Alpha Zuri Mwangi was having a frantic night. Shi was almost certain that Asha Kombe had stowed away with Kibibi and her Aunt Asanti, but her mother Amani had insisted on one last search of the pack settlement for hir lost cub. It was frustrating, but Zuri could understand how Amani was feeling. If Kibibi had vanished somewhere without telling hir, the alpha would be in panic mode hirself.
"We've looked nearly everywhere, Amani," said Zuri. "And this is the fourth search."
"We could... check inside the outhouse again?" Amani suggested weakly.
Zuri raised a furry eyebrow. "You really think Asha crawled inside a hole full of our shit?"
"She did once," Amani said, shaking hir head at the memory.
Zuri chuckled. "So she did. You're right, it might be worth a look." Zuri slipped inside the outhouse and stared down the shoot. Shi tried not to gag at the overwhelming stench of hyena dung that wafted up to hir sensitive nostrils. Shi called into the pit. "Asha? Are you down there? Asha! Asha Kombe! Asha, your mother and your grandparents are worried sick! If you're down there and you don't come out THIS INSTANT, I'm coming down there and giving you a good, hard nip on the butt!" No response came.
Zuri sighed and left the outhouse. "I'm sorry, Amani, she isn't in there."
"And there's nowhere else she could be?" Amani asked, tears welling in hir eyes.
"Nowhere I can think of," said Zuri, shaking hir maned head. "There aren't many places a girl who looks like that can hide for long. She's the only one in our pack with dark skin and red hair, after all. I really do think she left."
"Just like the father who gave her that red hair," Amani muttered bitterly. "I was such a fool."
"Don't feel too bad about what happened," Zuri said consolingly to hir depressed packmate. "A werefox could charm the fangs off a vampire. It could have been any of us."
"Not you," Amani sighed gloomily. "Not Shaman Kweli either. You've always been so wise, and I was such a... a silly romantic! That's what I was back then!"
"That's hardly a fair comparison," said Zuri. "After all, I'm twelve years older than you, and Kweli's thirteen years older than you. I made all kinds of mistakes as a teenager. I almost got my dick ripped off by werelions because I thought I could take on an entire hunting party all on my own. See, I've still got the scar on my ballsack." Zuri lifted up hir nuts and pointed at the jagged scar on hir scrotum. "It's a beaut, isn't it? Every time I see it, I'm reminded to avoid fights I know I can't win. Just like you learned from that brief encounter. Just don't learn to be forever alone because you COULD get hurt. You really should take a mate and make Asha some sisters."
"I'm just not ready yet," sighed Amani. "I'm certainly in no frame of mind to court a mate right now with Asha still missing. Why must she torture me so?"
"I think you suspect the exact same thing as me," said Zuri.
"I suppose you mean the possibility that Asha will become a werevixen when she has her first shift in a few years," said Amani. "It's crossed my mind at least once every day for nine years, but I refuse to let myself believe it. I can't if I want to stay sane, Zuri. It would be too much after all the pain her father and his skulk caused me and our pack. Asha HAS to become a werehyena when she has her first shift!"
"Just don't pin all your hopes on it," said Zuri. "When werebeasts of two different species breed, it's a 50/50 tossup which species the cub will turn out as. And Asha acts a LOT like a little werevixen."
"I know," Amani moaned. "I'll still love her even if she IS a werevixen, but it... it'd be disheartening. I can't stand the notion that Asha and her father are no different. Why did she have to leave me, and so soon?! Is she even safe roaming america?"
"I'd imagine so," said Zuri. "She's with Kibibi."
"No disrespect intended to your family," said Amani, "but I'm not so sure I'd consider being with your daughter to be precisely safe. I heard all about what shi did to Enzi's nuts. I can't believe Enzi's sackless now. Shi was such a promising young warrior."
"I understand if that shook your confidence in Kibibi," said Zuri. "I can promise you, though, that it wasn't hir normal behavior and shi would NEVER hurt a cub... EVER." Zuri smiled a bit dangerously. "Well, now that I've put your fears to rest, I hope you understand that any further remarks on Kibibi's character will amount to insulting my family honor, which demands a match in the sparring grounds."
"Y-yes, my alpha," Amani stammered. "Of course. Very rude of me." Lost cub or no lost cub, it was never a good idea to suggest anything too insulting about Alpha Zuri's family unless you were sure shi agreed with it. That was the general way of werebeasts, and Zuri had more than enough brute strength to back it up. "So, once Kibibi and my sister arrive in Stokerville, will they be able to send Asha back to me?"
"Not easily or immediately," said Zuri. "This is enough of a cross-country trek for them WITHOUT having to turn straight around, drive all the way back to Fort Hyde, return Asha to us, and then drive ALL THE WAY BACK to Stokerville. We'd be asking them to drive halfway across the country three times in a row. No, I think Asha's going to be in Washington state for the time being."
Amani tried not to cry in front of hir alpha, hir tail sucking between hir legs like a dog. "M-maybe that's f-for the b-best. She c-could g-get to see some of the world, and live among another pack for a bit. Maybe she'll even return a more responsible girl."
"I suppose we can only pray to Lady Moon that Asha'll treat this as a learning experience," Zuri shrugged. "But we'll have to pray VERY hard. Come on, we'd better tell your parents that their only grandcub is most likely on her way to Stokerville right now."