{"sf1_id":754205,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Moonlight Morning","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":1820,"posted_at":"2014-09-08T15:51:00.000Z","tags":["Human","New York City","Waiting","Werewolf","aftermath","back story","tension"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/754205-moonlight-morning","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/754205","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=754205\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#23 of The Moonrise Chronicles","content":"                Four\nvery tired and worn out werewolves were sitting on a couch, watching the\ntelevision. All were in human form, with the smallest among them bundled in a\nblanket. The big screen's speakers seemed to blare the news out like a sideshow\nbarker.\n                ...and eyewitness reports claim that a group\nof animals broke loose from the Central Park Zoo and began terrorizing\nbystanders. Zoo officials deny any of the resident animals are missing. Cars\nalong Seventy Ninth Street and Fifth Avenue sustained damage from what\nwitnesses say were two huge hairy beasts. One man described them as Sasquatch-like\nin appearance, being inordinately tall and well muscled. Police have\nconfiscated as much footage of the incident as they can find, but still copies\nof the event have been uploaded to social media sites and YouTube. As you can see\nhere, the film is grainy and out of focus, but it does seem to support the\nwitnesses' claims.\n                The destruction seems to stretch\nall the way from Central Park to Staten Island. St Christopher's Catholic\nChurch suffered severe damage from an as of yet undetermined cause and appears to\nbe the terminus for this unusual occurrence.  We go live to Bill Makin. Bill?\n\"Yes Carol, I'm here\non Staten Island with Father Joseph McLafferty. Father, what happened last\nnight?\"\n\"I don't know any more\nthan you do. As you can see, the window is completely broken inwards,\nindicating something large crashed thought it. The inside of the church is\nsealed off, because the roof beams have been badly damaged. The place is a\ndisaster inside, and I pray to God for the souls of whoever did all this.\"\n                \"But father, there were rumors\nthat this incident is connected with the downtown carnage. What do you think?\"\n                \"I don't know what to think, but\nSt Christopher is the protector of travelers and lost souls, so may whoever or whatever\ndid this find their way back to where they need to be. This goes equally for\nanimals as well as people.  And may the\nchurch find the funds to repair the damages.\" \n                \"Thank you father. Reporting\nlive from St Christopher's Parish, this is Bill Makin.\"\n                Thanks Bill. We have just\nreceive breaking news here in the station of a problem in South Salem, were it\nseems that all of the wolves at the Wolf Conservation Center have managed to\nescape. Officials are warning all residents to stay indoors especially if a\nwolf is sighted. These animals are part of a breeding program designed to re-establish\nrare Mexican and Red wolves back into the wild and...\nClick. Reynaud turned off the\ntelevision. He shook his head. \"I was afraid of something like this happening.\nDiscretion. Without it, all hell breaks loose. This will not go down well.\"\nLupenia patted her husband's knee.\n\"It's not all bad. True he damaged a lot of property, but I don't think he did\nit on purpose. And it would seem he accomplished his task. It's a small\nconsolation, but it's better than nothing. And perhaps it was an omen that they\nstopped where they did.\"\nMaggie was shivering under her\nblanket. \"Omen?\"\n                \"Yes\ndear. Saint Christopher. \"\n                \"Why,\nbecause that priest said he was the protector of travelers and the lost?\"\n                Reynaud\nsighed. \"So much lore has been lost over time. I hope the Taborum gets here\nsoon so that you may learn of your heritage. You see, Christopher was one of\nthe kind.\"\n                Maggie's\neyes lit up. \"A saint who was a werewolf?\"\n                Lupenia\nsmiled and nodded. \"Not all werewolves do bad things dear. We do what we can to\nlive a good life within the boundaries of our nature. You picked this up on\nyour own, and Verona learned it from us, and we from our parents. Kill for\nfood, kill for the good. Humans call it killing two birds with one stone. Mr.\nFish was not of that mind.\"\n                Maggie\nwas listening, but she was more eager to talk. \"Do you think he'll come back?\"  \n                \"Who\ndear? Albert or Edward?\" When Maggie nodded at her father's name, she continued.\n \"I don't know. The transformation is a\nstrong thing. At his age, being hit with the \"were\" for the first time can be\nunsettling. All the while he had something to focus on, he might well stay in\ncontrol. But now that the fight is over, who's to say?\"  \n                Verona\nwas sitting on the couch, tears in her eyes. She had lost whatever nominal\ncontrol she had over her body, and the hormones were running high. She was\nassuming the worse; that Edward was dead or dying somewhere. Her parents\nrefused to allow anyone to go looking. It was a wise decision, but it rattled\nher emotions to think there was nothing she could do. For the short time she\nhad been near him in her feral form, she had been flooded with his own smells,\nand they had been massively overwhelming. She was sitting on a towel to save\nher cushions. It was totally unfair that the first real mate she had found was\nnow gone.\n                Maggie\nalmost felt sorry for the woman. If the heat was stronger than the feeling she\nherself had on a regular basis, then she was in a sorry state indeed. Maggie\nwasn't feeling up to any fun right now though. The poison, while only on her\nclaws and skin, had still seeped into her body. Lupenia knew a cure for it, and\nhad wisely given it ahead of her applying the noxious plant juice. As she had\nsaid, \n                \"Plant\nversus Plant. Poison versus Poison. A little Datura and a little Digitalis,\nplus a few other herbs and I think you'll be fine. Just don't get cut and don't\nlick your paws.\"\n                So now\nher body was fighting the poison, but fighting it successfully. She felt like\nshit, but that feeling would pass. She was more concerned with her father and\nlover. He was out there all alone.\n                \"Reynaud?\"\nshe asked. \"Why would father let the wolves loose? I mean, if it was him.\"\n                \"We'll\nnot talk about it young one. It would not be for innocent ears.\"\n                \"I'm\nnot innocent. I know more about life than you think I do. Has he tried to form\na pack?\"\n                The old\nman sighed. \"Maybe. Back in the day, where his ancestors are from, there was\nthought to be one true beast. Maybe there was. But there were many wolves of an\nunusual size that were killed.\"\n                \"Werewolves?\"\n                Lupenia\nspoke. \"Not really dear. More like wolf/werewolf hybrids. They were wolves of enormous\nsize and ferocity.\"\n                \"Are\nyou saying that a werewolf CAN breed with a wolf?\n                Reynaud\nsnapped. \"Enough! We do not talk about...\"\n                Maggie\ngrowled. \"Listen old man. I have a lot of respect for you, but not for your\nstupid mumbo jumbo bullshit. If my father is out there fucking a bunch of regular\nwolves, I WANT TO KNOW!\"\n                He was\ntotally taken aback. \"There is no need for vulgarity. Yes, he may be doing just\nthat. If his ancestor managed to cross breed, than it seems possible he could\nto. But for most werewolves, this is not possible.\"\n                Maggie\ngot a nasty smile on her face. \"Did you try?\"\n                \"No! I\nknow of those who did. The results were horrible.\"\n                Maggie was\nsharp. \"Horrible? You should have said fruitless. Horrible means that something\nhappened.\"\n                Lupenia\nnodded slowly. \"Yes child. You're right. Abominations. The kind was sworn to\nforgo such experiments. The line of the beast was thought to be gone, and so\nwith it the only chance of successful interbreeding.\"\n                Maggie was\nintrigued. \"So, if a werewolf can breed with a wolf, and also with a human, how\ndoes one get a werewolf child?\"\n                Lupenia\nheld up her hand to quiet her husband. \"It's like this dear. If two werewolves\nmate as humans, their child will most likely grow up to be human. This is where\nall the madness comes in. It's the \"were\" trying to break through. And breeding\nas humans is far easier than as werewolves. If we mate as werewolf and\nwerewolf, and  then the female delivers\nas a human, you get what you and I are. Human bodies that can revert to the \"were'\nform.\"\n                \"So\nwhat if a werewolf delivers a child?\n                \"Then\nyou have a werewolf than can revert to being human. It is not an ideal form in\nthis day and age, for the mind is wild and feral. Raising and teaching such a\nchild works only in the wilderness. It is difficult to teach speech and manners\nto such a form. It does not happen often, and it causes many problems.\"\n                \"Like\nthe Beast?\"\n                \"Perhaps.\nMuch lore surrounding the Beast has been lost.\"\n                 \"So then, how does one breed with a wolf? As\nhuman or as werewolf?'\n                \"That\nis an indelicate question young lady. But to answer it, it could be as both.\nBut your father's present form is too large to breed. He would kill any female\nhe tried it with. So he would have to be able to control his changes and assume\nhis wolf shape. Even then I fear he may only achieve the Dire Wolf stage.\"\n                \"Dire\nWolf?\"\n                \"Lupenia!\nEnough. Wait for the book to get here. Allow the child to read it through and\nthrough. I will not listen to any more of this supposition. If Edward returns,\nthen we can ask him what all transpired during his absence. Until then, please\nleave the matter rest. I for one wish only for a bath and a hunt. Of those, I\nthink I will have to be content with the former.\n                He got\nup and headed to the bathroom.\n                Maggie\ngrowled. \n                \"Don't bother\ndear. It's just his way. He likes to keep secrets because he thinks that they\nprotect us. As you can see from the television, the world knows not how to\nhandle us when we are released upon it. In the old days there was fear and superstition.\nToday there is technology. If our secret were to be learned, who knows what\nterrors the scientists would accidently release? As it is, our existence is a\nmatter of only the thin wall of secrecy we are able to maintain. I fear that wall\nhas been torn asunder by last night's battle. If Edward has survived, we must\nhope that he returns to us in his right mind. Otherwise, heaven help this city.\nIt will know terror in its rawest form.\"\n                \"So if\nhe doesn't return?\"\n                \"Then we\nhave to hunt him down and kill him dear. Just like Mr. Fish.\""}