Nate left Eric to his devices because he figured that chatting with his girlfriend was HIS responsibility. It wasn't as though he didn't want to met Julie or that he was above playfully teasing his brother on the issue. He was curious about there being weremermaids, as he had never heard of weres being applied to other mythological creatures, especially those that already had the potential for shape-shifting powers. And while he had read the handbook, he hadn't read into the different were-beast species all that closely, if at all, because he had long known that if given the chance, he'd be a werewolf. That left Nate not knowing much about weremers and he'd have to wait, though he figured he'd get the chance later.
Nate's real goal was to find Alex as they went through the day. As he did so, though, he found his new nose in overdrive picking up the scents of his classmates. Most of them were weres, just as he was now. He could tell between many of their species, werewolves, weredogs, werefoxes, werecats, weretigers, werelions, and quite a few others. It was a was amazing to Nate, as he picked up the scent each were that he came across. Only a few days before, he would have walked in ignorance of of who was who and talked with who was friendly enough to talk with him. Nate's outgoing personality had done enough good to win over some friends, particularly Ben. Now he was one of them, a were, and he would instinctively know more about the people he would be going to school with.
"Hey..." Nate heard a voice say to him.
Nate turned to see a werecat approach him as he made his way toward his locker. She was in human form, but he could tell she was a werecat by her scent. She gave him a friendly smile.
"You're Nate, Anderson, right?" she asked.
"Yeah," Nate answered, "and Moon Lake's newest wolf... Had my initiation ceremony this past Saturday."
"Well... congratulations," she replied, "hopefully things go well for you."
"So far I can't complain," Nate answered with a smile, "lots of new things to smell and experience... and everyone is doing well."
"Even with what went on with your dad?" she wondered.
Nate nodded as he reached his locker, "Yeah. He's adapting well and the rogue that attacked him is surely on her way to prison."
Nate didn't know of the guilty plea that would be entered or the efforts that would be made to make sure that Yvette would complete Jenny's transformation, but he could reasonably guess that Yvette would be facing serious consequences for forcing the transformation of his father and Jenny Harper.
"Hope so," the werecat nodded in agreement, "glad to see that that rogue didn't dampen your opinion on being a were-beast. Moon Lake really is a nice little town for us."
"It's like a dream come true," Nate said with a smile and let her head on toward her own locker.
Much of this morning went along those lines. Classmates came and congratulated him on becoming a werewolf. Some were weres and some were even normal humans. While they couldn't smell that he was a werewolf, many of them were also people that Nate had talked with from time to time and he had let it slip that he was supportive of being the Anderson family's were and was looking forward to it. Nate figured that they probably figured things out based on the time passed. Plenty asked their questions on his father's adapting to being a werefox, which Nate assumed was even more understandable. Moon Lake probably had its own city newspaper that many people in the town got news updates that way. He also remembered something that Alex had mentioned about a WERE alert being given regarding the hunt for Yvette. If all the weres were alerted to the mission, they would all surely know about at least the very basics of what was going on between Yvette and his father. He told them that with Yvette was caught and the damage she caused was being repaired.
However, much of this wasn't really what he was looking forward to that Monday. He enjoyed the congratulations and how welcoming everyone was to him as a werewolf, but the one thing he wanted to do was to talk with Alex. Mostly to update him on how things were going, and including how a misspoken mumble had betrayed his sexuality to his parents and soon revealed the relief that they weren't bothered by it. The rest would be to try and set up a real date. He could feel that higher libido level that all weres had within him, just as Ben had told he'd experience it, but Nate didn't want to repeat the mistakes his father had made in Minnesota. Sex with Alex was pleasureful and extremely fun, but no relationship could last for long on just sex.
His search for Alex ended when he left his Social Studies class and he quite literally bumped into the other werewolf in the hallway. After shaking off the shock and surprise of bumping into someone, Nate managed to see who it was he had bumped into.
"Hey..." Nate began weakly.
"Hey, yourself," Alex answered back with a playful grin, "Enjoying your first day at school AS a were?"
"I can say that I am," Nate answered, "the congratulations are nice... makes me feel welcome... though Ben and some others did a pretty good job of being welcoming before... well... you know..."
"I do indeed," Alex smiled back, "and some of that is typical. We all get along well with normals... and with each other. Ben and I are friends with a few of the normals here in school and as Pack mates we'll hang out from time to time. If there was anything you or your brother thought of as "odd" or "cold" about us... well... that's mostly the attempts to make sure no one blabs about were-beasts until the Town Chancellor can explain things to new families when they move in."
"I'd gathered that... based on all the congratulations that I've received," Nate answered, "even from some normals..." He paused for a moment and then said, "I'm still getting used to that difference... and how easy it's actually coming to me."
The two of them walked along on their way to their next respective classes.
"I suppose it is something that new weres will always be surprised by," Alex shrugged as they walked along, "but it's still that understanding that weres are just humans with extra abilities."
Nate nodded.
"So... you have any ideas for a date?" Nate asked after a moment.
"Not really," Alex commented, "though... weren't you wanting to lay low? Make sure you don't split your parents up?"
Nate gave a low chuckle, "actually... THAT isn't a threat."
Alex looked over to Nate and raised an eyebrow.
"I showered off most of your scent, but enough of it was left behind that my parents were able to pick up that scent and knew that I had sex," Nate answered, "they didn't know it was with you... but they knew I had sex..."
"Well... thanks to that rogue your dad is a werefox and didn't you say your mom became a werecat?" Alex asked, "they're both sure to realize that as were-beasts our libidos are higher than normal humans."
Nate nodded with a weak smile, "The do. Their chief concern was that I was careful and wasn't making them into grandparents before I graduated college. I grumbled under my breath that that wouldn't be a threat... which they of course overheard and put the pieces together to figure out that I'm gay."
Alex gave him a playful slap upside the back of his head and teased, "You goof. Forgetting that we have enhanced senses!"
"It actually turned out for the best, actually," Nate gave a laugh, "they both responded well and were very accepting. They are okay with it."
"Well... that is good news," Alex smiled, "So I suppose we can plan out a real date, then. Since there's no need to worry about splitting them up or hiding or whatever you want to call it."
Nate nodded, "my parents do want to meet you though. I had offered tomorrow night... for dinner... would that work?"
"It could," Alex nodded, "and maybe for a first date... how about you come over to my place around six, six thirty. You can meet my parents we can have dinner."
"That sounds nice," Nate began when a new voice cut them off.
"As nice as all this sounds, shouldn't you two be in class?" came the principal's voice from behind them.
"Yeah... sorry," both werewolves said and hurried on to their next classes.