"Sheriff Cooper, we need you back at the station, STAT!" came the urgent voice over his patrol car's radio.
"This is Cooper. I'm supposed to be on my way to an emergency meeting at—"
"But Sheriff, we have an emergency HERE!" said the deputy over the radio.
Moments later, Tachibana no Akane was being given the news.
"Do you need any assistance?" the werevixen senior member of the Elders' Council and the head of the Skulk asked over her cellphone.
"At the station? No. The longer... unnecessary personnel keep a low profile, the better. But I'll have to pull patrol cruisers off their regular routes to reorganize things at the station, so if some of your security force can help out keeping the rest of the town safe discretely, and we keep the CODE W active at least until Parker and his goons are in Federal custody and these vultures get the scent of a new story and leave town..." said Cooper.
"I'll see what I can do," promised Akane, glancing at the party before her. Her grandson Daisuke bowed and left to make a few phone calls in private.
"Same here. Cooper out," said the Sheriff, before hanging up.
"You heard?" asked Akane, hanging up her cellphone while looking up at her guests.
She had not moved from her spot, sitting in the center of her zen garden trying to find some peace, not that she was accomplishing it this night.
"Yes," said former Moon Lake Mayor Martin Stovall, now the were-mer representative on the Council. "Obviously Crawford's work, anonymously tipping off the media about Fredrick Parker's arrest."
"Agreed. Delays us from planning, let alone taking any action against him, while Crawford has a chance to strengthen whatever his position is," observed Evan Lawson, the co-head of security for Tachibana Enterprises. Both men had been at home with their respective wives and new children when the text messages were sent, so were the first to arrive at the Tachibana estate.
"Perhaps what this situation needs is a more permanent solution," suggested Kai Wu Wang, standing next to his grandfather and fellow white furred weretiger Far Houjin. "We could go back to Seattle and..."
"No!" said Evan, getting angry at Tachibana's guests but managing to keep his werewolf fursona in check. Since they were not standing on formal ceremony or Council procedures this night, so far only the white tigers and Akane were in their true forms. "We have absolutely no idea how Crawford actually plans to expose us if he does go through with his threat. For all we know, killing him could be the activation trigger. Besides, if you two do anything illegal and get caught, being Chinese citizens on extended diplomatic passports, your involvement could cause an International incident."
"That," said Tachibana no Akane, while finally standing up, "and the fact that no matter what we decide this night, the future of were kind is at stake, GLOBALLY. I had originally planned for the good Sheriff to be our legal adviser, since District Attorney Johnson might have to act upon anything he overheard here this night, but even if our decisions and actions wind up... skirting the law, I cannot condone nor will I support any suggestion of murder, no matter how noble the objective may seem. Understood?"
Those still around her simply either nodded affirmatively or said "Yes".
"Good. Now then. Leon Talbot is on his way and Mayor Twist should be here soon too. While I don't know at the moment how many more will be able to arrive before the top of the hour when I wanted to start this impromptu meeting, we must have a clear plan of action instead of reaction before we part company this night. Jack Crawford already has the upper hand, and I have no intention of letting him run amok against this town, let alone weres throughout the world."
AND IN SEATTLE...
"YES! YES! YES!" screamed Kenya Adaeze-Crawford, even as she felt her werepanther husband's barbed cock dive deeply into her ever hungry vagina once more.
From the moment they were alone and secured in their Seattle penthouse apartment suite, the couple had literally ripped off each other's clothing and assumed their fursonas, rutting like crazy in practically every room of their residence.
Now, having finally made it to the master bedroom and sexually sated, at least for the moment, Kenya laid in her husband's paws and said, "So, are we done with Moon Lake?"
"As in, will we ever actually go back there again? I honestly don't know," admitted Jack Crawford. "It will be nice to go back and celebrate our victory in style once that burg is in ruins, but that unfortunately will take time. However, that doesn't mean we ain't done making their lives miserable. Right now, Sheriff Cooper's probably got his paws full dealing with the media. Not that I have any love for Fredrick Parker and his ilk. Those mobsters can rot in hell for all I care. But at least it keeps both the law and the Elders out of our fur."
"So what's next?" wondered Kenya, even as she started feeling the fires igniting within her again.
"Tomorrow I'll call a few of my more... affluent associates and point out the advantages of establishing a quiet little estate in Moon Lake. After all, it's already home to multi-millionaires Benton Knight, Lance Knight, and Tachibana no Akane."
"But what good will that do?"
"All the people I intend to call are plain, everyday rich normals. If any of them do decide to establish a residence there, for tax purposes, vacation homes or whatever; what is the Mayor's office and the Council going to do? Reveal their secret and either enforce that stupid Mandatory Were Law* or have them sign some silly Non-Disclosure Agreement?"
"You devious little devil you," said Kenya with a smile, as she realized what her husband was up to. "But would you really expose were society? After all, there ARE a lot more of us in the world than just those who happen to live in Moon Lake."
"Weres in general I have no personal problem with," admitted Jack Crawford. "Some specifically, especially Benton Knight, I hate with a passion beyond belief. Any and all who befriend or support him are my enemy, including all of Moon Lake itself. I will not rest until he's dead, buried, and rotting in hell!" growled the angry werepanther.
"I'll do whatever I have to to get my way, and if there is any... collateral damage, oh well," he said, shrugging his furry shoulders while still laying on top of his wife. "There's a human expression about how you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet. Granted, revealing weres exist is one hell of an egg to crack, but I'm willing to keep that secret as long as Tachibana and the Council don't force my paws and allow me to do as I please to ruin them for giving Benton Knight shelter and support. If they don't cooperate, then I won't hesitate to spill the beans, because what good is making a threat if you're not prepared to carry it out? After all, I already have an exit strategy in place for us, so if the shit ever did hit the fan because of either them or something else, us and most of our assets would be out of the country and flying to a personal, remote refuge I set up years ago in a heartbeat."
"Oh you..." said Kenya, before kissing her husband.
Then, the next thing that Jack Crawford knew, he was suddenly laying beneath his wife as Kenya started riding his hard cock toward another orgasm.
Not that either of them were complaining...
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*Where one member of a newly arrived family must become a were to share in the town's secret for the security of all.—tmw.