Some of Kibibi's friends came running up to congratulate and admire hir. "Wow, Kibs!" one of them chirped. "That was amazing! I really thought Enzi had you for a second, then all of a sudden, you're on top and hir nuts are flying off like a scared buzzard!"
Kibibi smiled as she drank in the praise. "It's all in the reflexes, Asanti. Shi may be stronger than me, but I'm a hell of a lot faster and more in control of my body. Heh, maybe someday I'll teach you." She looked flirtatiously into Asanti's dark, smoky eyes. "I know ALL the moves." The two shared a messy kiss before Kibibi spotted Alpha Zuri and broke it. "Damn, it's Sire! Shi looks like shi wants me; gotta go!"
Asanti nodded sadly. "Okay. See ya later Kibs."
Kibibi can bound over to Zuri. "Yeah?"
Zuri frowned. "You will be respectful to me. As your alpha, I command you rephrase that."
Kibibi sighed. "Fine. How can I help you, Sire?"
"Better," Zuri said. "Just remember that I am not only your sire but your alpha. I saw what you did to Enzi out there."
"I showed hir that the Mwangi family alone rules this pack," said Kibibi. "We accept no challengers to the alphaship of OUR pack."
Zuri crossed hir arms, squeezing her lower pair of breasts against hirself. "You castrated hir, Kibibi! You cut off hir nuts! Do you realize the seriousness of cutting off a herm's sack? To take away hir potency? Enzi may as well be female now! All hir virility has been taken from hir in the blink of an eye. Such a fate is generally only reserved for traitors to the pack. In all my years, I've never seen anyone use deal out such harsh justice to a mere proving ground challenger!"
Kibibi hung hir head in shame, and hir tail slipped between hir thighs. "You're right, Sire. I let the scrap go to my head again. It's just so hard to think clearly when the bloodlust gets your heart pumpin', you know? I'll try to do better next time."
"Next time?" Zuri scoffed. "It's too late after the first time. Enzi isn't just going to let the loss of hir stones go. Shi'll always remember who did that to hir, who denied hir the chance to be the dominant mate. Shi will come for you, and then you will duel to the death."
"Fuck..." said a startled Kibibi. "I don't wanna kill a pack member, but I don't wanna die either. Ugh, you're wise, Sire, how do I get outta this shitshow?"
"Fortunately," said Zuri, "I was on my way to tell you something to you when I witnessed that blunder. I think it may save you from Round Two if you cooperate."
"Anything," said Kibibi. "Anything to avoid having to kill Enzi."
"It's like this," said Zuri. "There's a new Werehyena pack up in Stokerville, Washington. It was founded by Selena Lyall, a wolfborn who wanted to experience her first shift like her full werewolf sisters, so she bought a magic tool from a witch to transform hirself into a werehyena, as well as another that allows hir to change others. Shi's forming a werehyena pack up there, and she wants advice from Kweli and me. I intend to give hir that, as well as a new member to bolster her budding pack: you. You've never been entirely happy with how we do things in this pack, right?"
"Damn straight!" Kibibi agreed. "You just run it so... so passive! Remember how we were driven out of our old territory in Africa. The werelions kept pressing in on our turf, and we never took the fight to them! That one werelion alpha would've killed you if Morgana Faye hadn't been in Kenya looking for exotic spell ingredients!" Kibibi grunted in disgust. "And now some of the smaller werelion prides are following us to Oklahoma, pushed outta Africa by the bigger prides. History could fucking repeat, and you have us sitting her holding hunts and tribal dances like nothing's wrong?!"
"We are a peaceful pack," said Zuri. "But that will never be your style. The spirits of bloodlust and the hunt walk with you, nurturing your courage... and your anger. You must learn how to control it, but you must not suppress it. It would serve your spiritual journey best if you joined a different pack or started your own."
Kibibi's eyes lit up. "I've been wanting to explore for years, Sire! This is great! Don't worry, I'll make short work of that wolfborn 'alpha' who's playing at being a werehyena! Only a TRUE werehyena should lead a pack, not some human who got lucky."
Zuri's eyes narrowed sternly. "You will most certainly NOT! I only wish to help Selena. I have faith that you will make a fine beta or chief hunter, but I insist you be a loyal pack member and accept Selena as your alpha without question. Offer hir advice and aid, but do not topple hir! And I promise you that I WILL find out if you do, and I'll be pissed."
Kibibi sighed, knowing a pissed Zuri was a terrible thing to behold. "Fine, I'll let hir stay as alpha, but I might not always listen to hir."
Zuri nodded grudgingly. "Very well. That's not much different from your behavior in my pack. Selena's in for quite a handful, but I think shi could use a fiery soul like you."
"How so?" asked Kibibi.
"Hir birth pack, the werewolves live in town," said Zuri. "You more than any of us are aware that werebeast packs are highly territorial. What's worse, the werewolves are Selena's family, and many of them will no doubt see hir as a deserter. Selena being young and untested, war is a distinct possibility, and werebeasts like you were created for times of war."
Kibibi nodded hir head. "It'd be an honor to defend hir pack, Sire."
"Good," said Zuri. "There's also another, much lesser threat. Actually threat's much too strong a word. 'Nuisance' would be more accurate. You see, a skulk of werefoxes have camped in Stokerville, and I think they need to be encouraged to move on before they get themselves into too much trouble."
Kibibi winced. "Ugh, I hate those fuckers! When they aren't stealing shit or playing stupid pranks, they're fucking their way through town, leaving a trail of heartbreak and teen pregnancies behind them! Remember those assholes who tried to crash with us? Stole half our food and got Asanti's sister preggers."
"I remember," said Zuri. "That was nine years ago, wasn't it? Poor Amani, shi was much too young to be having hir first pregnancy, and without a mate to help hir. At least Asanti's tried to be a good aunt to little Asha. Hmm, I wonder what will happen when Asha has her first shift in a few years?"
"You mean will she be a werehyena or a werevixen?" asked Kibibi. "Moon, I sure hope she isn't a werevixen! It'd honestly be better if she never shifted and turned out to be a hyenaborn."
"Agreed," said Zuri. "I'm glad you're as excited about this opportunity for you as I am. I think you'll enjoy Stokerville. It's pretty rainy, but it's a great place to meet magicals... and girls."
"Meaning?" asked Kibibi.
"A strong majority of the town's under-thirty female population is lesbian," answered Zuri. "We think it has something to do with Clan von Karnstein being settled in Stokerville for over a century. I've heard tell of similar things happening when a gay vampire patriarch settled his clan into a Greek fishing village called Drakonisi. For the next few generations, more and more of the town's male births grew up to be bisexual or sometimes gay. Soon, more men of the village were bi than not.
"As still more generations passed, the percentage of gay births surged, overtaking the straights and even the bisexuals. Then a funny thing happened about forty years ago. Some hunters infiltrated the clan's lair and staked every single vamp, including the patriarch. After that, heterosexuality returned to its former dominance. Today, the men of Drakonisi are overwhelmingly straight, albeit with an extremely gay elderly and middle-aged population."
"And you think the patriarch did something to Drakonisi?" asked Kibibi.
"It seems that way," said Zuri. "Some vampire clans favor a specific sexual orientation. The von Karnsteins occasionally meet a straight clan called Clan Ruthven that lives in the neighboring town, for instance. I'm no expert in vampire magic, but it would seem that patriarchs and matriarchs can supernaturally influence the likelihood of a baby in their territory being born with the desired sexuality. But whether it's the work of Carmilla von Karnstein or not, Stokerville's crawling with lesbians and bisexuals, most of them under thirty."
"It's a wonder none of the humans have questioned it," said Kibibi.
"Don't you question it," Zuri grinned at hir cub. "Just think of all those woman-loving women your age who'd just love to have a tall, muscular girl with glowing ebony skin take them in her strong arms! Sounds like a teenage werehyena's paradise, doesn't it?"
"I guess," said Kibibi, "but there's honestly only ONE girl I really want in my arms: Asanti Kombe. We've been getting really damn close over the past couple of months, and I think shi's the one who Lady Moon and the spirits intend to be my mate. Can shi come with me, Sire? Please?"
Zuri nodded. "Of course. I'm sure Selena needs all the new pack members shi can get... especially if there's conflict with the werewolves brewing."
Kibibi gratefully threw hir arms around hir sire. "Thanks, Sire! You're the best! I'll go tell Asanti the news and get packing for the trip!"
Zuri laughed. "I'd say pack an umbrella, but I don't think we have any!"
The alpha smiled to hirself. That had gone well, Kibibi's impromptu neutering of Enzi aside. Shi headed back to Shaman Kweli's hut to tell hir the good news.