{{As much as I love Christmas personally, I will be SO glad professionally when it's over! But now, while I still have a chance to contribute a new episode...}}
He awoke and instantly knew something was wrong.
His girlfriend wasn't in bed next to him.
In fact his bed, let alone the rest of the bedroom, was nowhere to be seen.
Just a lot of gray mists and nothingness.
Already in his fursona, he stood and took a defensive stance just as he heard a voice ask, "You don't really dream much, do you?"
Sheriff Douglas Cooper turned and raised his were-grizzly bear paws menacingly at a man he didn't recognize approaching.
"WHOA! Calm down Sheriff Cooper. I come in peace," promised the man, as he raised his arms up in a sign of innocence and surrender.
"Where am I? Where are Joan and Darrell?" Cooper demanded to know, his voice a dangerous growl as the fur on his body began to bristle.
"Your girlfriend and cousin are safe. I promise. You're dreaming right now, which is how I get a chance to talk to you and trust me, we need to talk."
"You could of just scheduled an appointment at my office," Cooper pointed out to the mysterious stranger.
"True," the other man conceded, "but this way, I know you'll at least listen to me, and hopefully heed my messages as well. May I?" he asked, before snapping his fingers.
The next instant everything changed.
Cooper found himself standing on the back porch of his cabin.
The other man had somehow switched from wearing an all white leisure suit to being dressed like someone who looked like they just came back from a Jimmy Buffet concert. "Better?" he asked Cooper.
"Some. But what about Joan and Darrell?"
"Like I said, sound asleep. You can go look if you like, but don't be surprised to see yourself lying with your furry arms around Miss Morningcloud, because this IS a dream," the stranger reminded him.
The Sheriff paused to look at the back door of his cabin, and then turned to look at his unwanted guest again. "You said you had news?"
"You do know there's a war brewing in Moon Lake, right?" asked the stranger.
"Because of Freddie The Shark Parker," conceded Cooper.
"Right," agreed the other man. "Despite both men already being warned by Tachibana no Akane on behalf of the Elders' Council, Leon Talbot and Benton Knight are on the defensive against him."
"How so?"
"The were-lion king of Moon Lake has already gathered his forces and just lacks the proper... moment to act. Once he has that, Leon plans to go on the offensive and claim self defense for his actions afterward."
"Not surprised to hear that. What about Knight?"
"Believe it or not, he HAS changed, and for the better too, although I'm not sure how Benton will react if he ever finds out Jack Crawford has had Doctor Twist's office bugged to listen in on his therapy sessions."
"What was that?" Cooper demanded to know.
"Never mind. Anyway, Benton won't get physical against Parker and his men unless either he or his family are directly attacked again," promised the stranger. "However, before Akane delivered the warning, Knight had already enacted a Code: Omega against him."
"What the hell is that?" wondered Cooper.
"Benton is putting all his assets to the task of ruining Parker financially. So far, it's already cost the Shark a shipping company and a warehouse full of drugs and money, although the Feds have yet to officially connect the latter to Parker."
"Good," replied the Sheriff, as a smile crossed his muzzle. "Couldn't of happened to a more deserving bastard."
"True, but you can only push a man like Parker so far before he retaliates, and you know how a mobster like The Shark is probably going to do that," pointed out the stranger.
"Yeah. But once the Feds collect his kid Tuesday morning, they'll follow him and be out of our fur."
"Not exactly. Freddie's planning a rescue operation by attempting to pose as the Federal couriers coming to collect his son. But while I'm not sure how, it will go wrong and the resulting bloodbath will leave many at least wounded, if not dead, including you!"
"Wouldn't be the first time I've ever been in a dangerous situation," replied the Sheriff bravely.
"Maybe, but now you have Joan and Darrell in your life, heart and mind too," the stranger said in return. "I know you're thinking about asking Miss Morningcloud for her paw in marriage and the two of you formally adopting your cousin instead of just sharing guardianship."
"How..." began Douglas, but then grew silent, weighing the strangers words. "It's true," he admitted, lowering his head. "But... I've been afraid to do so. I've seen the lives of too many officers and their mates ruined by the stress of the job."
"Maybe. But the two of them have brought plenty of joy, love, and much more to your life. For one thing, you're certainly not consuming as much aspirin as you used to," pointed out the stranger.
"I've noticed," agreed Douglas. "I'm certainly not buying as much as I used to for stress, except for dealing with the physical pain of past wounds acquired in the line of duty."
"Well, maybe you could try tai-chi. Joan used to teach it back in California, although I'm sure her love and rutting therapy has worked wonders for you too."
That last comment got a low growl from an upset were-grizzly, so the stranger quickly changed the subject. "But why are you waiting until Tuesday to get rid of Daniel Parker? Sure, the Feds want to take him directly back to California for questioning, but you could just as easily ship him to the Seattle FBI office right now and let them worry about getting Parker back where he belongs."
"I thought about that. Besides being against procedures, it would be a sign of weakness that Moon Lake can't handle such troubles on its own," confessed the Sheriff.
"And is that such a bad thing?" asked the stranger in return. "Technically Moon Lake is just another humble small town, so I don't see the problem with admitting you need help on this one."
"Maybe, but we have more than just a professional reputation to maintain."
"I know all about weres," revealed the stranger. "Yet how many lives are you willing to risk if things proceed on their present path?"
"And how do you know things are going to happen the way you claim they will?" asked Cooper in return.
"Truthfully, I only see probabilities and issue warnings and advice accordingly. But the odds are good about it being a massacre on both sides if you wait till Tuesday. However, if you do take Daniel Parker to Seattle yourself, make sure none of his father's lawyers are around at the time, otherwise they'll squeal to their boss in a heartbeat."
"Good advice. Anything else?" asked Cooper.
"When all this Parker mobster business is over, however it turns out, propose to Joan and the three of you get on with your lives together Uncle Yogi."
"Uncle Yogi?" Cooper heard a much younger voice ask.
"Uncle Yogi?" the question repeated, as Douglas Cooper opened his eyes and saw his cousin Darrell standing at the side of his bed, trying to shake the were-grizzly awake.
"What is it Darrell?" he asked, wondering what was going on now.
He was back in his bedroom. Joan in her were-tigress fursona lying next to him in the king sized bed they shared, was starting to stir at the disturbance.
"I thought I heard something out back," said Darrell, which brought the Sheriff to full consciousness and alert status as he reached into the secret compartment of his headboard to pull out his hidden gun.
Quickly shifting back to his human form since the town was still under the Code W alert, Douglas put on a bathrobe as he told Darrell to stay with Joan.
Treading silently to the back door, Cooper cautiously looked out the window, but saw nothing.
Waiting a few moments, he was about to go back to the others thinking it was just the boy's imagination, when he heard a noise.
Switching the safety off his firearm, Cooper took another cautious look out the window, only to see a normal forest raccoon scampering about his back porch.
Making sure all the windows and doors were still secured and the security system he had installed since Joan and Darrell moved in with him was still active, Douglas Cooper went back to the master bedroom of his cabin to see a were-tigress cradling Darrell.
"It was only a raccoon," said Douglas with a smile, securing his gun back in its hiding place before taking off the robe and resuming his grizzly fursona.
"Good. The whole town's on edge as it is because of this Parker situation," said Joan, as both she and Darrell moved to let him back into the bed.
"I know, but I'm doing everything the law says I can about them," promised the Sheriff.
"Can I stay with you two?" asked Darrell.
"Sure son," replied Douglas, wrapping his long paws around the two people he loved more than life itself.
Soon his girlfriend and cousin were back asleep, as Douglas Cooper contemplated the future.
Technically, Darrell was "his first cousin, once removed," since his cousin Alyssa Cooper was his biological mother.
Joan Morningcloud was Alyssa's last girlfriend, with plenty of benefits and co-custody of Darrell now that Alyssa was deceased.
Douglas couldn't help but think about how he longed to have them as much more in his life than they already were.
Technically, Darrell's last name was already Cooper, since Alyssa never gave him his biological father's surname.
Formal adoption shouldn't be more than just a bunch of legal mumbo-jumbo red tape.
But Mrs. Joan Cooper did have a nice ring to it.
If I could just get up the nerve to actually pop the question.
Yet the mysterious stranger's words about the possibilities of the future kept coming back to him.
Do I dare? wondered the Sheriff, finding it difficult to go back to sleep.
It was only two hours before dawn.
The start of a new day, and his next shift on duty as Sheriff of Moon Lake.