Zuri Mwangi was in her bedroom composing her letter to Selena Lyall when Kibibi and Asanti came in to speak with her. She was in her human form and stark naked, her coffee-colored skin bared for all the world to see. She put down her pencil and turned to face the two teenage werehyenas.
"Oh, hi," said Zuri. "I was just writing to Selena Lyall."
Kibibi scoffed.
"What?" asked Zuri.
"Selena Lyall," answered Kibibi. "What kind of stupid name is THAT for a werehyena?! It sounds about as African as Yorkshire pudding! I bet Selena isn't even black."
"I wouldn't know," said Zuri. "I've never seen her. Of course, even if Selena isn't black, she could rectify that if she wanted with Morgana's help. Not that I can see why her race is important to you."
"Surely you can't feel comfortable with white people stealing our culture," Kibibi responded. "I have never ever met or heard of a white werehyena. And now we might have a white bitch learning our dances and praying to our spirits? It just doesn't seem right."
"Look at it this way, Kibibi," said Zuri. "When we came to America, we had to adapt. We found friendly packs of werewolves, werebears, wererabbits, were-elk, and werecoyotes in Oklahoma who taught us how to adapt our traditions for our new home. Most of those weres weren't African, or even black; they were mostly Native American with some white packs mixed in. That's why we smoke ritual pipes, why Shaman Kweli Mchawi wears a bison headdress, why..."
"I get it," said Kibibi. "Don't worry, I won't challenge Selena right away. I'll need about a year to get a sense of where I stand. Though becoming black would make calling her my alpha a little easier to stomach. Anyway, that's not what we came to talk about."
"Of course," Zuri smiled, delighted to change the subject. "How can I help you?"
"Well, it's a long way to Stokerville," said Kibibi. "We could walk, but it'd take fucking forever. There's always hitchhiking, but I don't know how safe that'd be."
"And public transportation sounds just awful from what we've heard of it," Asanti continued. "So, we were wondering, could we maybe please use your pickup truck to get to Washington state?"
Zuri considered for a moment. "You DO need a way to Stokerville, and Stokerville is over 2,100 miles away from Fort Hyde. I guess you can take the pickup truck if you take good care of it and promise to arrange for it to be sent back to Fort Hyde once you arrive in Stokerville. After all, you're adults now; even human laws say you're less that a year away from their age of majority." Zuri sighed wistfully. "Oh Kibibi, I'm so glad your coming-of-age rituals are already completed. I'd hate it if they happened far away from me in a strange pack's territory. I might've missed your vision quest, your first hunt, your initiation mating with Kweli, your bodypainting, your Moonlit Dance..." Zuri sighed again.
Kibibi put a comforting hand on hir sire's dark-skinned shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Sire; you were there for me. And even if you couldn't have been, initiation matings aren't THAT special. At least half of my friends weren't virgins during theirs."
Zuri smiled slightly. "I'm aware, Kibibi; you'd hardly be teenagers if you didn't have generous sex drives. But that isn't the same. During your initiation mating, the pack shaman takes Lady Moon into hir body and becomes her. You are in reality making love to Lady Moon herself and receiving her blessing."
Kibibi nodded, giving hir sire an affectionate pat on her right breast. "You're right, Sire. I should never forget to take our traditions seriously. They're what make us who we are. I promise I'll bring them all to Selena's pack. And thanks for the truck."
Zuri sighed contentedly as Kibibi's claws tickled her dark-hued nipple. "Your welcome, Kibibi. Good luck with the new pack."
A very worried-looking werehyena suddenly barged into Zuri's room. Asanti instantly recognized the newcomer as Amani Kombe, hir elder sibling by by seven years. "Has anybody seen Asha?" Amani asked. "I've looked everywhere, and I can't find her!"
Zuri rolled her eyes. "Is that little mischief-maker missing AGAIN? Wasn't it just yesterday we found her stuck in that tree?"
Amani sighed. "Yes. She hid up there after stealing Shaman Kweli's ritual mask. I've tried to put a stop to her thieving habit, but she's completely addicted. It's almost worse than the way she's constantly flirting with the other cubs. Ugh, she'll be awful when she hits puberty and her sex drive kicks in!"
"She's extraordinarily like her father," Zuri observed dryly.
Amani hung hir head. "I know, Alpha. I should never have fallen for a werefox's tricks, but he... he seemed so charming."
"They all do," said Zuri. "They're the most charming magicals out there until they leave you alone and pregnant. And now you've got a little scamp who is either a budding werevixen or might as well be."
"I don't get how she goes missing so often," Asanti chimed in. "It isn't easy to miss a black girl with fiery red hair."
"Never underestimate your niece's ingenuity, Little Sis," Amani cautioned. "Asha didn't just inherit her father's charm. She got his sly cunning, too. So, did you see her lately?"
"About twenty or thirty minutes ago, I think," said Asanti. "She barged into Kibs' room while I was helping hir pack for hir trip to the new pack and started whining about how bored she was of Oklahoma and how she wanted to come with us. Then she started teasing the hell out of Kibs and me before leaving to string poor Nyoni along."
"That'll be where she is!" said Amani. "Poor Nyoni. Someone really ought to tell that cub that Asha's just using her to boost her own ego."
"Does a nine-year-old even know what an ego is?" asked Kibibi.
Amani rolled hir eyes. "I didn't mean to use that exact word. Now I really have to go. Thanks." Shi then ran off to begin the search for hir wayward cub anew.
Zuri laughed. "Just another day in the life of a pack alpha, Kibibi. Try to remember responsibilities like this the next time you daydream about alphadom. Well, you and Asanti can run along and get settled in the pickup truck. I have a letter to Selena to finish."