Finally, after a very, very long drive, Kibibi and Asanti were finally arriving in Stokerville. And they were arriving with a lot more company than they had started out with. First, they met Kathy Gibson, an exiled werecat who decided to come with them to Stokerville, hopefully to start a new pride of werecats. Then they met more exiles, Isra al-Dabu and the three surviving members of her pack who have fled from Saudi Arabia. And it turned out that Asanti's mischievous niece, Asha, had been a stowaway in their truck since the beginning and they didn't find out until it was far too late to turn around. As such, the truck had become pretty full.
"So, where do we go first?" asked Isra, "Are we going to this Selena's house first?"
"No, remember, the rest of Selena's family are werewolves. They are not going to be welcoming to us entering their territory. And we don't want them knowing that Selena is building her own pack," said Kibibi, "My mother's instructions were clear. We're going to see Morgana first."
"This Morgana, is she a powerful witch?" asked Isra's mate, Basma.
"I know at least she is very skilled," said Kibibi, "Not to mention resourceful and well-connected. I'm not sure how much raw power she has, but she is definitely not a weak witch."
Thankfully, Kibibi has been given clear directions on how to get to Morgana's shop and before long, they were pulling up to it. The werehyenas were very eager to get out and stretch their legs. They had started out very early in the morning, before sunrise, so they could avoid the worst of the midday traffic. Once they were parked, they piled out of the truck and stretched.
They walked into the store and saw a woman behind the counter, a considerably younger woman than Zuri had described. “Are you Morgana Faye?” she asked.
“No, I’m her daughter and apprentice, Vivienne,” said the young woman, “My mother is resting after working on a portal for most of yesterday.”
“She can make portals?” asked Asanti in annoyance, “Why didn’t she just make one for us and save us the long trip?”
“Because my mother was busy setting up a portal to send several students to Japan and receive exchange students from there,” said Vivienne.
“Oh, that would be taxing,” said Isra.
“I take it you are Kibibi then?” asked Vivienne.
“Yes, and this is my mate, Asanti. And these are the al-Dabu pack,” said Kibibi.
“What’s left of us,” said Najma bitterly.
“Also, this is Kathy the werecat and my niece, Asha,” said Asanti.
“A pleasure to meet you all. I’m sure my mother would like to speak with you after she’s rested. Please do not try to disturb her. She said she’ll turn anyone who tries into a frog,” said Vivienne.
“A frog?” asked Kathy dryly.
“Yes, it’s old-fashioned, but she can do it quite easily,” said Vivienne.
“Well, we’re mainly here to meet with this Selena,” said Kibibi.
“You’ll have to wait for that too,” said Vivienne, “She’s currently at school now.”
“The self-proclaimed alpha of a werehyena pack is still attending school?” asked Kibibi incredulously.
“She still has a human life,” said Vivienne, “Not everyone lives completely off the grid.”
Kibibi sighed. If her mother hadn’t made her swear not to challenge Selena for leadership of this pack, she’d do it at once. But she had to wait at least a year and help guide the inexperienced werehyenas. Hopefully, she’ll be able to make something decent of this pack.
“I hope you don’t mind us resting here while we wait for Selena to get out of school,” said Asanti.
“Well, this is a magic shop, not a boarding house, so you can’t spend the night,” said Vivienne, “But I can direct you to a place you can stay later.”
“Mostly I don’t want to get back into that cramped truck right away,” said Asanti.
Just then, Isra noticed something. “Asanti, where is your niece?” she asked. The women soon noticed that the troublesome Asha had disappeared. Which was worrisome enough, but this was a magic shop…
==========
As soon as the grown-ups were busy talking, Asha took the opportunity to sneak around the counter and head further into the shop. She headed into the potions section, hoping to find something that will help her achieve her secret goal. There were a few too many beauty and youth potions, but Asha eventually found what she was looking for; an aging potion. Specifically, she found one that said 'Fountain of Ages- one drop adds one year of age'.
For the nine years of her life, Asha has been constantly been told 'don't do this' and 'don't do that'. Everyone always scolds her for being more mischievous than the other cubs. But if she were a grown-up, nobody would be able to tell her what she can't do. She'd finally be able to get in on all this sex stuff that the adults were always up to, but frustratingly vague about it. And most of all, she'd finally become a werebeast. She was very eager to become a werehyena, though Asha had sometimes wondered if she'd become a werefox like her father was. Her mother has certainly cursed him enough for Asha to know what he was and what he was like. Asha was curious enough that she wouldn't mind becoming a werefox, as long as she could get a dick as well.
But time was of the essence now, almost literally. Kibibi and the other ladies will be looking for her soon. Asha quickly stripped off her clothes, glad to be out of the uncomfortable things. Why do humans have to have such ridiculous concerns about modesty? Well, they won't be fitting her soon anyways. Asha grabbed the Fountain of Ages potion. Fortunately, the bottle had both a dropper and a small cup. She carefully squeezed out nine drops. She didn't want to get too old, just old enough to become an adult. She drank the accumulated drops and waited for the magic to happen. Asha soon felt a tingle go through her whole body. Slowly, her head was passing the shelves as she got taller. Quite soon, she was in her double digits and entering her tweens. Asha was looking forward to when she hit puberty and her first shift.