Rachel calmly stood up as she watched her mother walk toward the kitchen and gave a calm sigh. She noted some of the boxes in the living room that held things like books and movies were emptied and folded up and laid against the door to the backyard of the home they'd bought. In this, she knew her mom had to have gotten a lot done with some of the last bits of unpacking things after the family had moved to Moon Lake before she and Jasmine got home. The two of them had returned at about the same time, though Jasmine had arrived alone and didn't say much about why Michelle wasn't with her. If this had been just after what had happened to her in Florida, Rachel would have had some worry over what might happen, but after making friends with Cynthia and conversation she'd had with some of the other weres at the college and then the semi-nervous discussion she'd had with Monique, she'd felt a bit more comfortable that weres wouldn't mindlessly go out and act the way Leslie did.
That sense of trust she'd had in other weres in Moon Lake, however, wasn't something that Rachel put on herself. Particularly after what Monique had said about her catching Monique's scent and realizing that Monique was a werecat and then transforming out of some instinctual desire for Monique because she was another werecat. In some ways, it only told Rachel that SHE was like Leslie, and that she could or would do things just on the assumption that the desire she had would be returned... or that she wouldn't have the control needed to be like the werecats in Moon Lake. After all, Monique had said that weres were pretty sexual creatures, and some of the sounds that drifted out of the woods or nearby houses at night gave Rachel some hint of that. But Monique didn't uncontrollably change into her werecat form, the other weres at the college didn't take on their were forms and start an orgy in class. It was all a reminder of Rachel's lack of control that made her uneasy with herself.
That unease sat with her as she made her way to the stairs and began to head up them to head to her own room. The room was quiet, outside of the sound of Jasmine on her phone. Moon Lake didn't get great cell reception, possibly due to all the mountains that surrounded the town, but some of the companies that had stronger signal strength did manage to get service in Moon Lake. Rachel could only assume that Jasmine was either talking to an old "boyfriend" in Florida or had picked up a local's number and was calling him. Rachel paid little attention to that and looked more to the modest soft cover book that was presently on her bed. The cover was a dark blue with gold lettering that wrote out the title, "Moon Lake's Guide to Were Fancy" by Mark and Wolfe Wrytyr. That left Rachel thinking back on how she picked up that book...
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The run in with Monique and what had happened at Rachel's last class of the day had been embarrassing, and thankfully, when she did return to the classroom in her human form no one responded harshly to her. The professor even offered an apologetic smile. But the situation was one where she really wasn't all that comfortable with all that happened, as she'd let something she felt she had under control get out of control, and while most of Moon Lake College's students were from Moon Lake and knew about weres, there were those that came from outside the region and thus didn't know about weres, which meant that on campus, many of the rules that Moon Lake had for its were residents applied. In theory, Rachel was not allowed to transform in the "public" areas of the campus and would only be allowed to do so IN her dorm room, if she was actually residing on campus.
It was something that partially reinforced what Cynthia had suggested the day before in meeting the other prides in Moon Lake, and likely requesting to join one of them to learn more and better acclimate into what she had become and all that. She didn't necessarily WANT to acclimate into being a werecat and joining a pride, largely because that only brought back memories of what Leslie did and things that happened at the trial, but Rachel couldn't deny the lack of control she'd had, just from finding that Monique was another werecat. There, to a great degree, the drop in control scared Rachel more than anything else, and thus she came to the only place where she felt she might gain some more information in a way that she could make a more informed decision, the college library. There was a lone man sitting at the main desk, wearing what looked like a suit that was in style in the 1920s rather than the 2020s, but he was working along fine with something on the other side of the desk, and Rachel caught the scent of were on him... wereowl, actually.
"Um... sir?" Rachel began as she approached the desk.
"Yes, ma'am, is there something you need?" the man asked.
"Yes, I was hoping you would have a guide for weres... as in REAL weres, not just in movies," Rachel stated.
Rachel watched as the man blinked looked to her for a moment and then said to her, "aren't you already a werecat, ma'am? Your scent would indicate that..."
"I am... but my induction wasn't exactly planned and that's why my family moved here," Rachel spoke, "I was hoping I'd get some information on what I've become..."
The man blinked, "And you would be, ma'am?"
"Rachel Covaks," Rachel spoke and presented the student ID she'd gotten at the induction and welcome meeting the day before she had her first classes begin.
"I see... hold on, Ms. Covaks," the man spoke and then got up and went into the office area that was behind the desk. He eventually came back with a dark blue with gold lettering. He then presented the book to Rachel. "Typically this book is given out to new families moving into Moon Lake and wanting to learn some of the basics about the were community and thus learn the specific strengths and weaknesses of at their most basic levels for every were species in Moon Lake. It isn't everything, and while I can't presume to tell you how to be good werecat, I would advise that you find a pride to join. They can help you beyond what that book can."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Of course, some of what the librarian made sense. Losing control over Monique's scent raised her fears over losing control and everything else was something that would make learning from local werecats would make sense. But, in remembering on what happened and how it reminded her of things Leslie did. It all doubled down on things in Rachel's psyche that made her fear that she was becoming more than just a werecat, that she would gain a similar personality or drive to what Leslie had. After all, Rachel remembered Leslie claiming that she wanted Rachel and that Rachel returned that desire. Rachel didn't agree with that, at least not in the context that Leslie gave, and just saw Leslie as being controlled by her own lusts. Then, Rachel found herself transforming out of a subconscious desire to attract Monique to her.
"I can't be like her," Rachel said to herself and hoping that she'd find something about werecats in the book that would be different from what she remembered from Leslie's behavior.
The introduction and table of contents were pretty simple, though written in a way that if someone outside of Moon Lake were to find a copy of the book, they'd think they stumbled onto a guidebook for some fantasy game or fantasy book series. It then listed entries for various different were species and went by alphabetical order, which made things easy for her to find where werecat was, though Rachel really wasn't focused too much on the other were species that were there. She flipped to the pages for werecats and looked to get all the information she could. It didn't take long to get to those pages.
The pages were informative, and Rachel could quickly see why the college librarian had said they were to help normal humans choose on what were to become, though there were also signs that the book was written a LONG time ago and that the copy the college library had loaned Rachel was a reprint. The entries were two pages and were dominated by had drawn artwork, or copies of hand drawn artwork. The pictures looked fairly well with a human woman dressed like a schoolteacher from the late 1800s to early 1900s, she wore a long dress with a long-sleeved shirt and with her hair up in a bun. The only thing that might say "werecat" in the human form's picture was the jewelry that was made to look like a cat sitting up holding the collar of her shirt closed. The other page showed the werecat in her werecat looking very much like her were form was based off a Persian with long fur and a flattened face. She was wearing the same dress, shirt, and everything else as in the human form's picture, with only the shoes missing and a couple of buttons on the blouse undone to show the slightly enlarged bust in the were form from the werecat's human form.
The pictures were well drawn, but it was more the information that Rachel was looking for, as she generally already knew what a werecat looked like. And there, some of the information was fairly familiar as well, that werecats were a mono-gendered species of were that was entirely female. Though they weren't the only mono-gendered were. Werecheetahs were also all female, though, unlike werecats, werecheetahs might not necessarily be lesbians or bi. The only other group of weres that had that line with their sexuality were the werewildcats, which were essentially the male version of a werecat. That was all something that was relatively well known, though. Rachel had learned all of that by what limited contacts she had had already.
Though, there were some things that Rachel found as being fairly new. It started with how werecats were among the smaller weres, and that despite being capable hunters, were not active hunters of large and potentially dangerous prey and generally preferred to avoid physical combat with larger weres or larger mundane animals. There was information that they gave some general insights into their "culture" within were society, in that their prides could vary in size, but unlike many other weres, werecats could often include other weres in their prides, often werewildcats in solidarity with them over being at least bisexual if not homosexual. It showed a great deal of agreement and cooperation in way that other weres might not have that easily. In some ways, it also often reflected a desire for comfort that all werecats had as well, which could leave them nervous in areas hostile to weres or homosexuals. Rachel understood the last bit all too well, but that was something that everyone that was gay, transgender, or non-binary wrestled with. It wouldn't be something unique to weres.
"There's got to be more to it than this," Rachel said to herself in frustration, mostly finding nothing that really confirmed or said anything on the pressures that came with a werecat's sexuality.
True, there was the understanding on werecats being at least bi, if not lesbian, but that was something that Rachel already knew. And because she knew she was a lesbian before Leslie raped her, she wouldn't have cared about that. What Rachel wanted was some kind of confirmation on whether or not the kind of things that Leslie did was an inherent part of werecats, or that becoming a werecat would make one like the one that turned you. These were all things Rachel was looking for, but the book didn't mention anything of that nature, and it only left her frustrated and worrying more over her own lack of control. It was enough to get her thinking more on Cynthia's offer, to at least get some answers and to think on the scheduled appointment for the end of the school week on Friday with Doctor Suyin Chen. As it looked ever more likely that they might be the only way she'd really get answers and help. That only left her with a sigh.