Peter Talbot awoke with a start.
He found himself in unfamiliar surroundings and instantly became alert, wary of any potential danger.
Then he saw his fiance Karen Yuletide curled up next to him, and both understanding and consciousness came to him.
They had fallen asleep on the bed in her mother's San Diego apartment, with Karen worried about her parent after the terrible auto accident Monica Yuletide was in earlier that night.
No. Last night, Peter corrected himself, seeing sunlight peeking through the drawn window curtains.
He had held her close to comfort her as they talked.
She wondered about having her mother join were society like Karen was supposed to do before the call that made them rush from Washington to California.
Peter had said no, explaining the reasons why in the process.*
Karen wasn't happy with the whys and wherefores, but she understood.
Or, at least, Peter hoped she understood.
Other than the fact that they had kicked off their shoes, both were still fully dressed.
A quick sniff revealed that she was still human.
Both were greatly looking forward to her initiation into were society, but Peter wanted it to be as romantically wonderful as possible, so turned down Karen's offer of sex last night because he loved her very much.
Becoming a were, let alone someone's mate, is a lifetime commitment. Karen already has my heart. Fully joining me in my life is something we both want, but not under the present circumstances.
Peter tenderly kissed the top of her blonde hair, then quietly pulled away from her.
Checking his cellphone, Peter discovered what time it was and remembered he promised to call home once they learned how her mother was.
Realizing he couldn't leave the bedroom to make the call because Monica's (surprise!) fiance Joanne Howard was asleep on the living room couch, Peter went to the far corner of the bedroom, sat down on the floor, and called Moon Lake.
Leon Talbot had not slept since awakening to greet Friday morning.
The werelion king of Moon Lake had not attended the Town council meeting last night, figuring it was just about normal business matters, but had been fielding calls from everyone under his "domain" as well as other friends, weres and normals alike, since the meeting ended.
The council had voted 4-3 to devise a plan to intentionally reveal were existence to the world before they were exposed.(*2) How and when were details that still needed to be worked out, but the basic idea seemed sound to Leon. To no longer hide and show regular humans that there was nothing to fear from weres before their existence was discovered by other means and their whole species was possibly cast in a bad light that might never be turned off until every last were was erased from the face of the earth.
We've lived in fear of discovery for so long. I can understand their concerns, Leon reminded himself when he first told his wife Regina why he was getting so many phone calls all of a sudden.
Yet the one phone call he was waiting for had yet to be received.
Leon sat in his kitchen. An over sized plush robe covering his feline were form.
He lost count of how many cups of coffee he had already consumed long after sending his wife to bed with a promise of waking her up when their only son called.
Leon's cellphone was sitting on the kitchen table, plugged into its charger, when the ring tone he had longed to hear sounded.
"Peter?" he said, answering the phone without any preamble.
"Hello father," Peter said, before explaining he had to keep his voice low because Karen was still asleep.
"Is she—" Leon began to ask, then stopped himself. He doubted Karen was now a were, but how the town council's decision would affect that was a question he never pondered before now.
"Karen is about as well as can be expected under the circumstances," replied Peter, before explaining about Monica Yuletide's injuries.
Both arms and legs broken. Cracked ribs and a punctured lung. Currently still in a medically induced coma because the possibility of head or brain trauma were still unknown.
"That's rough," Leon commented. With their better healing capabilities, a were could get through most of that in a matter of weeks, depending upon the head and brain status. But a normal human? "You tell Karen that although the two of you aren't actually married yet,(*3) she's family, so anything she needs..."
"I understand father. Thank you," said Peter. "We've met her mother's fiance too."
"OH?" said Leon, before being told everything Peter knew about Joanne Howard. "How did Karen take the news?" he asked. Leon had no opinion one way or another about who anyone dated or wed as long as they were happy and treated properly.
"Surprised and confused for a bit, considering how the two of them met because Karen had no knowledge of her before last night, but she and Joanne seem to be getting along well," replied Peter.
"Good." He had yet to meet either woman himself, but considering his opinion of Karen, Leon figured her mother to be a good person too. "Son, I'm only asking so I know when to make the arrangements, but do you have any idea when you and Karen will be coming home?"
"All I can say at the moment is that Karen wants to see her mother after Monica's regained consciousness, so Monday at the earliest, since the doctors won't consider reviving her before tomorrow."
"I see." Leon knew how good a student both his son and fiance were, so missing a day or two of college hopefully wouldn't hurt their grades in the long run. "Well, if any of you need anything, just let me know and I'll do the best I can to help out on my end."
"I know... dad," said Peter, deciding that this was not a time to be as formal as his father usually preferred them to be.
"Before you go, there is one thing I need you to do for me," said Leon.
"Oh? If it is within my power, all you have to do is ask," replied Peter, slipping back into formal mode as easily as if he had just assumed his werelion form again.
"If on the off chance you meet any of our... club members, have them give me a call," requested Leon.
Peter knew his father was referring to fellow weres, but "Do you mean any of our chapter?" he asked, meaning werelions specifically.
"ANY chapter," said Leon, figuring he needed to give any were the heads up about the town council decision.
"Is something wrong?" Peter asked, instantly concerned about such an unusual request.
"Nothing you need to worry about before returning home," Leon told him. "I love you."
Peter was shocked to hear this. Not that he didn't know how his father felt about him, but for Leon Talbot to be so directly sentimental with anyone other than his mother...
"I love you too dad," Peter replied, not knowing what else to say.
"You and Karen take care and keep in touch," said Leon, before they ended the call.
Peter sat quietly on the floor in the bedroom corner long after his phone call ended.
Not knowing what was going on, he texted one of his friends from school, wanting to know how things were in Moon Lake.
When the reply about the town council meeting came, Peter had his answers, but he didn't know what to do other than to honor his father's request and protect his family both at home and near him now to the best of his abilities.
Karen stirred in her sleep.
Peter looked up at the prone form draped the wrong way across her mother's bed.
With that, he got up and laid back by her side, just staring at the sleeping form of his fiance wondering what the future held for them.
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*In our past episode "A Frank Discussion".
*2) As revealed in recent episodes of this series and Moon Lake, Tad.
*3) The Yuletide-Talbot wedding is currently scheduled for Valentine's Day of next "year" from our character's perspective.—tmw.