{{FRIENDLY REMINDER: Earth 2 has a totally different continuity than all the Earth 1 based Moon Lake stories.—tmw.}}
The Anderson family had gathered for dinner.
Out of respect for their sons' healing injuries, neither William nor Martha Anderson had assumed their werefox fursonsas for the night yet. There would be plenty of time for that and the "fun" they would have later, when fox and vixen privately expressed the love they had for one another more intimately.
Nate Anderson sat and ate his share of the pot roast.
The werewolf could not go furry until his inner ear healed, but when the time came, not only did he plan to give his fiance Jean Talbot a rutting the likes of which the werelioness never had before, but if Nate happened to run into the men who attacked him or their boss alone...
Well, Nate planned to dispense some lupine justice as only he could.
Eric Anderson sat in silence like the rest of his family as he ate.
He could feel the sensations of his ladies, Frieda Knight and Spencer Lawson, through the special empathic link they shared.
They had both assumed their fursonas for the moment, and his inner werepanther longed to be with them, but Eric sensed that while both ladies longed for him and for some intimacy between just the two of them as well, that had yet to happen.
Of course, it didn't make the bulge straining inside his pants any easier to deal with.
"How was your day Nate?" his mother asked, breaking the silence.
"Fine. Lot of homework, but I'm tackling it," was her oldest son's reply.
"Eric, how—"
But then Martha Anderson stopped herself in mid-sentence and angrily threw her fork down on the table.
"Damn it. I can't do this!" she yelled, turning to look at her husband.
"What's wrong?" William asked to be polite, but already sensed what the problem was, even without the special vulpine life/soul mate bond he shared with her.
"First Nate. Now Eric. I know as weres both are healing faster than a regular human, but how could that bastard dare lay a hand on any student, let alone my child?" Martha demanded to know, pointing to the bandaged nose on Eric's face.
"Jeff Wilson struck out in anger at his secret being exposed mom," Eric said calmly. "I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Yeah," agreed Nate. "If I was in his shoes, and someone found out that I had been teaching since the end of World War 2 without the proper accreditations, I'd be upset too."
"Upset is one thing. That..." Martha began, still staring at her youngest child.
"I know dear," said William, putting a comforting arm around his wife. "But Jeff Wilson is in jail now. The high school, the school district, and us are all pressing charges. That werepig will get what he deserves."
"Although, considering the smug superior attitude he displayed in the short time I knew him, I doubt it will ever cure him of it," said Eric, to which Nate started laughing.
All eyes turned to stare at him now.
"What? Werepig. Cure. It was a joke, right?" Nate asked defensively.
"Not intentionally," replied Eric, as a small smile briefly crossed his face.
"Well, all I know is that in all my years of teaching, I've never even thought about laying a hand on one of my students, let alone doing something as reprehensible as that," said Martha.
"Because you're a much better teacher than he is," Eric said proudly. "If it wasn't for the rules about parents and students, I would have been proud to be your student when I was back in elementary school," he added, recalling that the local school district back in Minnesota went out of their way to make sure Eric's school day schedule never coincided with his mother's; even when he wasn't in her grade level.
"Thank you son," Martha replied, displaying the first smile she had since coming home that evening and discovering what happened. "But I've lost my appetite," she added, pushing her plate away.
"Not even for desert?" William whispered in her ear.
"What did you have in mind?" she whispered in return.
William simply smiled.
Their children, being weres too, heard the whispers and simply smiled at each other, knowing what would be on their parents' agenda later.
"Well, I do need to keep my strength up," realized Martha, pulling her plate back toward her.
William smiled at his wife as everyone resumed eating dinner.