Claire woke up a couple of hours after her initial nap, feeling refreshed and ready for anything. It was Monday evening in Moon Lake, and the only thing on Claire’s mind was going out and seeing if she could encounter any more weres.
It was a little past nine, well past sunset so there should be plenty of weres out and about. Claire wondered if there was somewhere in particular she should go to see weres. The lake? No it was December, who would go swimming when it was forty degrees out? Maybe just strolling downtown would be enough. She wasn’t willing to go back into the woods alone at night. That had proved to be the start of this mess.
Of course, Claire now knew that no one meant her any harm, but Ryan had said there were feral weres out there. She wondered what exactly that meant. It was safe to assume it mean they stayed transformed all the time, or if they’d given in to their animal instincts.
Grabbing her red jacket, and then her keys, Claire left the apartment in search of another nightly adventure. Ryan was off at work, and she didn’t want to bother him, so she kept to the other side of town for the most part.
Claire walked up and down the streets, still familiarizing herself with the town’s layout. She spotted a few other people, mostly in their normal form or actual normals like herself. But there were a few werecats and weredogs walking down the street with big smiles on their faces.
But the longer she walked, the more Claire got the feeling that, given what both Ryan and Barbara told her earlier, most weres were probably busy having their “recreational” fun. It explained why ever were she did see had those goofy smiles on their faces. Claire was known to get the same grin on her face after the fact.
A bit sad she hadn’t been able to see much of anything, Claire started to turn back for the apartment after about half an hour of wandering the streets. Which is when she ran into Ben and Sasha, walking together after their own wild night.
Ben saw Claire and initially didn’t think much of her. Until he took a closer look, and out of curiosity asked her name. From what he’d heard from his mothers, and his friends, the girl walking past him fit the description they’d given. And she smelled vaguely of werewolf.
“Excuse me, are you Claire?” Ben asked before Claire got too far away.
“Yes. Why? Who are you?” Claire asked.
“Ben Twist, werewolf. You’ve already met my mom’s. As well as my friends, Eric and Cassie.” Ben explained. Beside him, Sasha put the pieces together that this was the normal who she’d almost crossed paths with over the weekend.
“Oh, nice to meet you. Wait, uh, your Samantha and Frances’ son?” Claire tried to figure out how that was possible. Both women were werecats, how could Ben be a werewolf? Unless they were like her, and had once been normals.
“I’m adopted. My own parents died when I was very young.”
“I’m sorry.” Claire quickly said, feeling stupid for bringing it up.
“Don’t be, everyone asks me that. And truthfully, I haven’t known anyone else except Samantha and Frances to be my parents.” Ben said.
“And you are…?” Claire looked to the girl standing beside him. She had striking blue eyes, and pale blonde hair. It was so light, it was almost invisible against the night sky.
“Sasha Meyers. Ben’s… friend. Also a weretiger.” She and Ben exchanged a quick look when Sasha said “friend”. Neither knew where their relationship was at the moment. More than friends, but not quite at the next level. Kind of like Claire and Ryan’s relationship.
“So, has Moon Lake been treating you alright?” Ben asked.
“I’d say so. It’s different, obviously, but I like it here. I’m probably going to transfer to the local college here.”
“That’s great! If you want I can give my dad a heads up. He’s the Dean.” Sasha said.
“Really? Uh, thanks. I’ve still got to tell my school back in Oregon my plans. And then get all my stuff down here, and I guess tell my parents…” Claire only now realized she’d have to explain she sudden move to her parents.
She wasn’t even sure how to broach the subject, not without telling them the truth. She’d made such a fuss over going to Oregon, and now all of a sudden she was going to move to a small, relatively unknown, school outside Seattle. They’d probably assume it was for a guy, which wasn’t too far off. But it was more than just because of Ryan, as much of a consolation prize he was.
“Anyways, it was nice meeting you. And I’m glad to hear everything’s been going well for you. If you need anything, don’t be shy to ask.” Ben said.
“Thank you. Actually, could you maybe ask your mom to call me sometime tomorrow about my moving here. There are a few things I’d like some clarification on.” Claire asked.
“Sure. Have a good night.” Ben and Sasha both waved as they continued down the street. Claire lingered for a moment, still wrapped in her thoughts.
“She seems really nice. I’m glad everything’s worked out.” Sasha remarked once a distance away from Claire.
“Ya, the others said she was taking things well. But I didn’t know it was this well. Glad this didn’t turn into another forced transformation case. Those never end like this.” Ben sighed, thinking back to the Anderson’s misfortune with Yvette.
Sasha felt her spirits dampen a little too. Her father blamed himself for what happened to William, as he was the one who’d been in the parking lot that day. And furthermore, Yvette was his student. The rest of his family insisted he wasn’t to blame, but that didn’t stop Graham from feeling guilty.
Wanting to change the subject, Sasha leaned over and grabbed Ben’s shirt. Drawing him in close, she planted a fierce kiss of his lips. It took him a moment or two to return the kiss. And then suddenly it was over sooner than he would have liked.
“Thanks for the great night. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Sasha smiled at Ben, giving him one last goodnight kiss on the cheek. Then turned down the street towards her house. Leaving Ben on the curb, a little stunned, and very much looking forward to tomorrow when he could see her again.