After a wonderful “encore” to celebrate obtaining a fursona, the newest weretigress of Moon Lake sat down against a tree and admired her new self.
Karen Charleston examined everything she could see with either her new feline eyes or by the touch of her now paw-hands.
She admired her stripe pattern and the silkiness of her new tiger fur.
Feeling her new tail twitch, let alone its thickness within her grasp, gave Karen a greater sense of self much better than anything she possessed before Marcus Gamboni proclaimed her “his” and started harassing the Charlestons to obtain the woman he lusted after.
Fellow weretigers Rich and Olivia* were on either side of the new inductee to were society. They simply sat and smiled at each other as Karen raised first one now more muscular leg and then the other, flexing it this way and that, and even wiggling her toes.
"So, how do you feel?" Rich asked, finally breaking the silence.
Karen turned her head to look at him, and then looked at Olivia before answering.
"How do I feel?" she said, repeating the question. Then a smile crossed her new muzzle as Karen said, "I feel grrrreat!"
Olivia looked at Rich and said, "You owe me $5," to Rich just simply shrugged his furry shoulders.
"What do you mean?" Karen asked her.
"A lot of new tiger inductees who grew up with the commercials somehow always manage to use that line from Tony the Tiger within the first hour or so after their first transformation, but Rich bet me that, as smart as you seemed to him, you wouldn't."
"Oh. I'm sorry Rich," Karen said apologetically.
"It's okay," he replied.
"No, it's not," she answered, shaking her head negatively. "Besides, if I had handled things better, I wouldn't of have to sneak off behind my parents backs to cover my tracks the way I did," conceded Karen.**
"The important things are that you are now who you were meant to be, and that you're happy," Olivia explained to her.
"That I am," Karen agreed, flashing them both another smile. "Thank you," she said to Rich, before giving him a kiss on his furry cheek.
Then she turned to Olivia. "I'm sorry that I'm currently not, and I never may be into women."
"Don't be. It's not for every woman," said Olivia. "I have never forced myself upon anyone unwilling, but there are times when a female's softer touch is better than a man's harder one. So if you ever do wonder about it..."
If she wasn't now furry, Karen would swear she was blushing. Can weres even do that when they're furry? she idly wondered, before continuing what she wanted to say. "I do thank you for being there for me this evening Olivia, and I hope I can always count on you as my friend."
"I'd be upset if you didn't," answered Olivia, before giving her fellow weretigress a hug. "Now then," she added, reaching behind her for her cellphone that she had placed beside the tree trunk when Rich finally arrived to help Karen's transition into were society. "It's not even 7 yet. So we've plenty of time to discuss all the rules, whys and wherefores of not only being a were in general, but a weretiger specifically."
"Okay," replied Karen, eager to hear what her new friends had to say.
MEANWHILE...
Moe Charleston awoke naked, but happy.
He and his wife Nichole had another frenetic, but superb love making session after their latest discussion on which were to join were society as, provided they did follow in their daughter's footsteps.
I don't know if it's just something about Moon Lake itself, or the fact that soon our Gamboni problem will be over, but I haven't had this much sexual fun with Nichole in months! he thought happily.
But his mood quickly changed when Moe realized that his wife wasn't in bed with him after all!
A quick look around revealed a shadowy figure standing by the bedroom window, looking out the unlit room into the darkness of the night.
"Honey?" Moe said, getting out of bed to approach the figure.
"Do you think she's done it?" was Nichole's only response, still staring out the window. "Do you think she's a weretigress now? Is Karen even still our daughter?"
"Oh, Nichole," said Moe, coming up from behind her to embrace his wife. "Of course Karen's still our daughter. She'll just be... different than she was before we saw her last, that's all," he added, trying to reassure her. "Besides, that guide book said that new inductees to were society are still the same person they were before they joined. They'll just be taller and more..."
Then his voice trailed off, uncertain how to explain that in either of her new forms, their daughter would be coming home with greater physical enhancements, more buxom and beautiful than whenever she left Tara Strange's cabin.
"I know," said Nichole, almost tearfully, as she turned to lay her head against Moe's chest. "But any parent, let alone any mother, will tell you that no matter how much they grow up, their children will still be theirs to love and worry about."
"I know," said Moe. "Don't worry about Karen. She has a good head on her shoulders," although they'll be furry the next time we see her.
"There's one thing I don't get," said Karen after listening to Rich and Olivia cover everything they knew about were society and weretiger-ness.
"What? The instincts part?" asked Olivia. "Granted, its arrival is more gradual for naturally born weres, but by dawn you'll know every natural point of being both a were and a tigress as if you've done so your whole life."
"No. I mean, why do we hide as much as we do?" asked Karen. "Not that I intend to disobey the rules, because then I'd be putting the safety of every were at risk," she realized. "But why hide to begin with? Being a were feels wonderful," she said happily, hugging her new furry self. "Why can't we be who we are 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year round? I don't get it."
"You're not the only one," conceded Rich. "But this has been the way things are for centuries. Stop and think about how the world is nowadays, and unfortunately it shows no signs of getting better in the long term any time soon. Man has raged violence against man over basic material goods such as food and shelter; let alone theology, nationalistic causes. Even just because the color of someone else's skin might be different from their own. There are those among regular humans who would love to join were society and become anthropomorphic animal beings too, but how the world's general population would react upon finding out we exist remains unknown."
"Besides, despite the hunting instincts some of us possess, we weres prefer peace whenever possible, and discretion IS the better part of valor," added Olivia. "Why risk exposure when we can just live our lives amongst normals without raising their suspicions?"
"Well, I may not have been a were as long as you two, but considering my dealings with the Gambonis, I'm tired of running," declared Karen, suddenly standing up. "I'm proud to be a weretigress!" she shouted, before giving out a mighty roar. "This is what I've wanted my whole life, and I intend to live my new were existence happily to the fullest!"
"And you can," said Rich, as he and Olivia stood up. "Between dusk and dawn, you can be furry out and about, except around the motel and The Local Diner. Remember?"
"You can be furry anytime whenever you're someplace private, and there are even special events throughout the year where the town allows weres to display their fursonas during the day too," Olivia reminded her.
"Sorry guys. Guess I just got caught up in all the excitement of my new existence," said Karen, apologetically.
"That's okay. It's the euphoric rush all new inductees experience their first time," explained Rich.
"Now, what say we take you home?" asked Olivia.
"What? It's not that late, is it?" Karen asked in return.
"No. It's not," replied Olivia, after checking her cellphone again. "I just thought you'd might like to drop off your clothes on Tara Strange's back porch, and then we can go for a prowl and put your new fursona through its paces."
"Yeah," agreed Karen, smiling because she was already anticipating the thrill of the wind against her fur as she ran through the woods, her tail swishing proudly behind her with every step.
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*Who still have yet to be given surnames.
**As seen in previous/recent episodes of this story.—tmw.