Epilogue-- Chris' Mother
That night the trio of parents sat in the den of the Panther's house hold. All naked in the privacy of the house. Chris was with Krystal, and Jack and Cathy along with the rest of the litter was for a few precious minutes not causing a ruckus. All three evolved animals present were carnivores, and thus the only plant matter on the table was the tea which they were calmly sipping as best they could with their muzzles.
Keith asked politely, "So Monty really sent you an e-mail this evening saying he just spend two years in hyper space time, having been abducted by martian fox people. Got to meet at least three, no, FOUR alien princesses, accidently got turned back into his mongoose form when he was in a shuttle accident and they accidently read that part of his memory to instantly regenerate his body. Got mutated at least twice before returning to human form. And played a floating super intelligent eye ball to a stalemate at 4-D chess?"
To which the husky present said in total calm, "He'd have challenged it to 5-D but he didn't want to press his luck he said. We know each other from the husky squad, so it's not totally illogical he'd tell me." The husky tasted the tea, "Nice tea, and believe me, I've had decades of experience trying out different sorts."
"I'm surprised you were into things that refined before," Keith remarked.
"Herbal tea is good for clearing the mind, base rule of self defense." The husky replied.
"Kristen." Jacqueline said using the name Hannah had given the former she-bear. "I've been meaning to ask for a long time now, why did you chose to stay a woman after you left the park with Chris?"
"For honor." Kristen said calmly.
"Honor?" Jacqueline asked. A 'fair hunt' was a modern human concept, predators as a rule took their kills when they could find them. Jacqueline hadn't given the concept much thought in years.
"Honor." Kristen repeated. "After Chris and I first came to the park, and the near tragedy with Chris, Monty, and the huskies, I was caught totally off my guard, something I thought I had grown past by removing distractions." Kristen put her tea down and look the panthers in the eyes. "So I did something I hadn't done in a long long time, I took a look at myself."
"And what did you see?" Jacqueline asked curious as any cat.
"I saw .... something I realized I wasn't proud of. I saw someone who didn't know their son as well as they thought they did. And someone who had failed their duty as a parent. I kept looking for a new mother for him, knowing I sucked at the job of being the tender side of raising someone into adulthood. And I realized I had failed in that search too. So I took the only honorable course of action left to me."
Jacqueline blinked a few times before saying, "But why did you chose to keep your gender like that? And the species you did?"
Kristen sighed, "Well... how can I put this? I just felt the husky form was more practical compared to the bear body. Less brute force, more precision. As for why I chose to keep this gender... I think Chris was more happy with me this way... I originally wanted to make amends for making Chris chose the Random option. I guess in the end it was a combination of many many small factors. I won't say I'm more or less myself this way. I think I just... completed my goals better this way... Chris has grown into a fine man now... like I wanted... "
Keith asked, "You looking for a man yourself?"
"No." Kristen said simply, "I have no desire to find someone else. The only reason I was looking for someone before was for Chris... he doesn't need someone new now, and neither do I."
Keith leaned in, "You sure?"
"Yes." Kristen nodded. "I am. In a warped way. I think I gave Chris his wish to have his mother back." She picked up and sipped the tea again, "And I'm starting to think, my son has the right idea... all these new species forms... we're going to have to totally reinvent some martial arts styles for them. You should have seen how those husky fought before... they were good... but I knew how to make them better." She grinned with pride.
"I'm sure you did." Jacqueline nodded.
"Let me tell you, the pack leader? Naomi? She took the longest to convince that I could improve their fighting styles. It was almost as big a challenge as teaching that scranny husky Monty..... but just as rewarding..."
"Most big challenges are."