FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 7 Jackie-The-Junior Retaliation part two

Taking my normal seat, I smile at Patrick as I scoot in closer to the table. I watch as Christine helps mother bring the food out before taking her normal seat next to me. Once it's placed on the table, everyone digs in without a word.

"Did my two lovely daughters have an okay day at school?" Mentally grumbling at the fact mom had to ask while my mouth was full. She at least has the politeness to wait until after I swallow for my answer.

'Ms. Alice kept us after school due to some fake posts made by Diane, they made us look like country hics, her words not mine. Diane also stepped things up a notch at lunch. She had some of her pack members steal our lunches, thankfully Ms. Henderson had some extra food, she shared it with Christine and I.' Mom sighs while everyone else stays quiet.

Christine and I get an angry glance from Flint from across the table, but Mr. and Ms. Tanner keep him in line.

"I'll make lunches for the both of you to keep in your backpacks, that way you'll have something to eat. I doubt her doing this was a one off event." Well, I was going to ask her for that next. Considering the situation between mom and my biological dad, I do keep my mouth shut on Diane's threat.

Not only would It be borderline assault, and something the school would have to call the police on. I have no right to jeopardize mom's decision to reconnect with my biological dad. Bringing it up would possibly open up old wounds between the two.

'And about Ms. Alice?' Christine pipes up. Mom shrugs and looks like she is about to say something, but Patrick speaks up first.

"I did some digging on the school on my own and with the help of my co-workers after you told me how she acted earlier. For the past several years this school has been in a fight with the teachers union over the tenure of teachers like her and the secretary you ran into. The school and many of the parents want them gone, because they're doing more harm than good, and what they want to teach hampers their kid's chances at doing better than their parents." Makes sense, I don't see how anything Ms. Alice said would help earn money outside of spewing it to others.

"The union won't agree to allow them to be fired unless the school district alters the employment contract, changes which will make firing future Ms. Alice's impossible. As a result, there's a deadlock in negotiations, and in the meantime they get to keep their jobs while harassing students, like what she's doing with you. Sorry, I don't think there's anything we can do but add our voices to the group of displeased parents." Mr. Mathew didn't tell us about this, just that the school has been blocked by the teachers union.

I let Christine gently grab my hand under the table, yea I'm not looking forward to having to go through another detention with Ms. Alice tomorrow.

That reminds me, since Flint is here, and his parents are keeping him in check, or at least quiet. There's one thing I want to know because thinking about it now, it seems strange. I bet I'll know what he'll say though, something about the weather, despite it being nice out.

'So Flint, why were you and the football team running through the halls instead of practicing on the field?' The Tanners look at their youngest son, I think they also want to know.

Flint lets out an annoyed sigh and looks at me like I should know better.

"As hard as it is for your sex addled mind to comprehend, full football armor doesn't breath well with all its padding. Practicing indoors allows us to get used to wearing it, as well as a full amount of exercise and not overheat." As expected, Flint's parents glare at him for verbal jab, I expect that earned him some sort of punishment from this.

Ignoring the insult for me is easy to do, even though there's a grain of truth in it. I know my sex drive has been a bit higher compared to when I was a guy. But I chalk it up to being thrust back into the middle of puberty rather than anything else. After all, when I was sixteen last time it was pretty active too.

His answer was what I expected it to be, raising my suspicions.

Then the conversation shifts to Mom and the Tanner's plans on fixing up the basement, trying to ask why, I'm told I'm better off not knowing. Sigh, I know I won't get anything out of them, so I finish off what's on my plate, then wait for Christine to do the same.

All the while her hand stays held in mine, today's been a rough day on her.

'We're full and our plates are clean. Can we be excused from the table mom?' Politely asking, Mom nods once. After standing up, Christine follows me up to my room.

After a short shower, then waiting for Christine to take hers, we sit together on the edge of my bed in just in our panties, brushing each other's fur. This is our communal grooming session, similar to back at Mauri's. It has also become one of my favorite part of the day.

Say what you will about how much harder fur makes things, this more than makes up for it.

'I don't like how they can't do a damn thing about those two crazy bitches, not to mention Flint's explanation is bullshit. Humans are far better equipped to deal with heat than we are.' Christine blurts out, breaking the pleasant silence between us as she guides the brush from the top of my head, and down my back to the base of my tail.

'I agree, but there's nothing we can do for the former. The latter has me curious, and thinking something else is going on, but I don't know where to look to find out.' As she does my back I do my chest and belly down to my feet.

Christine finishes with my back, so we switch positions, I start brushing her fur from her head down to the base of her tail. We normally leave our tails for last, that way we can sit leaning against each other with the other's tail in our lap.

'How about we use a different exit tomorrow? Those hall monitors that are in Diane's pack, they can't watch them all the side ones in the school.' Nodding in agreement, I finish Christine's head and back. She's done with her own front, only leaving each other's tails.

Scooting closer, we lean against each other before I flop my tail into Christine's lap, then she flops hers into mine.

'Good idea Christine. We'll try that tomorrow, probably that one kiddy-corner to the main one. Exiting there won't add too much time to our walk, so we won't miss the light rail back here.' She thankfully takes her time on brushing my tail, it's a pleasant feeling that I don't want to end.

Returning the favor we sit quietly, enjoying this part of our mutual grooming. By the time our tails are nice and fluffy, as well as tangle and mat free, it's bedtime. Gathering the brushes, I drop them on my nightstand, then arrange my pillows into a small den like circle for the night.

Christine instantly hops into it, walks in a circle once, and curls up nose tip to tail tip. Damn that's cute, I move about the room, shutting off my computer, then the lights, before I crawl onto the bed and spoon her more than curl around her.

Sometime later I heat mother come upstairs, so I gently uncurl myself and go to greet her in the hallway. Mainly, so I can ask her for some sports bras. Of course, she gets a laugh out of it because I didn't put a top on, still she agrees to get us some.

Heading back into my room I curl around Christine and soon fall asleep.

Just like said she would Mom, had some sandwiches ready for us in the morning. So we stuff them into our backpacks where they won't get squashed. Afterwards, she drops us off at school.

We don't see either of the hall monitors nor Diane as we make our way to our first class of the day, Mr. Mathew's mathematics. Glad that so far nothing has happened, we take our normal seats in class.

The moment we sit down, Mr. Mathew gets up, and walks over to us. To be honest, I'm glad to have a nice teacher like him first thing in the day considering I'm forced to go through high school again. Just wish it wasn't mathematics though, not my favorite subject.

"Jackie, Christine." He politely nods. "Can I see your locker badges please?" My head tilts to the side, as well as my ears as I wonder why he wants them. Slowly, and hesitantly I take mine out of my backpack. Damn dresses and the lack of pockets. No I'll not succumb to using a purse.

Mimicking my look, Christine follows suit.

'Why do you need them?' Placing it on my desk, I keep my hand over it as I'm only a tiny bit suspicious of his motives.

"Relax, this isn't anything bad. I heard about what happened yesterday with Ms. Alice, so I'm going to update them to open doors locked by the security system Ms. Alice abused. Just, don't tell anyone it was me if anyone finds out okay?" Considering Diane has members of her pack everywhere, I look around the room.

Everyone either has their face nose, or muzzle deep into their phones, or they appear to be taking a short nap. Happily smiling that we have something to help, I hand Mr. Mathew my badge. Christine seeing that I'm fine with it gives hers up a moment later.

Curiously I watch Mr. Mathew walk over to his desk, and places our cards next to the keyboard. Several clicks and some use of the keyboard later he picks up one card, holds it against one corner his monitor where the rfid symbol is, then hits enter a few times. Putting that one down, he repeats the process with the other.

With that done, he returns and hands them back to us.

"Okay, all you need to do to open that door is to hold either of them against the fingerprint reader for a second or two. The lock should then automatically cycle open." With a smile on both our muzzles, we accept our badges back and stuff them into their normal spots in our backpacks.

'Thank you, Mr. Mathew. Um, why are you doing something I get the distinct impression that you shouldn't?' Kneeling down to our eye level he gives us both a fatherly like smile.

"Nice young ladies like you two, with bright futures shouldn't have to put up with people like her. You're not owed anything just because the cosmic dice came up Female Bio-Morph for you two when you were born. I've seen more than my fair share of students with similar aptitudes buy what she's selling, and just give up. I'd don't want to see that happen anymore." He sighs.

"I know you're both teenagers, and with that comes a desire to not listening to your elders. But, let me say this, with how well the both of you do in my class, as with your other classes. The both of you will be able to do whatever you put your mind to. As long as you remember that in the real world, you have to earn everything, few things if any are owed just because of what you are." I should've figured that was the reason.

It doesn't make me feel that good that most of what he thinks is my aptitude, is just because I've gone through high-school before, thus I know the material. Voicing this though would blow my cover, as bad as it feels to keep this a secret.

'You shouldn't worry about it. Mom already taught us about them.' Not to mention, since I was a guy before it allows me to see that the privilege shit, is exactly that. I certainly didn't feel privileged at the jobless center.

'What she says also doesn't make any logical sense.' Christine pipes up. Causing Mr. Mathew to smile at both of us.

"Glad to hear your mother has a good head on her shoulders too, I look forward to meeting her in a few months at our parent-teacher day." Oh, right, I forgot that schools still did that. At least we'll have time to work on our story, considering Ms Henderson found out about us we need too.

Our conversation is cut off by the sound of the rest of the class arriving, and the tone that signals the start of the period. Mr. Mathew heads returns to his desk, picks up the control wand for the electronic black board, then walks in front of it, signaling the start of class.

The period goes by pretty quickly, yes we're called up more than once to answer an equation on the board, being the 'smartest' of the class has its downsides. Still, not annoying compared to Ms. Alice's class.

Of course, our next class 'is' Ms. Alice's, followed by Mr. Mason's general history before we have our 'meetup' with Diane. So when Mr. Mathew's class ends, we reluctantly head for the wacko's class.

Inside we notice the broken table and old chairs are back in the rear of the class, we also ignore Ms. Alice's hateful stare and sit at or normal spot at a normal table.

"I've assigned special seating for the both of you, those seats are for your betters." She barks out, as much as a human can, after the tone sounds for the start of the class. Christine just flicks an ear, while I turn to face her.

'We're not sitting there because they're unsafe. Also, you have no assigned seating in class anyway.' Turning my attention to my backpack, I pull out the tablet and what I need out what I need to do the actual class assignments, not hers.

"I'm the teacher and as long as you are in my class, you have to do what I say, no matter what! If I tell you sit somewhere, you sit there. Now go take your proper place." We roll our eyes at her outburst, while the rest of the class tries to not pay any attention to this.

All except a couple of the Bio-Morphs in the class, a lioness, and male cougar. Both stand once Ms. Alice finishes, and walk over to where we're sitting. The lioness gathers up all our belongings while mouthing the word 'sorry' to us, she drops them, but not roughly, onto the rickety table in the back of the room.

Just as she moves our belongings, the male cougar grabs Christine and I by an armpit and lifts us out of our seats. I have to quickly look at Christine and shake my head, trying to tell her not to lash out.

As forces us onto our feet and before pushing us in the direction of our 'assigned' table, he puts his muzzle next to my ear.

'Sorry, Diane ordered us to listen and follow what Ms. Alice says. If it was our choice, we'd let you sit here.' We're then 'gently' encouraged to walk over and sit down at the rickety table.

Christine yanks her arm from the cougar's grasp but doesn't act aggressive in any other way, even though I can see it on her face that she wants to. I just rub that shoulder at readjust the bra-strap that was dislodged when we were lifted.

After the male cougar and the lioness sit back down Ms. Alice launches into her daily rant, we're used as an example of how those with 'privilege' feel they're entitled to things. Us being forcibly moved is touted as a 'proper' response as well.

Scooting my chair closer to Christine I wince at the sound the chair makes. I hope the noise it's making isn't a sign it's about to fall apart under me. Leaning against her, I pull Christine into a side hug, instantly feeling the coiled spring like tension in her loosen.

We spend the rest of the class sitting like this, ignoring Ms. Alice's ranting and when Christine is up to it, we go through the normal course work for the class, ignoring what she's assigned in its place.

After class, we head to Mr. Mason's history class, once we arrive though, we take a look around at our classmates. I know that Diane's pack is large, very large. So chances are that at least a couple of other Bio-morph students in here are in her pack. The question is, who?

Knowing who they are would be helpful in knowing who to avoid. I run this thought through my mind so much that the class itself passes quickly. Already knowing the material also helps.

'So, how do you think Diane will act sis?' Shrugging in response, we leave Mr Mason's class and Christine takes her normal spot behind me upon entering the hallway.

'She'll act badly is what I think. Like hell I'm going to agree to what she wants.' Taking a short pit-stop at our lockers we grab what we need for our classes after lunch, then head for the cafeteria.

Approaching it, the noise like always becomes deafening, and doesn't get any quieter once we're inside. Glancing at each other I think we both come up with the same idea.

We both grab the most unappetizing, inedible looking food they have before heading for the seating area. And, as expected, as soon as we enter the same two Bio-Morphs grab our lunch trays from our hands and follow us to our normal table.

Diane is already sitting there, waiting, lightly picking at her salad.

'Hello Jackie, Christine. Please sit down.' Taking our normal seats at the table, my ears already flat back while Diane has hers up and forward, making her look rather calm.

'My answer is still no. As your father said, you can't hide it forever.' Diane Frowns, pinning her ears flat against her head. Christine's hand finds mine under the table as Diane stares at us with an icy glare.

'Then consider your tails shaved.' Squeezing Christine's hand reassuringly, I fight a growl from emerging from my throat over that. Stupid school rule about aggressive behavior.

'You said you'd only shave mine. Christine is not involved in our little dispute over your heritage.' Diane laughs, one that I swear goes from a vulpine yip to lupine bark.

'If I'm to stop you from destroying everything I worked hard to gain, then I'll have to. Maybe that will convince you to do what I want when you see her suffer.' Whatever little sympathy or view that she's not some psycho goes out the window. It's my responsibility to protect Christine as her sister and her Alpha.

To prove her point, Diane lifts her backpack and takes out a cordless shaver. It looks brand-new, so it makes me wonder if she got one of her beta's to buy it for her.

She stuffs it back into her backpack a moment later.

'That's crossing the line into assault Diane, I'll report it to the school administration, and they'll have to call the police.' It may be a hollow threat, but it's the only card I have to play without looking like the bad guy. After all I can't just take her to some back ally behind the school and settle this the way I dealt with bullies before.

You either dealt the punishment back then, or were dragged back there to receive it, I learned quick to be the former.

'Oh I am so 'sure' the head secretary will believe the both of you. After all, you're on xir's shit list for not calling xir, xir. Not to mention those 'awful' posts you made on the school website this weekend.' Mentally sighing, that's pretty much what I expected her to say.

'So? We'll just go around that bitch and talk to one of our teachers, who'll in turn talk to the vice-principal or principal.' I don't know where she got the courage to, but Christine bravely inserts herself into the conversation, pulling that card of ours out.

Only for Diane to plaster a shit eating grin on her face.

'And I'll have at 'least' a half a dozen, if not more, of my pack betas and gammas show up in the office to say I was nowhere near that area of the school at that time, and that you did it to yourself for attention.' Sighing, I roll my eyes at Diane's shit eating grin.

Christine backs down, deflated, as she does, I squeeze her hand as a sign of support.

'You may be able to do that, but in the end you won't get away with any of this, nor will you get what you want Diane.' Forcing my ears back up to show the confidence I have at my statement seems to sour Diane's expression more than a bit.

'Even if by some remote chance I don't win, I'll enjoy trying to. Though, if I was a betting woman, I'd put money on the both of you being my pack's new omega's.' The sound of an alarm on Diane's phone cuts off any reply I was about to make. Taking out the phone, Diane looks at it, then stuffs it back into her backpack.

'It looks like lunch is almost over. Enjoy your diets, and Jackie, I'll be seeing you soon.' With that, she stands, then her and her two betas dissolve into the crowd. The hostile atmosphere evaporates with departure, but we lack the time to take out and eat the food mom made.

So we too stand and shoulder our backpacks, getting ready to go our separate ways for two periods.

'I'll never submit to someone liker her Alpha Jackie, You're stronger than her, someone like her would never be able to survive what we've both been through.' That's a vote of confidence makes my tail wag.

Considering she used my pack title in front of my name, I give her a hug to try to calm her down. Still, we need to get going to make it to our classes, but first there's something I need to take care of considering what I know Christine is capable of when cornered.

'Sis, Christine, thank you for the vote of confidence.' I give her a smile. 'But, I want you to not fight back if they corner you or grab you. We may not be able to pin anything they do to us on Diane or her pack, but we need to be careful to not allow them to claim anything on us. Promise me because, I don't want to order you to do it.' Letting go of her Christine takes a step back, while her tail and ears droop.

'I.. I realize that al- I mean sis. I promise I won't try to harm them or fight back if they grab me. Despite how much I don't want my tail shaved.' Smiling again, I give her a short hug, then lead her out of the cafeteria and into the hallway.

'Thank you, with any luck, the both of us will make it to the end of the day with the fur on our tails intact, then we can inform mom of this. She'll call 'dad' and hopefully do something about this.' Christine nods, then we head our separate ways to our next class. Gym for me and Science for Christine.

All the way to the female small breed Bio-Morph locker room I keep an eye on my surroundings. Looking to see who's walking behind me, who's in the hallway with me, etc. The closer I get to my destination, the thinner the crowd becomes, and the easier it gets.

What surprises me is that Ms. Henderson is waiting for me as soon as I open the door to the locker room.

'Hello Jackie, come with me.' Nodding once, I'm half curious as to what's going on, and half worried something bad is going to happen. I though try to push the latter half aside.

Ms. Henderson has been the nicest teacher here so far, she wouldn't do anything like what Ms. Alice has done. Ms. Henderson politely holds her office door open for me and I find my gym uniform, intact, draped across one of the chairs.

'You change in here, someone tried smashing lock off locker, now entire locker door too bent to open. No other empty lockers and school maintenance take long time to replace locker.' Sigh, should've figured something like this. So I start changing into my gym uniform while Ms. Henderson grabs her equipment.

She looks over at me while I'm in my underwear.

'No sport bra?' Stopping with my shorts half-way up I look over at her and shrug.

'Only asked for one last night. I couldn't buy one myself because I spent most of my new allowance this week on a popular game kids my new age play. It was Christine's idea by the way, that way I can look like I fit in by knowing what they're talking about.' Ms Henderson nods and goes back to collecting what she'll need.

I just finish putting on my gym uniform, then stuff the school one into my backpack.

'Christine have good idea. You need work on fitting in and act like girls your age do.' Handing her my backpack, she places it behind her desk safely out of sight.

I would like to tell her about what Diane threatened to do, but a glance at the clock shows class is about to start. So I follow Ms Henderson out of her office, she holds the door open for me again, and I join my classmates amassing by the back door.

Ms Henderson steps in front of the door but doesn't open it, she steps in front of all that are assembled here.

'Before go out on track for class, need point out one thing. Damaging school property can result in expulsion. If anyone know who destroyed locker five thirty-two, can come to me anytime, will not tell anyone you said anything.' I have a good idea who did it, but like hell they're going to come forward and self incriminate.

Not to mention I doubt anyone will come forward and point the finger at anyone from Diane's pack for fear of her retaliating against them.

With her announcement over, Ms. Henderson leads the class to the outdoor track. Part way there, she slows her pace to walk next to me as I bring up the rear of the group. I'm not subject to her 'last person in has to do an extra lap' due to my injury, so, I'm in no hurry to get there.

'You 'do' know, no one is going to come forward with any information.' Ms. Henderson nods with a sigh as we approach the chain-link gate.

'I know. Had to ask anyway. Not communist, won't grab someone and accuse as guilty without proof. No one like that.' She holds the gate open for me, then we head for the bleachers.

I wouldn't like that either.

She sits down on the first row of seats, and under her careful supervision I do the same stretches as yesterday. If doing this is supposed to make it better, then why am I feeling more pain and lingering soreness compared too yesterday?

She does allows me to sit down and rest for the remainder of the period as the rest of the class runs laps around the track. Followed by the same exercises as yesterday.

Those she scolded for improper support for the activity level learned their lesson. I hope mom gets ours today, don't know how long until I'm forced to do that.

Gym passes by rather quickly, and like on the way down here, I hang back, away from the rest of the class on the way back. Ms Henderson walks alongside me, I guess now's as good of a time as ever.

'Would I be able to come to you, rather than say the head secretary, if 'you know who' tries anything?' Ms Henderson tilts her head slightly. I still find it funny watching a squirrel use canine body language.

'Have been threatened?' I simply nod in reply.

'What she threaten do?' Considering the mouse girl may be in Diane's pack, and she has pretty big ears, I say nothing. Only pointing at my tail while moving my hand in a shaving motion. Ms. Henderson's eyes go wide and her tail twitches wildly.

Yea I figured she likes her tail too, after all squirrel tails are even fluffier than foxes, so she must enjoy the same thing I like doing.

Since we're about to head inside, we have to cut our conversation short, at least for the moment. Voices carry in halls compared to the out of doors and the entire class is in here. Last thing I want is to make Diane do something worse.

A few minutes later we're in her office and I'm changing back into the normal school uniform, stupid skirt and all.

'Yea that's what she say's she'll do today to me and maybe even Christine as well. Don't know when though, and she's pretty confident that she can get away with it.' Ms Henderson sighs, then plops down onto her chair, followed by her elbows on her desk and her head in her hands. I get the impression she's as frustrated by Diane as many of the other teachers.

Meanwhile I tuck the blouse into my skirt, followed by straightening the wrinkles out of it. Another rule with the uniforms is they must look presentable.

'Diane not wrong. Even if cross line to assault, she'll make it your word against hers and seen how normally turns out.' Yea, she threatened that.

'I know you can nothing before it happens and little after the fact.' Just hearing myself say that makes it seem worse. 'But, I know there's one thing you can do, can you keep an eye on Christine? At least while she's here next period?' With less care than I use on my normal uniform I stuff my gym uniform into my backpack, then heft it up onto one shoulder.

'I will as best as can. All can promise due to size of class.' Her promise is all I need to hear to calm my anxiety about Christine's safety.

Waving goodbye to Ms. Henderson, I head out of her office, then out of the looker room. I feel the eyes of all the other girls here on me as I walk through, but I ignore them. Once outside, I find the hallway thankfully empty of other students.

The lack of the sheer mass of the student body doesn't last though, the normal state of nearly packed hallways suddenly appears once I'm out of the physical education wing of the school. Almost as if there's some invisible barrier keeping them from spilling into said hallway.

Is it bad that I'm already used to such crowds again? I mull over that thought in-between keeping an eye on my surroundings on my way to the science wing and in turn, Mr. Davidson's science class.

Even though I arrive at his class without incident, there's the old saying, you're not paranoid if someone is actually out to get you.

It seems Diane has beaten me here, again, and is sitting in her assigned seat. What's strange is that she's the only Bio-Morphs looking in my direction. It's kinda unnerving, causing my fur to bristle.

Feeling Diane's eyes shift down to my leg I realize that the exercises Ms. Henderson is having me do must be causing me to limp. Something primal in my mind also screams at me to either try to hide it or get out of the room.

Pushing that aside I sit down in my assigned seat in front of her.

'You're limping, did you hurt yourself in gym today? With your injury should take better care of yourself.' Well, I know one thing now, Diane's fake sympathetic tone is even more annoying than knowing I'm limping.

'Ms. Henderson is having me do exercises to keep the limb limber, they cause a decent amount of soreness. She promises it will pass though.' Stating with a matter of fact tone while not turning to look at her, I don't want to give her the satisfaction. Rather, I focus on grabbing what I need for class out of my backpack.

'I'm sorry to hear that Jackie.' No, you're not sorry Diane. Hearing your fake sympathy is annoying, I'd wish you'd stop.

The tone that signals the start of class cuts off any further conversation between us. From there Mr. Davidson's class goes on like normal, Diane even leaves me alone. No touching my tail, no light kicks, etc. It raises another red flag in my mind.

Mr Davidson covers another topic I already know, so it looks like, I'm one of the smartest students in his class again. I want something more challenging, so I don't feel like a fraud. Well, I technically am, but, I don't think that counts.

Diane's lack of aptitude for the curriculum seems to be grating on Mr. Davidson, as it means he and the other teachers have their work cut out for them, or face yet another year with her here.

For my sake, I hope they succeed in that. An entire year now seems impossibly long dealing with this bitch. You know, I wonder what would be a better insult for her as bitch seems less of one considering it's definition.

As for me, the hour of sitting down does help with my leg. It aches less, but I do have to firmly rub my scar a few times during the class to stop it from cramping. A task made a bit harder because my skirt gets in the way.

It's mostly gone away by the time class ends, and I hastily pack my things up, so I can get out of the classroom before Diane. Maybe if I can get ahead of her, she can't do what she wants to do to me.

So briskly walking out of the door and into the crowded hallway I aim to make it to home room without incident. I fail to notice the two Bio-morphs waiting by a supply closet further down the hallway, a male wolf and male lion.

They firmly grab my shoulders from behind the moment I pass by, and before I know it, I'm dragged into the walk in supply closet. It's not a large room by any standard, but big enough to have all us inside it with space to maneuver. By the scent in here, the place is filled with mostly cleaning supplies.

'Let go of me!' With their hands on my shoulder, they rip off my backpack, then us their legs to force me to the floor with my face down. After they shift their weight, I'm then held there. Trying to break out of their grip, I try wiggling my arms, or moving my legs. But they're hands are like vices, I'm unable to even budge them a bit.

A part of me wonders if I would've been able to break free if I was still as strong as I was when human. Probably not, from what I can see they might be into weightlifting with how buff they look.

The male wolf shifts his grip and partially gets on top of me, pushing his weight down harder, compensating for the fast that I feel the male lion let go. Shifting my head from one side to the other I can just barely see him pick up what looks like a thin plastic blanket with a hole in it, possibly made out of a trash bag from the semi opaqueness of said plastic.

'Stop struggling, it only makes this harder, and we don't want to hurt you.' Leaning in closer to my head the male wolf's voice is barely above a whisper. Don't know why, the noise from the hall outside is still loud. Huffing out, short of a growl in response to him as I watch and feel the male lion grab my tail. Not that I make it easy for him.

Once in his hand's he threads it through the hole and the male wolf moves for a split-second so the plastic covers my body. I realize why this is being used, so I won't have fur all over my uniform. The male lion restrains my feet as I feel the male wolf move to hold me down by my shoulders and arms.

At that same moment the door to the room opens, and in walks Diane, she closes the door and gives me a shit eating grin. Kneeling down, she pats my head a single time before removing the electric shaver from her backpack.

'I hope you have been enjoying the hospitality of my favorite betas.' She runs her free hand over both their backs. 'If you had agreed to me, this encounter with them could've been nicer for you. So just remember Jackie, you did this to yourself by not agreeing to what I offered.' Diane looks to the both of them.

'Keep her still, but try not to leave any marks. After all, we need to make it look like she did this to herself.' I see both of them lower their heads and their ears before saying 'Yes Alpha'. As Diane kneels down they shift their positions and I swear I see the wolf mouth the word, sorry.

A moment later I hear Diane turn the shaver on, it's loud hum now only slightly louder than the noise from outside. Followed a second later by her roughly grabbing my tail. No amount of moving it allows me to yank it out of her grasp.

Suddenly a sharp twinging of pain radiates from my injured leg, telling me that unless I want to cause some kind of injury I need to calm down.

'If you think that if you stop struggling it will make me stop, think again.' I feel and hear the shaver cutting the fur off my tail in long strokes, starting from the base and going up to the tip.

I have to close my eyes and squeeze my hands into fists to fight the urge to try to break free. My nails push painfully into the palm pads on my hands in the process.

Having a shaved tail is minor compared to that in addition to ripping the weak muscle in my injured leg.

It's over faster than I expect. She turns off the shaver, then I hear and feel the makeshift tarp being removed from my now naked and goose-bump inducing cold tail. I'm lifted by my shoulders a second later by the male wolf Bio-morph, and placed back on my feet.

Followed by the male lion suddenly shoving my backpack onto my chest, knocking some air out of me and causing a spike of pain from my breasts due to where it hits.

'Remember what I said Jackie. Not only am I going to do this to your sister, if you try to report this to the school, I'll have so many of my betas claiming the both of you did it yourselves for attention. They'll have no choice but to believe it.' Pausing for a moment, she uses her hand to remove a few strands of my tail fur from her skirt.

'We're done here, would you two lovely beta's help her out into the hall? She needs to hurry, or she'll be late for her next class.' I'm ashamed to admit I let out a feminine eep, as I'm suddenly, and easily, lifted into the air by the male wolf Bio morph from his grip on my shoulders.

The door is opened by the male lion Bio-morph, then the wolf Bio-Morph tosses me into the hall, feet first. Another twinge of pain shoots up my injured leg, almost causing it to fold under my weight. I hear the slamming of the door a split-second later.

My ears fold back as I start to hear 'familiar' sounds coming from the closet as I wait for the pain to subside, allowing me to walk properly. Don't tell me Diane offered them that in return for this?

Just when my opinion of her couldn't go any lower I find out she does something else I don't like.

Sigh, the last time my tail was like this was when I woke up in the conversion tank. With no fur to cover it, the goose-bumps get a bit worse as I pass by a vent spewing out cool air. A vent that has a clock next to it.

Diane is right about one thing, I need to hurry or I'll be counted tardy from home-room and have to deal with the bitch of a head secretary. I'm sure 'she' will love to punish me.

The only upside to this situation I guess is that with the emptier halls, I make much better time than if I had headed to homeroom right after science class ended. I'm still cutting it close, I have less than a minute before the tone plays by the time my hand is on the door handle.

Like always, upon arriving, I'm hugged by Christine. Knowing how she'll act upon seeing my tail, I act quickly, gently grabbing her muzzle I take us both to a corner of the room where there's an empty table. I'm lucky that the teacher this week doesn't care what goes on unless someone breaks the rules.

'Christine! Sis! Look at me.' Slowly letting go of her muzzle, allowing me to stare into her eyes. 'I'm fine, I'm not hurt. All Diane did was shave the fur off my tail.' Her pupils are semi dilated, and her ears slowly move from flat against her head to straight forward all while her tail stays stock still. It tells me there's a war going on in her head between her instincts and her.

I can't let the former win, not here, last time they did, she tore the throat out of that farmer with no remorse. Not that he didn't deserve it for trying to kill me, but still, allowing her to be in that state would be bad here.

'Stay with me sis, I know you can do it. It's hard seeing me like this, I know, but please calm down.' Acting without thinking of our audience, I pull her into a tight hug and place my chin on the bridge of her muzzle. Her body feels like it's a pure coil of tension, not good.

The comments of my classmates register, but I mentally push them aside, Christine is more important than them thinking we're getting it on or what not. Holding her firmly I use one hand to slowly move up and down her back, under her shirt for maximum direct contact, as I keep my chin on the bridge of her muzzle.

I was never told to do this to calm her down, but it's what I feel needs to be done to do so.

Doing homework this period is completely forgotten as I notice it is slowly working. I can feel the tension slowly drain from her body and about half-way through the class, she actually starts to relax in my arms.

Only when Christine pushes the bridge of her muzzle up against my chin do I loosen my grip on her. Just enough to allow her to look me in the eyes. Her pupils are back to normal, it makes me smile to see she's back in control.

'Thank you sis..' Christine's voice hitches a bit, sounding like she's on the verge of tears. Giving her a firm hug I relax my grip and remove my hand from under the back of her shirt.

Without letting go of me she pulls the neighboring chair over, then sits on it, seeming to decide to just latch onto an arm rather than my whole body. While she composes herself, fixing her blouse, skirt, and some of her fur with her free arm, I give my classmates the glare I wanted to earlier from their comments.

Yea, the show's over, we weren't making out or whatnot, go back to your homework! Eventually most get the nonverbal message, those that don't get an intense 'leave us alone' stare from me, hammering the message home.

'You're welcome. I just didn't want a repeat of last time you lost control.' Christine solemnly nods, looks at her backpack, and decides to just stay attached to my arm. Despite how my arm is falling asleep I let her stay like this for the rest of the class, and then my tail starts to itch..

At the end of class I help her up to her feet getting her to reluctantly switch from clinging to my arm to firmly holding my hand, at least it gives me the flexibility to finally scratch a few annoying itches on my tail.

Since we hadn't unpacked anything, all we need to do is grab our backpacks and head out. Avoiding the main hall we take a side exit to give Ms. Alice the slip. We'd probably draw attention to ourselves without the other students here choosing the same exit over the crowded main one.

Even holding hands, Christine pushes herself as close to me as possible until we make it out of the school, and doesn't seem to relax until we're mostly to the light rail station. I Can't blame her.

I was looking out for the two that grabbed me, as well as the two hall monitors in Diane's pack, she said she was going to do the same thing to Christine after all.

The platform for the light rail train has the same people we've seen for several days, the familiarity gets her to go back to politely holding my hand as we wait for it to arrive.

Once inside, Christine goes back to clinging to my arm. What am I going to do about this though? She's my beta, my sister, and Diane most likely will not rest till she gets what she wants. It's almost enough to distract me from how weird, and cold the seats in here are to my now bare tail.

This instinct is familiar. The urge to do my duty as her Alpha and protect her. It has made itself known before when dealing with Christine, back in our escape, and in a few minor things later. But to have it flare up as strong as it is right now? That's scary and new. Looking out the window, I watch the buildings and scenery pass while mulling this over.

The original plan was to tell mother, who will in turn tell dad and hopefully he'll do something about it. I know He has regretted his actions, but I can't ignore the fact he's the same person who decided to leave Me and Mother when times got rough. I know this situation is not as difficult as the one that he chose to run from, but trying to get Diane to behave can't be easy. So I doubt he'll be able to do much to stop her.

Sigh, retaliation would just play right into Diane's hands, knowing how she can play the system. What does that leave me other than hoping 'dad' will do something?

After our stop comes up, we make haste through our neighborhood to get to the house as fast as possible. Along the way Christine relaxes and goes back to holding my hand. Because we were able to dodge Ms. Alice, we beat Flint home.

Which is good because I don't think Christine is in any condition right now to handle any of his barbs properly. I think the only reason she's able to let go of me is the fact he's not here yet.

Quickly exchanging my school shoes for indoor slippers we head upstairs to my room, Christine only a step behind me. Normally she's willing to go around the house on her own, but I understand if she has to appease her P.I.D. by letting me go first today.

I shed the school uniform and put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt the instant I close and lock my door, Christine only takes off her uniform and moves to take her normal spot on my bed while in her underwear.

Sighing I plop down onto the computer chair, then bring my now bare tail into my lap. Now that I can have a good look at it, Diane didn't even do that good of a job of shaving it. Some areas have a thin stubble while others are bare, explains why it itched for a bit after she shaved it.

'I'm fine Christine, why don't you go and get dressed. We don't want to give Flint any ammo for his delusions on purpose.' Her ears droop as she nods, then hops off my bed.

While waiting for her to return I bring up the school's social media website causing a pop-up telling me I have a new email. It's from Christine's father, and sadly I feel her mental state isn't able to take a blow if her father has rejected her. So for what I think and hope is her own good, I dismiss the notification but not the message.

When I feel she's ready, I'll let her see it. A moment later she returns in a matching pair of shorts, but wearing that 'vixen' t-shirt I didn't want.

I expect her to sit back down on my bed, instead she gently nudges me over a bit in my chair, so she can have her body against mine, of course I relinquish enough of the chair for her. A moment later she rubs the bridge of her muzzle against my chin causing me to smile. As much as this seems to relax her, it also seems to do the same to me.

So to help pass the time I use my free arm to bring up a video that is mostly for her to watch. I don't mind because we've gotten accustomed to switching back and forth.

Christine gets less and less clingy as time goes by and the video's about to end, that is until the sound of front door opening and closing echos through my room. Flint is home, and there's no way he didn't hear about what happened.

A quick glance at my door shows that Christine did re-lock it after returning. So I let go of that bit of anxiety, and put up another video for us. This time something that looks interesting to me, and to Christine as well, but she won't admit she's taking an interest in what I like. Part way through I feel her gently grab my tail, then place it in her lap. Next she starts to gently pet it.

This feels, odd, I'm again reminded of how it felt having a tail for the first time when I was pulled from the conversion tank. Needless to say I've grown attached to the normally fluffy limb and seeing it like this is more of a shock than I thought it would be.

As if summoned by my thoughts, I find Christine's fluffy tail on my lap.

'Go ahead sis.' Her words are meek but inviting. Accepting her invitation I gently run my hands through the fur on her tail like I did mine. It's going to be annoying dealing with this, but if my fur is still growing at the rate it was after I was converted, my tail will be back to its normal fluffy self in a week or so.

Until then, Christine's will have to do.

Again the sound of the door opening and closing echo's through my room. Announcing that mom, Patrick, and the Tanners are now home. For the first time today after all that has happened, Christine takes the initiative and stands with a stretch as I pause the video.

I stand and stretch as she waits by the door for me to open it.

'Time to tell mom and the others.' Despite the reluctance in my voice Christine gives me a nod and a reassuring smile. Even with her own problems today, she tries to help me. Is this what sisters are supposed to do?

She gently grabs my hand, and we head out of my room and downstairs.

"What happened to your tail!" We're not even all the way down the stairs before I hear mom yell. She meets us at the bottom of the stairs and gently grabs my tail to inspect it.

'Diane shaved it. All because I refused to never tell a soul she's a cross-breed rather than full wolf.' Mom's hands are cold! I have to suppress a shiver from her simple touch.

Christine lets go of my hand to allow the Tanners and Patrick to head upstairs, as they do I give Patrick a smile.

"Did she do anything else to you? Harm you in any other way?" When mom lets go of my tail, I take hold of it in my own hands to rub some warmth back into it.

'Other than having a couple of her Beta's forcefully grab me and hold me down, no.' Her eyes and body language scream at me that mom is pissed. My ears are flat back and I only notice that they are now from the change in what I can hear. Glancing over to Christine I see her ears are also flat back.

"The school administration is going to hear about this! Same with Anthony! No one hurts my children and gets away with it." I may be Christine's Alpha female, but mom is mine. So acting purely on instinct I walk over and take mom's hand in mine, followed by rubbing the bridge of my muzzle against her smaller human chin.

It has the effect that I wanted, mom seems to relax with a sigh that I can both hear and feel, followed by her hugging me. A moment later, she lets go and I step back, I'm instantly replaced by Christine who repeats the same motions.

'To be honest, this is weird compared to how I was bullied last time I attended High-School. Having to act all nice in public, then the claws come out in private. There's one constant though between the two though, like last time, you're not going to be able to do anything about it.' Mom lets go of Christine, then motions for us to follow her to the kitchen.

"Why is that? Unlike back in the states, I'm an employed tax paying citizen and there's no jobless underclass in this country. Diane's committed assault here, the school has to do something.." Leaning against the wall just inside the kitchen, I let my body posture go submissive like Christine's, she's leaning against the preparation counter.

'Diane and her fucking pack.' Christine blurts out colorfully before I could say so more tactfully.

"Watch your language young lady." As expected, that earns sis a swat on the nose, making her whine.

'Diane can use her pack to overwhelm the system by sending multiple.' I hold up my hands to do air quotes. 'Eye witnesses. To the main office claiming Diane's innocence. No one's been able to get anything to stick to her because of that, so they've just given up on disciplining her. All they're going to do is get her to graduate, so she'll be someone else's problem.' My hands go back to holding my bare tail, as mom shows her anger by slamming the needed cookware for tonight's dinner against the counter. Only to grumble as she notices she's cut open the fake skin on her artificial arm.

Being Christine's week to help, she's instantly by mom's side, taking the knife that did it heads to the sink to clean it.

"Well, if the school refuses to do anything. I'll make sure Anthony 'does'. I'll just call him up after dinner and explain to him what his adopted daughter unknowingly did to his biological one." My tail desperately wants to go between my legs, but I just casually hold onto it.

'That was going to be my suggestion.' Letting out a sigh causes her to look over at me. 'But, I don't know what it will do. You 'do' remember his track record on handling difficult situations, right?' Upon the look mom gives me I instantly regret saying that last part.

"Then I'll call him tonight." I shrink a little from her authoritative posture as she stares at me. "I seem to remember you saying that you forgave him, so why the barb?" Finding myself unable to look at her directly as I let out a small whine as she speaks.

'Because, I suspect he may be having trouble with her at home, you and I both know how he reacted when things got tough when you lost your arm. I have forgiven him for that, but I honestly don't expect him to do much over this.' Mom sighs loudly and I can't even bring myself to look at her until I hear her chopping something up.

'Well, I for one hope he does. I don't want my tail shaved like yours, sorry Alpha Jackie, I.. I just don't.' Figured Christine would say that, I don't want her tail shaved as much as I didn't want mine to be shaved.

"He will do something, I'll make sure of that. After all, it's not just him raising Diane, but Xin as well. I'm sure neither of them want their daughter to act like this." Mom hands what she was working on over to Christine to do what she needs to do to it.

"Concerning your tail, I'm sure the fur will grow back quickly. I was told that those whom are converted, their coats grow in after a week, and from the amount the both of you have been shedding, I'm betting it hasn't slowed down." Wait, I shed that much? Sure I find fur here and their, but I'm sure it has slowed down sense then.

Stopping what she's doing, mom walks over to me and gives me a momentary hug.

"Now shoo! It's Christine's turn to have some mother-daughter time, also to learn how to cook. So dinner will be ready at the normal time." With a smile and a nod, I leave the kitchen and head back upstairs.

On the way up, I pick up Patrick's scent, but it leads back downstairs, so he must be in the living room with the rest of his family. Dang, there goes my first idea of spending time with him before dinner, sighing out loud I head to my room.

Closing my door behind me, I plop myself down at my computer and try to entertain myself by browsing a few sites. Sitting there I use one hand to move the mouse about and the other to idly pet my naked tail.

I hope mother is right about how long it will take, I miss my fluffy tail already.

Eyeing the tab the School website is still loaded on reminds me about that reply from Christine's dad waiting in the inbox. Considering that I'm alone up here, and dinner is a good thirty or more minutes away, I am very tempted to open it and learn what's inside.

After all, it's my duty as her Alpha to protect her. If it turns out to be bad news I can soften the blow, and to top it off, Christine wouldn't know till I tell her, right?

Switching to the tab, I move the mouse and then stop with the cursor hovering over the link to open the email. I Stare at it for minutes on end as if it would give me the answer to this dilemma. Would I be a bad Alpha if I let Christine get hurt from a vicious rejection that may be written inside the digital piece of mail?

Or would it be worse to betray the glorious feeling of trust and family love that has developed between us by reading a private conversation between her and her biological dad? Well, biological for the tiny portion of her dna that wasn't changed, but, that's besides the point.

I want to know what's in there, so I can help my cherished beta, and yet. I don't want to lose something that I never knew existed, and I now find so precious.

No, I'm better than that. What we've gone through forged a bond between us that should be protected at all costs, yet I don't think anything short of death will break. It would betray everything we've gone through if I trample her matters in an unguided attempt at protecting her.

Letting out a sigh I move the mouse away from the email, then close the tab to remove any further temptation, least I fall victim to a weaker moment.

Christine is to me, more than just a lower ranking pack member, or someone that has P.I.D., she's family now, my sister. I should treat her like I want to be treated by her, and by Mom.

I browse a few more sites to distract myself, from the battle between my morals and these new instincts. Being hungry seems to strengthen the latter, so I try to push them aside to deal with them later.

Along with wondering if dad will do anything about Diane.

"Jackie! Dinner's ready!" My ear flicks as mom calls up the stairs for me. Minimizing the web browser I lock the computer before heading downstairs for the much anticipated meal considering my growling stomach.

Everyone is at their normal seats, and as I head for mine, I sneak a small lick on Patrick's cheek before sitting down. He smiles, while Flint scowls, though that's his normal reaction to everything lately. Making it easy to ignore and focus on his brother.

As for dinner, it seems it's another stew and bread roll night. Once I'm seated everyone takes their portions and starts eating.

"So, I called Anthony while I was making dinner." Putting my spoon down mom has my complete attention, Christine's as well.

'And?' I'm betting all he said he'll do is just talk to her.

"Anthony's going to cut Diane's allowance. He's also going to use the parental controls on her car to limit her to going to and from school. Also, he deeply apologizes for Diane's actions. As for Xin, she's going to try to keep an eye on her too." Honestly, that's more than what I was expecting.

But.. I doubt it will stop Diane. She's willing to use her status to extort money and goods from her beta's, what's stopping her from forcing them to drive her about and give her a little extra money?

Glancing at Christine shows her shrugging at this, I think she may be thinking the same thing.

"Huh, so that's the real reason why you got your tail shaved. Eh, I liked the reason going around the school better anyway. That you have mites and the nurse needed to shave it. I mean, neither of you wear flea collars, so it's understandable you'd get such things." Of course flint has to open his big mouth. Well, at least now I know what Diane's spreading in the gossip circles regarding what she's done.

Not to mention I give him a dagger filled glare, but that's peanuts compared to the one Mom gives him.

"For your information 'Flint Tanner', the shampoo I buy for Jackie and Christine is formulated to prevent fleas, ticks, mites and other pests." Mom's tone of voice says 'don't you dare test me' while at the same time he earns a grounding from his parents for the comment.

Not to mention I didn't know the shampoo I have been using did that. I only knew that it made my fur fluffier and shinier, now I know I don't have to worry about such things.

It makes sense, but I'm glad I don't have to worry about them.

'To be honest, that's more than I expected dad would do.' I Change the subject back to what it was, rather than giving him attention.

'I don't think it will stop Diane, she'll just lean on her pack more.' Christine voices what I more or less expect to happen.

"Be that as it may, it's all we can do. Neither of you were 'legal' citizens when Diane tried to steal from your computer Jackie. Your papers may be back dated and forged to give the general appearance of being legit, but, I don't want to test that in court." As much as I hate to admit it, Mom's right.

Diane will have what ever defense she'll ask for to go over everything about us with a fine tooth comb. Chances are they'll find something amiss about the paperwork.

"The only thing we can hope for is someone else alerting the authorities about her abusing her Alpha position. The last thing I need is for the legal system to focus on someone we ferried over the border." Patrick chimes in.

Yea, while it would be terrible for me to be deported back to the states, as a slave no less. Patrick though, faces jail time for drug running as well as helping escaped slaves. Crimes on both sides of the border.

To show my support of him, despite what he has to do, I reach over and squeeze his shoulder gently with my hand. A moment later he places his hand on mine and gently pets the fur on it, then lets go. I think I've had enough to eat right now, so I gently push my plate aside.

'Can I be excused from the table? Christine and I still have some homework to do.' Mom nods. So I Wait for Christine to clean her muzzle off, then we both get up and head upstairs to my room.

With the door safely locked, I shed my t-shirt, then pull out the school tablet. With a pillow underneath me I plop myself down on my bed. Christine follows suit, down to shedding her clothing, and snuggles up to my side with her own school issued tablet.

'I hope the rest of the two years I have to go through High school again is quieter than the start of this week.' Christine snorts, as I start with the first assignment, college level math ironically.

'It has to be. Even at the all girls boarding school I went to last time wasn't this active. You'd have a minor incident, then some quiet time when things were normal, a few weeks later another minor incident between bullies and their targets would happen. You know, not counting the normal verbal barbs and gossip.' She pauses and flops her tail onto my back.

'As for us, compared to last time, I think we've more or less established ourselves in the middle of the social ladder as far as popularity goes. Good job in adapting to the gossip game sis.' I try to return the gesture by moving my tail onto Christine. In response, she gently pats it.

'Thank you.' Lifting her head up, Christine smiles at me before putting her muzzle back into the homework in front of us.

'You know, maybe we should ask if this can be counted towards college credit. I mean since we're already being assigned college level mathematics due to, well you know.' Finishing up Mathematics, I just go down the list on my screen. Of course, ignoring Ms. Alice's ridiculous assignment.

'It wouldn't hurt to ask Mr Mathew.' Christine sighs. 'I would've been able to attend any college I would've wanted to, if I hadn't run away like I did.' The worst He can do is say no.

'Lucky you. For me, they'd take one look at where I lived, and tossed the application into the bin.' Next thing I know, Christine has me in a tight hug and rubs the bridge of her muzzle on my chin once.

'I'm sure they will look at it now, if we decide to go to college that is.' She pauses. 'Thank you, Jackie, if you hadn't acted the way you did in home-room, I may have lost it. I killed someone last time it happened. I, I don't want to lose control like that again.' She tightens her grip on me, and in return I rub the sides of my muzzle against the top of her head.

I don't want that to happen again either, Christine deserves better than to be the slave of some twisted person's attempt to instill loyalty in Bio-Morphs by tweaking the pack instinct in wolves.

Glancing at the clock on my tablet, she stays like this for several minutes before letting go. With a stretch she sits up and I momentarily morn the loss of her fluffy tail. I want mine back Dammit!

'I'm done with all they assigned, so I'll take a shower first. Is that okay sis?' Nodding once as I sit up and stretch some too. While she's gone, I finish up my last assignment, then put our tablets away. My turn in the shower comes shortly after.

Upon returning I put on some clean underwear then take my normal spot next to Christine on my bed as we start our nightly brushing and grooming routine.

'Do you want to go to college though?' Christine breaks the silence as we work on each other's fur.

'To be honest, I don't know. When mother was my age, she said it was pretty much expected of everyone to go, and those that didn't were looked down upon as inferior. Didn't matter if the person went for a useless degree.' I let out a pleasant churr sound as she works on a stubborn patch of fur. I hope she keeps quiet about it because I refuse to acknowledge I made such a sound.

'Of course that changed when Bio-morphs like us were introduced. People couldn't afford degrees for useless stuff, and colleges didn't have money to support them. So I guess it depends on if I want to get a job that requires a degree. Few require them now from what I understand.' Like before we switch places and I start working on the fur on Christine's back.

'I was expected to go. Mainly because my father went to a prestigious college and even if they didn't want me, they also didn't want any offspring to not to go to one. But, now that I have a choice in the matter, I don't know if I want to go either. I don't even know what I want to 'do' after we graduate High-school.' She pauses for a moment. 'Other than stay with you, wherever you decide to go.' Can't help it, I smile at this and wag my tail.

To be honest with myself, I can't imagine anything I want to do, or anywhere I want to go that would exclude Christine as well as Patrick. My beta and whom I realize is the person I've chosen to be my Alpha male.

Still a bit giddy over these feelings, I move to take Christine's tail into my lap and start going through it with the brush. She just gently pets mine in response.

'I think Mom is right. Your tail will be back to its bushy self before you know it sis.' Yea I know she is, but the wait is going to annoy me. Not to mention what I'll have to deal with at school over it.

'Well, until it does grow back, I at least I have yours as a substitute.' Grinning playfully back at Christine I hold her tail closer, she just gives me a mock pout as I do it.

Sadly, I have to let it go to shut the lights off in my room. The moment I do Christine curls up in the little den of pillows and blankets on my bed I've made. With the lights off I crawl in around her, she moves to rub her muzzle under mine before rolling a bit and allowing me to gently grab a hold of her tail.

Tomorrow, I'll tell Christine tomorrow that she's gotten a reply to her email. Today was too rough on her to have thrown the stress of it on top of her. Considering it's most likely her father saying he wants nothing to do with his daughter.

After all, from what she says, her parents practically didn't want her anyway.