the College Dean rescued William Anderson from being raped. Then, to get the police to leave her alone after her first arrest, she clawed Jennifer Harper, a normal who's only "crime" was to be in love and camping with her boyfriend for a weekend. The result was that both victims would have every reason to turn on the Skulk and set about a potential power struggle within it. All that she had done as the Skulk's leader for Moon Lake would face an immediate end if William and Jenny rejected the welcome and the apologies that Akane had made for Yvette's actions. The rejection would make a statement that Akane's leadership had failed to prevent issues with any potential rogue were. In that, the acceptance of the apologies and the willingness to join the Skulk on William and Jenny's part was truly an end to the direct effects Yvette Smith would have on the Skulk. They rejected the rogue that clawed them, but accepted the Skulk's welcome and thus Akane's leadership.
For Akane, that was a personal victory but it also allowed the Skulk as a whole to move past the actions of Yvette Smith. To bring joy to the Anderson family and to the Harper/Jenkins family. The big thing there, of course, related to Jenny and Harry's wedding. As Akane made her way into her home, the thoughts on the wedding and what Harry and Jenny had shared with regard to their planes only reminded Akane of happier days. When she and Osamu were young and they themselves were newlyweds with a bright future in front of them. They were fond memories that she would never deny Jenny or Harry to have of their own. She was about to retire to her bedroom when her cellphone began to ring. She gave a sigh and answered it.
"Konichiwa," Akane spoke, some of the cheer from the welcome ceremony hanging in her voice.
"Hello, Mrs. Tachibana," came a female voice from the other end, this was Ms. Lawson, "there are some things that I must report to you."
Akane and blinked and recognized the voice as belonging to one Irma Lawson, who was one of the Skulk's own security personnel and presently tasked with coordinating with the Moon Lake Police and with the college's own security forces to keep Jenny safe until she had said "I do" and either her parents had left the town or had realized the error of their ways. She knew plenty about the potential problems that the Harpers might pose, but to a great extent, the real threat came from this Dieter Wilhelm character. James Harper Sr. might have had the wrong idea on parenting, but as far as Akane had learned from Jenny that James Harper Sr. at least had some concept of wanting what was best for Jenny. In pure theory that raised some hope that the Harpers could be convinced to see their mistakes, though Akane was sure that would be a long shot.
Dieter Wilhelm was a different matter altogether. From what Jenny had reported to her, the man was an egotistical jerk who saw himself someone better than anyone else and wasn't necessarily above dirty tricks to get his way. What background checks that her own security personnel had found and her grandsons reported to her on Dieter Wilhelm was worse. He had come from a family line that seemed to share in these opinions. His grandfather, Heinrich, had a checkered past, public information that could be easily accessed and researched gave an indication that he had fled Germany at the end of WW2, though checks on more on Heinrich's past was that he had served in the Waffen SS from its inception, in what became the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. Whether or not Heinrich had actively been involved in the war crimes committed by the Waffen SS unit was uncertain, but the Skulk's background checks on Heinrich turned up tales of involvement with racially charged violence against African Americans, Jews, and Communists (supposed) in the 50s and 60s as part of the KKK. These were never proven, but to Akane, that struck her as that Heinrich Wilhelm was never apologetic or repentant for his past crimes.
There was little mention of these sorts of activities on Joseph Wilhelm, Dieter's father, and with Dieter, himself, but given his grandfather's past, Akane doubted that either Joseph or Dieter were entirely free of Heinrich's prejudices. That had made her suspect that Dieter Wilhelm was the REAL enemy with regard to the coming wedding and the chief reason for making sure Jenny could be protected.
"What is it?" Akane asked, her voice serious.
"You tasked us to keep tabs on the college and to ensure that its grounds are safe," Ms. Lawson answered, "I must report that we believe an agent of Dieter Wilhelm has arrived in Moon Lake."
"An agent?" Akane questioned.
"Yes," Ms. Lawson answered, "He claimed to be Jennifer Harper's brother... but carries no family scent that would make him a relative of her, were or not."
"So you presume he was sent by Dieter Wilhelm," Akane stated.
"Yes," Ms. Lawson answered, "Especially since he claimed that she was lost and out of contact with him..."
Akane figured that to be a lie on the man's part, as Jenny had made contact with her family. It was how they knew of the coming wedding.
"What was he doing on the college campus?" Akane asked after a moment.
"At best only scouting to know areas where he could potentially find Jenny and at worst trying to kidnap her... not knowing that neither she nor her roommate are in," Ms. Lawson answered.
"Where is he now?" Akane asked.
"He's presently holed up in a campsite to the southwest of town, and just beyond the city limits," Ms. Lawson answered, "I think it's a state park or national forest land."
"Has he committed a crime?" Akane asked.
"That I know of... no," Ms. Lawson answered, "but I'd bet my tail he's not here to congratulate Jenny on her wedding."
"What has been the police response?" Akane asked.
"They are presently watching him, as ordered and as per the plan," Ms. Lawson answered.
"Do your best to coordinate with them," Akane spoke, "if he stays outside the city limits... the local police cannot touch him and without him actually committing a crime, our security personnel cannot justify a "citizen's arrest." For now, all we can do is watch and see where he goes, though if he does anything illegal or suspicious in Moon Lake, give the police whatever help you can."
"Of course," Ms. Lawson replied.
"And what are his exact map coordinates?" Akane asked.
Ms. Lawson gave them, which Akane thanked her for and then hung up. Camping outside the city limits and the Moon Lake recreational areas, both normal and were, would protect the guy from arrest, though not from observation. In the meantime, she would pay a call on the Police Chief first thing in the morning to see about potentially getting a search warrant for the guy's trailer and what that would entail. It might mean bringing in the FBI, but if it also got a thug off the streets and kept Jenny's wedding happy, that might work out for the best.