Kweli Mchawi sat cross-legged in hir hyena form at the edge of hir pack's village, preparing to enter a trance to commune with the spirits. Before shi could begin, shi saw an unfamiliar jeep approaching the village. The shaman hastily shifted into hir human form and ran to alert Alpha Zuri.
Zuri's head snapped to hir door as a human Kweli bounded in. "Hello, Kweli? I thought you were spiritwalking."
"Change of plans," Kweli announced. "A jeep pulled into the village. You'd better go greet the newcomers and see what the want. Excuse me, I'd better go and make sure everybody's in their human forms."
Zuri nodded, shifting into her own human form. "Gotcha. I'll be there as soon as I can toss some clothes on."
Zuri pulled on some pants and a T-shirt. She walked out and found a jeep in the village center, near the proving grounds with curious pack members in human form gathered around it. Four muscular Arab women stepped out of the jeep. Zuri took note of their build and ethnicity, for the Middle East was home to the second largest number of werehyena packs after Africa.
One of the women, the tallest, spoke. "Greetings, Fort Hyde pack. I am Isra al-Dabu, and this is my sister Najma. These are our mates Basma and Qamar." The other three women bowed their heads respectfully. Isra went on. "We are honored to be in the company of our fellow werehyenas."
Zuri bowed her own head. "The honor is all mine, Isra al-Dabu. I am Zuri Mwangi, the alpha of this pack. Please, tell us what brings you to our territory."
Isra continued. "We are the sole survivors of the werehyena pack from the Harrat al-Harrah Protected Area in Saudi Arabia, not far from the Jordan border. Our pack was destroyed by a radical Islamist hunter organization called al-Suyuf al-Khaliq, the Swords of the Creator. To those madmen, we werehyenas were unnatural, our very existence affront to Allah. They hated us for our transformative power, for our male-free lifestyle, for our worship of Lady Moon and all her jinn, and for our ambiguous genitalia that refused to conform to their simplistic ideas about binary gender. They ambushed us during the midwinter festival, bearing silver swords and rifles loaded with silver bullets. We tried to fight back, but there was too many of the bastards and they were too well-armed. I've never seen such an efficient hunter society; they were almost like a military squad!"
"We think they're being funded by the Senior Council of Ulema and the Mutaween," added Najma. "The Wahhabi clerics must be more aware of our hidden world than we thought."
"Makes sense," Zuri nodded. "The Catholic Church is hardly unaware of our existence. Why should the Wahhabi scholars be? Of course, at least you can negotiate with the Vatican. These Saudi imams can really be something else."
"We can testify that they have no desire to live and let live," said Basma.
"Why hasn't the new crown prince put a stop to this?" asked Zuri. "He is no friend of the powerful clergy."
"Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud is no friend of anyone who threatens his power," Isra grumbled. "That apparently includes werebeasts. I imagine the imams and scholars use lurid tales about our 'atrocities' to frighten the Saud family into giving them powers and protections to combat our kind." She sighed. "It does not matter who is responsible for now. What matters is that, aside from the four of us, our pack is dead. We have wandered for months, seeking a pack that would take us in. Unfortunately, resources are scarce back home. We've traveled across the Middle East and Africa, and we finally grew so desperate that we crossed the Ocean to try our luck in America. I would like to formally request to join your pack."
Zuri thought for a moment. "I'm very sorry, Isra," she said at last, "but our pack's too large for its hunting grounds as it is. But I do know a place you could go. I'm in contact with the alpha of a pack in Washington state that's young and growing. I recommend that you drive to the town of Stokerville, Washington, and tell Alpha Selena that Zuri Mwangi of the Fort Hyde pack sent you. I know shi's recruiting; I even sent my cub Kibibi and hir mate to join hir."
Isra nodded. "Got it. Come on, girls. We're going to Washington." The four Saudi werehyenas got back in their jeep and drove off.
Zuri turned to Kweli. "I'd tell Taylor about this in your first vision to hir if I were you. Selena already knows that Kibibi's coming, but shi should really know about the others. I doubt they'll be as much of a handful as Kibibi, but it's only polite."
Kweli nodded. "Good idea. I'll try to squeeze it in with the theology lessons and magical teachings. It'll be interesting to have an apprentice. None of the cubs in this pack are ready yet. I look forward to nightfall."