Artemis Lyall breathed a sigh of exhaustion as her jeep pulled into the territory of her pack's homestead. Why was it always so difficult to protect her pack from all the menacing forces that wished to destroy it? Vampires, werehyenas, werefoxes, "monster" hunters... where would it end?! Oh well, at least Morgana Faye had been fairly helpful. The witch might not understand the threat that the vampires posed to the werewolf pack, but she wisely stuck to the philosophy that the customer is always right. This was perhaps a smart philosophy when the customer can turn into a six-foot-ten wolf-woman and tear your throat out with her razor-sharp teeth for a late lunch. Artemis smiled viciously at the thought.
Artemis parked her jeep, stepped out, and tore off the hot, constricting clothes that human "civilization" demanded she wear around town. It felt so much better to bare her body like nature intended, to feel the gentle warmth of the Sun on her bare breasts and the breeze blowing through her ample body hair. Yes, humans had definitely lost more than they had gained when they abandoned the natural lifestyle that werebeasts adored.
Artemis found her daughter Diana enjoying a playful wrestling match with her friend Mona Packer in their wolfgirl forms. Diana was winning handily, which brought a proud smile to Artemis Lyall's face. Unfortunately, she'd have to interrupt the match. "Hey, Diana!" she called. "Can I see you inside for a minute?"
"Okay, Mom," Diana sighed, grudgingly releasing Mona from her headlock. It sucked to leave a winning match unfinished, but upsetting her mother never led to anything good. Diana hastily shifted into human form, her muzzle and tail shriveling into nothing as her fur gave way to bare, freckled skin. With one last frustrated groan, the brawny werewolf girl followed her mother into their cabin.
Once inside, Diana settled into a chair at the kitchen table. "So," she said nervously, "what's this about, Mom? If you've found out about that brawl I had with Luna last night, I'm really, really sorry!"
Artemis raised an eyebrow. "You were fighting with Luna? Oh well, I'm prepared to forgive that if you do as I say. I have a job for you."
"A job?" Diana repeated.
"Yes, Diana Phoebe Lyall," Artemis said firmly, "a job. Being part of a pack means getting off of your butt to support it sometimes. Actually, it's a job for you and your sister. LUNA!!!"
At the sound of her name being bellowed, Luna Lyall emerged from her room. She was still thoroughly self-conscious after her ill-advised laser hair removal, but she forced herself to keep her composure in front of her mother. Artemis wouldn't know the difference between a permanent lasering and shaving, after all. "You called, Mom?"
"Yes, dear," Artemis said, smiling at her eldest and favorite daughter. "I have a very important task for you and Diana."
"Oh?" Luna cocked her head. "Are you saying we'll be working together or... competing?" She sounded like she was hoping for the second option.
"It doesn't really matter which," said Artemis. "Whatever gets the job done. Here's the deal. The pack needs to grow. There's an expanding vampire clan in town, a werefox skulk's getting settled in on the edge of town, a werehyena pack's infringing on our territory, and we may be getting a visit from some nosy 'monster' hunters soon." She cringed at pronouncing the m-word.
Diana almost fell out of her chair at the mention of werehyenas. She knew perfectly well that the werehyena pack was led by her younger twin... and what their mom would do to Selena if word got out on who the mysterious werehyena alpha really was. "That's... quite a lot of threats to deal with, Mom," she said at last, nervously playing with her copious armpit hair as she spoke. "Especially the you-know-what hunters. Bunch of racists."
"Pigheaded bigots!" Luna nodded. "To them, every magical being's guilty until proven innocent."
"I'm glad you two both see that we're under attack from all sides," Artemis said. "We're outnumbered, especially if any of our enemies team up with each other. There's no way we can take on a vampire/werehyena alliance right now. We need more werewolves, simple as that. Only problem, we just aren't breeding enough. Only about half of the females of my generation took males as mates, and almost none of your generation did. Our pack is growing more and more lesbian with every passing generation."
"Now that I think about it, an awful lot of us wolfgirls are gay," Diana mused. "I'm a lesbian, my sisters are, most of my friends in the pack are. Actually, so are most of my human friends from school. What are the odds, huh?"
"Blame the leeches," Artemis snorted. "Whenever a clan of fangs settles into an area, its population slowly shifts its dominant sexual orientation to match that of the clan's patriarch or matriarch. It makes recruiting new leeches and finding desirable prey easier, you see. I bet Carmilla's loving the side effect it all has; her brood thrives while our population dwindles into nothing. Oh, I know we seem large and powerful right now, but just you wait a generation or two. None of these lesbian wolves'll be having cubs, and our males have nobody to breed with!"
"Yikes," Luna gasped softly. "But what can Diana and I do?"
"Simple," said Artemis. "I've bought a magical salve from Morgana that can transform ordinary humans into werewolves. All you two need to do is find me some suitable humans to use it on. You should be good at that; you get out much more than me on account of school."
"What kind of humans should we be looking for, Mom?" asked Luna.
"I'll settle for anybody interested in becoming a werewolf," said Artemis, "but ideally I want peak specimens: strong, agile, smart, hardy, fertile. I'd also like the girls to be straight if you can help it, or at least bisexual. We need cubs."
"Sounds easy enough," smiled Luna. "I'm going back to college next week. Since my university's out of town, the straight and bi girls should outnumber the lesbians. It probably won't be too hard to get my sorority interested, and the sports teams are full of people who'd make great werewolves. It certainly won't be hard for me to get the boys excited about werewolves." She flipped her silky red hair out of her face and gestured at her sleek nude body. "I may be a lesbian, but I'll do what I must for the pack. As for the bi girls, they'll be fun to seduce!"
"Good," Artemis nodded in approval, pleased to see Luna once again proving why she was the favorite daughter and logical choice for next alpha after Caleb. "And what about you, Diana? Think you can get that basketball team you're a member of to join us?"
"I seriously doubt it," Diana said, recalling that every single one of her basketball teammates had become a werehyena. "Most of them are pretty damn lesbian, y'know. There's some bi girls on the girls' soccer team who might be good picks, though. I'll talk to them tomorrow."
"See that you do, Diana," said Artemis. "Just because your sister's been chosen to be the next alpha, it doesn't mean that you don't have just as many obligations to the pack as she does. Also, try to identify the members of the werehyena pack and werefox skulk if you can."
"Uhhhhh... okay?" Diana answered nervously.
"We will," Luna said resolutely. "You can count on us, Mom. Well, on me, anyway." She shot Diana a scornful glance.
Diana raised her hand. "Does Dad know about this recruitment drive? He is the pack's alpha, after all."
"Not yet, but I intend to tell him tonight," said Artemis. "He may not want to go on the offensive against our enemies, but he'll see the logic in keeping our numbers up."
"Will he be receptive to the ideas of someone he demoted?" Diana asked, crossing her toned, hairy arms.
Artemis snarled at her middle daughter's insolence. "That was a temporary demotion, and it was only down to delta! My word still carries a lot of weight, and I'll officially rank as alpha's mate again next Tuesday! Trust me, he'll listen."
"Whatever," Diana sighed. "Can we go now? I'm sure Mona wants a rematch."
"Go ahead," said Artemis. "Just remember to keep an eye out for potential werewolves from now on."
Diana jumped out of her chair and sprinted for the door, her sculpted muscles rippling as she ran. Hmmm... Artemis thought. Diana may be boneheaded and disobedient, but she'll make a great Lady of War or Mistress of the Hunt someday if she shapes up. I just hope she doesn't challenge Luna for alphahood...