"Hey there, beautiful," Jenny heard a familiar voice as she came out of one of her afternoon classes.
She looked up to see a very familiar werefox standing before her and she immediately smiled.
"Harry!" Jenny smiled and leaped into his arms being fully content to snuggle against him. It felt good to feel his arms around her as it seemed to strengthen the bonds that she and Harry shared. "It's great to see you."
"It's great to see you, too," Harry smiled back to her, "Did you have a good day?"
"Yeah," Jenny nodded, "got through my classes and all that."
"So... will you be coming home with me or are you staying in the dorms to get out of the whole "not seeing the groom/bride before the wedding" thing?" Harry asked.
"Tonight, I'll stay with you," Jenny answered and touched his nose with one finger to be a bit playful, "It's tomorrow night that I'll stay in the dorm with Karen. That'd be the night before the wedding. Besides, between classes tomorrow morning and then the rehearsals tomorrow afternoon for the wedding... we'll see each other plenty tomorrow. So, it's tomorrow night that we part ways before things move."
"Okay," Harry slowly smiled, "I think I can live with that."
"As you all keep urging me... think positive," Jenny said to him, "If things continue to go well, we'll be able to enjoy happily married life and everything for us will be wonderful."
The two were caught by surprise when a new voice cut in.
"There is more than just the wedding come up, friends," a feminine voice cut in.
Harry and Jenny paused and turned to see another freshman standing there just outside the doorway to classroom that Jenny had just come out of. She was another werefox and had actually been fairly friendly with both Jenny and Harry before Yvette Smith's whole "rampage" went on. She'd also been the most apologetic to both for the fact that werefoxes were embarrassed by Yvette Smith's actions. Since then, they had continued to improve their friendship with this werevixen and assuring her that they were both fine with their present status.
"What is it?" Jenny asked.
"The Skulk will have one of its main meetings tomorrow night," she said slowly, "All Skulk members are required to attend..."
"But we just had the welcome meeting..." Jenny said slowly.
"Yes, but that was a special meeting and to let you meet your Den leaders and any other members that wanted to welcome you to the Skulk," their friend spoke, "This is one of the standard meetings we have over the course of the year. This is to determine plans for the Skulk's activities within Moon Lake. Some will relate to your wedding, as ALL of us have heard about it and are excited for you both... but there will also be things that relate it being Halloween and plans for what pranks and spooks will be done..."
"Spooks?" Jenny said nervously.
"Things like haunted houses, the Halloween Dance, trick or treat schedules, and so on," Harry commented, "it's events the Skulk either schedules or backs. And it does include a a lot of rules as to what sort of trickery will be tolerated and what will not."
Their friend nodded.
"It's pretty normal for Skulk meetings," she said, "and we all meet and even vote on things through our respective dens. In a way it's fun. It isn't super long... and food will be provided, so you don't need to worry about dinner."
"Okay..." Jenny said slowly, "Sophie... where... where do we have these meetings?"
"They're held in the same building and room where your welcome and induction into the Skulk was held," their friend, Sophie, replied, "They have big round tables set up in a sort of circle, one table for each den... though some of the larger dens have two tables or they're divided into two separate dens. They're things that the Skulk may also handle at these meetings. Akane Tachibana and the Skulk's royal family and other top members will handle all the new business, old business and the agenda. Each den then discusses the topic among themselves and then we vote on it as a whole, den by den. It works out quite well."
Jenny looked from Sophie and then to Harry. Both nodded. This would be a first time for Harry with regard to actually attending Skulk meetings, but having grown up in Moon Lake, he was well aware of the formalities the Skulk went through to do their part to contribute to Moon Lake. It might be something that was either not expected or added some of the other frustrations that were there for Harry and Jenny to worry about, but the meeting itself wasn't a problem and was simply another part of being part of Moon Lake.
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William, meanwhile, came into his office for a few moments after one of his classes ended. It wasn't much, but it was an effective space and often allowed him to get into many of his more time consuming tasks with regard to planning lectures and grading assignments, which at the college level were usually term papers or exams. Thankfully, since becoming a werefox, he'd found that he had all the energy he needed to handle the additional work in addition handling his own hobbies, being there for his sons, and tending to every need Martha might have for him. As he entered, he glanced over his desk and the wall behind it noting the pictures he had.
"I could stand to get those pictures updated," William thought to himself, "None of us really look like that any more... Nate sort looks like a champion wrestler now, Eric's eyes are now blue, and while Martha and I didn't put on as much muscle tone as Nate did... we're both far more toned than we look in these photos... It'd be nice to have some more updated photos. Maybe one with Eric and Julie... Nate and Alex... Maybe Martha with the Twists, as they have been good friends for her. They'd all be newer photos and would show that they were truly integrating into the community."
And in a very real way they were, and it meant a vast leap from where they'd been when they'd first moved to town. Back then, William knew that he and Martha had been unsure if they were wise to move to the town and Eric had been borderline fearful. Now, they were all weres and wouldn't go back even if they could. William found that he liked that and was easily settling into his work and other responsibilities, though at that exact moment he didn't have too much to deal with, though he did have have some late afternoon classes that he'd have to get to. He figured it easier to stay at the college rather than constantly going back and forth. It made more sense that way.
In this, William booted up his computer and figured he'd check his email before his next class, as he did have some time to spare. He watched the screen as he brought up his email. He was a bit surprised and even published when one of the messages in his college email inbox was from Julian Wyre. For the moment, he thought he recognized the name from the induction ceremony to the Skulk, but he didn't fully recall exactly who Julian Wyre was or whether or not he'd given him his college email address. Curiosity, however, was enough to get him to click on the email.
The email read: "I apologize for using your college email to deal with Skulk business, but I'm afraid we were not able to exchange personal emails and the college did have your college email listed in their directory online. As the leader of the Wood Street Den it is my duty to inform you that we are reaching the end of the month and the Skulk will be having its pre-Halloween meeting tomorrow evening at six PM. It will be in the same conference room/building where your formal induction ceremony was held. Attendance is mandatory for all full Skulk members. It is preferable that honorary members attend, but should they have either pressing business of their own or things of their own to do, that is fine, but an expressed reason will need to be provided. Diane and I look forward to seeing you there."
William remembered his first meeting with Akane no Tachibana and her listing when the Skulk's meetings were announced. They included from the start of a calendar year with meetings on Valentines Day, then the night before April Fool's Day, the night before Halloween, and New Year's Eve. In this, William figured that the induction ceremony was a special meeting and wasn't something that replaced their regular meeting. He figured the coming meeting would ultimately work with wedding planning as Jenny and Harry's wedding was the big thing coming up.