Lance Knight awoke begrudgingly about 6 that Saturday morning in Moon Lake. Usually he liked to sleep in on weekends, but he had his rescheduled first meeting as temporary representative of the werepanthers of Moon Lake at the Were Elders' Council meeting at 8.
Unlike the large estate that used to belong to their parents that Benton occupied, Lance owned a small house on the edge of downtown Moon Lake, close to the offices of The Moon Lake Gazette of which he was both owner and editor-in-chief.
He yawned and stretched, his paws above his head clawing at empty air, then Lance dragged himself out of bed and headed to the bathroom.
It was quite uncomfortable sitting in that hospital chair, awaiting word on the condition of his sister-in-law Amanda, so he took a very long hot shower after he defurred for the morning, shifting from werepanther back to his human form.
He wanted to say more at the hospital, because despite the poor relationship he had with his older brother Benton, Lance still cared about his family.
However Benton was in no mood to hear genuine words of concern about Amanda, even if reconciliation was ever possible between the brothers.
Yet it was a real eye-opener of a conversation catching up with his niece Frieda while her father went to get the contaminated Civet Coffee from the Knight manor.
The very last time Lance had seen her was at the opening ceremony to Frieda having her first transformation as a werepanthress at their pride meeting. Because of Benton and Amanda, Lance usually sat in the back of the crowd, if he bothered to attend at all; but despite wanting to be there for one of his niece's life milestones, left that night after Frieda walked off into the woods with the werepanther her parents had personally selected to escort her into were society (ie: have sex with to ease the transition of her first time).
Totally in the dark about her life since, Frieda told him everything that had happened to her of late from then up to last night, except who it was that rescued her from the overbearing werepanther who wanted more than Frieda was willing to do and showed her love between two women could be just as nice, if not better at times, than traditional male/female sex. The name of that special someone was something Frieda would always cherish and protect, especially if she ever came back to Moon Lake after completing her college education out of state on the East Coast.
Then Frieda told her uncle about the unique relationship that had developed between her, fellow high school Freshman Eric Anderson, and Sophomore Spencer Lawson.
"So, you're bi?" he asked, realizing what was going on.
"Yes," replied Frieda, dreading what his next question would be.
"Are you happy?" asked her uncle, which totally shocked Frieda, since the response from both her parents at the news was "Are you sure? How could you!"
Frieda smiled and said, "Very."
"Then enjoy life to its fullest, but I suspect your parents won't be ready for grandchildren for at least another ten years, if at all," added Lance, which would put Frieda in her early 20s after she graduated college.
"Don't worry. Neither am I," replied Frieda, quietly indicating she was taking her werepanthress birth control pill daily.
Everything repeated itself pretty much the way it did at the beginning of the original Elders' meeting* except for two things.
There was breakfast offerings in the reception area instead of the menu from last night before the agenda got interrupted by events at his brother's house, and Lance saw no sign of the sexy weretigress he knew only as "Lila".
During the brief meal he met a lot of the other were representatives. Tachibana no Akane, leader of the Skulk he already knew, but she introduced him to Andrew Curry, the were-mer representative of Moon Lake**, along with Leon Talbot, who the werelions proclaimed their "king" and represented them on the council.
The weredog, werecat, weretiger, werewolf, and a host of other weres were not present until the meeting actually started. Whether they were just running late or if they were enjoying some of the "other services" available to Council members, Lance neither knew or cared.
When it was time, the weredog on guard duty opened the closed double doors at the end of the reception area and let everyone into the main Council room.
The first order of business was Lance's formal swearing in ceremony, which did not take long. He just stood in a circle of light before all the others within the darkened room, removed his white robe to reveal his full werepanther fursona, and then solemnly swore to not only protect the were secrets of Moon Lake but all its citizens, regardless of what species they belonged to or if they were just normal human beings.
After that, he sat in the empty chair reserved for the werepanther representative and the meeting got down to business.
The rule book he was given Lance would read later, as he listened intently to current events and other matters before the Elders' Council.
There wasn't really anything pressing or of vital concern until the subjects of Julie Stovall and his brother came up.
"The DA might push for Julie to be tried as an adult," began Andrew Curry. "While we feel that she should be duly punished for her wrongful actions if found guilty, the were-mers do not understand the potential change of venue, especially if it increases the risk of exposing us."
"It is the veiled death threat she made against the youth Eric Anderson upon her arrest that prompts the potential change. There is no political agenda," said the weredog, presiding over the meeting. "There are statements from several witnesses, including Sheriff Cooper and the high school principal, as to her words."
"And this saddens us as well," agreed Curry. "Yet one bad fish does not represent the entire school, and our concerns about the risk of exposure still stand."
"Agreed," said Leon Talbot, raising a leonine paw. "Yet she is only a high school Freshman. Our biggest risk of exposure comes from Benton Knight, since he is prominent in International business circles."
"On that, so am I," humbly pointed out Akane Tachibana, raising a paw in her werevixen form.
"Yet no one within your employ, let alone a member of the Skulk, has behaved the way either of them have of late," pointed out Leon.
"If it serves to ease any of your concerns," began Lance, while holding up his paw, "Knight Media, and The Moon Lake Gazette have always been and will continue to be discreet when covering situations concerning weres. Yet, at least in the case of Julie Stovall, the most coverage so far has been from social media. More specifically, her fellow classmates and teenagers at Moon Lake High." And none of it favorable toward Stovall, according to his reporter.
"True," agreed the weredog. "But we have been monitoring those closely, and so far no one has said anything that might even accidentally hint of our existence."
Lance didn't like hearing that. Big Brother is watching? I'll have to have some private briefings about this with the Gazette staff when I can.
"It is best to be vigilant, and never having to take any action, than to be caught unaware and unprepared," said the Skulk leader sagely. "All here know our concerns and the risks involved if were society was ever exposed to the outside world. Not just for Moon Lake, but our brothers and sisters scattered around the globe as well."
"I must admit that I am surprised that there is no other sanctuary for weres in the world like Moon Lake," replied the werecat representative.
"That you know of," pointed out Curry. "I have private knowledge of other groups of various were-mers and other aquatic species having formed their own communities similar to ours, but that must respectfully remain my secret long beyond the drawing of my final breath."
"Agreed," said Leon Talbot, shaking his mane affirmatively. "The same privately holds true for werelions as well."
"Then we have reached the same position we usually do at this point. To continue our vigilance," said the weredog.
Plans were made to continue monitoring the Stovall and Knight situations, before the meeting was formally adjourned.
"Is it always like this?" Lance asked Tachibana no Akane as they walked out of the Council Chamber back into the reception area.
"Despite the seriousness of the issues before us concerning your brother and Julie Stovall, this was one of the more sedate sessions. There was a major argument last year over a potential new water filtration system for the town that got all the aquatic weres alarmed," revealed the Skulk leader.
"I see," said Lance, when he spotted Lila the weretigress. She was as sexy now as she appeared last night, despite the fact she was wearing an apron and helping some werecat clean up the reception area. "Can you excuse me, please."
"Of course," said Akane, as a slight smile crossed her muzzle. Protocol kept you from joining us before now, and procedures will limit your time with us, but you are a good man. Enjoy your time with us, she thought, before walking out of the reception area.
"Hello Lila. Nice to see you again," said Lance, as a smile crossed his werepanther muzzle.
"Oh. Hello Mister Knight," said Lila, a lot more formally now than how she talked to him last night. "How is Mrs. Knight doing?"
"Amanda? She's still in the hospital. The doctors have figured out what's wrong with her and have begun treatment now."
"That's good. I hope she gets better soon. Now if you will excuse me..." said Lila, as she went back to trying to clear the table of dirty dishes.
"I... wait a minute. You are aware that Amanda Knight is my sister-in-law, right? I'm still single," said Lance.
"You are?" asked Lila, stopping what she was doing. "But I heard..."
"I don't know how some of the other Elders behave, but if I was married, I would not have expressed an interest in you last night, no matter how beautiful I think you are."
"Really?" she asked, now sounding more cheerful, as the smile on her weretigress muzzle widened. "It just so happens that I'm free for lunch after I finish my shift here."
"That's funny. So am I," said Lance, while smiling too.
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*Previously in "The Formal Briefing, Interrupted".
**Although were-merman Martin Stovall is Moon Lake's Mayor, since that position represents the entire town, there is a different person speaking for the aquatic weres.—tmw.