The flight from California to Seattle was decent one and took some time, though thankfully things had been quiet for Karen Yuletide. It allowed her to think over the mountain of things that had happened since the start of the school year. She had come to Moon Lake College for the art program and some of the promises that "life" and "nature" were parts of the program and that was something that Karen had wanted. And the program seemed great, and she made friends with her roommate Jennifer Harper. The only "weird" thing was that Karen also had to sign a waiver that would prohibit mentioning anything "weird" about Moon Lake. It was odd, but at the time it was just a throw away thing that Karen paid little real attention to.
But then came a series of events. The first of this a crazy werefox clawing Jenny and turning her into a were, and then required the college to explain things a bit more on why the waiver was worded the way it was. It was a surprise and parts of it fed a long standing "fur fetish" that Karen had had, and partially why she'd gotten interested in animation as so many animated movies and shows that Karen had grown up watching. Later seeing her friend as a beautiful Werefox, with her fursona based on the Fennec Fox, and seeing her happy and bonded to the boyfriend she'd found in Moon Lake made Karen happy and their friendship remained. That had been good, and in a strange way, some of the more distracting elements of Karen's "fur fetish" decreased and then came one class where the assignment was a life drawing, which happened to be the man that now sat beside her on the plane, Peter Talbot. He'd come in and posed in both his normal human and werelion forms, and Karen found that striking.
There were some things that were a bit of a surprise and worrying on a personal level. Karen wasn't a biologist, but she knew that lions in nature lived in prides that often had one or two males mating with many more females and if werelions had a similar structure in their prides, there was the fear of not being loved. It pulled at some family memories which gave Karen an indication that her own father really didn't want the responsibility of parenthood, and Karen didn't want to be a "disposable girlfriend" among a harem of females, regardless of how good Peter looked. And in time as she and Peter started dating and she learned more about him as a person, the more she found him to be kind and loyal. Werelions did have a pride structure that generally did have one or two males with several females, but she also found that it wasn't something that was imposed by the male, and it could lead to real love. Karen had found that out in meeting Peter's family.
And the Talbot family wasn't just any group of werelions, Peter's father Leon was the "king" among all of Moon Lake's werelions and that he and his brothers, Tau, Jay, Rudy, Apio, Noah, and Adongo had brought some measure of peace and stability to the community. Karen assumed that there might have been some inter-pride rivalries, which was also something that just about any animal would have when it came to fights over territory. Balancing all that out had to be a major achievement for Leon and was probably why he was the werelion "king." And in meeting with Peter's family, Karen also sensed that there was real love between Leon and his wife, Regina, and that anything that was open in their marriage wasn't forced and it gave some indication to Karen on WHO Peter was as a person. He was the werelion prince but had been raised to be a good person.
And as Karen saw Peter a bit more, the more and more she came to love him. He did respond to her, and he did care for her, and while there was one werelioness, Elizabeth Brookshire, was jealous of her relationship with Peter, that wasn’t something that seemed to stop Peter from caring. It also ultimately revealed that Peter wasn’t entirely a fan of being treated as though he were a “royal.” Yes, his father was the werelion king, but the more Karen had been in Moon Lake the more it seemed that each were group was more like a social club and had no real political power over the town. Some of that also became obvious as had also described Liz as a bit of a “stuck up snob.” All of that further drew Karen to him and brought her efforts to see that Jenny’s marriage to Harry Jenkins went off without a hitch. Which then allowed for Peter to propose at Moon Lake's Halloween Dance, which Karen eagerly and happily accepted.
"Things will be okay," Peter said to her as they felt the plane's wheels touch the ground and the plane "bumped" a little as it landed and looked down to Karen and noting her deep in thought.
For Peter, many of these things were just as big for him as they were for Karen. Moon Lake generally was a bit of a surprise for normals that either weren't born in Moon Lake or grew up there, and thus learning about weres was always a surprise and learning about how werelion pride structures lead to fairly open marriages was another. And after being told on how Karen's father had abandoned her and her mother, Peter had the worry that Karen wouldn't take to it or to him because it was so new and different. But she was special in many ways that really made him want to be with her, and a lot of it came from the fact that she also saw him as a person and not as the "lion prince."
That was something that he loved, because it told him that Karen loved HIM and not his position. That was something that probably fueled a lot of Liz's jealousy as she did seem to want the position that would likely come from being with him, and that he didn't seem as big or as critical as the position did. But Karen loved him and that drew him more to her. It was something that also overjoyed Peter that she'd managed to overcome any and all issues she'd had with the rather openness of werelion marriages to then fit their pride structures and accepted his marriage proposal. Some of the planning was interrupted due to Liz's jealousy, but that was overcome and a few days ago, Peter had everything set up for a romantic weekend with Karen, to bring her into werelion society and show her just how much she meant to him personally. But then events outside of Washington got in the way.
"I know," Karen said slowly as she looked to Peter, and was a bit relieved by his smile, even if it was a forced one, "it's just that everything that's going on with my mom... and... I..."
She ended up sniffling a little bit before leaning into him. Peter accepted the hug and wrapped one arm around her. The plane was on the ground now and taxiing toward the gate, so he felt that the sitting upright thing wasn't completely necessary, and he tried to provide as much comfort as he could, which Karen also liked. It eased pressures on her that happened when word reached them that her mother had been in a bad car wreck in California. Apparently, a semi driver had had a major heart attack and rear-ended Karen's mother, Monica at highway speeds. Monica had survived the crash, but that had still in critical condition and that then brought Karen and Peter down to California to check on her mother and in a way that she didn't want to introduce Peter to her. Karen's plan was that she and Peter would go down for Thanksgiving they could meet on friendly and cordial terms.
But it happened and Peter and Karen were soon flying down to San Diego to visit her mother and that presented its own surprises. When they arrived, they found a lone red headed woman sitting in the waiting area for the ICU, whom they found out was Joanne Howard, one of Monica's coworkers and her fiancé as well. It'd been a massive surprise to Karen, as much of her memories, particularly after her parents divorced had largely been limited to just her and her mother. Karen might have had her moments of interest at times, but she'd never thought her mother did, though the relationship might have started purely as a professional one but grew into something more. Karen also reasoned that things like "sexuality" were not easy to talk about with, as it would be rather rare for mothers and daughters to then talk about their sexual partners and interests. That then allowed Karen to then get to know Joanne.
But seeing Monica Yuletide weak and helpless had still been painful for Karen. It made Karen also feel desperate and jumping to the idea that maybe becoming a were would heal those injuries. What then hurt more was that Peter told her that given Monica's condition, trying something like that might kill her in the process. It only made Karen worry, as medical care was expensive and insurance companies did their best to minimize what they paid hospitals for treatment. Though, as they'd had their first conversations with the hospital staff, it was actually mentioned that some had called in to cover practically all of Monica Yuletide's medical bills, but left no name and for some reason the hospital couldn't share the bank account information that was provided for payment. And since no billing was ever mentioned again by the hospital, Karen could only assume that the account was real.
"I know," Peter comforted her, "but she made it through and survived. That's good, and hospital looks like they're equipped to care for her and that's a good thing. And Joanne... well, she seems stronger than she gives herself credit for."
That had related to some of the other issues that had surrounded Karen's concern for her mother, and one Peter understood. If any member of his family were in great pain, there was a lot that might consider doing to help them and the ability weres had to recover from injuries that might be far more dangerous to normal people was something that could lure people into thinking becoming a were would be a cure for any injury or dangerous situation. But that wasn't necessarily smart or true, and Peter had to provide some measure of calm and some rational presence. This ultimately included some points that would relate to when Karen became a werelioness and how even her normal human form would change as a result of that transformation and something that they would have to address with Monica Yuletide at some point anyway.
Joanne had overheard that discussion, or at least parts of it, and then did what one would expect from a loving parent, even if Joanne might only be in line to be Karen's stepmother. She dug deep and did research trying to find something that would indicate the kind of changes that Karen might go through. It led to a confrontation before they could leave California which in turn lead to Peter having to show that he was a werelion and that any changes that would come to Karen weren't dangerous or wrong. It was something that Moon Lake, and weres often feared, that exposure would create panic, hatred, and violence, often echoing stories that dated back to the Middle Ages on how normal humans following "church orders" hunted weres without mercy for the actions of the occasional rogue. But Joanne was clearly worried and clearly trying to protect Karen, and so, Peter accepted that risk.
And ultimately, Joanne responded fairly well and showed no signs of hostility, particularly as Peter better explained things. That came as a relief to Peter, and he trusted Joanne when she said she wouldn't share any secrets with the outside world. It also presented some image of hope that old were fears might not be as bad as often imagined. Peter couldn't say that everything would be rosy, but Joanne's response was enough to give some indication that to a great degree, humanity might not be as anti-were as was often feared. That seemed like a good thing, as Peter had also gotten a call from his father when he and Karen had first landed in California that seemed to give some indication that something related to the were secret had gone on in Moon Lake while they were away.
"And besides, your mom did say she wants you to complete your education," Peter tried to offer some encouragement that would keep Karen going and focused, knowing that being told her mother had been badly injured in a car wreck had been emotionally trying.
"Yeah," Karen managed a weak smile as the plane finally docked at the gate and they were allowed to stand up, "and you'll be there?"
"For you? Always," Peter vowed, "we'll get through this and everything will be fine."
"So... how will we get back?" Karen wondered, "everything rushed so fast after the call came in that mom was hurt... I don't think that you brought your car."
"No," Peter nodded, "the "guards" making sure that Liz didn't pull any more stunts drove us down. My dad should be picking us up." He then silently thought, "and that might let us then catch up on what's been going on in Moon Lake."
Karen nodded at that, though her thoughts also drifted to wondering on how Jenny was doing.