Jensen and Kaylee turned their heads when they heard the buzzer go that indicated that someone was at the new gate. It was an interruption, but probably a good thing. While discovering their own personal love for each other was lovely, they were rapidly progressing into heavy petting. And with their pups playing Wii in front of them, they silently agreed that having sex in front of them wasn't a good idea.
"I guess this is Zack's parents," Kaylee commented as they pulled apart.
Jensen got up and moved around the pups to peek out a small window on the wall opposite them. He could make out a vehicle parked at the gate, but between the distance and the new thicker bars, he couldn't make it out for sure.
"It probably is," Jensen then nodded, "the car looks like theirs, though I can't see the driver or passenger well enough to see them clearly."
"Should we tell Zack?" Kaylee asked when an almost excited voice echoed through the manor.
"They're here!" came Zack's voice, "They're here!"
The two alphas turned to see Zack land in the main entryway, looking very excited.
"You didn't jump down, did you?" Jensen asked.
Zack wagged his tail.
"It'll set a bad example for the pups!" Kaylee scolded, "I don't want them doing anything that could get them hurt. That means no one can do anything that is liable to get someone hurt if they can avoid it!"
"I'm sorry, Alpha Female," Zack bowed his head, "I'm just a bit excited."
"Do you have Alice's instructions?" Jensen asked.
Zack held out one paw, with a sheet of paper in it, as Kaylee's copies came running down the stairs. They had been in the female's den listening in on the conversation about the new gem colored wolves, but other the voicing some jealousy over Amethyst's incredibly large chest, they couldn't contribute all that much. Before joining the pack, knowing the names of the Smith family's staff had never crossed their minds, so Caroline's conversion to Cobalt wasn't something they had the expertise to comment on.
A few of the others were also coming out to the second floor level where they could oversee the entry way. Jensen walked calmly with Kaylee beside him to a box near the front door. The box contained a switch that would open the gate and allow Zack's parents to drive up toward the manor. Zack followed behind them.
"Remember that we are to draw them into the manor," Jensen told the charcoal black male, "trying it out there might result in them hitting the gas pedal and speeding away. And I doubt you'd want them killed when the new gate refuses to budge for a family sized car."
Zack nodded. By now the triplets came into the entry area from wherever they were in the manor.
"What is going on?" Darla asked as she and her sisters approached.
"Dears," Jensen began, "go out the side doors and wait. Once Zack's parents come in, you will have another car dispose of."
"Of course, Master," Fran, Julie, and Darla said in unison.
They then headed back toward one of the servant's quarters. Jensen then turned to watch as the car pulled up right in front of the manor. Neither parent got out of the car, and it merely idled there for a few moments.
"So how do we get them into coming inside?" Kaylee asked.
"We simply wait, Alpha Female," Zack answered, "Eventually dad will get so pissed that I'm not coming like clockwork, he'll come to drag me out."
"If he could," Hope giggled.
"I don't know if mom will come with him when he does..." Zack continued, "but if not, when he loses patience and comes to the door, we can grab him, which will draw mom to follow him..."
"And if she doesn't, the triplets can grab her," Jensen nodded, "Julie can bring her into the manor while Fran and Darla push the car into the garage and begin talking it apart."
Kaylee nodded, "Yeah. She has the medical knowledge. She may not know how to deal with the car."
"As close as the three of them are..." Jensen commented "Made to be the same, I'd think that some of Fran and Darla's police knowledge will go into Julie and some of Julie's medical knowledge will go into Fran and Darla."
The other wolves around their alpha nodded. All they had to do now, was wait.
+++++
"Climb every mountain, ford every stream. Follow every rainbow, till you find your dream!" Amethyst's voice continued to carry over the island, as if she was giving the gem colored wolves a concert on the Sound of Music.
Jasper and Goldie continued to follow the coastline looking for any signs of any native wildlife. There were marine iguanas that they had seen earlier, which meant there had to be something for them to eat. Unfortunately, neither of them knew what those lizards ate, although Jasper did voice the idea of bringing fishing poles here to see if they could catch anything if they had to come here for maybe some sense of variety.
It was Amethyst's continued concert that was really causing some frustration.
"She is way too cheerful," Goldie grumbled, "way TOO cheerful."
"At least we know she's in a good mood," Jasper shrugged.
Goldie dismissed that and watched as a couple of moderately sized crabs moved about on some of the rocks in front of them near the surf. They made a mental note to say that they were there, but couldn't really identify what specific species of crab it was. Although, given that their mind's first choice of food was red meat, knowing specific details about crustaceans didn't seem that important.
++++++
Mary sat nervously in the back seat of the car that Madame Serenity was driving. Normally she would have sat up front, but with her present smaller size, Madame Serenity told her it wasn't safe for her to be there. Paul sat quietly beside her, although Mary tried not to look at him... though this was because something screamed inside her mind that the orangutan was prey to her. And that made her shudder at what had happened to her.
Some demon man had used the "transform or dare" curse to turn her into a humanoid lion cub, equivalent to a eight or nine year old girl, but she wasn't entirely sure. She found out that as a lion cub she could understand house cats, which was confusing to her. The lion and the house cat, while both cats were not as closely related as say wolves and dogs were. The wolf and the domestic dog both carried the genus Canis. The wolf was Canis Lupus while the domestic dog was Canis Familiaris.
Lions and house cats however were not that closely related. The lion, the only cat to live a group, was Panthera Leo. The house cat was Felis Catus. And most of the differences came from their vocal cords. Lions could roar but couldn't purr. House cats could purr, but not roar. Because of that, if animal vocalizations were their own languages, Mary figured that lions and house cats were just distantly enough related that they wouldn't be able to understand her. But then, humanoid animals didn't exist in nature, and neither did demons, so maybe the game was making some generalization that didn't follow a scientific guess.
Although, at the present time, Mary wished she hadn't earlier decided to be a vet when she grew up as her mind wondered over what she had become and how things were for her.
And to top all of it off, she was being recruited by an elderly woman with a wounded tabby and an orangutan, who was also a victim of the Game to deal with a pack of wolves who had taken over the estate where her friend Ulysses worked and was using the game to enslave them to someone named Jensen. The whole thing left Mary confused.
"And this is your house here?" Madame Serenity asked.
Mary looked out the window at the moderately sized building in front of them.
"Yes," Mary nodded, "Not too big, not too small. And very comfortable."
Serenity nodded and carefully parked the car. As she parked it, Mary wrestled with her seat belt. When she finally got it off she turned to see that Paul had gotten out and opened the car door for her.
"Thank you, I guess," Mary spoke and hoped out while Serenity collected Trevor and got out, herself.
"You had best lead the way," Serenity told Mary, "they are your parents."
Mary nervously nodded and began to move toward the front door. She found that despite her regressed age, she could easily reach the doorknob. This made her nervously wonder how tall she would be if she couldn't turned back and she grew up into a humanoid lioness.
"Hello, Mom, I'm home," Mary called as she entered, "please don't be freaked but some..."
"And there's my little cub," came her mother's voice as Mary found herself being grabbed from the side and gripped in a strong hug, "Done at the park already?"
Mary looked, speechless toward her mother. She was relieved to see that she was still completely human, but the fact that she had referred to Mary as a cub and did nothing to notice her younger form bothered her.
"Is something wrong, dear?" Mary's mother asked in a voice sounding so sweat it'd give an elephant diabetes.
"Mother! LOOK!" Mary protested.
"At what?" her mother asked, "did you mess up your fur? Did some boy pull your tail?"
"Mother! I'm supposed to be a human, not a lion... well, a humanoid lion, but still," Mary said.
"Mary, I know what you're supposed to be," her mother said softly and hugged her daughter tightly, "we don't know how you were born with all your hormones out of whack, but that is what happened. It doesn't matter. Your father and I love you all the same."
Mary felt relieved that her mother still loved her, but found it strange that her mother thought her form to be completely normal. It hurt her, as she wanted her mother to be understanding and promise to help help her.
"I'm not supposed to be like this," Mary said weakly as her mother set her down.
"So who are your friends, Mary," her mother then spoke, "Did you meet them at the park? You know what I've told you about talking to strangers."
"Ms..."
"Hardy, and its Mrs." Mary's mother told the African American woman, "Mrs. Felicity Hardy."
"My name is Madame Serenity," Serenity spoke, "this is "my" cat, Trevor, and this Paul, and we need your daughter's help. But we thought it a good idea to speak talk with you and your husband before we go any further. Mostly to explain the risks."
Felicity Hardy gave Serenity a very nervous and parental type look before saying, "Brian is just starting the grill to make dinner. You can wait here for a few minutes."
+++++++
"What's taking her?" Randy asked, sounding impatient, "she should have come out by now."
"Maybe she's tutoring the Smith girl," Zelda commented, "You always said she needed guidance."
"I said she needed a conscience," Randy grumbled, "that's a different thing. Besides, we will need her help to unload everything when we get home. We can't sit here all night. We still have dinner to make."
"Maybe we should just order a pizza, dear," Zelda commented, "It'll save on time and let us catch up on what Zylphia's been up to over the weekend."
"If she ever comes out," Randy grumbled again, "I'm going to get her."
He then got out of the car, leaving the engine running. He then deliberately made his way toward the door.
"Randy wait!" Zelda called after her husband and began to follow him toward the door, "Don't be rude to their doorman!"
"Maybe I should," Randy answered, "It'll show them that someone knows the importance of maintaining a schedule."
Randy then pounded hard on the door as Zelda caught up with him.
"The door is open," a male voice called from within.
Randy then furiously opened the door, only to be grabbed by the neck by a large charcoal black male wolf creature. It then grabbed Zelda in the same place and carried them into the manor, leaving Randy and Zelda Niemand struggling to breath and trying to pull their necks out of the wolf's grip.
"Hello, Father, Mother," Zack smiled at his startled parents as Isabelle shut the door behind him.