"They left the engine running?" Julie asked as she peered around the corner of the house, careful not to damage Jenny's flower garden.
"Must really want to stay on schedule," Darla commented.
"They've gone in," Fran said, "Let's go. It's only one car."
The triplets them moved forward quickly toward the idling vehicle while Zack's parents went in for their inevitable transformation. The vehicle was currently in park, which would make pushing it difficult, but Julie was quick to shift it into neutral, although she also ended up breaking the that part of the vehicle off.
"Oops," Julie said weakly, holding up the device.
"We'll be taking it apart anyway,sister," Darla told her, "Don't worry about that."
Julie nodded, and wanted to come back and help her sisters push the vehicle, but found that Fran and Darla were more then enough to push it.
"Stay to one side," Fran commented, "You can turn the steering wheel so that we don't have to lift and pivot the car, dear."
Julie was quick to nod and stayed near the open door and carefully turned the wheel to allow the vehicle to go around a corner and toward the estate's garage. Once they got close, Fran and Darla stopped pushing, allowing Julie to open the door. They then pushed it in.
"What next, sisters?" Julie asked.
"We remove anything personal that our new pack mates will want and proof of insurance," Darla instructed "Fran and I get whatever they have in the trunk."
Julie nodded and turned off the engine so that they wouldn't suffocate on car exhaust. She then climbed into the front seat to get into the glove compartment. Opening the compartment was easy, but Julie found that the small vehicle was constricting against her. Even with her knees on the driver's seat and one front paw on the passenger seat, she had to bend low to keep from bumping her head against the roof of the car.
Fran and Darla, meanwhile, pried the trunk open. The latch that was to hold the trunk shut was no match for their combined strength, and no claws were broken in the effort. They found the trunk packed with bags and suitcases. Some of them looked like they held what would be rather interesting souvenirs, though to Fran and Darla they were unimportant. They were stacked in an open area for the new pack members and for Zack to sort through later. Though most of it would likely either be on ebay or would be burned, depending on the item.
"Nervous about Serenity, sister?" Fran asked as Julie placed a suitcase from the backseat and a stack of papers that held the insurance information beside the pile of things Fran and Darla had taken out of the trunk.
"Just a little, sister," Julie nodded, "How do you know?"
"Because we are nervous about her, sister," Darla spoke up, "You worry, so we worry."
"Oh, right," Julie nodded, "Sorry if I'm making you nervous."
"It's alright," Darla spoke, "She is seeking to break up our family. We should be concerned."
Fran tossed Julie a set of gloves and goggles as the triplets began to move into actually disassembling the car.
"It's just that she's investigating us," Julie spoke, "she may not be able to turn us back anymore, but that won't stop her from coming... and we'd be separated."
Each blond wolf swallowed a large gulp before continuing. While Fran and Julie began taking the tires off of the car while Dara set to removing the hood.
"Master will think of a way," Fran commented, "He's done well so far."
"But how?" Julie asked, "She wasn't at her home when Terri and Sandi went there. She could be hiding out somewhere."
"The where is unimportant," Darla commented, "the Master can sense where his target is. We likely assumed she would remain at her home because that is her place of residence. I'd think that tomorrow the Master will order an effort made to capture her and bring her here."
"Maybe we can convince her to leave the pack alone," Julie said hopefully, "Show her how happy we are together."
"Maybe," Fran said nervously, "Though I think the Master has been angered enough by her interference that I don't think he'll have qualms with killing her."
Julie gulped nervously. She had no problem with killing one of the deer roaming the estate's grounds when their herd was large enough to support the pack, but she didn't want to kill people. They were, after all, outside of "the old fashioned" way, a source for new wolves.
"Hopefully things won't go that far," Darla spoke, feeling Julie's worries grow, "although, if it does, it'll be for the good of the pack."
Fran and Julie nodded.
++++++
"We're sorry, mommy," Amy and Zelipe spoke as Kaylee practiced some of the first aid treatment that Darla had taught her.
"It's okay, dears," June winced as Kaylee put pressure on the bite wound to her shoulder.
"We're alright," Pearl added.
The claw marks on Pearl's sides weren't all that serious and the bleeding had even stopped there already. But the bite that Amy had delivered to June's shoulder was a little deeper, much like the bites Marcy and Kevin had taken out of Jensen when they first transformed. And it took all of Kaylee's willpower to not lick the wounds as her instincts told her too. Even if her saliva could kill potential bacteria and viruses, she didn't think it was worth the risk.
"I think I've got the bleeding stopped," Kaylee spoke, "Although both of you will need to see Julie to determine if bandages are needed and how to put them on."
"Of course, Alpha Female," both Pearl and June said obediently.
"That can wait until the triplets are finished with the car," Jensen said from nearby while he had helped Zack limp into the what was the pack's medical room. He then turned to the charcoal black male, "How is the knee?"
"I don't think anything is broken master," Zack said, "but it does hurt a little... though not as bad as the shot between my legs from Nicole."
He winced a little when he heard one of Kaylee's copies give an almost playful giggle.
"We're sorry, daddy," Amy and Zelipe then said as equally weak.
Zack glanced at the two eight year old pups. They looked sorry. They didn't entirely look like him or Pearl or June entirely, the way Jensen's pups did, with Jenny, Bart, Kevin, and Marcy all resembling Jensen and Kaylee in various ways, and Abbey, Alice, and Samantha looking very much like three identical daughters of Jensen and their respective triplet mother. Yet, like Jensen's pups, they were accepting the reversed role they had given them. He now only found himself only hoping to be as good a father as Jensen had become.
"It's okay," Zack said to them, and then chuckled, "there are some that will say that I probably deserved what I got. Do not worry."
Isabelle returned to the room at that time with a bag of ice and handed it to Jensen. Jensen then turned to Zack.
"Keep that on the injured knee," Jensen instructed, "and be sure to have Julie take a look at it. We wouldn't want you having a torn tendon or ligament or something... and she'll be able to be certain. Hopefully nothing is wrong, because the pack will need you and all the males to deal with Serenity, I think."
"All the males, dear?" Kaylee asked, "Isn't that a bit much for one old woman?"
"I doubt she'll entirely come alone," Jensen commented, "thankfully, I don't think the police would get involved, otherwise we would have heard from them already... which will mean that her only option is to use the game to create an army to fight us. And if that is her plan of action, we need to capture or kill her BEFORE she can raise that army... after all, we aren't the only ones who hold turns."
The others nodded.
"But that will be a test for tomorrow," Jensen said, "I doubt there will be much that we can do today that wouldn't attract attention."
The others nodded again.
"You're sure you're okay, mommy?" Amy asked, holding onto June's paw.
"I will be," June smiled politely, "Why don't you go with Alpha Female and play with her pups. They are playing wee..."
"Wii," Kaylee corrected.
"Wii, and I'm sure they'll share with you," June said, "Pearl and I will be by to see you when Julie's seen to us."
Pearl nodded in agreement as Zelipe looked to his mother. The two pups then took one of Kaylee's paws and followed her out. She wasn't their mother, but both Amy and Zelipe sensed a degree of power and authority in the red brown female. She wouldn't let any harm come to them.
+++++++
Serenity sighed as she began to try and get the Hardys to allow Mary to help her. It would likely be difficult as they saw what had happened to Mary as normal. They thought she had always been a humanoid lion cub. It would make things difficult, but Serenity hoped she could manage it.
"Mr. and Mrs. Hardy," Madame Serenity began, "first I would like to assure you that I mean your family no harm, and that Mary was no trouble at all."
"That's good," Brian told her, "She can get rather curious about things..."
Serenity nodded, "Yes, well... I suppose the best place to start is to tell you about something that has been plaguing Glendale for years. Perhaps even centuries."
Both parents began to look at the African American woman nervously.
"It is the game "Transform or Dare"," Serenity spoke, "a "game" that has resulted from the execution of a coven of witches that didn't take kindly to being executed."
"The game is real?" Brian asked.
"Yes," Serenity nodded, "Transform can turn you or anyone asked into just about anything. Dare can make you do anything. And it's a game that destroys lives, ruins them."
Both parents shuddered, fearful that their cub was in danger, not even noticing that their "cub" was already among the long list of victims the game had sucked into it.
"I've dedicated my life to trying to stop the game and have become a sort of private detective that specializes in the game," Serenity explained.
"Why not the police?" Felicity asked.
"Because formally the police do their best to distance themselves from it in the hopes that it will eventually go away," Serenity explained, "Some individual officers might be more willing to deal with it then others, but that's still on an individual basis. Not on anything formal."
"And where does our daughter play into all of this?" Brian asked.
"Recently, a man named Jensen has begun using the game in a way that no one else has ever done before," Serenity spoke, "most have only used it for petty spite. Jensen seems to have an actual plan behind what he's doing with the game... which has resulted in him taking control of the Smith estate here in Glendale and abducting many people including two policemen and a separate family. And it was in the course of my current investigation that I stumbled onto Mary at the Park."
Serenity sighed as much of this would be a lie, but better that then being tossed out for appearing crazy.
"She has apparently gained a turn in the game and offered to help restore the people that Jensen has ensnared," Serenity spoke.
"This monster did something to our cub?" Felicity asked nervously.
"I do not think it was Jensen who gave her a turn, and things happened so fast in her urging that I meet with you that I can not say who gave her the turn or what he or she actually did," Serenity spoke, "She has volunteered to use her turn to help restore Jensen's victims, but wanted me to speak with you first."
"You won't have our cub fight this Jensen, do you?" Brian asked feeling protective of his daughter.
"As of yet, I haven't figured out a way to subdue Jensen and his followers," Serenity spoke, "but I'm not using your daughter for that task. I only requesting to use her turn to begin turning his victims back into humans."
"What has this Jensen been turning people into?" Felicity asked.
"Humanoid wolves," Serenity spoke.
"Can't you tranquilize them from a distance and then restrain them?" Brian asked.
"Glendale will not allow the firing of firearms within the limits," Serenity sighed, "We'd shoot one and get arrested for it."
"It sounds like you'd need to use the game to raise a force to counter this Jensen," Felicity commented.
Serenity glanced at Paul who looked on quietly.
"That has been suggested, but that would only make me as bad as Jensen is," Serenity spoke.
"You may not have a choice," Brian spoke, "If the police won't officially do anything and you can't use firearms inside Glendale, the Game might be your only choice... if you can't do that, you'll have to accept that this Jensen has outsmarted you."
"I can not do that," Serenity spoke, "I have to try and stop him."
"Then let us help," Felicity urged.
"You would help?" Serenity asked.
"Let Mary use her turn on us," Felicity spoke, "You don't know what life has been like for us. We're constantly having to explain the fact that Mary was born with her hormones supercharged, resulting in her lion-like form. It's broken my heart to see her grow up looking so different from everyone else and having no one like her to be friends with or to have her so different from us."
"You want her to make you into humanoid lions?" Serenity gasped.
"They are larger and stronger then wolves," Felicity commented, "we could go in, grab one, drag the victim out, and change them back. And then repeat the process, with each former victim turning the other victim back."
"I can't condone that," Serenity warned, "Jensen appears to be operating like a normal wolf would if a wolf suddenly had human intelligence. His pack has pups present and will fight, likely to the death. If I were to allow this, you'd end up in a fight to the death, while you would have to hold back because your goal isn't to kill. I can't condone that. All I ask is that Mary's turn be used to restore Jensen's victims."
"Then until you've subdued Jensen and his victims, our daughter stays with us," Brian said firmly, "I will not have my cub in ANY danger."
"But you will allow her to help restore their humanity?" Serenity asked.
"Of course, but if they're operating the way you say they are, they may come after you if they know you're after them," Brian spoke.
Paul then pointed to himself and said, "bod...deeeee...grrd."
The two blinked in response.
"A lone great ape, even if it's stronger then people won't last long against several humanoid wolves," Brian pointed out, "that's why we brought up the idea about countering with a larger animal person. It wouldn't be easy, but wolves, by nature will not challenge larger predators. The Grizzly is the dominant predator of North America. Wolf packs will abandon kills when a large bear so much as approaches. A lion would give a similar impression on a wolf."
"There's still the question of the game," Serenity warned, "I've met victims of the game that have the opinion that the game is alive and self aware. If that is true, while it can not say give people it doesn't like heart attacks, as its power is limited to the use of the game by people, it can twist how the world looks at transformed or dared people, and possibly even how those transformed or dared act. My goal is to end the game and restore all its victims. If you become humanoid lions... the game may make you wish to remain as lions, leaving me with the same problem I face now. A group of a humanoid animals of a predatory nature desiring to use the game to increase their numbers."
Both Hardys looked other as they hadn't considered that.
"If you wish to help, perhaps you can think of another way to subdue Jensen's pack," Serenity offered.