Rachel looked into the green feline eyes she had in her werecat form and noted on how so many things had changed and yet how many things hadn't changed at the same time. Her eyes had changed from brown to green and the pupil was now a vertical slit in this form. Her face had pushed out into a muzzle with her nose being a pink triangle at the front of that rounded muzzle, but her hair was the same and she felt she could see some parts of her brows that hadn't changed, though with the heavier changes that came with the transformation, the things that hadn't changed were seemingly lost. The feeling of her tail moving behind her and rubbing against the top of her pants only added to all the changes she'd gone through and how different she was.
Sure, she'd recognized that she wasn't mindless or lost to some instinct that made her attack people or anything like that. But there were the obvious mental changes that were there as well. Ever since becoming a werecat, she'd noticed that even in human form she'd take a greater interest in songbirds than she did before, and that often included the idea of eating them and that often included discussions on mice or things like that. Those instincts never controlled her, but they were there and that was in part what helped make Rachel nervous. For she'd never seen robins or mice as "food" before. The biggest thing though, was that she felt the support and love from her family and that had helped her hold things together.
It also led to Rachel having more questions on what to do regarding the offer Cynthia had made. She heavily respected Cynthia and found the older college student to be a polite personal friend. And to a degree, she could even respect Mace's desire to protect and care for the students there on the campus. After all, Rachel knew what could happen with a were that wasn't thinking straight all too well, and while most of the Moon Lake College students were weres, there were a fair number of normal humans there too. But Rachel had managed to gain enough control over herself that she wasn't totally lost to her instincts, and with her family's support, she wasn't stressing out over what happened to where she was triggering her transformations unconsciously, so she didn't see herself as a threat. The one thing that really remained was fully accepting herself as a werecat, and that remained where Rachel had her biggest hangups.
Leslie, the girl she'd secretly dated all through high school had raped her to make her a werecat and took any and all choices away from Rachel. It was something that made Rachel feel weak and helpless, even in her present form. The other werecats from the club had helped her gain initial control over her transformations and seemed royally pissed that Leslie had raped her, which was good, but they also had no real experience in dealing with rape victims before, or at least not with those involving the victim becoming a were. In this, they took pride in being werecats and had essentially urged Rachel to accept her new form. Rachel also had the sense that while Cynthia's heart was in the right place with having her meet the various werecat prides in Moon Lake, but Rachel suspected that they would also want her to accept what she'd become.
And at times, things of the back of her own mind seemed to remind her of that. She had control over her transformations, but because of everything that tied into being raped, Rachel didn't often take her werecat form. Times like the present where she did so, it was more to question herself over whether or not this was the REAL Rachel Covaks. Most of the other times when she'd transformed, it had been more due to stress and inadvertently triggering the transformation. However, whenever she changed back to her human form, it was like a thought went through the back of her mind like she was saying goodbye to a very dear friend, and Rachel could never understand that, and it also further raised worries that her mind was losing who she was. That only made her worry about things more, though her thoughts were soon interrupted by a call coming from downstairs...
"Michelle, Jasmine, Rachel... dinner is ready!" came Charlene's voice, making Rachel's right ear turn toward it.
Rachel sighed, but then rubbed her stomach. That was a different issue that had come up. Even though she didn't transform all that much, becoming a werecat had increased her dietary needs and she often felt the need for more food than in the past. With that, Rachel shifted back with her muzzle retracting back into a flat human face, her teeth shortening down into the flatter human teeth that didn't interlock. Her tail seemed to be sucked back up her spine from where it came, and her fur receded back into her skin as well. As she came out into the hall, she'd fully returned to her human form. Rachel also noted Michelle and Jasmine coming out from their rooms. Michelle looked a bit down while Jasmine looked somewhere between pleased and almost eager.
The three Covaks daughters made their way downstairs and passed the front living room and passed the couch where Rachel had talked with Charlene after returning from her college day and a round of D & D. Rachel could even see her backpack there on the couch. They then made their way into the living room where Charlene was setting plates down on the oak table that was part of their family's history. Charlene smiled to them and offered an arm to the dinner table, and where Rachel could smell some turkey, mashed potatoes, canned cranberry. Sure, it wasn't Thanksgiving, but it was something that the family had liked and often had.
"Good to see everyone here," Charlene said with a smile, "and your homework is done?"
"The college doesn't have daily homework," Rachel answered.
"Lucky you," Jasmine commented, "the high school overloads it, if you ask me. But I got mine done."
"Me too," Michelle answered with a grumble, "which is about all I can do here."
There was some clear depression in Michelle's voice there, which gave Rachel some indication that Michelle had found out about Moon Lake's lack of sports programs.
"She's just bummed that Moon Lake doesn't have any sports teams," Jasmine answered.
"They don't even have golf, and that's a sport where they don't even have to worry about super strength, senses, or speed all that much," Michelle answered, "shoot, on some of the smaller courses that'd be a considerable handicap!"
"True," Rachel managed, "but regardless of all other matters, Cynthia's told me they want to keep MOON LAKE safe, and the last thing they want is a high school football team where the boys set strength and speed records that are from top tier colleges and the NFL after years of training."
"Mrs. Twist said much the same," Charlene gave a sigh, "and said that with Moon Lake positioned where it is in the mountains... they don't have room for a golf course, and it'd be too far to drive to then have a golf team. It's a shame, dear, but all things considered, it makes sense for this town."
"And it isn't like they don't do sports," Jasmine added, "the boys play football in November, often pitting upper classmen against lower classmen or pitting predatory weres against herbivorous weres."
"And what about us normal humans?" Michelle grumbled, "because I'm sure all THAT is to pit the weres against each other."
"The boy I talked with in class says they let normal humans compete and pick their sides, depending on what they set things up for," Jasmine said, "and they all have to be in human form for the game... so that works within the school and all that. And they do something similar to that for basketball in March. There, they do boys' and girls' teams and are arranged solely by the grades and the type of were. Predators for the seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshmen and the same Prey weres... assuming they get a lot that come out. If it's a lower number, they'll just do it by grade."
Michelle said nothing for a moment.
"And apparently at the college, over the winter, the weretigers and werelions have a big wrestling tournament," Jasmine added, "males and females from various werelion prides and various weretigers would wrestle for the horary "king of beats" title."
"Great... so I get to wait for more than half the school year before they'll even do a sport I can participate in, and then it will only be competing against others in the school... who I probably won't be as good against as I was back home," Michelle countered, sarcasm dripping through her voice, "and the one event we're closest to... I'd have to become either a werelion or weretiger just to compete in it. And that was even assuming I was interested in wrestling, which I'm NOT."
To a degree, Rachel understood Michelle's frustration. Her family had supported her, and she was glad to see that her sisters didn't shun her for being a werecat now. It was something where Cynthia was very much right in which Rachel's family had become a surrogate pride for her. But that didn't change the impact of her becoming a were and her mother looking for ways to help her adjust to things had its own consequences. Michelle had been pretty good at basketball and soccer in Florida and Jasmine had actually been the captain of the cheerleading squad at the high school that they attended, and Rachel attended before them, but now a lot of that really wasn't possible. They were now all in Moon Lake where things were different, and Michelle wouldn't get the same opportunities for sports.
"That doesn't mean that everything is bad," Jasmine answered, "everyone seems friendly, and some even thought we were weres."
"Given that the average cup size for a human woman is in the B range," Michelle snorted, "and it seems that the smallest a cup size a female were fits into would be a D... when a family like ours, where we are bigger than the human average, they'll think we are weres because we fit into THEIR norm."
"The boys remained friendly even after learning we were normal humans, as did the girls," Jasmine countered and then looked to Rachel, "and when we told them that it was you who became a were, and against your will... everyone volunteered to take Leslie out for you, and often muttering something about her disgracing weres everywhere."
"Well..." Rachel blinked, "at least it's good to hear that everyone's in my corner."
"Jasmine... I do hope you're not doing anything that will get us in trouble," Charlene gave a sigh, as this was more the mental worry on her part.
Mrs. Twist had assured her that no were truly "lost control" of themselves and those in Moon Lake would understand the concept of boundaries when it came to interacting with normal humans, but Mrs. Twist hadn't met Jasmine and only knew of Rachel's status as a were. Of her daughters, Jasmine had always been the most outgoing and sociable, and to a degree, it wouldn't surprise her if Jasmine had already lost her virginity sometime in Florida before they moved. It was then a worry that Jasmine might end up becoming a were herself, by accident or not, and that would complicate the matters that she'd noticed Rachel struggling through with being a werecat. And until Rachel was fully adapted to things, Charlene really didn't want Jasmine getting too adventuresome with the local boys. Though privately, Charlene had to admit that some of that might be rather hard, as when she went grocery shopping after Mrs. Twist's visit, she found herself seeing several men that made her former husband look weak and little with regard to things like muscle tone, and Charlene knew she wasn't yet old enough that sex wasn't something she couldn't engage in.
"No trouble, mom, I promise," Jasmine answered, "but the boys here are nice..."
"What about your meeting with Mrs. Twist, mom?" Michelle asked while Rachel took a piece of turkey from her plate, "how did that go?"
"Well..." Charlene began.