A good part of Rachel liked the fact that Cynthia was so open to helping her with all these things. The move across the country from Florida to Washington state had been a long one and carried its fair share of pressures. Her being a werecat was one of them, particularly with all the other onrush of instincts that had come with becoming one. The werecats that had helped her change back and master control over her transformations had explained to her that all those things were normal, and apologized profusely for what Leslie had done, but there was still some point of distance between Rachel and them, as they were all older than her and didn't even know Leslie.
Some of the biggest things that had really pressured Rachel was more the combination of those werecat instincts and needs and how they interacted with her family, and namely her father's rage that his "little girl" wasn't straight enough for him. Those pressures were there, and Rachel remembered them vividly. They compounded all of Rachel's worries on what she'd become and often drove some of her problems at first. Even as she looked to Cynthia, those memories were there and what lead to her mother and sisters learning she was a werecat flashed hard in her mind, largely because of all those pressures...
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The days after Leslie had raped her and turned her into a werecat did not go well. Sure, the Cat's Eye Club's bouncer and some of the werecat patrons there had helped her gain control over her transformations and assured her that with good self-discipline, she'd never have to worry about being a threat to her family, and that sounded good, but they didn't know how much of a homophobe her father was. He blew up in rage over finding that his eldest daughter was raped after visiting a lesbian bar, and that in turn lead to parental arguments and then the divorce between her mother, Charlene, and her father. It didn't help Rachel, in that while she really hadn't done anything to truly cause her father's anger or the divorce that followed, she still felt guilty and whenever anything came up that related to it, that often-sent Rachel in guilt driven moments where she just felt overly stressed.
The latest of these had been her mother getting a call from her attorney who was working through with the legal issues surrounding her parent's divorce. Her new hearing overheard a lot, including claims in which it appeared her father's homophobia had remained unchanged and was essentially demanding things that Charlene didn't want to share. These things were often typical with divorces, and while some might consider Rachel to be too old to be truly affected by it, it did add to her own sense of worry and guilt and as she listened in, all that went through her mind was that it was her fault for hanging out with a werecat. That then lead to her feeling warm and with one hand trembling for a moment.
That trembling then brought about a triggering in her change, partially as her mind dwelled on those issues. Rachel only looked down to see her fingernails lengthening out into claws and the start of black fur growing out on her hands. There was no real pain, but it raised panic in Rachel, and she rapidly fled the area, grateful that her mother didn't see her starting to change. She rushed upstairs losing her clogs along the way as her feet began to lengthen into a digitigrade stance. Her clothes felt a bit cramped, though not too much, mostly because Rachel had generally had a pretty generous body even before becoming a werecat, and since werecats weren't as big as werewolves, it wasn't like she was too big in her transformed state that she'd tear her clothes apart at the seams. So while her bra grew a bit tighter as her already large breasts swelled a bit larger to stay in proportion to some of her gained muscle in her were form, it was still big enough to contain her. The only place where that discomfort was real was at the base of her spine, and where Rachel could feel her tail starting to grow out and wriggle against her panties and pants.
"Why am I changing?" Rachel thought to herself as she rushed into her bedroom and shut the door as quickly as she could. It ended up slamming a little, but in her panic, Rachel really didn't care. She just wanted to be out of sight, and she knew she'd need something to try and calm down and focus herself to change back. But she hadn't consciously tried to transform, and that's what added to her panic.
The only thing she could do was half panic and let the transformation continue to take its course. Rachel did her best to alleviate her discomfort by pull back a bit on her pants and panties, giving her growing tail room to keep growing out. It flailed a little bit and Rachel found herself giving a soft "meow" as her face pushed forward into a feline muzzle, her teeth including the long canines that a house cat would have, her ears two black furred triangles on the top of her head, with her eyes also being green with a vertical slit pupil.
"Why did I change?" Rachel asked herself, and then heard footsteps coming.
That only increased Rachel's panic as she looked around the room. For while her door was shut, the interior doors had no locks outside of the bathrooms, and while Michelle and Jasmine knew to knock first, that didn't mean that they always did so, particularly if something big was going on. And that was where Rachel's slamming the door shut made her realize that she'd had to have done something that alerted others in the house. With that, she dove onto the bed and wrapped herself up in the sheets, hoping she could hide herself until she could get calm enough to transform back into her human form.
"Rachel?" came Charlene's voice from outside the room, "are you okay, dear?"
"She rushed by me on the stairs like a bat out of hell, mom," Jasmine's voice then followed, "I think she was scared."
"I'd want to punch dad in the face, I bet he's the cause of this!" Michelle added, "hating her because she's lesbian."
"Now's not the time for that, Michelle," Charlene answered, "Rachel... please... I know the lawyer's call was unexpected... but..."
"I'm fine, mom!" Rachel answered while keeping herself wrapped up in the blankets, though she then heard the door open. That only made Rachel's heart beat faster.
"Please, Rachel," Charlene spoke, "I know things have been rough the last few days... but you can't hide yourself away like this."
"Especially with a plushie," came Michelle's voice following after, and the next thing Rachel felt was a hard tug on her tail, which she found was hanging out from the bottom of the sheets.
That sent Rachel to jump into the air with a loud "mwwrrrrroooowwww" before landing on her feet on the far side of the bed. She didn't hit her mother or sisters, but the tug on her tail was that much of a surprise. It left her looking at them and seeing shocked faces, and Rachel didn't know how to respond to that.
"Rachel?" Charlene said slowly, "Is..."
"It's me," Rachel admitted, unable to escape and caught before her mother and sisters, "it... turns out that Leslie is a werecat. When she raped me, she turned me INTO a werecat. In fact, many of the patrons at that club are werecats, and didn't like what Leslie did."
"So, you can turn into a cat?" Jasmine asked, without moving.
"But it's not the full moon, and she doesn't look like she's out to eat anyone," Michelle commented, "are you?"
"NO!" Rachel practically hissed back as that struck all the fearful nerves that she'd been under for the past few days, "and supposedly I can transform whenever I wish... but the lawyers called and that got me thinking on all the stuff with dad and that brought things back to my getting raped and..."
"I take it you didn't want to change just now?" Charlene asked, sounding surprisingly calm.
"No," Rachel answered and gripped her hands to her head, "I want to be human... I don't want to be like this. It symbolizes everything that's gone wrong here... and..."
"Rachel Covaks, YOU are NOT responsible for what happened," Charlene scolded, "what Leslie did to you was LESLIE'S fault, not yours. And you certainly aren't responsible for your father deciding to break up the family because he found out you are a lesbian. That is ultimately all on him. You aren't responsible. Don't blame yourself... that's what saddens me the most in all this. You getting violated hurt. Your father jumping of the handle and deciding to divorce hurt... but what pains me the most is seeing you blame yourself."
"Yeah, Rachel, you taught me how to ride a bike," Michelle commented.
"You're the best big sister ever," Jasmine answered, "and if you're still you... the rest of that doesn't matter. A part of me might even... well... there are some boys that would be very much into cat-girls."
"Not now," Charlene looked over to Jasmine.
"And not ever," Rachel said weakly, feeling surprisingly calm at the moment and that actually seemed to let her begin to change back, as it was her human form she wanted to be in, "the magic or whatever else it is around werecats is that not only are they ALL female, they're all at least bisexual, if not homosexual. The others at that club told me... that if I were to turn any woman that wasn't gay or bi, they'd become gay or bi... and if that person was male and wasn't already a were of some kind, it would kill him. Which is all part of this confusing hell that I'm in... I didn't ask to be a werecat... but I'm stuck as one."
Rachel watched as her transformation reversed and her mother and siblings seemed more in awe of things than horrified by it. That came as a bit of a relief, but she still didn't know how well she could hold it together regarding her present condition.
"I'm sure we'll figure something out," Charlene assured her, "and your sisters and I... we love you for who you are. We'll get through this, and don't blame yourself for what your friend did. Don't blame yourself for your father's actions... We can only go through this, together."
With that, her mother and sisters came forward. A part of Rachel wanted to push them away, but back in her normal human form again, clawing them wasn't a risk, and some of her mother's words was assuring in many ways. She accepted the hug, though even found herself purring a little bit as a result. Her mother heard it, but only hugged her tighter.
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"Rachel?" came Cynthia's voice snapping Rachel out of her memories, "you still with me?"
"Sorry... I zoned out for a moment," Rachel admitted.
"Did I touch on something?" Cynthia asked, a bit nervous. The college and city government had told her some of the details regarding Rachel's status as part her role as a RA, grade adviser, and overall helper on the campus grounds. And while she wasn't a werecat, she was well aware on how the various were groups in Moon Lake had their respective groups. They were often more like clubs that handled business and so on, and a lot of what Rachel would need to truly heal from what her old girlfriend had done was something that might be better handled by other werecats.
"No... just thinking on what you said and some of all the other stuff that's gone on," Rachel said slowly, "a lot of it has just been me trying to wrestle with this and all the stuff my dad pulled. All those pressures weakened a bit of my control over my transformations... I'd stress out and change. It wasn't until after my mom and sisters found out that I really started to gain control over things. As they... they took the new me with love and acceptance."
"So, in a way they were a surrogate pride for you," Cynthia commented, "even if they weren't werecats. That's good, and a lot of what I'm offering won't take that away from you."
By now the two of them had begun walking along the college's sidewalks from the freshman dorms and headed north toward the road that led out and away from the college. Some of the sounds that were associated with Moon Lake at night as weres went about their normal nights, and it would be something that Rachel would have to grow and get used to, because of her being a werecat.
"But there will still be things that you could learn from other werecats," Cynthia commented, "like, who's fun to hang out with. What ladies might be interested in you, regardless of whether or not they are werecats... or even weres at all. Or how to interact with representatives of the other were groups... Like the Skulk, the various werewolf packs, or some of the other weres that tend to be more... I guess solitary would be the best word for weretigers, werecougars, and so on."
"But what about who I am..." Rachel began, "I mean... I've done everything to try and hold on to my humanity..."
"But you ARE still human," Cynthia spoke, "weres... regardless of what kind... ARE still human, regardless of our quirks and abilities. Some of the instincts will often be different for each group, and that's where having some contact with the existing werecat prides here in Moon Lake can help you get used to things... and essentially find a way to embrace who you are as a werecat, and see that Leslie was truly a rarity among werecats. It'll help YOU in the long run, and it won't hurt your relationship with your family."
"Could I have some time to think on it?" Rachel asked, "maybe see on what my family thinks?"
"Of course," Cynthia answered, "I'm not here to pressure you. I'm here to be a friend, help you adjust to the new you... to Moon Lake... and of course all the pressures related to college and good grades. If you want to do it... let me know when you're ready, and I'll see about arranging some of the meetings with the werecat prides that have members in our age bracket... If that's what you want."
"Thanks, Cynthia," Rachel managed an honest smile, "for everything."
Cynthia smiled back in a way that felt like a best friend or big sister, and Rachel did like that. It was something that felt better than what she'd gone through, and regardless on the idea of meeting the other werecat prides in Moon Lake, Rachel did like having the friendship that Cynthia provided.