Richard paused his pace enough so that Rachel could keep up with him, noting that in his transformed state his now longer legs and feet made for a much larger stride and thus he could cover more ground at a faster pace than he might otherwise have in his normal human form. Things were fairly silent as the two of them walked toward the Van Direstag home, which easily came into view and with both noting that the back lings around the kitchen and the dining room, which probably meant that Rose might have either finished dinner or at least served it to Frank and Rob while waiting for him to track down Rachel.
"In future," Richard said softly, "it would be wiser to stick to the sidewalks. Even if you're headed to the hospital pharmacy... for any reason... it is safer and easier to stick to the main sidewalks. Going off into these woods... could have you interrupt a were that is doing something they'd rather not have interrupted and could well lead to you having an accident like what happened with me last night. Or worse... you could run into a mundane animal that won't be in a good mood because of all the were scents around Moon Lake, and thus attacks... as what happened with your mother last night."
"I know... but I didn't want to wait forever at that light at the center of town," Rachel admitted, "and I guess that I just thought there would be a short cut or something like that... and from there... I got lost."
"I can understand the reasoning," Richard answered, "and hopefully tonight would provide you with a lesson in that regard."
"On the getting lost part," Rachel admitted, "I agree."
There was still the sense to Richard that Rachel wanted to be a were, and if this bond between Rachel and Aaron no Tachibana was real, Rachel might HAVE to become a were, but for the moment that would be a conversation for later. At least until after explaining how things would be different given that Rose had become a were. He opened the door and could hear the hum from the oven and it was soon joined by Rose's voice calling out.
"Richard, is that you?" Rose's voice called out, "did you find Rachel?"
"I did," Richard answered, "She's fine... she just got lost on her way home."
Rachel followed along as Richard led her in from the back door and came into kitchen to have her jaw drop at the sight. Frank and Rob were standing by the doorway to the dining room on the north side of the kitchen, but checking something at the oven was her mother, Rose... or at least a woman that had Rose Van Direstag's face. The woman was taller, well-muscled for a human woman, with wide hips, and with a rather large bust line, and easily curvier than what Rachel knew her mother to be. But she had her mother's face and smiled briefly before frowning to Richard.
"I thought we'd handle this together," Rose said slowly as Richard walked across the kitchen to place his clothes on a clean open space on the counter and then setting his shoes down near the doorway to the living room.
"Frank, Rob, and Rachel all knew I'd become a werelion last night," Richard answered, "and in the course of following Rachel... I ultimately ran out of people who may have seen her. Thus after I left the hospital I took this form, as I could track her better in it."
"What were you doing at the hospital?!" Rose gasped looking over to Rachel, her eyes going wide.
"I wanted to... I wanted to see what their policy was regarding the were-birth control pill... particularly either werebear or werefox," Rachel answered, "they said the pharmacy was closed when I got there and that I'd need parental permission... and probably presence... to get them tomorrow. But... you... you..."
"Yes, I'm a were now," Rose managed weakly. A part of her didn't like the fact that it appeared that Rachel was wanting to become a were, though at the same time, she didn't feel she had that much room to complain as Rachel was at least thinking ahead about some of the potential consequences of that sort of decision. She didn't like the sexual connection to it, but then Rachel was actually trying to do what Rose, herself, had failed to do that morning. "I suppose you're surprised... since the last you'd heard about me was that I'd been attacked by a mundane Mountain Lion."
"Or Cougar... or Puma," Frank commented, "It’s the cat of a thousand names."
"The hospital didn't...?" Rachel asked as her mother looked over to Frank, as if not appreciating the joke.
"No," Rose answered, "they've got some policies that would likely limit who would even be considered for becoming a were being used as a medical treatment... that the bruised ribs I'd sustained would make it risky that the transformation would break those ribs and then kill me. My transformation... well... when your father picked me up, he was in clothing that technically fit, but was very tight on him and showed how much muscle he'd gained in his transformation. And well... that left me far more curious than I should have been... and in the course of which... I well... let us say that I had a wonderful time encouraging your father to bring the lioness out in me."
"You turned her?" Rachel asked to her father.
"I had a very hard time resisting... I tried to warn her... your mother put her mind to it and by the time we could recover," Richard answered, "Rose had transformed... and I'm thankful her transformation DIDN'T kill her."
"And you gave her her pill first, right?" Rachel asked remembering Melissa's instructions on what to do to become a were in order to avoid becoming pregnant. It probably didn't happen with every were, but from what Melissa and the friends she'd made at Moon Lake High had mentioned, it was quite possible for a human adjusting to the new hormonal patterns that relate to becoming a were would go into heat along with that transformation.
"I'd never picked up any pills," Richard answered slowly, "as at the time... I was too worried about Rose surviving the Mountain Lion attack and whether or not she'd forgive me for letting new instincts get the better of me to worry about the fact that if Rose and I stayed together after I became a were, Rose would HAVE to become a were as well..."
"And I'm afraid I rejected Shelia's offer to borrow one of her pills last night," Rose said weakly, which got Frank to blink a bit and left Rachel completely perplexed by the whole thing. Her parents, who always talked about responsibility, berated Rob for getting too forward with some girls he'd been interested in in Michigan, and had voiced nervousness about her getting involved with anyone essentially did the exact thing they said they never wanted her to do.
"And in this, Rachel," Richard spoke, "you at least went about this closer to the right way than how your mother and I went about it..."
"Though it will likely present you with a younger sibling," Rose commented, "as I did go into heat..."
Rachel didn't say anything for a moment.
"You're pregnant, mom?" Rob asked.
"It's too early to tell," Rose answered, "the hospital, for the moment, could really only test if I was generating the hormone or pheromone associated with a were in heat... which I am. Which means that it's probable that I already am on my way to being pregnant..."
"I can't believe all this..." Rachel said slowly.
"Yes... I know," Rose sighed, "neither Richard nor I were smart in how went about this and we let too many baser desires get in the way. But we can't change that now."
"I'd think you'd also forfeit any right to say no regarding Rob or I becoming weres in the future," Rachel commented, "now... admittedly, getting lost nearly lead me into trouble. But I didn’t get myself pregnant and the starting point for it was to get information on the were birth control pills."
"That will be a discussion for later," Richard spoke, "right now there are other issues..."
"Other issues?" Rob asked.
"Moon Lake has various prides of werelions already formed and they have their own "king..." though from the way he described it, it's more like a club president than any political figure," Richard commented, "and they largely help govern and maintain an assorted "culture" that they have here. Rose and I are still very new to all of this, particularly thanks to my response to the Mandatory Were Law. As such we have a fair amount of to learn on how to fit in with those existing prides. Until we've learned everything... I am to serve in "coalition" with another male werelion on the street... an Elijah Hunter. I'll essentially be learning the more ins and outs of being a male werelion from him and that will mean the werelionesses that are part of his pride may visit from time to time, or we're called to their pride meetings from time to time."
"Pride as in... one male and several females?" Rachel asked.
"A lone male can have as many as six," Richard said slowly, "though... as Rose and I learn, while we will have a pride of our own..."
"The numbers and members will be on what we agree to," Rose added, "right now the only one we'd give that offer to is the lioness that turned Richard... a Shelia Wiggleston..."
That made Frank blink as he remembered someone named Shelia stopping by the previous night.
"And will be someone that Richard and I can... well..." Rose managed to blush with embarrassment at having to explain this to her daughter and sons, but things had already moved fast and a part of her was more than looking forward to seeing Sheila again, "share."
"You're bi," Rachel blurted without thinking, though also wondering if this was why she might have been turned on by Megumi's other neighbors.
"Yes," Rose nodded, "it was never something I repressed... there had been some... experimentation while I was in college, but I never got all the way... and once I met your father... I was so in love with him that he was all I wanted. Though... after transforming... a part of me does want more and thus having Shelia and Richard now seems... right. It won't affect our marriage and we won't try to draw you into anything of our pride's activities... but it will mean there will be certain things that change. Do you understand?"
"Only if you accept my wish to be a were and my right to make that decision on WHEN that happens," Rachel countered, "as there is a boy I've met that I really like... and he's just... special. But he's also a were, so I'll need to become a were to be with him."
"So long as you get the appropriate pills first and that this boy isn't using you," Rose sighed, getting some sense that there might be more going on than she already knew about but also figuring that there wasn't going to be a way she could win.
"Deal," Rachel answered.
"Okay then... we'll now move on to dinner," Rose stated, "I've kept the dinner warm... so Richard if you wouldn't mind setting the table. And in the meantime... it will be best to also reveal the new me..."
Rachel blinked in surprise and watched while Richard set about retrieving dinner plates while Rose began to remove her own clothing. It was a surprise, but then looking at how big her father had grown to, and remembering watching Melissa's transformation, there was the confirmation that werelions were large enough in their fursonas that their normal clothes wouldn't fit them. Though it revealed far more of her mother than she thought she'd ever see or that her mother would be willing to show before Frank or Rob. This included not just the full swell of her now enlarged bosom, but how firm they were and balanced by well sculpted muscles creating a very athletic look. She then moved to place her clothing on top of her father's clothing.
Shortly after, her mother's form rapidly began to change. There were a few cracking sounds from her face and feet as her feet grew longer to let her take a digitigrade stance and as her face began to push forward into a leonine muzzle. Fur grew in at the same time. The fur on her head and face, around her gold/bronze eyes was a golden tan. The fur going over her breasts and belly a lighter shade than the rest of her fur, largely a more creamish tan color. Despite the sounds of "cracking bones," Rose seemed to be in no pain and even seemed to relish it as her ears moved to the top of her head and poked through her hair. She gave a soft "arrrrooooo" as her tail grew out behind her and she managed to bop Richard in the butt with it as she swayed the newly grown appendage.
"And this... this is my fursona," Rose said in a lower and deeper voice than normal and running one hand over a now slightly larger chest that there was a moment before, "a Barbary Werelion."
"Barbary?" Rachel asked.
"A lion that was native to northern Africa and went extinct in the wild in the 20th century," Rose answered, "some zoos MIGHT have Barbary Lions among their collections."
"So... you're an African Lion?" Rob wondered.
"While the Barbary Lion is FROM Africa," Rose answered, "genetic testing has indicated that it's actually more closely related to the Asiatic Lion, which your father's fursona is based on."
"But we are who were before all this happened," Richard then spoke as he moved behind Rose with a large plate of beef stew in both hands. Rachel noticed the serving size for one was much larger than before as he carried it past Rob and Frank and into the dinning room. "Some things will be different... and there may be some things that go on for us that are different, but our love for you is the same."
"And a lot of this was also to make sure that should there be some night where you come across your father or I while we're transformed... it won't startle you," Rose added as she then handed a plate to Rachel and then collected the last two and handed them to Rob and Frank.
"What about your ribs... Dad said last night the Mountain Lion left you with bruised ribs," Rachel asked.
"They feel a bit sore," Rose answered, "so I don't think I'll be volunteering for hunting lessons from Shelia or any of Elijah's lionesses for a day or two... but they actually felt a lot better after I first transformed than they did when I was let out of the hospital... and they feel better now. So, I'll be fine... now, let us have some dinner. As I'm sure it's already been a long day."