Richard Van Direstag was in a massive hurry as he dressed and raced down the stairs of the home that he and his family had moved into. It was a move and situation that had come with certain needs and craziness that went along with it. He'd run a relatively successful sporting goods store in Ann Arbor, Michigan, often selling apparel for the University of Michigan, but things like bats, balls, hoops, rims, and even some exercise and gym equipment were also part of what he and his wife sold. They did rather well and employed a decent staff to help them carry the work-load, but as their oldest son, Frank, went through High School, it became clear that he wasn't going to get an academic or athletic scholarship and thus they would be facing some uphill battles in furthering his education.
That was what triggered the move to Moon Lake, as the college had been the only one to offer Frank a scholarship and was rather affordable, something Richard knew he'd need with his daughter, Rachel, and younger son, Rob, not that far behind Frank. With colleges being expensive, Richard had to find a way to stay ahead, but staying in Ann Arbor and letting Frank commute to and from Moon Lake for college wouldn't work, and so he'd decided on a major move and gamble. The family would move to Moon Lake, Frank wouldn't have to go as far to get to the college and Richard and Rose could start up again, or at least work with anyone that was already selling sporting equipment in Moon Lake... or even commuting to Seattle during the day if need be. They handed off the ownership of their old store to one of their managers in Ann Arbor and set about the move.
But that brought with it its own complexities and Richard knew this as he reached the minivan that the Van Direstags owned. For they found that Moon Lake was a secret refuge for weres and things like their Mandatory Were Law troubled Richard greatly, as he didn't want something that would hurt his marriage or hurt his family. The space of the last twenty four hours then threw that for a bigger loop as Richard had become a werelion by accident, Rose got attacked by a Mountain Lion, and then after picking Rose up from the hospital, she had gotten rather curious about the new him and that lead to him transforming Rose into a werelioness. It was like a series of accidents that overwhelmed him. A part of him was happy that Rose was happy and willing to join him, particularly after the fears of hurting their marriage the previous night, but it had also taken up time.
For he'd gone with Frank to the college at around 8 AM to handle transferring Frank from online to in person classes. That was done pretty quickly, and Richard expected to then handle some of the other responsibilities that came out of his change into a werelion to protect his family from the Mandatory Were Law and the consequences that came out of his change. This would include talking with Samantha Twist, again, and getting in touch with a werelion named "Talbot" who appeared to be the town's werelion "king," which Richard felt was probably more of an honorary and non-political title. There would also be the need to get cloths that would fit the new him, as even in his human form, things that fit him before were rather tight now and barely covered him. But picking up Rose came first and Richard had promised to be back for Frank in about an hour. And as he turned the key in the ignition on the steering column, Richard could see that it was now 12:13 PM, more than three hours since he and Frank had arrived at the college, and now the responsibilities regarding clothing and their place would not just be with Richard but with Rose as well. Though picking up Frank was the first priority now.
And as such, Richard was quick to drive down the circling road and eventually turning down to head toward the college, and hoping that Frank wasn't too frustrated with him over being so late in picking him up. There would then be the question on explaining Rose's transformation to Frank, and that would likely come quickly as he pulled into the parking lot outside the administration building. He could see Frank seated on the steps that went into the building with a large box beside him. Right now the lid had been removed and Frank was looking through one of the books that had likely been taken from the box. That let Richard sigh as he pulled in to one parking space as he noticed that Frank had noticed him, placed the book in the box, put the lid back on, and then came his way with the box. He arrived and opened the back sliding door and placed box on the floor of the minivan.
"Hey, dad," Frank spoke as he set the box down, "everything go okay at the hospital? No complications with mom or anything?"
"No, your mother was fine and was ready to be released when I arrived there," Richard answered weakly, "which is good... though I'm afraid that there was some distractions after I got her home... that's why I was late getting back here."
"Distractions?" Frank wondered. He was at a loss as to what those distractions could be. After all, his father had told him that Rose had been attacked by a Mountain Lion the previous night and had wounds and lacerations to the arms, head, and ankle along with some bruised ribs. Richard had saved her in his werelion form, but had only arrived after the attack had begun. To Frank, that would mean that his mother wouldn't have much interest in much besides resting. Even if she was discharged from the hospital and could move, it'd be more desirous to rest, particularly while his parents hadn't gotten their sporting goods store set up again, yet.
Richard recognized that Frank had caught him, and while Frank shut the sliding door and then moved to climb into the front passenger seat, he decided to be as open as he could. He wouldn't reveal anything lewd in it, as Frank, Rachel, and Rob would have to understand that Rose was a werelion as well as him, but that didn't necessarily make it easy. As the further he got from Rose being "curious" about his human form and then leading into her transformation, the more he recognized how wild it was and in some ways how spontaneous it was. He and Rose weren't old enough that sex was out of the question for them, but with three teenage children, one now eighteen and in his first year in college, a lot of the teen drama was such that the two of them weren't as active as they were in the period before Frank was born until a while after Rob was born. But that didn't make things easier with the fact that Rose had gotten curious and he'd eagerly accepted that curiosity. That couldn't be hidden.
"Well... picking her up went well, and I was taking her home and then thinking the things I'd need to next," Richard began, "Finding the city administration building and letting them know that our family has its family were... thus you, Rachel, and Rob won't HAVE to become weres... not to mention going into the Target that we passed on the way into town when we first arrived to get clothing that would fit me... or at least fit the new me, anyway."
"Well, I can't say about Rob, but Rachel might be curious about being a were, I think," Frank commented, "and if all you were doing was planning things out handling our family's compliance with the city rules and over where to go to get clothing that would fit you... that shouldn't take too long to do. After all, you said you'd only be about an hour..."
Richard again sighed at that and moved to answer a multifaceted question. He chose to start with the family relations as he began driving back up toward the Van Direstag home. "Well, if you want to become a were, I will have to leave that up to you. As you are eighteen and a legal adult. But because this change requires a certain amount of... sex in it... I would put my foot down that Rachel and Rob wait until their adults. That way they know more about all the consequences that comes along with this. Not just in the details of how weres can turn normal humans... but in the fact that there is no going back afterward. Once one becomes a were, they can't go back... regardless of if they want to."
Frank noted that his father's voice faded a bit at the end and guessed that most of this was going over what had happened to him in the previous day. Frank had no great personal desire to become a were, but he was a bit open into learning more, which at first had been more about learning about why Moon Lake's weres believed in this Mandatory Were Law and so on. His father, however, had been openly against it, which created some sense of frustration in his mother Rose, who had shared that frustration with Frank. That in turn lead to an argument in which Richard and Rose had been arguing over whether or not to stay in Moon Lake and ultimately with Rose questioning Richard's masculinity and leading him into the woods where Richard ended up becoming a werelion and Rose was attacked by a Mountain Lion. Frank knew his father had his "stubborn" streak and his pride at times, but he also knew that his father was a kind and loving man and as such would still feel guilty over being responsible for Rose's injuries, and possibly that he'd become a were as a result of it as well.
"The other part only comes into play when I got your mother home," Richard then continued his voice picking up its strength again and doing his best to keep his eyes on the road as they drove across main street, "I helped her up to our bedroom and she asked me to stay with her for a few moments..." His voice began to sound more embarrassed as he continued. "And well, your mother was a bit curious about me as I am now..."
"She had you transform?" Frank wondered, as he knew that his father had become a werelion, but the full details of that weren't known and thus he didn't know that Rose had watched Richard's first transformation.
"Well... that can be part of it," Richard managed as he pulled into the driveway of the Van Direstag home, "It's more that she was interested in ME in a more... personal way... and that... well, we kind of got involved and..."
"You transformed her," Frank surmised with a small smirk forming on his lips.
"I love her, and she caught me by surprise at first and by the time I began to recognize what might happen... it did happen," Richard answered as he got out and while Frank got out and then turned to the sliding door, "and well... when that started, I had to complete her transformation, which she thankfully made it through without any real difficulty. The only thing there would be more in line with things I need now..."
"New clothes?" Frank chuckled as he shut the sliding door and picked his box of books up from the ground. and began to follow his father up toward the front door of the Van Direstag home.
"Well there is that," Richard managed, "as my clothes now... they feel tight... and NOT in a good way, but it's better than going naked, and your mother said weres can't be outside and transformed during the day... Your mother will need new clothes that will fit her too. And the Target here won't be too pricy. But there are other things."
"Like what?" Frank wondered, "I mean... with you a werelion... and mom too... I'd think the Mandatory Were Law won't be an issue."
"It won't, but I'd suspect we'd probably still have to let the city know we've become our family's weres so that they don't think that their law, however dumb it is, is being broken," Richard spoke, "which will mean finding their City Hall. I'd assume that's where their Samantha Twist works."
"I could probably find that out online," Frank offered as his father opened the door and ushered Frank into the living room, "that shouldn't be too much."
"There will also be some "werelion business" to handle," Richard said slowly, "it would appear that all the various were groups have their own social click or club that they get into. Something informal but part of local culture, I think. The werelioness who turned me told me something about it last night... They have a "king" by the name of Talbot, which I'd guess is a more honorary title than actual political rank here, and that I'd need to report to him to at least say that I'm not out to take his throne or challenge him for it."
"Are you?" Frank teased a bit.
"NO," Richard said firmly and then relaxed a little, "I've put my foot in my mouth a bit too much over this already. It's partially what lead me into becoming a werelion to begin with. The last thing I need to do is pick a fight with someone of years of experience on me. It should be to just let him know that Rose and I are happy to join the overall pride for Moon Lake and would settle into our own little section here away from most of the others and stay out of their way. Particularly while we're still learning the culture of werelions in the area. See what we can bring in and so on. And that'll mean being in coalition with an Elijah Hunter... he was a male werelion that helped me get in contact with the ambulance service last night to help your mother. I can learn the ins and outs from him... your mother when she's fully recovered from her injuries can learn to hunt from Sheila and the other werelionesses of the part of the pride we'll be assigned to... and learn the culture from there."
"Coalition?" Frank wondered as he turned to watch his father shut the door.
"Sort of like a mundane lion pride," Richard answered, "when a pride has multiple males... those males are in a coalition to defend that pride from danger. And for the moment while your mother and I learning about werelion culture here and how we'll be expected to do as werelions here... that sort of thing would be necessary."
"I see," Frank said slowly, "well... I'll place my books in my room and check with the laptop for the address of Moon Lake's City Hall... I don't think it's too far from here. More toward the center of town, but not too far. Let me know when you have mom ready to go out and we can go from there."