Martha Anderson, the newest werecat of Moon Lake, woke up about 3:30am, according the clock radio on the nightstand.
She let out a slight yawn and stretched, basking in even the slightest rustle of her new fur as her paws reached up to claw empty air.
Then her whiskers and tail twitched in happiness as her arms came back down to embrace her werecat sisters and lovers, Samantha and Frances Twist.
Martha laid there for a while in-between the lesbian couple, recalling every glorious moment of her initiation and first transformation, along with their night together, so far.
She was content to stay where she was, but nature had other ideas as Martha felt the urge to go relieve herself.
Martha got up as quietly as she could to avoid disturbing the others, then walked silently on the pads of her new cat feet to the bathroom within the master bedroom.
Not bothering to turn on a light because she could see everything perfectly with her new feline night vision, Martha took care of business and washed up.
Then she noticed herself in the bathroom's full length wall mirror.
Martha turned this way and that, examining every nuance of her new form. The swish of her tail, the more curvier body, the lithe and grace with which she moved. The subtle shades of brown within her new fur coat, the alluring stare of her slit green eyes, the sexy smile she could create with her new feline facial features. It's like a beautiful dream I never want to wake up from.
Then reality intruded as the bathroom light came on.
"Everything all right?" asked Frances, with a slight tone of concern in her voice, as Samantha pushed passed the other two werecats to get to the toilet herself.
"Oh, it couldn't be better!" exclaimed Martha, as she hugged Frances, tears starting to wet her furry face.
"I understand," said Frances, returning the embrace. "Your first night and—"
"It isn't just that," said Martha, interrupting Frances as she laid her head on the slightly shorter woman's shoulder. "For a mighty long time, things have never seemed quite right in my life, and not just because of the problems with William. My concerns, wants, and needs were always pushed back to deal with either him, the boys, or family issues. Even the move to Moon Lake seemed like another obstacle to overcome, because my husband lost his job after being caught cheating with a co-ed and we had to find some place to totally start over."
Then Martha broke away from Frances to look at both women, as Samantha was washing her paws at the basin. "But now... I-I don't know how to describe it," she said, wiping tears of joy with the back of a paw.
"A brand new day?" suggested Frances, before she excused herself for her turn on the toilet.
"More than that. A brand new chapter. A brand new life!" happily said Martha, as she hugged Samantha.
"Well, there are a few things you should know," said Samantha, after Martha finished hugging her.
"Oh? What?" asked Martha, wondering if something was about to spoil the moment.
"The rules of changing," said Samantha, leaning against the edge of the basin counter. "First off, you're completely free to change from dusk to dawn, no matter where within the city limits you are. The town owns several hundred acres of the surrounding forest, up to and including miles of territory around Moon Lake itself. You will see plenty of boundary signs if you ever do approach a property line, and must be in human form if you cross one."
"Okay," said Martha, copying Samantha's casual lean against the counter as Frances cleaned up, before leaning against the open counter space next to Samantha.
"You're also free to change whenever you want to in private," continued Samantha. "However, during the daylight hours, you cannot change in public unless it is either a life threatening situation or you're participating in an officially sanctioned event."
"The town holds a few of those each year. The Spring and Autumnal equinoxes, Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day, along with Founders' Day, which is in August," added Frances. "However, you can only be in were-form at the event itself, not traveling to or from it. Then again, I'm afraid you've missed all of those for this year."
"There's always next year," Martha said with a smile, while rubbing her shoulder against Samantha's.
The other woman smiled at the gesture while saying, "There's also the occasional town meeting, but those are always at night anyway. Otherwise, the only other thing that qualifies as an officially sanctioned event is a pride meeting."
"The entire werecat collective meets once a year unless something important comes up, but we've already had this year's gathering. Since our specific pride consists of the three of us and a few gay werecats, we rarely have meetings. Most of our business is conducted by e-mail," added Frances. "Going to any other specific group's event, like attending Nate's initiation ceremony tonight, you must stay in human form unless invited to or asked by the group holding the event to change form."
"I get it. Respect and protocol issues," realized Martha.
"Exactly," replied Samantha.
"You two have done so much for me already tonight," said Martha, hugging her friends and lovers once more. "I hate to impose, but there is something else I was wondering if you could do for me."
"Just name it honey," said Frances.
A couple of moments later, the three werecats went back to bed. Martha laid in the middle of the mattress, flanked by Samantha and Frances.
The trio snuggled and held each other closely, falling back to sleep in each other's arms.