{"sf1_id":751611,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Packing It In","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":1513,"posted_at":"2014-09-01T18:06:00.000Z","tags":["Adolescent","Discovery","FAMILY","Human","Story Progression","Werewolf"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/751611-packing-it-in","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/751611","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=751611\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#15 of The Moonrise Chronicles\n\nA little shorter than the last bit. Probably be the last for a little while. Need to think \"were\" I'm going with this now. No sex. Sorry. Can't have it all the time.","content":"                Maggie\nhad to stay there while I ran across the city to pick up some new clothes for\nher. I had to agree with Reynaud that she was awfully impetuous, but after\nhaving been only part way through a full transformation, I guess I understood.\nShe was like me. I was older, and I knew better, but all this was so novel that\nI felt giddy and out of control. And I was torn between the feelings. As a\nresponsible adult, I fought for control. As a wild beast, I fought to be free.                I told\nthe taxi driver to wait, and the hundred dollar bill ensured that he would. I\nran up to the suite, pulled out some underwear, shorts, and a nice top for her,\nand a pair of sandals. I always knew kids outgrew their clothes, but this was\nridiculous. Sorry. I know that was bad, but I was trying to find some humor to\nlift me up. It's not easy having someone tell you nonchalantly that they may be\nforced to kill you.                 I knew\nhe had recanted that statement, but I was still uneasy. Maggie's idea was still\nfeasible, and it would make killing me, should someone jump to that conclusion,\nall the more difficult. I just hadn't had a chance to run it past Verona. She\nwas the wild card in this. I had no idea if she would go with it or not. There were\nprobably a hundred reasons why she wouldn't.                When I\ngot back, Reynaud and his wife Alupenia were still talking with Maggie. Verona let\nme in and I tossed my bundle in the girl's direction. \"Try not to get too excited\nagain!\"                She\ngrinned and ran to the bathroom to change.                \"So\nEdward, she has been telling us all about you.\" My heart sank.                \"And?\"                \"And it\nseems you care for her a great deal. She told us how you first got acquainted. You\nmust have had great courage to follow her and to try and rescue her from that\nfactory. You are a brave and kind person!\"                I wish\nI knew what all she had said. I was going to assume she might have decided that\ntelling them everything was a bad idea. I had no clue what these conservative people\nwould think of her calling me father all the while I was porking the living\ndaylights out of her. It was an adoption of convenience, but I was still looked\nupon as her father, and she my daughter. So discretion was best.                \"She is\nunusual, but the more in-depth I get to know her, the more I appreciate her\nfiner qualities.\"                Verona\njust glared at me, but her parents missed my insinuations.                \"Most\nnormal humans would have gone mad or else tried to kill her. There is a grave\nmistrust of our kind, and rightly so. Still, in the long run, humankind has far\nsurpassed us. The bloodline is dwindling and given a few more centuries, we may\nbe gone for good.\"                I wasn't\ncertain what I was supposed to say to that. \"Can I ask a few questions?\"                \"Certainly\nyoung man,\" Verona's mother exclaimed.  \"Knowledge\nis power, and you'll need as much of it as you can get.\"                \"Well,\nI don't want to pry, but I found Maggie and Maggie found Verona. But how many\nof you are there out there? I would think that the random killings, errr,\nfeedings would make your presence much more public. After all, it was Verona's\nattack on that fellow in Central Park that brought us here.\"                Verona\nlet out an indignant yell. \"I didn't murder him! I was curious who did, and the\nsame for that other fellow Maggie admitted to killing.\"                The\nroom went silent for several reasons. Reynaud spoke first. \"Killings?\"                I had\nto explain how we had managed to come to New York in the first place. How I had\ndetermined that the best way of finding a werewolf was to track its kills. He\nlistened and nodded slowly.                 \"Yes,\nthat is the problem. Nowadays, it is so easy to get caught. Of course, it's\ndifficult to pin it down, because we are as different as a feral as we are as a\nhuman. It's hard to blame a murder on a living man when witnesses and evidence\npoint to a beast. Still, care should be taken to cover one's tracks.\"                He turned\nto his daughter. \"Are you not using the potion?\"                She\nturned green. \"Not always. I don't like having to hide what I am. That's why I\nlike being with Edward, because he knows and he doesn't care. Sometimes it's\nnice to go out and feed without fear of reprisal. But the death they speak of\nis not from me.\"                I was\ngetting the hang of this. \"So what you're saying is that there is another\nwerewolf out there that you don't know about?\"                Reynaud\nshook his head slowly. \"This is not good. Suddenly, we have werewolves coming\nout of the woodwork.\"                \"Woodwork?\"\nMaggie was back, all dressed and looking prim.                \"You,\nme, and I guess there's a third one no one knows about.\"                \"But I didn't\nsmell anyone else at the park.\"                \"Neither\ndid I.\" said Verona, \"but it rained right after the one you thought I committed,\nand the scent fades fast. You probably followed my scent as I was trying to\ntrack down the other. Here all along I thought that you had committed both\nkillings.\"                \"No, we\nwere still home. So I guess we have more to deal with than we thought. Is there\nsome way of tracking the murders here in the city?\"                Verona\nshrugged. \"I suppose so, but it's big and a smart werewolf will hide it's kill\nuntil it decomposes enough to be unidentifiable.\"                \"Or\nstuff it in the freezer!\" piped in Maggie. Verona glared at her. Apparently her\nparents would not have approved.                 Reynaud\nran with that, not seeming to get the connection to his daughter. \"Yes, that's\ntrue young lady. A freezer would keep the meat fresh for a later date.\" He\nsmiled. \"I know from experience, so I guess she came by it honestly.\" He looked\nat his daughter.  \"I will not shame you\nfor what you have no choice in being, and I will laud your discretion. As long\nas you follow the rules I set down so long ago, than all will be fine.\"                Verona\nwas visibly shaken. She must have a lot of respect for her parents. I know I\ndid for mine, but I couldn't help feeling cheated for having never known my\nancestry. There were a lot of mysteries to be solved, and I had no idea where\nto start. Maggie yanked on my sleeve. I looked down. She was smiling, holding\nsomething in her hand.                \"Now?\"                \"No!\"                It was\ntoo late. The damage was done. \"What's going on?\" asked Verona's mother.                 I\ncringed. This was part of Maggie's plan, and I had figured that there would be\na far better time than this to try carrying it out.  But now the element of surprise was gone.\nMaggie, in true childlike fashion, blurted it out. I let her, because I wanted\nto crawl back inside my own skin. I suddenly felt foolish.                \"I had\nan idea. Father said it wasn't a good idea, but that it had merit. I think that\nwhat we need right now is a common denominator. I say that a piece of metal\nshould not drive us apart, but bind us together.\"                Alupenia\nsmiled. \"Well said young lady, but I'm afraid we don't know what you mean. You\nalready know that removing the silver coin might prove dangerous, even deadly.\nSo it is in a way binding us together. We have no intention of leaving your\nfather in a lurch.\"                Maggie\nput her hands on her hips. \"No? A little while ago you were threatening to kill\nhim. He has done nothing wrong to any of you. Didn't you said that you would do\nanything to protect your family?\"                \"Yes dear\nand we would.\"                \"That's\nwhat I thought. So my plan was this.\"                She\nheld out a simple gold ring.                \"Father\ncan marry Verona and be part of your family, and then so will I, and then you\ncan never touch him.  We'll all be one big\nfamily of werewolves! \"                Reynaud\nactually smiled. \"That would be a pack dear.\"                I\nlooked at Verona and she at me. I didn't love her, leastwise not yet, because I\nhad those feelings for Maggie. But she wasn't stupid, and I could see her\nthinking it over. There was silence for a while as neither one of us wanted to\nspeak.                 Maggie\nfinally had enough. She kicked Verona in the shins. \"Well?\"                \"Well what?\"\nshe said, hopping on one leg.                \"Will\nyou marry him?\"                \"But he\nhasn't asked me yet.\"                \"True.\nFather?\" She was glaring at me and smiling at the same time. What was I going\nto do?                \"Uhhh,\nVerona, will you marry me?\""}