Wedded to the Pack Ch. 02

In this chapter, Jessica and Sahar go for a run in Central Park, running into a couple of muggers who wish they hadn't bothered. Jessica and Gretchen hold their first press conference and hold lengthier interviews with some of the press. This chapter is relatively light on sex, although it does contain lesbian and oral sex. My thanks to Johnny Galt for his help in editing my work. This is a copyrighted work, and not to be altered, edited, or published anywhere, including in alternative forms such as audio, without the author's written consent. © Copyright, 2025.

Wedded to the Pack, Ch 2

Media Circus

Gretchen and I had sex after Beth left the room and again in the morning before taking a shower and addressing other morning needs before dressing. We went to the cafeteria and had lots of bacon, eggs and sausage. We returned to Beth's office after eating and she gave us the iPads and we continued our testing. There weren't nearly as many armed or dangerous looking men as there had been yesterday, although there were a few.

Sahar was in the room with her, although she wasn't nearly as alert as yesterday. She slouched on the couch in the office, half lying down. Apparently, if we hadn't done more than eat out her wife the night before, she was willing to accept we weren't a danger to Beth now.

Beth still had to leave at various and sundry times during the morning due to other duties and responsibilities. Sahar always went with her now, figuring if Beth faced danger, it wasn't from us. When they were gone, another young woman was usually in the room, ensuring we weren't prying into confidential material. We broke for lunch again, eating raw hamburger again. Beth and Sahar were at our table and so were a couple of young women with their children. One looked to be in her late twenties, and she had a ten year old son and eight year old daughter. The other one looked like she was in her late teens and was breast feeding an infant.

The two older kids were fascinated that we were eating raw meat.

"Why isn't your food cooked?" a ten year old asked.

"It's too much trouble, and I like it better this way." Gretchen said.

"I like it better cooked," he said.

"Most people do," Gretchen replied. "I used to like mine cooked more than this, but I'm used to this now."

"Won't you get enfermo if you eat carne crudo?" the mother asked. Her English wasn't very good. I recognized the Spanish word for carne, but not the rest.

"I don't understand?" Gretchen said.

"Don't you get sick if you eat raw meat?" the boy asked.

"I don't get sick," Gretchen said.

"Ella no se enferma," the boy told his mother. So enferma or enfermo was sick. Kind of like infirm, so I could make the connection.

"You never get sick?" the boy asked after explaining to his mother.

"Not anymore," Gretchen said.

"Do you have any kids?" the boy asked.

"I do, but they were born in Wisconsin, and may be in hiding now. I don't know where they are," Gretchen said.

"Hiding from the slavers?" he asked.

"No, my problem is different than yours. They hide for another reason. I'm trying to change the reason they hide, so I can see them again when I want to."

I still hadn't heard back from Melinda, so didn't know what was going on in Wisconsin. We finished lunch and went back to our testing, finishing up around three.

Beth went over all of our tests and said, "There's nothing in here to suggest you're anything other than human."

"We were both human until our thirties, and I don't think differently than I used to," I said, "so I'm not surprised. I wasn't raised a wolf, which might cause different results."

"Do you know of any other wolves I can do testing on?"

"They may all be in hiding now, so I'm not sure. Probably won't be any living in the city, although they might have worked here. Wolves like wooded areas, so the Eastern New York pack operated out of the Catskills and had members in western Connecticut. There was another pack in western New York. The New England pack covered the New England states except for Western Connecticut. They aren't really bound by state lines. There might have been some shifting loyalties along the edges of pack boundaries based upon the pack alphas at the time. Wolves tended to migrate towards strong leaders who could protect the pack."

"What was the last test we took?" Gretchen asked. "It had a lot of really sexual questions in it?"

"That was my own test I developed as part of my doctoral thesis. It measures Dominance and submission in adults. I was studying submission for my doctorate."

"What am I?" Gretchen said.

"Neutral, with a slight bias towards submission."

"Would that be because of my obeisance to senior wolves?"

"I doubt it. Most women in the US tend to be in that category, and they don't offer obeisance to anyone. Jessica is submissive, but as she was submissive to both her human husband, Sean, and her wolf mate, Quinn, I would expect that too. I would love to give wolves the same tests. Would I find them all with more submissive tendencies since they all submit to senior wolves, or some new category I don't even know about? I'd be fascinated to study it."

"Most wolves aspire to rise in the ranks of wolves, becoming alphas themselves. They might have to fight for it, but most don't want to remain as beta or omega wolves. Wouldn't they be more like switches in D/s terms, demanding submission from lower ranking wolves and submitting to higher?" I said.

"That's a very good point. You may be right. Without testing lifelong wolves, I may never know. I'd love to run all of these tests on a wolf population."

I turned to Sahar. "Do you want to practice some more? I've got nothing better to do until supper. Any kind of exercise really, Do you like to run?"

"Sure. Central Park?"

"Wherever," I said. "I'm unfamiliar with the area. I'll run where you run."

"Are you any good, or will I have to slow down for you?" Sahar asked.

"Wolves need to run. I've always been a runner, even pre-wolf. Maybe some of that was my wolf genes. As a human, I often ran ten miles. As a wolf, it's two or three times that."

"It could be fun. Beth, you should go, you lazy slug."

"I've got another group. I'll hit the treadmill later, I promise."

"If you don't, I'll have Joshua spank your lazy ass."

"Gretchen?" I asked. "Are you in?"

"I'd like to do some sketching. Maybe some of the children will pose for me."

"You should show Sahar some of your sketches later," Beth said. "She's an amateur artist. She needed to do something besides commit mayhem on slavers."

"I'd love to share with a fellow artist."

"How long do you need to get ready?" Sahar asked me.

"Ten minutes."

"Meet you down at the entrance."

I changed into my running gear and met Sahar ten minutes later at the main entrance. She was in shorts, a tee, and she had a fanny pack, which smelled of firearm, and the smell of steel on her person. No silver, that was nice. The sidewalks were rather crowded, so we walked to the park which was only a few blocks away. As soon as we hit one of the running paths, Sahar took off at what would have been a grueling pace for most people. I kept up. She smiled when I did, and picked up her pace. I ran right alongside of her. After roughly a mile, we were on a fairly secluded and empty part of the park. There wasn't anyone within two hundred yards except for three scruffy looking males who were lounging on one of the park benches.

They stood up as we approached, spreading across our path. Sahar's hand went to her fanny pack.

"Well, looky here, a couple of fine bitches doing their run. How you doing bitches?"

I whispered to Sahar. "The one on the left has a gun under his shirt tail. The others are carrying steel. If there's a fight, take the one on the left. I'll go for the knife wielders."

Sahar smiled again, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. They looked dead to me. She nodded though and was on high alert. Those poor assholes.

"The bitches are fine," I said, "but how did you know I'm a bitch?"

"All women are bitches," the speaker said, the one on the right, not the gun wielder.

"No," I replied. "Only werewolf women are bitches. Everyone else is just human."

"Werewolf bitches! You believe that crock of shit the President said?"

"I do," I said. "I'm Jessica Hagerty. I'm in New York to give some interviews, because while I believed a lot of what the President said, I don't believe that werewolves are soulless monsters, being one myself."

The three guys looked at each other, a little more unsure. I pointed to the guy with a gun.

"If that asshole pulls out his gun, he's dead," I said. "If you other two fuckers pull your knives, the best you can expect is a broken arm. Maybe I'll crush your balls too, get rid of some of that excess testosterone."

"Don't let them get off that easy," Sahar said. "They'll just pester other women if we leave them alone."

"Do you want to fill out the paperwork if we have to hurt them?"

"Everyone's always concerned about the fucking paperwork. Just leave them groveling in the dirt like the dirtbags they are. Who will give a shit what happens to them? Not even their mothers, I'll bet. What are they going to say? 'Hey we were just waiting here in this isolated spot for some bitches to come by so we can rob or rape them, and then they beat the snot out of us.' They probably all have rap sheets. Carrying a gun in New York is illegal. Police find him with a gun, he'll be the one arrested, not us. They picked out a good spot. No one's around. I say we inflict maximum pain on them so they learn better manners."

I smelled the spike in their fear. Sahar had none. They didn't know if I or we were werewolves or not, but they definitely thought we were crazy.

"I don't know. Maybe just a broken hand so they can't hold guns or knives for awhile?"

"Sure, if they toss their weapons down the sewer grate over there. Otherwise, I say we kill the fuckers, or an hour from now, some other poor woman will be running along the path and she'll have to put up with their shit. What if they rape some other woman if we leave them alone?"

"Well, I can pick up their scent blindfolded. If they did rape someone, I could smell them on her, and they can see what werewolf justice looks like."

"I don't know," Sahar said. "I still think this city would be a much nicer place without them in it."

"I suppose you're right. What's it going to be boys? Are you going to be good boys and carefully throw your weapons in the sewer, and suffer a broken right hand, or are you going to die?"

The middle one pissed his pants. Everyone could smell that. Sahar smiled again. "Pants pisser is going for the broken hand. How about you two?"

I could see the blabbermouth and the gunman still thinking about it.

"Fuck it," I said. "Kill the assholes."

I started for the knifers. Their hands shot up like they were on springs. "We give up."

"Knives, in the sewer now." I said. "Don't piss me off anymore."

They slowly pulled their knives out, one a switchblade, the other a hunting knife strapped to his calf and dumped them in the sewer. Sahar was still watching the gunman, who hadn't moved, like a hawk.

"How good a shot are you, Sahar?"

"Excellent."

"Can you shoot him without killing him, say his shooting shoulder?"

"Of course."

"If you shot him in the shoulder, you could cut off his cock and balls and stuff them in his mouth. That's how you like to kill people, isn't it?"

"Sure, excellent idea." She smiled again. It was not a friendly smile.

His hands finally shot up.

"Just hold them up there. Jessica will relieve you of your gun," Sahar said.

I used my shirttail to grab his gun out of the back of his pants so I wouldn't leave fingerprints, put it on the ground and kicked it down the grate. I then called the police.

"What are you doing?" Sahar said.

"Calling the police."

"I thought we were breaking their hands?"

"Some other time. I'd like to be better than them, and I think werewolves have enough problems without me going around breaking hands."

"Are you really a werewolf?" Pisspants asked.

"Can I have your knife, Sahar?"

She scoffed, then pulled it out and handed it to me. I took the blade and shoved it into my stomach on the side where I knew there wasn't an artery, then pulled it out. The wound slowly closed up. I wiped the knife on his shirt, then gave it back to Sahar.

"Does that answer your question?"

"Holy fuck, did you see that?" Pisspants said. His eyes looked like golf balls there was so much white showing. The other two didn't look much better, a lot more pale now.

We waited for a mounted policeman to show up, said that the three men accosted us on our run, and we scared them into surrendering their weapons, which they tossed down the sewer grate. He handcuffed them to each other, since he only had two sets of cuffs.

"You scared them into surrendering their weapons?" the officer asked.

"Yeah, she's a werewolf," Pisspants said, "like the President talked about. She stabbed herself in the stomach and she's barely got even a scar now."

"You're a werewolf?" he asked, skeptical as hell.

"Jessica Hagerty in the flesh, one of the two brave young American women the President mentioned in his address." I showed him my ID. "I wouldn't have been able to tell you that before, but since the President opened the door, I guess it's okay. We didn't touch their weapons, so only their fingerprints should be on them. You might want to check if the ballistics on the gun match other crimes, or their knives match any unsolved murders. Check any unsolved rapes in Central Park to see if any women recognize them. I doubt this is the first time they've done this shit."

"Is she a werewolf too?" He pointed to Sahar.

"She's a registered bodyguard for Joshua Greenbriar and married to Beth Wilson-Hafeez. As a New Yorker, I imagine you know who they are. We were going for a run. A wolf has got to run, as we always say, and she needs to stay in shape for her job."

"Why are you in New York?"

"Starting on Friday, I'm going to be on every major news program I can find to talk about werewolves, and why the President was all wrong about us. I'm going to tell the nation that Senator Hank Jenkins is a fucking liar and get him to rescind the warrant against my wolf mate because I haven't been repeatedly raped by wolves. In fact, except for one lousy Canadian rogue wolf, all of my attempted rapists have been human. I was saved from all of my rapists, attempted and otherwise, by wolves, who don't like their own kind fucking with humans, and messing up what was a pretty good thing. Except for a few government officials, nobody knew who the hell we were, and on the whole, we liked it that way. Now, I feel like things are totally fucked up to the point I can't marry my sweetheart, so the record needs to be set straight. Can we finish our run? You know how to reach me if you have more questions. I'll be in New York for at least ten more days, more if you need it."

"Yeah, I guess you can go."

"Thanks."

Sahar and I took off down the path before he changed his mind.

"That was relatively painless as these things go," Sahar said.

"I know. Think of how much worse it would have been if we broke hands."

"I'm still not sure they learned any permanent lessons."

"At least they won't look at all females as helpless anymore."

Sahar laughed. "Damn straight."

"Are you ready to run faster?" I asked

"Lead on, McDuff."

I picked up the pace to one I knew I could maintain for several miles. Sahar stuck to me like glue. The rest of our run was peaceful.

******

We got back to the shelter and Sahar and I took a shower together, but it was just a shower, no fooling around. In the shower, Sahar took a look at where I'd stabbed myself. Only a red line existed showing where I'd done it. By tomorrow, even that would be gone, unless I shifted first. Then, it would be gone immediately. After dressing in fresh clothes, I went looking for Gretchen and found her in one of the common areas drawing children.

I gave her a kiss. "How's it going?" I asked.

"Great. How was your run?"

"We had a bit of a problem with three potential muggers, but we sorted that out quickly."

"Are they alive?"

"Arrested. I didn't think werewolves needed bad publicity at the moment."

"Good choice."

I didn't want to stay and watch Gretchen draw, so I wandered around, looking at what they were doing for the women and children here. There were classes for both adults and children. The children's classes included everything a child would learn in elementary school. The adult's classes included English, as not all of them spoke the language currently, like the woman I'd spoken to when eating raw hamburger in the dining room the first night, plus classes on American culture, including basic banking, shopping, job skills training, and self defense classes.

While I couldn't enter the rooms where they were conducting group therapy, I saw groups being run for many of the former slaves and/or abused women. Just before supper, I got a call back from Melinda.

"What's up, Melinda?"

"I've been to the compound, and it's been abandoned, except for Janet. She's still staying there, but everyone else is gone. She said everyone is safe for now, but if Janet knows where they went, she's not saying."

"She probably doesn't. You can't reveal what you don't know. How are you and Martin and your two kids doing?"

"We're doing great. We're as happy as we've ever been. Is Connor okay?"

"I'm glad. Conor is doing as well as any other wolf, I imagine."

"Do you think this mess with the government can ever be fixed? Martin and I were thinking of having a third child."

"I don't know, but I'll be doing my damndest to change it, along with Gretchen."

"Good luck. I hope you can."

"Me, too. I was supposed to be getting married this weekend. Now, I don't have a clue where Quinn is, and Senator Hank Jenkins had a warrant issued for his arrest, so I don't know how he's doing either."

"I'm sorry."

"I know you are, Melinda. A huge part of the improvement in your life was due to wolves. Watch the news shows. Gretchen and I will be talking to the public about how screwed up this is."

So, I didn't know where my grandfather was either. This was seriously fucked up.

******

At supper, Sahar and I informed Beth and the others of what happened in the park during our run.

"No broken limbs or deaths?" Beth asked. "I'm surprised."

"I don't think werewolves need the bad publicity at the moment," I said. "Gretchen and I are going back to the Hilton tomorrow morning. Our first press conference is at one, and the circus will start. We'd like to thank you for your help. We'll be referring psychological questions to Beth, so you might want to prepare yourself."

"If you want, I'll be willing to stand beside you at the initial press conference," Beth said. "I can answer the most immediate questions then, if you wish."

"That would be lovely," Gretchen said. "We'd both appreciate that."

"Where is the initial press conference being held?" Joshua asked.

"The Hilton conference room," I said. "As will the next three interviews with the major New York newspapers, the Times, Wall Street Journal, and Daily News. Our first TV interviews will be tomorrow evening for Sixty Minutes and Dateline in our room. They won't be shown until their regularly scheduled nights.

"On Saturday, we'll be doing the major television news outlets, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox, at their studios, with one hour interviews with an hour in between to give us some time to gather ourselves. Monday we'll start with some of the talk shows, Late Night, Late Late Night, Saturday Night Live, except we won't be live."

"Would you like a driver for getting around town?" Joshua asked. "You won't find much parking, so it would be more user friendly to have a driver and get dropped off."

"We would appreciate that," I said. "Thanks. He can drive our vehicle as I don't want to put you out more than necessary."

"Let me know what time you want one on Saturday. It will probably be one of my security personnel."

"Will do," Gretchen said.

"I want to have sex with you tonight, if that's okay?" Sahar said.

"As a wolf?" I asked, surprised.

"No, thanks," she laughed. "As women."

"That's not a problem," Gretchen said. "I'd love to have sex with you."

I agreed.

We went to bed with Sahar at around eight, with each of us licking her and with her licking each of us. Then she used a vibrating strapless to fuck me while I rode Gretchen in a sixty-nine. Sahar was one of the most physically fit people I'd ever seen. I'd seen most of her on our run. Seeing all of her was special. I saw a bullet scar in her chest from where she'd been shot, marring the otherwise smooth perfection of her skin. She was with us for about three hours. She wasn't at good as Beth in licking pussy, but she was damn good.

******

After breakfast, we packed our things and headed back to the Hilton-Midtown. We took a shower, ate lunch from room service, then put on our interview clothes. We'd told the Hilton about the press conference being held there, although they didn't know why. When we walked in at five minutes to one, Beth was already there, along with Sahar and Joshua.

Gretchen and I walked up to the podium and I turned on the microphone and tapped it to get everyone's attention.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Jessica Hagerty, and this is my friend, Gretchen Shriver, and we're the two brave American women mentioned in the President's address. Until recently, Gretchen and I were both human. At the present time, we no longer are. We're wolf shapeshifters, or werewolves as most people think of us."

Immediately, everyone was jumping up and clamoring to ask questions. The room was bedlam. I kept tapping on the microphone until everyone shut the hell up.

"Please let us finish with our statements, at which point we'll open the floor to questions. Sit down and hear us out. We've got several interviews scheduled, so most of you will have the opportunity to ask anything you want."

I waited until everyone was seated again.

"Some of what the President said was true, but most of what he said is false, and Gretchen and I want to set the record straight. The US signed a treaty with the alpha wolves of various packs around the country in 1899. My alpha was a young pup who attended that treaty signing. He is now over 160 years of age. Werewolves are blessed with a very long lifespan, around three hundred years. Another pack alpha of my acquaintance fought as a wolf for General Pershing in World War I. He is now well over 250 years old. There are wolves alive who were born prior to the Declaration of Independence. Wolves are not the only shapeshifters. There are others as well.

"The reason that you don't know about werewolves and that they've essentially been legends until now, is the US government has hidden our existence as part of that treaty. They have provided us with government ID's which list our apparent age and not the real age of the shifters, but the main reason you don't know about wolves, is we're not a threat to you. There are werewolf teachers, policemen, game wardens, businessmen, lawyers, paramedics, doctors, nurses, bodyguards, construction workers. For all I know, some might be reporters, just like you.

"You've probably had contact with shapeshifters in your own lives, and didn't know it because you didn't have to know. All shapeshifters wanted it that way. While none of the other Were populations signed the treaty the wolves did, as they're not pack animals, they've all tended to abide by the terms, because it was in everyone's best interest to do so. The only people who have known about shapeshifters had to sign a government Non-Disclosure Agreement so severe, they were afraid to say anything. If you violate the agreement, you disappeared, and it wasn't wolves who made you disappear, it was the government.

"Gretchen and I were born human in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, attending school there and graduating from high school there. She's an artist, and you might recognize her name as she's become quite famous for some of her paintings. I work at the Bath Iron Works, building ships for private companies and the US Navy. I was married to a human, Sean Hagerty, although he was the son of two shapeshifters who created him in their human shapes. We'll discuss that later. I had a child with him, fully human, just as we were. My mother, Anita Huppert, was born from a shapeshifter in his human shape and a human woman, Kathleen Harris. You can look up this information and verify for yourself.

"My grandmother died in childbirth. My grandfather was away at the time, and like all humans born to shapeshifters, my mother was given up for adoption through an agency of the US government, Tender Mercies Adoption Agency. If you've been adopted through Tender Mercies, you have shapeshifter genes inside of you, although you will never shift yourself, or live a long life free of disease like most shapeshifters do."

I saw a stir in the crowd from that. Obviously, some knew about Tender Mercies for whatever reason.

"I saw from the reaction to that statement, that some of you have either been adopted, know someone who was adopted or adopted someone yourself through Tender Mercies. I can talk to you later about them if you wish. Just leave a business card with me or Gretchen and I'll follow up later.

"Continuing, about ten months ago, my home was attacked by rogue shapeshifters of disenfranchised wolves who had no pack, living in the Canadian Wilderness. They were led by a young, strong alpha, but they had no regular pack keeping them in line. My husband was killed, Gretchen's right arm was bitten off, and I was taken so I could provide this outsider pack with werewolf puppies, including the one I was carrying.

"Werewolf packs essentially police themselves and other Weres with the help of a special branch of the US Marshal Service. What happened after I was taken, was a mass migration of the hunters and trackers of werewolf packs from Canada, the US and Mexico to deal with this band of rogue wolves once and for all. Nearly all of them have been exterminated for their attacks on humans. Only a few managed to escape, and it's believed that they've fled the North American continent. The only rapes I suffered were from this rogue pack, primarily the alpha, not from wolves in general.

"Before the last of them was captured and I was freed, the Werewolf who instigated the attack on my home, cut open my stomach, killing the werewolf puppy I was carrying, and almost killing me. Despite first aid rendered by trained medics to save me, I was dying. I would have died. There was nothing more anyone present could have done for me, so a werewolf named Quinn Whelan, bit me in an attempt to save my life, on a night of a full moon. Wolves and other Weres don't know why a full moon is necessary for your first shift, but it is. Once you've shifted, you don't need a full moon again. Since it was a full moon, I shifted to my wolf, and healed myself. As you can see, Gretchen is no longer missing an arm, and can continue painting with her right hand, her painting hand. She also shifted on the same night I first did, the first full moon after her arm was taken, and each time she shifted, more and more of her arm was healed, until it looks like it does now.

"Humans have also tried to rape me, twice in Wisconsin, and once here in Central Park while I was running yesterday. They were arrested, so you can also verify this information for yourself. Criminals exist in all societies, but generally speaking, there are far fewer criminals in Were society than in human society, in both total numbers, and as a percentage of the population. Part of this is because of the rigid structure of pack society. They don't want outliers spoiling things for everyone. From the time that they're very young, they're taught obedience to pack leadership. They can become pack leaders themselves, by proving their qualifications to lead a pack, but until they do, they must offer obeisance to senior wolves. This obeisance is often offered as sex.

"This is where the President, and Senator Hank Jenkins, who issued a warrant for the Werewolf Hunter and Tracker, Quinn Whelan, whom I was supposed to marry tomorrow, got everything wrong. This is not involuntary on my part, nor Gretchen's. We recognize the need for the rigid pack structure, and choose to participate. No one makes us do so. I'm not raped by offering sex to either male or female wolves. I have every right to refuse, although if I do so, I could loose the benefits of pack membership. But I can say no to any form of sexual behavior which I don't want to participate in. Wolves are not the monsters the President claimed they are.

"It's important to realize that wolf society is very different from human society, much like the wolves they appear to be. They can, and frequently do have sex with other wolves, both male and female. I suppose you could say that they're all bisexual, although that isn't strictly true, as they do have sexual preferences, but they're not tied to them. Even after wedding my mate, I will be allowed, and even expected to have sex with other wolves, just as he will be. About the only rule that wolves follow regarding sex with others, is that they can't have procreative sex with me when I'm ovulating and fertile, and as birth control doesn't work for wolves, is once a month. Any other type of sex is allowed.

"The reason they can't when I'm fertile, is roughly two days after I conceive, I can no longer shift anymore. No female wolf can. It's something built into our DNA to prevent shifts from harming a fetus. So wolves don't force pregnancy on other wolves as a rule, because it disengages our ability to shift.

"So let's talk about werewolves and Were procreation for a second. There are two ways for someone to become a Were. Being born as one, or being bitten by one. That's it. But to be born as one, it requires a human to mate with a Were in their animal form. That's the only way. If two Weres mate in their human shapes, they can only have a human, which is why my husband, Sean, was a human and given up for adoption for other humans to raise. If they breed in their wolf shapes, they can only have other wolves, not Weres. Those babies are given to real wolf packs to raise. If they try mating as their wolf shape to their human shape, they're infertile. They can't reproduce at all. It absolutely requires a human mating with a Were in wolf shape to have a werewolf puppy. Just as a Werewolf biting another wolf or any other animal doesn't create super wolves, or wolf/deer, or wolf/sheep, only biting a human creates a werewolf. And only mating sex with a human creates a new werewolf. Even biting a human in their human shape, doesn't create a werewolf. It's specifically tied to a wolf in wolf form, and a human."

"After the treaty was signed, that was the only way Werewolves could reproduce. Until a few years ago, a wolf would seduce a human female, and after doing so, would try to convince her to have sex with him in his wolf form. He didn't rape her, he convinced her. Maybe, this is the source of some fairy tales and fables, such as Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, or changelings. I don't know for certain. Maybe the legends of Zeus mating with Leda as a swan, or the queen of Crete as a Bull, were Were breedings. A few years ago, a very wise alpha thought that perhaps instead of merely seducing a woman to have sex with a wolf, human women might agree to mate with a wolf for money. I was the first to be hired as a surrogate breeder.

"When I lost my job at Bath Iron Works due to the last recession, and with a new condo and lots of student debt, I agreed to have wolf puppies for two hundred thousand per puppy, and a million dollar bonus for four. It was my fourth puppy that was killed when my stomach was sliced open. Mating with a wolf was not horrible. It's different than mating with a human, but I could enjoy the sex to the point of orgasm. My puppies were born after nine months in a human hospital, then given to the pack to raise. They appear human at all respects, except they grow much faster than human children, and they don't get sick and can recover from most injuries on their own, even without shifting. I can never have another werewolf puppy again, unless I find a way for some man have sex with me in my wolf form; not an easy task. I've tried having sex with a man, and the teeth threw him off.

"A puppy's first shift doesn't occur until they're around seven to eight years of age, and they'll shift during a full moon, and from then on, they're full blown members of the pack. An eight year old werewolf will appear to be an eighteen or nineteen year old human, and they often get jobs at that age armed with their government issued ID's and any documents they need to get one. My first puppy should be shifting sometime in the next year or two. Some will go to college and get higher educations, and they're attending college at only eight or nine years of age in human years, but they've acquired the equivalent of a high school education in that time because they go to school 365 days a year, twelve hours a day.

"I managed to convince some of my friends and acquaintances, like Gretchen, to do the same thing I did, have puppies for money. Some, with infertile husbands, have agreed to have a puppy for a human child of their own. I know of several couples who've taken advantage of their breeding services, including some in the government. It works out well for both the husband and wife. The husbands know that the wolf having sex with their wife is disease free and will not bother with any human children they have, nor will his wife want to run off with a wolf because the sex is so good, and it is good."

"If you've had sex four or five times a day for a hundred years, you get to be damn good at sex. It's the best sex I've ever had as a human. Most wolves have had more sex in the first ten years of their adulthood, than most humans in their seventies. They are very sexual, and sensual creatures, having sex often because they enjoy it and nothing in wolf society prohibits it. They're often naked because they're naked to shift, so easily aroused by the nudity around them, plus they can smell the arousal of the females they're with."

"Now, I know that some people would eventually claim that the reason I'm willing to stand up for werewolves, is because I was one, or suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, or some other psychological maladies that make it impossible for me to be objective. Before we had this press conference, Gretchen and I underwent two days of psychological testing with Ms. Beth Wilson-Hafeez. I'm sure most of you will recognize her name due to the work she's done with abused and sexually trafficked women and children. She's internationally known for her groundbreaking work dealing with those populations. Beth, would you please come here and tell these reporters that Gretchen and I are in our right minds?"

Beth stood up and approached the microphone, standing beside me. She was extremely well known in New York circles for her work. Everyone was paying attention to what she had to say.

"I've been in close contact with both Jessica and Gretchen for the last few days, and given them whole batteries of tests. I found them to be very well balanced, intelligent people who score as normal in every test they've taken. In addition to all the psych tests I did on them, I also ran my own test on them. Gretchen is like most of America's human women, with a neutral bias towards Dominance and submission. Jessica, is submissive, but not because she is now a wolf and must offer obedience to senior wolves. She was submissive to her husband before her transformation to a wolf, and practiced D/s like many other Americans, including me. She still practices it and has a safe word to use if she needs it.

"I also know that she is not inherently violent. She was running with my wife yesterday in Central Park and was accosted by three young men, armed with guns and knives. Given the right to defend herself, and the ability to do great damage to the perpetrators, she chose to have them arrested rather than hurting them herself. She showed great restraint in doing so. I don't believe that Jessica or Gretchen are a threat to humans unless they were trying to hurt her or her loved ones, nor do I find any evidence of any psychotic or sociopathic tendencies. Would you tell everyone why you were testifying before Congress, Jessica, where you testified before Senator Hank Jenkins and he specifically asked you if you were being raped, and you said that you weren't?"

"They were discussing changes to the 1899 treaty that the President just abrogated."

"Why were you in particular testifying?"

"Because I wasn't born a werewolf, and as a human until recently, might be able to shed some light on why the treaty might be due for a change?"

"Were the wolves in favor of a change to the treaty?"

"In some respects. There were provisions they wanted kept."

"Why were they concerned about changes to the treaty?"

"They were afraid that if humans knew about werewolves, that they might want to see if they could cut us up and see what made us tick, to enjoy the long lives and freedom from disease that Weres enjoy."

"Why were you hoping for a change in the treaty?"

"The secrecy about Weres meant that I'd have to give up my son at some point. He would get old and die before I did, and if I remained with my son, he'd eventually realize that I wasn't a human, that I could suffer broken arms and cuts and heal without medical assistance, and because he was a child, he'd be prone to tell other children or adults that I wasn't human, and Weres existence would become known to humans. I think the President pretty much exposed that secret and flushed it down the toilet, so I imagine I can keep my son now without worrying he will find out. He already knows."

"Do you love your son?"

"Very much. As much as any other person loves their child."

"Have you had much contact with the puppies you had for the pack?"

"Some, but not a lot. Before I was transformed into a Were, I could be inadvertently injured by a puppy, because their roughhousing could be dangerous to those who don't heal immediately and also because they're in school all the time. It's why Weres can't live and be raised with the human women who bear them and with any human children they have. They grow too fast, need more education in a shorter time, and could hurt their human siblings. It's why the packs take them shortly after their birth. My oldest puppy, while still only six, looks like a teenager."

"So by testifying before Congress, you hoped to be able to keep your son."

"Yes, and my job. I'd have to give up my job at Bath Iron Works if they see I'm not aging like they are. The Weres secrets would be out."

"Why do the wolves feel like they'd be unsafe if their existence becomes known?"

"Weres believe that the reason we live so long and can heal from almost any injury and don't get sick, is because of our ability to shift. Our bodies have to shift to wolf and back in a very short time. We're rearranging bones, muscles, tendons and organs, at great pain, from one form to another. It's the shift that does those things for us. In order to go from my wolf body to my human, it has to genetically remember my other form. When I shift, everything that doesn't fit that genetic memory is tossed aside. Any disease, any aging, any cells starting to go cancerous, all gets rejected in my shift back to human.

"It's the reason Gretchen's arm grew back. It wouldn't have if she didn't shift. Shifting caused the arm to grow back, slowly, with multiple shifts, but back. There isn't any serum or blood, or lymphatic fluid that can be harvested from wolves to make humans live longer and healthier. That doesn't mean some humans wouldn't try. To someone reaching the end of their life, or dying of cancer, the ability to reject age or illness would be very appealing, so wolves expect unscrupulous humans would carve us up to see what our secret is. When the only way to have those abilities is to become a Were yourself, so you could shift.

"The fact that the President is ordering all Weres to register with the government, and they're being demonized as inhuman, soulless monsters, might be the first step in starting to turn us into lab rats. The fact that both the President's and Senator Hank Jenkin's stock portfolios have recently included large purchases of biotech stocks is another indicator that this country might be headed that way, and they're leading the way in turning us into the monsters they need us to be for that to become acceptable to most people."

"So what the packs wanted to accomplish in any treaty change, was still secrecy about themselves?"

"Primarily, only loosening it enough so family members could perhaps be told, without having a loved one disappeared from knowing about it."

"So why not turn everyone into a Were. Why not give everyone the benefit of being one?" Beth asked.

"A couple of different reasons come to mind. If everyone suddenly lived four times longer than mother nature intended, none dying from diseases and most not succumbing to accidental death, what happens to the earth's resources then? So does that mean only a select few will be changed to keep that from happening? Say the President, Hank Jenkins, or their families, and everyone else can go to hell, or do we all starve because the planet can't support eight billion souls living for three hundred years. Not to mention that if everyone is a Were, who are the humans you're going to breed with to create more of your kind. We haven't found a way to have puppies without a human being involved.

"Secondly, most of the Weres in this country are wolves, raised from infants in the packs, obedient to wise wolves chosen for their ability to lead. What happens if some people are transformed to these seemingly God-like powers without a shred of obedience to senior leadership. What if criminal gangs or terrorists get these powers without obedience or loyalty to anyone but themselves. How much worse could everything get. Even though no Weres but wolves signed the treaty, most Weres adhered to the rules, because they saw the wisdom of doing so. Werewolves helped the government hunt down any Weres who refused to follow those rules.

"Despite Quinn biting me in Canada, where there was no treaty, saving my life in the process, he still turned himself in to government authorities when he returned to the US, where the crime wasn't even known since it occurred in the Canadian wilderness, with only other wolves around. Who among most of you would have done the same in his shoes? His sense of obedience, honor and justice was so ingrained in him, he turned himself in for violating a US treaty in a country where the treaty didn't apply. That's pack training and obedience in its highest form. I doubt there's a single human alive who would have done the same. What if no one else who has these abilities is willing to do the same? Chaos and anarchy would surely follow. I think that on the whole, we're all better off if someone is born into the packs and raised by the packs, rather than created with a bite or some medical miracle and turned loose in a society where obedience to higher authority isn't necessarily widely practiced."

"For what it's worth, I tend to agree with you, Jessica. I've dealt with a lot of human monsters, who if they had your abilities, would have been so much worse than they were. That's all I have to say for now."

Beth sat down again, holding Sahar's hand.

"Thank you, Beth," I said. "Gretchen and I are willing to entertain questions now. However, we'd like it to be orderly, and to end at two PM. We've got interviews with the three major New York newspapers beginning then for an hour each. You can pool that time and have three hours for all of your questions or go one at a time. We have further interviews with most major news outlets and news shows scheduled over the next few days, so hopefully, you can have any question you want answered over the next few days. Raise your hands and wait to be called on, please."

Arms shot up on everyone except those holding a camera.

"The lady in a red dress up front. Your question."

"Can you change into a wolf for us."

"Not in this setting. I have to be naked and my naked bits would need to be blurred. The change also still takes me fifteen or more seconds, and it's very painful, so I'd scream a lot. You, sir, right beside her."

"Does it take fifteen seconds for all wolves?"

"No, the more often you shift, the faster you get. My first shift took over ten minutes, and was the most painful thing I've ever experienced. Only very young wolves take more than two or three seconds anymore. Most of the wolves I was frequently around, take less than a second. It still hurts like hell to shift, but since it only hurts for a second, it's not as bad as it is for me and Gretchen. The gentleman in the second row, blue shirt."

"Gretchen, how long did it take you're arm to grow back?"

"Once I started shifting at the full moon, about two weeks, shifting six and seven times a day, and consuming vast amounts of raw meat. Polka dot dress, third row."

"Gretchen, what is your relationship to Jessica?"

"I fell in love with Jessica in high school, a love that wasn't returned, partly because I took so much abuse for being a lesbian. Jessica came back to Wisconsin to tell her parents that she was becoming a surrogate parent for infertile couples. She was already having sex with the male and female bodyguards assigned to protect her and her puppy, so we began having sex at that time. Her future wolf breeder, encouraged her friendship and more to me, as sexuality and sex are regarded differently among wolves. He didn't feel harmed by her sex with me, so it continued, even after she got married to Sean, who wasn't threatened by it either. I was actually contemplating having my own baby with Sean when he was killed, because I would have wanted a child of my own. Unfortunately, it didn't happen before his death. I consider her to be a friend and loved one, equal to a wife if she could marry two people. Next person at the back with the camera."

"So you believe that the wolves who took you are an aberration?"

"I do," I said. "I would say that the only illness that wolves ever seem to suffer from is mental illness. They definitely have a small number of sociopathic wolves, as evidenced by those who attacked me, but other than those, all the wolves I've met have been kind and loving. I think the one blind spot in their inherent obedience is that some juvenile wolves might follow the wrong alpha, someone who was mentally off. I think most of the wolves who were there, were primarily following two sick individuals, as most of them had abandoned their tiny rogue pack before I was finally found, and one of those wolves killed the other one, which almost never happens between wolves.

"Their previous breeding methods of attempted seductions wasn't overly successful, and total number of Weres were dropping, more in other subspecies than in wolves, but they were all witnessing declining numbers. Wolves were slightly more successful because of their dog like appearance, making them more familiar to humans. The declining numbers made wolves reluctant to kill their own kind, so it rarely happened. Some wolves thought it possible other Weres would be extinct within two or three generations if they didn't start paying for breeding partners the way wolves were. Since most other Weres aren't pack animals and had to depend on their own resources, that limited their ability to pay. We've talked to some other Were's about pooling their resources to buy breeding services. I believe that jaguars and bears will be doing it in the future, provided this trumped up malarkey doesn't affect their ability to operate. Middle of the room, red dress."

"Are there any wolves in this room?"

"Besides Gretchen and me, no."

"How do you know?"

"I could smell them."

"Have you met any other wolves in New York?"

"No. I believe most wolves are in hiding now, maybe most Weres. They probably wouldn't live in New York City, preferring heavily wooded areas. Some might have worked here, but not lived here. Weres tried to avoid as much human interaction if possible. Next question, blue suit on my right on the end."

"Since you've only been a wolf for a short time, how do you know so much about wolves?"

"When I went to tell my parents I was going to be a surrogate mother several years ago, I learned that a wolf was my grandfather. I met him and was interested and asked questions. Then, my husband found out he was the son of two wolves, one of them a high ranking wolf, so both of us tried to learn about our wolf heritage. Additionally, I've helped a lot of women become puppy breeders for the packs. I've been respected for my efforts and given the name of Wolf Daughter, or Ma'iitsoh ach'é'é in Navajo, named by a Navajo wolf who first gave me the title. I've earned their respect and confidence as a result, and now I am one for real. Next, lady in the yellow skirt."

"Besides your child, do any other humans know you're a werewolf now?"

"My parents, Gretchen's parents, many of my friends and fellow breeders and their spouses in Maine, everyone on the Joint Committee, including Senator Jenkins, a US Marshall or two, a Federal Magistrate. I told my boss at Bath Iron Works when I took a leave of absence from work, so I suspect others know as well. Now a few people in New York because of my psych testing, and if you do your jobs, as many other people as you can spread the word to. Before the President abrogated the treaty, all of them signed NDAs so they wouldn't talk out of turn. Brown shirt, right in front."

"Will you live three hundred years?"

"No. Since I started older, I won't live as long as a born wolf. Probably around two hundred and forty years or less. Some of the cell degeneration had already occurred in my body prior to transformation. My shifts can only restore me to the state I was in when I changed, not my pristine youth. Purple pantsuit."

"Gretchen, your art features a lot of wolves. Why is that?"

"I had a lot of models for my art, and I was fascinated by the shapeshifting ability of my models, so they often featured in it. Orange blouse in front."

"Gretchen, as an avowed lesbian, doesn't it bother you to suck a male penis?"

"I prefer pussy, but lesbianism isn't about disgust with a male organ. It's about who I emotionally connect to. After all, a lot of lesbians use strap-ons, so I'm not unfamiliar with a phallus. A lot of closeted lesbians suck a dick to keep their sexuality a secret. I suck mine for other reasons, but it's not like I feel like puking if I suck one. It's two o'clock, we'll be concluding this press conference. Write up your questions as I'm sure we'll be seeing some of you later. We've got a lot more interviews to give over the next week. The Times, Daily News and Wall Street Journal reporters may stay. We'll be taking a five minute break to freshen up. When I return, I'll be wolf, I'll still understand English, but won't be able to speak it. All questions directed to me specifically, will need to be in the form of yes/no questions. Any questions related to our mental health should be directed to Beth Wilson-Hafeez at her convenience. Thank you."

We left the podium and I hugged our three guests, then we got a bottle of water and had a quick drink before going to the ladies room where Gretchen removed her clothes and shifted, trying to control her screams as much as possible, eventually it turned into a wolf howl, although a weak one. I collected and folded her clothes, and carried them back out, while Gretchen trotted at my side. When we returned it looked like only a quarter of them had left. There were still oodles of video cameras there.

"Okay, boys and girls, I know that not all of you work for those three newspapers I mentioned, so a bunch of you need to leave now."

"We just wanted to see the wolf," one of the cameramen said.

"You've seen her. Time to pack up your stuff now."

"Why are you seeing the papers first?" Another fellow asked.

"Because the video people will have some footage to show on tonights news. The papers won't have anything ready until tomorrow morning's papers. They should have a little more to throw in there to boost their readership. We're trying to be a little fair here, not play favorites."

The others reluctantly left, leaving six people, three reporters and three photographers.

"One at a time, or do you want to pool your time?" I asked.

They all looked at one another, then nodded. "We'll pool our time."

"Why don't you introduce yourselves, and we can get on a first name basis," I said.

"Jack, the Times, and my photog, Phoebe."

"Lucy, Daily News and Ryan, my photographer."

"Ed, the Journal, and Rex, photographer."

"Have a seat, let's get comfortable."

Everyone sat down and we pulled our chairs together into a small circle. Gretchen sat beside me. They pulled out recording devices, while they shot some pictures.

"Do you want to pet Gretchen?"

"Is it safe?" Lucy asked.

"I've been telling you for an hour you don't need to worry about Weres. We still have all of our thoughts, memories, and normal social triggers. There's a hunting instinct tacked on, but otherwise, we're the same," I said.

Ed held his hand out and Gretchen moved to him, sniffed his hand, the others quickly following suit. They all ended up petting her.

"Can you speak wolf?" Jack asked.

"We're still learning to speak wolf. It's like any new language. We're getting better at it, and I understand it better than I speak it. With human vocal chords, I can't speak it at all."

"So you'll be able to speak to real wild wolves?" Ed asked.

"Yes, there's a wild pack that lives near us. The born Weres have spoken to them, told them not to harm our children and we'll leave them alone."

"Will they listen?" Ed asked.

"As long as the kids don't approach them and especially the young, probably, but our children have been told to say 'Sit' if they see a wolf, and if it doesn't sit, that it's wild and to stay away from it. But we always have someone with the children, simply because the woods can be dangerous for anyone. Any Were will obey that command to ensure the kids know they're safe to approach it. The children can recognize the wolf bodies of all of our closest friends and lovers."

"So you don't look the same as Gretchen does?"

"No, even you'd be able to recognize we're different."

"How good is your sense of smell?" Jack asked

"Around ten times better in my human form, and perhaps a thousand times better as a wolf. We still need to hunt. Gretchen could probably tell each of you what you had for lunch and breakfast this morning if she could speak English in her current form. A wolf can smell if you're ovulating or not, and when that happens, wolfie erections spring up everywhere because of the breeding imperative. They won't rape you, but if you're receptive, they want to have sex. They can also scent when you're pregnant before a stick test can tell, If a bitch is carrying a puppy, they want to know to shift into their human shape while it's still possible. Usually, when I was providing my surrogate services, they stopped as soon as someone could scent I was pregnant. Even I, in this form, can tell that Phoebe is menstruating right now."

They all looked at her and she nodded, blushing.

"Do children shift into a wolf immediately if they're bitten?" Lucy asked.

"I don't think so, but I don't know. I seriously doubt any child has ever been bitten. I would think they'd start maturing faster, but would still need to reach an age similar to a born puppy before their first shift."

"Are there any other humans that have been bitten by wolves that you know of?" Ed asked.

"Yes, but they were all bitten prior to the treaty except for one. The Navajo who named me Wolf Daughter was bitten as a young warrior pre-1899, when a hunting party he was part of went hunting werewolves. They killed a couple of wolves and several of them were bitten. He became a Were. He couldn't go back to his tribe, or he'd be killed too, so it forced him to join a pack. He said the hardest thing to deal with as a new Were, was having to suck cocks of senior wolves. He wasn't forced to, but he wasn't allowed into the pack until he did, so he could choose to remain alone, or learn to suck a cock. He's senior enough now, he seldom has to suck one himself, which he still finds distasteful, but he still does.

"The other human I know who was bitten post treaty, is currently a female alpha in the northern Wisconsin/Upper Peninsula pack, married to the leader of the pack, the Were who I mentioned fought with General Pershing during WWI. She was bitten by a rogue wolf, who was killed by her current mate before he became alpha. She indicated that the toughest part of becoming a Were, was the general promiscuity, even more than licking another woman. She was raised religiously, and having sex with multiple other people was a problem for her, but she adapted. She tried having a human child and raising it herself for about ten years, but it became too much, so he was eventually given up for adoption. Her child and all of her grandchildren from him, are dead now, and most of her great grandchildren are nearing the end of their lives. I think that will be one of the hardest things for me, seeing my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren all die before I do.

"On the other hand, I might see humans achieve interstellar travel, or I might see them finally destroy our planet."

"So werewolves can be killed?" Lucy asked.

"Rogues are regularly hunted down and killed," I said. "Anyone can be killed."

They asked questions for another couple of hours, roughly a fourth of them addressed to Gretchen as yes or no questions. They finally ran out of steam a little after four.

"Would you like to see Gretchen change back to human?" I finally asked.

"Yes."

"Turn off and put down any recording devices. She will make noise. We can't help it as slow as we shift and as painful as it is. After she's got her clothes back on, if you have a few more questions for her, you may ask. Other than that, I think we're done."

They did as I asked and Gretchen shifted back, a low wolf howl gradually turning to a muffled scream as her body tore itself apart and knitted back together again. She quickly donned her clothes and they asked her a few more questions, including what they'd had for lunch and breakfast. She quickly identified what they'd eaten.

When she got to Lucy, Gretchen said, "You had a salad with Italian dressing for lunch. You didn't eat breakfast, but you did have sex, swallowing Ryan's cum this morning. He's not your husband, as I scent him on you as well, so you've been a naughty girl."

Lucy blushed bright red, Ryan coloring up as well, but not as much.

"You won't tell anyone else, will you?" Lucy asked.

"I won't because it's none of my business, and you have to remember, I'm regularly having sex with lots of different people, some Weres, some not. But you might want to talk to your fellow journalists. I doubt they'll say anything though because they have their own secrets, don't you?"

They all colored slightly.

"Thanks for giving us the time to explain ourselves," I said. As soon as they left, I asked her what the other secrets they had were.

"Jack and Rex use cocaine, Ed and Phoebe are having sex with their own gender."

"So Lucy's and Ryan's secret might be safe?"

"Depends upon how open the others are about their own lifestyle choices. I couldn't tell if they were closeted gays."

I gave her a kiss and we went up to the restaurant to eat, steaks cooked very rare. Our next interviews were with the Dateline and Sixty Minutes folks. Dateline at seven and Sixty Minutes at nine, in our room. We were there by 6:15 and had to let five people in, two cameramen, a sound tech, a make-up artist, and our interviewer, Rita Flores. They set up their equipment, one camera on a stand and another mobile, with one spot light aimed at the couch where Gretchen and I would be seated, and another at Rita's chair, and they attached microphones to our clothes while the make-up lady did what she had to do so our faces weren't shiny.

Rita asked us before they started filming if they could film a shift.

"A shift requires us to get naked. If you blur our naughty bits for the audience, we don't care. We're pretty much used to lounging around naked if there aren't kids around," I said. "Why don't we save it for the end of the interview and we'll let the Sixty Minutes crew catch the shift back to human."

Rita nodded. "Are there any topics you don't want us to cover?"

Gretchen replied. "We want to be as open as possible. Some of the topics might require you to edit or bleep words, or give an audience warning prior to broadcast, but you ask away and we'll try to answer everything. We don't have all of the answers. As much as possible, we'd like to avoid covering the same material over and over. Were you at the press conference earlier?"

"I was," Rita said, "and my main cameraman, Johnny."

"If you need to expand on any of the questions raised by the earlier conference, it's fine, but try not to be repetitive," I said.

"I'll do my best," Rita said. "Let's do a sound check. Just announce who you are."

Gretchen and I gave our names and the sound tech gave us a thumbs up.

"Let's get started," Rita said. "I'll give a quick intro and give you a chance to say hi to the audience, then I'll get started on the questions."

"Sounds good."

"Hello, I'm Rita Flores and this is Dateline. A few days, President Duncan announced to the nation that wolf shapeshifters or werewolves were real and had been kept secret for a long time. He made mention of two brave young American women that had led him to believe that the treaty reached with the wolf packs was a mistake. We have those two women with us today in their first in-depth interview. Why don't you introduce yourselves."

Gretchen started. "I'm Gretchen Shriver and I was born in Rhinelander, Wisconsin in 2011 and I'm currently 34 years old, living in Maine and an artist. Approximately ten months ago, I was bitten by a shapeshifter wolf from a rogue pack of wolves from Canada and am now a shapeshifter myself. Jessica."

"I'm Jessica Hagerty, nee Huppert, also born in Rhinelander in 2011 and living in Maine. I was married to a human male and have one child, Matthew. I work at the Bath Iron Works, and I was taken at the same time as Gretchen was bitten. The shapeshifters who attacked us were some of a very small group who were kicked out of regular packs because of their behavior. They lived in the northern Canadian wilderness, but came to Maine because of a dispute with a hunter/tracker who helps hunt down rogue wolves. He didn't find that wolf, finding me and my family instead because he associated me with the wolf he had issues with. I was taken because I was carrying a wolf puppy and could be bred for others. After the attack on my home, almost every wolf pack in North America sent hunter/trackers to Canada to dispose of these rogue wolves because of what they'd done.

"In his last act of defiance near Hudson Bay, Canada, the leader of the rogue pack sliced open my stomach to kill me and the puppy I carried. First aid was rendered, but the wounds were too severe for me to survive, so the wolf I currently love, bit me to turn me into a shapeshifter so my wounds could heal. As a result, my life was saved, but I'm now a werewolf due to the bite. I was bitten solely to save my life and so my child wouldn't lose both of his parents, and I don't blame the wolf who bit me, and in fact, was going to marry him tomorrow, if not for the chain of events set off by the Presidents announcement to the country."

"Why did you hold a press conference today, and agree to this interview?"

"Because the president, and other members of the government have it all wrong," Gretchen said. "Generally speaking, shapeshifters are more law abiding then humans are, yet no one calls all humans soulless animals. He also said we undergo constant rape from other wolves, yet I've never been raped by a wolf. All sex that I have with members of the pack I belong to is consensual. We want to set the record straight with the American people. One of my friends, and Jessica's future mate has had a warrant issued for his arrest for rape. It's a completely bogus charge and needs to be rescinded by the Senator that issued it, or a Federal Magistrate."

"Why did Senator Jenkins accuse the wolves of rape?"

"We were testifying before a secret Joint Congressional Committee on the subject of Were relations and recommending some possible changes to the treaty. We were testifying since we hadn't been wolves our entire lives and might have human insights," I said. "During the hearings, Senator Jenkins kept asking if we were being raped, and we specifically said we weren't, yet he had a warrant issued for my mate anyway.

"It's rather well known among Senator Jenkins colleagues that he frequently has sex with interns in his office. Should he be charged with rape because he's in a position of power over them, if they say the sex is consensual. Why is my consensual sex an act of rape, but not his interns? I want those bogus charges dismissed."

"You indicated in your press conference earlier today, that you frequently have sex with multiple wolves, and have to offer sexual obeisance to senior wolves. Is that true?"

"There are clear chains of command within the packs, going down from the alpha, or pack leader, to the youngest wolves. This chain of leadership is designed to make wolves obedient to their leaders, some of whom signed the treaty themselves," Gretchen said. "From an early age, but still after they've matured, they offer sexual obeisance to their elders. It's designed so all wolves will learn to obey and not become rogues, remaining conforming members of the pack. This is part of their rituals to ensure they're well behaved."

"But you don't have to offer this obeisance?"

"No, but it's possible we'd lose our membership in the pack if we don't," I said. "Pack membership is very important. It's difficult to socialize with humans without violating the NDAs the government made us sign when we learned about wolves. Prior to the President announcing our existence, I would have had to give up my job, my child, and any friends who hadn't signed NDAs as I quit aging as fast as humans did, and I can heal from almost any injury I receive." I pulled up my shirt to show that I didn't have any scar from where my stomach was cut open. "If I can't associate with humans, and get kicked out of the packs, who do I associate with. I'd be alone for the next 200 plus years of my life."

"But you don't consider that sexual contact, obeisance as you call it, rape?"

"No. First of all, you need to understand that wolves are superb lovers. They frequently have sex four and five times a day. If you have someone who's sixty human years old who's been having sex since the age of eight, they've gotten very very good at sex, just from frequent practice. Wolves are often naked amongst themselves, to facilitate shifting to our wolf shape and human shape. They're generally, the fittest, most handsome or beautiful people you'll ever meet. Once you have sex with one, you'll want it again and again. Having sex with one isn't a hardship. No one's forcing you to do anything. You want to," Gretchen said.

"From the age of eight?" Rita asked.

"Werewolf puppies mature much faster than human children," I said. "The first puppy I had for the pack is a little over six years of age. He looks like a fifteen year old. By the time he first shifts to his wolf form at the age of seven to eight, he'll be a werewolf adult. They don't have sex until after their first shift."

"Why did you start having werewolf puppies?" Rita asked.

"For money. Before I became the first one to be paid for my surrogate services, wolves had to seduce human women in their human shapes, and at some point, reveal their shapeshifting abilities and hope they could convince the woman to have a puppy."

"If they're such good lovers, why do women need to be seduced to have puppies?"

"Because a werewolf puppy has to be born from the union of a shapeshifter as wolf, and a human," Gretchen said. "That means you had to have sex with the wolf, not the man. That's a non-starter for a lot of women."

"Didn't you consider that a form of prostitution?"

"I'm not having sex for money. I'm having a child for money. Lots of people offer surrogacy services and get compensated for it. It's not illegal, nor was it considered bestiality by the governments own laws. Relations between humans and shapeshifters were allowed by the treaty," I said. "Once shapeshifters couldn't bite someone, it was the only way to reproduce, and I suspect that it's happened throughout our history. Why else would there be mythology saying gods became animals and mated with women?"

"Is this obeisance always in the form of sex?"

"Most frequently, although you can be ordered to do other things. Younger wolves frequently acted as servers at banquets and such," Gretchen said. "It's not abused. I don't have to enter a room and have sex with all the senior wolves in it, usually just the most senior, unless they don't want my service, then I may have to offer it to someone else if they request it. I'd be considered one of the youngest wolves in the pack, and I only had sex about 25% of the time I was with other shifters. Maybe about once a week with the shifter I lived with."

"Wouldn't a lot of women consider this sexual obeisance as rape?" Rita asked.

"Do you belong to a country club, Rita?" I asked.

"I do."

"Let's say for the sake of argument, that you paid $200 a month in membership dues. One day, the club says that they're increasing the dues to $2000 a month. What would you do?"

"Look around for another club, or decide if that club was worth the extra cost."

"Let's say that instead of raising the dues, they tell you it's $200 a month and you have to have sex with a board member once a month. Now you know that the sex will be really good. Your husband or other loved ones don't care, and in fact, they also have to have sex with a board member once a month. No one cares, and everyone does it without getting all bent out of shape. What do you do then?"

"The same thing, I imagine. Decide if the extra cost is worth it."

"It's the same with membership in the pack. I can choose not to pay the extra dues and give up my membership, or decide it's worth it to me. I decided it's worth it. Every wolf I know, decided it's worth it, including my prospective husband. He's a very senior member of the pack, but he has to offer the same obeisance to senior wolves. There are very few wolves senior to him, but I've seen him sucking a senior wolf's cock, or licking a senior wolf's pussy. I'm not offended by it. We all do it. Who are we hurting?

"The wolves aren't making humans copy their behavior. Why should it make any difference to Senator Jenkins or President Duncan, what the wolves due amongst themselves? Senator Jenkins' wife died of cancer. No one expects him to remain celibate once that happened. It might go against his professed family values, but most of that crap is lies anyway. I certainly don't care, and if his constituents want him in office, that's their business, but why is he trying to make my business his, or even the country's. It's absurd. We quit trying to legislate gays fifteen or more years ago. No one cares anymore."

"You suggested in the press conference that Senator Jenkins and the President might have ulterior motives for their positions on shapeshifters?"

"I did. I hate to cast unproven aspersions, but why are both of them so against a treaty that's worked well for over a hundred and forty years, and whose effectiveness was so good, almost no one knew shapeshifters existed, but those who absolutely had to know. Why is Senator Jenkins accusing my mate of rape, when I specifically said that I wasn't raped. I know what rape is. I almost got raped twice in Wisconsin by humans, and once in New York, I'm capable of determining if I'm being raped or not. I don't need Senator Jenkins deciding that for me.

"Shapeshifters are all around you, doing almost every kind of job there is, and the public didn't know, nor care they were there. Wolves even fought as wolves with General Pershing in World War I. He knew about the existence of werewolves from his military commands before the treaty, and wanted them fighting in the war. They were almost useless in trench warfare, but fought nonetheless. I met a wolf who fought in France. They've probably served in other wars as well, and humans didn't know. We were a well kept secret.

"Now we're monsters, and we're to be treated like the Jews in Nazi Germany? And why did both of them suddenly buy lots and lots of shares of biotech stock, unless they're hoping to profit from that. What makes the possibility of those stocks so profitable? Research on Shapeshifters. Why do we live so long, and can repair almost any injury we get? Let's start carving up a few and see what we can find out, but to do that, shapeshifters can't be what we are, which is essentially another intelligent species that's lived with humans since the beginning of recorded history, but inhuman monsters. Let's make them the bad guys. If we were really bad guys, every human would already know about us, no matter that the government tried to keep us secret. We want to set the record straight and let the people of this country know that we're not monsters. President Duncan can't call us brave American women in one sentence, and soulless animals in the next. I hope President Duncan was merely misinformed by advisors who listened to lies, but his purchase of biotechnology stocks kind of indicates he knows what's really going on."

"Do you fear for your life?"

"More for my freedom, than my life. It's why I'm scheduled to talk to so many of you in the press. To get the word out before I'm silenced."

"We're getting close to the end of our interview," Rita said. "You agreed to show us how you shift?"

"I did. Since Gretchen did it for the print media earlier, I'll be doing it this evening. I remind you that a shift is very painful, and I will scream a little as I shift."

I stood up, removed the mic and started shedding my clothes, setting them on the couch.

"I shaved my pubic hair this morning, so you could see what happens after a shift," I said when I was naked. "Johnny, why don't you stay after the Sixty Minutes get set up, so you can film my shift back to human when they get here, then you can leave before they start their interview."

"Great. Thanks."

I began my shift, suppressing my screams as much as I could. I was relatively successful. I doubt if anyone who wasn't in the next room could have heard me. Gretchen got asked a couple more questions, and I got a couple of the yes/no type questions they'd asked earlier, primarily checking on my mental acuity and memory.

They asked if they could pet me, and I nodded and Gretchen said yes, so everyone rubbed me a little, then all but Johnny packed up and left. I got a drink of water out of the toilet, and laid down waiting for the new circus in town, with Johnny chatting with Gretchen.

The Sixty Minutes people showed up at a quarter to nine. Johnny knew one of their cameramen. Gretchen told them that as soon as they were set up to record, I'd shift back to my human shape, and Johnny said he'd share his footage of me shifting to my wolf with them so they'd have the complete shift for their broadcast. Gretchen gave their interviewer the same pre-interview stuff we'd done earlier. His name was Eliot Garber. I didn't get the pre-taping make-up this time. No one wanted to powder the nose of a wolf.

As soon as they were all set up, I shifted back to my human shape, with everyone recording. They got a bit of a wolf howl in the change, but again, fairly quiet. I pointed out to Johnny that I had a full bush again, then he packed up and left, and I got dressed, and after another quick powder, Eliot began his interview.

It was roughly the same as the first one, with a little less about rape, and a little more about the mechanics of werewolf breeding and why we didn't think studying wolves would yield benefits for humans. It was a long day, and we were tired of talking when we were finished. After they were all gone, Gretchen and I took a shower together, had sex together, (needed, believe me) and went to bed.

******