"Let's ask Lucas next," said Renata, pointing her thumb at the blond boy crouching near the vending machine. "We all know he's perfect for the skulk."
Ruby shrugged. "I kinda wanted to ask Paige next."
"Only because you prefer girls," Renata snickered.
"Hey, I may have a bit of a female preference, but I'm still bisexual," Ruby protested. "Lucas is pretty hot. But so is Paige, and she's just as much of a natural werefox as he is."
"She'll be here for a while," Jezebel promised. "She just got here, and she has a long day of shoplifting ahead of her. I say we go along with Renata and snap up Lucas before he gets tired of pranking the shoppers and goes home."
"Sure thing," Ruby said. "Our skulk does need some guys if it wants to survive a generation. I guess we could try to get Morgana to make some girls into herms, but recruiting boys is simpler. It's not like I'm precisely a lesbian or anything."
The three girls walked up to Lucas, who was hunched over a quarter in front of the vending machine. He gave it an experimental tug. "Perfect!" He grinned. "Stuck tight!"
"Whatcha doing, Lucas?" asked Renata.
"Setting up a quick prank, Renata," Lucas responded. "You see, I glued this quarter to the sidewalk right in front of this vending machine. Now I just have to wait for some schmuck to come along, spot the quarter, and try to pick it up to get a soda from the vending machine. Emphasis on try. It's gonna be epic!"
Ruby grinned conspiratorially. "Ha! Serves them right for trying to get something for nothing! Then again, I'm hardly one to talk in that department."
Lucas looked at Ruby. "Hi, I don't think I've seen you around here."
"The name's Ruby Reynard," Ruby said, extending her hand for Lucas to shake. "Yeah, my family only just got her a few days ago. We move around a lot."
Lucas took Ruby's hand. The werevixen suddenly jumped three feet in the air as a jolt of electricity shot through her arm. Lucas dissolved into laughter. "Oh God! You should've seen the look on your face, Ruby! Heh, I would've thought you'd be too savvy to fall for the classic electric buzzer."
"I was distracted," Ruby said defensively.
"By what?" Lucas asked.
"Probably by the reason we're here?" Renata said.
"Why's that?" asked Lucas.
"Ruby, Jezebel, and I have a little offer for you, Lucas," Renata smiled at him.
"Ohhhh?" Lucas asked, his voice sounding intrigued and more than a little horny. "And what might that be, Rennie?" He knew as well as any Stokerville boy that Renata and Jezebel were both bisexual and the school's resident sluts. He clearly had a hypothesis on what they were about to offer him.
"First things first," said Renata, "Ruby and I are werevixens, and Jezebel's a succubus. We want you to join our skulk."
Lucas burst out laughing. "Haha! Good one, Rennie! You always did appreciate a good prank! Ha, werevixens! You always have been pretty foxy! Heh, get it? Because..." He suddenly caught the stony looks on the girls' faces. "Hey, you're serious, aren't you? So this isn't a prank? But... werebeasts and succubi are just mythological creatures from stories... riiiiiiight?"
"Wrong," Jezebel smirked. "They're both very real. So are vampires, witches, wizards, faeries, merfolk, ghosts, angels, dragons, centaurs, selkies, unicorns, lamias, minotaurs, sphinxes, genies, yokai, and a ton of other things I'm forgetting. But the only ones that matter to you right now are werefoxes and succubi, considering three of them are talking to you right now."
Lucas just stared at Jezebel like she'd gone insane. He was probably considering the possibility that she actually had.
"Need some proof?" Jezebel asked. "Watch this." She glanced around to make sure nobody but Lucas was looking. Once she was sure, she attempted to will her body to partially transform. Lucas's eyes bugged out in shock as he watched Jezebel's skin redden and horns begin to poke out of her forehead. Her eyes became catlike, and her nails sharpened into demonic claws. She hastily forced herself to fully revert to human form before her wings could grow in.
"Holy shit!" Lucas gasped. "I... I guess there's no way to fake that right in front of me. So, you're really a demon?"
"Yes," Jezebel nodded, "and they're werefoxes."
"And we'd like you to join our skulk," added Renata.
"Is that like a pack?" asked Lucas.
"Exactly," said Renata. "I'm the alpha. You see, unlike Ruby, I wasn't born a werevixen, so I don't have a skulk of my own. Instead of joining hers, I decided to build one from the ground up. Your personality fits really well with werefox culture, so I wanted to invite you in."
"What's werefox culture like?" asked Lucas.
"Liberated," Ruby smiled. "We do what we want when we want. Werefoxes wander from place to place in caravans of mobile homes, stopping for a while to soak in a place's atmosphere before packing up and moving to the next town once we get itchy feet. Werefoxes do not believe in settling down and claiming permanent territory like other werebeasts do."
"They're also horny as hell!" laughed Jezebel. "They have formal mates like other werebeasts, but (unlike most other werebeasts) they usually have more than one. They also have lots of brief flings with the people they meet on their travels. They're very passionate and exciting lovers, but they're incredibly fickle. A werefox caravan tends to leave a trail of broken hearts behind it."
"Nobody ever accused us of being responsible!" laughed Ruby. "Humans may be willing to settle for working a boring, dead-end job all day to come home to a constrictive, monogamous family at night, but werefoxes don't see why we have to play by society's rules. We go wherever we want, supporting ourselves by doing odd jobs when we feel like it and by stealing what we need when we don't feel like working. Sometimes we even steal for just plain fun! It's instinct for us to play tricks on humans, you see."
"Play tricks, huh?" Lucas grinned impishly. "I can get behind that."
"I should warn you that this isn't just a culture," said Renata. "It's a psychological compulsion, an addiction. But don't freak out; I bought a potion from a witch that gives you back your impulse control. Ruby doesn't believe in using it, but I strongly recommend it. So, will you join? I'd be happy to have a prankster like you."
"Sounds like a tempting offer," Lucas said thoughtfully. "Would I have more romantic luck with werevixens than I've had with my classmates?"
"You know I'm bi," said Renata, "and I've been trying to recruit other girls who swing both ways. You shouldn't have much trouble finding some mates with us." She assumed her werevixen form for a split second to give Lucas a sneak preview of what he'd be getting. From the look on his face, he found it pretty hot.
"Then yes," Lucas grinned. "Should we go somewhere private so you can bite me?"
"That's not how it works," said Ruby. "Biting's a vampire thing. Renata has a magic foxskin belt... which is morbid and creepy, but we won't go into that. Anyway, putting on the belt will permanently convert you from a human to a werefox. When we're ready to bring you into the skulk, we'll let you know the time and place."
"Got it!" Lucas nodded, smiling.
"See you then!" Renata said, waving goodbye to Lucas as she and the girls walked off.
Renata noticed Paige sneaking out of another store, her unseasonal coat no doubt laden with shoplifted goods. She also spotted a short African-American girl with cornrow braids hanging around a Hot Topic. "Look," Renata said, pointing. "There's Chanice Hamlett. I bet she's been skipping school... again. Probably spent the whole day lurking around here."
"Does she do that a lot?" Ruby smirked.
"At least three days a week!" laughed Jezebel. "She doesn't give a flying fuck about school. All the teachers hate her. Unsurprisingly, she's Spike's best friend."
"Sounds like another werefox in the making," said Ruby. "So, who's next, Renata? Paige or Chanice?"