Knowing that it was the best plan before them and with no other options, Harry Jenkins and Jenny Harper accepted Dean Myers offer to stay in the Moon Lake College campus' safe room during the nights between now and the wedding in hopes of foiling the plans of Dieter Wilhelm and however many henchmen he might send to Moon Lake between now and their wedding Saturday morning.
Jenny was escorted by campus security to her dorm room to get whatever she might need for the next couple of days while Harry left with a Skulk security team to go back to his house, leaving Karen Yuletide alone with the dean.
"Do you have a moment sir?" asked Karen.
"Yes?" said the dean, while resuming his customary seat behind his desk.
"I was wondering if you could give me a different perspective on a question I asked Peter. What's it like becoming a were?"
"If you mean what it's like transforming, I can easily discuss that. If you'd like, I can also discuss what it's like going from being a regular human being to becoming a were. I was still a normal, as they call us, when I first moved to Moon Lake and accepted my position here."
"Really? The way you are, I thought you were a naturally born were," observed Karen.
"Thank you for the compliment. Being a weretiger is now as natural to me as breathing," replied the dean.
"Well, I appreciate any insights you can give me. Despite how I feel about Peter, possibly becoming a werelioness is a decision not to be taken lightly," admitted Karen.
"True. That can also be said of joining any portion of were society. You do know it's a one time only event with no reversal. You must be absolutely certain of which species and why before you join."
"I've talked to Jenny about her transformation. While it was not under the best of circumstances, she has come to accept and now loves being a werevixen, especially since Harry loves her so much that he willingly became a werefox to be with her," replied Karen.
"Miss Harper's entry into were society is not a shining example of Moon Lake at its best," admitted the dean. "However, while love can be a powerful reason for joining, it is important to be fully aware of all the factors involved in joining to make an intellectual rather than emotional choice. When I moved here, I was divorced, so the Mandatory Were Law* didn't apply to me. I'll admit, when I discovered exactly what I was the new dean of, I was both kind of shocked and amazed at the situation. Here I was, living and working in the middle of a zoologist's dream scenario, but couldn't tell a soul even if I wanted to. Then, as I got to know the town's people, college faculty and students better; I started thinking about possibly becoming a were myself. At the time though, it would have been simply to gain some of the physical advantages weres possess, like better hearing and eye sight, under the belief they would help me be a better dean. Then, when I wasn't even looking for it and least expected to do so because my first marriage ended so bitterly, I fell in love with a lady who's a naturally born weretigress."
"Really?" said Karen with a slight smile on her face.
"While I knew the odds were great that she might be a were when we first met, it wasn't until during our first date she told me about being a weretigress. There was never any pressure or influence on her part for me to become a weretiger, but as time passed, the more I fell in love with her," happily recalled the dean. "When my heart and mind both agreed she was the one and I proposed to her, my wife's first response wasn't yes or no but Are you sure? because of what she knew would have to happen for us to get married and truly have a complete relationship."
"I see," said Karen, thinking about Peter and what the dean just told her.
Then Dean Myers paused before adding, "Of the three methods available to a normal human, sexual intercourse is the most pleasurable, compared to being bitten or scratched by a were. Since we're both adults Miss Yuletide, I will admit that I was not a virgin when we married. However, it was my very first time being more intimate with her than just kissing or holding hands."
"Well..." began Karen, feeling herself start to blush, "virginity isn't an issue in my situation either."
"I see," said the dean, nodding his head thoughtfully. "Yet, regardless of what you become, the very first time can be painful even for naturally born weres. They do have the advantage of being told from the time the child is old enough to comprehend what it means to be whatever were they specifically are and what to expect that very first time. Yet that still doesn't quite prepare even them for the actual moment."
"Oh?" said Karen.
"You have to understand. While it's even more major for a normal human entering were society, your whole body is being rewritten into something new right down to its genetic molecular code. Even with my wife telling me what would happen in advance, actually feeling my bones stretch as I grew taller and my tail formed as the front half of my head rearranged itself into a weretiger's jaw and muzzle structure that very first time were quite intense," recalled the dean. "Yet there were other portions of the change, like feeling the fur sprout all across my body that were quite pleasurable," he added, keeping private the erotic emotions that sprung from gaining a much larger weretiger's penis and its sheath.
"Does it always hurt when you transform?" wondered Karen.
"No," said the dean with a smile. "Just the very first time. After that, the whole experience becomes quite pleasurable. If anything hurts, in my opinion it's changing back to the way you see me now, for it feels like when I defur I'm saying goodbye to an old friend until the next time I shift."
"I see," said Karen, recalling that Leon Talbot's wife Regina was a normal human at one time. Maybe I should ask her for more information about changing, when I can do so privately.
"Is there anything else I can help you with Miss Yuletide?"
"No Dean Myers. I have an art class at 6. Then Peter's meeting me for a late dinner and we'll discuss what to do about my safety then. Thank you for everything," said Karen, before leaving his office with a security guard.
MEANWHILE...
The new henchman read the text message Yamato Tachibana sent, pretending to be the first man Dieter Wilhelm dispatched to Moon Lake to keep an eye on "his" Jenny and kill Harry at the first safe opportunity.
But even though he believed the warning, he still wanted more information.
WHAT HAPPENED? Yamato read to Police Chief O'Hara.
"What do I tell him?" Tachibana asked.
"We have to make it serious enough to be a believable threat, but not something large enough to the point that he'll contact his boss and Wilhelm will come with even more people than the ones we're already expecting him to be with Saturday," replied O'Hara, thinking about the entire Harper clan coming to Moon Lake. "What do you think of this?" asked the Chief, before giving Yamato his suggestion.
"Sounds good to me. We keep it sparse on details and hope for the best," replied Tachibana, as he started sending the new text over the dead man's phone.
POSSIBLE TERRORIST ACTIVITY ON PACIFIC COAST. OUR MISSION UNKNOWN TO THEM, BUT MOON LAKE WORRIED BECAUSE OF LOCATION.
The henchman read the message twice, each time with the same reaction. DAMN! We should take all of those bastards and...
Then he calmed down and thought things over for a few minutes before texting back, not suspecting who he was really communicating with.
OKAY. KEEP EYE ON TARGETS. KEEP BOSS' GIRL SAFE AT ALL COST, BUT DELAY KILLING RIVAL UNTIL HEAT'S OFF. CONTACT ME IF NEED HELP. BOSS WILL BE HERE SATURDAY TO TAKE HER HOME.
"Is that enough for a warrant, let alone an arrest?" Yamato asked the Police Chief.
"Unfortunately, no, because he never used any specific names. But it does give us probable cause to keep an eye on him, especially since he just confirmed they're under orders to kill Harry Jenkins and Wilhelm plans to drag Jenny Harper back to Alabama with him this Saturday," pointed out O'Hara.
"I shall inform the Skulk at once," said Yamato, as he reached for his personal cellphone.
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*One member of each family relocating to Moon Lake must become a were so that all have a vested interest in protecting the town and its secrets.—tmw.