"Hey, it's cool," Dita continued as they finished up. "Our moms make some wild videos. To tell you the truth, from what I've seen, I can't wait to get into the studio myself. They must've got some kick ass editing equipment." "Dit, you have no idea," Heather said solemnly.
“Dita, Heather,” said Debra. “Come on down to the basement. We need to talk to you both.” Heather and Dita looked at each other and followed their mothers downstairs, sitting together on the canvas sofa
“Dita,” said Lisa. “Heather knows what I’m going to tell you, but I demanded that she remain quiet till I could tell you myself, just to avoid any confusion. Thanks again for picking up my bedroom last night, can I assume you saw the video she mentioned.”
“Yeah, I sure did Mom,” Dita said excitedly. “That was some kinky stuff, both of you.” Dita looped her arm under Heather’s. “And I must say that we are both totally shocked and appalled, for shame!” Debra and Lisa smiled, waiting. “What I really want to know though, is how on God’s green earth did you manage to put those effects together?”
“Dita, we will show you in a few minutes, but let me tell you a story. Back in around Christmas in 1987 a young man from Case Western Reserve University had been hiking in the Transylvanian Alps, just outside of Sibiu. He stumbled upon a gypsy caravan, and apparently had made quite an impression as they invited him in for dinner. After dinner that night, the young daughter of one of the elders invited this young man to spend the night. It was probably an innocent gesture of lust on her part, the Roma are not nearly as superstitious as many think, but she had apparently been attacked less than a week before by a large animal. Well they spent the night together, and with his vacation time in Eastern Europe drawing to an end, they dropped him off in Bucharest.”
Dita was puzzled. “Now I KNOW that I have no Eastern European heritage…”
“You are one hundred percent English in heritage, traced back before Oliver Cromwell, but I digress. The young man’s name was Jeffrey Harding. I met Jeff in a Literature class I’d been attending there, I’d already graduated, but I had made some extra money and decided to take a few extra courses for fun. Jeff was a joy to be around, funny, playful, and very smart, and within a week, he’d moved in with me, say, about nine months before you were born.”
“My father,” whispered Dita. Lisa nodded.
“It was a great first two weeks. Till one night we were laying in bed talking, and watching the sun go down. The moon rose…and this happened to him..”
Lisa stood now, removing her clothes. “I am SO sorry, my daughter…” Heather held Dita’s hand gently as Lisa’s bones popped quietly. Fangs emerged from Lisa’s mouth and her ivory skin darkened to orange as thick fur covered her body.
“M-m-MOM!!, cried Dita, horrified at what was happening to the woman who raised her. Lisa knelt in front of her daughter, a clawed paw on Dita’s knee. Dita was repulsed, but paralyzed as fur covered her mothers face and her face itself pushed out into a small muzzle.
Lisa spoke now, her voice familiar, but deeper, more melodic. “Your father changed into a wolf. He panicked and bit me in the midst of the change. When he finally recovered he was horrified at what he had done, though I do not blame him. He took his own life a week later.” Lisa reversed the transformation. “So Dita…what you saw…on the video…were not….special effects…they…were…our reality.” Lisa completed the transformation, and Dita jumped into her arms, relieved. “Mom…you’re a werewolf!?!”
"I thought we'd already established that, honey," said Lisa, Debra, and Heather in unison.
“SHUT UP,” said Dita furiously. “Why didn’t you tell me before? Why did…why did you need to tell me in front of Heather and Debra?”
“Sit down, sweetie,” said Lisa, joining Heather and Dita on the sofa. The reason I waited was that I wanted you to experience a normal human life before you turned eighteen. When I moved to Indiana, I met Debra in a single parents support group; we were both pregnant at the time. Debra and I had been walking one evening and the full moon rose. Rather than panicking, Debra was enthralled. She offered me her forearm, and I passed the gift onto her.”
“Here comes Krakatoa,” Heather thought to herself.
“Dita, you are going to be eighteen in a few days. You are also the daughter of werewolves. Honey, the next full moon rises on the seventh of October, and under that full moon, both you and Heather will change into wolves.”
Dita felt like she’d been punched in the stomach. “I…ca-…could…could you leave us alone for a few minutes?” Lisa nodded sympathetically. “Heth?” Dita motioned for Heather to join her.
"Blackhorn," was all the voice on the other end said.
"Ranger One," Ramer snapped back. "We may have an agent who's been compromised."
“Is this a secure line,” asked Blackhorn. “Yeah, we’re set.”
“Very good. Tell me what you know.”
“Okay Boss, that agent that was assigned to the primary target, I have two reports of her in hand. Both tell me that nothing suspicious has been going on, and I’d normally be inclined to go along with that. Then I got a report from Brit. She told me that she saw a woman that matches our agents description, ‘an unknown female, 5' 4", 105 pounds, dark hair and dark complexion of Indian descent’ going to Blimpie for lunch with our primary.”
Blackhorn was nonplussed. “Fine, so she made the mistake of leaving out a lunch break on her report, is that the only anomaly?”
Dan answered, “If that was it, I’d just remind her to document EVERY movement she makes regarding our subject. No, the thing that made me call you was this latest report she just emailed to me, same old thing, nothing happening, boring stuff. But in a PS, she wants some time off, from the seventh to the tenth of October. Some family commitment she tells me.
Blackhorn let out a low whistle. “Annnd tell me again when is the next full moon?”
They both answered his question, “The seventh to the tenth of October!”
Blackthorn laughed. “Holy fuck, she’s an FBI agent…at least for now. You’d think she’d be more discrete.”
“Shall we let her know that she is being reassigned?”
“Well, I’m hardly one to interfere with werewolf love. Besides, for all we know, our Wendy might be legit, and she deserves the benefit of the doubt. Anyway if she HAS been turned, she may be of some use to us.”
“AND to them!”
“We’re not at war with these people, Danny. First, let’s see if she’s telling the truth about ‘a family commitment,’ and by that I mean the Patel family, not some Gaia-Kumbaya bullshit. As to whether Wendy has just greatly increased her lifespan…she’s been a good agent so far, surely she deserves a gift of some sort by now, perhaps some silverware or a silver necklace. In any case, find out, and keep in touch. Nice work, Dan”
“Talk to you later sir, Bye.”
Dita struggled to hold back her tears, but they flowed freely. She and Heather went up to Dita’s bedroom where Dita collapsed on the bed, the lacy white pillows muffling her sobs. Dumbfounded, this was so unlike Dita, Heather rested a trembling hand on her friend’s shaking shoulder. Minutes passed and the tears subsided. Dita rolled over, eyes red, a weak smile showing on her face.
“You know how I told you to lighten up? Boy was I stupid!”
“Sorry I couldn’t tell you earlier.”
Dita shook her head. “It was better this way, no offense. How did you take it?”
Heather shuddered. “Your mom hit you with everything. My mom just changed her hands and face a bit. She told me the same story; I reacted like you did, pretty much.”
Dita’s face darkened. “Do you believe it?”
Heather put her arm around Dita’s waist. “I didn’t at first…now…well, I’m not sure. Let’s go back down."
The two embraced their mothers as they returned to the basement.
“Girls, I know that this is hard to accept, but just give it time. All four of us are werewolves, and I think you’ll find that it is a great life…with some adjustments. Right now I’m the leader, the Alpha of a coven of ten werewolves. Wendy joined us this morning.”
“Wendy Patel? From lunch yesterday?” Heather asked
“The very same,” said Lisa. “The first transformation is the most traumatic, so we will hold off officially initiating you till November. We’ll find a big stretch of wooded wilderness, rent a cabin there and we’ll teach you about your new body.” Lisa remembered something. “Oh, and I’m afraid that you’ll remain a wolf until the morning of the tenth, you won’t change back every morning till your body has adjusted, which might take three months to over a year. Damn, I REALLY should have mentioned that to Wendy.”
Dita’s stomach churned. She squeezed Heather’s hand tightly.
Lisa continued her lecture. “After your first change, you will have the ability to transform at any time you wish, though under the full moon it will happen no matter what. With training…and we WILL train you…you’ll be able to partially modify your bodies as necessary and you’ll learn to master your hybrid form; what most people think of when they hear the term ‘werewolf.’ Finally, with regards to your body, you’ll find that your human form will change.
Dita and Heather exchanged glances. “In what way,” asked her daughter.
Lisa smiled at the two. “You’re both going to have larger breasts. You’ll be growing much more and thicker hair on you head and body, and your genitals will expand and become more sensitive. You’ll notice that your senses will increase and so will your strength. Once you reach the age of twenty-five, well, you can expect to look that way for quite some time. Werewolves have been known to live for centuries.
Well that was good news.
“Er, Debra, did you want to jump in?” She did.
“Werewolves are all but invincible in combat.”
“but the thing about silver”
“still applies”
“If you touch it, it will burn you slightly”
“If you get shot or stabbed with it, or if you inhale enough of it, you will be very diededed.”
“Any questions,” asked Lisa.
“Lisa, can we have children?”
“You can, Heather, and they will be werewolves, same situation as yours. One thing I should warn you about, you CAN be made pregnant by regular wolves when you are in wolf form. IF that happens, and I pray to the Lord it never happens to anyone, you will remain as a wolf, and with that pack during the entire pregnancy and until they are fully weaned. That’s at least four months.”
“Holy shit,” said both Heather and Dita. “So you’ll be sure to make sure that the wolves you are with are all capable of being human,” said Debra
“Also, if you become pregnant the usual way, if the father isn’t a werewolf when you start, he will be when you finish. Our gift can be spread through a bite, through unprotected sex – contact with sexual fluids, or through the bloodstream. Girls…don’t waste your time donating blood, though that WOULD be pretty amusing if it slipped through.”
Time to finish it, thought Lisa.
“OK, last thing, Pack rules. As Alpha, my power over you is absolute. I’m sure you might think this is pretty Byzantine, but it is the nature of the werewolf. When I give a command operating as coven leader, it is to be carried out without dispute, I don’t mind you asking for clarification, but. Well, you’ll know when I need you to just do what I say. If you are ordered to kill…NOT murder, that is what you’ll do. If I order you to transform…well you need not worry since your body will carry it out anyway. If you chose to disobey me, should you defy my orders, you will be punished. Punishment depends on the severity of the breach, but I can tell you right now that there are at least a handful of wolves out there that haven’t been human since Lincoln was President.
“Really, though, the coven rules amount to ‘Do as you’re told’ and ‘Keep lycanthropy secret.’ The chain of command is by seniority, but control of the pack is by inheritance. In other words, Dita, if I die, you’ll take over.”
Lisa wound up her presentation. “Geez, eighteen years prepare and I forgot to use PowerPoint. D’you have any questions?
Dita was curious. “Um, have we decided where we’ll go in October?”
“At first I thought that we’d just stay in the local area, but since this will be your first time, and since Wendy expects to join us, we could be a bit more exotic. Anything else?”
Heather and Dita shook their heads. Lisa sat between them, embracing them affectionately. “Guys, don’t worry, it’s perfectly okay to be frightened, and to not believe what is happening. We all go through it. Let’s all go to a movie!”